Pie Party Live 2012 at GE Monogram Design Center (October 25, 2012)

Last year's pie party live was a pie bonanza and this year was no different. It was a very classy event as always and organizers Jackie Gordon and Ken Leung did a fantastic job of gaining support and providing a great, relaxed time for the food blogger and food professionals community in the tri-state area. This year GE Monogram Design Center on East 58th Street was the location and when you arrive you did not want to leave. The ornate and modernly designed space opened up into a series of connected master kitchens that every foodie in attendance fell in love with.

Chef Tageré Southwell gave attendees a nice run through of how to make effective pie crust before the pie party commenced. Many of us were pretty enthused about this since, especially for me, a good crust makes a good pie. One word: butter (KerryGold!) and mix well watching the bottom of your food processor to see the status of your dough. (FYI: A food processor is pretty essential when making dough and after winning my KitchenAid one from Pie Party Live last year I feel quite blessed!)

The bounty was split into savory and sweets sections. As attendees arrived and labeled their contributions we were treated to savory treats including the most succulent hors d'oeuvres made by GE Monogram's Executive Chef Tageré Southwell of battered shrimp, lamb sliders, and eggplant crostinis. We were also able to taste mini DUB (Down Under Bakery) Pies in the form of beef & cheese and/or curry vegetable. Those who attended Pie Party Live last year recall that Dub Pies had also generously donated a variety of their savory pies to the cause. Dub Pies had been at Dekalb Market earlier this year before it shutdown, but now operates in their own store in Brooklyn.

While I made a savory pie, specifically a Spinach & Gruyere Quiche a la Martha Stewart, I abstained from eating savory and went straight for the sweets. I was getting full from the bite-sized savory morsels and wanted to make sure I had room for dessert. (Game plan!)

There were tarts and quiches and mini pies and whoopie pies and toffee crunch and pecan pies and duck pies. Gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and ones loaded with dairy. You were good on all counts.

One of the standouts for me was Ken's cranberry curd tart with walnut crust. Not too tart, not too sweet with a wonderfully buttery, crispy, thick crust and a fluffy curd filling. Last year his onion tart was one of my faves and as always Ken doesn't just make it look pretty but also taste fabulous!

I also enjoyed Lillian's chocolate and peanut butter whoopie pies and the delicious cranberry Nantucket made by Colleen of Souffle Bombay. And the toffee crunch from Tamar of Economic Krunch, goodness gracious! I ate a pear almond tart that was as good as ones I've had from French bakeries and Abby Dodge's red velvet whoopie pies, Angela's guava and cheese mini pies, and my friend Emily's spiced citrus pecan pie. Lordy! I had to tap out after having Ken's salted caramel chocolate tart and Tara's apple strudel pie. But, indeed I wanted more.

My friend Emily provided me a taste of a delicious duck pie by Kathy of The Experimental Gourmand and that one bite was so succulent and perfectly spiced I instantly regretted my game plan to forgo savory.

By night's end the savory section had been decimated. People had their plan and it was to eat dinner than go dessert.

Before we headed out Jackie announced we were getting goodie bags and Kerrygold butter to take home! This was met with resounding excitement and surprise of which I think only the food community could understand. Butter, heck dairy, is expensive! And getting a fabulous brand like Kerrygold is fantastic! I can't wait to make more pie with it, even Chef Tageré complimented the brand as one of her go-to's for making crust and cooking in general.

Part of our goodie bags from our very generous sponsors was two Dub Pies, frozen for reheating later, Kerrygold as mentioned along with a Kerrygold branded recyclable baggie, Abby Dodge's newest cookbook from Taunton Press Mini Treats and Handheld Sweets (of which her fab whoopie pie recipe is included), Fine Cooking magazine, a Smirnoff pie server, GE Monogram measuring spoons, and for some of us bloggers a bottle of Smirnoff's two new flavors (Kissed Caramel or Iced Cake) to take home and do a blog post on (one to come soon from me). After tasting their Caramel Apple Pie drink I was hooked.

I was full, excited, and extremely grateful to reconnect with my food blogger/pie party buds and to have the generosity of these great sponsors in their support of the food blogger community. I hesitated leaving GE Monogram Design Center because, frankly I want that kitchen, but I'll be happy to return and sing their praises and hope to be at another event there soon.

Thanks again to everyone who aided in making Pie Party Live this year a resounding success and thanks again to GE Monogram Center, Gareth of Dub Pies, Abby Dodge and Taunton Press, Kerrygold, Harvard Common Press, and Smirnoff for donating your products and opening our eyes to new flavors! Hope to see you next year!

Pie Party Live at Rodeo Bar NYC (October 15, 2011)

This weekend I had the pleasure of being a part of Jackie (The Diva That Ate New York) and Ken's (Hungry Rabbit NY) Pie Party Live! Ken and Jackie participated in a virtual pie event and decided to throw one for real at Rodeo Bar in the Flatiron District in NYC. This was the pie party to end all pie parties! There were seventy or so pies available, in both the sweet and savory variety. There were bakers and cooks and enthusiasts alike ready to gorge. When my best bud Dana and I arrived I don't think we expected there to be as much deliciousness as there was. We were pleasantly surprised.

I tried my hand at Banoffee pie again. Last year I was none too happy with the results from the Claire Robinson 5 ingredient fix. So this year I went with a name I knew I could trust: Paula Deen. While I should never anticipate that Banoffee pie is quick to make it did go smoother than boiling a can for several hours. Well, this time the crust was way buttery and rose. I asked a couple of other Pie Party Live participants who had made pies with graham cracker crusts their secrets and Kelsey (Kefir lime meringue pie) said that she had put a smaller ratio of butter to graham crackers, while Tara of Chip Chip Hooray (S'mores pie) informed me that she added sweetness to her pie. She also noticed that hers rose but  found after she took it out of the oven the crust tended to flatten on its own. Mine did not flatten but was buttery goodness and overly sweet. Score!

The thing about Banoffee pie is that it is something to be refrigerated and served cold and immediately. So carrying it on a subway for an hour and then being in a pie party for an additional few hours will make it a bit of a gloopy mess. It still tastes good but is just a mess. So unfortunately it had to be dumped post-party. Next pie party I'll venture to make something savory or at least non-refrigerated.

The pies at Pie Party Live were bountiful and it was great to have a mix of sweet and savory. Some people went with the idea, a smart one at that, of having solely savory first and then working their way to the sweet pies. I tried to toggle between both and found myself quite full, quite fast.

There were some heavy duty celebrities at Pie Party Live. I was so excited to meet Allison Kave of First Prize Pies. Her S'mores pie was one of the first I delved into and it was my fave sweet pie of the day. It was a good mixture of sweetness with chocolate and caramel and the lightness of the meringue just made my mouth water. As I offered a bit to my friend Dana we exchanged that knowing nod of appreciation.

Another fave pie of mine was Ken's apple-onion tart. When we asked him how prep went he said he did have a bunch of tears from having to shred the onions so thin for the tart. There was a great balance of sweetness from the carmelized onions mixed with the apple and it wasn't too heavy of an onion flavor. It was a great savory dish to wash the palette as you delved into other foods.

I got to taste Nomnivorous' chicken pot pie made with phyllo dough and had a nice hearty flavor to it. Not too salty as sometimes pot pies can be.

I also tasted Georgiecakes apple dulce de leche pie. She made two batches, one so her husband could get in as well.

There were some tasty empanadas in the forms of beef and chicken. The beef had grapes in it and I recall that beef empanada's I've had from places like Ruben's also add grapes into the mixture. Rodney's spicy chicken empanada had a nice kick to it, but wasn't overly spicy for heat lightweights like myself.

And baker extraordinaire Abby Dodge had some bite sized apple pies!

Chip Chip Hooray also made a S'mores pie that wasn't overly sweet and had a nice pudding center.

I had a heavy-duty chocolate ganache pie from One Tough Cookie and a nice sweet potato pie that reminded me of my mom's by Angela's of Mind Over Batter. I also met Miranda of MorelloBello and Alissa of GlamorousSnacker.

The crowd itself was such a great group of people. All nice and interested in talking pie and baking and an overall love of cooking. It was like being outside of New York City for moment. Everyone was happy and polite and willing to scoot over for you to get your slice of pie. No elbows. No shoving. We kept it classy at Pie Party Live!

About halfway through I have to say stomachs were bulging and we were starting to force stuff into our mouths. There was so much I still had to try! DUB Pies provided several dozen savory pies from steak/mushroom to spicy thai chicken to vegetarian and shepherd's. Must try! Rodeo Bar allowed us to take pictures and taste new items from their menu! Must try! Wait, did someone else come in with empanadas?! And thus it went on until 3pm when the raffle was announced. There were many prizes including cookbooks  by Pie Party Live attendees and baking aficionados, baking utensils, and the big prize was a Kitchenaid food processor. As the raffle went on a bunch of people won great gifts including pie from Ivy Bakery in one case. (Ivy Bakery's buttermilk pie was available at Pie Party Live and had a soft texture, was buttery sweet and perfect if you just wanted to have something light with a cup of tea.)

By the time the winner of the Kitchenaid processor was announced I was in a bit of a food coma and didn't realize at first that I had won it! My first pie party and I won a processor? Craziness! It was the perfect cap to the day. Full belly, great people, and a win! So cool.

I can't wait for the next Pie Party Live and hope I get to meet all these great people again. They are talented in the kitchen and super sweet in-person. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. In addition to the pictures posted here you can see the abundance of them on my Flickr page including close-ups of the ones from Rodeo Bar that I made a collage of below. Jackie has also posted pictures of Pie Party Live on her Flickr page and if you do a keyword search for Pie Party Live I'm sure you'll see many others from attendees.

And as Rodeo Bar was kind enough to provide samples of their newer dishes. (Their mac n' cheese is super rich.) I wanted to make sure to provide pictures to make your mouth water so you'll go to Rodeo and partake in these delectable items. Also they have a great happy hour!