coconut cream pie bars.

Whenever I watch tennis, soccer, or any really athletic sport (sorry golf), I at some point appreciate how fit those people are. The thought sometimes continues, in-between admiring Rafa's outbursts of greatness and Djokovic's insane flexibility (can you tell I've been watching the French Open?). Commercial breaks come, and I start to plot out a regime of health foods & exercise to get my heart pumping on the level of the players I was just watching. The game comes back, and an exciting rally reinforces my vow to reform my life.

Eventually, the game ends. And instead of immediately going for a hike or run, I stay on my bed, stalk foodgawker, and decide to make coconut cream pie bars. Well ... everyone has their own thing to love, right?

intense pumpkin pie.

I know Thanksgiving passed, but I heard a Christmas song today that referenced pumpkin pie.

"When they pass around the coffee and the puuuummmppkin pie."

So this pie is still relevant. The "intense" part of the name is a reflection of how I like to live life - intensely. Running the Big Chill (5K) in the freezing cold at 9am on a Saturday? Intense. Breaking down 50 boxes and getting a major paper cut on my wrist at work? Intense. Brushing my teeth this morning? Intense.

Whether you agree with me on the above is irrelevant - just know that making this pie is not a simple process. It is totally different from the pumpkin pie recipe I posted 2 years ago. [Wow has it been two years?!] This one involves a cooked filling, ginger, candied yams, and heavy cream. Sounds pretty good to me so far ..

cream cheese fruit tart.

I always feel a little bad about incorporating fruit into batters and baking them. I would so much rather find ways to include seasonal summer fruit into desserts raw, in their natural form.

This tart was actually eaten on the fourth of July ... aren't I a little late. But it can be delicious even during less patriotic times; it's definitely an everyday, perfect make-ahead tart.

chocolate cream pie.

Dudes. Not going to lie, I am blatantly using this chocolate cream pie to reflect on things that have been going on lately.

This weekend, I had probably the craziest, most ridiculous, and most rewarding experience of my undergraduate life. Rutgers University Dance Marathon was this weekend, from March 31 - April 1. You can read about it at marathon.rutgers.edu.

I was (originally wrote "am" but realized it's over now ... well AD apps are out next week, so we'll see!) part of Catering, which is a job of incredible manual labor, dedication, and hard work.

"lighter" brownie pie.

Inspiration is a funny thing. It hits you when you least expect it, and when you are totally unprepared. But it gives you the motivation to do what you know you need to do.

It's even funnier in that it's difficult to describe. What exactly is inspiration? And how does it affect you? Interesting questions. But yet, you are aware when you are inspired. You realize just what you want to do,  and everything just seems to fall into place. It's a complex feeling that brings such clarity.

Each creature has a place in life. I have a friend who believes that maturity is the realization of one's place in the cycle of life. Regardless, each creature also has one thing to offer to the world - themselves. I just watched the most recent JennaMarbles video, and weird as it sounds, that, along with a couple of other things, happened close enough in proximity to inspire me. To do what? Not sure. But I definitely feel a heightened sense of responsibility, maturity, and direction.

It all hit me after I ate a piece of this brownie pie with some warm milk while chatting with my little brother.

pumpkin pie.

I'm aware it's December (isn't that crazy?! it's already the end of the year!) and that pumpkin pie is a more fall thing. Frankly, I don't give a damn.

Look at me going all Rhett Butler.

toasty buttermilk pie.

no pictures sorry :( 

The title was originally "Browned Butter Buttermilk Pie," but there was too much butter going on. Not that that's a problem for most people ..

I actually reduced the butter in the recipe, but increased it in the title! Ha ha! I feel so clever. Actually, I get this "cleverness" from my dad.

(a fey days ago, over texting)

Me: The temperature is 97 degrees right now, and the heat index is 110. My work still has no AC. 

Dad: No need to go to India. 

(few minutes later, trying to continue conversation) 

Me: Can we go to Denville Dairy for dinner?!?! 

Dad: This is "cool" idea. 

Ya see, ya see? I just can't help but exude as much "cleverness" as he does. And if you haven't noticed my oh so subtle quotation marks by this point ... ok let's keep the focus on the pie.

"almond joy" pie.

Hello, dear friends. I am not a fan of fibbing when it comes to food. If I'm minding my own business on tastespotting and see some tender vanilla cupcakes topped off with an orange-tinted frosting, I get excited and think, oh maybe it's mango frosting! what a novel idea! mango? in frosting form?! that sounds amazing! And the hype continues for the entire 1 second or so it takes for the page to load & for me to scroll down and see that my hopes & dreams have been shattered by reality. Because in reality, that frosting was neither mango nor papaya. It wasn't even orange. It was artificial coloring that allowed cream cheese frosting to masquerade as something so much more than it actually was.

I hate that.

And so I'm going to keep it real here & tell you from the beginning (I would say "get go," but I am entirely unsure of where that phrase originates/what it even means) that this pie is not some fabulous translation of a favorite candy bar into a delicious pie.

Let me rephrase that. This pie certainly IS fabulous. But it is very loosely based around the idea of an Almond Joy.