Say CHEESEcake (pie)!!!

Howdy hey there, lovely reader!  Welcome to pie #4!  Well, yes, technically pie #5, but don't forget that that last one was a special one, so this is officially pie #4 of the 52 pie challenge.  Is it weird that I whispered the "special" part in my head as I typed it?  Meh, oh well.  Well, a month in and so far we've both stuck it out!  Go us!

This week's pie is probably not the first thing you think of when someone mentions pie, namely because "pie" is rarely found anywhere near its name (title?  What do you call what a pie is?  Would apple pie be its name or title?  hmmmm).  Anyway, this week's recipe, which came from my awesomely funny friend Lydia, was chocolate cheesecake (pie)!  I threw the "pie" in just to make it official, so really its name (title) is chocolate cheesecake.

Not typical, I know, BUT I have solid reasons for including this.  First, I've stated this before: I'm going to have to get creative.  I'm going to be pretty hard pressed to find 52 unique recipes that fall under the "traditional" classification, so creativity is essential to the completion of this quest.  Second, Wikipedia says cheesecake is not a cake, but rather a pie, and if Wikipedia says it, it must be true.  They also say that Boston Cream Pie isn't actually a pie... it's a cake.  Is your mind blown?  Because mine was.  And still is.

Also, I'm totally going to believe that it's a pie, as it required a crust and didn't involve typical cake ingredients, so it counts!

Basically, it was your pretty standard cheesecake recipe, although I stirred melted semi-sweet chocolate into the batter before pouring it into an oreo crust, hence the chocolate part.  Once again, to make my life more difficult, I made the oreo crust, which meant that I had to scoop the cream center out of two rows of oreos before crumbling them up and flattening them out in the dish.  I wasn't sure what to do with the centers, so they went into a bowl where they were later consumed (not entirely by me.  Mostly, but not entirely).  However, I think I might use them in the recipe if I make it again... perhaps melt them and use them as a glaze on top?  Or maybe just leave them as I roll out the crust?  I didn't actually know how to make an oreo crust, I just made it up, so if anyone has ideas, let me know!

Artsy, eh?

Well, the cheesecake was pretty delicious altogether... not too sweet, as I used semi-sweet chocolate, which was nice, I thought.  It could've been overwhelming had it been any sweeter.  The only problems I saw with it were that I used my tart pan instead of my pie pan (I'll explain those differences in a later post), so the cheesecake was a little thin and because of that I think I baked it a little too long... it wasn't nearly as creamy as cheesecake should be.

However, those both being said, I really did love it (woot woot, complimenting myself!), though it's not entirely difficult for me to love cheesecake... it's one of my two favorite pies (right up there with lemon meringue).  My mom used to make mini cheesecakes, and I distinctly remember eating far more than I should have.  Always.  (I had lightning/hungry fingers).  It was also often my choice of birthday cake (to the disappointment of my non-cheesecake-loving sisters), and I was thrilled when my aunt had cheesecake as her wedding cake.  Yeah, it's really not hard for me to enjoy a cheesecake.

Final note on the pie... does anyone know how the best way to roll out a graham cracker (or oreo, I'm not discriminating) crust?  My method of using wax paper to smooth it out is okay, but if there's an easier/better/more efficient way, let me know!

So, that's the basic pie lowdown for the week, but I have a few things to tack on to the end here (all pie/blog related).

First of all, I apologize that it takes me a few days to get a post up.  This is due to a few reasons.  One, my computer is horribly slow and freezes frequently, so it takes quite awhile just to type the blog out.  Two, I like to have a tiny bit of time to process my thoughts and figure out what I'm going to say (I take notes throughout the week on things to include, but still, I want to give my reactions proper thought).  Three, Blogspot and I have butted heads more than a few times when it comes to uploading my pictures.  I usually have to upload them to Flickr, and then here.  A bit of a pain in the tush.  Four, my Netflix rental usually comes on Monday, so I don't always get much writing done then.  True facts.  I'll try to be quicker though (TWSS)!

Next, there are only a few hours left to vote in the poll to the right there... see it?  It's asking for your favorite kind of pie.  Vote if it's still there!  I'll post another poll soon... have any ideas for what you'd like to answer or know more about your fellow readers?  Let me know in a pretty little comment!  Those make me happy :)

Oh, this was kinda funny... the My Life is Average word of the day on Sunday (pie day) was "Slice."  Cute?  I think so.  And if you don't know what MLIA is, check out mylifeisaverage.com.  Basically, it's awesome.  And remember that I sent you there, and then correlate the awesomeness of that site to just how awesome I am.  Oh, come on, you were thinking it!

Also, on a totally unrelated note (unrelated to MLIA, not to pie), each April in Florida, a national pie festival is held, and it's basically three days of all things PIE!  Competitions, samples, souvenirs (yes, souvenirs)... it's all there and I would LOVE to go one day.  Maybe not this year, but someday.  Anyone in?  You know you want to go...

Look at those happy pie-loving folks!

I've had some requests for me to post the recipes I use on here, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that.  Part of me is all for sharing and spreading the delicious wealth, but at the same time, they're not my recipes, I'm just using them, so I'm not 100% sure if that would be okay to pass them along.  I would think it would, as once again, people are sending them to me, but I wouldn't want to offend someone by sending their precious recipe into the vast expanse of the internet.  Thoughts on this?  Post it in a comment!  Really, I do love them.  They're like tiny shards of rainbow, just placed in a handy location to make my day a whole lot brighter.  Only nice things though... keep your negative Nancy-isms to yourself.  KIDDING!  Seriously, pros, cons, ups, downs, questions, jokes, rants... post whatever you like!  I want to know what you think, really, I do.  Just as long as it's happy.  Kidding again!  I crack myself up sometimes.

Finally (I really don't intend for these posts to be so long, all sorts of fun things just pop into my head as I'm typing), PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SEND RECIPES!!!!!!!!!  In just over two month's time, I will completely run out of things to bake, meaning my friends, family, coworkers and I will have nothing delicious to eat, and you will have nothing to read here!  Stop the travesty before it starts!  Send me recipes!  Anything you like, I'm not picky!  Fruit, custard, chocolate, cream, pizza, chicken pot, whatever... SEND IT!!!!  In return, you will get both the satisfaction that you entertained my crazy little quest as well as a shoutout here in the blog!  Your lovely name, posted here!  In something that about 10 people read!  I might even say something nice about you!  What could possibly be more cool?

Absolutely nothing, that's what.