Pies Anyone? Pies Anyone?

I am always looking for new places and people to taste my pies. I went to an Alpha Omicron Pi Alumni fundraising event for the Girl Scouts and yes, I brought fried pies. They had great suggestions about how many of my recipes to post and what I can do with the blog to attract more people. My sisters were very supportive, helpful and inspiring! Thank you ladies!

Chugga Chugga Woo Hoo More Fried Pies

Thank Goodness I am good at organization so I try different assembly methods to speed the process. here is the result: Baked Apricot, Raisin Apple with Cinnamon, Spiced Apple with Icing, and Caramel Apple with powdered sugar.

Crust...

Today, I made the traditional crust, crust with butter and buttermilk, crust with vinegar, and crust with butter and milk. Cooked samples of each and they were each very good. Surprisingly, I couldn't taste the vinegar. The buttermilk had a nice smooth, rich flavor. The strange aftertaste from butter and water crusts wasn't there with the butter and milk crust. I put together 5 dozen pies today with the crust and tomorrow I will bake them. I am finalizing the measurments in the recipes and gathering information to determine how much it costs to make each pie. This is not as easy as I thought it would be!

New Business Goal

I am talking to different people about sales, working with restaraunts, and product questions. I am also putting numbers in excel to create some numbers regarding how much it costs to make each pie, sale price etc. My goal: take samples to 3 different restaraunts in by the end of March. We will see what happens. Stay tuned...

Mixed Berry Cobbler with Oats

Yummy! All cobblers are good. And I have found that all cobbler toppings-traditionally biscuits-are also good! This time I tried a recipe with oats and walnuts. Being from the South and enjoying each season's fresh pecans, I believe that if there is an occasion to add nuts, much like vanilla, then add it. We will see what the tasters think...

Thinking about the next step...

Since my fried pie recipes are almost finalized, I am thinking more and more about what steps to take next. I am going to seek out some groups at churches in order to get more tasters and build relationships to rent kitchens. I am going to follow-up with the BBQ restaraunt and call on a few popular sandwich shops. One of which is expanding. There are three I have in mind and only one has a dessert. I also started the daunting task of inquiring about licensing, kitchen requirements and the like. Not fun but necessary. Any suggestions or new things for me to think about? I would love to hear it.

Positive Feedback

An instructor who has tasted several pies asked, "can I buy them? When can I buy them? if I freeze them could I buy them?" He was very excited! Each time he ate the pies he gave little feedback and didn't seem to be looking for me on the days I had pies but then after eating a chocolate banana fried pie he surprised me!

The Texaco crew loved the chocolate banana-said it was their favorite!

Went to a local church and inquired about feeding some small groups because believe it or not, I need more tasters! Made chocolate banana, cherry, and apricot this weekend. Will fry and bake then give everyone the results...

Cooking Updates and Taking The Next Step

Peach Blueberry Cobbler-tried two different biscuits but the texture didn't seem quite right. We'll see how they taste. Also, I couldn't find dried, fresh or frozen peaches so I used canned and I am not too sure about that choice.
Cherry Fried Pies-The only cherries I can find are tart so I add a ton of sugar but they may still be a little bitter. Does anyone know if lemon or orange juice would cut that? Filling texture looked great and tasted good in the pan. The question is spiced or non-spiced?
The Next Step-met with the Assistant Manager at the BBQ restaurant and he is going to talk with the General Manager. This wasn't the man I spoke with two months ago so I might call them at the end of next week if I don't hear from them.
HELP! If anyone has sold products to a restaurant, owned a restaurant or know someone that has I have questions and would love to bend some ears. You can post here and we can communicate through the blog or you can email me at holleymatthews@ymail.com if you can help. Thank you in advance.
This is what my kitchen looked like this morning...Peach Blueberry Cobbler and Cherry Fried Pies