IN THIS ISSUE:

My Pie Story

Measuring Spoons

Visit My New Web Site (Again)

Where In The World is (was) Carol?

First, I baked 9 pies in advance, then wrapped each in plastic wrap and froze it. You can see one of the pies being assembled in the photo at right. Then I placed each frozen pie in a plastic bag and taped it shut. Once the pies were hard frozen,  I  stacked all 9 pies in a large Styrofoam container, with a sheet of cardboard between each layer to provide cushioning. I tied the container shut with rope, fashioned it into a handle, and checked it as baggage at the airport's curbside check-in for my early morning flight. Since each pie weighed over 4 pounds, the carton was fairly heavy. Two weeks earlier,  I hand-carried two frozen pies on a two-hour flight to San Francisco and they arrived still frozen and in great shape. But the container of 9 pies was too large and heavy to be a carry-on, so I knew I had to check it as baggage.

Of course, the attendant asked me what was in the carton. When I told her it was frozen pies, she cautioned me that if the container held more than 4 pounds of dry ice, it would explode (not combustion, but the carton would burst from the expansion of gases in the dry ice). I wasn't using dry ice, but that's good to know for future reference.

After retrieving the carton at baggage claim, the carton was still intact and  looked just fine. It apparently had not been checked by security agents. I wonder what 9 frozen pies in  metal pans look like when they go through the security scanner? I loaded it into my car very carefully (remember, it's heavy!) and went immediately to my hotel room where I left the carton without unpacking it. I didn't get back to my room until late that night and then I unpacked the pies and placed them around my hotel room to thaw overnight. At this point, the pies looked intact and none the worse for the abuse they had undergone so far. In the morning, I placed the "Do Not Disturb" sign on my door so the housekeepers wouldn't have to clean around the pies. (Can you imagine their surprise to find 9 pies scattered all over the room?)

The pies stayed in my hotel room until that afternoon when I carried them to the meeting room in the hotel. I demonstrated how to make a pie using pie crust dough I had made at home a few days earlier, frozen, and transported as a carry-on in my suitcase. After my presentation, I served about 100 pieces of pie (yes, some were fairly small pieces). Despite two days of torture, the pies looked and tasted great. They didn't break apart, the crusts were all still intact, and they looked just like normal pies. I know they would have tasted even better if they had been freshly baked that morning, but everyone was very pleased to have real pie. Some people told me that they hadn't eaten pie in several years.

The moral of the pie story is this: you can bake the pie and freeze it, then transport it to your destination. As long as they stay frozen, they'll arrive in great shape. You can also make the pie crust dough, freeze it, and take it out of the freezer when the urge to have pie strikes you or your family. In fact, right now I have a few pie crusts in my freezer. I often make a very small pie for two (my husband and me) and I just break off a piece of the frozen dough, let it sit at room temperature until it's thawed, and then work it with my hands until it can be shaped. In case you're wondering, it's the pie crust recipe from my book, Gluten-Free 101: Easy, Basic Dishes without Wheat.

Measuring Spoons

Years ago, after being frustrated that I couldn't reach into the spice jar with my round measuring spoons, I found a new set that is elongated and fits nicely into a narrow spice jar or can. Check your local kitchen store first. If not, try www.bakerscatalogue.com or some of the other kitchen catalogs.

While I'm talking about measuring spoons, did you know you can buy dry measuring cups in unusual sizes such as 1/3, 2/3, 3/4,  or 1 1/2 or  2 cups? They are especially nice for us gluten-free bakers because we do a little more measuring than other bakers and our measurements aren't always just the usual 1/4 or 1/2 cups.

Visit My New Web Site

I know I mentioned this last month, but if you haven't already visited my new web site please do so. As always, if you order on the web site the transaction is secure. Let me know how you like it. You can visit at http://www.savorypalate.com/ or http://www.carolfenster.com/.  In the months to come, I plan to add some new features and  new recipes.

Where in the World is (was) Carol?

Believe it or not, I'm not traveling on business in June, nor am I teaching any classes. However, in early June I was in Portland, OR and taped a 90 second TV segment that will be broadcast sometime this summer---perhaps on a station in your home town if it subscribes to Ivanhoe Broadcast News. To find out if your station subscribes, go to http://www.ivanhoe.com/ and click on Ivanhoe partners to see if a TV station in your town is a member. If it is, there's a chance you'll see the segment. I have no idea when or how often it might be shown, so let me know if you see it. In the segment, I talk about cooking gluten-free and demonstrate how to make a pizza. A special thanks to Bob's Red Mill for allowing us to film the segment in their brand new, state-of-the art kitchen at the new Bob's Red Mill facility in Milwaukie, OR.