Pie, Oh My: The Most Amazing National Pie Day Celebration Ever
Saturday, January 24, 2009 
Did you know that January 23rd was National Pie Day?
Now, some may argue that the day to celebrate pie ought to be March 14th.
Unfortunately, these math nerds missed out on the cool-kid party we attended last Friday: a no-holds barred, absolute pie love-in, the likes of which we'd never seen.
It was held at the Salmon Bay Eagles Hall in Ballard, Seattle; while the sign said FOE, the sandwich board definitely let on that PIE meant FRIEND.
Inside, a veritable pie nirvana awaited, including music ("American Pie", anyone?) by our new favorite band the Fillings; EAT PIE t-shirts (designed by Christine Larsen); ginormous glowing pie sculptures; a projector screening various pie imagery, and of course, a delightful table of raffle prizes (including Cakespy artwork!).
The organizer, Mary, and her team (the À la mode girls) all wore the cutest pie-themed headpieces and dresses. (pictured: Head Spy Jessie with Mary)
But of course, truly, the Pièce de résistance was the pie buffet: a series of tables set together in a line, it must have been over 30-ish feet long, with every type of pie you could ever dream of, both sweet and savory. We ogled over and sampled sweet varieties such as coconut cream, lemon chess, blueberry, marionberry, bourbon pecan, and more; even though we don't usually foray into savories, the Veggie Frito pie does deserve at least a mention. In a stroke of what can only be described as sheer brilliance, a large tub of vanilla ice cream (donated by Molly Moon) was positioned at the end of the line, a sweet gesture for those who preferred their pie à la mode; nearby, a station with milk and coffee offered accompaniments, but of course the cool and over 21 crowd could go to the adjoining bar area.
Of course, even sweeter than the pie was the mission: proceeds from raffle ticket sales went toward The Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research.
Seriously, words cannot really convey the true awesomeness of this Pie Day event.
In honor of the day, here is the offering that Head Spy Jessie made to the Pie Buffet: Cup-pies so dense and delicious, they'll knock your socks off (or rot your teeth out, either/or). Though the white chocolate version is shown, we brought the dark chocolate variety to the party.
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water
- 8 ounces dark chocolate chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 8 ounces white chocolate couverture, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter and Co.'s White Chocolate Wonderful)
dessert event, pie, seattle
Reader Comments (46)
Oh yum! I would love to attend a pie-fest one day! Oh and the girls pie outfits are just SO cool! You are so lucky to be able to attend such a fun delicious event! :)
this is so cool! we should have something like this here...pie day...
:)
You guys just have too much fun out there in Seattle. This however takes the proverbial "pie"! Every single one (including the pies) looks so pie in the sky festively delicious...
I didn't know about the controversy, will have to check that out. Thanks for sharing Jesse. Amazing and a good cause to boot!
I NEED TO MOVE TO SEATTLE!!!!!!!!!!! This just isn't FAIR! Wahhh Booo Hoooo...and all that jazz. Great article and the recipe....oh the recipe :)
Carrie
That large pink pie just looks FABULOUS!
I find your blog via Etsy. I recently bought one of your pieces, and I LOVE it!
Looks like such great fun! I will try the small pies to be sure. This past Thanksgiving we made individual pumpkin pies and the girls thought it so special that they each had their own little pie! Fun! ~Kelly
http://www.deniablydomestic.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">unDeniably Domestic
Living here in the city of festivals, I'm sad to report that we are missing one... PIE fest. I'll have to lobby for one of those around here (or just move to Seattle, can't decide which)! Love those mini pies!
National pie day - what a fantastic concept! I wish we had that here in Canada.
A couple of years ago they gave us a new statutory holiday with the rather embarrassing name of "Family Day' that happens in February. Oh how I wish they had made that holiday Pie Day instead!
I think I'll write a letter to our prime minister. I doubt he'll read it though since they never seem to be actually in parliment these days! Maybe he'd notice me better if I sent him a pie instead?
I'm not a huge pie-person per say, but all of those pies look delicious.
Had I known it was Pie Day I'd have baked one. Does it count that I baked a Sweet Potato Pie earlier in the week? Or that I baked peanut butter cookies with chocolate ganache last night??
OMG! Why was this not bigger news!!! This was within walking distance of my house and I missed pie? I am so sad!
A pie love-in?! Brilliant
Yay for cup-pies! So jealous! That looked like a fabulous celebration. Somehow National Pie Day snuck up on me. My residual inner math geek will have to settle for celebrating on 3.14.
Oh, those peanut butter cup pies look amazing! I must bake some for myself :)
Oh my. YUM.
Pie buffet...OMG.
what a sweet feast. I adore pie!
national pie day?!?!? oh darn. i missed it :(
How jealous am I? I would like an invitation next year. I've done some pretty deep dives with pie, but a 30 ft long Pie Buffet??? Heaven!
Hi, I was just tagged by fellow blogger, Miri. I was never very good at playing tag. I just couldn’t run fast enough to tag anyone else. So, even though I have a bad tag record, I am going to give it a try. TAG YOU’RE IT!
As a new blogger, I am aware that many of you are blogging, parenting, running businesses and more. I know your time is precious. My post for this tag, with directions, will post on Wednesday, January 28. I will link your blog and your shoppe if you have one. If we are going to tag one another we should use this fun to promote readership and business.
I would like your permission to use a photograph from your blog to further emphasize how great your work is. Let me know if this is not okay. I am sensitive to copyright issues and know you want to be represented well, even if on a little blog like mine.
This is certainly optional. You are not obligated to play along.
Thank you,
Kelly
Pie Day???? Now that's a holiday I could embrace!
I love pie.
WOW - So impressive. My first time commenting. I love your blog!
Yay for pie day!
Everyday should be pie day and celebrated in this fashion!
Apparentlyjessy: It was the coolest thing--like--EVER!
Evil and Demented: You should start one!
Louise: It was amazing. I was completely in awe. I thought my love of cake was strong, but mary (the organizer)'s love of pie is a thing of great strength and beauty!
CL: Yes, it was a proud moment for Seattle!
Mrs. Newlywed: Thank you so much for finding Cakespy!! Hope you are enjoying your artwork! :-)
Kelly: The mini pies are just so cute and fun, aren't they?
Lo: Yup--you need to add this one to your list, for sure!
Dana: Ooh, yeah, Family Day--I've got to say, I don't want to be mean about it to dear Canada, but Pie day is infinitely cooler!
Curly glamour girlie: Everybody's a pie person on Jan. 23! It's like everyone being Irish on March 17 I think.
Meg: Oh no!!! Next year! Save the date NOW!
EB: It was awesome.
Brownie: After seeing how much fun you've had recently in NYC we had to make up for it! :-)
Hayley: They're good. Almost too good. Compulsively eatable!
Madcapcupcake: Oh yes!
Cookie Jill: it was freakin' amazing!
Veron: me too!! It was rad!
Veggievixen: Of course any day you have pie can be your own Pie day! :-)
TW: It was amazing. It's an open invite for you to come, the more the merrier I think!
Kelly: Thank you so much!! Since it's a few of us here we usually don't do tags but thank you for thinking of us. :-) Glad you enjoyed the shop too!