Day 7: NaNoPIEMo 30 Days of 30 Pies, or something like that.

I’m exhausted. I write these blog posts the night before and have them scheduled to show up first thing in the morning. So I’m writing this one with my eyes partially closed. I may not even know what kind of pie I’m telling you is the pie for tomorrow. I think it’s called an ORANGE SPICE CARROT PIE in a CREAM CHEESE PASTRY. It will go brilliantly with all the coffee we are drinking to adjust with the Daylight/Standard time change jet lag.

This pie helps in two ways. The kids Ocean Discovery get free meals, and they often don’t eat all their fruits and veggies as kids are wont to do. I usually take the pounds of apples or pears or peaches and make pie for the kids. A cobbler with sugar and ice cream is SO much better than a fresh fruit when you are 9 years old. They also leave pounds of untouched little ziploc baggies of carrots. I love carrot cake but I don’t make much cake. I finally found a recipe for a carrot cake type of pie. All the same spices, and mixture, but not cakey but very moist. It will be in a cream cheese pastry, and I’m hoping to make some cream cheese whipped topping. Yum. And, the carrots won’t go to waste.

I’m rather excited about this pie, especially after the success with yesterday’s Chai Pie full of fresh ground spices. This pie will also be filled with fresh ground spices and fresh carrots. And DREAM, I mean, CREAM CHEESE!

Bids start at $85. Place your bids in the comments. Highest bidder when I pull the pie out of the oven wins. Watch for updates on social media. But the winner will be posted here when bids are closed.

This is me yesterday…I’ll survive!

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Day 6 NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days

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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.

Day 5 $1000 PIE

Yesterday sent me stumbling, then mumbling, then bumbling. Clever rhyme, but that’s really what happened. I struggled yet again with the social media links because they boggle me with their breakage, and trip ups, and “save” then not save. But while in the midst of all of that, I saw bids coming in, so I knew that something was working. I kept working on the day’s pie, one of my favorites—the aroma of rosemary and balsamic marinated steak with a garlic, mushroom and onion cream sauce just bursts my olfactory senses. I get a little high from it. Then the social media issue, and messages coming in saying my links aren’t working had me miss the sweet spot on my onions becoming transparent. But I figured caramelized onions was actually better for the recipe so I went with that and ignored the broken links for awhile. At least until I had one more person ask me about the links, so I sent the right link, and then stepped away from the stove while I went to see what the bids were at.

$1000 had come in for this Rosemary Steak and Gruyere in a puff pastry. That’s three zeros, I kept saying. I repeated it to myself as I wandered about my house aimlessly not sure what to do with myself. I wanted to cry and to jump up and down, and my dog wanted to go for a walk, so we did that. The whole time, while she was pooping and peeing, I was thinking, $1000! For a pie!

I get it. It’s not for the pie, it’s for the kids at Ocean Discovery Institute, but still, my little fundraiser has always felt like that—like a little fun fundraiser. I did it on a whim, and the donations come in on whims from people who want a yummy pie and want to contribute. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if the fundraiser grew to a bigger pie?

I love these kids that the money goes to. I see them as hope for a future we don’t know yet. I know they will struggle and have to persevere, but I also know many of them will achieve things I could never dream of—like becoming a world-renowned scientist. I never believed in a cure for cancer, but these kids make me think it could happen. Over the years I’ve watched some who are already changing the world as PhD students at Scripps, scientists in molecular biology, graduating from UCLA, UC Berkeley, reaching for the stars, and touching them.

A thousand dollars goes a long way to helping Ocean Discovery Institute have tuition-free programs. I’m getting all non-profitty here and spouting all the right words. But $1000 does go along way. It makes their dreams possible.

The stumbling was me climb over and around the social media obstacles, the mumbling was me cursing every one of the technological mishaps, and the bumbling was me wandering around the house repeatedly saying, “I made a pie worth $1000.” That’s a big pie.

I asked the kids on Friday “Why do you like to write?” Here are a couple of examples. (I also tell them that they can tell their stories through drawings).

I have a dream, and my dream is that their dreams come true. It sounds sappy, but it’s true. Thank you, Deb & Dan for your contribution to NaNoPIEMo and ultimately Ocean Discovery Institute kids.

Day 5: NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days

ROSEMARY STEAK AND GRUYERE IN A PUFF PASTRY. That’s the pie, but read on if you want to know why.

PLACE YOUR BIDS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. THE WINNER WILL BE DECLARED WITH THE PIE COMES OUT OF THE OVEN, OR THEREABOUTS. Bidding starts at $95. I’m trying to raise more money than last year, and this pie is worth it.

WHY THIS PIE:

I re-watched Nora Ephron’s movie Julie & Julia last night because of Julie Powell’s untimely death. She is who inspired NaNoPieMo in the same way that Julia Child inspired her. I don’t mean I intended to be Julie Powell with her blog (I say, as I type this blog post.) but I appreciated that she not only reached a goal, but she worked through recipes. It seems easier than it is. Sometimes recipes are easy, sometimes not so much. In fact, when Juiia Child heard about Julie Powell’s project to complete all her recipes in one year, and how she was struggling, Julia commented that it was ridiculous because she had written her recipes to be so simple. She has, and her Mastering the Art of French Cooking is marvelous. BUT, some of the recipes, while simplified from the original, are still complicated. That said, I often use her recipe to make my beef bourguignon pie in puff pastry.

I’m not making that pie this time, but close. TODAY’S PIE IS ROSEMARY STEAK & GRUYERE IN PUFF PASTRY. It may be four little pies, or maybe one big pie. But it will make a perfect Saturday night dinner. I have a similar recipe with different spices in HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL IN 20 PIES—Warrior Steak and Cheddar PIe. It shows up right after the chapter on getting an offer from a publisher.

Julie Powell wanted to be an author. It was her determination and aspirations that helped her reach that goal. But because there are other people, like agents and editors, that stand between us and our goals sometimes, we have to be warriors, we have to keep fighting for what we want. We can’t be afraid. Fear is for the pie-less.

I’m posting this picture because this was a day I was fearless—I had heard about baking a pie on the grill. I tried it, and well, I wish I had an After-Photo. It was as blackened as the inside of the grill. I foolishly was talking to the group of guests I had on my deck instead of paying attention to my pie. For two days, Eber and I scraped apple pie out of the iron skillet. But, I will try it again!

Today’s pie will not be made on the grill. Note to self: try a recipe out before trying it on paying guests.

Place your bids in the comments, and I’ll check in when I slide the pie in the oven to give notice of time is short for placing those really high bids!

Day 4: NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days

Today’s pie is RASPBERRY in a double all-butter crust. I’m feeling decadent after yesterday’s big winner—Chicken Pot Pie went for $130. There may be another savory pie coming, so this would make a good dessert for your weekend dinner. Just a suggestion. Bidding starts at $60 because, well, all-butter, raspberries, charity! Let’s see what we can do for Ocean Discovery Institute on this Friday.

Bid in the comments below. Whoever is the highest bidder when I pull the pie out of the oven, or thereabouts, is the winner. All proceeds to got ODI.

Feel free to donate to Ocean Discovery Institute, even if you can’t pick up a pie, or because you just dropped those 30 pounds and don’t want to gain it back.


Day 3: NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days

Cold and windy day in San Diego calls for Chicken Pot Pie. This was my very first pie to achieve. It’s still my favorite one to make. I hope it makes someone a very comforting dinner, and a nice donation for the kids at Ocean Discovery Institute. Art work by Emil Wilson, excerpted from How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies: Sweet & Savory Secrets for Surviving the Writing Life.

Place your bids in the comments below. Bidding closes when the pie comes out of the over or thereabouts. All proceeds go to Ocean Discovery Institute where I teach personal storytelling to the kids. If you can’t pick up the pie, the kids are always happy to eat a donated pie.

Here are the final chicken pot pies! Thank you Leslye!

If you want to donate even without a pie, just click this magic button.

Day 2 30 Pies in 30 Days NaNoPIEMo

Today’s pie is Apple Ginger, Maple, Bourbon pie inspired by Kate McDermott’s recipe in her book PIE CAMP. I write about Pie Camp in my new book., How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies. Place your bids in the comments. Check back anytime! I’ll be watching. Here’s to pie and stories and comfort. Artwork by Emil Wilson @emilswils

Here’s the final pie! Thank you Jimmy Camp.

Day 1 NaNoPIEMo 30 Pies in 30 Days

I did it. I survived Day 1. Only one snafu. The bidding got tangled up in Facebook’s algorithms and stacking and prioritizing. So, I had people asking where the post was, and I was trying to bake a pie, and teach the kids, and rub my head and tummy at the same time.

In the end, the blueberry crumble pie sold for $85. Not a bad first day. It went to Ms. Karen Van Dyke who last year bought at least 3, maybe 5 of the pies. So I’m not surprised she was the winner today. Who knows, maybe she’ll take ALL the pies this year.

I hope you’ll enjoy the photos both of pie and the stories the little kids wrote today. They wrote about what they learned today from dissecting squid, to touching squishy, slimy, slippery sea cucumbers, to eating blueberry pie (I made an extra one for them) to touching sea stars. That’s what the Star of David means in the one drawing (translation from 7 yo).

Today’s pie was baked at the Ocean Discovery Institute building. If you would like to donate to Ocean Discovery at any time, feel free. Click that magic button below. The ODI folx are all over what you guys did last year! I’m really hoping NaNoPIEMo raises more than the super generous $4k of 2021.

See you here on the website for tomorrow’s bidding.

YEAR FOUR NaNoPIEMo Countdown

Amy Wallen’s NaNoPIEMo cheers on writers while she bakes a pie a day and raises money to support Ocean Discovery Institute where she teaches personal story writing. Inspired by NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month—the internet-famous writing challenge to write a novel in one month, NaNoPIEMo is a pie-lapalooza of fun and excitement as watchers bid on each day’s pies to raise money for Amy’s favorite charity. ODI provides learning experiences for young people traditionally excluded from science due to race, income status, and educational opportunity. Because she believes in kids and writing, and pie is the fuel to persevere, NaNoPIEMo combines all lessons on persistence and believing in yourself.

This fourth year of NaNoPieMo’s internet sensation, Amy will be inviting other authors and scientists to join her for pie baking at Ocean Discovery’s commercial kitchen. As a novelist, memoirist, and teacher, Amy Wallen has quite a few things to say about the writing world. In How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies (October 2022, $19.99), she shares her secrets on how to survive the hard knocks of writing a book and trying to get published—which (spoiler alert) include many obligatory pie breaks. Wallen balances out the challenging stages of the writing process with both sweet and savory goodness, featuring recipes for chocolate pecan pie, salmon and portobello pie, and the best cherry pie ever, all of which will be baked during NaNoPIEMo. 

Amy’s pie baking challenge brings attention to how perseverance applies to anything creative or ambitious—from following your dream to publish a novel to building a career in science. Come join us on this 30-day fun and delicious ride on most social media. Facebook every day, and Instagram & TikTok on Fridays. @amylizwrites @amywallen. Come for the pie, stay for the excitement.

Year 4 of National Novel Pie Month NaNoPieMo 2022

It will soon be that time again. 30 pies in 30 days. It will be a bake sale palooza again this year. Proceeds go to Ocean Discovery Institute where I teach low-income science kids to write their personal stories. It’s silent auction type of event. Only not so silent. I will announce that day’s pie to be made and when it’s done baking I will see who the highest bidder on my Facebook page. Minimum bid is $30 as that’s what it costs to make the average pie. If you don’t live nearby and want to bid on a pie anyway, and you are the highest bidder, I will donate the pie to the ODI kids. Not all pies will be available for giveaway since I will also be making pies for Thanksgiving with family and Eber’s birthday. If no one bids on a particular pie, it will go to the kids or closest neighbor anyway. You guys have been so generous over the years and I hope you have as much fun with me this year too! Thank you in advance for all the support throughout the month. See you on Tuesday Nov 1!

Day 8 NaNoPieMo Gluten-free Pear & Apple Pie

Gluten-free PieLovers, Yesterday’s Spiced Pear and Apple is today’s Spiced Apple and Pear in a gluten-free crust. It’s a double crust and is already in the oven so bidding should begin. @arthursalm @susanduerksen @rainestorm @jillbadonsky and my other gf friend who keep it hidden from me. I make a pretty good gf crust from the cookbook of @KateMcDermott. You don’t have to be gluten-intolerant if you want to bid. It’s for the children at Ocean Discovery after all. The Government has congress and the $2 trillion infrastructure bills while schools have bake sales—let’s see if we can get to 1 trillion. Or maybe $1000. 

Day 7 NaNoPieMo 30 Pies in 30 Days Apple Pear Pie

You guys donated a total of $120 yesterday!! Thank you so much for making this bake sale both fun and a great fundraiser for the Ocean Discovery Institute kids. 

TODAY’S PIE … a neighbor @erinnye donated a bag of apples and a bag of pears. And, man oh man, are these pears ready to be consumed. So it’s apple pear pie! [here’s a little scoop, since I had just enough flour to make today’s pastry dough, I decided tomorrow’s pie will be a pear and apple (not to be confused with apple pear) gluten-free pie. So if you’ve been jonesing for a pie but are gf, then tomorrow is your day to participate.]

But back today—Apple Pear in a double crust. Bidding starts at $30. But those pears are golden and worth more. 

Place your bid for TODAY’s pie only in the feed of either FB or IG. Bidding stops when the pie comes out of the oven. Remember, it’s for the kids! ✏️🦀🐚

Day 6 NaNoPieMo 2021 Steak & Cheddar Pie

Who checks their social media on the weekend? Okay, we all do. Today’s pie is a comfort favorite for a family or friends meal. 

Steak and Cheddar Pot Pies. 4 pot pies made with Rosemary marinated sirloin and Irish cheddar and a bunch of yummy veggies. I made the puff pastry from scratch. Enough for you to invite another couple over, or to have leftovers. 

Bidding starts at $40. These are a more expensive pie to make and they are sure to please. That’s $10 a pie. You couldn’t get that at a restaurant. So big what you think they’re worth. 

You all have been so supportive and generous. Folkx as far away as NY have donated, and everyone seems excited. Ocean Discovery Institute is watching and applauding with each dollar we give to the kids. Thank you for all of this. You guys. Wow. 

Day 5 NaNoPieMo 2021

Fabulous news! Our donations for Ocean Discovery were more than matched yesterday by very generous donors @DebraLeibert and @DanRodriguez. We are now at $380 and it’s only Day 5! I decided to not cover my costs, but to donate all of the monies so whatever you give will go to the kids at ODI. Feel free to bid on a pie, help raise the bids by bidding early. And if you live in Bosnia or Timor and you win, I’ll make sure the pie goes to the kids. Pie Giving is like a double gift. You get a gift and others get a gift and everyone feels satiated. 

Today’s pie. A friend offered me some limes yesterday, so I got that in my head and decided today would be coconut lime pie. It sounds like a party, and I feel like a party on Friday night. It will be a key lime pie with some coconut and Mexican limes. I’ve never made it before, so it’s a challenge within a challenge. Not to mention I don’t have the limes yet, so there’s that challenge. 

Start bidding! Place your bid in the feed here and I will check back in along the way. I will post any updates on the same feed, so scroll down. And, when the pie either comes out of the oven, or in the case of the lime pie, comes out of the fridge, I will check to see who is the highest bidder and pie eater.  

Thank you all for all your support. This is amazing. I started this little bake sale figuring it would make maybe $500 after 30 days and here we are almost past that. Pie for all! 

Coconut Lime Pie

Day 4 NaNoPieMo

Chicken Pot Pie with a Crumble Topping. If you are looking for a dinner for four, or maybe four nights of your very own pie, this would be a good one to bid on. Bidding will start at $30. I should have it available to pick up before dinner. Or, if you just want to give to the Ocean Discovery Institute kids, bid and I’ll make sure the pie feeds good souls. You place your bid here in the feed. I post this on all my social media IG, FB, Twitter and check them all when the pie comes out of the oven. I may post some updates on where the bidding is during the day, but feel free to check the feed to see where you stand. So, far, we’ve raised $120 for ODI and we are only 4 days in. Chicken Pot Pie! Who doesn’t love a little comfort?

This one got eaten before I got a photo of it, dang it. But here’s a photo and a question to contemplate until tomorrow. Which came first? Chicken pot pie, or egg salad?

Day 3 NaNoPieMo 2021 - Apple Ginger Pie

Looks like it’s going to be Apple Ginger Pie Day. This is one of my faves. If you like apple pie, this one will be stacked high in apples of several varieties. Bidding starts at $30 for this pie. Place your bids here in this feed. I will provide updates throughout the day. I’ll check all my social media feeds when the pie comes out of the oven to see who was the highest bidder. Yesterday we made $60 for the Ocean Discovery Kids. It’s apple season! And, apple pie season. And, pie season! Even if you can’t come get the pie, you can bid and help raise fund for the kids. Or, just to get a little fun competition going. Don’t worry, the pie will always go to a good home.  

Apples!

Apples in Pastry, notice the candied ginger!

Apple Ginger Pie Fresh from the oven.

Apple Ginger Pie eaten

Day 2 NaNoPieMo 2021

NaNoPieMo Day 2 Winner! Barbara O’Connell Crena out bid others for the Black and Blue Berry pie at $60. 

All proceeds go the Ocean Discovery Institute. ODI uses science to empower young people in underserved communities. They provide mentoring and learning experiences. I am the writer-in-residence showing them how to write about all their experiences and opening their imaginations to a bigger future. Giving is good. Besides, pie is just good no matter how you look at it. 

Day 1 NaNoPieMo 2021

The first-day pie probably should be something I’ve made before and something that would be a surefire promoter for the bake sale, but it’s Day of the Dead, a holiday celebrated here in San Diego with processions, altars, face painting and gatherings. It’s not a sad holiday, but happy and celebratory to honor those who have passed. I thought I’d start with a pie to honor my friend Jenn Simpson. I inherited some of the hatch chilies she had in her freezer, so I’m making a carnitas and hatch chili slab pie in a cornmeal crust. While I’ve made plenty of pies similar to this one, I have to test some of the quantities of ingredients to make this work as a slab pie. So you are welcome to bid on it, but if you live nearby and win there may be a piece missing since I’ll need to see if it turned out too soggy, too dry, or Goldilocks’ just right.  I have already made the pastry dough and added sour cream and a bit of sweet habanero vinegar, so I know that will be delish. If you’d like a spicy dinner on this chilly San Diego evening, on this special Mexican holiday, put in your bid. Starts at $30. If no one wins, I do, because I am going to eat it up. 

Year 3 of National Novel Pie Month NaNoPieMo

It’s that time again. 30 pies in 30 days. This year, after much Facebook Folkx advice, I’m turning it into a bake sale. Proceeds go to Ocean Discovery Institute. It will be like a silent auction. I will announce that day’s pie to be made and when it’s done baking I will see who the highest bidder is in my social media feeds. Minimum bid is $30 as that’s what it costs to make the average pie. If you don’t live nearby and want to bid on a pie anyway, and you are the highest bidder, I will donate the pie to the ODI kids. They love my pies! Not all pies will be available for physical delivery. And if no one bids on a particular pie, it will go to the kids or closest neighbor anyway. You guys have been so generous over the years and I hope you have as much fun with me this year too! And Eber’s birthday pie is this month too! Thank you in advance for all the support throughout the month. See you on Monday Nov 1!

Day 10 NaNoPieMo Blueberry Sour Cream Pie

I saw this photo yesterday and decided I have to make this pie. I hope you guys are so inspired as well. I’ll let you know when it’s near ready. This time it doesn’t just come out of the oven but needs to refrigerate too.  Let’s start bidding at $35.

I have a crazy weekend ahead. It’s a big Lambert Holiday. Eber’s birthday and family will be here celebrating. I have to still meet my challenge so I’ll need your support. I have some surprises for you. I hope you’ll tune in. 

In the meantime, I better go make pie! 

Everybody loves pie! 🥧✏️🫐