Friday, March 1, 2013

Pie Night - it's BACK!

It's back, baby. The best girls' night of the year: PIE NIGHT. It's been a while since I've done this, so I'm calling it, "The (sometimes) Annual Pie Night." I kind of feel like "Extravaganza" needs to be in there, but then I'm not sure if that would be redundant.

Directions are similar to every other food-theme night: rsvp on the evite with the type you are bringing so there aren't doubles (creativity is encouraged; shepherd's pie is not); stay as long as you like; eat as much as you can; stretchy-waisted pants are strongly encouraged, though not mandatory (but in the case of pie, it's kind of mandatory). Themes in the past have been soup, salad, spreads (for bread - think cheese, jam, etc.), gourmet ice cream (buy that pint you've been eyeing in the glass case, but avoiding due to price/nutritional value). I encourage people to use this as an opportunity to test-drive a new recipe, but it does not have to be homemade. In February, though, it's too cold for salads and people are getting tired of soups, and we're far enough away from Thanksgiving and the 4th and Easter that it just kind of makes sense. So PIE is happening.

This year, the ladies outdid themselves, if that's even possible. We had a few more pies show up, later, but here is a "before" shot:
Mine is the bottom middle - it's a white and dark chocolate raspberry tart. And I'm not ashamed to say I got the recipe from pillsbury.com. SERIOUSLY. I bought pie crusts and then thought, "What should I put inside?" There on the box it said, "Visit our website for more recipe ideas," and so I shrugged and thought, "Ok, Pillsbury, let's see what you've got." Turns out, they've got a LOT. When I saw this recipe, I thought it had all the words I love. There wasn't cool whip or cross-selling, just wholesome ingredients and I didn't have to make a pie crust. Made it in a springform pan and it was a HIT! I almost felt like I was a sell-out for using a big corporation's recipe. But I suppose they actually have chefs on staff and those chefs know what they're doing.

There were about 20 ladies here and, no, we did not eat all the pie (but don't think I didn't try!). And almost all of them were homemade (which is not mandatory). One of my favorites was Clairissa's Frozen Blackberry Lemon Chiffon Pie. Unbelievable. She had to leave early, so the leftovers are in my freezer. She will probably get one or two slices back. Maybe. But we also had pretty much everything: s'mores, chocolate cream, coconut cream, strawberry, banoffee, amazing caramel, peanut butter, cheesecake, chocolate pecan, lime yogurt, banana cream. My only lament is that there was NO lemon meringue. Which is my favorite pie of all time. But that's ok, because it all was very delicious and it gives me a chance to have another pie night at some point.

This morning I woke up and my head was pounding and I just felt a little...blurg. I wondered if I had a pie hangover. So, subscribing to the age-old remedy for other hangovers, I ate pie for breakfast. I feel a little bit better. I cannot stop thinking about that coconut cream pie, though. It was crazy delish.

Now I can start thinking about what the next theme will be. It should be savory (because I said so, and it's my thing. you can do yours however you want). I'm thinking either appetizers or, because it will probably be May/June, salads.

Or maybe I'll just throw a tea party and people have to bring either scones or tiny sandwiches. I can say it's a Mother's Day thing, right? Can you have a tea party at 7pm? In lieu of hats, we'd do stretchy pants. OBVIOUSLY.

3 comments:

Sarah Burgoyne said...

I am sooo glad I was able to go! I just enjoyed some of the leftovers I brought home :)

Allison said...

Awesome. We're doing a pie night this year (next week, pi!), and I can't decide what to make. I'm thinking nutella pie and was going to try lemon meringue. But your pillsbury recipe has me intrigued. But I also like lemon meringue. Ahhh, decisions...

Annie said...

I wish I had eaten more pie.... *sigh*. And I agree... Clairissa's pie was delish!