Food as Art - A Friendly [Reflective] {Pie Making} Challenge

I mentioned at some point in my previous posts that although the original intention of this blog was to review recipes, I am unable to prevent myself from, at times, "free writing." I like to write. It is -arguably- the best way to extract the most honest answers from me. As such is this post: a subjective uttering of my inner contemplations.

Recently, a good friend of mine sent me a message, which suggested I take a look at a website called Pietopiacontest.com. The tag line for the blog is "What does your life taste like, in a pie." The concept seems pretty self explanatory, but continue reading to understand how I perceived the task or check out the actual website for a more complete answer.

As I interpreted the instructions, the author of the blog has offered a contest where individuals submit a recipe and a story to accompany it. The story links the pie to your present status/condition in this life. After looking over some of the past submissions and winners, it seems the assignment has very loose parameters allowing for true reflection. As you would expect with personal reflection, there is no right or wrong.

The idea was presented to me on May 22nd. My initial reaction was of dismissal. I don't remember the last time I baked a pie from scratch -or if I even have, for that matter. Frequently, I shy away from challenges where I am convinced I will not succeed. In itself, the idea has already has demonstrated something about my character that plays a big part in my life: lack of self-confidence. On occasion, I do rise to meet the challenge. I do not necessarily succeed in defeating the challenge but do give myself kudos for at least facing my fear. I respect my friend greatly and she has always encouraged my enthusiasm for cooking and was really the one that brought it to the forefront of my life. So, I felt a bit of obligation -of challenge, more so- to at least consider the Pietopia (TM) question, "What does [my] life taste like, in a pie?"

Up until the day of this post, I had signed no contract and had not even verbally committed to considering the aforementioned question. I still had an out. There was no reason for me to waste time and money on this project. There was no benefit to me. I will concede, however, that periodic reflection is a very health exercise. It can help to refocus our attention and direction on the things we want, or at least where we are right now.

For me, making the decision to complete this small project was relatively hard. However, deciding what to make was almost as difficult. The recipe developed as I began to answer the question and the answer to the question actually developed more as the recipe took shape.

When I really committed to figuring out how I could explain my life as a piece of pie I admitted to myself again that I am very indecisive. I have a passion for cooking, the mind of an analytical, and a heart for teaching. Currently, I am working in a laboratory using my mind for science 40 hours a week. However, I am also work in food service and do what I can to be close to good food. I cannot decide between my heart, my mind, and my passion. Ingredient #1: Indecision.

Even in my daily contemplations of my indecisiveness, I have to admit that I am blessed. I have a job, a home, and don't want for too much. Ingredient #2: Blessing/Sweetness.

But at the same time I can't help recognizing that there are things that are going on in my life that make things a little bit sour. A recent death in our family, legal troubles, problems at work. These are things that happen but are not typically welcomed. Ingredient #3: Sourness.

With these first three things in mind, I mulled over the idea mixing and matching flavors, textures, and preparations. I wasn't completely convinced that the combination I came up with would be profound or even turn out successfully, but it was somewhere to start...

The pie I put together was a blueberry lemon pie in a pecan graham crust. The flavor combination seemed reasonably complimentary and the crust simple enough. The pie I baked is shown below:

Blueberry Lemon Pie with Pecan Graham Crust with Soft Meringue

From the outside, everything looked perfect. The meringue was nicely browned. Had I left it at that, I would have been able to claim ignorance on how the pie looked and tasted. Yet, I couldn't help but be curious and cut into the pie anyway. The result was as follows...

The pie that I made really demonstrates how my life tastes right now. It is complete with indecision; this pie couldn't decide on one flavor profile so it compromised with being two different kinds with very little overlap. In my life, I can't seem to take the risk to be one thing or the other so I try to be more than one. There is not necessarily any particularly failings in flavor balance in this pie, but there are some questions about proportionality. Do I spend too much time working more than one job trying to figure out where to go and what to be? Is there too much meringue on this pie?

The texture and flavor are not great but they are not bad. Frequently I struggle with feeling that I am mediocre at a bunch of things and not really great at one thing. This was one of the attributes I gleaned from the finished pie rather than one of the ingredients used from the start.

Meringue was not especially necessary for this pie, just another example of making things harder or more complex than they need to be.

The graham cracker crust was somewhat of a cop out. Although I can justify that it is the traditional crust used for key lime pie, it was really only used because I was too scared to make pie dough from scratch. I've tried doing this with pot pie before an manage a tough, dry crust. Ironically, even though the graham cracker crust with ground pecans was supposed to represent my hearty foundation, it ended up soggy from all the indecision.

At the end of the day, I have a pie that I'm not crazy about but can live with and will enjoy well enough. I enjoy my life but am still searching for something more. I can't complain because the pie that might as well be my life is sweeter than many other peoples' pies. With tenacity, diligence, and help I might someday have a better balanced pie to share. The beauty of pie is that it takes so many different forms and we can try and try again until it tastes just the way we want it to.

I will concede that this reflection is, perhaps, a bit narcissistic in that I really am not considering the larger world that I live in but assert that it is difficult to understand the world and our place in it if we don't understand who we are first.

All that said, the toughest part of the Pietopia (TM) assignment is reducing my entire monologue to a 300 word abstract...

Graham Cracker Crust:

8-9 whole graham crackers, finely ground

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar, granulated

1/3 cup pecans, finely ground

9-inch pie plate

In a food processor, grind graham crackers, pecans, and sugar until a fine consistency is obtained. Slowly add the melted butter until graham cracker mixture is moistened. Press firmly and evenly into pie plate. Blind bake crust at 350F for 10 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely.

Blueberry Filling: 

1.5 pints of fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar, granulated

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

Rinse the blueberries and remove any stems. Place the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a medium sauce pot. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Cool completely.

Lemon Filling*:

4 large eggs, separated

1 - 14oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel  

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 cup sugar

Beat the egg whites until smooth and light in color. Slowly mix in the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and cream until smooth. Add lemon zest, if desired. In a separate clean, metal bowl whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until the volume increases significantly. Slowly add the sugar and beat until soft peaks are formed.

The pie is easily assembled. In the baked graham cracker crust, spread the blueberry filling evenly in the bottom. Cover the blueberry with the lemon and cream mixture. Bake the pie at 350F for about 25 minutes. Remove the pie and cover with soft meringue. Bake an additional 15 minutes until the meringue is lightly browned.

My life in a pie. Flavored with indecision with notes of sweet and sour and topped with imbalance. All-in-all a decent slice of pie.

In summary, just like most things in life, the beauty (or tastiness, as it were) of a pie is in the eye of the beholder. Our lives are what we bake of them...or not.

My reflection probably won't make me anymore decisive or view life much differently. But if I keep challenging myself to understand who I am and what I want, I might eventually make a change that is worthwhile. Just something to think about today.

*The lemon filling was based on the Key Lime Pie recipe from Eagle Brand(R). The original recipe can be located at the following link: http://www.eaglebrand.com/recipes/details/?RecipeId=3969&categoryIndex=7