The Sweet and the Sour of It All

So last night, a small group of us went to Bazin's on Church, in Vienna, to celebrate Sumo's 30th birthday. The food was fantastic! After taking the first bite of the appetizer Sumo and I were sharing, we knew we were in for a treat. But when the server gave us the dessert menus, we knew we couldn't do it (even though we wanted to). You see, since I was in Florida last weekend, and didn't make a pie, I had two of them to make this weekend. And they were waiting in the kitchen for us all to get home.

So we paid our bill (which was rather reasonably priced for a place where the clientele dress like they are coming straight from the Country Club) and headed towards Oakton.

After the patio's string-lights were lit and the coffee was poured, we took a seat and a few slices of pie.

It was a lovely night to sit under the stars and chat with friends. And the pies...well...they were interesting.

The Whoopie-Pie Pie didn't quite turn out as I had planned. It tasted like straight up sugar. I guess I should have known going into it: the chocolate cookie crust, the chocolate cream top layer. And the middle...Whoopie Pie filling. That filling is made of confectioner's sugar and not much else. Sumo said it made his teeth hurt.



The Strawberry Rhubarb was exactly the opposite. Tart and tangy. Which was exactly what Erin wanted when she suggested it. Having never made or tasted rhubarb before, I had no idea what to expect. It was great, though. I enjoyed the tang of the rhubarb with the slight sweetness of the crisp topping. It made me wish I had bought the vanilla ice cream I had been eying up at the grocery store earlier in the day.




Well, this week definitely proved a challenge. More than a few things went wrong. First, the Vienna Farmer's Market didn't have any rhubarb (I knew I should have gone to Fairfax). Then the recipe I used for the Whoopie Pie filling didn't thicken. So I had to make a second batch (luckily, I'm originally from central PA and remembered I have an Amish cookbook). Even the Hershey's recipe I used for the top chocolate layer didn't set properly.

But when all was said and done, it wasn't about the pies. It was just nice to be here, sitting outside, enjoying the company of good friends.

Happy Birthday, Sumo.