Week #25 February 14 - 20

At Trader Joe's, they had some great look avocados, so I decided to get some and make an avocado pie. On an aside, I've really been enjoying shopping at TJ's lately. But back to the pie at hand. So the avocado pie is made in the same vein as a key lime pie, but I didn't have any idea how it would taste.

I went about using this recipe. It was definitely a winner.

The cream cheese gave it a nice creamy base, but it wasn't heavy like a cheese-cake type pie that I've made in the past. As for the taste, it has hints of both avocado and lime, with a slightly sweet finish. I made it for our regular Thursday night Dinner Club, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Week #24 February 7 - 13

For Valentine's Day coming up, this week I made a chocolate-strawberry pie on Sunday, and brought it into work on Monday. The pie had a regular crust, with a chocolate filling. Topped with a layer of strawberries, and then whipped cream. Here is the recipe.

The layer of chocolate was good, but a problem that I had was that it was very stiff. It used a whole package of mini-marshmallows with the melted chocolate. Even after I cooled it, and whipped it to fluff it up, it still didn't seem to get a lighter texture that I was looking for.

Unfortunately, I had the opposite problems with the strawberries. I cooked a portion of them, and then added some whole. But the didn't thicken the way I would have liked to. So I had a too firm layer of chocolate, topped with a too liquid layer of strawberries.

But, my co-workers appeared to enjoy it. I would try this pie again, but use a different recipe.

Week #23 January 31 - February 6

This week I made a banana cream pie. I will cut to the chase, and say that it was an epic failure. The taste was good, but it ended up being a banana cream pudding in a crust. I'm not going to put the recipe, because it isn't worth it.

On an aside, I made a mixed berry pie for the Super Bowl. Turned out awesome. I let the berries thaw more than last time. I also used a teaspoon of corn starch to thicken up the filling.

Week #22 January 24 - 30

This week I wanted to make something a little different, and went with a Mint Oreo pie. I found a recipe for regular Oreo pie, and simply substituted mint Oreo's for regular ones in the filling. I also exchanged real whipped cream for the cool whip.



This pie seems to be a big hit the two times I've made it. I used my smaller pie tin, which works better for the Oreo crust. The pie has a more cheesecake like consistency than most other pies I've made.

One last thing, I like using recipes from actual brand websites. A lot of times I feel like they've been tested more extensively than other recipes, and tend to have good overall results.