Pie Anxiety

Around the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm a little less near-vegan than I try to be the rest of the year. I still avoid meat and don't drink milk or eat eggs or cheese on their own, but I let myself have cheese, eggs and milk in baked goods. So, for about 4-5 days, I'm purposely off the wagon.

Today, I attempted two pies. The first is a recipe I threw together on my own: Berry Cranberry Pie. However, I'm going to need to rethink this one. The flavor is wonderful (maybe a little too sweet), but the filling didn't set. I ended up breaking up all the crust and stirring it together with the filling and calling it a Berry Cranberry Cobbler instead. When I work out an official recipe to make it a cobber (and preferrably a vegan one), I'll post a recipe. In the meantime, I've posted a picture of my "pie" after I stirred it up (above).

My second pie is a recipe I've used before: Quick Quiche from the Food Network website. I mostly followed the recipe, but used 1 tbsp. cornstarch for the flour and I didn't add onions (my husband hates onions). I had a little trouble with this pie, too (see second picture, above).

For some reason, the pre-made crust (which has lard in it - I didn't realize that until I got the crusts home from the store - I used the other crust for the Berry Cranberry Pie - I'd already purchased them and I didn't want them to go to waste) broke all along the sides and the quiche rose like a souffle, along with the crust edge. Oh, well...I'm sure it will still taste great!

Orange You Glad for a Bad Pumpkin Pun?

Along with cranberries, I LOVE pumpkin this time of year. Yes - I know I can buy canned pumpkin year round (and I do), but when the temperature drops and leaves are crunching underfoot, my mind dwells on pumpkin. Especially pumpkin pie. I've never attempted a vegan pumpkin pie before, and I'm notoriously afraid of making my own pie crusts, so I trolled the internet for a no-bake pie. What I found was the Impossible Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe at fatfreevegan.com. I substituted spelt flour for the rice flour, but otherwise followed the recipe.

I tried to blend the ingredients in my blender, but I don't think it's powerful enough. Next time, I'll try it with my stand mixer and the wisk attachment. Also, I used too small of a pie plate and it ran over quite a bit - as you can see. (Good thing I had the forethought to put a tin foil-lined pizza pan under it as it baked.) And it really didn't make it's own crust. It turned out more like a custard in the shape of a pie. But...it is delicious! I will definitely try this recipe again, but with a few modifications.

Life's the Berries

One of my favorite foods around Thanksgiving and Christmas is cranberries. When I was a kid, my mom would usually just crack open a can of jellied cranberry sauce. Not to pleasant to look at, but delicious. Just within the last few years, I've discovered the wonder and simplicity of making my own cranberry sauce from scratch. Now, I don't see why anyone would bother with canned cranberry sauces when making your own is so easy! This latest batch was a bit of an experiment - I decided to add a little vanilla extract - and wow! It's the best cranberry sauce I've ever made! Even my cranberry-fearing husband ventured to take a bite and really liked it - he compared it to rhubarb sauce. I think I'll make this recipe every time.

Cranberry Sauce
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 bag fresh cranberries
1/2 cup dried, sweetened cranberries

Combine sugar, water, apple juice, cinnamon and vanilla in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Add the fresh and dried cranberries, reduce to a simmer and cook until all the berries pop. Cool and serve.