Have you ever been inside your local fire station? Up until yesterday, I hadn’t. I drive by it literally every day (it’s at the end of my block), I walk by it several times a week. I do clothing charity drops there a few times a year. And yet, somehow, I’ve always been intimidated to set foot inside the station, to actually say hello to the humans who make living in my community safe.
Until yesterday, that is, when I marched a pie over to Los Angeles Fire Department Station Number 41. And I have to say, it felt really dang good. I’ve spent a lot of the past few weeks locked inside my own mind—fretting about the election, about the path forward, about empathy and entitlement, about the work we need to do. I haven’t spent much time taking action beyond the bounds of my keyboard. I’m not prone to protest in the streets, but I will gladly seize any opportunity available to me to give away pie.
Last year, my extraordinary friend Ashlae from Oh Lady Cakes decided to wrangle a group of bloggers for a day of “Pie-ing It Forward”. I wasn’t able to participate last year, but knew that this time around would be different.
Still though, even after my trusty assistant Shelby and I baked up a second pie (I wasn’t about to give the firefighters a pie I’d already cut into!), I was nervous to take it over. How did one go about entering a fire station? Do you have to yell fire? Do you just stroll on in, like your neighborhood Planned Parenthood? Do you have to get special clearance?
At 3pm yesterday afternoon, I found out.
As I approached the station door, I noticed a small placard instructing me to ring the doorbell at the right if I needed help. It was less a doorbell than a bright red emergency-looking button, but I decided to press it anyway. In short order, half a dozen uniformed men streamed forth from the interior of the station, each one happier looking than the last. A stream of firefighters just for me! What a dream.
The captain eagerly shook my hand, and his men followed suit. They could not have been more kind, or more happy to see a home-baked pie march through their front door. We chatted for a few minutes about the depth of my familiarity with their sirens, as I live so near to their starting point. And then, miracle of miracles, they asked if I want to take a picture in front of the fire engine.
I MEAN OBVIOUSLY YES.
So there we are, the firefighting gang and yours truly, pie in tow. The guys asked if I wanted to come make dinner for them some time, and I also said YES OBVIOUSLY. They also promised to suit me up in fire gear and a helmet next time, so we all have that to look forward to.
I can’t recommend pie-ing it forward highly enough. Whether it’s to your local fire or police station, or another community organization that could use some extra love, it’s a gift that instantaneously generates joy in a time when joy’s a bit hard to come by. So go forth and pie. Use the #pieitforward on Instagram to document your gifting. Happy almost Thanksgiving.
MISO CARAMEL PEAR PIE | PIE IT FORWARD.
Ingredients
adapted from Hummingbird High
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 4 ice cubes
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
miso caramel pear filling
- 4 tablespoon salted butter
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons miso
- 5 ripe pears
egg wash
- 1 egg whisked
Instructions
Make the dough.
- In a small bowl, mix together the water, apple cider vinegar, and ice cubes. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and sugar. Add chilled butter cubes and cut into the dry mixture using a pastry cutter until the butter is in pea-sized and slightly smaller pieces. Add 4 tablespoons of the ice water-apple cider vinegar mixture, and continue to blend using pastry cutter until dough begins to come together. Use hands to knead dough gently into a uniform ball. If it’s too sticky, add a sprinkle or two of flour, until pliable but smooth. Divide dough in two equally sized balls and flatten into 1-inch thick disks. Wrap in plastic and chill in refrigerator at least one hour.
Make the filling.
- Trim and slice pears lengthwise. Place pear slices in a large bowl.
- Melt butter over low heat and stir in sugar until no crystals remain, whisking until no crystals remain. Let simmer until mixture begins to turn a golden amber. Whisk in the miso. When smooth, set aside. Let cool five minutes, then pour over pears.
- Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 425º. Remove one disk of dough from fridge, unwrap, and roll out on parchment paper lightly dusted in flour. Roll out to 1/8-inch thickness, a 12-13 inch circle. Lift parchment and transfer dough into 9-inch pie pan. Press into base and sides, fill with pear filling mixture, and return to fridge.
- Remove second disk of dough from fridge, unwrap, and roll out on parchment paper lightly dusted in flour. Roll out to 1/8-inch thickness, a 12-13 inch circle. Use a knife or rolling pastry wheel blade to cut lattice strips of varying sizes, as desired. Remove filled pie dish from fridge and begin by laying one large piece of lattice vertically, slightly left of center. Cross it with a horizontal lattice, perpendicular to the first piece. Continue to lay lattice down in this manner, weaving under and over in an alternate fashion. DO NOT PANIYou’ve got this.
- To make a braid, cut three small strips in the longest section of the dough, seal at one end, and braid down to the bottom, then seal again. Place braid as desired on pie or around the perimeter. Combine excess dough and roll out to form decorative pieces or additional braids. Lay these on your pie in a decoratively, as desired.
- Once you finish your lattice, trim away excess dough and fold edges to seal and crimp to form a scalloped edge. Brush exposed dough with egg wash.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment, and place pie in the center. Bake for 20 minutes at 425º on bottom rack, then reduce heat to 375º. At this point, move pie to middle rack, and bake another 40-50 minutes, until bubbling. At forty minutes, check for browning, and if the top is appropriately golden brown, loosely cover the pie with foil to prevent burning.
- Once bubbling generously, remove the pie from the oven and cool completely on a baking rack. Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream of choice.
