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A Pie Crust Workshop with The Pie Club!

24 Aug

Hi Pie Fans –

This October, I am teaching a workshop through Skillshare – a community marketplace for classes of all kinds – on making delicious pie and tart crusts!

Delicious Handmade Pie and Tart Crust! Tips, Techniques & Recipes

Monday, October 15th from 6:45pm-8pm in the Mission

There’s limited room, so sign up today with this special link! And tell your friends!

Check out a few examples of different pie or tart crust styles:

Roll out a full top crust

Top your pie with a tart crust using cookie cutters!

Lemon tart with a standard tart crust

Apple pie with a lattice design

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And We’re Rolling…

2 Aug

Hello Pie Fans –

After an incredible non-stop-baking month, I thought I would take advantage of this relatively slow week to catch up on a few things, including the Pie Club blog!

Thanks to all of you, I have baked and sold about 56 pies since mid-June. And, as you can imagine, I have learned many many lessons in the process. Here are a few of my favorites:

1) Baking endeavors take, on average, 2 hours longer than I anticipate. Every time. No matter how many times I have learned this one, those 2 hours seem to creep up.

2) After making 20 pies in 48 hours (see my post about that here), one or three pies at a time is easy-peasy. No big deal. And while I recognize that that first order was kind of out of control, filling my biggest order first was like jumping into cold water, head first. So bring on the big orders! I am ready.

3) Egg washes make all the difference between dry and delicious crust. As I’ve been working on my pie crust, and I’ve found that without that wash, it dries out in the oven and becomes crumbly, rather than flakey. See the difference below:

Apple Pie with an egg wash! See how pretty it is?!

Nectarine and strawberry pie with no wash. Delicious, but crust is lighter and dryer. Can you see it?!

Buttery flakey crust is really what makes a pie. It also adds a beautiful finish, which leads me to my next lesson…

4) Some pies are photogenic, and some are not. I’m still looking for tips for photographing the chocolate cream pie…

What’s coming up next for Ru’s Pie Club? That’s a very good question! I am starting the process of becoming more professional so that I can sell at public events like farmers markets,

and start utilizing restaurant supply stores and bulk farm orders to cut my costs. I am currently searching for someone to design a logo and a “look” for Ru’s Pie Club. I would love any advice from small business owners in Oakland!

And, of course, please keep ordering those pies!

lots of pie love to you all!

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Ru’s Pie Club Field Trip 2012, Part 1

25 Jun

A few weeks ago, 8 Pie Club fans caravanned south to Swanton Berry Farm to harvest enough strawberries to (hopefully) last through the winter. Thanks to all who came along! See the crew below:

Here’s the crew (Thanks, Jared, for taking the shot!)

Swanton Farm has a lovely farm stand that sells berry jams, strawberry lemonade, strawberry shortcake, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and pretty much any other strawberry delicacy you can dream up.  The farm also has a very interesting history, and you know how much I love historical context!

According to their website, Swanton was the first organic farm in the U.S. to sign a contract with United Farmworkers of America AFL-CIO and to carry the union label – helping to ensure fair labor practices. Picking strawberries is very physically demanding, and can be dangerous if the berries are sprayed with pesticides and other chemical agents. While it was fun for an afternoon, I know that many people work incredibly hard so we can buy crates from farmer’s markets and grocery stores closer to home, and I am sincerely thankful.

Stay tuned for Field Trip 2012 Part 2 –  we’ll be going again in a few weeks to harvest ollalieberries and blackberries. Yum!

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We’re finally on facebook!

20 Jun

You know it’s real when it’s on facebook.

So go ahead, like us!

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Open for Business!

19 Jun

Last Friday, Ru’s Pie Club completed its first large order of pies! The pies came out beautiful and delicious – with the help of several amazing and talented loved ones. Thank you to Patricia for making the trek across the Bay during last Thursday’s BART craziness, and giving the day a great start! Thank you to Mom B, Amalia, Andrea, and Al for closing out the long day with high energy and chinese food. And especially, thank you to Cole for your incredible support throughout this whole trial run – from hunting down ingredients to comforting me at my 1am meltdown. You are amazing.

I seriously could not have done it without all of you!

One lemon tart…packaged and ready to go!

20 pies, waiting to be delivered

So….let the new orders roll in. Ru’s Pie Club is open for business!

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