The Comforts of Pie
This might sound like a cliche, but my first memories in the kitchen were of making pie with my mom. We made apple mostly, but sometimes pecan, pumpkin during the holidays, and once even mincemeat. I got to cut out letters with the scrap dough and immortalize my name in pastry... well, until I ate it.
At the restaurant, we've started a Sunday ritual called "The Butcher's Table". We serve a roasted meat & two veg, and a slice of pie for dessert. Friday and Saturday, we start prepping; lining the pie shells, making the filling, laying out the pie tops if that week's pie calls for a double crust. I love it. I don't always get to do the handy work myself -- one of my cooks is a very good pie-er -- but I always make the base pie dough & the filling.
I don't normally work on Sundays, so I don't get to see the pies lined up in all their glory, but if there's ever any leftover, my sous saves me a slice. There is nothing better than day old pie!
Some recent pie flavors:
Old Fashioned Apple
Pecan
Chocolate Pecan
Blueberry
Bailey's Cream
Peach Crumble
Rhubarb