Best Pie - Ever or So Far?

According to those around me, this is the best pie I've ever made.  Behold!  Rhubarb custard pie!

I was inspired by Posie Gets Cozy; she is a baking and crafting maniac.  I love her blog although often I find myself asking, "Why can't I just whip up a quilt?" (or finish the shawl I started weeks ago or set the table).  Is there something in the air in Portland that makes it less frenetic?*  I mean, I'm not teaching right now so I should have time to garden, craft, cook, etc., but somehow my days get sucked up into other things (granted, last month my job was to go to yoga).  I have the sneaking suspicion that the fact that she gets up wicked early contributes to her zen-like homemaking.  I may have to be content with producing an amazing pie every once in awhile.

 I used the same recipe she did but cut the sugar down a half cup and used a crust from Alice Waters's The Art of Simple Food.  Crust has really been the weakest link in my pie-making abilities, but Alice's worked perfectly.  I think the procedural aspects, especially the chilling of the dough after rolling it out, made a major difference.  I also followed the suggestion by Leslie Land (recipe originator) of using a pizza stone under the pie while baking.

I've always been a strawberry-rhubarb pie gal; it's nice to have another pie featuring rhubarb.

*Note:  I think my natural inclination to go off on tangents, as demonstrated here, is probably one factor in the difference between my and Alice Paulson's lives.

The Other Side of A 30-Day Challenge

Sometimes it's better to talk about the challenge after you've completed it. 

I first tried to do the 30-day challenge in January 2010.   I didn't manage to complete my 30 classes in 30 days that time, and there were multiple reasons for that.  But when I saw that there was a 30-day challenge beginning on May 2nd, I knew the time was right.  I'd just finished teaching (as well as a pretty brutal academic year overall), and I was ready to get back to really taking care of myself as well as taking myself seriously (not always the same thing).

I fastidiously scheduled every class for the month, taking into consideration other appointments or plans, and since I knew when I was going to be out of town, I was also able to schedule my make-up classes, which relieved the anxiety of missing them in the first place.  I think that step really made a huge difference.  I had four days where I went to the studio twice in one day.  In a certain way, it became my job for May (I know, my life is so hard), but it also became a lifesaver because May was not an easy month for me.