Back Open for Business?

The fruits of my long-overdue labor

I'm hesitant to say that I am 100% back open for business (I sometimes work 12-hour days at my other job now), but I have been letting people know that I am accepting orders again with enough advance notice. I think a week is probably realistic, since my weeks vary so greatly.

What prompted this? Actually, it was an order I took with great hesitation. I almost declined the opportunity, worried that I'd never be able to balance the baking with my full-time job. I wanted to make sure the client was happy, as it was for her wedding, and she deserved the absolute best. Since she gave me a month's notice, I took the order on, and I was able to order special packaging for her and put everything together over a week. The result? The above pecan and apple pie pops.

Speaking of pie pops, these really do seem to be the hit right now. They're perfect for wedding and shower gifts, so I've taken a few large orders of them over the last few months. They're super fun to make, adorable to look at, and they taste delicious too.

Life Changes

Sometimes, I don't know where the time goes! This time, I haven't been baking at all. I've been exclusively working, doing yoga, running, spending what little time I can with friends and family, and trying to get some rest in between. It has not been easy, and so I'm making some changes. 

The change that concerns all of you lovely people is that I'm bringing my mother on board. Yes, my mother. My southern mother who has an opinion about everything. It's going to be an interesting ride, but I'm entrusting her with the responsibility of upholding all of my core values while bringing her amazing baking skills to the fore. 

My mother is an outstanding baker. Her chicken pot pie is other-worldly. Her cookies, which she always makes without a glimpse at a recipe, will have you beating up anyone who tries to lay a hand on that cookie jar. So I know this is the best move for South by San Francisco. I am San Francisco. She is the South. 

In the midst of making this decision, I have also been eating lots of pie and badass treats. 

This pie, for instance, from The Pie Hole. It's called Thai Iced Tea pie, and it actually tastes like (somebody slap me!) Thai iced tea. I don't even know how. It starts with a graham cracker crust, moves onto a coconut cream filling, and then finishes off with a glaze of condensed milk and Thai tea. It disappeared from my plate.

Also, the new Yogurtland opened in Burlingame, which means I'm back at eating weird frozen yogurt-cereal-candy combinations at weird hours of the day and night. This was my first creation: mint and dutch chocolate with gummy bears, cookie dough, strawberries, and white chocolate chips.  

I had Umami Burger for the first time ever in L.A. last weekend. It's one of the few places that has lived up to its hype for me. I've never had a more delicious veggie burger in my life.

Next time, I plan to update with some of my mom's fancywork. She's in Tennessee right now, visiting family and getting me some more White Lily flour. 

Happy National Pie Day: I Ate All the Pie!

In commemoration of this monumental national holiday, I baked myself an individual pie in a ramekin and then I ate all of it. Because I can. Hey, the holiday doesn't give me the day off of work, so I earned my own mini-vacation in pie form.

What kind of a pie do I eat if left to my own devices? Chocolate chess pie, of course. It's intoxicating when it's fresh out of the oven. Then I warm up some caramel sauce, drizzle it on top, and sprinkle with flakes of sea salt. My second choice would be banana cream pie, but I prefer to leave my banana cream pies overnight in the fridge before I eat them. And we all know I wasn't going to let this pie sit overnight. It had to be consumed immediately. See the evidence below.

Before stuffing it in my face.

Middle of stuffing it in my face.

The last bite. I eated all of it. And I regret none of it.

National Pie Day has me thinking about some new goals for my pie project in the coming months:

• Get my online store up and running. I've run into some obstacles with this, but I just need to bite the bullet and go one way or the other. I've started with Payvment, but it's pretty limited in terms of turning on and off shipping for individual items, so if anyone has suggestions of better online Facebook shop platforms, I'm all ears. 
• Dream up my spring menu. I can't wait for all the wonderful fruit that spring brings with it: 
• Apricots (only perfect honey-sweet ones though, like the ones I read about in Lucky Peach Vol. 2. That article killed me. David Chang and the whole gang continually prove themselves geniuses.)
• Kiwis
• Early cherries
• The best of Meyer lemons, limes
• Juice-filled, blood red, homegrown strawberries
• Start taking more seasonal subscribers. I'm planning to open up orders for cookie boxes, pie boxes, candy and southern treat boxes (for local customers) and any combination thereof.
• Take more photos and share more recipes!
• Go to more events at 18 Reasons. And by more events, I mean start going to events because I've never been, and that is a damn shame. Like these DIY Dessert events that happen every so often. Caaaake.

So that is what has been on my mind in this long break from substantial blogging. I love the blog, but I want to grow myself and this little project of mine in a lot of different directions, so it's been secondary to other things for a bit. But I promise to check in often. As always, keep in touch! E-mail me, Tweet me, Facebook me for anything your heart desires!

All in a Day's Work

Another day of baking complete! Today's treats were:

1. Chocolate-peanut butter fudge. This took me two tries as a) my candy thermometer is broken and registered the wrong temperature during trial 1, and b) I kinda just wanted to make two batches of fudge.
2. Three 4 oz. pies in jars. I got new tiny jars just for this purpose. 
3. Peanut butter cookies. I feel like I'm cranking these out on a weekly basis now. 
4. Peanut butter and jelly cookies (pictured). These make life worth living. This is another top-secret recipe that I will be keeping to myself, since I get constant requests for these. You'll just have to try them to taste them! My motto is that for something as simple as peanut butter and jelly cookies, it is all in the ingredients. I only use the best butter, sugar, flour, peanut butter, and preserves.

Droolsies

Now it's time to get some sleep before another big week. Amber is coming to visit and I'll be making my first three-tier cake!

Peanut Butter Cookies: The Cookie of My Heart

I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about peanut butter cookies. I recently made an order for a friend, and it sent me on a mission through my mom's old recipe box for the perfect combination of ingredients. I made my first test batch a few months ago, and they've only gotten better since then. Now, I use all-natural peanut butter (I literally go to the store where I can press my own peanuts into peanut butter... it's kind of badass), all-butter, White Lily flour, and roll each cookie individually in coarse sugar. It's a bit of a step above what my mom had in mind when she wrote the recipe in her recipe box, but it still has the heart and soul of the cookie of my heart: the classic peanut butter cookie. 

I'm not sure why, but every time I bite into a peanut butter cookie, I think of Atlanta and my childhood. I'm not even sure if my mom made these cookies much when I was little. All I know is that when she did make these cookies, I went crazy. I felt like I was being rewarded for existing. That's what peanut butter cookies are to me: a reward for living on this planet, where peanut butter exists. Because peanut butter is one of the best things on this earth. Really.

Next up is perfecting my peanut butter and jelly cookie recipe. It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but one hundred times more decadent, only it's about 1/8 of the size, so it's not so bad for you.

The holidays have been so good to me so far. Even though a certain someone *coughcough* left for Los Angeles right as all the stress hit, I've still been taking lots of time to myself. My recipe for success as I'm going through all my recipes for other people: yoga at 5 in the morning, meditation, shopping only during lunch hours at work and avoiding the shopping mall, handmade gift certificates, eating lots of avocados and vegetables, and spending time with friends whenever possible. 

This year has been so much different than any year before it. I've found it hard to believe that it's Christmas already, but it's here whether I'm ready for it or not. I feel so much more whole, so much more determined, so much more accomplished, and like I have so much farther to go. I'm looking forward to Thailand and Paris and weekends with Rob and yoga each morning and baking new things every week and making people smile with butter, sugar, flour, and bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.

My Very Own Virtual Home

After weeks - no, let's be real, months - of procastination and worrying, I have finally gotten my South by San Francisco Facebook page up and running. It is modest yet. But I have big plans: deals, videos, better photos, polls, all that good stuff.

If you haven't, please "like" the page. There is much more to come, as small as it may seem right now.

Go to the page at: Facebook.com/southbysanfrancisco

And that's because, if this holiday season has taught me anything, it is that I am ready for the next step. I thrive on the energy and planning and the love and care that go into each of my orders, especially when things get hectic. So I am taking several large gulps of air, sighing, and closing my eyes as I jump off the deep end. No, no, I'm more like wading into the mid-deep end, feeling my way around there, and then possibly doggie paddling towards the deep end. I'm taking calculated risks here, people. And I am calculating the exponential deliciousness of pie as we hit the bottom of winter and make our way back towards spring sometime soon. Just like the Greeks did at some point. Or something.

Sorry for the dumb joke. Like the page!

The Purloined Laptop, Pies in Jars, Pretty Tea Cakes

Want to know what I've been working on? Normally, I'd say you wouldn't care because, like, why would you? But this is really beyond adorable.

Well, to preface this, I've been without a computer for several days. My car was broken into, and poor, forgetful me had left my brand new Macbook in the trunk. Needless to say, whoever broke into my car just popped open the trunk and purloined my precious computer.

So I've been using my phone to take photos and updating remotely. It isn't easy. Excuse the graininess.

Nonetheless, here is the exciting development: I am now doing the cutest ever pies in jars! Last week, I tried out my chess pie, sweet potato pie, and bourbon apple pie, and they worked like a charm. The jars I found are just the right volume and depth to hold up to my normal pie recipes as well.

I sent some out to customers this week, leaving one on a doorstep and mailing one package all the way to Montana. These will cost $6, and, as with all my pies, the sky is the limit. Bacon-maple custard pie in a jar could be yours.

The final package

My apple pie in a jar

I've also been hard at work creating a customized cookie to match my friend Jeni's amazing House Breakfast Tea No. 2. She runs a truly delicious tea company, called SKY Tea. All of her tea is handmade, and her chai is the best I've ever tasted.

So these cookies I'm making are honoring all of the time and care she puts into her masterpieces. The result: a nutmeg-ginger southern tea cake. These are delicate with a spicy aftertaste that wakes up your tastebuds and cleanses your palette for the next sip. They might just be my cookie masterpiece.

The package for the tea cakes, all covered in gold sugar and chunks of my homemade candied ginger 

The cookies are sold in her holiday gift baskets, but you'll also be able to buy them at her market stall in Oakland! This is huge for me! Yay!

Finally, I will be participating in a blogger meetup later this month, which is really exciting for me because I feel like I will finally get a chance to meet some of the people I follow religiously on Twitter, and I will also get to talk about what I truly love: food. Oh, there's free wine too. Forgot to mention that.

Speakeasy This Friday: Take Your Pie to the Face

The time has nearly come for the house party of the year: Speakeasy as Pie.

I am so incredibly excited - and even more grateful - for everything that is coming together and all the people who have made this possible. Maria and I are in awe of how our communities of friends, neighbors, and random acquaintances with big hearts have supported us throughout this process.

On that note, I want to give an insanely loud shout-out to my best friend Marie, whose excitement and ideas and creativity have really made this possible for me. I don't mean that lightly. I never would have been able to do this without her support. Actually, I never would have gone to New Zealand if it weren't for her either, which would never have led me down this path. Aw, I'm getting all choked up just thinking about it. The point is that I have her to thank for so many things in my life. Love you, girl. 

You wouldn't believe how much love and prep and time has gone into this from so many different people. Here is a small sampling of what we've been doing over the last few weeks to prepare:

• Endless recipe-testing to get the world's best pie crusts and fillings
• Logo and flyer design
• Menu and cocktail consultations
• Collecting an insane number of pie dishes
• Picking up furniture and rugs and tapestries; candles, lanterns, and jars
• Crafting endlessly
• Clearing out the entire backyard
• Eating Oreos for dinner because I'm too stressed to cook anything
• Contacting charities for our raffle
• Clearing out the garage and pretty-fying it for everyone's enjoyment
• Praying to the weather gods for sun and warmth this Friday (it seems to be working so far!)
• Making a dozen pie crusts in rapid succession
• Looking up from all my baking to see the lights of the city through our big, wraparound kitchen windows, then closing my eyes, breathing deeply, and getting back to work
• Yoga to stay focused. Lots of yoga.

Now it is time for me to begin all of my prep work for the food and settle into the excitement. Get ready to dance and party and drink delicious drinks and take some pie to the face!

Can't wait to see you all on Friday!

What's In the Works

I haven't been updating because it has finally occurred to me that I really need to turn my baking into a legitimate "thing" before I begin my real journey. After several weeks of introspection, I realized that I often sabotage my own efforts to be successful. This cannot continue. I need to re-focus and prioritize so my life is not one failed effort after another.

Case A: I dream of going to grad school to get my PhD in American Literature. Yet I am too afraid to look at applications or even begin to do anything besides take my general GRE. The thought of googling "Emory Literature grad school application" gives me the hives. 

Case B: I thought of a brilliant idea at work, but the very idea of executing said idea sent me into a flurry of "No, that won't work"s. I imagine all the ways things could go wrong, and then I just sit still.

Case C: I am unhappy at work, but also afraid of all the possibilities outside of my office. Or the lack thereof, however you want to look at it. 

But, basically, I realized that my lack of blogging was me telling myself that I wasn't worth my own success, and I really need to stop doing that. I have so much unrealized potential, and I need an outlet for all of my creative energy. 

So before I begin blogging again, I want to let you know that I have been hard at work trying to make my dreams a reality. Here is a taste of what is in the oven:

The Speakeasy as Pie Event. Here is the flyer with all the details, designed by my friend Marie with my photograph. 

My electronic business card:

Improving my recipes, and finding the beauty of this bad boy: The Bourbon Apple Pie (so southern it kills me)

...More to come soon, I promise! I just need some time to re-focus. If you follow my other blog, you know that it is almost my birthday, and my birthday is a time of great reflection and re-organizing for me. 

Things have slowed down a bit over here. I do apologize.

I've been traveling the last two weeks and will continue this weekend when I take off to Yosemite. Here is a little snapshot of what I've been doing.

Taking in the sights in Eugene, OR

Crushing on hipster boys who raise pigs

Vintage shopping inside of trucks in Portland on Alberta St.

Relaxing and smelling flowers in Portland, OR

Taste-testing Oregon microbrews

Eating fresh fruit in parks just because I can

And smiling. I've been doing lots of smiling.

Meanwhile, my baking has had to be put on the backburner while I figure out the following:

• Do I apply to grad school in English lit?
• If so, I have to do the following:
• Call my professors and have them update my letters of recommendation; fly to L.A. to see one of them for a brand new letter
• Write my statement of intent, which apparently requires six months of work. This is news to me.
• Edit a paper for submission. 
• Possibly re-take my general GRE.
• Take the GRE subject test
• Everything else.
• Do I take classes toward a business degree?
• This means staying at my current job for a really long time.
• Do I continue tutoring?
• Do I move home in October to save for school and Paris?
• Planning the pie speakeasy, which should be my big comeback event.

In between all this, I am running, doing yoga, and staring at pictures of pie for inspiration. I should let you know, however, that I have gone back to the dark side and returned to veganism. That does not mean my pies and sweets will be vegan. It just means I have to stop eating them (though taste-testing is okay). I'm lactose intolerant, and it's time I listened to my body and did what was right for it.

Happy baking, everyone! I'll be back in the swing of things in no time.