Sorry for being M.I.A. for a couple of weeks but…

I HAD MY BABY!!!! Exactly 2 weeks ago I was running up and down the hospital stairs in an attempt to progress my labor and avoid a C-Section! It worked- VBAC success- and check out my reward for 9 months of puking and fatness,  followed by the pain and gore of natural childbirth:

Flora Nightingale- She weighed in at 6lbs 10 oz. and she is like 50 lbs of cuteness!! Worth every minute of discomfort I tell ya!

Now- back to more important matters…

Like pie:

This mini apple ‘tartlet’ was baked in a canning jar lid!!! I saw the idea on Pinterest one day and thought it would be a good opportunity to test out my pal Melissa’s suspicious- sounding pie crust recipe.

Good thing Melissa has some credibility, since she is the master-mind/body behind Buttercream Couture. This pie crust sounds CRAZY- but I trust her with my children, so I suppose that means I can trust her with my tastebuds.

This is a hot water pie crust (WHAT?!?!) and it is all wrong… but it turns out so right! It was SOOOO EASY! Usually pie crust is like alchemy- a tsp of this at this temp or else it will turn into a death potion. But this, my friends, is easy peasy and I will definitely not be buying any more pre-made crusts  putting in all that hard work I usually do to get a perfect pie crust anymore.

Check out the recipe and instructions for this magical crust that will change your pastry-making world forever here. 

Crazy pie crust!!! But trust me, it turns out grand. I actually quartered the recipe because the original makes quite a bit, which is awesome if you want to freeze some pies, but the recipe is super-easy to half or quarter so that is handy dandy.

SIDE NOTE- I am most-definitely going to be trying to make some samosas with this recipe! It’s gonna be good! OH! anddd if you use vegan margarine (or vegan shortening)  instead of lard or butter, this recipe is dairy-free and vegan!

After I rolled out the pie crust to a crusty kind of thickness, I used a cup that was around an inch larger in diameter than the lids I planned on using as a mini springform pan to cut out the circles for my mini pies! I just made a few pies to start- 2 large and 2 small ones to test them out, and I still had enough dough left over to make a glorious (life-sized) lemon meringue pie, which I will share with you later.

Then I pressed the dough into the lids. these look pretty cute when they are ‘rustic’- which means you can do an imperfect job and they turn out great.

Some people might be concerned that a small amount of BPA that can be found in the canning jar lid will leach into the pie crust. I am not one of those people, because I like to live life on the edge, but I did think of an idea for all the cautious fellas out there- I think if you flip the BPA-ish part of the lid upside-down or cover it in aluminum foil, you should be fine. Also, you can use the foil to make a hat.

Moving on…

Prick the bottoms of the crusts with a fork, and place em on a tray in the oven at 350 degrees for around 10 minutes. Meanwhile, you can get started on your fillings!

I just whipped together a super quick apple pie filling. It consisted of one diced apple, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1/2 tsp lemon juice. Woah- I just accidentally made these apple pies SUGAR-FREE. I was honestly just too lazy to drag the huge sugar bag over to the counter, (I was 8 months pregnant at the time) so I went with the accessible honey. And it worked awesomely- yay for accidental sugar-free recipes!

I cooked the apple filling on medium heat for the 10 minutes that the crusts were getting crusty in the oven, until the apples became tender.

Then I filled the shells up like so. Actually I only filled up 3 of the 4 crusts, because I ate too much of the apple filling while I was waiting. So I needed to come up with a quick mini-filling stat. This was basically an emergency.

I stuck to my new found sugar-free idea and mixed one egg yolk with a tablespoon of coconut milk and half a banana, which resulted in a delish banana cream pie-esque filling.

Now, off to the oven with these under-cooked pies!

Just another 10 minutes and they were done! I cooled them for a bit then ate most of them myself. But first I did a photo shoot:

Like I said before I also made a large lemon meringue pie, and I had enough dough left to make another mini pie!!! So here is the cutest lil lemon meringue pie you ever did see!

AWWWWWW! Why, that is almost as cute as THIS:

Here is big sister Mercie with her new lil sis! After having 3 boys in a row, she was pretty darn excited to finally have a little sister! Actually, she was so excited that she wanted to attend the birth. Here is a photo that might turn you off of the next set of pie photos, but at the risk of that, I am going to share it with you, because I think it is pretty darn cool:

SHE WANTED TO CUT THE CORD! How special is that?!?! She has been swearing that she will be a midwife since she was 3 years old. And so far she is going in the right direction. P.S. they should really pay someone to do people’s makeup in those last stages of labor… Ewy haha.

OKAY, now, if you are still in the mood to see some delicious photos- check out the ‘unlidding’ and cutting of these precious pies!!!

Mmmm. Those were good. I did save the two smaller pies for a couple of my kids who were pretty excited when they woke up to a fairy tea party for breakfast the next day!

Hey, whiiile I’ve got you here- In honor of having my baby I am having a sale at my Etsy shop! Just use the code ‘FLORA’ at the checkout and you will get 15% off your entire order 🙂 Pretty handy if you are in a baking mood and want to sport some of these stand mixer earrings while you are making mini-pies:

Appliances belong dangling from your ears! These are sure to inspire creativity in the kitchen 😉  (Click the photo to see the listing.)

Well, I have to go cuddle a brand-spanking-new baby!

Happy Pie-Making and Jewelry-Purchasing. Hehe. That didn’t rhyme at all.

Please excuse any typos or nonsense that comes out of me in the next little while. My brain fell out 2 weeks ago.

~Dot

P.S. Ohmigash! Someone just reminded me that tomorrow is Pi Day!!! (March 14th A.K.A.  3/14 A.K.A. 3.14!!) What a strange coincidence! HAPPY PI DAY!! Make some pie.