the baking machine.

I stole these photos from the SF Food Wars page.

A month of planning, testing, eating, mixing, freezing, baking and competing have finally ended. I am left with oven burn marks on my hands and forearms, sleep deprived(have since recovered) and with plenty of flour, some left over butter, and everything else to bake a pie or two. The SF Food Wars' Pie or Die competition came and went and somehow I made it through. Team gypsycab(#13) fed 200 and some pie eaters, some of which came back for seconds and a few asked me to share my crust recipe. Bourbon? Oh I like bourbon! Was the ongoing reply to my bourbon and peach hand pies, although a few stayed away completely because of the bourbon content...and the bourbon and peach reduction squirted on top of each little pie piece! Anyhow, we(el esposo and I) found a friendly face among the crowd a good friend of ours miss Jeannine Giordan came by to support us and Jeannie Choe who is the founder/creater of sf food wars, and to eat pie of course. People really got creative with their pie creations, I only sampled a few but it was a nice array of sweetness. So, 20 pies later the winners were announced, one team won (twice) and poof! all done. We packed our gypsycab sign and leftover pie bones and headed to Kiji for some superb sushi intake. Did I mention it was windy as heck? Yet very sunny with rolling clouds, a perfect san francisco day I must say.

search for: gypsy cab

This morning right before I flew out the door to run errands, I had a moment to brainstorm and gather ideas for some decorations. The SF Food Wars Pie or Die competition is this sunday and well, it feels like I'm going to die. While not literally, it sure feels like a heap of trouble. In addition to baking small hand pies for 230+ people I have to decorate the area where I'll be competing from. Yikes! Team gypsycab(my team name for this competition) sure needs some help right about now. So, back to this morning's brainstorming session...I searched for images of gypsy cabs in hopes of obtaining some inspiration to create a name banner but didn't find a whole lot, and then suddenly came across the two photos above. About a year ago I posted some items on my Etsy shop(gypsycab vintage) and sold several perfectly wonderful vintage goodies, among them was a darling white purse. It turns out that the gal who purchased this purse shared her purchase on her blog along with other pre-loved items that completed a very fashionable outfit. I'm glad that "the white purse" found a very glam home and lives on in full fabulousness, as it was saved from a sad life in a dark closet! No, I have not began or finished my banner or have any decorating ideas, perhaps the search for all things gypsy cab has just begun.

p.s. Dear world....If I ever attempt to compete at anything ever again, I sure hope that someone would please hold me back and tie me down. I. will. go. die. now. thanks.

pie dreams

Easy as pie. Sweet as pie. Piece of the pie. Pie in the sky. All darling phrases that involve the ever comforting and scrumptious, pie. I am on pie time 24/7 since my recent competitor entry to the SF Food Wars "Pie or die" coming up on July 25th. Yes, I love eating pies mostly of the sweet variety but I do loooove baking pies! However, making itty bitty portions for pie-a-holic tasters and judges is a whole other thing. Enter my pie "mad scientist" state of affairs, I talk pie, read pie and have turned my kitchen into pie central. Practicing and preparing myself for pie mayhem. SO, from this point onward (at least until the competition ends) it's a pie or die kind of month for me. 

p.s. prepare thyself for some peachy, flaky goodies a la mode...