The first pie I mastered was Door County Cherry Pie. This was the pie we had at every holiday while I was growing up and is still my favorite. When I moved to Maryland, those tart little Door County cherries were no longer available to me, and I had to relearn cherry pie with the larger, sweeter bing cherries that are so readily available out here. While I struggled with the unfamiliarity of these cherries and tried to get some of that tart cherry flavor I grew up with into my pies, I eventually began looking to other fruits. And, in my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook, I found what would become the signature pie of my early days as a wife - Apple Sour Cream pie. I made this pie so many times it became My Pie. And, even though I haven't made it in years, I still think of it that way.
Read MoreShooting Star Pie
It's officially barbecue season, and nothing tops off an afternoon of grilled meat quite like a home made pie. I've been working on my pie decorating skills, using cookie cutters to cut shapes into the top crust of my pies. For Memorial Day, I tried something different.
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Spiced Apple Cookies
I like a little spice cookie and am always looking for new recipes to incorporate spice into my holiday cookie basket. I found this interesting recipe on Food52 from user Kelsey the Naptime Chef, who credits a neighbor for this recipe. It's a straight-forward recipe that results in a moist, cake-like cookie with a nice apple pie-like flavor as promised by the baker.
Read MoreSunday Morning Banana Bread
Last week we purchased a beautiful bunch of bananas for the week and then promptly forgot about them, which means today they were perfect for banana bread. We had enough for two loaves - one for us and an extra for a grieving friend. Who doesn't feel a little better after a slice of home made banana bread?
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Mary Cherry Christmas Pie
When my counterpart and I started discussing Christmas dinner a few weeks back, I knew I wanted a cherry pie. I grew up in Northeast Wisconsin, and we spent our Christmases with my grandparents and cousins in Sturgeon Bay on the Door Peninsula, where orchards of tart cherries littered the landscape from Brussels bordering Kewaunee County in the south up to Gills Rock on the northern tip of the mainland where a ferry could take you to the islands on the very northern tip between Upper and Lower Michigan. Every Christmas, every holiday, ended with a tart cherry pie.
Read MoreHoliday Baking: Fig and Date Pinwheels
Last weekend's Holiday Baking Marathon resulted in some lovely cookie baskets, including a couple for the office. The baskets included my traditional shortbread and my mother's butterscotch brownies, plus cocoa chocolate chip, honey ginger, Chinese Five Spice, and my first attempt at pinwheel cookies - anise-scented fig and date swirls. It was this last variety that inspired a comment from a coworker that captures the spirit of holiday baking. He said that his grandmother had made those cookies, and he remembered eating them every Christmas when we was a kid. And that's really really the reason for the holiday baking season - to summon cherished childhood memories from years long gone and recapture a little of that magic.
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