Cville Pie Down: Baking Day

Tomorrow, I will face my arch nemesis of pie, The Food Geek, in the Cville Pie Down.

Today, I bake.

Actually, more accurately, today I will prep crust, shop, plan, bake, think, panic and start over. It may be a long day.

I spent the last three days working in St. Louis, Mo. (Hello St. Louis!) It was a great trip, very energizing and exhausting, and took my thoughts far away from pie for a few days — probably a good thing. But here we are, mere hours from the Pie Down and it’s time to get going. I’m reminding myself of all I’ve decided in the weeks leading up to this event. Calm down. Relax. Take your time.

These things I know: a perfect pie crust requires patience and attention to detail. The conditions must be right; the water ice-cold, the fat mixed with the flour just right to create that flaky condition that results from those tiny pockets that result from the butter/shortening/lard baking in layers within the infrastructure of the crust. Brian, The Food Geek (who, really, I consider a friend and only arch nemesis for a day) wrote a great article about the components of pie crust for Fine Cooking. I’ll say this: Brian’s a worthy competitor.

Got to get back to my crust prep, shopping, etc. I will periodically update and share Pie Down news here and on Twitter (I’m @Marijean in case you’re not following). I still can’t reveal my pies specifically, but know this: one berry; one signature pie. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.