Category Archives: Recipes

Last week I ordered a pie book that I expected to love, but not quite so much as I did. Pie, much like Thanksgiving turkey, is something that we tend to develop our own ideas about, and once we’ve got them in our head, it’s hard to get them out.

When it comes to food, I’m as stubborn as they come. I’m convinced that a turkey is better brined and basted – even if Alton Brown says I shouldn’t baste. And I’m convinced that my all-butter piecrust is the best thing on earth.

But my own opinions don’t really mean anything to anyone but me. Others could think my pie is the worst. (I hope you don’t — because come spring, Mark and I might have a little bit of an announcement… we’ve been foreshadowing here for some time, but behind the scenes we’re plugging away, and some exciting things are happening — but you might.)

Because of that, I’m always curious to join in the piecrust debate, and to take a peek into others’ kitchens to see what they love.

So when The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book showed up at my door, I turned straight to the crust. Was it the same? Similar? Something totally new?

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The first time I ever cooked with fresh pumpkin was a disaster. Mark and I had just started dating, and I really wanted to impress him. So since his birthday was coming up on Halloween (hello pumpkin) and cheesecake is his favorite, I decided I’d make him the best pumpkin cheesecake he’d ever had…

I wasn’t cocky at all.

So I ran to the local Whole Foods and dropped an entire meal’s worth of money on a fat pumpkin to cook down into my own puree… because why would I do this the easy way? Everything was better from scratch.

Hours (a whole day?) later, the pumpkin cooked down, the cheesecake set up, and I couldn’t wait for him to see what I’d done. When he came over to celebrate, I practically met him at the door with a slice.

This thing was going to be good, I was certain.

… and I think he was too.

Then he took a bite.

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Hands down, the best part of carving a pumpkin is toasting the seeds. But while I’ve religiously toasted pumpkin seeds my whole life, I’ve always been a little messy about it… clearing away most of some of the gunk, dousing them in salt, and letting them sit until they’re good and golden brown.

This weekend though, Mark set me straight. Having never toasted a single seed in his life, he turned to the internet and came up with a process I’d never even thought to try, and wouldn’t you know… the results were better than anything I’d ever had.

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So I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but here on the east coast, summer’s been sticking around. The heat, humidity, and summer storms we all felt so lucky to miss out on in August have decided to swoop in and take over our fall.

And while it’s sticky and sweaty totally unfair… I can’t really complain.

Nothing is worse than the cold… and in this house, anything that wards it off just a little bit longer is welcome, even if it does mean the hot apple cider will have to stay on the shelf.

I’ll just kill the pain with a few more of these tasty end-of-summer tomatoes (we still have so many from our garden!).

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Two days before I decided to make this tart, I realized I’d finally need to go out and buy a tart pan with a removable bottom. Why? Because I wanted to take pretty pictures of the rosemary crust, of course… purchases in this house aren’t usually based around logic.

Take our new friend Chuck, for example. In my older age I seem to have developed a love for a certain variety of décor… combine that with my generally (but pretty lax) vegetarian diet and you might find something of a contradiction… but god does Chuck look great on my floor.

That crust was going to look great if I could just find a pan. And that would be easy, right?

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