what I want to tell you

We've been home for almost three weeks now (and by home I mean both Kansas and Minnesota) and I could talk about so many things we've done and seen ...

• thoroughly explored the grass in my parent's lawn (grass! imagine!),

• visited farmer's markets, garage sales, and thrift stores (such different shopping than the fancy malls and wet markets of HK!),


• many summer meals on the patio (need I say bbq? I am from Kansas City, after all ...)
  


• visited with old friends, welcomed new babies and met a new fiancee


• connected with lots of family (our son has the good fortune of three great-grandparents still living)


• some wobbly first steps, cheered on by Great-Aunt Cheryl


• a new friendship between Leo the Good and Finn the Brave ... it had a rough start (Leo is a Very Big Dog) but curiosity and a shared love of balls won the day.

I could tell you all about that. But what actually brings me back to the computer, what I really want to tell you about, is this: slab pie. Pie baked on a flat, rimmed baking sheet, which just happens to be The Best Baking Idea I've seen in a long time.



Turns out, it's not a new idea (is anything ever truly new?) ... as soon as my father-in-law saw what I was doing, he said that his mom had made something similar, with apples, when he was growing up.  They'd never found the recipe, so I think my discovery of slab pie just gave me favored daughter-in-law status (never mind that I'm the only d-i-l.)



For those of us who like a higher proportion of crust to filling than the standard pie gives, who love handheld desserts, who love rustic deliciousness---this is heaven on a plate. And for those of us who have only a countertop oven that won't fit a regular pie pan, this is no pie-in-the-sky---this is pie on earth. In Minnesota, in Kansas, in Hong Kong, wherever you are.

We made it with raspberries, but that's only because we went and picked six pounds of berries today. Smitten Kitchen, where I found this epiphany, used sour cherries. I'm already thinking about peaches when we go back to Kansas, and then apples and guavas this fall in Hong Kong ... Seriously, folks, slab pie is reason enough to invite friends over, to go on a picnic, to find a potluck.  You can use the recipe on Smitten Kitchen, this one from Martha Stewart, or just run with the basic idea.  1 1/2 times the recipe for your favorite double-pie-crust + 1 times the filling of your choice will fill a 15" x 10" x 1" pan nicely.  Bake at 375 for 45 min-1 hour, or until the crust is brown and the fruit is bubbly.  Once it's cool, make a powdered sugar glaze flavored with a bit of vanilla, almond or lemon. Slab pie indeed.