Only a few days ago, I bid a farewell to my mother by baking a batch of her black-bottom cupcakes. It’s been three weeks since she died, and I know I’ve taken only the first baby steps in a very long journey to grasp what her passing means for me. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop reaching for the phone to ask her to explain some undecipherable detail of a hand-written recipe, or just to say, “Hi, ma.” But a surprising and reassuring thin
I am baking for my mom tonight. Since she died two weeks ago, the days have been a surreal blur of plane flights, phone calls, family gatherings, tears, looking at old photos, more tears, murmured condolences, and sentimental storytelling. To manage the grief, I’ve been filling my hours with triaging the family finances, making arrangements with lawyers and funeral directors. But on this rainy night, I need to stop. Stop everything, and just dive into her memory, into what i
Okay, I’ll say it right here and now: I resisted Key lime pie. I don’t know why. I was oddly biased against it. Maybe it was a couple of nasty slices I had the misfortune to try; slices with an oddly artificial lime taste. I dunno. But whatever the reason, I chose not to put Key lime pie on my menu. You can come trounce me now. Call me closed-minded. Call me insensitive to pie lovers everywhere, especially that special group who would lay down on the train tracks for a top-
How can I begin to describe what it was like to be surrounded by 800 pies for two days? Creamy, fruity, and nutty–and I do mean nutty–are a few adjectives that come to mind. But also wonky, fascinating, breathtaking, and hilarious. All of this and more marked my visit to Orlando last weekend, where I had flown to serve as a judge in the National Pie Championships, organized by the American Pie Council. Creamy, fruity and nutty describe the pies (and, okay, a
The calendar said it was spring the other day, but here in Washington, D.C., the slushy snow and mitten-worthy temperatures did a pretty good job of convincing us otherwise. That’s why it was all the more important to have a bright sunny yellow pie to cheer us up. This lemon meringue pie won’t just deliver the cheer you need to outlast winter. It will be a sassy, creamy contribution to a meal during warm weather, too, when cream pies like coconut and chocolate m
Admit it: you love that supermarket eggnog that calls to you from the dairy case, right? CurvyMama freely admits that she loves it. But don’t think we’re strictly low-brow, either; we love the top-quality eggnog, too. So when December rolled around, our thoughts turned to eggnog… but in pie form. Yum! What a perfect pairing! (Big hat tip here to CurvyMama daughter #1, better known as Sweetie Pie Hannah, for putting this creamy idea into words.) We’re certainly not the
Let the pig fat rock your world. That’s my most heartfelt advice for pie bakers. When I waded into the world of piemaking, I did it ever-so-gently, to get over my sheer terror of rolling dough. I tried a half-Crisco, half-butter recipe, since Crisco makes dough easier to handle. When I stopped hyperventilating and got more comfortable with making dough, I graduated to an all-butter crust. I wanted to get rid of that weird coating Crisco leaves on your tongue, and reap t
Another pie workshop wraps up, with four new graduates! Look how proud they are of their warm pear-cranberry pies! They are driving them home right now to some happy pie eaters. Now it’s time to get ready for our workshop tomorrow. Sign up for our session on Nov. 16! (Or propose a date of your own!) Workshop information and signup is right here on my website.
WE DID IT!!! CurvyMama Pies won “best dessert” in the Washington Blade’s contest for the Best of Gay DC. Thank you to everyone who loved our pies enough to vote for us!!!
Yaaayyy!! CurvyMama Pies has made the final round in the Washington Blade’s annual “Best of Gay DC” competition. We’re up against some really heavy hitters in the “best dessert” category, including Georgetown Cupcake, whose confections have built a national following. PLEASE VOTE FOR US!! We’re teensy-weensy but we’re so very delicious! Voting for the winners in each category is open until October 3. And get this: you can vote ONCE A DAY
