Pie

One thing that the Polish don't have here are pies. Although the expression 'as American as apple pie' is prominent where I am from, I can also say I have had many a British pie in addition to the wide range of 'American' ones too. Those who haven't had 'pie', of any type, should naturally be exposed to this delicacy. So call today Operation Pie.

Apparently pie is a food that goes back way back when, and consisted of filling and baking either sweet or savory ingredients into a pastry casing, usually made from flour, fat, and water.

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the word "pie" as it relates to food to 1303, noting the word was well-known and popular by 1362.

Find more info on pie, here! 

While pie has transformed into just about every kind of flavor and changed in shape. It's not just apple pie, but fried pies too, and pizzas, as well as the famous British variety Steak and Kidney pie. As an American I come to appreciate the one pastry that takes some considerable time and patience to make... and that is usually gone in 5 min, but hey it's PIE! Today I felt like having some one-on-one time with the kitchen, so I decided to make my great-grandmother's Vanilla Creme Pie. Well, minus the meringue--we were running low on time. ;) I had always watched my mother make this but hadn't ever tried it on my own. Somehow I had to find a nice substitute for the graham cracker crumb base (Poles don't have those either), so I settled on some crushed ginger cookies and some butter. Worked nicely, but I know not as good as the real thing. Still it came out beautifully, despite me having what they call corn flour over here and not cornstarch. It thickened up so nicely and set rather well in the fridge. I didn't have time for a meringue, but it tasted just as good without.

So the verdict.... the question of course of 'what is it?' Marceli didn't like the crust. Go figure, that kid is the pickiest eater I have ever seen. But the other two both had seconds. So I guess I did something right. Hoorah for pie!

Carrying on the topic of pie, I decided to make pizzas from scratch using a really good pizza base that I had found. Yep, that was a big hit too, after all you can't go wrong with pizza. I literally raided the fridge and used up the leftover tomato sauce I had in the freezer from a few weeks ago. On the one we had leftover turkey pieces, sundried tomato, some greens, roasted red pepper, cheese, and spices, and the other was an assortment of fresh ham, cheese, and some garlic. Neither lasted very long. In fact Marceli claims 'it was the best pizza he had ever had'. Just don't tell him it had cheese on it (he hates cheese). And I am getting oh so good at hiding it in his food, hehe.

So today folks was one successful day in the kitchen. Tonight.... lemon curd!