Livin' in the Blurbs: A Piece of Pie & So Much More

Hillsdale's Palace of Pastry, aka Baker & Spice, will be celebrating National Pie Day with a weekend of pie-related fun on Jan. 21 and 22 to benefit our neighbors who may not have enough to eat. The weekend also happens to fall on the seventh birthday of this most delicious of Portland institutions, so to make it into a real Pie-A-Palooza they're donating 25% of all pie sales to Neighborhood House's Emergency Food Box Program. An unprecedented array of pies will be available whole or by the slice, including Lemon Meringue, Boston Cream, Banana Cream, Butterscotch Cream, Peanut Butter, Lattice Topped Apple Blackberry, Double Crusted Pear Raspberry, Chocolate Cream and Coconut Cream. (Drooling yet?) So make plans to drop in, have some pie and help a neighbor!

Details: Baker & Spice 7th Birthday and National Pie Day Celebration. Sat.-Sun., Jan. 21-22. Hours: 7 am-6 pm Sat., 7 am-3 pm Sun. Baker & Spice, 6330 SW Capitol Hwy. 503-244-7573.

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The Oregonian has done a soft launch of its Oregon News Network, a partnership between the paper and community blog partners to build what they're calling "an online town square." I was honored that GoodStuffNW was chosen as one of the partners to kick off the project, along with local luminaries in categories like Lifestyle & Food, Arts & Entertainment,  Outdoors/Recreation and Public Affairs. The network will evolve as it gears up, adding new partners and cross-pollinating with various sections of the paper, so check in and see what happens.

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My friend and renowned comic book author, illustrator, inker and crazy Mad Genius Karl Kesel, he of the heartwarming zombie Christmas tale Johnny Zombie, has launched a second online web comic called SECTION ZERO. Begun a dozen years ago by Karl and his friend (and another renowned guy) Tom Grummett, it experienced a sudden comicus interruptus in the middle of its six-episode arc. In an interview with Wired columnist GeekDad, Kesel describes the comic this way: "Section Zero is a combination of all my personal, quirky favorite things. Start with equal parts Challengers of the Unknown and Fantastic Four, add in copious amounts of strange phenomena and atomic monsters, stir with high-octane Jack Kirby energy, pour into Tom Grummett’s magic drawing pencil. Enjoy!" I think I will! (Full interview here.)

Feed a Craving, Help a Family

Pie is one of my very favorite things, and few people make them better than Julie Richardson (below left) of Portland's Baker & Spice. And this weekend that center of sweetness in Hillsdale is not only celebrating its sixth birthday, but it's throwing a bash for National Pie Day (Jan. 23) by hosting a benefit for Neighborhood House with two days of pie-related fun.

With 25% of all pie sales going to the Emergency Food Box program at Neighborhood House, which feeds up to 700 Portland families a month, look for an apple pie contest at their retail store SweetWares, drawings for prizes that include a pie-a-month for a year or a seat in one of Julie’s pie classes.

And there's the unique opportunity to purchase pie by the slice from an array of their scrumptious pies. Get this list of delights: "Featured pies for the event include Lemon Meringue, Boston Cream, Banana Cream, Butterscotch Cream, Double Crusted Apple, Double Crusted Pear Raspberry, Chocolate Cream and Coconut Cream." So whatever your mouth is craving, they'll have a pie to fill it!

Details: National Pie Day and Sixth Birthday Benefit for the Emergency Food Box program at Neighborhood House. Sat.-Sun., Jan. 22-23, 7 am-3 pm. Baker & Spice, 6330 SW Capitol Hwy. 503-244-7573.

Photos by John Valls.