4th of July Pie!

For the 4th of July, we had a perfectly American, perfectly delicious meal: Ruthie's Fried Chicken (it just doesn't get better than a secret recipe...), Mom's potato salad, corn on the cob, and last but not least, pie!

My feeble attempts at pie were crushed at the hands of these beautiful pies from Pie In the Sky, a delicious, home-grown (literally, in someone's house) pie shop in Cape Neddick, ME. We picked up a blueberry (because we were in Maine, after all) and an apple (because it was 4th of July, after all), and they just couldn't have been more delicious.

While at the bakery, I tried to pick up some tips by sneaking a peek at their baking methods. First, the apples were piled sky high on the pies. Literally, more than double the height of the pie crust (see above that they do cook down). Also, I concluded that they cook these pies for a long, long time. I'm thinking like 4-6 hours. When we went in at 3pm, there were apple pies in the oven (when they opened it, they looked almost cooked to me); they said we'd have to pick them up at 6pm for them to be ready, and even then might be a gamble. So, slow-cooking must be the secret!

In my new kitchen, I have a big marble counter - perfect for rolling out pie dough. While I know it will take many, many tries, I am determined to improve my baking this summer. Wish me luck!