Chapter Seven: A Little Romance

Since I started planning the pies for the blog, I have been so excited to dish this "Lover's Pie" up!!!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I was brainstorming what delightful things to make in pie for a romantic evening. Chocolate, obviously. For the holiday, chocolate covered strawberries seem appropriate. Pretty Woman taught me that if you have strawberries, you really should have champagne. And if we're being honest, what would Valentine's Day be without whipped cream?

Chapter Six: Ingredients Make the Pie

This week I hadn't planned on a particular recipe, but I've been baking up a storm! On Friday I made a "chicken pot pie" for family dinner and on Sunday, Asian Banana Rolls for a get together on Monday. I had planned on the banana rolls to be my highlight recipe, but due to issues in the construction, I had to rethink that!

In light of having a double pie experience week, I'd like to stay a word about ingredients. On the whole, this experiment is meant for me to try new techniques and recipies and discover new ingredients. I prefer making everything from scratch, but sometimes I opt to shop for pre-made items. I do this for a number of reasons....

Chapter Five: Pie Management

Thursday is Groundhog Day. On February 2nd some men donning top hats and tails will pull a woodland creature out of a stump in Pennsylvania so we can divine whether we will start to enjoy the rebirth of spring or if winter will stay its icy grip on our lives for six more weeks.

That's a lot of pressure for a little guy yanked out of hibernation a month early.

Since we're on the topic of stressful situations, my pie a week endeavor has started turning more into work rather than the fun activity I had hoped. Pies require a lot more than I expected with far more steps than I usually have in my baking forays.

Chapter Four: Food for Comfort

I've done a bit of work trying to make each recipe mean something in regards to the blog. I've talked about how crazy I was about starting it, dished on my past and present, and explored idioms of pie (something I've been cooking (har har) since I started thinking about this endeavor.) I've been coming up short on what to tie this week's pie to because, frankly, I'm feeling big emotions about the future.

Chapter Three: Pie-dioms

Language is full of statements that, frankly, make no sense out of the context of culture.  This is as true in other languages than my own. I didn't know the word for them until I was about twelve, but I learned when I bought a novelty deck of cards about idioms. Then I knew that "the check's in the mail" didn't actually mean that someone was sending you money. I admit I (am) was a little naive. The phrase "the proof is in the pudding" still befuddles me.

And pie is crumbled though idioms like fish are in a barrel. I'm happy to share some phrases, their meanings, and a little about where they come from.

Chapter Two: Process of Growing Up

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.  First Corinthians 13:11, New Living Translation

When I read this verse in my youth I thought that becoming an adult would be a decision made and... BAM... now I'm adulting. But as I look back on my experiences, I feel like I should have known all along that growing up is a process and adulting doesn't just happen, it happens in gradual stages.

Chapter One: Completely Nuts!

As promised, I began researching in earnest on pie-baking and pie variances. I was excited and engrossed, determining that for my first post I wanted to ease into 2017 with a fairly simple pie. Starting with an American classic, Apple, sounded perfect. I'd finished my research (which will be featured later this year, I assure you) when my husband, the dear voice of reason and enlightenment, suggested that perhaps I shouldn't start quite so simple since I have baked before and besides, isn't apple pie more of a summer thing?

So I went back to the drawing board. I really asked myself what I was getting into with this project. What is pie?

I didn't realize the scope of the rabbit hole I had sent myself down until I came across this article from UK based publisher, The Telegraph. The article tells the tale of a petition drawn up to present to Parliament to lawfully define pie. I suppose it's better for me to deal with this issue at the beginning rather than later.