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.

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...

SF summers = chilly toes.

brrrr! my chilly SF view...

thank goodness for hot spiked drinks!

Ah yes, as Mark Twain once said "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in san francisco" that statement is nothing but true. My first year of cold summer weather was a real bummer as I really missed my usual L.A. summer heat. I love hot sunny summers full of picnics, bike rides, barbecues, sun dresses, and sandals but living in northern california one must succumb and conform to the chill. Today's 53 degree reality has sunk in and made me realize that after all we do have indian summer to look forward to. Time to bust out the hot apple cider, mexican hot chocolate or perhaps a hot toddy. Whatever warm beverage I chose to prepare I know the most warmth comes from my furry companions. Off I go...Under the covers to snuggle with my brigade of pets is where I'll be. Warmth, how I crave you.

spiked apple cider

makes 2 cocktails

1 cup apple cider
2 cinnamon sticks
4 oz bourbon
1 Tablespoon cinnamon sugar

1. Warm the cider on the stovetop with the cinnamon sticks until it’s reduced to about half a cup. This should take about 15 minutes over low heat.
2.Pour the cinnamon sugar on a plate. Just barely dip the rim of your glasses in the cider, then dip it in the sugar.
3. Add the 2 oz bourbon to each glass and top with the cider.

4. Garnish each glass with a cinnamon stick and enjoy!