This is the last week of classes! Hurray! Hurrah!

Yes, in answer to your question. Teachers are much more excited about the end of school than the students. For two months, we can keep normal hours and not spend our days talking kids into learning. Sounds like a win to me! And let’s not forget the ice cream.

My summers are spent with ice cream. Whether I’m eating it straight up or incorporating it into another dessert, life is grand. This frozen peanut butter ice cream pie is made with Blue Bunny® Homemade Vanilla ice cream, and you will not want to miss one bite!

The first time I ever tried Blue Bunny® ice cream was at summer camp. School was out and I was feeling free and easy, but that all changed when I went to a sleep-away camp full of kids I didn’t know. It was really intimidating, and it threw my 12 year-old world into chaos.

I’d like to say that it was the best summer ever, because that would be a good ending, right? The truth is always more complicated than that, but I did learn a lot. And I can totally credit some of my more introspective summer moments that year to Blue Bunny® ice cream.

See, we got to have a scoop of it after dinner, and it was probably my favorite part of the day. I’d take my bowl of ice cream down to the lake (which was, of course, freezing to swim in) and sit on the edge. I’d savor the ice cream slowly, staring at the water and having all the idealistic summer dreams that a girl can have. You know, about what life will be someday, when we’re all grown up and have the perfect life. All that kid dream stuff.

Summers are for dreaming, after all. The school year makes it hard to do anything but work nonstop, but in the summer, anything is possible. The evenings are full of pinkish gold sunsets, and the mornings dawn bright and full of promise. How can anyone not love that?

For that matter, how can anyone not love ice cream? There are some pretty incredible flavors that I couldn’t resist buying when I was at Walmart this past week, like Blue Bunny® Salted Caramel Craze and Blue Bunny® Peanut Butter Party. The packaging is clear so that you can actually see the swirls in the ice cream flavors, so start swooning now. I’m totally hosting an ice cream party with my kids to celebrate the end of school this week. We’ll have to turn the sprinkler on, too.

This pie incorporates the timeless simplicity of Blue Bunny® Homemade Vanilla ice cream with my two loves, chocolate and peanut butter. Set in a chocolate cookie crust, the ice cream is mixed with peanut butter, filled with chocolate chips, and topped with irresistibly fun Smucker’s Magic Shell Chocolate Fudge Flavored Topping. I don’t know about you, but the creamy ice cream combined with the crunch of the chocolate is my version of heaven.

School is finally out, and we’re celebrating with ice cream. Is there any better way to do it? Bring on the fun with Blue Bunny® ice cream and awesome summer memories!

That’s right, kids. Monday, March 14th is the happiest of all national holidays, the day Americans celebrate what is truly important in life: PIE!

My school is having a pie extravaganza today, and this baby here is my contribution to the effort. Somebody stop me before I eat it all up. On the other hand…nah, don’t. Let me do some damage here. We’ve got an Oreo crust, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and crushed Thin Mints. It’s the easiest pie ever, and might be the most delicious.

Now that DC has soared into spring (and summer, might I add, with 80-degree temps), I’m all about the ice cream again. This past week I hit up the fro yo shop across from my work three times. THREE. Honestly, not much beats a giant cup of frozen yogurt covered in chocolate and candy.

I was, however, dumb enough to mention my excursions in the presence of my five year-old. The second she learned I’d been fro-yoing with out her, she got really upset. I totally get it, because I would, too. But how do I explain to her little self that (to loosely quote the all-knowing Sex and the City) Mommy needs two hands to eat her six-dollar dessert?

It’s not just two hands. There is little more rewarding than sitting outside in the sunshine with birds twittering everywhere. Tweeting? Twittering? Social media has confused my knowledge of bird sounds.

Most people hate Monday, but I’ve always been a fan of new beginnings, new hope. By the time the week ends, all I want to do is stagger toward my bed and take a break. But by Monday, I’ve forgotten the sleep deprivation and exhaustion of the work week and I’m raring to go again.

That is especially true in warm weather. It’s so much easier to go out when it’s not freezing and dark. Though with springing forward this weekend, it’s dark again.

But hey, who cares about that when it’s Pi Day? Pi. Day. I’m so excited!

This pie is purposely simple. Who wants to be working hard in the kitchen on such a happy holiday? Aside from the Oreo crust (which is simplicity itself, really), this pie is just about the assembly. You soften the ice cream, add some Thin Mint pieces, put it into a crust and put more Thin Mint bling on top. The end.

Happy Pi Day, everyone! Be sure to enjoy the day, whether you’re having an early spring or not. It’s going to be a great week!

This crust, fellow dessert lovers, is the one. While traditional key lime pie has graham cracker crust, this one is made of ground almonds and white chocolate. Do you want to guess which crust is better?

If you guessed graham cracker, you are just plain wrong. This pie crust is just beyond all my wildest expectations and dreams. It’s such a perfect base for tart, creamy key lime filling. That’s what I get for thinking creatively!

You can look at gluten-free desserts in one of two ways. One way, they’re a lesser version of an original recipe, often higher in sugar and ultimately disappointing. I don’t truck with that. I never have, and I never will.

The other way makes much more sense. Use natural ingredients (the less processed the better), don’t add extra fat or sugar, and come away with a dessert that’s not trying to be a faded copy of its gluten-laded counterpart. In other words, change the script. Change the rules. Be inventive. It might involve more thinking up front, but it sure does pay off.

Whenever I eat key lime pie, I think about the first time I ever tasted it. I was all of 25, dating Kenny, and we’d gone on our first vacation together to Florida. Our rationale was that if we went to a town full of retirees, we’d be the hottest people there. And it kind of worked!

Our flight was massively delayed (we were dumb enough to go on December 26th), so when we finally got to the hotel, we were exhausted. All we had energy for was the hotel restaurant, which happened to be on the water. Not half bad, right? I ordered a margarita and a slice of key lime pie, my very first.

It was nothing short of magical. The whole day of delayed flights and missed connections just melted away. I was in the warm Floridian night air, staring at the man I was falling in love with, drinking a perfect frozen drink and eating the best pie ever. Since that night, key lime pie has been a favorite.

It makes perfect sense, then, that I make a key lime pie that Kenny can actually eat without getting an upset stomach. This crust is not only gluten-free, but it’s one of my favorite pie crusts this season. And you all know that I’ve made a lot of pie crust over the past month.

It’s pretty simple: you take ground almond or almond meal (make it yourself or buy a bag at Trader Joe’s for cheap) and mix it with a melted white chocolate and butter combo. Add in some brown sugar for caramelized goodness, and you’re golden!

The crust is a sweet base for the notoriously tangy filling. Key lime pie is typically a warmer weather dessert, but I like to get a taste of Florida as I’m baking pie after pie for Thanksgiving. It’s a refreshing yet unpredictable option for your holiday table. If you want to wow your GF-eating friends with a showstopper pie, this is the one!

For weeks, I test out pie recipe after pie recipe, putting my very favorites right here on JAB for all to enjoy. But when the big day comes, I have to decide which pies to put on the table. So far, I’m committed to a Dutch apple pie with oat crust and some kind of cookie pie, as well as my pumpkin ganache pie. But that leaves two pies up in the air, plus a non-pie dessert. I’m thinking Kahlua cake.

These little guys are certainly a serious contender. They’re small enough to be portion-controlled (though who wants that on Thanksgiving?), and they have just the right amount of both chocolate and pumpkin. Plus, they’re elegant. I’m quite a fan.

I was busy watching an episode of Next Great Baker this morning while I whipped up some ganache. First of all, I love that show, but I love baking while I watch that show even more. If you’re not familiar, a posse of bakers vie for the grand prize from Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro, which usually includes a whole lotta cash as well as a chance to work at Carlo’s Bakery. The bakers have to be smart and talented, but they also have to move very fast.

The show really should be called Next Great Cake Decorator, because that’s the focus. I’ve seen many a clearly talented baker get booted because a cake failed. Sometimes the flaws are structural, but often, it’s that the decorating just doesn’t go that well. I have a lot of faith in my baking skills, but I’d never do that well on the show because my fondant skills just…aren’t.  I don’t even like fondant.

What Buddy should totally do is a Next Great Baking Blogger show. I’d watch that, and I bet some of you would, too. We could all vie for some awesome prize, like Queen of the Baking World. I’ve always wanted a crown. Or heck, we could also compete for cold hard cash. I like that, too.

While I was watching this morning, I saw these two huge, jacked-up bakers from New Jersey flexing their various muscle groups and looking so proud of their ability to lift gigantic cakes. And all I could think about was how proud they were of their hugeness. I’ve always been petite, and I’m cool with that. So I guess we love what we relate to. They love their giant cake, and I love my little pies.

These are so cute, and of course, they aren’t just pumpkin. They’re chocolate pumpkin. To make the filling, you literally melt chocolate and add it to all the standard pumpkin pie ingredients. The result is pretty noteworthy. The pie tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, but there’s that added richness of the chocolate. If you’ve never tried it, I urge you to give it a shot.

I used refrigerated dough, rolling out little circles and placing them in a muffin tin. In went the filling, and after baking and a night of chilling, I piped a lattice design on top with hot fudge. If you never use hot fudge for decorating, you should. It comes out more slowly than melted chocolate, giving you more control over the final look.

Even as I write this, I’m itching to get back to Next Great Baker. I’m so much more productive in the kitchen when I can bake right along with a whole slew of hyper-competitive dessert chefs. Or cake decorators. Whatever they are, they’re fun. And so are these little tiny pies! Try to work both into your life, if you possibly can.

As Thanksgiving looms ever closer, I can’t stop baking pie. All of them are contenders for the big day, but it’s going to be hard to pick the best ones. I’ve always had such a hard time with the concept of “favorite” dessert.

I mean, come on. How are we supposed to pick an ultimate winner when so many desserts are so wonderful? And pie is the happiest of all holiday treats. Still, if I had to start expressing preferences, this pie would be up there. It’s a traditional pumpkin pie with a thick layer of chocolate ganache on top. Needless to say, it’s a winner.

Picking favorites is super easy with some things, but not with others. My favorite boots? Easy. I hate to be what my students call “basic” (i.e. predictable and unexciting), but I love Uggs. They’re warm and toasty, not to mention comfortable. The first time I saw them, I thought they were crazy ugly. But now, not at all. Or maybe I’ve just stopped caring, because they encase my feet and legs like a cloud of joy.

When it comes to listing favorite foods, though, I’m totally lost. I really hate it when people come and say, “Hey, you’re a baker. What’s your favorite thing to bake?” Aaaaah. Truth? No clue. My big thing about blogging is doing something new and creative every single time. If I wanted to make the same thing over and over, I’d work at Starbucks.

Besides, how are you supposed to pick a favorite? We’ve got chocolate of all kinds. Cookies. Brownies. Cake. Pie. I just cannot make decisions. And any bar cookie is my friend. It’s not a fair question. When it comes to non-dessert food, I’ll take a medium-rare steak and sushi any day, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other friends I love just as much.

My kids are much simpler. Their favorites are clearly delineated for my own information. Chicken nuggets. Hot dogs. French fries. How predictable is that?

I guess I shouldn’t fault my kids for wanting standard favorites. After all, what is pumpkin pie if not a traditional holiday standard? I just played with this one a little bit, and it paid off!

What we have here is a totally traditional pumpkin pie with a very easy topping. I made the ganache in the microwave in about a minute. It’s so incredibly simple. I also decided to use a frozen pie crust because, after all, I love frozen pie crust. I’ll be making plenty of pie crust over the next two weeks. For this, a little cheating doesn’t hurt.

Once this pie is ready to eat, it hits all the right spots. It’s creamy, it’s chocolatey, and most of all, it’s a perfect twist on a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. I won’t ask if it’s going to be one of your favorites because when it comes to food, that’s kind of a dumb question. But I hope you love it as much as I did!

A few of you out there are still looking for ways to use up so-called “leftover” candy. I don’t really get that concept. It’s not chicken, people. It’s not gonna go bad that fast. Eat it and enjoy at your leisure.

But heck, if you really want to bake it into something, make a pookie! This lovely cookie dough is filled with all your Halloween candy favorites and baked into a pie shell. With Thanksgiving looming, we should be getting our pie thing going anyway. Let’s do a hybrid holiday treat!

To be honest, I’m relieved to be in November. October is just a terrifying month, and not just because of people banging on your door demanding candy. Grades are due in my school system on November first, and so are college recommendations. I’m just happy that these weights are lifting from my shoulders.

Now I can focus on lifting real weights, which I do faithfully. Still, there’s this area under my arm. I hesitate to use the word “flaps” because it’s not empowering. But with all the triceps work I do and all those painful push-ups with my hands shaped like a diamond, why don’t I have arms like Madonna? Probably the pie.

There have been times that I get frustrated at the parts of my body that don’t tone as easily as others. But lately, I’ve also been trying to focus on the good stuff. My abs are really responsive to training, and that means I need to stop complaining. Why are we so inclined to focus on the stuff that isn’t as great and not spend time enjoying what we love about ourselves?

That said, if I ever became rich, I would hire the following in a heartbeat: a personal trainer, a personal chef (just on retainer for those days I don’t wanna cook), and a hairdresser, not on retainer. Because I need hair help every single day. I wouldn’t even think about redoing the house or anything until these three people were part of my daily routine. And you know, it would be cool to have an assistant too, just to keep track of my appointments and all.

Anyone out there willing to make my dream come true? I will totally bake for you every day if you make me rich. I do that anyway. No matter how rich I got, I would bake. It just makes me so darn happy.

Like this pookie here. Who can turn away from this? Not me, I can tell ya. The trick is to make sure you don’t bake this guy for too long, or the whole thing goes from slightly gooey and joyously chewy to dry and hard. Watch that oven timer!

Listen, I don’t need recipes for leftover candy. In my house, it’s called eating it. But I understand if you do, and I hear where you’re coming from. So go ahead and eat your candy in a pookie! It’s almost as nice as being rich and having your own personal staff.

In my world, pie lives or dies by the crust. In other words, I don’t bother with pies that have mediocre crusts. That’s why this puppy has its own unique pecan shortbread crust. It’s so good.

Pecan pie isn’t something I discovered until my college days, but I’ve made up for plenty of lost time. And I’ve added chocolate to the mix, which is never a problem. At least, not for me. But you can leave it out if you like. Cue my sad face.

I need some tofu help, y’all. Whenever we go out, I really love eating tofu. It’s tasty with the right sauces and prepared well. But mine is not that good. See, I don’t like covering my tofu in sugary sauce, and that’s often the best way to make it. And I also don’t deep fry anything, ever. So can you guys share some of your tofu wisdom with me? I need something quick and easy.

Dinner is a challenge, not gonna lie. Every week, I come up with a dinner plan for each night based on everyone’s preferences. My son is a lost cause, since he eats pretty much two things in life. I work around Kenny’s gluten-free thing, my own aversion to beans, and the fact that we follow a kosher diet, which has a very long list of restrictions.

Truth be told, I’m tired of planning dinner, and I’m only ten years into life as someone who has to cook every night for other people. A small part of me misses the days when I was single and dinner could be a brownie, or half a bag of chips, or nothing. Sometimes I just napped through dinner and watched TV until bed.

How many of you really love planning dinner? When it comes to baking dessert, I’ll do it anytime. But dinner isn’t as much of a creative process, and therefore, it’s a chore. Plus, there are always kids needing help with homework or just jockeying for attention while dinner has to magically be made.

So, back to tofu. Any ideas? It’s gotta be vegetarian, not hard, no beans. Help me out here!

One thing I don’t need any help with is pie. One of the first pies I ever baked was a pecan pie because they’re so easy. Just mix and pour. No problem!

To spice things up a bit, this pecan shortbread crust is the base, and you will need a pastry blender or willing hands to make the texture of the crust crumbly before pressing it into the pie pan. But really, that’s the hardest part, and it’s not that bad.

I dumped a lot of chocolate chips in here, thus creating the melty goodness, and photographed this pie right out of the oven, since pecan pie is good warm. But if you want it to set up more, the chips float to the top along with the pecans while the bottom layer of pie is that sticky, gooey filling. However you like to eat the pie, do it that way. I chilled this after the photo shoot because I actually like my pie cold. Don’t mock.

Some cooking is a chore, but not all of it. Tofu and dinner planning might not be my bag, but I’ll make a pie any day. Who’s with me?

Apple pie has always been a little bit of a seasonal question mark for me. It comes out at Thanksgiving, so that would suggest that it’s an autumnal food. But then it also comes out for summer potlucks, and that makes it…summer food? Instead of remaining confused, I’ve decided that apple pie is American, delicious, and year-round.

Slab pie is even better. That’s when you bake pie into a square or rectangular pan instead of a pie plate. Nothing is more satisfying than a lovely rectangular slab of apple pie. That is, of course, unless you up the ante. This apple slab pie is covered in Hannah Max oatmeal raisin cookie chips crumble, and it’s impossible to stop eating.

When my son saw me opening a cookie chips bag this morning, his eyes lit up. “Oatmeal raisin? Yay, my favorite!” No, I still don’t understand how this child is related to me. I head straight for the chocolate chip. But while he was busy surreptitiously pulling cookie chips out of the bag as I baked and pretended not to notice, I grabbed a couple too. I’m not normally an oatmeal raisin girl, but these? I can make an exception for these.

The thing is, I’m not sure we ever truly know ourselves. That applies to food preferences, which change over time, and just who we are in general, which changes even more. I used to be all about striving for perfection and being invincible. I thought those were characteristics that a modern woman should have.

Turns out, life and time along with motherhood have been pretty big game-changers. Not only do I no longer want to be perfect, but I think it’s actually a flaw to strive for flawlessness. Good enough is, well, good enough. I say that a lot. And perfect sure is boring. As for being invincible, well, that’s just stupid. We shouldn’t walk around being super vulnerable all the time, sure. But when did seeming completely imperturbable become the thing to do? It can be stronger to show our human side sometimes.

Like, I epic fail in baking. A lot. And these photos were hard to take. So there. I just shared.

Luckily, the recipe today was not an epic fail at all. While I’m not usually the biggest apple pie girl, I could not stop eating this. The bottom crust is made from my five-minute, no equipment needed pie dough. It’s easy and amazing. The middle is apple pie filling. Nope, I’m not going to stand around peeling and slicing in summer. There’s a beach chair outside with my name on it, and life is short. The top is a simple crumble made up of broken oatmeal raisin cookie chips, butter and sugar. That’s it.

Inside of half an hour, the best apple slab pie ever will be in front of you, begging for vanilla ice cream on top. But it’s pretty dang good plain, too. Besides, even though I wasn’t expecting this to be a dessert I ate way too much of, life is fun like that. We might change over time, but that’s a good thing. Our tastes change and so do our expectations of ourselves, and both bring us closer and closer to the elusive question of who, deep down, we really are.

No, I’m not confused. I realize that I’m four days late. It happens, okay?

Here’s the thing. It’s always so much more fun to celebrate a holiday once it’s over. Example: your birthday comes and goes, but there’s that one friend who forgot or was out of town, so they take you out a week later and celebrate. It’s so nice to keep the party going!

Or think about the holiday season. Last year, I got overloaded with holiday goodies. I write a ton of college recommendations, so the treats really flow in right before winter break begins. I remember staring at a peanut butter brownie layer cake, a batch of brownies, five bags of Lindt truffles, two boxes of Godiva truffles, and a chocolate cheesecake, wondering what on earth I was going to do with it all.

But sure enough, two weeks later, I had no treats around and I was really wishing that some of my students could have given me their holiday gifts late. Why not?

That’s a dangerous question, by the way. Never ask “why not?” unless you’re prepared for a brutally truthful response. Usually, there’s a reason why not. Just trust me on that one.

So, on this belated Pi Day, I chose to use up my remaining box of Girl Scout cookies. Oh, the things I do for you. But don’t worry, because I ate plenty of this Tagalong Pie. It’s full of peanut butter chocolate ganache and Tagalongs. How could I resist?

And even better, I made this pie a full day after actual Pi Day, which means that it made me very happy. I felt as though Pi Day (the perfect no strings attached holiday, mind you) were still going on. It was perfect.

This pie is also made with my tricked-out graham cracker crust, so be sure and check out how that’s done in the recipe below. I guarantee your life will change. And what better way to celebrate Pi Day? Later is better. Don’t forget that!

Before that starts, though, I wanted to make sure your holiday pie plans are all set. The week of Thanksgiving I shared four pie recipes with you, but there are so many more that I love. Here’s a review of my favorites!

First up is this Peanut Butter Oreo Pie. Honestly, this might be my favorite thing that I’ve made all year. I don’t usually pick and choose, but I couldn’t stop eating this. Instead of giving at least half away, which is my usual modus operandi, I kept this thing and hid it from everyone else. Slice after slice made its way into me, and I missed it like an old friend once it was gone.

Luckily, it’s easy to make! Most of my pie recipes don’t require knocking yourself out. Even the fanciest pies, like this Strawberry Cream Pie, don’t require crazy amounts of effort. I made this at the end of the school year as a celebration, and unfortunately, my fellow teachers destroyed it before I even got a slice. So not cool!

If you’re a food blogger and you want to taste your own food before it leaves your kitchen (which is pretty much a requirement), then the most fun part of the job is taking pictures of a slice and then eating that slice, bit by bit, after the photo shoot is over. With this Peanut Butter Cup Cheesepake (not a typo!), I more shoveled it into my mouth. This pie/cheesecake hybrid had me. I was powerless to resist it, most especially because I melted peanut butter chips directly into the graham cracker crust. Can we say crack, anyone?

Most recently, I’ve been obsessed with my Chocolate Linzer Tart. There are two slices left in my freezer, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be gone by tomorrow. This big guy was the sleeper star of our Thanksgiving table, and the crust is one of the best I’ve ever made. It’s flaky, crumbly, and buttery. You can’t go wrong.

I plan to make a lot more pie, but let’s face it. This time of year is the best for good pie recipes, and then we have a bit of a dry spell until summer pie season, when all those amazing fruits burst forth. If you’re looking for something a little different than the typical winter pie, try one of these!