Rice and Pie

The Oshogatsu Family Festival was a huge hit – I haven’t seen the plaza this packed since Art in the Streets!

There was everything from Mochitsuki (a traditional rice cake pounding ceremony) to a demonstration by Candy Artist Shan Ichiyanagi…

…took home one of his very sweet little penguins -

In the midst of all that fun, I had a job to do…

…judging the Onigiri Contest (sponsored by Common Grains) along with LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons, Sunny Blue shop owner Keiko Nakashima, and fellow food bloggers The Ravenous Couple.

We narrowed it down to six…

…here are some of the winners:

Afterwards, Abe and I headed down the street to a place I’ve been wanting to try since it opened this past fall:

The Pie Hole is not only run by a family from my home state, but a tiny town close to where Abe grew up! Rebecca (the matriarch and recipe holder) won the NJ State Fair “Best Pie” award seven years in a row. My expectations were very high.

We arrived around 5pm, just as they were running out of menu items.

Lucky for us, they still had plenty of this flavor!

We split both. First, the Mac N Cheese -

As good as it sounds – chewy, crispy, crumbly, creamy. Just needed a little salt.

But this sweet slice took the cake – er, pie. I actually cursed out loud when I took my first bite.

Crust perfection! This is exactly what I wanted the Momofuku Crack Pie to taste like. (<—- It’s so much better)

I don’t usually make resolutions, but this is definitely one of them:

I got inspired (ins-pie-ered) and couldn’t stop thinking of flavors.

My midnight snack was a nice combo – apples and cocoa? I also had rice on the brain from staring at it all day – maybe a rice pudding pie? Or a savory risotto-filled one?

What would be in your ideal pie?

Tagged as: pie, rice