The First Annual Pie Slicies

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the First Annual Pie Slicies! In honor of the halfway point of my pie project (6 months! Holy cow!), and in the spirit of the Academy Awards, I have a few awards to present to my pies. I suppose I could say a few words on what this pie project has meant for me so far and reflect back on the experiment as a whole, but I think awards are more fun. Consider this a short acceptance speech.

So, without further ado, the Pie Slicies!

Best First Pie: Apple Pie
Best Pie in a Profile Picture: White Chocolate Strawberry Pie
Best Reason to Invent a Time Machine so I Can Punch the Shakers in the Face: Shaker Lemon Pie
Best Pie that Represents America's Stomping of Canada at the Olympics: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (aka the pie that was "like eating Canada")
Best Excuse to Add More Chocolate to My Life: Chocolate Cheesecake
Best Pie that's Actually a Cookie with Fruit: Caramel Apple Dessert Pizza
Best Fruit Pie: Blackberry Apple Pie
Best Lattice-Topped Pie: Blueberry Raspberry Pie
Best Cheesecake: Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Best Example of Pie Fail: Lemon Cheese Pie
Best Pie that Came From a Non-Pie Lover: Banana Pudding Pie
Best Pie that Shouldn't Have Worked But Somehow Did: Chocolate Pecan Pie (aka Twice-Baked Pecan Pie)
Best Way to Eat Your Daily Serving of Nuts When You're Actually Eating Pure Sugar: Pecan Pie
Best Reason to Have an Actual Recipe Rather than Improvising: Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Best Pie With My Initials: Lemon Meringue
Best Christmas Pie Invention: Peppermint Patty Pie
Best Christmas Morning Breakfast Pie: Broccoli and Ham Quiche
Best Meat Pie: Shepherd's Pie
Best Reason to Just Throw Out Ruined Meringue Rather than Attempt to Save it: Pecan Pie Minus the Pecans with a Meringue Topping
Best Name for a Pie, Even if it's No the Real Name and I Just Invented it Because it Sounds Cool: Pink Lady Pie (aka Pink Lemonade Pie)... also Orange Creamsicle Pie
Best Non-Cheesecake that Totally Tasted like Cheesecake: Key Lime Pie
Best Perkin's Knock-Off: Peanut Butter Pie
Best Pie Made in an Apple-Shaped Pie Pan: Chicken Taco Pie
Best Pie to Make When Sick and Unable to Do Anything but Throw Ice Cream in a Crust: Snickers Ice Cream Pie
Best Example of Why Martha Stewart Can't Be Trusted (and Should Also be Punched in the Face): Chocolate Ganache Tart
Best On-a-Whim Pie Invention (also Best Reason to Shop When Hungry): I Was Craving Cinnamon Rolls Pie
Best Excuse to Make Chili and Still Count it as a Pie: Walking Taco Pie

So! There you have it! Every pie I've made so far! I mean, I've made duplicates of a few of these, but thus far I've baked 27 different recipes... kind of crazy/cool!

And tonight, in honor of this momentous anniversary, and more importantly in celebration of my boyfriend's birthday, I'm baking Apple Pie... the first pie I ever made :)

Okay, so a write-up of that last award there. Last week I decided to try out an invention that Jerry came up with... Walking Taco Pie. In case you don't know what it is, a walking taco is a snack/meal that's frequently sold at sporting events for its simplicity and genius. You take a small bag of Frito's (or jumbo bag, if you're really hungry or want to make it "family style"), open it, and pour a scoop of chili over the top, and then finish it off with cheese and sour cream (or whatever chili toppings tickle your fancy). You then eat and enjoy, whilst getting your fingers all kinds of messy. Ah well, c'est la vie when you eat sloppy foods in public!

So turning this into a pie was definitely a challenge, and it took me awhile to think of how exactly to do it. I knew I wanted a Frito's crust, but just pouring chili on top of that seemed a bit ridiculous to me... that's not a pie, it's just chili and smashed Frito's, and that would be unfair to the pie quest.

Instead, with Jerry's suggestion, I made a Frito crust (which didn't hold its shape nearly as well as graham crackers do, but oh well) and then poured on top a cornbread batter which I had added some chili to (homemade chili... woot woot!). The chili was meatless, as it was a Friday, but still tasty. I then baked the mixture in the new springform pan that I bought at Ikea last weekend (I also got a super cute apron and pastry brush along with some other things, and I got to see my lovely siblings, which is a win!).

Well, when I sliced it to serve, the Frito crust kind of crumbled, so we put the slices in bowls and added chili on top. So basically, it was cornbread and chili, but it was baked like a pie, so it totally counts! The experiment wasn't as successful as I had hoped... the crust was pretty darn awful (baking the Frito's burnt them), but the chili and cornbread were both tasty!

So anyway, it wasn't a win, but it wasn't a total fail... and besides, I had chili for the last few days for lunch, and I can't really complain about that :)

Well, that's about all I have I think! Apple pie tonight and then pizza pies this week! Hooray!