pie off

today i took the entire day off to make a single pie. i am participating in an event called pie off.

it is 11:30 and i still haven't made my pie. the judging starts at 4:00. i have spent almost $50 on making this pie. okay, maybe $35.

i bought butter, milk and cream. i bought 32 ounces of maple syrup because that was the best price per ounce and i want to start making decisions like a financially solvent person. i went to a second location and bought pumpkins: two sugar pie and one japanese pumpkin; a tiny kabocha. i also needed a pie pan.

arriving home i consulted a few different recipes for pie crust. i made one very large recipe and fifteen minutes later decided that by the way it looked and felt it i knew wasn't a winning crust, and that i really wanted to win pie off. i started over with are recipe i made up on the spot. crust #1 went into the trash.

when i finally had a crust i was happy with rolled out and chilling in my freezer i walked to the liquor store by my house and bought some dried beans to weigh it down before i could blind bake. i'm serious.

i have mostly baked and cooked my entire working life, and while i think nothing of spending an hour making a weekday meal even just for myself, i seldom if ever bake at home. it's much more difficult than doing it at work.

pie off. wish me luck.