United States of Pie: Regional Favorites from East to West and North to South – A Mouthwatering Compendium of Classic American Desserts

United States of Pie: Regional Favorites from East to West and North to South – A Mouthwatering Compendium of Classic American Desserts

A baker’s delight, United States of Pie is an utterly charming and mouthwatering compendium of heirloom American pies—regional favorites from East to West and North to South—gathered lovingly together by Adrienne Kane,  author of Cooking and Screaming and creator of the popular food blog www.nosheteria.com . From long lost recipes to classic favorites, the irresistible desserts featured in this wonderful cookbook will be pastry nirvana for Mollie Katzen and Moosewood fans—hot and tasty treats sweetly illustrated, combined with  time-tested baking tips and secrets for preparing the perfect pie. "A charming recipe collection...Kane's book includes the most thorough instructions we've seen yet on mastering pie dough; so whether you're new to the form, or a been-there, done-that pie aficionado, you'll find so much to love in these pages!" -Matt Lee and Ted Lee, authors of The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern "This colorful, varied collection by a blogger, recipe developer, and food writer may well be the definitive resource on the all-American pie." -Publishers Weekly Selected by National Public Radio (NPR) as one of the Top 10 Summer Cookbooks for 2012. "The charming book offers pies that reflect the country's varying palates and personalities, from Concord Grape pie in New England to Hoosier Pie in the Midwest to Olallieberry in the Pacific Northwest...Pies like this make me proud to be American." - Marissa Rothkopf Bates "Kane's recipes, and the sweet stories that surround them, make another good case for knocking the cupcake craze to the curb. Their simple goodness makes this book deserving of a place on a baker's shelves..." -New York Journal of Books An utterly charming collection of regional heirloom American pies, from long-lost recipes to classic favorites, sweetly illustrated and chock-full of time-tested baking tips and secrets for perfect pies Before cooking shows and celebrity chefs there were church dinners, community bake sales, and county fairs—events for which regular women made and served their prized family recipes, especially for that homiest and most American of desserts, pie. In the United States of Pie , Adrienne Kane invites readers on a journey back in time as she scours the country for—and shares—those recipes: the pies that have come to define culinary traditions from the West Coast to the East Coast, from the Midwest to the South. Sourced from old newspaper clippings, out-of-print cookbooks, housekeeping guides, and the spiral-bound, mimeographed booklets of church groups and community associations, the recipes in the United States of Pie showcase the innovative spirit of American home cooks in the era before processed foods and flavorless, imported produce took over grocery shelves. Here, tested and updated for contemporary palates and with an emphasis on local, seasonal fruit and dairy products, are both re-imagined classics and newly invented creations that celebrate sharing lovingly homemade desserts with friends and family. And whether you're serving up slices of Meyer Lemon Cream Pie, Concord Grape Pie, or Burnt Sugar Meringue Pie, your lucky guests will definitely ask for seconds. With helpful sidebars on baking tips and techniques ranging from the best thickeners for fruit pies to why home bakers should embrace corn syrup, a chapter dedicated to how to make the perfect pie crust, and charming, insightful essays on pie-making traditions around the country, the United States of Pie is more than just a cookbook; it's a must-have baking resource for novice and expert pie makers alike. Adrienne Kane is the author of the memoir Cooking and Screaming and of the popular food blog www.nosheteria.com. She is a food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer whose work has appeared in Natural Health and Prevention and on Chow and foodandwine.com. She lives and cooks in New Haven, Connecticut.