When I first found DailyKos, I didn't quite understand the constant pie references, but I liked it better than any other blog for that reason. I'm a pie baker. I like making pie crusts by hand, cutting butter into flour, rolling out dough, filling with luscious summer berries, and baking until the whole house smells yummy. One of my decidedly unfeminist fantasies involves a county fair, a blue ribbon, and an Iowa farm boy proposing marriage with crumbs around his mouth. Now I understand all too well why DailyKos has so many pie references, and it's got nothing to do with baking:
Pies are for fighting.
In such a fractious environment, you need to be armed. And it just so happens that I've made the perfect pie for fighting.
Of course, in a truly knock-down DailyKos brawl, you need other weapons too. Like Elijah Craig aged 18 years single barrel Kentucky bourbon balls to throw at your enemies (or eat, as the case may be). And a Markos-signed DailyKos banner to wave high. And vicious, yet beautiful long daggers (they're earrings). And Pitchforks and Torches (autographed by Keith Olbermann, no less).
And best of all, the knowledge that you're fighting the good fight. Because when you purchase any of these items through the Netroots Holiday Bazaar, part of Netroots Nation, all proceeds go to progressive causes.
Back to that pie. In honor of DailyKos, this year I'm making a Pie Pillow, with cotton fabric slices of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, and mixed berries. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I hand-quilted lots of tiny little stitches starting in the center
then I hand-quilted a pie crust edge, properly crimped using my thumb as a guideline, of course, and leaves in the corners
The next step will be to sew a pillow back and stuff it with down (I can swap for foam if the winner is allergic). Then it gets shipped to the lucky auction winner, who can then throw it at fellow Kossacks and win every pie fight on the intertoobz. Last year's starry pillow provoked a bidding war. This one might, or might not. Oh, did I mention that it's hand-quilted?
The auction closes tomorrow at 10 PM Eastern time, so get your bids in today. But please, whatever you do, don't bid on the Pie Pillow alone. So far, 79% of items in the auction have bids, and we've raised $2,677. The Holiday Bazaar has lots of goodies, gifts, and treats. Shop for your neighbors, family, and fellow Kossacks. You can even bid on the double chocolate Bundt cake. It looks so luscious that I won't be hurt. Even though all serious bakers and Kossacks know that Pie is better than Cake.