Pie-a-day project - KCRW Good Food

http://blogs.kcrw.com/goodfood/2010/08/pita-pie-with-cheese-filling/ 

Pies are a part of my family tradition but not in a conventional way. Growing up in a traditional Macedonian home, my grandmother’s pies were called PITA. Not to be confused with pita breads sold in stores, these savory pies are filled with flavorful fillings and thin flaky crust. There are other names for the same dish depending on where in and around Macedonia you go or who you are talking to. Banitsa or Borek are some of the other common names but in my home it was all about good old fashioned PITA. It can be filled with a slew of combinations but not typically with fruit. Some examples of pita that my grandmothers used to make were plain pita stuffed with feta and ricotta cheese. In the summer we would have pita so pras, which translates to pita stuffed with leek. In the Fall it would be pita so tikfa which translates to pita with pumpkin, and in the winter we would have pita so spanak which is spinach pita. As for the dough, I’ll be honest—it’s a day-long process and an art in itself. I would never undermine the labor of love that my grandmothers and aunts put forth to make this dough but I had to find an easier way. I hope they aren’t reading this, but I found that flouring and rolling out store bought puff pastry develops a similar texture, taste and result as the handmade dough which makes this pie, easy as pie to make.

LA Times Blog

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/08/so-you-wanna-be-a-test-kitchen-intern-meet-kat-nitsou.html

I don't know too many people who don't like food -- like to cook it, like to eat it, like to look at pictures of it, like to talk about it, like to brag about it and even like to complain about it. Come to think of it, everyone I know likes food.

However, today in the Test Kitchen we aren't testing "real" food per se...

...we are testing sweet frozen treats on a stick -- various interpretations of one of summer's quintessential delightful treasures, the popsicle. Instantly taken back to my childhood, I'm perched on a bicycle, the wind rushing past me as I race against my sister to our local mini-mart, only to reach our tiny hands into the deep freezer to pull out frozen fudge-flavored skim milk. But the ones we’re testing this week are nothing like that. These delicious creations are made with unexpected ingredients.

Hey, I'm Kat, and I'm consumed with food. Canadian, born of Macedonian parents, I come from a very big family where food is the artery. My love of cooking began probably around the time of those popsicle days.