How to Host a Pie Making Ladies Lunch

The holidays are right around the corner!  Can you believe it?!  It feels like I was just making Ugly Christmas Sweaters with my girlfriends and here we are, prepping for another holiday season.

With Thanksgiving only a couple of weeks away, I thought it would be fun to host a pie making ladies lunch with my girlfriends.

My friend Heather is our resident Pie Queen at Jenny Cookies Bake Shop, so I asked her if she’d lead our pie making for the afternoon.   If you have a Pie Queen in your life, ask her if she’ll come share her tips and tricks!  If not, I’ll be sharing several pie recipes in the next few days that are simple to replicate for your own Pie Making Ladies Lunch!

Even though you’ll be baking together, you’ll want to have plenty of snacks.  My favorite way to feed guests is by charcuterie!  My sister Emily is  the epitome of charcuterie chic, so she created the most gorgeous spread of fruits, meats and cheeses for us to nibble on throughout the day.

 

 

Cheese and fruit plates are always a hit with guests.  Pair your favorite cheeses with crackers, bite size fruits and yummy meats.  Spread the assortment on cake plates, trays and bowls.  I used a few of my marble cake plates and a mix and match variety of some of my favorite napkins (from Minted).

 

 

To keep carving away at our holiday to do-list, I had each guest bring a family photo so that we could get our holiday cards done.  My favorite stationary company, Minted, is offering free card design this season.  It’s simple to do, just text your photo to them and they’ll respond with a variety of cards with your holiday photo!

 

 

 

Within an hour of texting our photos, we each received 5 holiday card designs selected for each photo.  It saved hours of browsing card designs and we were able to check cards off our to-do list!  Get more info here: Text us your photo.

While we waited for our card designs and prepped for our pie making, I kept everyone’s glasses full of Lolea.  I’m an all-about-presentation kind of girl, so Lolea’s drinks are that and more!  Their fruity sangria’s are delicious and darling.  I topped them with sprigs of rosemary, chopped apples and sugared cranberries for a decorative touch.

 

 

 

To keep the mood relaxing and fun, make sure you have music!  We listened to a combination of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra from a vintage record player.  It was the perfect ambiance for the day!

While the ovens were pre-heating, we got to work.  Aprons and/or oven mitts make fun party favors for your girlfriends.  I had coordinating  aprons for each gal to tie on (from Minted) with matching oven mitts.  Heather shared her best tips and tricks for making no-fail pie dough and simple recipes for show stopping pies.

 

To replicate a pie making ladies lunch, it’s helpful to have the pie crust ready in the  refrigerator  before your guests arrive.  Any pre-baking preparations you can do is a time saver and allows for more baking and decorating fun!

 

 

 

 

 

We each made a different flavor pie, topped with our own creativity.

We used pie plungers to decorate parts or all of the pie tops (easy to source on Amazon) and braided pieces for a plaid look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We made a variety of pies from berry pies to pumpkin pie.  It was fun to see each pie completed and the best part.. taste test!!

 

 

Stay tuned for our simple pie recipes and directions, coming to the blog this week!  I’ll be posting a new pie recipe each day!

What’s your favorite holiday pie flavor?

Photos by Kelly Clare Photography

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