Hiatus

This past fall, I was averaging about a pie a week. I was a baking machine.

I'd get up early to make dough and, while making boo-boo faces at the baby, would chop up whatever fruit I had on hand to complete the pie. Any ounce of free time was spent making or researching pie.

Then life got in the way.

My day job (working full time in corporate communications) got super busy and my night/early morning job (being a mom to four) also had me hopping.

On top of that, for nearly three months straight, at least one family member was sick. The kids' school and church commitments had us running around like nut balls and the frenzy of the holidays just about pushed me over the edge.

Pie making moved to the bottom of my to-do list.

And besides glancing occasionally at the countdown app on my phone (184 days until the contest, by the way), I nearly forgot about my quest altogether -- so much so, when the holidays rolled around, instead of making a pie, I tried my hand at my first-ever chocolate cheesecake, which was ahh-mazing. So chocolaty, so rich -- pure heaven on a fork. (But I digress.)

So now with the holidays squarely behind me and work/kid stuff seeming more manageable, I look to the year ahead, renewing my commitment to sweep into that Fourth of July bake-off and kick some serious ass.

I'm going to approach the remaining six months methodically:

In January, I will experiment more in the cream pie category with the goal of perfecting a chocolate cream pie with raspberry coulis (my new favorite thing).

February through March, I need to get back to berries and find the perfect, not-too-seedy, berry combination.

April through May, it's do or die for finding the winning fruit pie submission.

And in June, I'll refine my apple pie recipe (it's pretty close now).

When I get back to work on Tuesday, I'll put in for vacation the week of the contest. I can't let a silly little thing like work get in the way.

Yes sir. It's gonna be a busy year.