If you’re new here, welcome to Let’s Get Lost! I’m Rebecca, a recipe developer and food photographer. You might know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot.
My husband and I are nomads with an RV, a motorcycle, and a sailboat, so I write about life on the road, the incredible places we visit, and the experiences we have along the way. Plus, there’s recipes.
And, if you are brand new to Substack, I created this short video tour.
I swore I was never going to be one of those people who said things like, “where has the time gone?” but I can’t help it. It’s too tempting. Because how can it be November already? Didn’t we just have Christmas? I swear it was a recent event.
I also feel a little bit bitter about the fact that after tonight we’ll loose another hour of daylight. Sunset will be at 4:40 in the afternoon, and look. I am enjoying the cooler weather and quiet candle lit evenings, but that’s just too early.
I’m not ready. I’m not ready for any of it.
You may have sensed some resistance over here. You sensed correctly.
expressed my feelings exactly, as she is often want to do:As October winds down, I’m starting to get that familiar feeling of anticipation and dread: the holidays are coming. - The Tug of Remembrance
Anticipation and dread. We are complicated beings, aren’t we? Never missing an opportunity for contradiction.
Well, here is something for which I feel only anticipation and zero dread: Pie.
Pie is not complicated. It does not come with contradictions. It exists purely for our enjoyment.
Earlier this week, I taught a class with
on Substack Live, where each of us shared our favorite go-to pie crust recipes.As I prepped for this pie class, a friend I’ve known for over 30 years texted me a photo from an old family recipe collection of her mother-in-law’s recipe for Foolproof pie crust.
Here’s the thing about that: When Steve and I got married 31 years ago someone gave me a small binder filled with blank recipe cards. Foolproof pie crust was one of the first recipes I copied into that binder and it’s the recipe I’ve been making ever since. I didn’t remember where I’d received it, but now I do.
I’ve tweaked the recipe over the years, incorporating new techniques and knowledge that I’ve learned from other talented bakers and from my own experience baking countless pies for the past 30 years.
Betty’s pie crust recipe is also a living, breathing connection to the generosity of other bakers, Betty included. The recipe originates from an old Cook’s Illustrated issue, and Betty has spent the past decade perfecting it and making it her own.
And that’s the thing about pie. It’s a collective miracle.
Every single pie I bake, every single pie you bake, is a multi-generational achievement. A community effort. The result of generous bakers sharing their knowledge and handiwork so that we may do the same. And why do we do it? For the pure pleasure of it.
This, I think, is love.
So, this week’s issue is all about pie. I am sharing 8 of my favorite recipes AND a massive collaboration put together by the fabulous
in which 36 (36!) food writers from across the globe share their favorite pie recipes.Pie is for sharing. And this issue takes that to heart.
Before we get into it, here’s where you’ll find the recording for the aforementioned piecrust class…
Perfect Pie Crust with Rebecca and Betty
Years ago, I read something in a newspaper article that has stayed with me ever since: “When you bake a pie, you are in the kitchen in the company of ghosts.”
If you were able to join us live for this piecrust class, thank you so much for being there. These classes have been such an enjoyable way to get to connect with many of you in a way that goes beyond words on a screen.
If you are a member of the Lost Supper Club (a paid subscriber), there are two new pie recipes coming your way next week: Maple Pecan Pie for Two and Maple Pumpkin Pie for Two.
This newsletter would not exist if not for the members of The Lost Supper Club, who show their support with a paid subscription thus ensuring that the vast majority of readers can keep reading this newsletter for free.
As a thank you, I try to provide those paid subscribers with some cool stuff. The small batch baking series is one of those things. Paid subscribers also receive:
Access to the complete recipe index + the downloadable recipe cards for every single recipe published here
A free copy of The No Recipe Required Cookbook
Access to the entire library of classes
Access to the entire library of past issues
Invitations to the occasional meet-up!
A discount for The Let’s Get Lost Cookbook
If this is one of the things in your in-box that you almost always open, if it’s something you find valuable and look forward to, I ask that you consider supporting it with a paid subscription.
8 of my all time favorite pie recipes
No Bake Chocolate Mousse Pie: This dreamy pie is impossibly light, delicate, and everything we love about a really good chocolate mousse. And, it’s so easy to make, it borders on ridiculous.
Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie: Layers of chocolate pastry cream, vanilla rum custard, bananas, and whipped cream in a buttery vanilla wafer crust. It’s incredibly rich, creamy, and indulgent without being overly sweet, and has been a favorite recipe in our family for years and years.
Chocolate Cream Pie: This is what happens when you add copious amounts of chocolate to pastry cream and then spread that dreaminess into a crispy toasted almond crust and top it with a mile-high layer of whipped cream. Chocolate lovers, this is your pie.
Poached Pear and Frangipane Tart: This is one of those desserts that you make when you really want to impress people with your mad baking skills but you don’t actually want to put in that much effort.
Salted Caramel Apple Pie: This pie is just about as packed with apples as you can get without having them spill out over the sides of the pie plate. Plus, it’s topped with buttery, crunchy, brown sugar crumb topping AND covered in salted caramel sauce. So, yeah. It’s pretty good.
Blueberry Pie: The filling for this pie is, in my opinion, the perfect combination of sweet and tart. The filling has a concentrated, bright fruit flavor that holds its shape when sliced. And, it’s just as delicious made with fresh or frozen blueberries.
Chocolate Almond Pie: This creamy, fudgy, intensely chocolate pie studded with roasted almonds and a hint of bourbon is for serious chocolate lovers only. You chocolate-is-ok-sometimes kind of people need to find yourselves another pie because this one is pure, unadulterated chocolate, and extremely unapologetic and in your face about it.
Cast Iron Skillet Maple Pecan Pie: Rich, creamy, packed with the flavor of toasted pecans and maple syrup, and no corn syrup. Cast iron is an excellent conductor of heat and the perfect pan to use when you want a pie with a golden, flaky, evenly baked crust.
Piepalooza!!!
This is a collaboration among 36 of your favorite (and soon-to-be-favorite) food writers from around the world. They are amazing caterers, chefs, cookbook authors, culinary instructors, home cooks, nutritionists, professional bakers, recipe developers, recipe testers, and restaurant owners.
Check out these 36 drool-worthy pie recipes, including one from yours truly.
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"Anticipation and dread. We are complicated beings, aren’t we? Never missing an opportunity for contradiction." This made me laugh.
I love this reminder that so many recipes are based on layers of experience, tapping into history of all kinds. There's probably a metaphor in there somewhere.
OMG Rebecca, all your pies look drop-dead gorgeous!! That chocolate almond pie is one that I might have to make asap for my next book club meeting. Thank you for all your help and advice with the Pie-palooza, my friend!