Good wine, good pie, and good company makes a good gathering.

That is what we had when Pillsbury Wine and Sedona Pies had a wine and pie tasting. We drove to Cottonwood, AZ to take part in this event at the Pillsbury Wine Tasting Shop.

The Pie Princes, Mari-Lyn Harris, of Sedona Pies makes sinfully delicious pies. For the tasting we had fresh peach pie paired with Pillsbury’s Pinot Gris. Her strawberry/rhubard pie was paired with Pillsbury Rose.

Pillsbury Wine Co. was started by Sam Pillsbury, an award winning New Zealand and American film-maker, i.e. The Quiet Earth, Free Willy 3, and Endlesss Bummer. Sitting and talking with Sam about how he got started in wine and his continual learning process during the past ten years was fascinating.

Sam says, ” The reds are distinctively fragrant powerful and complex and the whites have a unique viscous quality with pronounced tropical fruit characters.

From Mari-Lyn we are sharing one of her strawberry pies recipe.

The Pie Princess does a lot of special events with her pies. They are becoming quite popular at weddings and banquets.

Strawberry Crush

2 cups of strawberries
1 cup of white wine
1 Tablespoon of Tapiocia
2 Tablespoons of Vino Cotto (it’s a wine syrup)

Put the filling into your favorite pie crust or even suggested by Deena Montillo to put in a puff pastry shell.
Bake at 400-425 degrees, it will depend upon your oven on how hot it gets..for 30-35 minutes, until the pie is brown.
Make sure all your fruit is thawed out, otherwise it will not cooked evenly.

You can find the Vino Cotto at Montillo Italian Foods.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream..


P.S. All my recipes are copyrighted.

This was part of a great weekend in Northern Arizona.

Big Blend Magazine NoraLyn
Member: Society of Professional Journalists

“Success” was Indie Finalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Maralyn
Author: Maralyn

Maralyn Dennis Hill, The Epicurean Explorer, is president emeritus of International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association, member of Society of American Travel Writers, and Society of Professional Journalists. She is Executive Editor of Luxe Beat Magazine and contributes to other publications. She also speaks and is a guest on many shows. The majority of Maralyn’s articles are now geared to the luxury market, spas, corporate retreats, business events, and culinary tourism, from simple to gourmet. Maralyn’s description of herself: I was born to travel and tell the tale. I’m energized by different cultures in every aspect of their lives, from food, wine, and destination, to how they conduct business. Travel represents a continual geography lesson.