Eat Alberta 2011: Apple Pie and Pastry Making

One of the first sessions that I experienced at Eat Alberta was the Apple Pie and Pastry Making 101, which featured the pastry talents of Christian Miller. A pie baking aficionado, Christian first learned how to make pies from her father... and has since catapulted that talent into many trademark pies and culinary creations.

While this session did not mark my first attempt at pie making, I figured that there was plenty to learn. All bakers have a slightly different take on how to best create his or her ideal pastry... and just like traditional family recipes that have been passed through generations, typically each is faithful to their version.

I was challenged to "work the lard hard" and produce a crust in a very different way from what I had in the past... yet equally tasty!

Apple Mint Mojitos

When I went to purchase the starter herbs for my little container garden, I could not find any regular mint! Pineapple mint, chocolate mint… ai ya. I wasn’t convinced. I just wanted regular mint. Then I stumbled upon apple mint and, while it still wasn’t quite right, I figured that that would be easier to use than something like chocolate mint.

As nine times out of ten, I seem to grab the mint for a mojito, I figured that this would be a good opportunity to try making an apple influenced mojito.