I am so excited to announce that, along with three other wonderful ladies and a gent whom I absolutely loved working with, I was fortunate to be a part of a published article in this new GORGEOUS wedding magazine! I never would have thought to see any of my work in print, much less beautifully photographed and published. We were fortunate to have a small spread among the likes of Elizabeth Messina, Vera Wang, Ruffled Blog, 100 Layer Cake, and Oh Lovely Day; Kelly Sauer was the photographer, Rebecca Gallop from A Daily Something did the set design and styling, Rebekah Pizana and Kyle Murray were the lovely models, and I made the tasty blackberry pies as well as assisting Rebecca and doing a tad modeling myself. Below is just a sneak peek of the magazine cover… You can buy the gorgeous 167 page compilation yourself at the Utterly Engaged website!
Just to give you a sneak peek of the actual article…. Below is the first page. Isn’t it pretty?
I would be remiss to just leave you at just that; so, in honor of my now-famous pies, my favorite pie crust recipe is below. Enjoy the pretties above, but mostly, make yourself some pie!
Perfectly Flaky Pie Crust
– 2 1/2 cups flour
– 1 Tbls (raw) sugar
– 1 tsp salt
– 2 sticks cold butter (I place them in the freezer 5 minutes prior)
1. Fill a 1 or 2 cup measuring cup with cold water and drop in a few ice cubes. You will only use between 1/2 and 2/3 cup of this water.
2. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (big enough to get your hands into the mix), and then remove butter from freezer and cut into small (1/2-3/4 inch) cubes. Add that butter to the flour mixture, and cut with a pastry cutter until an average size piece of butter is about the size of your pinky finger nail. It won’t be consistent, but that’s okay; don’t overwork it. Some people have recommended grating the butter, and I have done that in other recipes, but for pie crust, the inconsistent clumps end up being a benefit.
3. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of the cold water over the top, and use a stiff spatula to work it in. Continue adding a little bit of water at a time (1-2 Tbls) until it all pulls together. You shouldn’t need more than 3/4 cup total.
4. Pull together and knead until it holds itself together; divide into two, wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
5. Take one piece out of the fridge at a time to roll. Another note here: don’t be afraid to be generous with the flour on the counter and rolling pin. If the dough is cold, it won’t absorb too much and it won’t get too dry and hard. To keep the dough from sticking, roll it out straight in front of you, then turn the dough about three hours counterclockwise. Roll straight again, then turn etc. This will keep you from having to scrape it off when it comes time to put it in the pie pan, while helping you keep it round.
After getting it into the pie pan, place it back in the fridge or freezer while you are rolling out the top piece. Again, keeping the dough cold is essential and will make a huge difference, I promise!
After assembling your pie, slice slits in the top. Sprinkle with raw sugar, and bake as directed by your pie recipe.
fibre and spice 