Pies, pies, pies

The baking bug has bitten hard.

Now, I can't seem to get off this pie-making bandwagon. Today, for my hardworking colleagues, I made and brought in the peach-blackberry lattice pie and the three-berry crumb pie.

Pie is good food.

Don't be intimidated by pie, especially the crust. Follow Liz Marden's recipe. It's pretty fool-proof. Here's the crust and pie recipes - as well as Liz's pie tips.

Photo above was taken by Liz's son Matt Marden. And, yes, those are pies made by Liz and her fellow pastry chef, Tom Brown. See Liz at her pastry shop in Hockessin.

I made her crust - it makes a enough for a double-crust pie and a single-crust pie - and baked two fruit pies last night after work. (I even had time to eat dinner.) The pies were cooling on the kitchen counter by about 10 p.m.

Pie baking gets easier with practice.

Or if you don't want to make crust, buy one and at least make the crumb berry pie. (You don't need to roll out a top crust and the filling is a snap.) Just make sure you use fresh fruit, not that "canned goo," as Liz would say.

Fruit is at its peak now. Go for it.