It Pie Time

Two weeks ago I received an email from my friend Paige that read simple "You jealous of my amazing pie making skillz?  I just made Batman and Robin Pies."  She include pictures of two Raspberry pies, One had the bat symbol cut in the top, the other had the stylized R Robin logo from the 90's Tim Drake Robin comics.  The true is I'm very jealous.  It's no secret that I love pie.  And I make a mean pumpkin pie.  In fact I get several requests for me to make one for our yearly office Christmas party.

My secret shame is that I have never made a fruit filled pie, nor have I ever made my own crust.  After talking pie with Paige (Talking Pi with Paige is my Math-Rock, Led Zeppelin cover band), I resolve to rectify this culinary oversight.

The next weekend I'm in downtown Phoenixville for the Blobfest street fair.  After checking out the amazing costumes, the cool rockabilly band and fun booths, I head down to the farmers market that sets up under the gay street bridge every Saturday.  There I'm able to pick up some tasty honey sticks, a bag of maple-glazed walnuts and most importantly some fresh blueberries.

Armed with some truly outstanding blueberries I set out to make pie for the first time.  I found some good recipes for pie and pie crust, both by Alton Brown.  As is my way, I play with the recipes a bit and blend the two together.  Here are the links to the originals.

Pie Crust

Pie Filling

Here what you need:

• Food processor
• Masher
• A few mixing bowls
• Zesting grater
• Rolling pin
• Spritz or misting squirt bottle
• Pie Pan
• Plastic Wrap
• Plastic freezer bags
• Whisk
• Aluminum foil

Here how to make the pie crust:

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons of butter
• 4 tablespoons of lard
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• ½ cup of ice water in the Spritz bottle

• Freeze the Lard and Butter
• Add the Flour and Salt in food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times
• Chop the Butter into small chunks
• Add to the food processor and pulse 6 to 8 times till mixture is mealy
• Chop the Lard into small chunks
• Add to the food processor and pulse 6 to 8 times
• Spritz down the mixture and pulse 5 times
• Repeat the spritz and pulse step till the mixture holds together
• Pour mixture in a Freezer bag and mush together into a ball.
• Place in Fridge for 30 min or so

Here how to make the filling:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of blueberries
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
• 5 tablespoons of tapioca flour (or granulated tapioca as that is what I found in the store)
• 1 orange:
•             1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed OJ
•             1 teaspoon of orange zest

• Wash the berries
• Put half the berries into a small mixing bowl and mash the heck out of them
• In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar, salt and flour
• Stir in the OJ, Zest and mash
• Let it sit in the fridge for 15 min
• Fold in the rest of the berries
• Line a pie pan with the foil and then pout in the mixture then cover with foil
• Freeze the pan for 6 to 8 hours
• Once it frozen you can wrap it up in plastic and it should keep for 3 months or you can use it right way.

How to bake the pie:

Preheat the oven to 325

• Take the pie dough out of the fridge
• Coat a surface with flour to keep the dough from sticking
• I like to cover the dough with some plastic wrap to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin, but coating it with flour works for other people
• Roll the dough till it’s thin and can cover the bottom of the pan 1 and half times
• Cover the pie pan with the dough; make sure it covers the lip and cut or pull of excess
• Add the frozen filling and curl the dough in and around the top of the filling
• Roll out the remaining dough into a sheet and use a knife to cut thin strips
• Lay the strips onto the pie to form a checkerboard pattern
• Pop the pie into the oven for 1 hour and 15 min
• If you are brave you can place the pie under the broiler for a minute to give it a golden brown look, but be careful, its easy to burn your pie.

The nice thing about the filling is that you freeze it and can use it up to 3 months after you make it.  I made mine right after buying the blueberries, but didn't bake the pie for another week.

The biggest challenges I found were that I don't own a food processor and I had never bought lard.  The first time I went to store I couldn't even find it.  It was late and I wasn't feeling particularly social so I just left.  I did some research to see what I could use as a lard substitute and found that actually lard is not that bad for you.  From what I've gather it's better for you than vegetable shorting and most than likely better than butter.  My research was a little on the cursory side.  Eventually, I found lard in the butter section and baked the pie this past Sunday morning.

I did have a little bit of a goof and I attempted to brown the top of the pie with the broiler.  I left it in about 45 sec too long and brought the top to the edge of burning.

That afternoon I had some friends over to play some Arkham Horror.  To celebrate our defeating the attempts to awaken a great old one we indulged in some pie for lunch.  The pie was a big hit.  The burnt sections didn't even taste burnt and the filling did justice to the quality of blueberries I used.  I was especially proud of how the crust came out.  It was flaky and delicious.  Between the four of us we made short work of the pie.

I want to thank Paige for inspiring my pie-making endeavor. 

It was damn good pie.

T.

Making Thoughts and Unfinished Projects

I know I have been a bit quite on the Blog front.  It mainly has been due to the fact that all the things I'm making have been a little more long term in scope and there really isn't anything to talk about.  Also there are things in the works that I collaborating on and that I'm waiting on other so I can start my bit.

So today I want to share some videos and thoughts with all three of you who read this silly little blog of mine.  A friend of mine posted the video for Nothing to Prove by The Double Clicks on the book of faces.  It's a wonderful song that I like more and more each time I listened to it.  The Double Clicks are a band that I had heard of but hadn't listened to until today, but I have quickly become a fan.  Here is the video, please watch and listen, then meet me back here to discuss.

Hi, welcome back.  Wasn't that great, now, let's talk about this whole ridiculous notion of the Fake Nerd Girl.  

NOTE: I'm going tor try to be articulate and thoughtful, but because most of my friends are girls and most of those girls are nerds, this topic brings up a lot of emotions and I worry i will not be able to covey what I mean as well as I would like.  Plus I edited this post late at night, please be kind when I fail.

The idea that you like something just because you have an innie or an outie or variation there of between your legs is ridiculous.  We have seen time and time again that just because you fall into one group or another doesn't mean you have to like or behave one way or another.  Think about all the people you know and the things they like, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that each of them likes at least one thing that does not fit the stereo type of a group they could be classified in.  I have ton of examples in my own life; I have a black friend who is big Steely Dan fan.  I have a gay friend who is really into Baseball.  I know straight guys who love musical theater.  I have a Christian friend you can't get enough D&D.  and if I'm the example take your pick, I'm a straight nerdy white guy, who love sports, knitting, gay themed cinema, cooking, Sci-fi, D&D, westerns, cooking, crafts, books, theater, gardening, blow'em up action films, small indie movies and documentary to name a few.  Life is so full of wonderful and amazing things why should anyone let their interests be limited by anything as arbitrary as gender.

This leads me to ask where the idea and the hate for the "Fake Nerd Girl." comes from.  Thinking about it and using my vast knowledge of anecdotal evidence, I see two reasons.  One is the idea of nerd as cool.  The second and more disturbing cause is the trend of systematic marginalization of women in western culture since, well the start of western culture.

The Idea of Nerd as Cool:

I'm not sure when this started or how long it will last but a few years back, "Nerd Culture" started to gain a foot hold into mainstream culture.  Suddenly those things that were stereotypically liked by nerds and geeks, was being to be marketed to everyone.  San Diego Comic Con was the hip place to take you film.  Non-Genre actors and "Reality TV Stars" started showing up a Wizard world.  Everyone and their mother (and my mother) loved the Avengers.  Now, that thing that made you special, that thing you loved, well the kid who bullied you in middle school they are now all about it too.  And there even a TV shows about your culture (where secretly nerds are butt of every bad joke, but whatever at least we're not being ignored, right) and your Grandmother loves it.  I could see how that would make someone who has felt an outcast because they love the things they love, feel betrayed.  I can also see how at the same time they could see this as their ticket to be part of the In crowd.  However for there to be an In crowd, someone needs to be on the outside, someone needs to be marginalized.

The systematic marginalization of women in western culture:

OK, so for this I have a bit of evidence.  Go take a look at the role of women in western society (primarily american society because that it is what I can speak to) over say the last 200 to 500 years.  Go on, I'll be right here waiting for you.  

You're back, great.  Yeah it messed up.  Seriously, the way we have treated women is horrific and I for one, as a member of western society, am ashamed.  And speaking, well just for me, I'm sorry women been given a raw deal.

With the history in mind, one can see why when it came time for guys, for whom it was marginally more acceptable to be into geeky things, to exclude someone, they picked women.  It is a sad and shameful part of our culture.  It is a big part of why I try to create comics and write story feature strong realistic women, because I interested and I think makes for completing stories.  Also I want the intend side effect of pushing us towards a culture that is more inclusive and less limiting to everyone. When I was in college I live with five of the most extraordinary women.  They are smart and funny and wonderful and just as capable as I have ever been, in a lot of ways more capable.  They became Doctors and Business Woman, computer scientist and can do anything they put their minds to.  They are full of the limitless human potential that we all posses and should never be hindered by the expectation that society can place on gender roles.  its the best and most important thing I learned in college. It kills me inside anytime I see someone try to limit my female friends or on the rare occasions that I see them limit themselves based on gender. 

And by labeling them a fake geek  these jerks totally missed the point of being a geek.  A point that Wil Wheaton made so well, that I'm just going to post it here:

" being a nerd is not about what you love; it’s about how you love it."

See we are all Geeks, and if we are all Geeks then there can't be Fake Geeks, be they girls or boys.

If someone like the thing you like, that is awesome, because it mean that someone else to talk to about the thing you like.  And if you think someone is faking liking something because they think that it is the cool thing to like, then they must be very insecure and lonely, to try so hard to fit in.  As Geeks and Nerds and Humans, I think we all know what it's like to be insecure and lonely.  How scary it is to feel like we don't fit in, like we don't belong.  The last thing that person needs is to be put down, you should lift them up.  You think they don't really care about that thing you love, then talk about how awesome it is and why you love it.  If they were faking before, they won't be afterwards and they will find a place where they can say "hey I fit in now," because we all love this thing.

Finally let's get the idea of a booth babe out of the way.  A booth babe is someone, a model, actor or actress, who has been hire to drive traffic to a booth at a con.  Traditionally they are women, but not exclusively so.  They are sales people and what they are selling is the booth.  Whether or not they like or know about the things in the booth isn't really important, they are there to drive you to the booth and that's their job.  I've worked sales, and I've not always known or like they stuff I was selling.  When I was selling mops at the mall, no one would think to call me a fake house keeper because I wasn't into mops.  It should be the same at a con.  Besides, if the person is not into whatever the con is about at the start of the show, they just might be into it by the end of the con, because the stuff at the con is awesome or is at least is awesome to you because you're at the con and why would you go if you didn't think it was awesome.  But you shouldn't judge everyone by the standard of someone working at a con.  (This part of my argument is a little ramblely and I don't think I have really gotten across my point, but whatever.)

Now that we have gotten the idea of booth babe out of the way, I just want to say girls are great and capable and awesome.  Look they can, with just one extra ingredient, make a brand new person in just nine months.  That is totally bad ass.  Besides that they can do anything a guy can do and like anything a guy can like.  Just like I can like anything a girl can like and do anything a girl can do (beside, you know, incubating a new human inside me.)

I want to leave you with this quote form a Penny Arcade article written by Ben Kuchera "Listen, we get about 80 years on this planet, at best. Much of that time is painful. The night is dark, and full of terrors. If you find something that makes you happy, and it doesn't hurt you or others,that is a great thing."

Till next time, everyone is welcome in my kitchen.

T.