I Think I Hate Pie...

I have been severely slacking with this challenge. We were busy this past weekend, so I didn't get a chance to bake. I figured 'no biggie, I'll have time this week.'

Ha! So said the girl who scheduled her Praxis exam for July 30th. Now, I'm going crazy.

For those of you who may not know, Praxis is the teacher certification test. I have to pass this test to be admitted to graduate school. I'll be tested on 3 subject areas: reading, writing, and mathematics. Reading - fine. Writing - extra fine (though you may not know it from reading this blog - I'm going for style here, not perfection). But mathematics - I'm like the roadrunner running from Wile E. Only this time, that ACME bomb caught me.

It might end up being around two weeks until you hear from me again, which is 14 days, and if each day has 24 hours that's 20,160 minutes, and if I can make 1 pie per every 2 hours, that's 168 pies, which equals 1,344 slices if you cut each pie into 8... - which would be a lot of slices.

Since I'm clearly going insane teaching myself (Sumo helps, too) basic algebra and other things number related, the only pie I'm going to be seeing is the kind that starts with 3.14.

But, if you look on the bright side, there will be a 3 pie challenge waiting for me after the test. And no, I don't mean 3(3.14). Which would equal...

Like It, Love It, Gotta Have It

So, I've either turned into Cathy the cartoon or Liz Lemon, because I've gone CrAzY for chocolate. Ack!



It's all that I could think of. It's all that even mattered.

This craving was intense, and it was the perfect craving to have this week.

Blueberry Chocolate-Fudge Pie. The top layer tasted like a brownie, and under that...pure chocolate fudgey goodness - with fresh blueberries strewn within. You could almost claim it's even healthy. For the love of antioxidants, slice me another piece!

It was rich, it was creamy, it was gone in 10 seconds. Oh, what a perfect dessert! One bite and I knew dessert would never be the same again.

And it hasn't been. I mean, come on. Just look at it!




If Mitch Hedberg were still with us, I'm pretty sure he'd say:

'That would be cool if you could eat a good food with a bad food and the good food would cover for the bad food when it got to your stomach. Like you could eat a blueberry with a slice of chocolate pie and they would travel down to your stomach, then they would get there, and the blueberry would say, It's cool, he's with me.'

Oh, if only it worked that way. Now, to the elliptical!

Shake it like a Salt Shaker

I must be on some type of alcoholic kick lately, because this past weekend's pie was not one for those 'on the wagon.' It was a perfect dessert for a 4th of July party.

Especially for a 4th of July party in 90 degree weather. What's better in the heat than a frozen, alcoholic pie? I can't think of anything.

I believe it was Stacey 'Staceface' Kruml who suggested I add a pie with alcohol to my challenge and I remembered making a strawberry margarita pie a few years ago. Now, I didn't so much love that pie - the texture was just weird. But, I decided to use it as my inspiration for my new creation: Blackberry-Lime Margarita Pie.

Being July, blackberries are out in full force, so I picked some up (two pints, one for the pie and one for my own pleasure).

I started by throwing together a graham cracker crust. Man, those are so simple to make and smell so delicious while baking. Once she was cooled, I made the blackberry filling. I worked some magic (secrets that you can probably figure out from the picture, but that I won't just give away), and threw it in the freezer. When it was fully frozen, I made the lime filling and filled in the empty spaces. I then popped her back in the freezer to 'chill-out' a little longer.

After everyone was done with their brats and burgers, I brought the pie out to the table. Never in my life have I seen something disappear so quickly. This pie was gone in less time that Sumo can devour the peanut-butter cookies I make at Christmas (and he likes to eat them in one bite). There was even a 4 year old boy who wanted pie. He wasn't too happy when I told him he couldn't have this kind. Luckily, someone had brought a non-drunken-stupor inducing dessert.

Anyway, this pie was good. I will definitely make it again. Only next time, I'll remember to take my salt shaker.