Martha's Cooking School- As Easy As Pie

OK, so making pie isn't that easy and it's a little intimidating.

I was inspired to make a pie by last week's episode of Top Chef.

Last week's "Quick Fire" was a pie challenge. A lot of the chefs complained about how they never make pies and how deserts often stump savory chefs.

In my cooking adventures, I don't want to forget deserts. I will admit I stay away from them for two reasons: (1) they kind of scare me and (2) I am forced to eat them-not to say I don't love desert, but that is the problem; I love desert!

Of course when I am ready to tackle a huge task, like making a pie, who do I turn to...Martha. Her Cooking School book has helped me in the past, so I trust her (and the team behind her).

First step: Make the Pate Brisee (which is a real French way of saying pie dough). I can't say it but I can make it. This step was pretty simple. I did my best to keep the butter cold. I did fudge up a little, the water I added to the mixture wasn't cold, it was more like "cool." Despite this oversight everything seemed to come together. I ran out of plastic wrap so I had to use a freezer bag for the 2nd disk of dough.

Second Step: Roll it out. I avoided this step. I cleaned the bathroom, did some yoga, watched t.v., started the first draft of this blog. Thanks to my good friend's words of confidence, I took the dough out of the fridge and started rolling. This part was a small obstacle for me. I have no practice in using a rolling pin so it took me a while to get the hang of it (actually, I don't think I ever really got the hang of it), but the dough was rolled out.

I did use my cooking sheets as a cool surface to work the dough. I placed them in the freezer, then took them out when I was ready. It worked out well.

Third Step: Assemble and bake. The easy part.

Final Step: WAIT!!! According to Martha, you let the pie cool for 4 HOURS!! Buster and I will be eating this tomorrow. Possible for breakfast. So I made some Strawberry Lemonade to hold us over.

This will not be the last pie I make. Soon making pie will be as easy as pie.