I actually cooked a big apple pie last night. Trust me this is unusual as a) I’m a crap cook and b) I don’t generally mess around with sweet pies. But what about mixing the two up?
Fruit topped pies are an interesting phenomenon and go most notably with pork. Imagine my glee one Monday morning when I was driving back from Conwy in North Wales and I pulled off the A55 to visit the Penmaenmawr […]
Seeing as they followed me on Twitter yesterday, it feels as apt a time as any to feature one of East Lancashire’s finest. Down the road in Accrington and Blackburn, you have the veritable pie twin giants of Hollands and Clayton Park but this small butchers’ in Burnley is more than a match for the pair of them.
Situated slap bang in the town centre, Haffners is a traditional butchers with strong emphasis on pies. And […]
I must apologise, I’m notorious for starting things I don’t fini
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But I can assure you that this six day hiatus was for a very worthy reason. Essentially I gave the missus the book and she ripped it to shreds so it’s undergone another hefty proof read which has half killed me this week.
Whoops! Nearly forgot to give you a pie. On Saturday of all days a man/woman needs a pie.
Forgive me I’m currently in the final throes of proof reading and making more changes than a set of Parisian traffic lights. When the “Life of Pies” book finally goes to the printers sometime over the next week or so, you will be able to hear a noise which sounds suspiciously like a grown man weeping tears of […]
There is a strong movement out there residing in a number of quarters ranging from the British Pie Awards to my associates at Pie Rate regarding the classification of a pie.
Essentially, if it’s not fully encased it’s not a pie. If it only has a top crust or indeed no crust at all – looking at you here Cottage & Fish Pies – then it’s nothing more than a pie charlatan.
[…]
Some days when I went out and ate several pies I started to wonder about the psychology of what I was doing and whether my scoring would be impacted by timing of the pie. Naturally if I’m planning to eat three or four pies in a day it makes sense to skip breakfast, therefore I end up so hungry that the first pie of the day will always feel fantastic as I’m starving.
Consequently by the […]
Did you know Walkers made pies before they made crisps? If so, you’ve probably also been blagging info off Wikipedia like me.
Originally a butcher in the 19th century famed for pies and sausages they started to use the surplus fat off the meat to make potato crisps during the war. Seventy years later ol’ Jug Ears get paid a small fortune to advertise said crisps on the telly.
LIFE OF PIES IS NOW ON SALE
Oops sorry I missed a day yesterday, I was sorting out the 16 page photo section you see. In other developments, Mrs Life of Pies (a teacher) is doing a full and thorough final proof read of the book.
This is both good and bad. Good because she’s ripping it to pieces and sorting out all the grammar and punctuation. Bad because she’s ripping it to pieces and […]
There’s a Pieminster around the corner from my place of work. Add this to the Pie & Ale house on Lever Street and the Tib Street Tavern who sell fantastic Great North Pies and you’ve got a formidable triumvirate and there’s an argument to say the Northern Quarter should be renamed the Pie Quarter. Furthermore, the Crusty Cob is only a mile or so away, whose pies you can also find on here if you […]
Oh Greenhalghs what have you done!! The fine Bolton baker actually took the time and trouble to tweet me last summer to make me aware of this fiery feast and now it appears that it’s back on the menu.
I had to walk to the station one Saturday morning to pick my car up and picked up one of these pies only for it to blow my socks off and kind of sort out my hangover.
[…]
Time to throw a controversial choice into the mix. Right at the start of the year I was introduced to the concept of the Macaroni Pie popular North of the Border. Lots of my Northerly twitter friends rave about these and they literally go like hot cakes (hot pies) at Pittodrie and many other football grounds North of the Border.
Good game! Good game! As a wig wearing light entertainment host might say. But what is good game. Indeed what is game? Why is it called game? It’s a bit of a silly name really isn’t it?
We don’t call fish “match” or poultry “competition” do we?
100 DAYS OF PIE: THE FIRST ENTRY. NB THE BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE
If you’re up to date with my pie based excursions you’ll be aware that Life of Pies – the inaugural book of pastry based adventure will shortly be on its way to the printers. Given that printing take 3 months and there’s another week or so of proof reading and finalising before releasing this beast, I reckon it’s around about 100 days away.
Does […]
(With apologies to Prince*)
(*In the unlikely event he’s reading)
Now I’ve eaten a LOT of pies in the last two years or so, 400+ in fact but it’s the ones which escape my clutches that eat away at my insides the most. You’ve probably seen the cover of Life of Pies by now, splattered all over this website as it is.
However, what you’ve not seen is the second choice cover. Indeed, it may end up being […]
The following article appeared in the Wigan fanzine, The Mudhutter a few weeks ago and explains how the “Life of Pies” began and how the author hopes to use the latest craze of “Crowd Funding” to help fund the printing of the book.
Left: A steak pie from Philippes of Skipton
A new year always brings new aims and ambitions. By day I work as an accountant but in my spare time I co-edit this Wigan fanzine […]
I think this is what I will have to call a post pie audit. As I am currently writing up my forthcoming book at a rate of knots, I am challenging my own rationale in some senses and forcing out some repeat visits.
Dawsons of Tyldesley is one such case in question. The pie I had there in June 2012 lived long in the memory: very much like a Galloways meat and potato pie but better. […]