baking writers

Day 11: NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days- A Break

I’m taking a break today. Not from making pies, because it is still 30 pies in 30 days challenge, and the challenge is all on me. But I’m taking a break from the bidding. You guys are incredible and I hate to stop the momentum, but a lesson I take from Jill Badonsky’s playful approach to living the creative life, is that sometimes we have to slow down to let our souls catch up.

I love the high energy of the bidding and where it has taken us. Wow—already surpassed last year’s total of $4000 and we are only on Day 11. That’s one third of the way through for those of you who don’t do maths. My personal secret goal that I told no one when I first started was to double last year’s total. I think I might make it!

I hate taking a break from the bidding because it’s brought in so many wonderful donations, but I need to for two reasons. 1. DimeStories 18th anniversary is tonight and I promised them a long time ago I would bring a big blueberry slab pie for everyone. So, no pie to sell. And, 2. I have family coming for Eber’s birthday celebration and it was through chicken pot pie that I courted Eber so that’s what we have every year on his birthday and that pie won’t be for sale either. That’s Day 12, which I’ll write about tomorrow.

Day 13 which is Sunday, I’ll make either a blueberry and sourcream pie or a black bottom chiffon pie.

That said, I have to be so on top of it with bidding. I love encouraging and teasing everyone with the pie porn and what pie at what time. It’s fun, and I think you all are having fun too. But it’s more of a challenge than the 30 PIes challenge.

One thing, that I think would help me is if I had more comments on Facebook from those who are watching. It’s crickets down in the comment section since I’ve put bidding on my website blog. Some folks don’t like the extra click to come over here, but it makes for a great central location. It’s really just a Facebook adventure, this pie auction, but Facebook has changed so much in the last year that the first couple of days I heard a lot of screaming (people who don’t get their pie are loud) that my posts weren’t where they were looking. I don’t know FB’s algorithms, but it seems that if there were comments in the comment section FB would think I’m popular and then put me at the top. I’m not popular, and never found that status to be appealing, but for this short month, I’d love to be popular enough to raise lots of dough (see what I did there?) for the kids. So come along on the adventure, whether you want a pie or not. And who knows, there may be a day where there’s pie for everyone.

And, one last thing, not to brag, but I’m actually a pie ahead anyway. I was asked to write an article for the Rose Bowl magazine and the piece needed to include recipes, so Wednesday, I created this brunch pizza pie to eat while watching the Rose Bowl parade. I needed to include photos so I made the quicky pie, photographed it, and Eber and I had it for dinner. Oh what you can do with frozen puff pastry.

Day 6 NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days

TODAY’S PIE IS CHAI PIE. Yes, that rhymes. I keep saying it out loud because it makes me smile. I read about this pie and wanted to make it mine. Sometimes we read a story and wish we’d written that story. This pie is like that. Chai Pie has all the spices of chai in a custard pie. It’s from Kate McDermott’s Art of the Pie cookbook, my favorite pie book.

All the hoopla from the $1000 pie yesterday has kept me swaying with happiness. I want to start the bidding today at $1001, but I’d be pushing it, I assume. Yet, if you want to go ahead and make a bid like that, please go right ahead. I’ll write about it like I did yesterday’s bid. Go to Day 5’s pie blog and you can read all about my awe. It might make you cry like it did me. Take Kleenex.

Okay, I’ll start the bidding at $75. Let’s do this for the kids. Let’s show them pie-love!

Place your bid in the comments. I’ll name the winner with the highest bid when the pie is done.