Be honest…do YOU know what a chess pie is?

Before I made my first one, I didn’t either. I thought (without vocalizing it, because I think if I’d gotten that far I would have realized this made no sense) that it was a pie with a marbled top, vaguely resembling a chessboard with dark and light parts. My father-in-law, who just had a birthday and got to choose this pie from the book, guessed that it was like a cheesecake pie. Chess/cheese, pretty close.

There are several theories given in the cookbook to explain the whole situation. One of them is that a chess pie is a pie that holds up well in a pie chest (as you might guess, a cupboard for safely storing pies in.) Chess/chest. Even closer.

If you asked me now what a chess pie is, I would say that this is my general assessment.

1. It has eggs in it.

2. It’s so easy to make. Not even funny.

3. It’s incredibly delicious.

Ticket to Ride is a good game. Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappucino is a good ice cream.

Angus Barn Chocolate Chess Pie is a good pie. There you have it, folks.

For our friend Mike’s birthday a couple weekends ago, his girlfriend (my cousin) Alisa planned an awesome surprise party for him.

Mike still has no idea that there is a large hangout going on in his living room.

Realization of the truth slowly settles in.

The theme of the party was sports, which meant that the guys could sit on couches and watch football for hours, and eat. Which is what they would have wanted to do on a Sunday afternoon anyway.

“Wear my Justin Tuck jersey while I watch the Giants defeat the 49ers en route to the Superbowl? Why yes, I think I shall.”

Once Mike had been sufficiently surprised and had finished changing into his Laker’s jersey, Alisa and I made him guess what kind of pie we picked for him (without seeing said pie). He guessed pumpkin cheesecake. The correct answer was…*deep breath*…Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie with Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Topping.

I’m going to give seven out of ten points for that one…5 for the cheesecake and 2 for the initial “P” sound.

Ain’t they cute?! All three of them!

That’s a fact.

Except for maybe these ladies.

About once a month, a group of my girlfriends get together to catch up on each other’s lives and participate in fun/uplifting activities. For example, this month we made a scrapbook for our friend Kristen’s almost-here baby girl (!!) and ate lots of snacks, and then made mini pies. Sounds great, right?

Thanks girls for letting me teach my first official pie-making class to you. 😉

The recipe I used was one called “Little Fruit Crumb Pies.” The funniest part was that the recipe talks a lot about how this is a “recipe for the kids” and includes quotes like, “have the children gently press the remaining pastry crumbs into the fruit.” So I got to pretend I had a bunch of children making pies with me.

To accommodate the diverse taste buds of our group, we used apples, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, AND rhubarb! Hooray!

Here’s what we did:

1. Press in the pastry (aptly named “Press-in Pastry.” It’s a big bunch of crumbs, and you just take some and press them into the pie tin instead of rolling out a crust. Much easier for a large group of children. Or adults.)

2. Select fruit of choice. The final products here ranged from plain apple to blueberry-raspberry-strawberry. To each her own.

3. Add sugar, flour, spices and lemon and mix it all together.

4. Top with more crumbs.

Then you just figure out how to put eight little pies in the oven so that you’ll be able to retrieve them later without burning yourself…and you’re all set.

Go, little pies, go!

After much anticipation, we were rewarded with…a whole pie each. There is something so fun about having your own little special pie to eat all by yourself. If you want to. I mean, you’re still allowed to share mini pies. They’re just the only pies that you don’t HAVE to share.