I’ve only a vague idea how this Scottish baker made it into the book. As I went on quite a direct and demanding tour over the border I was perhaps looking for a more standard chain to augment the more specific pie objectives I had set myself and I believe Aulds of Greenock Morton are one of the bigger independent chains with a presence in Scotland (excluding the ubiquitous Greggs obviously).
I had a few language […]
Following yesterday’s post extolling the virtues of Galloways, I got a tweet off @IlfordDaveSCFC (married to a Wiganer @catalinar) who had excitedly spotted a box of Pooles meat and potato pies in the freezer aisle in Beckton Tesco’s. Thus making today’s pie of the day a shoe in.
Far be it from me to dampen the enthusiasm of exiled Northerners unearthing proper meat ‘n’ tater within the sound of Bow bells but the “since 1847” on […]
What happened here was that I tried repeatedly to get in touch with Dunkleys, a champion pie maker around these parts but when I eventually did they were a touch rude to me on the phone.
My ire was further stirred by the fact that sometime last year Wetherspoons took their pies off the menu (as indeed it is Dunkleys that used to supply them). To this very day, all you can get in that fine […]
Bit of a daft name really isn’t? Surely by default a pie should have a crust otherwise it’s not a pie; nor is it crusty.
Anyway, sweeping aside that minor pedantry, if you head to Market Street in Manchester at the minute you’ll find a load of market stalls. It spread around our place like wildfire “THERE’S A POP UP PORK PIE STALL NEAR THE ARNDALE” and indeed there was. We don’t get this kind of […]
LIFE OF PIES IS NOW AVAILABLE TO BUY
I got wed in the Lakes around about six years ago today, it’s an obvious thing to say but when you get the weather, there’s no better place in the world to be. There were no pies on the buffet but had I known this place was around the corner I might have had a re-think.
Situated by the park and bowling green on a road populated by traditional […]
Whoops I nearly missed a day again. Oh well, just time for me to revert to an old favourite I’ve previously blogged about on here.
I’d heard a rumour off one of the chaps on Twitter that they call their sausage rolls HAM ROLLS what with it being in the leafy footballer’s abode of Alderley Edge. Sure enough there they were on the shelves, along with a veritable cornucopia […]
The Googling
The map routing
The nervous wait in the queue
The shop assistant banter
The sights and smells, oh those wonderful smells
The eating of pies
The adventure
The endless, horrendous traffic
The embarrassing moments
The omnipresent WHEN RED LIGHTS SHOWS WAIT HERE signs
I will attempt to keep this brief – because – “LIFE OF PIES” THE BOOK WENT TO THE PRINTERS LAST NIGHT!!!!
Yes, the toil and torment is over and now it’s the waiting game until it hits the streets whilst battling back technical snags.
Anyway, here’s another pie. Following on from yesterday, I also got another pie the day I dropped into the Penmaenmawr Spar – this one from TJ Parry-Jones & Daughters. You can almost sense […]
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 ON SALE NOW
Time for a Minced Beef and Mushy Peas Pie!
Yes you read that right! It’s not a minced beef pie with mushy peas – it’s a minced beef and mushy peas pie. The mushy peas are on the inside. I bumped into one of the FC United lads on the train home one day last week, Ste Wood who regaled me with some of the gastronomic treats he has encountered […]