With all of the hullabaloo surrounding the wedding last weekend, I completely forgot that Friday marked a really important day in the life of me: it was the “end” of the Paleo and Whole 30 Challenge of 2012. Saturday morning, I was completely free to wake up and abandon all things Paleo for the rest of eternity. Saturday being a major day of celebration, I kind of did just that. Don’t judge me based on this picture, but it was taken shortly after I was discovered hiding and eating pie in the bridal suite at Swan Trail Farms. I am not sneaky.
Apparently, at this point I was slightly mortified by the fact that I had been cut off from white-wine drinking by the banquet bartender and felt the need to hide while eating the most delicious peach pie that has ever been made. When my pal Gordy came in with Layne to break up my pie party, I put on a really sassy face and refused to share. I made that pie and I was gonna eat it if I wanted to! Classic Booker.
I woke up on Sunday morning feeling pretty incredibly sick and slightly drunk. I thought about going to Laredo’s for a big starch-heavy breakfast that I could wash down with a couple of Bloody Mary’s before realizing something important: I feel like crap because I completely polluted my body for nearly 24 hours. I spent all day Saturday playing hooky from my previously healthy lifestyle. If I continued to play hooky, my body was eventually going to fire me and retaliate against me by gaining back the weight I’ve lost and replacing precious muscle with lots o’ fat. I do not want that. Nor do I want to spend anymore time hiding in bridal suites eating pie. So, I decided against playing hooky and went to Henry’s house where I was treated to a meat-heavy breakfast scramble of bacon, chicken, bacon and veggies. We ate while watching Keanu Reeve’s movies and laughing at the masterful chiefing of his roommate Colin, who woke up with a fair bit of sharpied profanity on his chest. It was a great day.
So, what is my lesson from all this “challenge” business that has been going on for the past two months? I’ve learned (once again) that challenges are only challenges so long as you allow them to be. Eating and living a Paleo lifestyle became easy the moment I decided it wasn’t prohibitive. Training for a marathon is easy on days when I don’t think about the distance. Walking Blaze at 6:30am is easy as pie when I realize that it helps him meet his basic needs. Switching mentality is essential, and often accompanied by the realization that we can do anything we want to – at any point in time. It’s all about perspective.
Wedding Closet Peach Pie
Ingredients:
Pie Crust:
2 c. almond flour
1 egg yolk
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter (cold and cut into 1/2″ cubes) or ghee
Filling:
3 1/2 pounds peaches
1/2 c. coconut sugar
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
Few pinches of grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. table salt
6 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
Finishing:
1 egg yolk
Handful of coconut sugar
Method:
1) Make your pie dough. Whisk flour, sugar and salt together until well incorporated. Add in butter or ghee along with egg yolk. With a pastry blender or potato masher, work the butter or ghee and egg yolk into the flour mixture until it begins to form a ball. If necessary, you might need to add ice-cold water to finish the mixture. If so, do so 1 Tbsp. at a time! Get your hands into the bowl when it begins to incorporate and knead a couple of times. You do not necessarily want the butter to be well-mixed. I like my pie crust best when the butter is about the size of small peas. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour before baking.
2) For the filling, you will need to peel, pit and slice the peaches. Afterward, place them in a bowl and stir in the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and arrowroot powder until everything is evenly mixed.
3) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
4) As you can see in the stunning picture above, I decided to make this pie a galette. To follow suit, line your counter in plastic wrap and put your chilled dough directly on top. Cover your dough with another piece of plastic wrap and roll out until it is even and thin – you should get about 12-14 inches of pie crust from this recipe. Place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pour in the peach mixture. Carefully wrap the dough around the peach mixture, creating a bit of an over-hanging crust.
5) Whisk up the egg yolk and brush it evenly over the pie crust. Sprinkle the entire top of your galette with coconut sugar before popping it in the oven for 40-50 minutes. You will know the galette is finished when the filling is nice and bubbly, the crust is a nice golden brown and all you want to do is eat pie. Remove from oven and let rest of 2-3 hours at room temperature before serving. This ridiculous amount of time allows the pie filling to set completely and not run allover the pie table at a wedding.
Prep time: 2 hours
Total time: 3 hours (not including post-baking pie resting)
Serves: 6-10 people
