"FruitPies" news and stories

• A delicious, summery fruit pie is as easy as, well, you know.
• Hybrid politics: When two species of fruit intermarry, what do you call the kids?
• The setting for the Inn of the Seventh Ray has always been fantastic. The food is finally catching up.
• Feeling hot and tired? The wine of the week will cool you off.

At least once a summer, my mom makes a pie for no particular reason. When my sister was living at home, she'd do her best to plan the pie seed and continue to talk about blueberry pie or blackberry galette until my mom could resist temptation no longer. She'll pull out the rolling pin she bought used when my parents first got married (it has a wonderfully butter, seasoned surface) and make a sincerely transcendent dessert.

If you live in the Portland (Oregon, not Maine) area, you have good reason to pull out your rolling pin this weekend. The first-ever Portland Pie-Off is taking place at the Washington Park picnic site (near the playground) this Saturday (August 30th) at 3 pm. There are eight categories to enter and 12 categories from which prizes will be awarded (there is a $5 entrance fee). So pull out your pie plates and get out the flour, cause it's pie baking time!

Even if you don't live in the Portland area, let this contest serve as inspiration to you to bake up a pie before the summer is over. Take a picture and add it to the Slashfood Flickr pool. Be it blueberry, blackberry, cherry or apple, there's nothing quite like a good slice of pie.

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When fall comes around, pies are one of the best desserts you can bring to the table, whether you are opting for pumpkin or the fruitier flavors from apples, pears and cranberries. The crust is usually the most difficult part for most cooks, but once you have mastered the dough-making technique (or have broken down and purchased ready made-dough), the job is only halfway done. The second challenge is to make the crust look presentable. Fortunately, there are a couple of gadgets that can help. One is a lattice cutter, which can simply be pressed down into the dough to punch out a traditional-looking, although not actually interwoven, lattice top for your pie. If you want to make your lattice a little more creative, you can opt for the new oak-leaf lattice cutter, instead. The other thing that will really spruce up your pie is a set of piecrust cutters, which punch out little seasonal shapes from your dough. They can be used to create vents in the top layer of the crust or you can punch out shapes from the unused scraps of crust and use them to decorate the surface of the pie.

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