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The pie extravaganza of 2011 has finally come to a close. I say “finally”…but actually, looking back, I’m amazed at how quickly the year went by!

I whipped up a pie a week from scratch and posted the recipe and step-by-step instructions every Monday.  My goal was to inspire you to get in your kitchen, get creative and be brave. And I tried to do the same myself.  Before this year I’d never made many of these pies.  They were all dessert pies with all kind of fillings. Fruit, nuts…and many, many creamy concoctions in between.

It seems that I’m addicted to baking and creating delicious desserts—but I’ve figured out that I don’t have to eat them all by myself! Family, friends…and more than a few fireman happily served as taste-testers.  I’ve discovered that “sharing the (pie) love” is as fulfilling as obtaining crust perfection! Giving away baked goods is becoming one of my favorite pastimes.

My wonderful spouse, aka “Traveling Husband” served as senior taste tester whenever he was in town and never complained once about trying another new pie.  He’s such a great guy! Always willing to take one for the pie team.

We thought it would be fun to put photos of all the pies together into a short music video. I made all the pies, shot the photos and selected a great piece of “as American as apple pie” music from one of my favorite artists,violinist Ruth McGinnis. I had the opportunity to meet Ruth in Nashville several years before she passed away from ovarian cancer.  She was a talented lovely person and is greatly missed.  Check out her website for more information about her CD’s and books.

Traveling Husband put on his video editor hat for this project.  We love collaborating on projects like this so you’ll probably see more videos in the year to come.

As I said earlier, several of these pies were new to me.  Although I thought they were all good, some were incredible! Traveling Husband and I tried to pick our 10 favorites.  His list had a few mine didn’t and visa-versa …but there several we both absolutely loved. In the end, our “Top Ten” list has 20 pies on it.

Check the 52 Pies tab for all the recipes and step-by-step instructions:

1.  Fresh Blueberry Pie was hands down our favorite pie.  It was fantastic.
2.  Skillet Apple Pie – Traveling Husband would not let me give this one away.  In fact he did not travel very far from this pie.   It was totally delicious!
3.  Lemon Chess Pie – Where have you been all my life?  I love the blend of sweet and tart flavors and will make this pie for years to come.

The rest of our favorites are in no particular order (mostly because we could not agree).  They’re all good solid recipes with Sticky Toffee Pudding Apple Pie  the only one in the challenging range.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Apple Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
Lemon Ice Box Pie
Summer Berry Pie
Creme Brulee Pie
Blackberry Pie
Chocolate Raspberry Pie
Margarita Pie with a Pretzel Crust
Fresh Peach Pie
Key Lime Pie
German Chocolate Pie
Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie
Pear Crumb Pie
Old Fashioned Oatmeal Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Classic Pecan Pie

Thanks so much for following along on our pie adventure.  I’ve had a lot of questions about what I’m planning for 2012.  Some have suggested I bake a different cookie each week.  Others have asked about cakes, cupcakes, etc.  I guess you can check back next Monday to see what’s on the dessert menu at Saving Room for Dessert!

Have a blessed New Year and happy baking!

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I have a couple of young nieces that have used SRFD instructions to bake their first pies!  That’s success if you ask me.  Passing on some tiny piece of passion for cooking is a good thing.  My Mom would have liked that. 

Apple Pie

I typically need an angle, a purpose to everything I do.   “I have to get this done so I can blog it.  Somebody out there is counting on me.”  At least that’s what I tell myself.  I’m starting to think that ‘justification’ is highly overrated.   Is there some sort of ‘purpose police’ out there to question me about why I’m blogging?  I don’t make any money from it, my own kids don’t read it, and would anybody care if it just went away?  Yes, I think I would.  I think this is fun. 

Crust Cookies

 

I have rambled on and on with no apparent purpose!  Just kidding.  My special purpose is to tell you about an idea that recently popped into my head.  I’ve decided to challenge myself and make 52 different pies, one a week, for the entire year of 2011.  Why?  Ha!  I don’t know!  Maybe just because it’s so random and has no specific purpose other than I wondered if I can come up with that many pies.  I sat down and started making a list and actually came up with 42 different pies off the top of my head.  My sister-in-law gave me # 43 but it won’t necessarily be #43 in the rotation.  Obviously I need a more challenging job if I have enough time to think about this stuff.  I think that’s on the top of my list for 2011 🙂

Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie

Seriously … I think this will be fun, and random, and yummy, and maybe somewhere out there someone will find it helpful.    I told my kids they have to eat one piece of pie each week for the entire year.  Oh how they suffer.  I didn’t have to tell Husband he had to eat pie.  He asked if blueberry pie can be first since I have deprived him by only making one in 25 years of marriage.  So Husband, blueberry it is!  I think I will have this crust thing nailed down by the end of the year.  Practice, practice & practice some more!

Pecan Pie

I will bake a pie each weekend and post them on Monday’s throughout the year.  Please come along and see if you can guess which one is next!  If you have any favorite recipes please feel free to share.  You can email me at savingdessert@aol.com.  I will continue to share healthy recipes I enjoy, and will visit healthy topics as much as possible.  I will even talk a little about going to college if I have to. 

Chocolate Pecan Pie