You’re in luck…the pie-luck is here.

Unfortunately, I’m not on the pie-wagon. I don’t really like pie. I would always choose apple crisp over apple pie. But, I do like parties. So, when my friend sent me an invitation for the First Annual Pie-luck it was an easy decision.

The bigger challenge was, what to make. I knew it had to be round and “pie-ish”. But that leaves a lot of room for experimentation. I do feel my disregard for pie, as a special dish, may have hampered my creativity. But I still came up with a couple of offerings to share with friends.

I flipped through all of my cookbooks, checked Foodgawker and Tastespotting for inspiration, before deciding on a raw, mini coconut “s’more” pie. The recipe components came from Entertaining in the Raw. The crust is made from almond and oat flour, cinnamon and agave. The filling is coconut oil, cashews, agave, coconut meat, vanilla and cinnamon. I drizzled a rich chocolate sauce on top to balance out this sweet treat. I enjoyed the flavours in all of the components but I definitely left the crust in my dehydrator too long. They were much too crisp.

At the last minute I decided that I needed to bring a savoury option as well. So, I looked in my pantry and found the ginger garlic granola and came up with a plan. Spicy Thai Pie! I made a crust from the ginger garlic granola, spread on a layer of cashew cheese and sprinkled on a crunchy topping of ground up Thai Macaroons. It was a unique creation, with complex flavours and nice hit of heat.

At the pie-luck it was clear that my feelings about pie were in the minority. The fans of these crusty confections arrived one after another with plates and appetites in tow. There was an incredibly diverse selection, including: frozen peanut butter pie with berry coulee, broccoli tofu quiche, mini boston creme pies, classic blueberry pie, pizze pie, pecan pie, pot pie with biscuit topping, and chocolate banana pie.

I love that without instruction or assignment, we all brought something unique to the party. I guess that’s what makes for a wonderful celebration – a gathering of great friends, incredible food and time to debate whether chocolate or peanut butter is the superior dessert ingredient.

Colleen – you are one fantastic pie-loving host.

Have you ever had a theme pot-luck? I remember reading about Amey’s rainbow themed pot-luck during Vegan MoFo. I hope to use that idea when Toronto breaks out of the winter blahs and welcomes back our colourful summer bounty.