Though a few days shy of being warm enough for the official start of picnic season in Wisconsin, the daywas perfect for getting together with some professor friends and their families to share pies and play cards. A savory shepherd’s pie, a salad and a host of dessert pies, including key lime, cherry, pumpkin, chocolate silk and the banana toffee pie made for a decadent feast. Why haven’t we celebrated this day in this way before?

I’ve fallen in love with the concept of a pie party since first attending one almost five years ago hosted by friends in Madison, Wisconsin. Their long-standing tradition of picking a summer date, reserving a park shelter and inviting friends to bring pie was such a gloriously simple, yet fabulous idea. An excuse to get together at least once a year with friends, sample some of the dozens of pies and enjoy an afternoon picnicking in the park is pretty much my idea of heaven. 

With this annual summer event in mind, I picked up the vintage pie basket in a quaint, little shop in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, last summer. We’d rented a barn – that’s right, a big, red barn – that had been converted to an amazing living space near Lake Michigan. It was perfect for our large family and allowed us plenty of outdoor dining experiences, from dinner with friends and family on the large deck to s’mores around the firepit in the backyard. Just down the road was a charming shop that had a nice mix of antiques, local art and new gift items and I fell in love with the pie basket. I could imagine the previous owner, an M.J. Steussey who had written her name on the handle in black marker, placing a fresh-baked Door County cherry pie wrapped in a dish towel in the bottom of the basket and then carefully placing the little wooden table insert on top of it and setting down another, different pie before taking it to a church picnic or family reunion. I love how vintage items invoke that sense of history and I have been bringing more pies to potlucks and such just so I can use this adorable little basket and looking forward to using a slightly larger and equally awesome pie basket I received as a gift from a co-worker. 

Banoffee Pie Recipe

John used the following recipe to create the Banoffee Pie we brought to Pi Day festivities. Some recipes for this British pie call for heating the sweetened, condensed milk right in the can, but John chose one from Saveur where the ingredients were heated together in a pan. This particular recipe called for chocolate shavings on top, but John substituted mini-chocolate chips. Because we were strapped for time, he begrudingly consented to use a store-bought graham cracker crust instead of the McVities cookie crust that was recommended. While the banana toffee pie with real, unsweetened whipped cream was tasty, John has vowed to tweak this recipe a little more to get it just right.

Ingredients

Pie Crust:
Store-bought graham cracker crust. We used a store brand one from our local Schnuck’s and it was fine.

Pie Filling:
1 stick of unsalted butter
½ cup (4 oz) packed light brown sugar 
1 14-oz. can sweetened, condensed milk. We used Eagle brand.
4 bananas 
1 pint heavy cream
Mini chocolate chips. We used the ones from Wisconsin’s family-owned company Eillien’s.

Instructions

1. Make the toffee: Melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and melt over low heat. Add condensed milk and bring the mixture to a boil for a few minutes, stirring continuously. The toffee should darken slightly. Pour the filling into the crust. Cool and chill again for at least one hour until the caramel is firm.

2. To serve, slice the bananas and place them in a single layer on top of the caramel. Whip the cream and spoon it over the toffee and bananas, sealing in the filling. Sprinkle the top of the pie with mini chocolate chips.

1. Keep it simple. Everyone brings a pie. The hostess can provide drinks, tableware and a few sides.
2. Have at least one savory, or not sweet, pie – and pizza pie totally counts! Other savory pies could include quiche, shepherd’s pie, pot pie or even empanadas.
3. Put people before pies. Welcome any kind of pie whether it is from the bakery, Wal-Mart or homemade because the guests are what make a party special, not how they acquired a pie.
4. Encourage ingredient disclosure. Allergies and dietary preferences can make for tricky pie-party situations, so having the recipe (or the box in case of a store-bought pie) next to the pie lets people make appropriate decisions about which pies to sample.
5. Remember food safety. Keep pies, especially cream and custard pies, properly refrigerated before and after serving. Some store-bought pies can be stored at room temperature, but keep on the safe side and refrigerate leftovers.