The Friday Pie Slice: Welcome to D.C. Edition

Many a food writing friend and hero are converging on D.C. this weekend for the 2015 International Association of Culinary Professionals conference (IACP). With that in mind, I thought I'd compile a short list of favorite spots in the city to hit.

1st slice. I met Mark Furstenberg a couple years ago at Molly O'Neill's LongHouse and he told me all about his plans for a new bakery, Bread Furst. 2 years later, it's winning James Beard nominations and transforming the city's bread scene with Corn and Teff Ryes, bialys, and more. Available at Bread Furst and Whole Foods P Street.

2nd slice. Julia Child's Kitchen. Need I explain? The French Chef's entire kitchen, peg boards, fridge magnets, and all, was relocated to the Smithsonian-- you'll go home wanting turquoise walls and polaroid maps cataloging all your pots.

3rd slice. Mitsitam Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian. While you're on the mall, grab lunch at the Native Foods Cafe, featuring seasonal indigenous foods from 5 major regions of the Americas. It is SO good and an experience you can't get anywhere else.

The tasty crumbs. Rose's Luxury, Rose's Luxury, Rose's Luxury. Sure, it's gotten a lot of hype and I tend to consider hour-plus lines for food obnoxious, but Rose's is fully deserving of all the accolades and wait-times. The whole experience is incredibly delightful--hands down one of the best meals of my life.

If you're looking for more, check out this 24 Hour Guide to DC that Morgan and Elizabeth and I compiled for Design*Sponge last year. And you know, get in touch if you have questions. Enjoy your time in the district!

The Friday Pie Slice: North Carolina Edition

Alright. Gonna try to get this little segment goin' again.

1st slice. My friend April McGreger's new book Sweet Potatoes from UNC Press' "Savor The South" series just arrived in the mail. I can't wait to make sweet potato-habanero hot sauce, sweet potato sonker, sweet potato donut muffins, etc. etc. etc...

2nd slice. Last weekend I trekked down to Asheville, NC to hang out with pals at Harvest Records' Transfigurations II Festival. I made a little country-ish mix for my road trip and thought you might enjoy it too. Find it here.

3rd slice. On that trip I got to finally visit Tara/Smoke Signals Baking's beautiful little enclave in the hills of Marshall. If you're in the area, check out her upcoming pie classes and Saturday PIZZA NIGHTS!

The tasty crumbs. I also got to hang out and make pie for & eat pie with one of my favorite musicians and long-time pen pal Michael Hurley! Check his Nothing in the House post from a few years back.

Find past Friday Pie Slices here. 

Pictured above: Butterscotch Pie with a Meringue Top and Butter & Lard Crust

The Friday Pie Slice: First Week of Spring Edition

1st slice. We celebrated Pi(e) Day in great style last Friday, with a plentiful pie potluck, live music from The Keezletown Strutters, and some living room dancing. More on that soon, but for now, peep Elizabeth's sketch from the evening.

2nd slice. St. Patrick's Day has come and gone (and hopefully the snow with it), but Colcannon Pie remains. Thanks Food52 for including it in their 8 Food Blog Links We Love last week.

3rd slice. My professor and mentor Marcie Cohen Ferris is in the lastest issue of Guernica and has important things to say on the legacy of Southern food and the importance of studying foodways. Recommended weekend reading.

The tasty crumbs. My new favorite nerdy food/folklore/anthropology/macabre blog is Nourishing Death, which explores the "relationship between food and death in rituals, culture, religion, and society." Go get you some funeral biscuits.

Photo from last year's Meyer Lemon Honey Marmalade Linzer Torte

The Friday Pi(e) Slice: Pi(e) Day Edition

1st slice. Happy Pi(e) Day! It's that time of year when nerdy mathematicians and nerdy pie bakers get to geek out together. For more history on the holiday, check out American Food Roots feature, which includes two Nothing in the House recipes & a video of our 2011 celebration by Ashley Melzer. More Pi(e) Day parties past here.

2nd slice. Looking for a good pie to make on this pie holiday? Check out our recipe index. I'm working up 9 or 10, including S'more Pie, Coconut Custard Pie, and a Grapefruit version of this Atlantic Beach Pie. I'll share some photos later here and throughout the day on Instagram.

3rd slice. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) 3-D edible printers are not yet a reality (or maybe they are?), so I had to make Elena's Skillet Tarheel Pie for myself. It'll also be on the pie party table tonight.

The tasty crumbs. Yossy's Lemon Meringue Pie for Food52 is inspirational.

Photo of Teeny Pies' Bourbon Bacon Pecan Pie from last year's DC Pi(e) Day

The Friday Pie Slice

1st slice. It was so much fun to be a part of the DREAM TEAM with Elizabeth Graeber and Morgan Hungerford West to put together this Design*Sponge guide to 24 Hours in D.C. Big thanks to the Design*Sponge gals, and to Refinery29 for sharing it.

2nd slice. My friend, talented writer and fellow "pie lady" Kate Lebo has her smart and provocative "The Pie Lady's Manifesto" up at The Rumpus. Bakers, feminists, everyone should read it.

3rd slice. I've been getting in on the Food52 #f52grams fun lately (here and here). Look out for their new theme each week and post a corresponding instagram with hasthtag #f52grams. They might just share your photo.

The tasty crumbs. And speaking of instagram, my pal Jess of Witchin' in the Kitchen was recently featured on the instagram blog. Check out the lovely post and her beautiful and serene photos here.

Past Friday Pie Slices.

Photo by Kate Lebo via The Rumpus

The Friday Pie Slice

Happy Friday! Please enjoy this first Friday Pie Slice of the NEW YEAR.

1st slice. I've been so inspired lately by the photographs and baked goods of Tara Jensen of Smoke Signals Baking in Marshall, North Carolina. Visit her website and view her beautiful tumblr/instagram feed.

2nd slice. My friend Shauna Lott just successfully completed a kickstarter drive to fund The Long I Pie Shop-- a mobile bakery with a social justice mission in Denver, Colorado. Can't wait to see all the goodness that comes out of this project. Check out my interview with Shauna and her recipe for Apple, Brie & Prosciutto Pie here.

3rd slice. One way I kept warm during THE POLAR VORTEX was by making a wintery mix of songs for cold and blizzardy weather, including Hardanger fiddle and other Scandinavian styles, songs, fingerstyle guitar, and a little psychedelia. You can download it here.

The tasty crumbs. Elizabeth Graeber did the above sketch of Kate Lebo & me at our reading and pie tasting at Trohv back in September. Elizabeth and I are working up a new collaboration this weekend--stay tuned!

Find past Friday Pie Slices here.

The Friday Pie Slice

1st slice. D.C. is no doughnut town, but DCist gives it a good go with this round-up. When I'm hankering for  fried dough, I either make my own, or take a trip to old-school bakeries like Woodmoor Pastry Shop in Silver Spring or Mt. Pleasant's Heller's Bakery (pictured above). 'Cause in my opinion all you really need is a good classic plain glazed and a cup of coffee.

2nd slice. Notice something new around here? I'm still working out the overall look, but Nothing in the House has a BEAUTIFUL new hand-printed logo designed by my friend Mike Costello of Printed Appalachia. It's a perfect fit for this pie blog's rustic aesthetic and historical & folkloric bent and I'm so happy to have it.

3rd slice. Next week is Pie Week at Food52! Tag your pie instagrams with #PieWeek and #f25grams and they'll feature their faves. So on it.

The tasty crumbs. Looking for something to do this weekend? The D.C. Square Dance, which happens to be the biggest square dance in the country, is this Saturday. It's always the best party in town, and sometimes-- there's pie. Come out swingin'.

The Friday Pie Slice

I've been negligent in serving up these slices. But it's a new month and new beginning--happy November!

1st slice. My Pentagram Pie (see below) was featured on The Hairpin this past week, with an expanded post--now with more jokes! Halloween may be over but pentagrams never go out of season.

2nd slice. As we turn the corner into the biggest pie month of the year, some great recipes are popping up in the blogosphere, like this Butternut Squash & Brie Galette from Happyolks and Homesick Texan's Sweet Potato Cobbler.

3rd slice. A few weeks ago I stopped by the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church's 65th Annual Fall Food Festival here in DC for a story & accompanying video for American Food Roots, not to mention a delicious lunch of stuffed grape leaves and cheese pies.

The tasty crumbs. There's a great new drink magazine on the block called PUNCH and my dear friend Lora Smith is one of the contributors. Read her piece on growing up in a Kentucky bootlegging town here.

Photo of Cake vs. Pie swag by Emily Wallace for the Southern Foodways Alliance Annual Symposium

The Friday Pie Slice

1st slice. I spent the past few days baking, talking shop, and running about town with the lovely and inspiring Kate Lebo (pictured above), whose volume of poetry, recipes, and ephemera A Commonplace Book of Pie is fresh off the presses! Catch the fun trailer for the book here.

2nd slice. Though it came out a few month's back, my friend Lora just reminded me of artist Debbie Grossman's My Pie Town, a reimagining of Russell Lee's 1940 photographs of Pie Town, New Mexico, that plays with gender, history, and notions of Americana. Very cool.

3rd slice. Ashley Melzer and I were pleasantly surprised this week when Garden & Gun listed our short doc The Wharf, about DC's Maine Ave. Fish Market in their list of five favorite Southern Foodways Alliance Greenhouse films! Honored to be included in this fine company.

The tasty crumbs. "I think food is so amazing because it's such a powerful voice. But it really brings to voice the once-silenced voices. I think of the women who all through time in Southern history, their hands and minds have really deeply shaped Southern cuisine." My mentor and UNC American Studies professor Marcie Ferris, talking women's influence on Southern food on last weekend's episode of The Splendid Table.

The Friday Pie Slice: Fall Equinox Edition

My most favorite time of year is almost here. I know that spring is traditionally the season of reawakening, but I tend to feel most invigorated in the fall. I'm back home, reconnecting with friends, digging into  some new projects, and getting back into the kitchen. Here's a few of the things I'm working on, and others' work I'm excited about.

1st slice. My copy of Hoosier Mama's Book of Pie arrived in the mail this week. Can't wait to try out ALL the recipes, starting with the Fat Elvis Pie, I reckon, which I'll be sharing soon. In the meantime, read about my visit to the Chicago pie shop and get the recipe for Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie here.

2nd slice. This coming Wedesday, Kate Lebo, Seattle pie baker, poet, and author of A Commonplace Book of Pie and I are doing a reading and pie event at Trohv DC. We'll chat about domesticity and feminism and pie, and of course, serve some too. Details here.

3rd slice. This weekend my grad school thesis advisor and all-around heroine Marcie Cohen Ferris & Southern Foodways Alliance's John T. Edge will be on The Splendid Table talking the role of women in Southern food. Tune in!

The tasty crumbs. For your listening pleasure, I made a Fall Equinox mix of some favorite American and British folk songs (-ish). Have a listen this weekend when you're putting up apple butter or driving to the orchard or sitting on your butt on the porch drinking a hard cider. Find it on my music blog, The Everchanging Minstrel.

Illustration by Jessica Lynn Bonin from Kate Lebo's A Commonplace Book of Pie, Chin Music 2013

The Friday Pie Slice

Inspired by Morgan, the genius at PandaHead, I'm serving up a new weekly series here on Nothing-in-the-House--The Friday Pie Slice! Each Friday, I'll post a round-up of pie and pie-relevant stories, links, and news from the past week. Expect historical articles and recipes, food events and interviews, music and art. If you've got something you think might be a good fit for The Slice, don't hesitate to get in touch. Got your plate? Let's eat!

1st slice. Check out Phoebe Lawless of Durham's Scratch Bakery (previously featured on the pie blog here and here) in the latest issue of Garden & Gun with recipes for 3 late summer pies and lovely illustrations to boot.

2nd slice. My pal April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter Brand Pickles and Preserves shares her preserve-making philosophy on A Chef's Life.

3rd slice. "Some made good pies, some made good applesauce. And some, made really good cider." Orchardist Lee Calhoun talks about his preservation of "old-timey apples" on WUNC.

The tasty crumbs. My friend and fellow folklorist Ashley Melzer and I just finished a short film for the Southern Foodways Alliance on DC's historic Maine Ave. Fish Market. If you watch closely, you'll notice that they do, in fact, sell pies there...

Illustration by Elizabeth Graeber from our book Pie: A Hand Drawn Almanac, available on Etsy