New Zealand Pies

Traveling has a significant relationship to food in my house. We get to know cities, spend time admiring art in museums, and log a significant number of steps per day when we are vacationing, to be sure, but if the food is not good, the scenery better be spectacular. We travel to get to know the culture of a place, and while the food isn't the sum of that, it is at least a part of it. That is how on our very first morning in New Zealand, when we were up before the sun rose, we went in search of the famous New Zealnad pies. These are hand pies, stuffed with meat and vegetables and sealed into a flaky crust, and are a self contained meal. The first day I turned down the sausage roll, based on the lower pastry to filling ration, but on day two I reconsidered, and it ended up being my favorite. More importantly, it is something that we might be able to do at home. My husband likes to make dough and I am not terrible at shaping it into something, and I think we could do a great filling with some practice. My goal would be to achieve the flakiness of these, but have a more flavorful filling and a smaller size so that they could be on the brunch buffet one day, or better yet, take them on a picnic, or have them in the car in anticipation of a long day's drive without much hope of a decent meal en route, where they would really hit the spot. Best of all, I think it is an achievable goal--unlike some of the amazing food we had on this trip, I think we could make our own and enjoy them, all the while remembering where we had them first, which is one of the prettiest spots I have ever been. I am not sure about the cut out shapes, but I do have a sizable collection of cookie cutters so I could decide that later.