I'm the "pie-bringer" of the party. I love baking all sorts of delicious holiday pies, but not necessarily eating them, so holiday get-togethers are the perfect opportunities for baking and sharing. A sweet little tip that I learned from a friend is to bring a homemade pie with the hostess gift nestled in its center: a pie bird.
Pie birds or pie funnels are the old fashioned method of venting steam from piping hot meat or fruit pies. Rather than cutting slits or designs in the top crust, bakers nestled the birds right in the center to vent steam and support the pastry.
Relatively inexpensive and definitely charming, pie birds make quirky little additions to baking, plus a sweet hostess gift to boot. Vintage birds can be found on etsy and ebay, but take a look at the picks below for something new.
1. Vintage pie bird collection, found at Country Living. Photo by Kana Okada
2. This pie bird comes in three different colors from Le Creuset, $5
3. The most recognizable pie bird, Blackbird from Sur La Table, $4.95
4. Surprise! They're not all birds. Squirrel Pie Vent from Sur La Table, $9.95
5. Basic white pie bird from Bed, Bath and Beyond, $1.99
Images: As credited above.
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I just don't understand them, they are a unitasker that could be replaced by any sharp, skinny object in your kitchen that could cut a slit. They also make your pie look as though it starred in a certain American movie when you remove them after baking.
These are really cute. Great stocking stuff idea.
Too cute!! I could use these to cheer us up after this miserable week of snow. Thanks!
I love the pie bird. My mother always used one just like that black and yellow one. If a guest brought me a pie with a pie bird gift, I'd be really really happy.
Unitasker, yes, but adorable and small.
Great gift idea!
I'm with Jess13 on this one. I don't see the value in these as anything other than a decorative object. Unless you know the person makes pies, it seems like a strange gift.
Are they meant to be a memento of pies eaten? Like "this bird reminds me of that pie we ate, remember? And this one reminds me of that other pie we ate. Look at all the delicious pies we've eaten. Hmm, maybe we shouldn't eat so much pie."
Great idea!
I doubt people would use them to remember certain pies they ate, but they would probably reuse them....forever. So cute and functional.
Neat. And who cares if it serves one purpose?
When it is a unitasker that Alton Brown chooses to use it clearly serves a decent purpose! I have been meaning to get a couple. They make one smile if nothing else and even in small spaces are pretty easy to store.
You use them. Plain and simple. They're small, easy to store, and like Astur said, even Alton Brown (famed hater of unitaskers) likes them.
But obviously you should give these to people who bake pies or aspire to be better at baking.
I think it is multitasking. It is venting the pie, and making us smile.
My Mother was a 'pie-bringer', with a HUGE bird collection, but not one pie bird. She must not have known they existed. I didn't. She would have loved them, combining two of her favorite things, pie and birds.