(Winners from left: Sabrina Miller, Leela Cyd Ross, me, Kristina Baesler, and Elizabeth Massa-MacLeod)
Pietopia 2009 was so much fun, thank you to everyone who came out to sample some pies, helped with the event, and entered the contest! It was a hot one yesterday, temperatures rising up to almost 95 degrees. But people still came in droves and three of the four pies served were actually still warm from their bakers ovens! Nothing like fresh pie right from the oven, seriously–even if it is hot outside!
I’d also like to thank our gracious hosts, The Portland Farmer’s Market at Eastbank–what a tremendous place to do our event! It was fun to see people come sample some pie and then wander through the stalls filling their bags with fresh things. We also had a few goodies left for us from various vendors which was so nice.
It turns out that all of these lovely winners all have great websites and catering skills as well! Make sure to check them out: Sabrina of A Little Bit of Sweet (and made the apple cranberry pie), Kristina of Meat A La Mode (the white wine rabbit pie) and Elizabeth of Bluebird Pies (the Chocolate Filibert Coffee pie) are all three selling their pies and other great goodies too. Leela of Leelacyd.com is a local food connoisseur and food writer and she has a great blog you must see!
Next year, it would be great to have the pies featured at a local cafe: Pietopia Pie of the Month! It is always interesting to reflect back after such an event and think of how you’ll do it differently next time, I’ve certainly had a few of those ideas after this which I am excited to do.
Cheers!
(winner Sabrina Miller)
(winners Sabrina Miller and Kristina Baesler)
(winner Leela Cyd Ross)
(winner Elizabeth Massa-MacLeod with her family:)
Today is the day: Pietopia 2009 day, that is! If you are in town, feel free to stop by the Eastbank Farmers Market at SE 20th and Salmon between 330-630. You can talk to the winners and taste their lives via pie, pretty neat 
.
Our judges picked four winners this year out of many entrants–thank you to everyone who participated! The designs of the winning posters are spectacular this year too, I am so excited for them–they are beautiful. I will post event pictures and stories up sometime this weekend, now I’m off for some pie! Hope to see you there!
2009 Pietopia Winners:
Sabrina Miller–Unemployment may be {a} tart {cranberry,} but starting a new business is sweet {apple pie}
(Designer: Tricia Martin of eatingisart.com)
The ingredients in my pie are both tart and sweet . . . similar to the recent events in my life . . . and when combined, the result is unexpectedly sublime (and a force to be reckoned with, according to my husband)!
After completing a graduate degree in architecture two years ago, I found my first job in the field rather quickly. As the recession started to come on full steam this past winter, the design community was being hit hard and I began to wonder what I might do if I was laid off. I decided to pursue a long-time hobby, that of baking, and start a small business. In February I was laid off from a local architecture firm, due to a reduction in work, and I devoted my full attention to my new venture.
I have selected this cranberry apple pie as it resembles my life as I look to create something enjoyable from these rough times and move forward.
Cranberries can test a baker’s skills when making dessert due to their tartness. They often pose a challenge and adjustments need to be made when they are incorporated. Unemployment can threaten one’s stability and hopes for the future. It too causes a need for adjustment, but its incorporation may also make way for new beginnings.
Just as a baker may struggle to incorporate cranberries in their dish, I am taking my unemployment as a new beginning, a challenge I can and will face. As the cranberries gave me an opportunity to make my apple pie unique, my unemployment is giving me an opportunity to bring happiness to people through my baked goods.
I look forward to the sweet future in my baking business just as I hope others enjoy the sweetness in my pie!
Cranberry Butter Crust
2 ½ cups flour
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1 cup (or 2 sticks) unsalted butter (very cold, small cubes, or frozen stick if grating)
3 ½ T solid vegetable shortening (cut into small pieces)
5-7 T cranberry juice concentrate (can substitute with water for a plain crust)
Apple + Cranberry Filling
4-4 ½ pounds (5 big or 6-7 small/medium size) pie apples
(honeycrisp would be great, but Granny Smith are also good!)
8 oz dried cranberries
1 cup + ¼ cup sugar
1 cup water
¼ cup flour
½ t cinnamon
¼ t nutmeg
¼ t salt
lemon juice
3-4 T unsalted butter, cut into small pats
1. To make the crust, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Incorporate chilled butter either by (a) cutting into ½” pieces and blending into flour mixture with a pastry blender; or (b) freeze butter in one solid piece and grate using a box grater into the flour mixture, folding with a spatula to coat butter pieces with flour. Add shortening to flour mix, blend with fork or pastry blender until mix resembles coarse crumbs. Next, add cranberry juice concentrate and mix just until the crust begins to come together. You’ll want it just moist enough to make a ball with it in your hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes (or as long as overnight). When ready, divide crust into two portions. Roll the first into a disc and place in the bottom of a 9” pie pan (deep dish works great), allowing some excess to overhang. Roll the second half of dough and cut into 1” strips for weaving the top crust.
2. Combine the dried cranberries, water and 1-cup sugar in small saucepot. On medium heat, warm mixture and dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer until thick and syrupy; most of the water will be absorbed.
3. Peel, core and slice apples, toss lightly in lemon juice to prevent browning, then set aside. Combine ¼ cup sugar with the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and then sprinkle over apples, tossing until evenly distributed.
4. Gently combine apple mixture with cranberries and evenly distribute in your pie pan. Scatter butter pats on top. Finish pie by weaving the second crust and crimping the edges together with the base crust. (Weaved crust can also be substituted with a crunchy crumble topping.)
5. Bake pie at 375 degrees F for approx 1 hour (depending on oven, you may need to reduce temp to 350 or adjust cooking time). When finished, apples should be tender when pierced. To prevent crust from burning, cover edges with aluminum foil once golden brown.
6. Allow pie to set by cooling for about 30 minutes (hard to do, but it will allow liquid to thicken once it is a bit cooler).
Kristina Baesler–White (wine) Rabbit Pie, “How crazy is life?! I’ve gone through the looking glass!”
(Designer: Derek Franklin)
Everything is a little upside down in my world. A little debt, a little regret, and a lot of wine. I should be baking pies all day instead of taking crap from people who are probably far worse at living life than I am. But, I followed a path that led down a rabbit hole of fake-smiles and endless passive-aggressive office banter…
So now I slap a grin on my face, raise my voice a couple octaves, and enter my office cubicle (represented via cubed potatoes) about 15 minutes late (I spend my mornings baking, one of the few things I have to keep the ol’ noodle slightly grounded in reality) every morning. I feel like I’m really late for a very important date with my true destiny. I continue each day on a seemingly endless journey to pay off my loans and begin my “real life” – outside of this freakish Wonderland. I feel bad for all my co-workers; mad as hatters and not helped in the least by the complete lack of passion I have for my job that leads to endless flakiness on my part – like so much puffy pastry.
The gold atop my White (wine) Rabbit Pie represents how good I make my life look from the outside. Shiny, polite and decadent on the surface, and deliciously politically incorrect on the in – I spend my day desperately wanting to scream what my pies say so naturally, “EAT ME.”
I’m ready for the next chapter!
* Puff Pastry in a square large enough that the corners are hanging well over the sides of the pie pan
* 1 lb. of rabbit meat (available at City Market, Zupans…)
* 1 bottle Chardonnay (or any white, drinkable wine)
* ¼ cup of chopped, fresh tarragon
* ¾ cup chopped celery
* ¼ cup chopped carrot
* 1 small potato (any variety), cubed
* 1 chicken bouillon cube
* 1 tsp of salt
* 1 egg (mixed with a Tbs. of water to brush pastry)
* 1 tsp pepper
* ½ tsp onion powder
* ¼ tsp garlic powder
* 3 Tbs flour
* 2 cups water (approx)
* 1 cup raw, fresh pasta (any variety)
* 1 Pinch of edible gold dust, flake or leaf
Pie Filling:
Add half bottle of Chardonnay, 2 cups water, bouillon cube and rabbit meat (cut into small pieces) to a medium sauce pan on medium heat and cover. Combine tarragon, celery, carrot, potato, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder in a mixing bowl. Sift flour over the top of the mixture and toss all ingredients, then add to the sauce pan. Bring sauce pan to a boil, then simmer partially covered on low heat for 30 to 40 minutes while stirring occasionally until the meat appears cooked through and the liquids boil down and thicken a bit (should still be slightly thinner than gravy). Add more salt and pepper to your liking and take mixture off the heat. Stir in raw, fresh pasta noodles immediately.
Refrigerate mixture for a minimum of an hour, so that it is at least room temperature or cooler.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Thaw puff pastry sheet to room temperature (or until pliable) and place over a pie tin/pan (I prefer making mini pies in muffin tins, but the method is the same). Be sure that the excess pastry is draped over the outside of the pan, the corners hanging well over the sides. Add the cooled pie filling starting in the center of the pastry and fill to just under the rim of the pan. Fold one corner of the pastry in toward the middle of the pie, continue with the opposite corner folding this one over the top of the first. Fold in the remaining corners and pinch together any holes, tuck excess crust gently into the pie pan and brush the top of the pie sparingly with an egg wash (1 egg stirred with 1 Tbs of water)
Bake for 1 hour. Top should be a light, golden brown.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes. Dust the crust gently with gold and stare in wonder and amazement at the edible art before you – then promptly devour while washing down with the remaining wine.
Elizabeth Massa-MacLeod–Cities of Roses Filbert-Chocolate-Coffee Pie
(Designer: Julia Perry)As a graduate student, I’ve spent the last year somewhat impoverished in York, England- the city of the white rose- after living my adult life in Portland, the city of roses. Appropriate, but not enough to overcome some serious homesickness. Oddly, a good deal of this homesickness was focused on food; all jokes about British cuisine aside, I did miss the freshness and intensity of not just American foods but of the local tastes of my native Oregon. Every time I would drink cheap watery coffee, I would haughtily inform my friends that it was nowhere near as good as Northwest coffee. Every time I could only afford a bland, fried meal from the chip shop, I would think somewhat longingly of the taquerias and the farmer’s markets back home. However, I made it through the year with the help of that best of British staples, chocolate. This pie, which in itself is an American adaptation of British cuisine, incorporates two of the local flavors I’ve missed most- filberts and coffee- with the somewhat bitter, comforting taste of dark chocolate.
Hazelnut and Chocolate Crust:
1 c flour
8 T softened butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, grated
1 t vanilla
2 T milk
3/4 c finely chopped hazelnuts
Preheat oven to 425. Combine flour, butter, brown sugar and chocolate in mixing bowl or food processor and mix until well blended. Add vanilla, milk and nuts and mix until dough is damp enough to be cohesive. Add droplets of milk if too dry. Press dough onto bottom and sides of pan, making sure that you distribute the dough evenly and cover the entire pan. Prick all over with fork and press a piece of heavy duty foil snugly into pie shell. Bake at 425 for 6 minutes, remove the foil and continue baking for approx. 10 minutes, until dry and crisp. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350.
Filling:
8 T butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs
1 c sugar
4 T flour
1/4 t salt
2 t vanilla
Combine butter and chocolate and microwave carefully, stirring often and taking care not to scorch chocolate. When the chocolate is almost melted, remove, stir again, and allow to cool. When lukewarm, add 1/4 c Kahlua.
Beat eggs in mixing bowl until foamy. Add sugar, flour, salt and vanilla and beat until smooth. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture and blend well. Pour into the prepared pie shell at 350 and bake for 25-30 minutes. The center should seem gently set, giving a little to the touch, but not liquid.
Let the pie cool and serve with gently whipped cream and coffee crumbles.
Coffee Crumbles:
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c strong coffee
1/4 c light corn syrup
1 T baking soda, sifted after measuring
Line a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with foil, covering bottom and sides.
Combine the sugar, coffee and corn syrup in a heavy bottomed saucepan of at least 4 qt capacity. Bring to a boil and cook to the hard-crack stage, 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, add the baking soda and stir just enough to distribute baking soda. Quickly and carefully (mixture is very hot), pour mixture onto foil lined pan and allow to cool and harden.
When ready to use, tap the mixture with a heavy spoon, breaking it into irregular 1/4 to 1/2 in pieces. Store extra crumbles in airtight container for several weeks.
When ready to serve pie, top with whipped cream and sprinkle coffee crumbles on top.
(This pie is more of a ganache than a pudding, so it is very rich. Pip pip!)
Leela Cyd Ross–For the love of a Mango Pie
Nothing says celebration like mango dusted with chili powder – enrobed in a dove-soft bed of lime cream curd and atop a crisp cinnamon cookie crust – creating this dessert was a fitting Friday afternoon endeavor, as I had spent the morning putting the finishing touches on my last paper for graduate school (hooray!). This is a victory pie of sorts – the type of treat that has style, tang and an innate sense of PARTAY oozing through its nooks and crannies. Finally, after weekends dictated by homework and the stresses of becoming a special ed/art teacher, my life is this pie at this moment. It is achievement. It is happiness. It is very tangy. And I’ve even been called a mango by lovers and friends . . . oozing with sweetness, sexiness and lusciousness, I consider the nickname the highest of compliments.
You see mangos got me through my program – buying them bi-weekly; placing their soft little bodies on the windowsill to ripen, hurry hurry! They were my constant companion, greeting me when I got home, so smooth and soothing in shape . . . And, if I was lucky, one would give slightly to my gentle prodding, proving its ripeness and I’d dig out my sharp knife, a lime wedge, and some chili powder for a date with decadence (in the hammock, no less!) and a taste of my Southern California roots – when I was little, the Mexican community in my small town inspired my love of the sensuous snack – one taste and I was hooked for life.
Thus, upon completion of a major event– a graduate degree, I knew a pie should be spun from these perfect flavor partners. It indeed satisfied the love of my mangos, my past as a California girl and my future – hopefully tinted yellow from all the mangos I’ll eat in everyday indulgence and celebrations of milestones.
PS. I’m going to India for a 2-month mango-festival that occurs every April and May in Mumbai – that should be a good thing for me, eh?
Chile Lime Mango Celebration Pie
2 ripe mangos, sliced in pretty half-moons
sprinkle of chili powder
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c water
for lime cream:
2 c non-dairy milk (I like vanilla almond for this, but anything will work)
1/2 c flour
3/4 tsp corn starch
zest of two limes
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c lime juice
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c Agave nectar
for crust
1 c flour
1/2 c veg butter (Earth Balance is my preference)
1/3 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp cold water
To assemble:
First, make the crust (I like to do this a day before the pie is served, much easier to get it out of the way) – cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer, add flour, cinnamon and salt and gradually incorporate cold flour until rough pie dough forms. Stop mixing and gather barely holding together dough into large ball on top of plastic wrap. Shape into a large disc, wrap up in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours. After two hours, roll out on floured surface. Poke about 5 fork marks in the crust. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie or tart pan, place rolled dough into shell – folding over edges for double-thick sides. Wrap tightly in plastic and freeze until day of serving pie.
Meanwhile, make the lime cream – place non-dairy milk, sugar, and vanilla into a medium-sized pot and stir on medium heat for approximately 5 minutes. Place cornstarch into small bowl, mixed with a splash of milk or water, whisk until starch is dissolved. Mix this starch slurry into the milk/flour mixture and cook for 5 minutes more, whisking the entire time (or else clumps will form). Mixture will thicken into a pudding-like texture. Take off heat and mix in remaining ingredients – lime zest, juice, Agave nectar. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic, and chill until ready to assemble pie (about an hour, at least.)
Now, back to the crust. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove frozen crust from freezer and grease the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and tightly cover crust, pressing into the sides so that it is directly on the crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 3-4 minutes more. Set aside to cool.
Remove lime cream from fridge, whisk it up if it has set into something a little too firm. Pour almost all the lime cream into the crust. Spreading it into the edges with the back of a spoon.
Arrange mango slices into whatever pattern you like, trying to fit as many as possible into the pie. Heat 1/4 c sugar with 1/4 c water over low heat to make a simple syrup. When mango slices are all in place, drizzle syrup over entire tart. Finally, sprinkle a tiny dusting of chili powder over entire pie. Garnish with lime wedges or lime leaves, as I had on hand. Chill for at least an hour or so, and then serve. Perfect for celebrating anything.
August is officially pie season in Portland. There are three major pie extravaganza’s that happen here this month: The Portland Pie Off, Pietopia (that’s me!), and the Oregon State Fair best pie. Today I went to the Portland Pie Off and it was incredible. At least seventy pies varying from different categories including savory, cream, stone fruit, fruit, nut, berry, mash up, and CPR. The CPR one was really clever–the American Red Cross helped sponsor the pie-off so they came up with a category where people had to use three ingredients starting with a C, a P, and an R. The judges went around and tasted every pie, chose the winners based soley on taste (there was a category for prettiest pie too), then everyone grabbed a plate and started tasting for themselves! Yes, that’s right. Seventy pies, me, a fork–it was dangerous.
Also, I will be announcing the Pietopia winners soon! I just recieved the final designs for the winning prizes and I am so impressed! They are stunningly gorgeous and I am so excited about them:).
Cheers!
This summer I am part of a really neat art fair called The Summer Social. Hosted by my friend and fellow blogger Abby, of Abby Try Again, it is an event that will feature a selection Portland’s talented artists and crafts-people. Check out the website for a preview of what and who will be there!
Inspired by this, I decided it was time to get my shop up and going! I’ve put the typography food prints, my favorite screen printed hoodie, and the Pietopia 2009 Poster to start. I will be offering customized pairings of the photos soon too, coming soon. If you have any favorites, let me know so I can group them together for you and the shop! I am also thinking about doing customized packaging for people to send gifts in, like the screen printed boxes I love to make and give away. If that is something that you think you’d like, I’d love to know that too!
Also, just wanted to remind you that tomorrow is the cut off for Pietopia entries! Hope to see you there!
Cheers!
There is an ever present battle with myself concerning change; both the word itself as well as the action it describes. Sometimes I find myself just more resistant to change than need be, other times, I welcome it with wide and open arms. Often, it’s those times I am most resistant that I find I’ve become comfortable with some not so great habits or where I’ve had my blinders up; these habits/blinders are usually unbeknownst to me (or buried and put on that list of I’ll-deal-with-this-later) only to quickly reveal themselves through the hard feelings I had towards making/doing/striving towards that new change.
And change always has two sides. While in the moment, it can seem like a door is closing: what’s next? Where do I go? Eek! But I’ve found that when one door closes, another one always opens; I just have to keep my eyes open enough (and look beyond the end of my own nose) to find that door.
I have a little note on my desk that I have tacked to the wall right above my computer (in the perfect location for an occasional glance, even with the slightest eye movement). It simply states: Don’t try, do! It has been an amazing mantra, one I keep in mind for all those hard moments when I feel myself resistant to change when I know change is essential. Keeping this in mind even lets me go so far as to flirt with a change that I am having a hard time with (as opposed to completely ignoring it, which sometimes I am tempted to do!) by weighing the possibilities of both sides, examining my gut reactions to each, and either going for it or deciding against it. And even that has the benefits of knowing oneself a little better.
Last year, the judges of Pietopia picked a pie by Leslie Wilson called the My-Life-Is-Changing-More-Quickly-Than-I-Can-Adapt Pie. Her description caused a ripple effect of my own reflections on change, as I ran across her entry today. Here is what Ms. Wilson wrote and her pie recipe. Enjoy!
The My-Life-Is-Changing-More-Quickly-Than-I-Can-Adapt Pie, by Leslie Wilson
Asparagus is refreshing, crisp and bitter and with some rough parts much like becoming an adult. Like the vegetable, whose best flavors are contained in its head, I am a woman defined instead by my stringy stalk. Finally, in this transition from girl to grown up, the scent of my urine has mysteriously and suddenly changed. This is perhaps the greatest mark of asparagus.
I have included eggs in the pie as a reminder of my fertile body: the monthly flood of relief that balances itself with that ever subtle ticking of my biological clock. Eggs in a pie, though a reminder of my sometimes questionable (often late-night) life choices, are also the very ingredient that holds the pie together, lending both substance definition.
Broccoli is an important element in viewing a life changing more quickly than one can adapt because it resembles nature. Logging, rapid development, landscapes inundated with impervious surfaces, forest fires destroying regional crops, peak oil lending itself to uncanny grocery expenditures. As I child I took advantage of broccoli. By throwing it away when nobody was watching, I thought that by beating the system I could capitalize on the opportunity to work my mealtime and accommodate my best interests. On the environment, kids didn’t know then what we do now. But finally, Honey, because it is important to make life sweet nevertheless.
1 bunch of fresh asparagus, approximately 18 stalks
1/3 cup chopped scallions
4 eggs slightly beaten
1-1/2 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 cups light cream
1 medium sized head of broccoli, approximately 1 cup
1 cup shredded cheese: goat and gouda and parm
1 pie crust
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg (preferably fresh if possible)
dollop of honey when served
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Steam asparagus and broccoli for five minutes then place in cold water bath to stop cooking. Reserve up to twelve pieces of asparagus whole and chop up rest. Chop broccoli equal to one cup.
Shred cheese into a bowl and stir in flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs; add the cream, chopped asparagus, chopped broccoli, chopped scallions and shredded cheese mixture in with eggs.
Place the mixture into the prepared pastry shell.
Take remaining whole steamed asparagus stalks and place on top of unbaked quiche artfully. Sprinkle the nutmeg on top.
Place unbaked quiche on the center of cookie sheet and place in oven on the middle rack.
Bake quiche at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Let quiche set for at least 10 minutes prior to serving.
Serve with a dollop of honey on top.
Getting ready… we all do it in our varying forms and for various things. Getting ready for work, for play, for an event big or small; it seems that no matter what we do, it takes at least a little bit of planning. As a bike commuter, I’ve learned how to get ready for my day pretty well. I double check that I have my list of things I need for the day’s activities and if I forget something, well, I will have to live without it. That in and of itself has been a lesson for myself in accumulating stuff –(hey, I really can live with out x! who knew? I didn’t!). Sometimes, I feel like the getting ready part, especially when something big is going to happen, overshadows my journey of getting there. I always learn so much as I am planning for a big event, not only about myself, but about efficiency, communication, artistic preferences, people’s reactions, and even new ways to pull the whole thing off! Reminding myself of this helps me keep a fresh perspective, open eyes and ears, as well as allows me to vocalize my excitement, questions, or ideas better. It’s pretty neat!
The excitement I’ve had reflected back to me about Pietopia has been immense (and really neat!). It is like a great spiral effect: I’m excited, others are excited, which gets me more excited, and other people more excited…! Word of mouth has been an amazing tool for getting the word out about the event, as well as the silk-screened posters I’ve hung around town; but I would love for a wider group of people to know about the contest, to truly get a variety of “flavors” of people’s lives! So, I’ve made an irresistible little PR piece: hand silk-screened pie boxes with a home made pie! I’m sending these little treasures out after the holiday weekend to a few places for a nice surprise. If anything, their holiday weekends may feel like it’s been extended with the sweet taste of a home made summer pie in their office, but hopefully they will also feel inspired to either participate or come to the Pietopia Pie Contest this year!
What flavor pie would describe your life and why?
The idea of Pietopia manifested from my deep love and interest in community, connection, communication, design, and the senses. Everybody eats, so how can this be translated as the common denominator and a way for people to communicate and connect through? I began searching out new ways to apply design thinking and problem solving to my life passions and Pietopia was the brainchild.
I chose pies because of their timeless appeal to the seasons, cross generations, and the local culture. I am also interested in exploring the ancient correlation between taste and feeling. The goal of Pietopia is to incite communication, connection, and communing as the interweaving entities within the fabric of our daily lives; as well as how the sense of taste and smell and the feelings/memories they can evoke this process and open doors for understanding. Pietopia seeks to channel our connection with food as a way to communicate, ultimately discovering what the city’s quality of life truly is.
The winning contestants receive a unique, silk-screened print that an artist/designer has reinterpreted into a visual poster. These are on display along with explanations as to why/how they taste like the winner’s lives with the free tastings of each of the pies. By involving artists/designers from the community, it is another way to weave together creative forces, design, and different ways to communicate by showcasing/making them accessible to the community at large.
What is really neat is this trend of using pie is catching on. Free Pie, a group started by several graphic designers on the east coast, hand out free pie in different cities. Their message is simple: sometimes life is bad, free pie isn’t. They go on to say that simple gestures, like giving away free pie, can unite communities and spread joy, which I couldn’t agree more with. But what if there was more to the pie? What if the pie was actually trying to tell you something and you could take away from the experience of free pie more than just a tasty morsel? These are precisely the intentions of Pietopia, bringing a way for people to communicate about things they may not have had the platform to talk about or connect through otherwise.
In a recent article in Fast Company, Pie Lab was featured. Pie Lab is a new space in Greensboro, Alabama created by an intensive design program for designers who want to do good, called Project M. Each year, a small group of creatives are selected by founder and graphic designer John Bielenberg to travel to locations ranging from Maine to Baltimore to Costa Rica, identify a problem, and solve it, sometimes in a matter of days. Project M has it’s headquarters (known as Project M Lab) down in Alabama and a space where short, intensive courses are taught to designers from around the world. This incubator is where Pie Lab was spawned and materialized. Brian Jones, Pie Lab’s creator and active member of Free Pie, says “Free Pie was designed to gather people together with pie in an effort to promote conversations with neighbors and strangers, and to bring humanity back into downtown areas.” Jones goes on to explain, “pie is something that everyone enjoys, so we’ve used that knowledge to create a place that everyone wants to visit,” he says. “PieLab provides a neutral environment in a traditionally segregated town where people from every race and class are welcome to sit together and talk candidly about whatever is on their mind.” (picture courtesy of Fast Company).
Pie really is a neutral ground for people to let down their guard a little, enjoy a treat, and open up or relax. Eating has this effect on people. The action of it gives people something to do, something to segue with into other realms or topics that can seem strange or uncomfortable when confronted face to face, like meeting new people, or discussion in general. It’s no wonder people and designers are starting to hone in on the powerful effects food, eating, and the senses have over our everyday lives. These things are so intricately involved in everything we do, they can be easily overlooked that we use/do them at all. I love to be surprised when I spot intention in the everyday! which is one of the reasons I wanted to become a designer. (Most) everything that is designed is thought through and planned with purpose and intent for the users and I try to apply this approach to my daily actions both the regular day-to-day and work.
On that note, check out the 2009 Pietopia Pie Contest! AND, it may be coming to a city near you in the future too! yippee!
Pietopia Pie Contest
August 20th, 2009, Thursday 330-7pm
Eastbank Farmers Market, Portland OR
All entries must be emailed to pietopiacontest at gmail dot com by July 15th for consideration. Please see contest details for more info! I look forward to hearing about the taste of your life!
(*note: the RSS feed on my blog has been a little wonky lately and I haven’t been getting updates in my google reader right away. There has been a pretty big lag time between when I post and when google reader picks up my new feeds. If you haven’t been getting updates from Eating Is Art, try putting in a new feed! It worked for me for now, so I have no idea what the googles is up to…)
Hello everyone!
I have finally received word on the official date for this years annual Pietopia Pie Contest!
August 20th, 2009
3:30-7pm
Eastbank Farmers Market (SE 20th and Salmon)
Just a quick recap:
If you’d like to participate, please submit your 300 word blurb and recipe, including why you chose the recipe and how the taste of it relates to the current state of your life by July 15th, 2009. Each winning pie will receive a limited edition screen print reflecting the ideas in the written statement. Pies will be judged upon the creative and innovative ideas reflecting the ingredients used in the recipe.
Get as creative or as traditional as you want with your pies! Savory, sweet, fruit, cream, custard, meat, vegan, or raman noodle, do it up! The winners will bring their pie’s to the farmer’s market for some good old fashioned tasting. Come and taste what your community is feeling on August 20th, 2009 at the Eastbank Farmers Market! Plus check out the amazing silk-screens that will be specially designed for each winning pie.
Email blurbs and recipes to: pietopiacontest at gmail dot com
Check out the Pietopia Pie Contest site here.
Last year was such a hit, I am definitely looking forward to all this years entries!
I was asked to hang my Pietopia Posters for a special event which happened at the Cleaners space downtown last night. It’s not actually a dry cleaners, it is a neat corner space venue open for events. This particular event was held by the Living Futures conference held here in Portland this year. It was a big event with over one hundred people and the posters got a lot of attention. I think it was nice for some people to be able to read the stories and have something to get into if socializing became overwhelming. I was excited to be a part of such a great evening, thank you Living Futures, Elizabeth, and Rebecca!
In honor of Pietopia coming and some amazing looking rhubarb I found at the farmer’s market this weekend, I’ve made my first pie of the year: Rhubarb Custard Pie. This is an old recipe (from someone who says that they’ve been making it for over 100 years in their family! I’d say that’s pretty tried and true) and it turned out amazing! The softness of the custard is such a lovely compliment to the tartness of the rhubarb; it becomes like a light and sweet blanket that envelops and rounds out the sharp tartness…oh, it’s just good! I highly recommend making this pie.
It reminded me of a pie I made last year for the Pietopia Blog. It too was a rhubarb pie, but I called it The Pie of Unemployment. Like last year at this time, the place I had been working part time closed and I was out of what was supposed to be my summer job. Now, with graduation in a few weeks I find myself in a similar spot. I am so excited to be completing my Masters degree! However, there is that ever looming weight of looking for and procuring employment that has kept me from 100% enjoying this accomplishment. So in the spirit of pietopia, my current status of unemployed, and seriously looking for jobs, I made this Rhubarb Custard Pie. Last year I wrote about rhubarb:
Rhubarb on its own has that acidic taste that makes your mouth pucker and you feel it in the back of your throat. It is a lingering taste as well as a memorable one. The way the flavor gives a physical reaction due to the potency of its distinct taste and then lingers on your palate reminded me of how feeling nervous can not only linger but pose its own physical issues as well. I also thought it interesting the duality of Rhubarb’s use as a medicine and a poison. The scare factor is certainly there, but it is also an interesting parallel to the duality of feelings as well. Feelings, like medicine, can put you on the path to health, spur you on to healthier ways of approaching life, and help find the insight necessary to cure yourself. On the other hand, feelings when ignored, disregarded, or taken in overwhelming doses, can act as a poison.
Bittersweet, poisonous, and medicinal, Rhubarb embodies all the components and feelings for me of being unemployed. Excited that I have more time for my own projects, scared that I won’t be able to pay rent, and a healthy nervousness that spurs me on to stay in the job game culminated into the taste of a Rhubarb pie.
A year later, I would still have to agree. Last year I did find a summer job (which held me over until my teaching assistantship began in the fall) not long after I made that pie. I am hoping something similar will happen with this pie. It’s amazing what can happen when you just put something out to the universe and see what returns. Maybe an interview or a phone call or two will be coming my way (I did send out some resumes!) and this pie helped manifest those . Who knows!
And it’s a great recipe, I hope you enjoy!
Pie Crust (this is my very favorite and never fail pie crust!)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup earth balance
1/4 cup sweet cream butter
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice cold water (a little more is needed sometimes)
Cut the butter, earth balance, vinegar, and water into the flour until it is nice and crumbly. Put into the fridge for about half hour to make cold again. Then split in half, roll out first half and place in pie plate, save the second half for the top pie crust.
Rhubarb Custard Pie
1 1/2 pounds fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/4 pieces
1/2 cup sugar
(place cut rhubarb into prepared pie pan with crust ]and pour 1/2 cup sugar on top)
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon
Whisk together milk, eggs, and sugar, pour on top of pie, sprinkle cinnamon on top, close with top crust and bake at 350 for 45 mins to an hour. Enjoy!
