Northwest Military Blogs: Served blog

November 24, 2014 at 7:26am

Punkin chunkin' - impeccable pumpkin pies in the South Sound

Corina Bakery in Tacoma is open for pie pick-ups until 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner

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Your Thanksgiving feast is only days away. Perhaps you have family en route, maybe that weird uncle who watches Fox News all day and roots for the Chiefs. These people are expecting a feast of epic proportions, and your oven is already a 24-hour operation. Darn right you'll be making a turducken, as the Pilgrims and American Mormon Jesus intended. That yellow three-by-five card with Granny Mayberry's recipe for bacon-wrapped green bean casserole is already sitting on the counter, and dough for homemade yeast rolls is rising in the fridge. Oh, wait. Did you - ? No. My God, NO. This can't be happening! Quickly, take a census of pies in the making. Apple, cherry ... where is it? How the hell did you forget the pumpkin pie, you infidel? Have you taken leave of your senses? No PUMPKIN PIE? Well, you can kiss that appearance in Aunt Magnolia's will a fond farewell! You just doomed your family to a lifetime of holiday leprosy! This omission will not stand! Without the platform of pumpkin pie, where will the Cool Whip go, we ask you? WHERE WILL THE COOL WHIP GO?

Stop your crying, you sad, sad excuse for a human being. We here at the Weekly Tectonic Eruption offer hope. For a few bucks, compared to the turducken anyway, we can get you that pie. Well, not exactly "we." The last time we made a pumpkin pie it was a faux martini with crème de cacao and vanilla-flavored vodka. Actually, we drank so much of that we woke up 20 hours later with pumpkin pie spice crusted around our nostrils. It was bad, and we wish you hadn't posted those photos on Instagram. No, we're talking actual pie, made by someone who knows his or her way around an autumn squash.

Let's start with a pie maker so talented, so singularly gifted, that USA Today recognized him as one of the 20 finest in the entire nation. (It must be rough working at USA Today. Their annual "best of" issue is probably a free-for-all.)  Yes, I'm talking about Dr. Terry McLaughlin of Dr. Terry's Pies in Puyallup, and don't think the good doctor got his postgraduate degree at Phone-It-In Pie Medical School. McLaughlin offers you and your loved ones the say-it-with-me-and-drool Long Island Cheese Pumpkin Pie, a confection that'd make Ina Garten weep extra virgin olive oil. All his pies - yes, even the Grandma's Apple, Strawberry Cream with two pounds of mutant strawberries, and Browned Butter Pecan - are handcrafted from scratch. Buy 12 and you get the baker's dozenth free, which should just about see us through the end of November. Terry's doctorate is in theology, so God wants you to buy one of those delectable pies. Have you sinned this year? Care to greet your Maker with moral turpitude still on your conscience? No? Then you'd better get on that.

Corina Bakery offers made-from-scratch Spiced Pumpkin pies, but why stop there? Who doesn't love Pumpkin Cheesecake? Or Bourbon Pecan pie? Or just bourbon? Our point is we like bourbon. Oh, and you can even get most of Corina's gorgeous pies vegan or gluten-free, so in your autoimmune-disorder face, celiac disease.

For last-minute orders, check out 8 Arms Community Bakery, which is hosting an open house from noon to 7 p.m. Thanksgiving Eve. Standard pumpkin, linzer-hazelnut pumpkin, pumpkin-brownie swirl, and sticky-toffee pecan-pumpkin pies will all be flying out the door for pennies on the dollar. While you're there, grab some pumpkin spice bread and a brochure for Weight Watchers, and we'll see you there in December.

DR. TERRY'S PIES, Sterino Farms, 6116 52nd St. E, Puyallup, $39, 253.845.0719

CORINA BAKERY, 602 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, $24-$38, 253.627.5070

8 ARMS COMMUNITY BAKERY, 413 Decatur St. NW, Olympia, $12, 360.754.6894

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About this blog

Served, a blog by the Weekly Volcano, is the region’s feedbag of fresh chow daily, local restaurant news, New Beer Column, bar and restaurant openings and closings, breaking culinary news and breaking culinary ground - all brought to the table with a dollop of Internet frivolity on top.

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A very interesting article, to add insight can be read at https://www.unair.ac.id/

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Ted Smith said:

Thank you for the list of restaurants to try out. I will have to try their Mac and Cheese....

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