I must be straight-up with you from the start. There's no way I can be unbiased about this book. Not only do I have the utmost respect and love for my dear friend Ashley English, the work she does, and her sweet family....but, um, I contributed to this very book as well (Summer Fern Pie!). So with that out of the way, let me tell you about how I love this book. Because I do.
My family, you see, is a pie family. I've gathered that there are 'cake' people and then there are 'pie' people. At this here Soule homestead, it appears that 9 out of 10 prefer pies (which translates roughly into five of the seven of us, though my math is always a little flexible. Ahem).
And so, when Ms. Ashley English's book A Year of Pies was released just as few days before Papa Steve's birthday, I was thrilled. Because truth be told? Though my people seem to be evolving into a pie-exclusive lot, the reality is that I'm not all that much of a pie cook. Apple pie, quiche (Summer Fern Pie!), I've got those down. But beyond that, not so much. Ashley's book, though, might just help me full embrace the switch from cake to pie, as the savory, sweet, seasonal compendium kind of rocks my world as I flip through the pages.
This weekend, there were four pies from A Year of Pies. Two Classic Blueberry Pies and two Chicken Pot Pies. My chosen first pies are most certainly of the more classic, conventional in her book, but that's just what I was looking for - some classics to add into the mix. And for certain, these two are here to stay. The blueberry, though named 'classic' had a yummy twist of flavor that I wasn't expecting, and the chicken pot pie was amazing, and eaten so quickly despite the hot humid day on which I decided to cook it (my sweet boys did ever-so gently request that it be made on a ski day sometime this winter).
And yes, I said four pies - two of each. With seven of us, we're most defintely of the two pie ilk these days. Plus...well, there's always that one piece that gets saved (with great restraint) for a post-birthday breakfast. That's a given. Oh, pie. Pie is good. A Year of Pies? Very, very good.
Congratulations, Ms. English! It's a beauty...
(And Happy Birthday, my dear!)
