ARKANSAS

June 18, 2016

Pie #4 of 50 - June 2016 - Kat Ryals

From two states with absolutely no state foods Arkansas you are coming in HOT with representative state foods!!
State beverage: Cow's milk
State fruit/vegetable: South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato
State Grain: rice
State Grape: Cynthiana
State Nut: Pecan

I was seriously spoilt for choice! So I thought I would try my hand at a savory pie!
So here ya have it! A heirloom tomato and cow's milk cheese pie with an herbed crust! The cheese and tomatoes are from the Prospect Park farmers market and the herbs are from the window sill in my kitchen.

This pie is for Kat Ryals. Kat is the only other person who I can truly say loves Dolly Parton and Katy Perry as much as I do. She also like me appreciates a good themed outfit and the fact that she finally got the baby Pom pup she has always wanted let's me know that dreams really do come true when you wish hard enough!

This pie is also dedicated to a constant source of joy in my life Olan (Kent) Reeves! Thank you for making all the fibers classes we took in college together and every trip to Joann's so enjoyable. You are sunshine on a cloudy day, a constant inspiration to keep crafting and too arrange things in rainbow order! Stay golden lovely!

This is the end of the A states!

Arkansas you are now the natural state but let's be honest you'll always be the land of opportunity to me!

Knock knock California, Colorado & Connecticut you're up next!!

ARIZONA

June 9, 2016

Pie #3 of 50 - June 2016 - Sierra Seip

Another state with no state fruits or foods! C'mon Arizona! So I put my thinking cap on and googled food products commonly found/eaten in the area and came up with the prickly pear!

Let me tell you finding a prickly pear cactus fruit in NYC was a huge huge challenge. I called about every grocer in the greater New York City, Brooklyn and Queens area with no luck! All my co-workers checked all the stores around them and in New Jersey too with no luck! I was about to lose faith and just throw caution to the wind and order fruit online, where the shipping is just as much as the fruits itself and you have no idea what you are getting UGH!

But not all hope was lost!

Who came to the rescue? THE SEIP FAMILY OF ARIZONA! I knew I wanted to give this pie to Sierra Seip for a reason! A huge huge thanks to her brother Colin for picking them up for me and shipping them so quickly!

So like I said above this pie is for Sierra Seip one of the best interns I have ever had the pleasure of working with! This pie wouldn't have ever gotten made without you and your sweet family! Thank you thank you thank you!

Voila! A prickly pear pie with blushing apples and candied ginger! Had a little fun with the crust. The coyote cut out with a cookie cutter my roommate Patrick got me from Arizona while he was visiting his parents when they were living there and a little experimentation of painting crusts with a beet "paint" mixture I cooked up.

This pie truly took a village to make. THANK YOU to everyone who helped out its very very appreciated! Beyond words! Pie anytime you want you know who you are! (Sierra, Colin, Emily, Kirsten & Amy)

Arizona : The Grand Canyon state. You truly are grand.

Side bar: I'm totally taking myself to the Grand Canyon when I complete my pie project and I'm going to sit with my feet dangled off the edge in silence, drink never ending PBRs and watch the sun rise and set till my hearts content.

ALASKA

May 18, 2016

Pie #2 - May 2016 - Alex Miller

The last frontier!

So Alaska doesn't have a state fruit, a state nut, not even a stat pastry! but what Alaska does have is a great dessert named after it with variations and origins in the United States and in Hong Kong! Which is pretty amazing cause I grew up in Hong Kong and now live in the U.S. of A!

So here ya go! this is a baked Alaska pie with homemade vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream topped with the soft peaks of a toasted meringue!

This pie was a doozy took about 48 hours to complete including a lot of waiting for things to set up, churn and freeze. So as you can imagine there was a lot of movie watching, singing loudly with my eyes closed and snacking while I was waiting for everything to set up.

So this pie is for Alex Miller. He isn't from Alaska but he is spending the endless summer in the last frontier and since I can't ship an ice cream pie for once in my life I get to have my pie and eat it too!

Kelsie, Chuck, Patrick and I consumed it on his behalf. I promise to make him another one when he comes back.

I couldn't find one person from Alaska! I guess i'll just have to go and make some new friends!

Alaska you are beyond my dreams but within my reach.

xo

ALABAMA

May 9, 2016

Pie #1 - May 2016 - Adam Porter

The pie is a peach, black berry pie with a salted pecan brown sugar crumble topping.

The state fruit of Alabama is the blackberry, the state tree fruit is the peach and the state nut is the pecan! It was great making this pie the peaches and blackberries just look so darn beautiful together and who doesn't love a crumble topping!

This pie is for Adam Zachery Porter. The first person I ever met from Alabama. I have been to Adam's hometown and coincidentally know a bunch of people he went to high school with because they all ended up at the same college with me! (yay SCAD!) My roommate in college is from Alabama as well (yay Jessica Chavez!) shout outs to the Chavez family, Chelsea Holeman, Laura Eisle and Jennifer Hathorn. Also to the Steak Out fast food join that Jess's friend April worked at. Their baked potato is amazing.

Fun Fact: Madison, Alabama is the first place I ever got in a girl fight defending the honor of a friend. Don't worry, I won.

The stars truly fell on Alabama.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama Recorded Live: 7/2/1977 - Oakland Coliseum Stadium - Oakland, CA More Lynyrd Skynyrd at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com Subscribe to Music Vault on YouTube: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF Personnel: Ronnie Van Zant - vocals Allen Collins - guitar Gary Rossington - guitar Steve Gaines - guitar Artimus Pyle