30 (or 39 with 4" tartlets) Pies for Church Supper

KRIS'  PIES--17 VARIETIES/30 PIES

ACTUALLY...COUNTING 9 TARTLETS, I MADE 39 PIES

Hubby and I were asked to be in charge of a church supper for 100 of us "old" people.  Last evening we enjoyed meeting with our church friends for a BBQ sandwich meal /program/and pie.  Everyone had a great time visiting, eating a delicious meal, enjoying Dr. Brad Barrett's presentation on the History of Gilbert, AZ which had us all laughing so hard our full stomachs ached, hearing Sue Robinson sing and she does have a very lovely voice, and eating lots of pie and ice cream.  The "party" was a huge success, many people helped, and I was amazed at the enthusiasm for my pie table.  

I chose pie for three reasons:  1.  Tomorrow is Fathers' Day and men seem to enjoy homemade pie over many other desserts,  2.  I have agreed to provide a "Wedding Pie" table for my nephew who will be married in August.  I wanted to find out which types of pie general people enjoy most and look beautiful after sitting on a table unrefrigerated for an hour or two  (cream pies were my concern on our 107^ day), and 3.  I wanted only homemade pies with butter crusts and fresh ingredients...nothing from a can or a wrapper and definitely no shortening or lard!

HUBBY AND RALPH MOUSSEAU READY TO MAKE THE SANDWICHES

GREG BARLOW, HUBBY, & RALPH READY FOR THE CROWD

We used my BBQ sandwich recipe and Hubby ordered fresh buns from Alpine Bakery...they were just out of the oven when he picked them up...they were perfect for this dinner.  People brought a few condiments such as sliced cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles for the sandwiches.  This is my BBQ recipe:

        Kris’ Sloppy Joes

2    pounds  extra lean ground beef
1    large  yellow onion, finely chopped
1    green bell pepper, finely chopped
1    red bell pepper, finely chopped
4    tablespoons    chili powder
1/4   teaspoon    ground black pepper
2    teaspoons  salt
2    cloves garlic, minced
1/4   cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2    cups  tomato puree or crushed tomaties
1    cup  ketchup
1    tablespoon    mustard
BBQ Spice or Seasoning to taste

Brown and crumble the ground beef with onions, peppers, garlic, salt, pepper.  (Or if the beef is too fatty, cook separately and drain off fats before adding next ingredients.) Add chili powder, brown sugar, tomato puree, and mustard.  Let simmer for an hour.  Makes about a dozen Sloppy Joe sandwiches.

Note: adjust the spices, brown sugar, ketchup, and tomato puree to your own taste.  You may like to add other spices such as cumin, hot pepper sauce, etc.

Instead of the tomato puree, you may like diced and smashed tomatoes, larger pieces or peppers, etc.  You may like celery added.  We like a little more brown sugar and a little less ketchup.  We also like a slice of cheese added to the sandwich.

Enjoy!

PEOPLE STARTED COMING AND THEY ARE HUNGRY

Carol took care of  bringing her distilled water and ice which is always a pleasure, and Marcia/Greg made the punch which had a lemonade base and was enjoyed.  We went through 6 bags of ice, 10 gallons of water, and 5 gallons of punch.

CAROL AND I HAVE "TWIN" WATER JUGS AND PUNCH BOWLS

MORE PEOPLE

FLOWERS FROM MY YARD

 I went out early in the morning and cut 200 of my zinnias which Marina arranged for our tables.  The containers are Carol's and they used ribbons to decorate, actually tied like a tie for Fathers' Day.  We used many colors of bandannas and bandanna fabric to decorate...goes with our BBQ.

PEOPLE CONTRIBUTED LOTS OF YUMMY FOODS

YUM!

MORE YUM!

THE SALADS AND FRUITS WE ASSIGNED OUT ARRIVED AND WERE WONDERFUL

MORE

ABD MORE!

JANET JUSTESEN ROASTED KALE TO GO WITH HER SALAD

EVERYTHING IS FRESH AND TASTY...WE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH

I was surprised at the most enjoyed pies.  I made the following:

Chocolate Malted 4" Tartlets   (people cut 1/2 ...we used 9)

Sugar-Free Fresh Strawberry

Dark Chocolate Cream

Blueberry

Apple with Pecan Crumb Topping

Blueberry Cream

Lemon Merringue

Fresh Fruit Tart

Strawberry Rhubarb

Apple

Banana Cream (with an entire bunch of bananas)

Bumbleberry (Raspberry, Blackberry, Blueberry) --- this was a favorite

Pumpkin

Coconut Cream -- one lady only wanted pie if her husband could find coconut cream on the table and would bring it to her.  He found it and bought it to her and she was elated.  Made me happy to because I know that she has lost 80% of her hearing from both ear drums being ruptured on plane travel about a month ago...she has been in true misery.

Lemon Custard with Fresh Fruit

Orange Creamsicle

Blueberry

My favorite is Chocolate cream out of all the cream pies...just need my daily dose of chocolate, but of the two I made Hubby ate 1/2 pie and no one else tried it.  Frolicking Night Owl daughter swiped one of these leftovers.

Banana Cream went fast. I was surprised.
Strawberry Rhubarb---people were wanting more.
The Sugar-Free Strawberry went, but I think, just because dieters had a choice.
Could have used several more Chocolate Malted Tarts.

The balance was enjoyed but not to the same degree as the above.

It was fun to see the pie table mobbed.  People were lined up to get to the pies, then for seconds, and many for thirds and even fourths.

Average amount actually eaten  per person was 1/4 a 10" pie and .6 cup ice cream...that is really quite a large serving of dessert average per person...all the more fun.  There were a few people who only ate pie...they commented that they could have the other foods anytime, but homemade pie is a treasure.  

It was fun to watch, especially the men gawking at the table before dinner began, eying out the pies they would go for and almost drooling over their favorites.

These pies were homey, a little rustic, and delicious.  Because it is so hot it was hard to transport the creamy and fresh fruity pies, and it was also hard to keep a nice shape on the crust.  Even though the dough was chilled and some pie shells were frozen before baking, as soon as the dough was out of refrigeration it started melting fast.  My kitchen must have been 90^ even with A/C...the outside temp was 107^ and I had two ovens going all day.  I'm guessing that my Nephew's reception which is near Salt Lake City, will be a bit cooler, even in August which is their hottest month.

I also learned that I need more than one pie table!!!  It was mobbed and difficult to maneuver the cutting, etc.  For the wedding I will need a drink table, an ice cream table, room for paper products, and 3 pie tables.  There will also be a small wedding cake that one of my skilled decorating daughters will make....and Grandpa is making a cake stand to fit onto the tables that will be  18" high  and  and surrounded by pie???   That is the request.

Also, people were requesting my large dinner size plates for the pie and ice cream...so they could cut a few varieties to taste...did not like the smaller dessert plates.  I also need to take a daughter to decorate the pies better than I have time to do...always living in the fast lane.  The next large pie project needs to produce prettier pies.  So, all the toppings will need to be added by a careful, non-rushed baker.

I think I can made and freeze ahead all the pie crust dough and tart doughs.  I can pre-make some fillings such as for apple pie  (our apples will be ripe this week and they make THE BEST PIE!!!  They are Anna Apples and are similar to Golden Delicious...they are a great baking apple.)  I can also make the pastry creams and puddings the day before we travel and keep in coolers...should keep for 3 days.  Then, we can just put together the pies and bake them at Grandma's and someone can make the cake while I'm baking pies.  Sounds like a good plan.  I'm ready to gather ingredients so all I'll need will be the fresh foods.  

I'm looking forward to this next project and am glad to have had an opportunity to learn a few things.

THIS WAS A FUN PROJECT