THE PIE HOLE

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

WHO: stressbaking, lovedthesun, onteamvoldemort & everyone ever (also tattleina is on the unofficial staff).
WHERE: The Pie Hole pie restaurant and bakeshop
WHEN: November 4 - 30
WARNINGS: It could vary, though not too high please.
SUMMARY: This log is forever open to fraternize, socialize, and otherwise eat pie in Ned's restaurant. If you would like to make your thread closed to a specific person (be it someone you came in with or one of the servers/Ned himself) put their name in the subject line. If your thread is open, a server will be with you shortly. Feel free to tag other open threads or eat with strangers too! Anything goes.

Extra notes for November:
- There will be a Thanksgiving hosted here, but I will make a separate log post for it.
- There is now a lifesize cardboard cutout of Han Solo outside, feel free to notice/comment on it!
- Ned will be around much less as his ~other job~ picks up
- Also there are brownies (Shirley's brownies) on the menu you can also order!!
FORMAT: any




MENU


whole pies or by-the-slice

apple apple ......................................................... your traditional apple pie
appleberry ......................................................... a delicious blend of apple and fresh berries
apple walnut ......................................................... fresh apples and chopped walnuts
banana cream ......................................................... fresh ripe bananas and whipped vanilla cream
blueberry skies forever ......................................................... the freshest picked blueberries
cherry creme fraishe cherry cream ................................. cherries and creme fraishe double layered
chocolate expresso ......................................................... the perfect chocolate pick-me-up
coconut custard ......................................................... a tropical and perfectly creamy smooth custard
key lime to your heart ......................................................... key lime pie served with fresh strawberries
lemon meringue ......................................................... your traditional lemon meringue, whipped to perfection
melt-in-your-mouth mince ........................................ a festive mix of raisins, rum, apples and spices
orange-you apricot ......................................................... apricot pie with an orange glaze
over the moon pie ......................................................... chocolate fudge cream pie
peach melba ......................................................... peach pie served with fresh raspberries and sliced almonds on top
peach passionfruit ......................................................... a bold mix of passionfruit and peach
pearway to heaven ......................................................... pear pie with gruyere cheese baked into the crust
pecan pecan ......................................................... your traditional pecan pie
pumpkin pecan ......................................................... smooth and creamy pumpkin served with diced fresh pecans
raspberry rhubarb ......................................................... the perfect marriage of raspberry and rhubarb, always fresh
strawberry fields ......................................................... the freshest picked strawberries, served with a mint leaf
three plum ......................................................... a lusciously layered plum tart
tripleberry ......................................................... the freshest blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries in one pie

cup-pies

brownie sundae ......................................................... brownie, white chocolate mousse and chocolate with hot fudge and almonds on top
chocolate cream ......................................................... chocolate blended with creamy vanilla custard
cocoa coffee ......................................................... layers of brownie, chocolate mouse and chocolate ganache
coconut chocolate cream ......................................................... coconut and rich vanilla, topped with chocolate fudge
key lime ......................................................... creamy key lime in a graham cracker crust
lemon cream cheese ......................................................... lemon tart with a cream cheese topping
pecan ......................................................... carmelized pecans in a luscious filling
pumpkin pecan ......................................................... smooth and creamy pumpkin served with diced fresh pecans
lemon raspberry ......................................................... raspberry vanilla, creamy lemon, raspberry lady fingers and lemon mousse
vanilla bean ......................................................... layers of vanilla cream, vanilla mousse and whipped cream

shirley's brownies

haute chocolate ......................................................... your standard issue brownie
white chocolate razzle ......................................................... raspberry and white chocolate swirled through fudge
triple chocolate dream ......................................................... a fluffy whipped mousse between dark and milk chocolate brownie chunks
fudge a la mode ......................................................... a brownie style whoopie pie with ice cream instead of icing
five layer blonder ......................................................... a blond peanutbutter brownie with swirls of fudge, white chocolate, milk chocolate and apricot

Comments

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure it's all delicious. I've heard nothing but good things about this place." She smiled at the pie-maker. "Coffee sounds great. And if I can't decide, what would YOU recommend?"

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

"That truly depends." There's a beat before he realizes he has to elaborate. "Most people fit under two distinct archetypes: fruit pie people and non-fruit pie people. There is, however, a small degree of overlap in which people enjoy fruit with their non fruit... pie."

Another long pause... "What I'm asking is," he points out brightly. "Do you like fruit?"

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

She laughs. "I love fruit. Fresh fruit's relatively rare where I come from, so it's a special treat. And so are baked goods for that matter. So half of this stuff, I don't know what it even would taste like." She spreads her hands. "Sorry, I guess that's not helpful. But to narrow things down, yes, let's go with a fruit pie. Of those, what's your favorite to eat? Or to bake?"

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

"I think I know just the thing." He smiles warmly, taking her menu. "I hope you don't mind surprises." Like he does. Welp.

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

"As long as it's not the kind of surprise where a giant scorpion appears out of nowhere and tries to make me into lunch, I'm good to go."

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

His eyes widen and he shakes his head, trying to still keep his pleasant facade. "I'll make it a good surprise. If you can't trust your baker who can you trust?"

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

"I don't know, I've never had a baker before. But you guys seem like a pretty nice sort, so I'll go with trust."

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

"Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" He takes her menu with a nod. "I won't be long."

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

"Can't wait!" She sips on her coffee, and calls to him as he works in the back. "So is this your place then?"

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yes." He answers, plating her pie and preparing her coffee just behind the counter. "I'm the owner."

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

She eyes the pie curiously. What kind does it appear to be?

"Wow, how'd you get the capital to buy a place like this? Or is there rent involved?"

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

"Renting, for now. I hope you like orange." It's more of a citrus pie than orange-you apricot, perhaps even a meringue if you will. It's experimental and completely, off menu.

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

She had eaten oranges since she'd gotten here, and drank orange juice since it seemed like a popular beverage. She did like it, its nice sweetness and tang. It reminded her of the dehydrated drink packets in old military rations, except less harsh, and wondered if "orange" was the flavor that powder had been trying to emulate, however poorly.

She took a bite, tasting the first bite slowly. "Mmm," she nodded to Ned approvingly. "It's so... creamy, but the fruit taste is... mmm."

"There's a whole art to this, isn't there? Shirley was saying baking wasn't to be taken for granted."

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

Ned smiled, genuinely, which was rare especially for something Shirley had said. But for all that she was, Ned knew her to be a wise woman. "It certainly isn't... meant to be. And a man who would exploit it shouldn't be called a baker at all."

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean by that? Exploiting it?"

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

He's backpedaling a little now. "Uhm. Only that--baking is about, happiness. And those who would attach alterior motives to such a pure sport shouldn't be trusted." A beat. "Not that baking is a sport, per se. Though it can be very strenuous."

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

Her head cocks to one side. "I feel like I missed something here." She shook her head. "But I get that. So, speaking of strenuous... say, here's a challenge for you.

"Imagine you're stuck in a post-apocalyptic version of the Mojave Desert. The ingredients you have access to are the following: military rations, 1 pound sack of flour salvaged from an airtight vault where it was put 200 years ago, 1 sack of yeast from the same place, maize, mesquite pods, agave nectar, prickly pear fruit, and mutfruit, which is kind of like an apple crossbred with something that looks like death. If you have a good relationship with a rancher, you can probably get brahmin milk and brahmin butter, which is like the cow version, but a bit more pungent. And if you're lucky, very, very lucky, you have exactly one apple and one pear which you paid top dollar for from a mercenary who salvaged them from an overgrown abandoned horticultural experimental laboratory.

"Your heat source is a campfire, although you have all kinds of salvaged pots, pans, and metal plates to cook with. What do you make?"

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

Almost giving way to a smile, though her tale is very sordid, he quickly quashes it. She doesn't know his secret, and she never will, but with ingredients like those... the possibilities for a clever piemaker with a magic touch were endless.

"I could think a few things. Is that what your world was like?"

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

"Yep. I've spent a lot of time out in the desert on my own, so sometimes I've tried to get creative. Hard to come up with sweets though. I did melt some salvaged gumdrops in a frying pan mixed with water and poured over maize cakes, and that's about the best I could come up with. And they were still a bit dry."

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

"That still sounds, wonderfully innovative. Perhaps you have a future in confections yourself." Ned smiled encouragingly, knowing he would be nowhere without the encouragements of prep school boys and their approval of his work.

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

She smiled. "Well, you know, if salvaging tech gets old, it always is good to have another passion to fall back on." She took another bite. Mmm. "So why'd you decide to become a baker anyway?"

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

"I-I like that the Pie Hole... It's a second home. A Pie Home, if you will. Pie represents..home, and the people who come here don't just do it because their stomachs are hungry but because." Ned took a hearty pause, pun most definitely intended. "Well, because their hearts are."

[couldmakeucare.livejournal.com]

She smiled. "That's important. Where I come from, I travel a lot. It's important to be able to find a place where people are going to be happy to see you, really YOU, not just a random paying customer.

"And I think I'll definitely be coming back here, for that matter."

[stressbaking.livejournal.com]

He couldn't help but smile at that. "I'll look forward to seeing you here again, then."