At long last, I turn my food thoughts to pies.

Savory. The classic English pie. MEAT AND POTATO PIE. What’s not to like. My Mum made one, Muriel made one, whose mother didn’t. We love the recipe of Simon Hopkinson he calls it “my mother’s meat and tattie pie”

I remember Sheila and Carol having a day in France, they would shop, have lunch, and  bring back tempting, delicious treats, and of course Lots of wine. It become the tradition on these days that John (Carol’s husband) would cook meat and potato pie. Served with a steaming bowl of mushy peas. (The long soak variety) A lovely evening spent talking about the food “gifts” they’d brought from France.

Beef and ale, Steak and Kidney. All delicious pies. The long slow cooking of the beef, creating a lush tasty gravy. Chicken and mushroom, and of course our recent addition to the pie family: HAM AND MUSHROOM The combinations are Endless.

The French don’t do “proper” pies, but we do now have an English butcher who delivers in our area. He does his own pork pies, and all the usual pies,  plus a new one to us steak and blue cheese pie. So worry not, we do get “a pie fix” where as before, we had to wait till till we had visitors, or if we visited the UK.

COURGETTE AND HERB FILO  Filo pastry pie stuffed with courgette, feta and cheddar! Smells good, and tastes good. Like so much of Greek food it tastes good at room temperature, and even cold next day. Breakfast?

Sheila makes a mean CHEESE AND ONION PIE which everyone enjoys. When she helped out Cathy and Nigel on their cycle tour days, she would make a couple, took her best part of the day. The secret is the Parmesan in the pastry. Time consuming, yes, but worth the wait. No ready made pastry here.

Dad’s favorite was a Pork Pie, but it had to be from Chesterfield, or at least from the North. On one coach trip to Paris . We were all set for our ” picnic” when our friend who lived in Bedford  produced a plastic wrapped, mass produced pork pie.  Dad did not hold back:- ” Why did you ask her to  buy the pork pie, when these two live in Chesterfield???

Sheila has started to make PORK PIE, and I have to admit they are delicious. Tasty and so full of flavour, all rounded off with a scrumptious jelly, made from pigs trotter.

FISH PIE. fish pie is a one-pot supper dish made with a combination of fish, onion, milk, butter, and potatoes, and I love the addition of hard-boiled eggs it just completes the dish.

Gosh, been discussing the merits of a savory pie, not even touched on the ubiquitous apple pie.  See more at SWEETY PIE