Today is the last day for a short time that I will post about pie sale. I’ll be making pies and you’ll have chances to get one, so keep watching for posts. For instance, if you were going to come to my book release last year and you went to the Padres playoffs game instead, then you can redeem yourself by coming to the event on Monday, Nov 20 at The Book Catapult with me and Judy Reeves. Come for a bite of pie, and maybe a chance to win a pie to take home. Details the night of the event. Or, you can place your bid here today in the comments, and keep adding $$ and you can take home a Steak and Gruyere pie. This is a picture of last year’s that went for $2000. I’ll start the bidding at $125. Remember, all proceeds go to Ocean Discovery Institute kids. 100%.
Place your bid HERE for Carne Asada Pie - 2nd to Last!
Mom! Can’t you just stop for one minute to play tug and through the ball. I’m so much cuter than pie!
Only THREE pies this year. I’ve learned a lot in the 5 years I’ve been “peddling pies” (as my friend Tudy says). I’ve learned I take on a challenge and I follow through. I have also learned that I don’t need to do everything. So, I’m not only doing a shorter version of pie peddling this year, but I’m calling it quits before I’ve even finished this one. So today’s pie, and tomorrow’s pies are it. And, mostly because I’ve already bought the ingredients. I have a new kitchen renovation that has taken over my life, a writing project I’ve been ignoring, the kids’ book I need to edit, and so many other things like family and my dog that I’d like to pay attention to. Love to all the pie eaters out there, but there will always be more pie, is my motto, and I’ll stick by that. Just not right now.
So, place your bids in the comments below, for today’s carne asada pie in a cornmeal crust, and the bidding will close when the pie comes out of the oven. Probably around 3-5pm.
i’m a little sad about not making my life just pie, but I also want it to just be writing, and just kitchen, and….
Place your bid HERE for Chicken Pie
Put your bid in the comments. When the pie comes out of the oven, the highest bidder will be the winner. It could be anywhere from 3pm to 5pm. Probably. How’s that for keep you on your toes? Don’t want you waiting until the last minute to throw in your bid. Let’s try to raise a little money for Pi.
Pie for Pi, Short, Sweet, and Savory
With the kitchen renovation, it’s harder to make my November pie challenge happen, but here goes with what this year’s bake sale will look like. Read below on how to bid.
SCHEDULE
Week 1. 11/14 - 16
Tuesday 11/14 Chicken Pot Pie
Wed 11/15 Carne Asada Pie
Thu 11/16 Beef & Gruyere Pie
Rest of Bake Sale CANCELLED due to overwhelm.
Week 2. 11/20- 22 Thanksgiving Pies
Mon 11/20 Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Tues 11/21 Cranberry Almond Apple Pie
Wed 11/22 ?? (Maybe someone would like to share a recipe?)
Fri 11/24 Thanksgiving Leftover pie.
Week 3. I’m still figuring this out, so stay tuned.
WHAT’S NEW
I’ve mentioned before why I’m changing things up. It’s not just the kitchen renovation, but the 30 pies in 30 days challenge that I’ve done for the past 4 years just isn’t a challenge anymore. It’s more of a dread. Maybe when I have a new kitchen I’ll want to do 30 days of all that pie baking again.
But mostly I want to build more community around these pies than just a fundraiser. So, I’ll be chatting with the kids, and City Heights community, and Ocean Discovery staff during this Small but Mighty Pie for Pi.
This is the first year I’ve announced the pies in advance. In the past I was always just winging it. You can look ahead at the selections and decide which one you are wiling to bid high!
STORIES
I’m hoping to have stories to go with the pies this year. Maybe not all pies will have a story, but stories are a big part of community, and how we get to know one another. Stories are essential to finding common ground. I will share some of mine, some pie-related, and I hope you’ll share some of yours. They don’t have to be pie-related, but hopefully the holidays, and the flavors will bring stories to mind. They don’t have to be perfect, and they don’t even have to be about you. Memories, folklore, dreams, and more, all make good stories. Share recipes, if you wish. All in the comment sections of this or future posts.
BIDDING
To bid, I’ll post on Facebook, and you can come on over to my website (right here) and place your bids in the comment section of that particular pie. The cut-off for when the bids are closed will be different every day so that you can’t do that tricky silent auction trick of waiting until the last minute to place your bid. (I know about this trick because I have done it myself many times.) If you want very firsthand knowledge and a reminder to check on what pie, you can sign up for my Pie’d Piper blog and get a notice in your email when a new post has been made. Here’s where you can sign up.
KITCHEN
I’ll be baking at Ocean Discovery’s commercial kitchen, so I’m thrilled to get to be in the beautiful Lab in City Heights with the kids and staff around while I bake. Baking in community.
Done early?!!!
Hey! I’m over here on my website blog. I’m also on my newsletter on MailChimp. I’m working to move everything over to Substack. As soon as I get that done, I’m certain there will be some new app, or software, or social media connectivity that I’ll have to move to. You know, they say that people who aren’t happy move all the time. Is that what social media does to us? Puts us on the search for the perfect way to communicate? Well, you can always find me in my kitchen, no matter what the latest fancy medium is, because I’m happy.
Kitchen? Speaking of that new fangled thing being built onto the back of our house. It’s still growing. The project manager told me they were ahead of schedule last week and I nearly had a panic attack. I’m not nearly ready with all the parts I still need to do. Picking out faucets, and countertops, and windows, and light switches, and door knobs, and on and on. Then, about a week later, when they started to frame the dining area a big mess was found. Where we had the roof lifted on the old-porch-turned-dining-room too many years of too many fixit mistakes blossomed into a big saggy 2nd floor. We all got bug-eyed looking at what is supposedly a floor beneath my office, but is really just a piece of plywood in the shape of a U practically. Big time set back. Whew, now I can pick out that range hood and kitchen sink without feeling rushed.
Here are some pictures of the old, old wallpaper that was underneath both the crappy texturing and my whimisical striped paint job. I would have loved to have seen this wallpaper in its day.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about Pie for Pi, it will start on Nov 15. But it’s definitely happening. The list of pies on what days will come VERY soon. That way you can plan for the day you want to bid, and how much you want to bid. Or, maybe you just have a story you want to share. Stories are always worth more. Read previous post for what I’m talking about.
It’s been an overwhelming time. I have been editing like crazy for other people, and I really want to get back to my own writing, so tonight I started on that promise. But how else to pay for the kitchen if I don’t work my patookis off. Oh, and then there’s life in general. But I’m having fun, so something must be right.
NaNoPIEMo No Mo
Today would be the day my anxiety would ratchet up and I’d be making pie dough and getting ready for the first day of a whole month of making a pie a day. All of you would be checking my feed to see what kind of pie will it be today, and wondering should I bid, or should I wait for what tomorrow brings? You’d be checking to see if your favorite, maybe chicken pot pie (Arthur Salm) or maybe mixed berry (Barbara Crena) was the pie of the day. You’d be throwing out numbers, hoping to be the top bidder, and often carrying home a hot pie that night to share with your family (or eating it all yourself, please tell me some of you do this because I’ve been known to do it.). And, of course, you were all doing it in the name of doing a good deed to help the kids of Ocean Discovery. Oh, how I appreciate your enthusiasm, even if it’s via pie bribery. (Pie-bery? I think that’s real.)
Apple ginger pie
BUT this year I’m revamping NaNoPIEMo. A few reasons go into this, one of which includes exhaustion. But what is most important is that you’ll still get your pie, and hopefully you’ll still want to help me give the kids of City Heights an opportunity to learn about science.
Here’s my story.
I’ve always had a fantasy that I would travel the world and find out the favorite pastry-filled comfort food of other country’s citizens. Like the empanada, samosa, pastilla, shepherd’s pie, and sweet potato pie, cherry pie, strawberry rhubarb, key lime, and on and on. I imagined myself sitting in other folks’ kitchens learning how to make their “pies” and in turn we would share family stories about foods. I knew this fantasy had an astronomical price tag so it probably wasn’t going to come to be.
Then, at the end of last year’s NaNoPIEMo, one of the teenage students I work with, Nadia, came up to me when I shared my new book How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies, and asked if I would teach her sister how to make my pies and her sister would teach me how to make samosas. Would I?!
This year my fantasy will take place here in City Heights, San Diego. It will start on November 15 and go through November 30. I will share the stories I receive and I hope to learn many new recipes. The weeks will be organized (unlike the frenzy in the past), so I’ll give you a head’s up on some of the pies, maybe all.
This is where YOU come in. I would love for you to send me your pastry-filled/pie recipes and a story of how you enjoyed the pie, pastry, as a child, adult. I’ll be asking the kids in City Heights and their families to participate too. You’ll get to meet some of them on social media reels. And, all the pies will still be auctioned off. I hope that you’ll want to help with the fundraising, with the storytelling, and of course, the eating. It’s NaNoWriMo after all, the inspiration for NaNoPIEMo, and so if you’re writing your heart out you’ll need comfort foods. And, don’t forget, even if you live in Guatemala, or Santee, or New Jersey, you can still bid and donate your pie to someone else, or the kids (they love my pies!). And, you can easily send me a story from anywhere.
I already have a recipe for empanadas from Suzanne Rodriguez in Cuernavaca, Mexico. And, I have a story about chicken pot pie and how I snagged Eber.
I can’t wait to get started. I’ll share more about how it will work, and I’ll be learning as I go, just as I did with NaNoPIEMo, so bear with me. OH! And that reminds me. The new name is Pie for Pi: Bake Sale for Ocean Discovery Kids. I’m going to just call it Pie for Pi. Or maybe that should be Pie 4 Pi. Or 4 + 2xπ. No, too much algebra for me.
This missive is too long, so I hope you read to the end, and I hope you’ll be as big of a participant as you have in the past, or maybe bigger, and I hope you’ll start thinking about your favorite pastry-filled comfort food and the story to go along with it.
I can’t wait! Is it Nov 15 yet?
Enjoy some photos of folks I’ve made pie with and pies I’ve made during past NaNoPIEMos.
Playing House
Kitchen view from the back door.
7ft window overlooking the canyon. My sink is in front of it.
Some updates on the kitchen remodel. We have a slab, plumbing, and some framing. I can stand in the middle of the mess and pretend I’m washing my dishes in my new sink, while I check on items on the pretend stove, and then reach for something in the pretend fridge.
I’m starting to make a list of who is going to be invited to the kitchen warming next spring.
I spent Friday running around trying to pick out windows. I’m still frantic about my decision that hasn’t been made yet.
This Friday I head to the slab yard to pick out a counter top. Sigh. Decisions! I’m not good at them.
The photo of the non-framed portion…that’s me hanging out of the big kitchen window looking at the dining room.
None of this makes sense unless you are standing here looking at it. But rest assured, I can visualize it. Nothing like a good imagination to help see one through a remodel.
Rush, rush, rush, then stop.
No activity on the kitchen remodel this week. You know how it is: they work, work, work, and you see progress, then suddenly one day they don’t show up for a week. And a good week it was to not be here. I would have felt awful watching them work in this heat. I know these guys well though and I’m sure they were working another job, so they were sweating on someone else’s dime. We are waiting for the plumber to show up, so there was a reason behind the slow down. I don’t even remember what week we are on now. Maybe it’s week 4, or maybe 6?
Since nothing happened to the big hole in the ground behind our house, I’ll tell you about MY week instead. I headed out to Palm Springs where it was 102 degrees on Saturday. Yep, I had my own sweatfest. I was in the AC, so no real sweatfest, but hotter than Ole Billie Hell as my grandfather used to say. I spoke for 2 hours to the Palm Springs Writers Guild about surviving the writing life.
How to Survive it, that is. I have a fun powerpoint I use when I give these talks, and I tell stories about my own ups and lots of downs in the writing journey. I talk about how rejection is a big part of being a writer. About making your manuscript the best it can be and that “good enough” means it’s not good enough. I also share resources for finding your way because I, by no means, got to this point in my journey on my own. Some of the resources I share are Judy Reeves’s books, especially A Writers Book of Days. One woman shouted out that she knew Judy too! I also told the workshoppers about Jill Badonsky’s great books on creativity. I shared my story about Ralph Keyes’s book The Courage to Write. Reading that book was when I decided I needed to quit reading How-to books and start writing.
The progress on the house makes me think of how writing works. That ebb and flow. Rush, rush, rush, then stop. But has it really stopped? Isn’t the dirt settling, the ideas are mulling, the plumber checks things out then comes back with all the right equipment. Writing isn’t all typing, hammering, and digging. It’s also thinking, experiencing, and reminscing. Type, type, type, then stop.
One last thing, I went to CVS yesterday to get my lastest Covid booster. I saw this great skeleton. Totally a Hazel skeleton.
Where to Bury the Bodies
I went out of town this past week. NY and CT to participate in the Albany Book Festival and family in CT. A lovely trip in every way. I miss my old Saratoga Springs summers, but now my brother and sister-in-law live in Connecticut so I get to go there whenever I want, not just summers. A tiny bit of leaves were turning colors. And, the book festival was fun and successful.
While I was gone, more progress on the kitchen demo was made. Now, instead of removing walls and concrete, they dug holes for the new foundation. These holes are so deep a human can stand in them and still have a good foot over their head. I made a joke to the construction guys, “This is where we can bury the bodies.” They laughed. Always good to make your construction crew laugh. One guy asked how many bodies was I thinking of and I calculated that instead of standing them up, I could bury more bodies if I could lay them head to toe. I could possibly get two stacks of maybe 7 people each. That’s 14 bodies. I don’t have that many people I need to get rid of, so, if you have someone you need to get rid, now’s your chance before they fill it with concrete next week.
But maybe most interesting of all was when they were digging next to one part of the house that was added on in the 50s they discovered that it has no foundation at all. Well, I mean, unless you count the two inches of flooring under the tile. The floor is essentially floating. At any time, it could have just caved in. Granted, one would only fall about six inches to the dirt underneath it, but still, that would have made a real bummer for the guests staying in that guest room. Not to mention the mess, and possible sprained ankle.
Our construction crew is one we’ve worked with before when we built our ADU in the back, so we joke around a lot. They also saw all the graffiti from the Good Riddance Kitchen party, so they supplied a bit more of their own while they were demoing. And we also found one more bit of graffiti from a previous homeowner from the 70s about the moon landing. In case you can’t read it, I says,
“Land on the Moon
Shepard 5th Man to Walk On
1971 Feb 3 Around Moon
Feb 5 Land on Moon
0114 PST”
While all the graffiti will be removed when this is done, I like having creativity under the surface. We are going to reuse much of the old (back when 2x4s were 2x4s) redwood posts to build an out building, so maybe the essence of the pencil scratchings will still be felt on the property.
All morbid and macabre jokes aside, this week Eber and I kept standing on the pile of dirt surrounding that big hole and we’d say, “It’s going to be so amazing!”
When the Homeowner's Away
Click on the headline and you can make comments and advice.
This week I went to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Connecticut, but the demolition continued. Eber sent me photos. The dining room walls are now on the outside of the house. It feels weird, like I realized I’m wearing my blouse inside out while I’m in a public place and can’t do anything about it. If you’ve ever been to one of my Savory Salons or workshops and sat in my living room and shared pie in that striped room, well, now you can see the seams are on the outside. Soon they will be gone too. Will that feel like I’m sitting on stage in my bra? If you’ve never been to my house, well, those striped walls were my handpainted attempt at covering up very old, and very ugly texturing and wallpapering by many previous owners.That wall eventually will be an opening into the kitchen from the new dining room. Those French doors at the top are my attic office doors to nowhere. Someday, maybe I’ll have a deck off that room. Someday….
In case you were wondering, this is a major renovation. This is week 3, but soon I’ll be saying month 3. Month 9. Week 27. They haven’t even opened up the kitchen walls yet. Will that be Week 4, Month 1?
Homesick from 10 feet away?
Hazel has already found her favorite spot. I haven’t yet. Except with Hazel.
Today I got homesick. I’m only just a few feet away in our rental cottage, but I was sitting in my old office after the construction guys left. It was so peaceful and quiet and my comfy office chair fit my elbows nicely, even though I’m using my laptop and the whole set up is so ergonomically incorrect that I will probably cause your neck and wrists to go out of whack if I showed you a picture of my situation. But sitting in my attic garrett (is that redundant), I wanted to have my sanctuary back. I wanted to be able to go back the too-steep stairs that Eber built, that I have to carry Hazel down or she’d do a flip flop like a slinky, walk into my grimy old kitchen and get a glass of water from my old talavera water jug that I’ve had since before Mexico was invaded by the evil Conquistadores. But alas, the back of the house is boarded up, the doors removed, rat-infested holes under the house exposed, and I really shouldn’t be up here. See, I’m here now writing this. Shhh. Don’t tell. But I miss my house and I want to be home.
OMG, this looks so ugly. It didn’t look like that last week, I swear. Back of the house is gone. 1930 original siding is exposed. There used to be a laundry room attached. I kinda like that open air laundry room. Fresh air for the clothes to dry. But I didn’t like the various wildlife we had to chase off on a regular basis since we live on a canyon. Old kitchen is just inside the tacky security door. Old dining room is just inside that old fashioned screen door. They will be demolished next week.
The rental cottage is adorable. Sort of. Adorable is the word used for a place that’s cute and small. It can be used also for children who are precocious and annoying. Some days I have fun being inside the Barbie-sized house, and other days I feel like I live in a trailer. Nothing wrong with trailers in general, I just have some bad memories of a few I spent time in as a kid in Texas. A certain odor, and the sound of screaming pissy aunts arise in my memory. They can be “adorable” but not much on extra space. Like you can’t have an attic in a trailer. I suppose you could. Eber would probably build me one if we lived in a trailer.
Cottage with the nectarine tree blooming out front. The squirrels have so far eaten every nectarine ever produced on that tree.
Hazel says she’s settling in just fine, and she doesn’t see why I’m bothered when there’s a terrific picture window where she can keep tabs on all the construction guys.
I know, poor, poor, pitiful me. I’m super lucky—new kitchen in the works, rental cottage to move into, cutest dog on earth, but I found it odd that I got homesick. Not something I thought would happen. I’ve finished and published three books in this attic, so there’s a lot of something magical up here, or maybe it’s just the AC. I’ll probably sneak up here with my laptop more often than I thought. Like a secret hideaway. So don’t tell anyone. Shhh.
Discombobulated is one of my favorite words.
Discombobulated is not my favorite state of mind. But that’s where I am. The kitchen remodel, or rather demolish, has begun. The construction guys don’t show up until Tuesday, but we spent all weekend moving everything out of the current kitchen and into our little rental cottage where we will be living for the next many months.
You got the graffiti pics last week, so this week it’s just the inside of my brain, or I mean kitchen. We are not going to be able to afford a new refrigerator for the new kitchen, so we dismantled it and I scrubbed every screw, bin, shelf, nook, and skinny cranny to get rid of all old kitchen cooties so that none of the detritus enters the new kitchen. The appliances went off to a storage unit.
Discombobulation be damned, I’m going to promise myself I write at least two hours tomorrow. Really, I will. I swear.
The kitchen is now just an empty shell of itself. Like my brain, it has been scraped of all its matter.
You can click on the title of this blog post and leave a comment. Send me some cheering on, love, or advice through this crazy time. And feel free to subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll keep you updated on this giant pie project that could be considered a dream kitchen because my old kitchen was a nightmare.
Grafitti Party
Our Kitchen Renovation HAS to happen now because we had a Grafitti Party to say “Good Riddance!” to our old snug kitchen. I share a few photos here. I am now busy arguing with myself over countertop materials, cabinetry, types of stovetops, and various and sundry other items like, “Should I donate those talavera canisters that I wasn’t using anyway?” Yes, the answer is yes. Definitely yes.
I sit at my desk to do some editing, or type an email, or write this post, and next thing I know I’m down the Pinterest rabbit hole. Yes, it’s procrastination from my own writing, but I’m also loving the process. I’ve had a shitty kitchen for 20 years. I’ve had dinky apartments with better kitchens than this one.
Take a look at it now! I kind of love all the creativity that happened with my friends’ writing and drawing on the cabinets. We covered the floor, walls, cabinets, ceiling, doors, you name its. Every time I turn around now I notice something new. It’s quite fun. Not so fun that I would want a kitchen like this forever, but a fun way to say goodbye to a kitchen that has given me many a pie, and other meals, and which has hosted many a creative friend and so many Savory Salons came from this place.
Next week, the construction guys come and demo starts! I like to think Demo has already started, and I got to throw the first sledgehammer blow.
Onward!
And, if you haven’t had enough of this insanity, Hazel will take you on a video tour….
Subscribe to the blog for more on this months-long remodel and watch how crazy I become!
Pie Baker's Dream
Click on the title of the blog and you can leave a comment. I love comments because it makes me feel seen. Who doesn’t love to be seen? If I were a pie I’d rather be eaten than seen. But I’m not a pie, am I? So leave a comment, please.
I’ve got a big exciting new change in my life coming up—a new kitchen! The renovation starts in a couple of weeks. Subscribe to this blog and you can make sure you don’t miss any of the crazy, fun, steps. Don’t worry, it won’t be a DIY blog where I send you out to buy crackle paint, or show you how to stencil fake wood floors. But the good, the bad and the ugly will be shared!
Speaking of the ugly, here is a video of my current kitchen before demo. This is where many a pie has been made.
NaNoPieMo Gets a Face Lift. No, not new crust.
NaNoPieMo will be a little different this year. I have a few reasons for switching it up. One, hello, four years of trying to kill myself? I think the challenge has now been proven that I will survive 30 pies in 30 days, but I also have learned that I need to keep the passion in the project. Two, I have a kitchen renovation starting in a couple of weeks, and it won’t be finished in time for November. Or December, or January, or…. Three, I have always had a dream that combined my pie baking and my writing.
Here’s the dream, that I would get a book contract to travel the world and learn to bake and eat pie in other people’s kitchens. That I would learn how other cultures make their pies. This would probably be mostly savory pies, my fave. But i’m thinking of the empanada, the samosa, the pastilla, and on and on. I want to learn the family recipes passed down for generations. I want to meet other people who find comfort in savory pies as much as I do. Along this journey I imagine myself writing an essay about each pie experience.
Fish Pie in London this summer.
I stopped in a little fish pie shop in London and for the first time had a pie that may compete with my salmon and portobello pie.
I often try to find and taste other pies when I travel. Every culture seems to have some comfort food that fits between two crusts. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory. I want to try them all in their authentic setting.
Then I realized this dream could come to fruition right here in our little town of San Diego in the City Heights neighborhood where ODI is home. City Heights is the most culturally diverse area of maybe the world. The ODI kids families come from all over, in fact, why don’t I just quote ODI’s website. Thirty-four percent of its population of nearly 85,000 are foreign-born, many of whom are immigrants or refugees. Collectively, the population speaks more than 30 languages. Sounds like the whole world to me. I think the stats should include how many different pies are made there. I plan to find out.
So, we don’t have the plans in place yet for how NaNoPieMo will look, but you will definitely be involved, and you will also get pie (duh), so stay tuned I’ll keep you updated.
In the meantime, that kitchen renovation… next post starts Pie Baker’s Dream Series.
Dreams, Drugs, and DimeStories
I had the craziest dream last night. It was about a chest of drawers and for some reason it was covered in my friend’s daughter’s hair. I have no idea what that can even mean. Where do our brains go when we sleep? I had the flu the last 10 days or more, taking Nyquil and Robitussin by the capfuls every day and night. I usually avoid cold meds, but this flu was hard to get through and I was desperate. Maybe the dream was residual from the drugs. Hard to say since it had been over 24 hours since I had imbibed. I haven’t seen the friend nor her daughter in quite a few weeks, and she hasn’t been on my mind, so I wonder why this image of the wild and curly hair stuck to the drawers came to me? It felt as though the little girl had gotten her hair caught on the drawers and pulled it out. Ouch!
Not much more to the dream than that, and I don’t know why I tell you about it other than I keep thinking about it. I keep thinking about it and then wondering how our brains pick stuff up and then filter it into folders in our dream section. I’m no specialist on any of this, but I figure dreams come from the part of our brains where our imaginations are at work. Maybe the dream filter is like an artist studio trash barrel—bits of fabric, and painted canvas, and scraps of paper, magazine pages torn for collage, papier mache body parts, rolled up empty tubes of paint, dressers I haven’t finished painting, and friend’s daughter’s hair that is always creatively braided. That’s what I picture my brain’s trash barrel filled with.
Our brains come up with so many things besides dreams though. They come up with opinions and new ideas and emotions and memories. And our brain even mixes these up together making a potion called personality. My husband and I have an ongoing argument about whether or not people change. Our personalities seem to stay the same, but I believe we do change as we learn, as we grow older, as we have to adapt to things. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have new ideas, possibilities or people in our lives. New ideas come from experiences, sometimes, good and bad experiences. We see the world in a new way, unless we steadfastly refuse to think about how everything around us affects us.
DimeStories, for instance, is changing it’s day of the week and venue. It was a group decision, not just one person, and because of various circumstances. I knew some people would hate it and there would be backlash. I wasn’t surprised when we immediately had people who were not happy about the changes. I remember the many times in the past when I had to change the venue because of the circumstances. I’m a people-pleaser and for every person that complained I wanted to fix it. I couldn’t, of course, or rather I had fixed the venue situation, but some people just don’t like change so there was no pleasing them. I ended up leaving DimeStories after all the frustration because it just wasn’t fun any more. No fault of theirs, but because I didn’t know how to let go of the burden of pleasing everyone which is truly an impossible task. But this time, I’m back trying to help out with all the behind the scenes details with DimeStories. The usual grousing occurred when I announced the change. I went into my usual people-pleasing mode and wanted to fix what I had already fixed but now seemed more broken. There’s a part to change that I never noticed in the past or I forgot about—all the people that like the change and share their positive attitude. Years ago, I would have focused on the negative and wanting to please the people who can’t be pleased. But I think I’ve changed, because now I’m focusing on the people who are glad that it’s back in their neighborhood, and others who like the new day of the week.
I want everyone to be happy, and enjoy DimeStories, and not too far in the future, I have a feeling the change will be forgotten and we will have moved on to some other issue. With a little imagination, and a shift in perspective, we can enjoy more and grouse less.
I still have no idea what this has to do with my dream, other than maybe it’s our imagination that helps us see things in a different light than we saw them before. Like figuring out how to patch a bathroom wall without having to redo the whole bathroom. I just bought this fun wallpaper. Maybe if you don’t like the new day and place of DimeStories, you’ll at least get a laugh when you use my guest bath.
Hope to see you on Wed, Feb 8 at The Book Catapult for DimeStories, new time, new place. And pie.
January 24, 2023
It’s a new year, and new reasons to make pies.
Illustration by Emil Wilson @emilwilson
It can’t really be the end of January. Didn’t we just finish NaNoPIEMo? A lot has happened since then. I buckled down and finished a near-final (are they ever final?) draft of my menopausal Nancy Drew novel, and I survived the holidays, and a pretty major (to me) birthday. I have neglected many things, including my newsletters, my website, and this blog.
I considered changing the name of the blog since it’s not NaNoPIEMo season anymore, but then I figured it’s always pie season in some form or another, and I’m always trying to support the kids at Ocean Discovery Institute, so why not just keep the name.
I had some new year’s resolutions, but I have forgotten what they are already. I consider that a good start. Not that I’ve forgotten, but that I’m not taking things too seriously. I can get a bit too intense sometimes, okay, all the time, and to hold onto things a little looser is probably a good new year’s resolution to have.
I’d love to hear about your resolutions in the comments. I love hearing about anything you are doing, pies, writing, or dreams. Anything.
My book is still out there doing it’s dance, as books will do. I have a few events lined up that I’m excited about. OC Writers Club in March, LA Times Book Festival in April, France Retreat in June, Bahia trip with the ODI kids in July, Albany Book Festival in September, Fall Colors Retreat in October, oh my god—andt then it’s November again! What will NaNoPIEMo look like this year? Very different.
I updated my website, and I’m anxious to hear all about your new beginnings, and I hope to see each and everyone of you at one of the upcoming events, retreats and workshops. Keep a pie-eye out for more.
Thank yous and what happens next?
[I started this post on 12/2 and am just now (12/9) realizing that I never finished this post. Braindead for a week. I think I’m alive again now. So, here’s the post PieMo post]
I am still breathing heavy and out of breath from 30 pies in 30 days, which was really 32 Pies in 29 Days. I have so much other work piled up waiting for me to get back to a routine that isn’t about making a pie and foregoing everything else.
How does it feel to be done? Everyone asks. Like a giant pie has been lifted from my shoulders. This year was an especially big pie. A heavy pie, a steak and potatoes pie with a concrete filling. Everyone also always asks if I will be doing it again next year. Next year will look different, and I’m going to enlist some help. Lesson learned, and there were many lessons learned this year, and that’s another blog post.
Today, I want to at least start the thank yous for all the donors. We raised over $6000. Here’s the pie play by play.
I’ll start with the first five days. Karen Van Dyke, Jimmy Camp, Leslye Lyons and Kathy Dodson all ran off with pies both sweet and savory. I was feeling pretty good about things because I was hitting the over $100 mark almost every day. To think my first year I started bids at $30 a pie. Things have surely grown.
Day 5 I was reeling. I got a $1000 bid on the Steak and Cheddar pie in puff pastry from Debra Liebert and Dan Rodriguez. Then they upped it to $2000. I wandered the house aimlessly and almost forgot to finish the pies.
Day 6 was back to normal with $130 for the Chai Pie. This was an experimental pie for me, but I’ll tell you I will be making it again. PJ Colando won this pie, and she had car trouble and couldn’t pick it up. I can’t for the life of me remember where it went now. I think the kids at Ocean Discovery got it.
Things started flowing and creeping upward with bids and competition. Linda Bannan took home the carrot cake pie, Arthur Salm took home the GF Cottage pie for $200 and Tish Frederick matched the bid at $250.
Heather Bentley took another savory the next day, and another savory the day after - winner Joy Boatman with a match from Leslie Russum.
Day 11 I took a pie to DimeStories so didn’t auction it off. I managed to trip on the way into the reading, throwing the big slab pie in the air, catching it on the way down, only to have it land on the ground in a completely vertical upright position. I started to cry, peeled back the foil and saw it was completely in tact. My incredible agent Betsy Amster donated $100 that day.
Eber’s birthday is always a Chicken Pot Pie, and so many folk donated as birthday gifts to Eber while he got to eat the pie. Ellen Wages, Jean Dunow, and others.
Day 13 I had a winning bid of $200 from RL Maizes in Colorado and a match in New Mexico from Anita Holtz so the whole pie here in California went to the kids- Blueberry Sour cream
Karen van Dyke came back into the game on Day 14 with a nice juicy winning bid for the Apple Blackberry pie, and Heather Bentley came around for another win on Day 15 for a chicken sausage and apple pie.
Day 16 Half Way! This pie was for the Lemon Chiffon Moment at Ocean Discovery and presented to Nicole Lebeouf of National Ocean Services. Shara Fisler donated $500 for this big event.
Leslye Lyons came back around for yet another pie, just before I slowed the bidding for a couple of days while I baked for the 2-Pie Adventure to sell a few books.
But the game started again with a German Chocolate pie and another steak and cheddar pie taken by Lisa Churchville and Marion Wilson and Leslye Lyons AGAIN!
Jumble berry pie was ready for LaTresa Pearson, and the holiday tipsy take away was made by Tudy Wolff with two pies in two days Brandy Pecan and Bourbon Pumpkin.
Coming in for the home stretch, Karen van Dyke won yet again bidding on the Leftover pie.
Anne Mery took the Jumble berry pie at the in-person auction, and for bake-athon with Tammy Greenwood, Carolyn Muhlstein won. She picked it up in her Christmas jammies!
Finale pie was swept off with the big day when I was crawling to the kitchen by Barbara Crena. That same day and other days saw generous donations by Aileen Ross, Anne Regier, Barbara Bartholomae, and if I’m leaving someone off it’s because I’ve lost the use of my eyeballs after reading recipes and dusting my kitchen in flour. But every single dollar is appreciated. I lost my soul and found it in the butter at the back of the fridge during this year’s auction, and I learned that someone always shows up even when you didn’t know you needed someone to show up. I have other more pithy and funny remarks, but I’ll save them for another post.
A big shout out to Karen van Dyke and Lesley Lyons for being such big pie lovers, or at least keeping the show going the whole time. Karen and Leslye bought 3 pies each.
I am blown away by the generosity, enthusiasm, constant support, and just general camaraderie through the whole process. Each and every one of you, whether you won a pie, or just bid, or just watched, or just salivated, or just cheered me on, or sat silently wondering what is this crazy woman doing, I appreciate all of you.
The Last Pie: NaNoPIEMo - 32 Pies in 29 Days
I made the hard decision that took me all of 3 seconds to say yes to when I thought of it, that I was going to end with this pie and give myself Nov 3Oth off. I’ve made more than 30 pies already, and this year was hard for many reasons, the least of which was my book was just released. I should be pitching that! Perseverance is not just about moving forward, but about making sure your journey is comfortable and not becoming Jack Torrance from The Shining. Jack does not make very good pies.
But Amy does! This isn’t the last pie of all pies, of course. I’m always available to make pies to order for anyone any day of the year. And, if you want to pay extra and donate to Ocean Discovery, then we can do that too. Just holler. You know where to find me. My menu of pies is much longer than just the 30 some odd from this month. My favorite pies to make are pies for gifts. Many people call and ask me to make a pie for a friend who has had a hard time, or a family member’s birthday, and my most honored pie was when I was asked to make one for someone’s last meal (I was scared to death I’d forget to add some ingredient and ruin the whole thing, but I didn’t). Chicken Pot Pie, of course. That’s what I want for my last meal too.
Today’s pie is also a Savory. Good to go out with a comfort food bang. And, today’s pie for the big finale is [drum roll] Carnitas in a Hatch Chili sauce with a cornmeal crust.
This is the big finish, y’all, and we have raised $6131 so far. Is it possible to wish for $6500?
I’ll start the hopeful bidding off at $150. And, to make it even sweeter, that includes a copy of Tammy Greenwood’s new novel Such a Pretty Girl, and a copy of How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies (by moi). That means you get pie and two books which are a value of $100 alone.
Yesterday, I baked with Tammy at ODI. Check out the photos of her lesson on dough and apple pie filling. Guess what we talked about the WHOLE time we baked—Writing! Is there any other better subject? No.
And, the kids at the end of the day wrote about all the insects they found in the canyon. Crickets, worms, and earwigs, oh my! See all the action shots below.
Day 28 NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days - State of the Pies
Seems every country, culture, and family has some form of pie. Usually meat pies, but pies. And every family, culture, and country has a story.
Today’s pie will be part of a pie lesson with Tammy Greenwood, author of many novels, and most recently Such a Pretty Girl. Tammy is from Vermont which is dairy country, which is famous for cheddar cheese. So we will be baking an apple pie inside a cheddar cheese pastry. I asked Tammy what kind of pie she wanted to make and she sent me a photo from a magazine advertising a pie like this as Vermont's state pie.
If your family had a family pie, or maybe they already do, what would it be? And, if your home state had a pie, what would it be? What about your culture, your religion, your country, your hometown? What’s your pie and what’s the story behind it?
Tammy and I will be baking at Ocean Discovery Institute’s gorgeous kitchen so watch for posts from there.
Today’s pie is that delectable Vermont Cheddar pastry piled high with apples. Let’s get those bids started at $95.
I’m adding to this post because I made a decision 15 minutes before it’s scheduled to go live. Tomorrow (Tues Nov 29) will be the last pie of NaNoPIEMo 2022. I counted and I’ve made at least 32 pies, not counting the ones I made two of the same pie. This year has been harder than most. You’d think it would be easier because it’s been four years and I would have it down. What was different about this year was my life on the other side of pie. It got harder. That’s the part of challenges that I appreciate—they bring to the surface everything that would have been so easy to just say, “Pie-severe!” Instead, something has to give. And, I’m ready to start focusing on that instead of pie. I’m not quitting (I’m not sure why that’s a bad word), but feel accomplished, and actually rather adult that I can say I need to put down my rolling pin and focus on me.
When I made the decision this morning, I immediately thought how I would be keeping some money from the kids who need it most. But I also realized they will do just fine without me and my pies. I have a book, a husband, a dog, and a soul that need me right now.
Tomorrow’s pie is going to be a Carnitas in Hatch Chilis in a cornmeal crust. It’s Giving Tuesday, so maybe this will be a great day to make it the finale of NaNoPieMo.
