Martha Stewart's Pie Pop Up Shop

Carrie came to visit recently, and we had an action-packed activity and eating weekend. One of the favorite things we did was attend a filming of Martha Stewart.  It was nothing but fate when the episode turned out to be "Pies and Tarts," a preview to Martha's new Pies and Tarts book.

Martha had a beautiful television set.  The actual kitchen was set to the left of the main kitchen stage, with her "gardening room" to the right of that along with her "dining room."

Martha, always looking so polished and perfect!

At the end of the filming, Martha gifted everyone in the audience a copy of her new book (which I can't wait to tackle). She also announced that there would be a pie popup shop in the West Village this weekend featuring pies made from the recipes featured in the book! And. If there is anything you must know about me:  I cannot miss a pie event in New York.  Especially one by Ms. Martha Stewart herself. (Srsly.)

So naturally, I was there upon the pop up shop opening on Saturday. :)

The pop up shop storefront.  So inviting!

Waiting.  Kind of patiently.

When the shop opened, the small space quickly became a cluster with everyone clamoring for the beautiful pies displayed in the small display case.

Filling orders.

The flavors.

 Sometimes I lack all self control.  Saturday was one of those days...I ended up ordering 5 of the 9 types listed...and now we have more goodies to look at!

Poppy seed tartlet with lemon curd.

Bright and beautiful.

Beneath the thick dollop of whipped cream, sprinkled with poppy seed, is a thin slice of candied lemon and perfectly balanced tart lemon curd contained within a poppy seed flecked crust.

A bite of this reminds me of summer and brilliant sunshine.  

Port caramel chocolate tartlet. (Had a bit of a mishap with the pies in the box, hence the weird caramel swirl; it should look flat).

You can detect notes of the port wine in the rich chocolate caramel, adding a unique complexity.  The sweetness of the dark caramel is balanced by the sea salt added in the crunchy chocolate crust.  Chopped almonds are sprinkled across the top.

Apple pie.

Classic.

The quintessential apple pie: flaky, buttery crust, sweetened but slightly tart apples and the essence of cinnamon.  So comforting.

The spinach and feta turnover.

Sometimes I cannot remember if I like certain cheeses; feta is one of them.  However, if Martha thinks feta and spinach taste good together, then I shall try it, and I was glad I did!  The flaky crust gave way to heaps of spinach and tangy feta chunks.  Great flavor combination!

Chewy chess pie.

Essentially made with butter, sugar and eggs, this pie was obviously tasty with its Nilla wafer crust and fun, chewy texture.  The filling magically creates a flaky crust on top that adds a nice crunch to the chew.

And last but not least, my favorite: coconut cream pie.  Pardon the excessive pictures.  I love it that much.

This pie joyously celebrates coconut in all its beautiful glory from the bits of toasted coconut in the crust to the shredded pieces in the creamy filling.  The crust falls apart immediately upon eating, but I couldn't help but think that was part of its charm.  You end up using each scoop of pie filling to collect the crust remnants along the sides of the pan.  The creamy center is not too rich or sweet, and I feel I can eat this pie for days or years or for the rest of my life.  I think this will be the first pie I will make and eat all by myself. :D

I loved this pie event, and upon googling others' experience, I noticed that they had enacted a "one pie per person" rule later in the day on Saturday or had only permitted people who purchased a book to have one pie.  I am so glad to have visited the shop early in the morning in order to purchase any amount of pies and sample all of them because I sure would not have been able to pick only one.  (Okay, that's a lie.  It woulda been the coconut cream, ftw!).  Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book based on the pie samples I had this weekend, and because it is a beautiful tome of treats.  Each recipe is accompanied by a photograph of the pie, and the back section has all sorts of pie tips with more photos to show techniques!