PIE: A Hand Drawn Almanac

I love illustrated recipes. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you probably love them, too! And if you love illustrated recipes as much as I do, you’re also going to adore this new illustrated pie book from artist Elizabeth Graeber and Emily Hilliard, who writes the blog Nothing-in-the-House. The two recently joined forces to produce this fun, almanac-style book that provides different recipes for every month of the year. So, in January, you’ll find a recipe for Dark Chocolate and Vanilla-Bourbon Caramel Pie, which is a perfect dessert for those chilly winter nights, and, in July, summery berry tarts are featured. Each recipe is accompanied by stories and delightful drawings that celebrate the history of this classic dessert. PIE: A Hand Drawn Almanac is available at a discounted preorder rate of $13 via etsy. All preorders come specially packaged in a pastry bag and baker’s twine. After December 1st, the book will be available for $15 online and at various local shops in and around Washington DC. {Thanks, Emily!} ~Erin

Cookbook Excitement: Pie it Forward

I just received my copy of Pie it Forward by Gesine Bullock-Prado and the word "excited" doesn't even begin to cover my current emotional state. I love this book! It's been in my possession for all of 15 minutes and it's already my new favorite cookbook. It has everything I want in a cookbook: creative recipes and new, inspiring versions of the old classics. Among the recipes that captured my attention are the Spingerle Pear Tart, the Butterscotch Meringue Pie, and the Velvet Elvis Pie, just to name a few. She even throws in some savory pie recipes, to balance off all the sweets. Really, there are so many potentials in this book that I don't know where to begin. Of course, some of the credit for my cookbook crush has to go to photographer Tina Rupp, who also snapped the photos for the Baked cookbooks (my favorite cookbooks in the known universe). Tina is definitely one of the best food photographers around and her images always make my mouth water! Anyhoo, I know that the real test of a great cookbook comes when you actually make one of the recipes, but, until then, I'll be spending my days dreaming of the Yuzu-Ginger Rice Pudding Meringue Pie in my future! Did I mention that I'm excited?? To purchase your very own copy of Pie it Forward, click here.

Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Tart

Strawberry Love Pie

Springerle Pear Tart

Wild Blueberry Pie

Poached Pear Tart

Sweet Testing: Date Butter Tart & Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel

Back in November of last year, The New York Times put together an amazing slideshow of unique pies and tarts that appeared on their website. I was instantly taken with each and every pie and have being longing to make one ever since! Unfortunately, it just never happened, despite my best attempts to force these beauties upon other people, no one seemed quite as taken with the idea of green chili apple pie, but me! Well, I am happy to announce my pie dreams finally came true recently when my mom made not one, but two of the slideshow pies for my birthday! And I have to say, they were a huge success! So yummy and different! Normally, I have a little bit of a meltdown if I don't have ice cream with my pie, but, in this case, I actually ate around the ice cream, choosing instead to eat the pie in all its naked, untouched glory. Maybe the next time I eat a date butter tart, I'll eat it with ice cream, but this time I wanted nothing but pie! Oh, and while these pies do come with their own individual crust recipes, we opted for the fantastic Whole Foods gluten-free crust, which is a really good pie crust and, of course, it's gluten free, which makes it fun for the whole family! For the apple pie, which contains cheddar cheese in it's crust, my mom simply put the cheese on top of the crust. Click here to check out the recipe for Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel and here for the Date Butter Tart. {Thanks, Mom!}

The Mixing Bowl: Lemon Meringue Pie by Lindsay J. Haynes

I first discovered the work of illustrator Lindsay J. Haynes while I was flipping through the current issue of Uppercase magazine, in which we both appear. I'm in the issue rambling on about how food inspires me, while Lindsay shows up in a great article about cereal box art. I was instantly drawn to her retro-inspired take on the classic cereal box. If sugar frosted planets had existed when I was a kid, I definitely would have been buying it! (Okay, my mom wouldn't have let me buy it, but I would have wanted it!) It has just the right amount of believability and kitsch. After scurrying over to her Web site, I was pleased to discover a similar style in much of her work, including her wonderful Twin Peaks prints that I was drooling over for days!

Now on to the dessert! For her Mixing Bowl contribution, Lindsay sent in her mom's recipe for lemon meringue pie. I love family recipes and I love lemon meringue pie, so I'm really excited to try this one! When it comes to desserts, nothing says comfort food like simplicity and tradition! To see a larger version of the lemon meringue pie recipe, just click on the image at the top of this post. You can also click here to check out more of Lindsay's work online. {Thanks, Lindsay!}

Inspiration Board: Thanksgiving

A quick Thanksgiving Inspiration Board for everyone in the States. The holiday season sort of snuck up on me this year. Maybe because of all the warm weather that we've been having. Woo hoo! Even if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I must insist that you click on the link to the Pies and Tarts slideshow that appeared on the New York Times Web site earlier this week. (See Rye Pecan Pie below.) So many amazing pies for Thanksgiving or any time of the year. I swooned a little bit while looking at it. I want to make each and every one! Happy Thanksgiving!

[Pictured above] Thanksgiving Turkey Cake from Chow. It's the turkey, the sweet potatoes, and the mashed potatoes all in one. Plus, it looks like a cake! It reminds me a lot of the retro sandwich loafs that I wrote about earlier this year.


Thanksgiving Day Cookies by Eleni's ($65). Sooo cute! Check out the texture on the one in the upper left-hand corner.


Rye Pecan Pie from The New York Times. Perhaps, the most beautiful pecan pie ever! The crust is just gorgeous. Be sure to check out the Apple Green-Chili Pie as well for a unique spin on the classic dessert.


Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake from Woman's Day. I love a cake with distinct layers.

Sweet Testing: Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

I have had a craving for a Peanut Butter and Banana Creme Pie for a long time, ever since I first heard about it last year, so I was really happy when my father picked this as his dessert of choice during a recent visit. I was doubly happy when I searched the internet for a recipe and discovered that my favorite bakery, Baked, has their own version of this delicious treat! And let me tell you . . . it was soooo good!! I cheated a little bit and used a Whole Foods brand gluten-free pie crust, which I highly recommend for people with gluten allergies. Usually, I don't really care for store bought pie crust, but this one is a definite winner AND it's gluten free! So, because I wanted to make the pie edible for people with gluten allergies and because I was short on time, I didn't end of making the vanilla wafer crust that goes with this recipe, but I'm sure the pie would be even more amazing with that added element, although it was pretty damn good without it! For that reason, I can't really speak to the ease of the crust preparation, but the filling was super easy to assemble and came together quite quickly. Easy and a total crowd pleaser. What's better than that?

(p.s. For Baked fans, another teaser video for the new cookbook has been released. It features one of my favorite things: baked goods with miniatures. To watch it, click here.)

(p.p.s. Sometimes I feel like every recipe I make is from Baked. Someone seriously needs to hide their cookbooks from me!)

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

The Mixing Bowl: Rhubarb and Fruit Pie by Eleanor Grosch

I first came across the work of designer and illustrator Eleanor Grosch many, many years ago when she was simply PushMePullYou Design and had a little Web site where she sold her geometric animal prints and indie rock posters. Back then, Eleanor was one of my desktop favorites! I loved the strong lines and simplicity of her work and her illustrations were always in high rotation on my computer screen! One of my all-time faves! It was therefore only natural that I’d invite her to share a recipe with us here on The Mixing Bowl. I can't adequately express how excited I was when she actually agreed to the assignment and then sent along this amazingly simple recipe for Rhubarb and Fruit Pie! The cinnamon and rhubarb combination sounds delicious! I hope you'll give it a try!



Eleanor Grosch of PushMePullYou Design has worked for companies like Keds, Giro, and Urban Outfitters, as well as for musical acts like Wilco, Feist, and Death Cab for Cutie, among others. In addition, she also works as an interior design consultant and has a notecard series titled Flock that was released by Chronicle Books in 2008 (Yay, Chronicle).




If you love illustration like I do, be sure to check out Eleanor's Web site, right here. Thanks, Eleanor! You can find the complete recipe and more pics after the jump.

A Wedding Carnival

I don't know why, but every time I post something wedding related, I feel like I need to preface it by saying that I don't like weddings! I don't know why. Maybe because women and weddings are such a stereotype. So many people assume that all women are obsessed with weddings and I'm so not, never have been. For that reason, I feel like I have constantly justify wedding posts. It's if I want to say, I'm not posting this because I have a wedding fetish, but because it's totally awesome!!! :-) And as you can see it is . . . totally awesome! For a person that is not into the whole wedding thing, I went completely googly-eyed when I saw these pictures of Eunice and Daniel's wedding! Actually, my giddiness over these pictures made perfect sense to me once I discovered that Eunice, who is the co-founder and creative director of the fabulous design studio Hello! Lucky, drew inspiration for her wedding from one of my favorite photographers, the super-talented Tim Walker. Hello! Lucky + Tim Walker = me, swooning.

What do I love most about this wedding? The pie bar, of course. I love, love, love the trend in weddings to include a dessert table instead of or in addition to a traditional wedding cake. It's such a fun and homey idea! The wedding cake itself is quite cute as well, especially that silhouetted cake topper on top!

On the nondessert front, I can't get enough of the wedding platform that they used during the ceremony. Is that not the greatest wedding stage you've ever seen. Awww . . . this is definitely my dream wedding and for someone who doesn't even have a dream wedding, that's saying something!

I've only touched the tip of the party sweetness here, for more photos, see the Spring 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings or just click here. You can also find more photos on the Hello! Lucky Web site, right here. [All images by Emily Nathan.]

Crack Pie (again) and Gluten-free Brownies

My birthday was last month (yes, I can admit it) and my wonderful mother was kind enough to make me Momofuku's Crack Pie to help celebrate! Talk about pressure! I've pretty much been obsessed with the Crack Pie since I wrote about it back in July and have been longing to try it. I had such high expectations for this pie that I was sure that I would be disappointed and, to my surprise, I wasn't! It was sooo good!! And I wasn't the only one who thought so! I gave a piece to one of my coworkers and this is what she e-mailed me:

Oh my gosh. It is delicious. I can see how it got the name. I had to stop twice while writing this email to take another bite.

The best I can describe it is that it's sort of reminds me of pecan pie filling: buttery and sweet. It may be too sweet for some people (aka my sister), but I loved it. Supposedly, it's basically a take on the classic chess pie, but as I don't believe that I've ever had chess pie, I can't really compare the two.

Momofuku is coming out with a cookbook at the end of October, but while there will be sweets included in the book, the recipe for Crack Pie will not be one of them. You'll have to watch the video on Martha's Web site for the instructions. Click here for the complete show.

Also, available for tasting at my bday party: Betty Crocker's Gluten-Free Brownies. Again, I wasn't really expecting much. Can Betty Crocker really make a good gluten-free brownie? Yep, they sure can! The brownies were yummy and chocolaty, just like a brownie should be. You would never know the difference. Also, the ingredient list was fairly short and I actually recognized all the words on the list, which is surprising given that this is a box mix.

The Mixing Bowl: Oat Crumble Apple Pie by Laura Ljungkvist

This week illustrator Laura Ljungkvist is sharing with us her recipe for oat crumble apple pie (see the bottom of this post on how to access a larger version of the recipe). I was super excited when Laura sent it over because not only is it a great image, but I love love love apple crumble! Especially with ice cream! Actually, if isn't served warm, with ice cream, I may throw a hissy fit! Not that it isn't yummy just on it's own but the heat and the ice cream transform it from yummy to heavenly.

Laura Ljungkvist is a Swedish artist based in New York whose work incorporates colorful images, geometric shapes, and minimalist design. Known for her incredible drawings that are built around one continuous line, Laura has illustrated numerous children's books, including the popular Follow the Line series.

In addition, Laura has also created designs for clients such as Harper’s Bazaar, House and Garden, The London Sunday Times, Mademoiselle, The New York Times, and MTV, among others. In fact, the illustration for apple crisp that Laura sent over first appeared in the awesome British children's magazine, Anorak. Below is the cover of the issue in which Laura's recipe appears. It also happens to be the chocolate issue! So there's sure to be lots of great drawings of chocolate by really talented illustrators. Check out their Web site, right here.


Click here to visit Laura's Web site. Thanks, Laura!


A larger version of the recipe appears after the jump, at the bottom of the post.

Click picture below to see larger image.

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry and Nectarine Pie by Ingela P. Arrhenius

Today's recipe for Strawberry and Nectarine Pie comes from illustrator extraordinaire, Ingela P. Arrhenius. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Ingela's colorful and playful designs have appeared on everything from posters to chocolate milk boxes and everything in between.

In the past, she has created illustrations for products such as greeting cards and stationary, as well as patterns for children's apparel and roller blinds. Her work graces the pages of magazines and children's books, which are often written by her talented husband, and even show up on postage stamps and yogurt containers!


Inspired by art of the 50's and 60's, Ingela's work is so cheerfully retro that it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Her illustrations always make me smile, so I was really thrilled that she agreed to contribute a recipe to Dessert Girl! When she sent over the illustration for the recipe, I instantly fell in love with it! I want to print it out and put it on my wall! I'm so excited to get the chance to share her work with you! You can find more images after the jump or on her Web site, right here. Thanks, Ingela! [To see the recipe in a readable, large-print format, just click on the image.]


Recipe Helpers: Ingela mentioned to me that although this recipe mentions using 5 nectarines, she only used 3 and that was enough, so 5 is not a strict requirement.

If you need help converting the measurements, click here for a nifty conversion calculator.

Note on The Mixing Bowl: I failed to mention this previously, but I thought that I should fill you in on what The Mixing Bowl series is really all about. Basically, I love seeing people making and sharing their favorite recipes. I also really like the idea of featuring and collaborating with people whose work I admire. The Mixing Bowl combines both of those ideas. Not only do I get to share yummy dessert recipes with you, but I also get the opportunity to feature the artists, writers, designers, and people that I love and admire! What could be better? I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!)


There are more Ingela images after the jump.