Pie is such a gift. My wife died nearly ten years ago and soon afterwards, I took up pie baking, which is something that she loved to do (I just loved to eat it — since childhood I've had a birthday pie instead of cake). I had all the stuff, after all. I got good at it and love to share them with friends at gatherings, or even just give them away entirely. Right before COVID, I did a Friday Pie Day thing where I gifted a pie to someone in town based on social media discussions. One time, someone got it for her coworkers who had just shipped a tough release.
delichon 2 hours ago [-]
For me the change would be to become spherical. That would simplify some calculations.
magneticnorth 17 minutes ago [-]
Yes, me too. Reading the caveat "– and she would give each pie away" made a lot more sense.
It's a social commitment at least as much as a creative/culinary one, and since there aren't a lot of people you'd want to give a pie minus a slice to, that keeps the extra calories under control.
noboostforyou 54 minutes ago [-]
Do I exercise and eat healthy?
"Yes, I am in shape (round is a shape)"
CobrastanJorji 14 minutes ago [-]
The pie calculation for spherical you would be 3*volume / 4*radius^3.
CrazyStat 2 hours ago [-]
A friend of mine tries to bake a spherical pie for pi day (March 14) each year, with varying approaches (and levels of success).
fmbb 36 minutes ago [-]
I heard circles are also related to pi but have not had the time to confirm yet.
MrJohz 46 minutes ago [-]
The first two things that spring to mind are pasties from the UK (which are not usually spherical but can get quite hemispherical), and the "UFO-Döner" from Germany (which are more oblate spheroids). Maybe by combining these ideas, your friend can get closer to their dream?
walthamstow 31 minutes ago [-]
British steak and kidney pudding (a steamed pie of suet pastry) is a truncated cone shape, could go spherical with the right pastry case.
hinkley 1 hours ago [-]
Heating the middle has to be a pain. And cutting it…
_aavaa_ 1 hours ago [-]
Well if you insert metal rods through it you can help with the heat transfer, then you can lattice over the holes. If you pumpkin pie it, you might even be able to have it hold up under its own weight. Plus a bit of stiff whipped cream in the holes would help.
mordechai9000 54 minutes ago [-]
I would make them fairly small (personal pie-sized) and use a filling that doesn't need to be cooked in the oven to set. The main limiting factors, I think, would be structural integrity and heating the filling to the center. You could set it on a ring (like the rim of a spring-form pan) to support it better during cooking. Now, a four dimensional hyper pie, on the other hand...
reactordev 21 minutes ago [-]
I would bake it on a pizza stone to ensure an even bake.
Has nobody here ever done this? It comes out perfectly cooked.
_aavaa_ 39 minutes ago [-]
If you’re not cooking the filling, then do a teflon ballon that you put the crust on. Cook. Remove balloon. Then pipe in ready to ready to set chocolate cream.
thatguy0900 49 minutes ago [-]
If we don't care what the filling is you could just use sticky rice.
redundantly 27 minutes ago [-]
One could always precook the filling.
thot_experiment 2 hours ago [-]
half way there, now you just have to find the frictionless vacuum
gnatman 2 hours ago [-]
I’m of the belief that doing just about anything every single day for a year will change your life! A key for me has been to “lower the bar” so that I can keep the promise to myself and maintain momentum through days of low energy or enthusiasm, e.g. playing the guitar for 1 minute, or writing 1 sentence.
gloryjulio 6 minutes ago [-]
It's basically a form of meditation. It's a great way to get your life back on track
toxik 2 hours ago [-]
Similarly, just showing up at the gym/hobby/sport is huge. Even if you do next to nothing.
tom1337 25 minutes ago [-]
a stranger i once talked to at the gym told me "every workout is better than the workout you are not doing" and that kinda changed my perspective on that topic.
Insanity 2 hours ago [-]
Yeah I go bouldering even on off days to “stay in the rhythm”. And I do have honestly terrible days where I feel I’m struggling climbs of even a grade below my comfort level, but at least I went lol.
pavel_lishin 2 hours ago [-]
The best form of exercise is the one you can consistently stick with.
For me, that got shot down in flames over the winter because I kept getting sick. :/
irishcoffee 2 hours ago [-]
Someone said it, I forget who: 90% of life is just showing up
idontwantthis 1 hours ago [-]
Especially true for friendship. If you want friends, all you have to do is be in the same place with the same people regularly.
its-kostya 6 minutes ago [-]
The sarcastic individual in me saw the title and thought "heh, and you got diabetes?" But I was pleasantly surprised after reading it about how wholesome this was.
jdthedisciple 4 minutes ago [-]
Refreshing. There truly is an almost mysterious bliss hidden in giving.
profsummergig 10 minutes ago [-]
I decided to make rotis every day for a month (am male of Indian origin who hadn't ever cooked breads), AND eat them. The first one was completely inedible. The 30th day's rotis were edible, but nothing like what women in my family make. But still, edible.
Eventually had the confidence to experiment with making Naan.
This led to experimenting with Asian-style Pot-Stickers.
The main benefit to me was confidence, and belief in pmarca's "you can just do things".
sosodev 2 hours ago [-]
I challenge each and every one of you to make a pie by the end of the month.
I made one, for the first time in my life, last week. It brought me tremendous joy not only to make it, but to have something nice to share with friends.
RankingMember 24 minutes ago [-]
Even broader, honestly. Make something culinary! It's amazing what the simple tactile experience of making something can bring when so much of our existence is doing things by proxy.
Waterluvian 1 hours ago [-]
I did this recently, and you know what I really loved about it? It's a great entry-level baking activity where the upside is that you have a pie (something you can gift or just eat!) and the downside is that you have a sort of cobbler.
You really can't !@#$ up a pie. Omelette is another good one. At worse you have scrambled eggs.
I mean, yes, at worse you burn your neighbourhood down and your dog runs away. But in terms of the more likely failure modes like screwing up the dough, breaking it, messing up how watery it is, etc. you can mostly just keep baking until it's done, mix it up, put into bowls, serve with ice cream, down the hatch.
Cerium 1 hours ago [-]
Do it! Making a pie might seem unapproachable, but it will all work out. I have never failed to make a pie that brought some happiness into the world.
98codes 2 hours ago [-]
I already did for October, November (twice), and December. Does that count?
recursive 1 hours ago [-]
It would have if you hadn't asked. But as it stands now, I regret to inform you that you'll need to make another pie.
98codes 1 hours ago [-]
OK then... let's see, it's citrus season -- meyer lemon meringue it is, with a swiss meringue[1] of course.
As someone who loves pie and has far fewer friends and family than the person this story is about, baking a pie every day for a year would also change my life.
imgabe 42 minutes ago [-]
If you just place the pie to cool on your window sill, the smell will cause some nearby hobos to float over, or so cartoons have lead me to believe. Then you'll have some friends.
worldsavior 2 hours ago [-]
Friends are always attainable via purchase.
embedding-shape 2 hours ago [-]
Also neighbours tend to be very glad to receive free stuff :) I usually end up with way too many Basil plants every season and give them away, gotten to know some new neighbours that way!
adzm 41 minutes ago [-]
Do you have neighbors?
rwmj 2 hours ago [-]
I started practising guitar every day and it didn't change my life but I have a lot of fun doing it.
amelius 22 minutes ago [-]
If AI continues like this, we can all retire and bake pies all day long.
9864247888754 11 minutes ago [-]
Number 7 will shock you!
nozzlegear 29 minutes ago [-]
I would love a pumpkin pie right now. But I'd settle for pecan.
jancsika 54 minutes ago [-]
To be more precise: she baked breadbowls and calzones. :)
munificent 2 hours ago [-]
A very timely article when many of us are wondering if AI will eventually push us out of a digital career into something else.
kaon_2 2 hours ago [-]
I am hearing rumors that B2B sales is rebounding back to more in-person meetings. Cold emails don't work anymore. I've heard similar tales of current teens early-twenties that there is a trend of doing things in real life again. But... more likely if you start measuring it people are more reclusive than ever, and doing things that used to be normal is now considered "niche and trendy". Our sales process at least is very online-meeting oriented...
zabzonk 1 hours ago [-]
Nah, that's not a pie! [brandishes a Yorkshire meat and potato pie] Now, that's a pie.
It's a social commitment at least as much as a creative/culinary one, and since there aren't a lot of people you'd want to give a pie minus a slice to, that keeps the extra calories under control.
"Yes, I am in shape (round is a shape)"
Has nobody here ever done this? It comes out perfectly cooked.
For me, that got shot down in flames over the winter because I kept getting sick. :/
Eventually had the confidence to experiment with making Naan.
This led to experimenting with Asian-style Pot-Stickers.
The main benefit to me was confidence, and belief in pmarca's "you can just do things".
I made one, for the first time in my life, last week. It brought me tremendous joy not only to make it, but to have something nice to share with friends.
I mean, yes, at worse you burn your neighbourhood down and your dog runs away. But in terms of the more likely failure modes like screwing up the dough, breaking it, messing up how watery it is, etc. you can mostly just keep baking until it's done, mix it up, put into bowls, serve with ice cream, down the hatch.
[1] https://www.seriouseats.com/easy-swiss-meringue-recipe
Apologies to Crocodile Dundee.