Pies Etc. turns one!

One year ago today, I found myself in quite a funk. I was in-between jobs, mopey, eating peanut butter out of a jar for dinner, and turning to flammable paints as a creative outlet. My roommate finally got fed up with my slowly atrophying self and dragged me to Momofuku Milk Bar, saying that what I really needed was a slice of pie. I have since come to realize that what she really meant was that she needed a slice of pie, but it nonetheless did the trick. Devouring a slice of delicious Crack Pie not only stomped out my inner Debbie Downer, it sparked the idea for this blog. The following day I woke up early excited for a new project, and created my first blog post - pictures and a recipe for a breakfast pie.

I initially assumed that like most new creative ventures, this hobby wouldn't last (I still have a giant bag of yarn and a partially-finished, very crooked blanket left over from my two-week obsession with crocheting). However, I quickly discovered there was something different about this pie thing - I actually liked what I was doing. Trying out new recipes, discovering small pie shops, taking and editing photos, encapsulating it all into a post - these were tasks I found myself looking forward to time and time again.

Admittedly, I wasn't always the most stringent about consistently writing - we all remember time when I moved to the mountains of New Hampshire and just posted a bunch of photos of light and trees for three months. Thank you all again for sticking with me through that ;-) But that's one of the beautiful things about having a website that I've been so excited to discover this past year. The malleability of blogging means that I can write about pretty much anything I want, which often provides some much-needed respite from a job (albeit one in a creative industry) in which I deal with a whole lot of lists, time tables and spreadsheets.

I'm waxing poetic now, so I will end with this - a hearty and sincere thank you to my readers and fans. I know there are few of you who read this consistently (I'm looking at you, dad), but it is with your clicks, re-tweets, re-pins, re-posts and re-reads that I am able to maintain my presence in such a small slice of the blogosphere. Pies Etc. is looking towards a fantastic sophomore year - I have some great recipes I can't wait to try out, new bakeries I'm so excited to visit, and so many excuses to eat pie you never even considered. Thank you all again, and stay tuned for more to come!

xoxo, Mary

Special thanks to Vanilla Sky for providing the apple tart in the picture above.