Coco Crisps + Reddick Whip = Victory Pie!

Happy #museday!

I was raised to raise my nose at spectator sports. Our family would DO things while others were sitting on couches, drinking beer, drooling, screaming in unison like an idiot choir. We'd garden, draw, hike, read, or go visit grandma. But I married a sports fan, and in loving him, I have learned to love the ball seasons in my own way.

This weekend, I made a video based on my Walk-off Pie recipe from last year's streaky baseball season. My son, the aspiring filmmaker, was a very useful Techie. He helped me figure out how to turn the kitchen into a studio, held the camera on the tricky shots, and did a great a walk-on at the end.

The most annoying thing was not the way batteries ran out on the second-to-last shot, but the clicking noise the expensive fancy HD video camera I borrowed made a clicking noise when it zoomed. It was a tough call but in the end I took my own advice not to be a perfectionist but to get it out there. Life is short.

There were a few best things... the magic of editing (thank you, Adobe Premiere), being creative with my kid (his favorite scene was the table-clearing...), and the best surprise of all: THE PIE WAS DELICIOUS! We left it in the freezer and ate it the next night as the Broncos whipped up and up on the Raiders.

My crazy cook friends and I have always dreamed of doing a variety show. Maybe this is my opening salvo. (Mmm, salvo.)

Oh, and here's one more factoid. The shirt I'm wearing is homemade, too. It's a relic from our early days of parenthood, when I couldn't afford the licensed variety for a father's day gift. To avoid complete licensing failures, the child-sized one said "A-Ok-land" on the back. This one, which my husband has kept, says "Auckland A's" on the back, since Oakland doesn't start with an A....

Walk-Off Pie

I don't know what the A's recipe for a success is this year (I suspect it has to do with math), but I just invented this dessert in honor of the Oakland A's. (There is no math required.)

Ingredients:
One box of Cocoa Crispies
One tub of Reddi-Whip
One handful of peanuts, in shell
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
Green and yellow sprinkles
One Magic Marker

Using the Magic Marker, edit the tub of Reddi-Whip to read, "Reddick Whip." Edit the Cocoa Crispies to read "Coco Crisps." (We'll just call the butters "batters.")

Shell the peanuts, throw shells on the floor.

In a microwave-safe bowl, mix four cups of the Coco Crisps with the "batters" and peanuts. Press into a pie pan and chill. When stiff, spoon the Reddick Whip into the shell. Sprinkle with sprinkles.

Serve directly to the face.

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/oak/fan_forum/wallpaper.jsp

Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie | Mother's Day National Action

Mother's Day began with mothers coming together and calling for greater wisdom and diplomacy, their hearts sick from losing their sons to senseless wars.

The Peace Alliance understands that building peace takes as much effort and energy as preparing for war, and is our best national defense.

I love this campaign! And I plan to make a pie this year. Join me!

Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie | Mother's Day National Action

What kind of pie does the 99% need now?

Occu-pie! Photo by Howard Dyckoff/Oakland Local
The sweet side of the movement! Photo by Howard Dyckoff/Oakland Local

Pumpkin Pie - a holiday superheroine

Meet Pumpkin Pie, partner of Jack-O-Lantern, who was dreamed up in the Mini-Maker Faire's Comics Class taught by The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay author Michael Chabon and Marvel Comics artist Nick Dragotta.

Jack is a master pumpkin carver and superhero who got his superpowers when he ate a radioactive GMO pumpkin seed.

Pumpkin Pie was a mathematician at Monsanto who ate one, too. It gave her a hyper-hormonal anxiety which she can only calm by baking. She hangs around Jack because she needs the pumpkin guts. She also has a tremendous throwing arm. In the picture you see her using calculus (Pi is her favorite number) to determine the best angles for throwing pie. She wears an oven-proof lycra suit printed with an apron pattern, and oven mitts, since the pies she throws are sometimes fresh out of the oven. She wishes she could stop baking and take a rest, but if she does the craziness (the evil side) takes over.

Yes, her headpiece is made of an aluminum pie plate. It's recyclable.

The Most Accurate Pie Chart EVER

Wish I'd thought of it myself...

The Original Wandering Pie

This is so coool!


found online at www.old-print.com

Bake Back the White House

Having worked school bakesales for 8 years now, it felt "easy as pie" to pitch in for a bakesale that will help children in ALL American schools: an Obama fundraiser. (Here is a good education plan comparison; Obama stresses investment in schools, whereas McCain stresses parental choice.)

My bakesale bud (and Obama bud) Claudia and I worked the crowd at a street fair. "Get your fresh, hot, homemade hope!" "Cookies for change!" "I'll make sure Barack gets your dollar." "Here's your change... and you'll get more if he actually wins."

It's hard to actually sell cookies online, but if you'd like to contribute a few bucks to my own fundraising campaign for Obama, I'd most certainly send you a Wandering Pie!

But back to the bakesale: I made two pies from scratch with apples and rhubarb from my back yard. These two pies raised $30!

"We must fight back against the Democrats' outrageous fundraising machine!" —John McCain