QUESTION: I'm part of a fundraising bake sale at the end of the month and my responsibility is to make pies. I would like to get ahead now, so I hope you will give me your opinion about which pies freeze well. Is it better to freeze baked or unbaked pies, and would I cook either one differently? Also, I would love some fruit pie recipes that wouldn't suffer from freezing.

ANSWER: I would love to say that I am able to answer every e-mail request, but if I claimed that, I'd be a dead ringer for Pinocchio. But when I read your letter, I could feel the clock ticking and started to feel the pressure of your responsibility. You need to start making some pies!Let's start with a few pies that you can cross off your list if you want to freeze them. Custard, meringue, and cream pies all fit into this category for many reasons, not the least of which is the amount of weeping that occurs. I'm not suggesting that these pies will break into tears at the thought of going into the freezer, but if frozen they will become extremely watery and tend to separate after thawing. Make these pies just before your bake sale.The good guy pies for freezing are those made with fruit, nuts, mincemeat (maybe the wrong time of year to consider that one), vegetables, or on a different note, quiches. Now for to the question as to whether to bake before freezing. I imagine fruit and nut pies will work really well for your event. Nut pies are best to bake and then freeze, and conversely fruit pies work better when they are put into the freezer before baking. So with your pecan, walnut, pistachio, or any kind of nut pie, make and bake as directed. Cool the pies completely and place on a tray and freeze until firm. Remove them from the freezer and prepare and wrap for freezer storage (see below). To serve frozen nut pies, thaw and serve chilled or room temperature; or for warm pies, thaw and reheat in a preheated 325-degree oven until warm or until a metal knife feels warm after being inserted into the pie.As far as fruit pies go, it's not that you can't bake and freeze them — but you'll find freezing them unbaked makes for a better finished product. There are a few tricks you may want to try when doing this. First, brush the bottom crust of your fruit pie with a lightly beaten egg white before adding the filling. This will help prevent sogginess. Second, prepare the pie filling as the recipe directs except add one extra tablespoon of tapioca or Z\x tablespoon of cornstarch to help stabilize it and keep it from being too juicy. The last tip is to not cut vents in the top crust before freezing, cut them just before the pie goes into the oven. Make your pies as directed up to the point of baking. Cool to room temperature, and then prepare for freezer storage (see below). To bake, place frozen fruit pies in a preheated 425-degree oven for 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and continue cooking for approximately 45 minutes, or until done.None of these tricks will help if your pies aren't frozen properly to begin with. Be prepared to go through some plastic wrap — you are about to become a wrap artist. Wrap, wrap, wrap, your pies with plastic wrap (don't skimp here, you want to keep the air away from your beautiful pies), then tightly wrap them again in aluminum foil. After this step, I even put these bundles into an extra-large freezer Ziploc bags just to be on the safe side. Then, even though you know perfectly well what you have just wrapped, label it. You'd be surprised how much you forget in a month (for me it's the time it takes to walk across the kitchen), and they way you've wrapped your pies, they could be anything. You don't want to open a thawed package and discover you have leftover Thanksgiving dressing instead of your peach pie. Good luck with your bake sale, and relax — you have a whole month to make your pies.