First pie of the year.  I meant to start this blog in January, but it just didn't work out that way.

I had my heart set on calling this blog Pie on Sunday, but that name is already taken.  Sooooooooo, we'll go with "Listen to me, Pie Lady."  The inversion of that quote is used in the sweet film, "Waitress" where Old Joe says to our heroine, Jenna, "Pie Lady, listen to me."  It's a moment of great importance:  A man at the end of his life of missed chances trying to open the eyes of a young person and redirect her from his path of regret.  It's a warning of the utmost importance.

I can't find a clip of YouTube of that great exchangeb(about at 1 hr, 21 minutes into the movie), but here's the movie trailer.  You can get a tiny piece of it around 2:04.

O.K., so here's Egg and Grog Pie from "The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book" by Emily and Melissa Elsen out of Brooklyn, NY by way of North Dakota.  This is the first book I will start with on my pie sojourn.  I'm not really much of a "cake" girl, by pie and pastry, have always been my loves.  And if you have gluten problems, don't let it stop you from having these delicious items.  Substitutions are everywhere!

Please, please try to use freshly grated nutmeg.  The fragrant difference and taste is overwhelming!

I like to use "baker's sugar" when baking...it blends so much more easily.

My poor box of Maldon sea salt has seen better days!

Flaky goodness!  I grind it up between my fingers before adding.

Vanilla bean paste-so delicious.  It doesn't thin the batter, but rather adds viscosity to it.

See all those vanilla bean flecks?  Heady!

The gingersnap crust starting to come together.

Oh, yes.  Heavy whipping cream, and 3 eggs, and...

I kid you not.  This black spiced rum was in my cabinet way before I turned to this recipe.  But, when I did, this same bottle is pictured in the book!  AMAZING!  I will admit, I was captivated by the label first--I love octopi--but, man on man, this stuff is so delicious.  I like it better than any other rum I've tried.  This little addition add the "grog" part to the pie.

 Look--even the lid is super fabulous!

Eggnoggy-like filling is ready to go...

The finished result.  You're supposed to let it cool 2-3 hours.  I made 30 minutes.  Within 6 minutes, my husband and I had eaten 1/2 of the custardy pie.  Listen, Kman HATES pie and he loved this.  So del-ee-ish-us. (-;

With a forkful gone...