If you’ve been following along with this blog and/or our newsletter for a while, you probably already know that I host a “Friendsgiving” feast down here in Florida every year before I fly up to New York to spend the holiday with my family. For those of you who don’t know, Friendsgiving is 
simple a Thanksgiving dinner shared with close friends before everybody heads wherever they are heading to visit their relatives. Well, I take this holiday very seriously. In fact, at my house, we don’t just eat, we compete. Everybody that comes to dinner also brings a homemade pie for our pie contest. No joke! We have an annual trophy and everything. I have been the winner for the last two years and I don’t plan on giving up my title this year. That’s where you come in. I need some help determining what kind of pie to make.
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Obviously, if this took place back up in Pawling, the idea of cheating and picking up a pie at M&D would be tempting (come on, like you hadn’t thought of it). However, since I am currently 1,000 miles away from the bakery, I’ll be making this pie from scratch – just as the rules require.
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Friendsgiving at the McKinney/Boland household will take place on Saturday, November 17. We may be over a month away but if you’ve ever hosted a holiday, you know it takes some serious planning and prep! Hence why I am asking for your help now. Winners don’t wait until the last minute.
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Let me give you some history on this contest.
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2016: Matt and I closed on our home in August and immediately claimed host privileges for Friendsgiving. We used to host every year in our apartment in Delaware and I missed it. We invited all of our friends for a November celebration in early October and decided to make it a pot luck situation. Everybody, and I mean everybody, signed up to bring dessert. That left me with the turkey, the sides, the beverages AND dessert since I had already planned on making my famous banana caramel cream pie. We were able to delegate a bit more but that’s how the pie contest came to be. If everyone was so willing to share their sweet treats, they must be pretty proud of their baking skills.
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We decided that everybody would bring a pie and at the end of our meal, we’d each taste every one and vote on the winner. My friend Alyssa took it a step further and designed a trophy too! Good times.
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My banana caramel cream pie won the vote but sadly (and inaccurately), everybody assumed it was because I hosted and we all knew who made what pie. The vote was final though and we decided that moving forward, pies would be submitted anonymously.
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2017: New rule addition to Friendsgiving pie contest – you must keep your pie a secret and leave it on the back table upon entry (had to block the dogs from this room for obvious reasons) so that nobody knew who made what and no votes could be made out of “obligation.” I proved my worth by winning AGAIN with my brown butter bourbon peach pie. Take that sore losers!
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2018: THIS year, our friend Jessica designed a logo to be printed on the trophy (I told you, it’s a very serious event) and I want to keep my winning streak going. Here’s where you come in. Would you comment on this post with which pie you think I should make out of the following list?
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- Caramel Apple Pecan Streusal Pie
- Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie
- Eggnog Pie (I feel like this is more Christmas-y, but who knows?)
- Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie
- Deep Dish Bourbon Pecan Pie
- Triple Berry Pie
- Praline Apple Pie
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I’m also open to suggestions so if you’ve got a secret weapon pie up your sleeve, fill me in!
Rebecca McKinney
I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.
So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!
Eat well & travel often,
Becky McKinney
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Can you please share your recipe for the Banana caramel cream pie? (ya know, if its not a family secret;) )
and my vote-Caramel Apple Pecan Streusal Pie
I think that is what I’m leaning towards too! Good choice 🙂
Happy to share the recipe! Just note that this pie is really best if eaten the same day or the day after 🙂
For the Graham Cracker Crust:
12 graham cracker sheets
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter (melted)
For the Pie Filling:
2 bananas
1 11 oz package caramels (unwrapped)
2-3 TBS heavy cream
1 3.5 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
1 3.5 oz instant banana cream pudding mix
2½ cups milk
8 oz cool whip
Crush your graham crackers into a fine crumb. (It should make about 1½ cups).
Mix together your sugar with your graham cracker crumb in a medium sized bowl.
Pour your melted butter over the top of your crumb and mix it all together.
Pour your crust mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch pie crust pan and press down on the bottom and the edges.
Cut your bananas into slices and lay them over your graham cracker crust.
Combine your caramels and heavy cream in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium until caramels are melted and smooth, stirring throughout.
Pour caramel over banana slices (reserve about 1/4 cup if desired for later).
Pour your pudding mixes into a large bowl and pour your milk over it and stir together. Add ½ cup of cool whip to the pudding mixture and mix well.
Pour pudding mixture over caramel and smooth top. Place in fridge to set for about 3 hours.
Top with remaining cool whip and additional bananas before serving.