December 29, 2019

The Pie Project is complete. We started the year of 2019 with two new pie plates and a dream. It’s now 52 weeks later and EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY of the year (except once when we had to bump it to Monday due to travel and the Sunday after Thanksgiving when there were still too many leftovers so we doubled up the next Sunday) we have had at least one pie. Plus a few extras on other days. We’ve learned how to make a good pie crust. We’ve learned that you can take any dessert or yummy food that you like and type it into Google followed by the word “pie” and you’ll get a recipe. We’ve learned that Annie and Kate are chocoholics, Ellie is a cinnaholic, and Leah is just weird.(okay, we knew that). We’ve learned the value of experimentation (see: Cannoli Pie) and trying something downright weird (see: Lucky Charms Pie, Honey Lavender Pie). We’ve tried everything from a traditional cherry pie to something called Maple Bacon Cream Pie with Waffle Crust. Most of all, we’ve learned how many wonderful pies are out there, and how much variety there is. Even among the subcategory of chocolate pies, we have had some great variety, from the Chocolate Strawberry Oasis to the Nutella to this week’s Chocolate Lava.

People have asked us often throughout the year “What’s your favorite pie you’ve tried?” It turns out, the answer to that question is more difficult to answer than you would think. The answer is different for different people (Annie is sure that for her it was the Thin Mint Brownie Cheesecake), and frankly, there were very few pies this year that were anything short of awesome (the Butterscotch Banana Cream Pie and the Arizona Sunshine Pie come readily to mind, though the former might have been user error, and the latter threw an entire lemon, rind and all, into a blender – so how good could it have been?).

The other common question we’re getting is “Are you going to keep going?” The answer to that question is no. The Pie Project will end at the end of 2019. There will not be pie next Sunday. We have had a blast doing this, talking to our friends about it, and most of all eating the pies. But it’s been a bit of a burden asking each Saturday, “Okay, what are we doing for pie tomorrow?” and frankly, although there are still several good-looking pies still out there on our list (Passionfruit Chiffon Pie, Zebra Pie, Lemon Buttermilk Pie, Salted Honey Pie, Chocolate Milk Pie, Sugar Cream Pie, etc.) we kind of feel like we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. The follow-up question, of course, is, “Well, if not pie in 2020, what are you going to do? Cookies? Ice Cream?” We don’t have a plan yet. We might not do anything. We might make a few of our favorite pies of 2019 again. We might find some other crazy desserts to make. Don’t pressure us!

At the end of this satisfying project, here in a handy-dandy list, in chronological order, are the 71 pies of the Pie Project. Thanks for reading!

1. Oatmeal Pie
2. Hot Chocolate Pie
3. Atlantic Beach Lime Pie
4. Chocolate Fudge Pie
5. Strawberry Pie
6. Chocolate Pudding Explosion Pie
7. Apple Pie
8. Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Mousse Pie
9. Butterscotch Banana Cream Pie
10. Unicorn Pie
11. Marionberry Pie
12. Oreo Cream Pie
13. Brookie Pie
14. Cinnamon Pie
15. Peanut Butter Pie
16. Arizona Sunshine Pie
17. Cannoli Pie
18. Blueberry Sour Cream Pie
19. Easter Pie
20. Lucky Charms Pie
21. Chocolate Strawberry Oasis Pie
22. Triple Key Lime Pie
23. Chocolate Truffle Pie
24. Chocolate Marshmallow Ice Cream Pie
25. Chocolate Vanilla Pudding Pie
26. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “Ice Cream” Pie
27. Apple Pie II
28. Chocolate Malt Shoppe Pie
29. Peach Crumble Pie
30. S’mores Pie
31. Strawberry Pie II
32. Chocolate Fudge Pie II
33. Cherry Pie
34. Cookie Dough Pie
35. Donut Pie
36. Honey Lavender Pie
37. Thin Mint Brownie Cheesecake
38. Blueberry “Cheesecake” Pie
39. Orange Creamsicle Pie
40. Triple Layer Lemon Pie
41. Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie
42. All the Berries Pie
43. Pineapple Pie
44. Roadside Blackberry Pie
45. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie
46. Butterfinger Pie
47. S’more S’mores Pie
48. Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Pie
49. Cinna-Bacon Apple Pie
50. Texas Flood Pie
51. Maple Walnut Cheesecake
52. Halloween Candy Cookie Pie
53. Nutella Pie
54. Ghost Chocolate Pudding Pie
55. Apple-Pumpkin-Cinnamon Roll Streusel Pie
56. Maple Bacon Cream Pie with Waffle Crust
57. Sweet Potato Pie
58. Brownie Pie
59. Costco Pumpkin Pie
60. Cereal Killer Pie
61. Atlantic Beach Pie
62. Chocolate Ganache Pie
63. Cranberry Gingersnap Pie
64. Apple Pie III
65. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
66. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “Ice Cream” Pie II
67. Candy Cane Pie
68. Dutch Cranberry-Apple Pie
69. Lemon Curd Pie
70. Gingerbread Cheesecake
71. Chocolate Lava Pie

November 3, 2019

Shelly has been excited to make a maple bacon pie for a while. In keeping with her efforts to try out weird crusts, this one had a crust made from ready-made frozen waffles (though there weren’t quite enough waffles, so a bit of the crust was filled in with French toast). The filling was a mixture of Cool Whip and vanilla pudding and maple syrup, with bacon bits mixed in and spread on top.

Shelly loved her pie. She loved the ground of the waffles contrasting with the creaminess of the filling, and the salty kick of the bacon. Other members of the family weren’t quite as big of fans. The girls had a hard time detecting the maple flavor, and the fact that the main body of the pie was basically bacon covered in Cool Whip wasn’t everyone’s favorite. But the waffle crust was cool and well received. It certainly gets points for originality!