G'Day Marian. Here are a few thoughts on frozen apple pies. The only time I need a frozen pie is for camping or hunting when it is not feasible to bake a pie. I have tried baking a pie (cherry works better than apple for me) and freezing it and taking it in a cooler and then defrosting it at camp. The apple pie is marginal that way (cherry works better) but welcome with a hot cuppa after a morning of walking the hills. I have experimented and the following method works a bit better. I bake an apple pie and let it cool and then slice it. I then take my vacuum sealer bags and form 8 bags large enough for each slice. I place the slices on waxed paper and then on a cookie sheet and freeze solid. Then I vaccum seal the slices and back into the freezer (labelled and dated). This works fairly well. For camping, I pack the individual slices in my cooler and I don't have to worry about transporting a pie plate back and forth and the slices take less space. They stay fairly frozen until needed, but this does depend on time of the year. At home, if Leslie and I have a hankering for an apple pie and we don't want a whole pie to temp us, we take a couple slices out of the freezer. Dang, now I want an apple pie. I will have to check to see if the Johnathons are out yet--those are my favorite as I can't find pippens around here. Based on my experience, peach pies and cobblers don't do well frozen and thawed. I have not tried pumpkin pie. Cheers, Gary

I can't really come up with a dough that you would be able to BOTH bake and steam. The two cooking methods require two different doughs. For baking a hand held meat pie I would use a pizza dough, the other type of doughs such as puff pastry and pie dough don't seem to be what you require. For steaming would a Pierogi type of dough work? Pierogies 6 servings 2 Eggs 1/2 c Water 2 c Flour 1/2 ts Salt Pepper to taste Mound flour on kneading board and make hole in center. Drop eggs into hole and cut into flour with a knife. Add salt and water and knead until firm. Let rest for 10 minutes covered with a warm bowl. Divide dough in halves and roll thin. Cut circles with a large biscuit cutter. Place a small mound of filling a little to one side on each round of dough. Moisten edge with a little water, fold over and press edges firmly together. Be sure they are well sealed to prevent the filling from running out. Drop the pierogi into salted boiling water. Cook gently for 3 to 5 minutes. Lift out of water carefully with a perforated spoon. The dough has a tendency to dry while you are working. A dry dough will not seal completely. We suggest rolling out a large circle of dough, placing small mounds of filling far enough apart to allow for cutting, and folding the dough over the mounds of filling. Then cut with a small biscuit cutter and seal firmly. Never crowd or pile pierogi. The uncooked will stick and the cooked will lose shape and lightness. Note: Pierogi can be frozen after boiling and they keep well. I prefer all my pierogi fried in butter and onions and seasoned with salt and pepper. They should be fried on a medium low heat till golden brown. Beef Filling 4 serving 1 lg Onion, sliced 2 tb Margarine 1 3/4 c ground Beef 3/4 c Cooked rice 2 ts Beef broth 3 ts Hot water 1 tb Parsley, chopped Salt and Pepper to taste Sautonion in margarine. Stir in meat and rice. Dissolve bouillon in hot water. Add to meat mixture with parsley and salt & pepper to taste. Cabbage Filling 12 serving 1 Head cabbage 7 Cans of sauerkraut 10 oz. cans 1 Small onion 1 Clove of garlic 10 tb butter Salt and Pepper to taste Parboil cabbage in boiling water for ten to fifteen minutes. Rinse, drain, cool, and thoroughly wring moisture from cabbage and sauerkraut; set aside. The drier the cabbage and sauerkraut the less time required to complete cooking. Sauté onion and garlic in 2 Tbsp. butter. Add cabbage and sauerkraut and remainder of butter; cook for approximately one half hour or until cabbage is soft and mixture is "reasonably" dry. It is important that the mixture not be too moist in order to prevent wetting dough during the filling process ... wet dough will cause pierogi to break open during cooking! Allow mixture to stand in refrigerator (in covered bowl) for twenty four hours prior to filling pierogi dough. Cheese Filling 8 servings 2 c Cottage or farmers cheese 2 Eggs (slightly beaten) 2 tb Sugar 2 tb Butter 6 tb Currants (optional) 1/2 ts Cinnamon (optional) 1/2 c Raisins (optional) Salt and Pepper to taste Cream eggs and butter together. Add other ingredients and mix well. Note: If using cottage cheese, use only the egg yolks. Fruit Filling 4 servings 2 c Pitted cherries, blueberries, or apples 3/4 c Water 1/3 c Sugar (optional) 1/2 ts Cinnamon or cardamom 1 ts Lemon juice 3 tb Dry bread crumbs Salt and Pepper to taste Combine fruit water and sugar in saucepan. bring to boil. Simmer until fruit is tender and water is almost gone. Remove from heat. mash slightly with potato masher. Add cinnamon and lemon juice. Cook and stir over low heat until thick. Stir in enough bread crumbs to further thicken. Mushroom Filling 4 servings 2 pkg Mushrooms, soaked and chopped 1 lb Button mushrooms 1/2 Medium onion, chopped Salt and Pepper to taste Soak Shitake mushrooms in warm water for at least an hour. Chop 1 lb button mushrooms roughly and 1/2 medium onion and sauté in butter until mushrooms cook down. Chop Shitake mushrooms fine and add mushrooms (and water they have been soaked in) in the to pan & simmer 5-6 min, until liquid starts to evaporate. Salt & pepper lightly. (This holds nicely in the refrigerator - if you make the mushrooms the day before you make the pierogi, they will absorb more flavor from the cooking liquid - or so it seems, but I'm not a chemist). Potato Filling 12 servings 2 lb Potatoes (6 medium) 1/2 lb Butter 1 Minced onion (optional) Salt and Pepper to taste Cook potatoes till tender, drain well. Add butter, salt and pepper, onion and mash. When mixture is cool it is ready to use. Note: You may wish to combine cheese, or sauerkraut with potatoes; if so, it is best to combine 2/3 mashed potatoes to 1/3 other ingredients. Sausage Filling 4 servings 10 oz Kielbasa, skin and chop 1/2 c Cheese, grated 1/2 c Mushrooms, chopped 1/4 c Bread crumbs, fine and dry 1 Egg Salt and Pepper to taste Fry the kielbasa in a pan and mix all ingredients together. Unfortunately, eating out of hand could be messy....LOL Nancy

A couple more good ones New Orleans Praline Pie Ingredients: 1 Cup Chopped Pecans 2 Tbsp. soft butter or margarine 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 1 Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar, divided 2 Pkgs. (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temp. 1 9 Refrig. pie crust 1 Tsp. Brandy Extract 2 eggs 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract 1 Cup Whipping Cream Procedure: In a small bowl mix together 3/4 cup pecans, the butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Place pie shell in 9” pan and flute edges if desired. Spread pecan mixture evenly in bottom of pie shell. Bake in preheated 4250 oven for seven minutes. Remove and set aside. In electric mixer, beat together cream cheese, 1/2 cup brown sugar, eggs, lemon juice and extracts. Pour into pie shell over pecan mixture. Bake at 425 F for 25 minutes or until center of filling is set. Cool then chill in refrigerator for one hour. Meanwhile, whip cream in small bowl of electric mixer until stiff then whip in remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Spread whipped cream over top of cooled pie and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup pecans. Chill at least two hours longer. This one is from a great cookbook that my home town church sold years ago. Everything in that book is great. Chocolate Banana Coconut cream pie 1 9in deep dish pie crust 1 T milk 1 T butter ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips 2 bananas sliced 1 ½ c cold milk 1 (4oz) pkg. Instant vanilla pudding 1 ½ cup flaked coconut 1 ½ cup cool whip 1/2cup toasted coconut Bake pie crust as directed on package. Melt 1 T milk, butter, and chocolate chips in microwave fro 1 ½ mins on high. Stir chocolate until completely melted. Spread chocolate evenly over bottom of pie crust. Layer bananas over chocolate. In large bowl mix 1 ½ cup milk and pudding wth wire whisk for 2 minutes. Stir in 1 ½ cup flaked coconut. Spoon over sliced bananas. Spread cool whip evenly over pudding and top with toasted coconut. Chill 4 hours. We love the key lime pie at Pappadeaux's, here is their recipe. Pappdeaux’s Key Lime Pie with raspberry sauce ***Filling*** * 8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened) * 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk * 2/3 cup Cold Water * 3 Egg Yolks (beaten) * 1/8 teaspoon Salt * 1/2 cup Flour * 5 tablespoons Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice * 5 tablespoons Key Lime Juice or Reconstituted Lime Juice * 1 teaspoon Lime Zest (very fine) ***Pie Crust*** * 3/4 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs * 1 cup Ground Pecans ( finely ground ) * 3 tablespoons Sugar * 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon * 4 tablespoons Butter Melted ***Raspberry Sauce*** * 3/4 cup Raspberry Preserves * 1/4 cup Water For Filling: Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy add sweeten condensed milk, beat mixture until completely blended. Use a 2 quart sauce pan to whisk egg yolks with water, add salt and flour. Stir constantly, completely mixing flour into liquid. Add lime zest, Roses Lime Juice and Key Lime juice. On low heat, or in a double boiler, whisk the egg mixture and stir constantly until mixture thickens, resembling pudding in texture and thickness. When egg and flour mixture is thickened add cream cheese. Whisk constantly taking care not to scorch the bottom of pan. Stir until pie filling starts to thicken and is completely mixed. When the filling is thick pour into the prepared pie shell. Chill pie serveral hours before serving. For Crust: Mix all together in a bowl, add melted butter blend well. Press into a buttered pie pan. Place in a preheated at 350 degrees oven for 7 - 10 minutes. When crust is slightly golden remove from oven and cool. For Sauce: Mix in sauce pan until preserves reaches boiling point. Simmer for 4 minutes remove and pour through a fine strainer removing seeds and chill. Sauce may be used to garnish pie when served.

Thank you all for your comments! Lindac, I imagine that there shouldn't be too much difference between freezing pumpkin or sweet potato pies. After reading from grainlady's links, I'll probably thaw a short time at room temp before placing in fridge. How is the texture of your pumpkin pies after thawing? Is the filling similar to those not frozen? I'm not yet ready to try my own shells, I'll be using the store bought sheets (Pillsbury's were on sale last week here) and hopefully they won't fall apart too much from freezing. Last year I made the pies using preformed, frozen shells in aluminum throw-away pans. One step at a time. Grainlady, ty for the links. I'm sure the ricotta pie will be better warmed up before serving (although, at the horror of my extended family, I'm notorious for eating nearly any food cold right out of the fridge,) even a lightly microwaved slice of the ricotta shouldn't be too soggy. I guess I'll have to hope for the best from the ricotta filling. If it doesn't work out, next time I'll freeze the ricotta and spinach pies before baking, then pop them in the oven frozen. Kate, ty... I'll do just that! The weather forecast just extended our warm days until the end of next week, so I'll be waiting until then to bake the pies. I try to do my baking on the colder days. Again. ty all for the advice and experience!