Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life

This book is the quintessential guide to making pie dough with delicious recipes included. The instructions are easy to follow and really get into the differences between butter, lard and combinations of both. It’s a wonderful way to get started in the wonderful world of homemade pies!

Most comprehensive book on pie I've ever read! It's well laid out, tells a great story and give unbelievable amounts of info on how to make the perfect crust. It contains recipes for all kinds of pies even savory pies. The pictures are great and show a wide variety of pies with lattice tops, decorated top crusts and different shapes such as square pies! This woman truly knows the art of pie making and the book is aptly named. I'm not big on recipe books per se, because I can get any recipe off the net, but this book is worth the money! I've been making pies for 40 years and they've been decent, but after reading this book, I just made the flakiest crust I think I've ever made!! This book is a keeper!

My book arrived 24 hours ago and is already dog eared . My best pies are when I don’t manipulate the flour very long, all ingredients are cold , and I am only making the pie and not juggling all my other home chores . With each recipe you learn a technique, a helpful hint, and why baking is a chemistry lesson . I have skipped around reading the enclosed recipes finding the blueberry pie to be a classic recipe. . Tapioca is better as a binder than flour in a blueberry pie . Maine blueberries are tiny morsels of flavor and make the best blueberry pies . My first lemon meringue pie failed horribly . I realized ten minutes into cooking the filling I forgot the sugar . I should have tossed the filling but thought I could add the sugar at this late stage . I personally think lemon meringue to be the hardest pie to bake . I make an unbelievable good apple, peach and blueberry pie . I suck at lemon meringue but will again give it a whirl now knowing a few helpful hints . I am a fan of this “ art of the pie” . Bravo !

I have had the fortune of attending Kate's Pie Camp. It was the most wonderful time and making new "pie sisters" was the most fun! We talked about everything PIE, she showed us how to make that fabulous crust, answered every question with a smile, and then helped each and everyone of us with the patience of Job. Anyone who has attended her camps in the past were waiting patiently for her to publish her first book, as we talked a lot about it at camp. When my personally signed copy came in the mail, the rest of my world ceased to exist. All of her wisdom and advise like--keep everything cool-especially yourself, is resonated through the entire book. And don't forget the "sizzle-wump". These are very technical pie making terms! The photography is beyond anything I could have ever imagined and there are so many recipes that I'm anxious to try. Pies don't have to be picture perfect, they need to taste good! Kate takes you on a journey in this book, and she describes each step as if she were standing next to you! Pie used to be intimidating to me--my aunts and grandmother made pie, not me. But anyone that has never rolled out a crust or piled sugary apples a mile high, could take this book and make a fabulous pie start to finish.. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a class with her, don't pass it up, you will be glad you did! I have included a picture of a pot pie that I make recently with the leaf lard/Irish Butter crust---so flaky and delish!!

Bought the book for my daughter who loves baking and she loved it. Wonderful recipe book with very good tips and ideas.

Too many pie books are laborious slogs through technical practices with a mandatory list of do's and don'ts that leave the would be baker quivering with apprehension whenever they get near the supermarket bakery aisle. Those books drain the life out of what should be a pleasurable culinary experience; making beautifully browned, glossy crusted fat pies that follow the seasons and bring joy and happiness to anyone within aroma range. This book is not one of those downers, rather it's a leisurely meander through traditional pie making by a unassuming master baker who reassures novice and veteran alike that if crazy aunt Tilly who never had a food processor, couldn't accurately measure flour or water, and tended to forget how many ounces of fat she dropped into the mixing bowl; that if she could turn out those beautiful lattice top fresh fruit pies every fall, then there's absolutely no reason why you can't do the same. The book is filled with simple demonstrations presented as if you were siting in her cottage kitchen while the author explained what she was doing in the most straight forward way. While the included recipes initially appear to be standards of traditional american pie making, she tosses in some british favorites as well, including a spectacular pork pie fully encased in authentic english hot water pastry. The recipes are heavily weighted toward the sweet, but there's enough savory to keep you busy through most of the winter months with supper pies. And, as in the beginning pastry chapters, each recipe is explained in a simple conversational manner that doesn't induce panic even if the pie god's don't feel like cooperating. Finally, the photography by Andrew Scrivani hits the sweet spot between realism and aspirational excess; which simply means the pics make your mouth water. Some reviewers and editorial writers have read into the book's construct a perceived philosophy about how pie making is a metaphor for life. Perhaps Kate McDermott intended that to be the case, but I doubt it. I think she's simply a talented writer who has the gift of presenting her subject in a manner that marries a little about her, along with the practicality and satisfaction of seasonal baking. Martha Stewart she's not, but if she was your next door neighbor I suspect you'd like her a lot better. Do yourself a favor, buy this book before you get distracted; you won't regret it.

Excellent! It's beautiful and absolutely full of great info.

Dopo diverse vicissitudini, finalmente metto gli occhi su questo libro, un delizioso capolavoro di arte pasticcera. Sono abituato a sfogliare buoni libri di pasticceria, e l'autrice è di quelli in grado di mettere a proprio agio il lettore e il cuoco (o la cuoca), curando il minimo dettaglio, dagli impasti base alle ricette di pie dolci (tradizionali e confortanti), fin alla parte salata che chiude il libro. Quando scrivo della cura dei particolari, penso ad ogni singolo particolare; nell'introduzione viene consigliato anche l'uso di una propria colonna sonora per migliorare il lavoro, cosa che mi trova assolutamente d'accordo (e mi piacciono anche i sui suoi gusti musicali...). La parte grafica è ottima, le foto mettono voglia di azzannare le pagine; il libro è indicato anche per i principianti e non bisogna farsi spaventare dalla lingua inglese, perché le misure di peso sono immediatamente tradotte in grammi. E' perfetto per un regalo. Per quel che riguarda il servizio Amazon, quest'ordine è stato per me un vero calvario: dal 23 maggio al 23 settembre sono passati esattamente 4 mesi, spesi con operatori, chiamate al servizio clienti e richieste di notizie o spiegazioni (il volume è sempre stato disponibile, mai esaurito). Sono caduto in un buco nero del servizio Amazon, ma ho tenuto duro. Da questo punto di vista, la mia esperienza peggiore col colosso dell'e-commerce mondiale.

Ha, well it is just pie. But wow what pie it is! My wife had found this book at the library, and really loved it. I noticed how much she was enjoying it, and promptly popped onto Amazon to buy it at a great price. A few days later she was making a pie, and looking for the book on the library's ebook section, when voila - it arrived in the mail at that moment! Needless to say she was impressed, and the pie was amazing. The knowledge in this book really will have a huge positive impact on the quality of one's pie making. It's worth getting this book for sure.

This is a wonderful book, inspirational in every way. The writing is an unexpected joy, evocative and moving. Perfect for those of us who really do read cookbooks as well as cook from them. But the recipes themselves will become an important part of your repertoire. Partly because Kate encourages you to think flexibly about what you are doing - which crust, which filling, how to combine them. And the instructions are clear and empowering. You can tell that I like this book! It is well worth a place on your shelf and may even change your life.

This is a must-have book for anyone interested in the topic. Many thanks to the author 🥧 The recipies are easy to follow. Information, tips and knowledge shared in the introduction give novice pie makers - like me - a good grounding for a fruitful future in pie making and importantly, pie sharing and pie eating! Enjoy!

Really-Really-Really great book on pies. Exceptional. I do wish it was longer and had more recipes. Because I am a greedy person when it comes to really good pies! :) Purchase it with no worry. Truly.