Eclipsing Our Expectations.

It is a safe start to our conversation to say that Slice and Serve Saturday completely eclipsed our expectations.  PUN COMPLETELY INTENDED BECAUSE WE COULD NOT HELP OURSELVES.

But in all seriousness, Slice and Serve Saturday was a tremendous success.  Jeanne and I clearly excel at the BIG IDEAS, but often falter in the logistics and details...so I drove in early Saturday morning on the hinge of an anxiety breakdown when I started thinking about not only making all of the pies, but slicing and labeling them all as well.  So I did what any rational person would do...I named Jeanne the President of The Slicing Division.  While we baked all the pies, she sliced for a few hours until Mac could join along.  And I envied neither of them.  Because cutting a nine-inch pie into five generous slices falls just outside of my skill set.

Without question, the hardest part of the day was figuring out how much to make of everything.  And for the next time, I think a stronger focus into the more uncommon pies would be a good move.  We quickly sold out of Chocolate Banana, Almond Rum Raspberry, and Sour Cream Raisin.  We had requests for really different pies in the slices...like Lemon Chiffon and Egg Custard.  We did make a whole lot of people happy with just-out-of-the-oven Pumpkin Pie.  (Personally, I'm not ready to smell nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger spices without a cold chill running up my spine.  Because Thanksgiving.)

I think what really set this event apart though from anything else PJP has ever done is that WE HAD OURSELVES TOGETHER.  We were prepped for open and we had more than enough product to keep us going until our 4 pm close...my best guess is we sold just around 800 slices of pie.  And no one - Team PJP or otherwise - cried out of frustration or exhaustion.  And this can only mean one thing...my baby PJP is growing up.  Tears.

Also, we all had fun...which should always be our goal, right?  (And also, we traded El Maguey...pies for tacos and chips and salsa, making the best family lunch EVER).  And our customers genuinely seemed to enjoy a break from our regular baby pie and nine-inch pie routine. So will Slice and Serve Saturday happen again?  Of course.  When?  Probably when one of us thinks of it again and remembers to order the slice containers.  But not around Thanksgiving, gulp.