Eat Pie, Be Happy

Are you eating pie right now? You should be, because it's National Pie Day! Let us all celebrate the wonder of flakey crust and gooey fillings. Let's also celebrate the fact that our nation has a Pie Council...what a good job that must be.

In honor of this holiday, the boys and I are making Cookie Cake Pie. It's a cheater pie, I know, but doesn't it just make you smile (in an "I'm gaining 20 lbs. right now" sort of way)? And no, this undertaking will not allow me to cross off #2 from my 40 by 40 list. I intend to make a real pie for that one, complete with the homemade crust...people tell me that it's easy, but I made the mistake of taking a pie-making class a little while back and the pastry chef who taught that class did not make it look easy. Her pie was fantastic, but it intimidated me.

Days devoted to baked goods are just nice, aren't they? This pie holiday made me think "There should be a National Cupcake Day!" and then, of course, it turns out there is a National Cupcake Day: Dec. 15. How this information escaped me until now, I'm not sure. Shouldn't the Food Network have had a day of special programming or something?

I guess I will have to bake and eat many, many cupcakes between now and the next Cupcake Day in order to compensate...

So anyway, Happy National Pie Day! What better excuse to eat pie? Lots and lots of pie.

Pie in the Sky

I woke up this morning fantasizing about becoming a pie maker. Learning to make flakey crusts from scratch…coming up with my own fantastic recipes à la “Waitress.”

I blame this fantasy on watching the American Pie Challenge on the Food Network before bed. And I’m still wondering how one becomes part of the American Pie Council…

But really, this is just part of the career crisis that seems to seize me every six months or so. I’m fantasizing about making writing a hobby and making something else my career…and I’m not saying that pie making is easy -- because, as it stands, the only pies I can make involve Cool Whip and pudding mix – but there’s just something so straightforward and honest about it.

Looks like that KitchenAid stand mixer is going on my Christmas list...it comes in boysenberry.