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Bobbi T. Smith says you should be dreaming about pie.

“If you want to make a pie, you need to plan ahead. You need to be thinking about it. The best way to do a pie with a regular flour crust is to make it the day before. So you need to start thinking ahead about what you’re gonna make!” 

Thanksgiving is peak pie, and with the holiday this week, I called up Smith, a renowned local baker, to ask for a crash course in pie success. She meets me one morning at the Ah Haa School Culinary Kitchen. Smith baked pies professionally for decades; she got started in Durango, when she dropped out of college and needed a job.

“And the first place I walked into was the Stonehouse Bakery owned and operated by Jeff Norman and he hired me. So I started baking professionally when I was 20. I did have some home baking experience because my grandmother was a very good baker and she’s the one that taught me how to make pie. Today,” says Smith, “we’re making a pumpkin pie.”

All great pies start with a great crust and a great crust, says Smith, starts with five simple ingredients. 

“I’ve got flour. salt, sugar, we’re gonna mix some frozen grated butter into this, that’s my secret, and some vegetable shortening. And then we’re gonna mix it all together with some ice water,” says Smith. 

The grated butter creates a feathery mound in the bowl. Smith works in the flour with her fingers.

“I am just trying to mix in these fats with the flour and get it to a breadcrumb consistency,” Smith explains. “We don’t want to mix in the butter and the shortening completely. We want to see a little bit of lumps of fat still, because that’s what’s going to give you those nice pockets of flakiness once it’s baked.”

Next, add ice water, bit by bit. “I am looking for all this flour, all these crumbs, to get hydrated and almost start sticking together, “ says Smith. “And we’re at that point right now. I’ve been just letting it fall through my fingers and now I’m going to go in there and actually form the dough: I’m going to pick it up from the bottom and squish it down with my palm.” 

“And I just do this step probably less than ten times and then it’s done. And that’s the secret and that’s what my grandmother taught me,” Smith continues. “She said turn it, mix it, and then stop.  Don’t over mix it. That makes it tough.” 

The dough is ready to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours while we prepare the filling. 

For today’s pie, Smith has roast a sugar pumpkin in the oven until soft and blended it with a couple of eggs, some milk and spice.

Smith rolls out a circle of the dough and drapes it into a pan. Then it’s ready for it’s first bake, explains Smith, “something called a blind bake. You cover it up. You cover it with maybe a piece of aluminum foil and then pour beans on top or rice on top so you can’t see the pie dough. And then it goes in the oven.

The beans act as a weight so the pie keeps its shape, and the shell can set up before being filled with the pumpkin custard, and baked for a final time. Smith says to cool your pie pie to room temperature before digging in. Today, I’m in luck: Smith brought a pie she baked off last night.

“All right,” invites Smith, “shall we take a bite of this pumpkin pie? I did whip some cream to put on this. Here we go!” 

Smith is satisfied with the result. “Pumpkin pie from a pumpkin!” she says.

I can attest, it is delicious. From all of us at KOTO, have a Happy Thanksgiving.