Here is one for all you arts and craftsy minded people out there: making mini-pies in jam jar lids. They are the perfect size, are oven safe and if you buy the pretty colored ones, are even great for presenting the little pies. The bottoms come off the Mason-jar style, so it’s also super easy to pop the pie out for those 1-2 bites. In theory, they are reusable, but because they are so cheap, who cares if one or two go missing!
It’s my Mum’s birthday tomorrow, and I can’t very well show up empty handed. When I asked her what type of a birthday cake she wanted, she said “something with apples” so while this is a pie not a cake, it’s a birthday pie. And it’s a “pretty lady” pie because it uses pink lady apples, it is also because my mum is a very pretty lady too.
It’s bad luck in German tradition to wish someone a happy birthday before their birthday, so I am not doing that yet though. 
This is the 26th version of apple pie on my site to date. Sure, some of them add cherries or blueberries. Some of them are two crust, some lattice, some quirky cutouts as a lattice, and yes, some of them are swirls like this. What can I say: I really like apple pie. It’s one of the comfort foods (along with Spätzle) that I reach for first. And it *is* the start of apple season. Yup, that’s my excuse for making pie when I have 8 million other things that I should be doing today.
Things have not been going tremendously well in the “time management” department these days … that is to say, “real life” has been so busy, that Cup of Sugar :: Pinch of Salt has taken a bit of a back burner (no pun intended). It’s overall tremendously frustrating, that. But in an attempt to make myself feel better, and it’s a misty miserable morning, I made these mini-pies, aka breakfast strudels. Pie for breakfast: always a cure all.
I’ve been working on perfecting some “from scratch” and quick lunch recipes. This one is almost from scratch (meaning, I used puff pastry so that was store bought, but everything else was from scratch). A little less than 40 minutes from “still in the fridge” (though you do need to take out the puff from the freezer) to “completely devoured”. Plus that includes the photography time. I did burn my mouth though from one of the tomatoes bursting. I probably should have waiting a few more minutes before eating, but I was hungry.
This is a great tart for this time of the year when cherry tomatoes are so plentiful in the garden and at the farmer’s markets, but actually can be made year round because cherry toms are reliably decent even at other times of the year.