If one was going to make a life out of a dessert – I think pie is a pretty good choice. In the words of poet pie enthusiast and expert Kate Lebo, "everyone loves pie – it makes people happy just to see it."
I was able to sneak into Kate's Pie School this Monday at High 5 Pie's industrial pie kitchen in Seattle and felt a lucky soul to participate. Kate over the last few years came out with a book of pie and poetry A Commonplace Book of Pie and has turned her love of pie into a passion that feeds the masses gluten wrapped goodness.
To be a good standard pie crust maker you need to know how gluten reacts and learn its fickle ways. Kate's pie school starts with a lesson in crust which is a lesson in gluten massage – producing amazing results that crumble in your mouth like fairy dust when baked. (It also helps that she has an award winning pie crust recipe).
When is pie crust ready to be rolled? At the exact moment the butter and gluten blend and you have just enough water, but not too much. When is that? Well you can know by feel. Yeah…its not surprising why pie and its crust are sometimes considered too hard to mess with – the tempermental nature of the ingredients alone – so simple and so complex can be a foreboding combination.
With Kate we conquered all our doubts and made marvelous pie crusts.
This is the conditioning of the pie crust dough to ready it for the rolling pin.
"Don't let it smell your fear. – and move quickly," shared Kate when it came time to getting the crust in the pan.
After you have extraordinary crust pull together fresh ingredients for the filler and you will have an amazing pie – its just that simple. Well – its far more simple and less foreboding after pie school.
So you live in Seattle and you are like – wow! Gotta get me some of this food learning! Well have no fear as Kate lives here and upcoming classes will be listed on www.pie-school.com (she also does private parties and lessons). For those who live far from this metro region check out her book and learn and try and hope her gluten nimble hands will come to your city for a pie stand or pie school.
There is a beautiful pie in your future – I can feel it.