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I also love the pastry snails made from leftover dough, butter, sugar and cinnamon. I like crust, but not the bottom soggy crust. Usually pick around it and leave it behind. Lately I've been making little tarts and putting just a dab of whatever homemade jam or jelly is around. I use less sugar so the fruit flavor is more pronounced. Good way to clean the refrigerator out of too many jars with just a dab in the bottom. I've also used guava paste and quince paste with good results. I have silicone tart pans and a tart tamper gadget that takes the work out of pressing the dough in place. It really works! Can't live without it now. Here is my dough recipe. It exactly fits two 12 cup tart pans and I whip it up in the food processor. A fast sugar pastry fix!
JAM TARTS
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cream butter and sugar. Add yolk and vanilla. Mix well.
Add flours and salt. Mix just to combine.
Pinch off about a tablespoon of dough, roll gently into a ball and press into tart mold.
Fill with a teaspoon of jam or jelly.
Bake at 350 for 9 to 11 minutes. The edges should be very lightly golden.
Cool on rack. Make a pot of tea and try not to devour them all.

I also am a "good" crust junkie. When my mother made pies she always had enough scraps left to make what we kids called piewheels. She would roll out the scraps into a rectangle shape, put a layer of butter then brown sugar and sprinkle with nutmeg & cinammon. It was the rolled up on the longer side, edges pinched and cut into little rolls. These were baked until golden brown & bubbly. I cannot make a pie without a few piewheels to snack on while the pies finish baking. Even friends ask me to make them.

This sounds exactly like my Asian family. Everything is "too sweet! too sweet!" We also scrape most of the frosting off cakes. I'm a savory kind of gal, but my favorite sweet pie is when the fruit filling is a bit tart.

i could never resist fruit pie filling! But, that being said, i used to make little pie crust cut-out cookies for an old boyfriend. He loved them - they were little, flaky bits of goodness that were covered in cinnamon and sugar. Good alone, with milk, or sprinkled over ice cream... mmmmm :)

I have ignored fillings before, yes. It is better when you can eat the filling and the crust together but the crust is almost never problematic.

I think whoever said "maybe crust haters are used to store bought crusts and never had a scratch crust" might be onto something. Well-made scratch crust...OMG, nothing like it. And you KNOW that someone making a scratch crust would not waste such a labor of love on acky Sandra Lee canned filling.

I agree that a higher crust-to-fruit ratio is preferable with fruit pies. The filling is often too sweet and I like a good thick crust to balance it.

Chichi can come over anytime as dungeness crab are in my front yard here in Oregon so to speak.Should I try crab or clams?

@b0tn0t - I agree, the tubes are much better. I always use the Korean soondooboo tubes.

By the way, when you get the Junglee sandwich at Dimple's Bombay off the NJ Turnpike, keep in mind that it is HUGE! We ordered one each, and all 4 of us had to bring the second halves with us the rest of the way home. It was pretty good cold when we arrived--but even better hot in the restaurant. It takes a few minutes waiting for the order, but the Junglee is a wonderful, delicious reason to make a stop while driving.

NWcajun, you're extremely welcome. I am jealous of your being in Oregon. Forget ribeye! You could put geoduck and dungeness into your soondubu! I have always wanted to catch dungeness and dig for my own geoduck.

I love soondubu but mu husband doesn't so I will definitely be making this at home for lunch when he's not here. I can see this being a last minute life-saver many times this winter.

Back from lunch and it was F#$&*@ng Fantastic!! Picked up a small chunk of ib eye at he market in my building and have everything else at home. And you're right, the homemade Soondubu paste was perfect. Thank you again.