Yesterday by 1 pm all the fruit pies were gone. Soothed our heartbreak with Black Dog gelato: lemon verbena, banana white chocolate curry, and cherry chocolate chip.

I stopped by on Friday after work, and they only had slices of the fruit pies left. Fortunately, as I was placing my order, they pulled some strawberry pies that were destined for something else out of the oven, and decided one of them didn't look as nice as they would like, and decided to sell it to me. And, it was awesome. As was the BBQ pork pot pie.

Pie Lady wrote:And apparently Hoosier Mama Pies cure the flu. I suggest telling Paula that so she can capitalize on it.

It kind of makes sense though, doesn't it? It's high in sugar and very energy dense, which is a bad thing when you're trying to lose weight, but a wonderful thing if you can't get food down. And if it's a custard, it's got egg proteins in it. And, most importantly, it tastes good, so you're more likely to want to eat it.

Pie: the key to healthy living.

It's only Nov 1, I went to order Thanksgiving pies, and they are no longer taking orders. I'm not excited to make my own.

Holy shit.
Maybe if you call one of their distributors they can hold one aside for you.

Good for them, thankfully I ordered last week for some reason. Thank you pie gods.

Paula! Are you reading this? You should probably open another place up north. Like in Niles.

My proposed solution: place a double-order of pies for a pickup on Sunday the 20th, and freeze half. This way, you can safely eat the non-frozen pies all week while your Thanksgiving pies rest safely in a locked freezer. I actually won't be trying this, as I've already promised my family I'd bring home some sausages for Thanksgiving.

Wow, that's a sentence I never thought I'd ever type.

Damn. I thought I was on the ball this year, remembering to order pie the day after Halloween.

I second Pie Lady's suggestion. I can make it from Park Ridge to Niles in a few minutes!

Looks like they're done taking orders for Christmas already too...there's an ad to place Christmas orders in their sidebar, but dates after 12/17 are "blacked out."

Ok, so I lied. I just placed an order for three pies for a pickup on Saturday, the 19th (Sunday the 20th is now blacked out).

Any storage advice? I ordered Pumpkin, Coconut Custard, and Lemon Chess. The plan is to eat the Lemon Chess while bringing home the other two for the family. Will refrigeration suffice for five days, or does it need to go into the freezer? How bad will the quality suffer upon thawing?

I'm actually tempted to freeze it regardless, since I'll be storing it in the overhead compartment on my flight home. Whatever happens to the texture of custard when frozen, I imagine it's a lot smaller than an un-frozen pie getting bumped on a flight.

Pie Lady wrote:Looks like they're done taking orders for Christmas already too...there's an ad to place Christmas orders in their sidebar, but dates after 12/17 are "blacked out."

I just called - Christmas orders don't open until the day after Thanksgiving. I'm putting this on my Calendar.

This is actually a great thing - since the family will already be gathered together for Thanksgiving, we can place an order together. This way, each family member gets an entire pie to their selves.

Independent George wrote:This is actually a great thing - since the family will already be gathered together for Thanksgiving, we can place an order together. This way, each family member gets an entire pie to their selves.

Cousin! Great idea!

Independent George wrote:I'm actually tempted to freeze it regardless, since I'll be storing it in the overhead compartment on my flight home. Whatever happens to the texture of custard when frozen, I imagine it's a lot smaller than an un-frozen pie getting bumped on a flight.

I can't directly comment on custard pies, but fruit ones hold up just fine. Pumpkin, Lemon Chess and Coconut Custard are all pretty firm... I think they'd be fine.

-Dan

dansch wrote:

Independent George wrote:I'm actually tempted to freeze it regardless, since I'll be storing it in the overhead compartment on my flight home. Whatever happens to the texture of custard when frozen, I imagine it's a lot smaller than an un-frozen pie getting bumped on a flight.

I can't directly comment on custard pies, but fruit ones hold up just fine. Pumpkin, Lemon Chess and Coconut Custard are all pretty firm... I think they'd be fine.

-Dan

My guess would be that custard pies would weep liquid on being thawed, as the freezing would disrupt the structure of the custard. But, "everything pies" disagrees with me:
http://www.everythingpies.com/freeze-pumpkin-pie.html


Jen

Pie-love wrote:My guess would be that custard pies would weep liquid on being thawed, as the freezing would disrupt the structure of the custard. But, "everything pies" disagrees with me:
http://www.everythingpies.com/freeze-pumpkin-pie.html

Thanks so much for the link - it seems my best shot is to freeze it on Saturday, then begin thawing in the fridge overnight on Tuesday to reduce condensation. I have my own freezing procedure to minimize damage. Usually, I'll have them pre-slice for me, but I can't do that if I freeze due to the extra surface area.

I ran into Paula tonight and mentioned the discussion on freezing her pies in this thread. She was horrified at the idea, especially for people who are planning on storing them in a conventional freezer. She thought a deep freezer would be better, but still recommended against it.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:I ran into Paula tonight and mentioned the discussion on freezing her pies in this thread. She was horrified at the idea, especially for people who are planning on storing them in a conventional freezer. She thought a deep freezer would be better, but still recommended against it.

Oh noes! What should I do, then? I pick up the pies tomorrow, and fly to NY on Wednesday. Which will do more damage - the freezing, or sitting in the fridge for 5-6 days?

I might have to just eat all three before going home. It's a tough sacrifice, but I absolutely will not serve sub-standard pies to my family. It's for their own good.

Independent George wrote:

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:I ran into Paula tonight and mentioned the discussion on freezing her pies in this thread. She was horrified at the idea, especially for people who are planning on storing them in a conventional freezer. She thought a deep freezer would be better, but still recommended against it.

Oh noes! What should I do, then? I pick up the pies tomorrow, and fly to NY on Wednesday. Which will do more damage - the freezing, or sitting in the fridge for 5-6 days?

I might have to just eat all three before going home. It's a tough sacrifice, but I absolutely will not serve sub-standard pies to my family. It's for their own good.

I think she might be reading this thread. Here's what just came across the Hoosier Mama Twitter feed:

@HMPC wrote:Dearest customers, We cannot recommend freezing our pie! Please do not buy our pie this weekend and freeze it for Thanksgiving!

@HMPC wrote:Much prefer you buy a quality pie from someone else next week than buy our pie this week and freeze it!

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote: She was horrified at the idea.

Hoosier Drama Queen.

Goodness. I think the statement "I'd rather you buy from someone else" says otherwise; that's a really classy suggestion from someone who really cares about how her pies are presented. I'm sure some of those pies can probably be safely frozen, but if she doesn't think the quality would be up to snuff after defrosting, it's nice she's honest.

Pie Lady wrote:Goodness. I think the statement "I'd rather you buy from someone else" says otherwise; that's a really classy suggestion from someone who really cares about how her pies are presented.

I agree 100%.

=R=

PortPkPaul wrote:

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote: She was horrified at the idea.

Hoosier Drama Queen.

Wow! Blasting someone for caring about the craft to which they've dedicated their professional life? I'd be horrified too, if something I made -- with my name on it -- was subsequently ruined by someone after the fact.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

PortPkPaul wrote:

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote: She was horrified at the idea.

Hoosier Drama Queen.

Wow! Blasting someone for caring about the craft to which they've dedicated their professional life? I'd be horrified too, if something I made -- with my name on it -- was subsequently ruined by someone after the fact.

=R=

It was intended as a light-hearted poke, not a blast. Very few things horrify me, but I guess some people are really really into their desserts lol.

PortPkPaul, bro, we're all really, really into food here.

PortPkPaul wrote:It was intended as a light-hearted poke, not a blast. Very few things horrify me, but I guess some people are really really into their desserts lol.

Ok gotcha. Sorry, for the unintended over-reaction.

For the eater it's just dessert but for the person whose name is on the door it's obviously a higher stakes situation.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:.

For the eater it's just dessert but for the person whose name is on the door it's obviously a higher stakes situation.

=R=

You are kidding right ? There's no way for the eater, at least not me, it's just dessert. It binds. It finishes. Dare I say it, if the Last Course isn't as important as the 1st, why bother? There are many of us out here. We eat salad and vegetables all week in anticipation of great dessert. We skim the menus and ask for the dessert menu before we order so that we can figure out what the other courses should be.

So much love for Claudia Flemming, HPMC, the folks at Floriole, Old Fashioned Donuts, Mario's Italian Ice & Scooter's Custard even if I am still on dessert sabbatical.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:I think she might be reading this thread. Here's what just came across the Hoosier Mama Twitter feed:

@HMPC wrote:Dearest customers, We cannot recommend freezing our pie! Please do not buy our pie this weekend and freeze it for Thanksgiving!

@HMPC wrote:Much prefer you buy a quality pie from someone else next week than buy our pie this week and freeze it!

I know she reads this forum, one day she and her husband yelled down the street at me. Hey d4v3! (so much for anonimity).

From before the beginning, it was their intention to produce the most authentic, highest quality pies available in Chicago. And I think they have succeeded. Just like a certified Napoli pizza loses its certification as soon as it is carried out the door of the pizzeria, as soon as you freeze a Hoosier Mama pie, it is no longer a HM pie, as it no longer represents the best of the best. She is not a drama queen, just someone who wants her customers to enjoy the very best under the very best conditions.

pairs4life wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:.

For the eater it's just dessert but for the person whose name is on the door it's obviously a higher stakes situation.

=R=

We skim the menus and ask for the dessert menu before we order...

Nice to know it's not just me!