Blackberry Pie Murder House Party

Welcome to our House Party! Honorary Tea Time Adventurer Stephanie was picked to be a Hostess with the Mostess and promote a new Joanne Fluke Mystery novel. The title is Blackberry Pie Murder and so, of course, we got to make lots of pies, cocktails and mocktails, talk about books and play some Simpsons Clue.

If you read culinary mysteries, you've heard of Joanne Fluke. She has written 18 books in the Hannah Swensen series, and Blackberry Pie Murder is her latest recipe packed who-dun-it. Stephanie and Angela got inspired by the party pack loot that House Party sent us! In fact, Angela decided this would be the perfect opportunity for her business Tipsy Tea to create a Gift Bag for the event.

Without further ado, we give you the Blackberry Pie Murder Party in pictures. Presented by House Party, Tipsy Tea and Hostess Stephanie!

The Joanne Fluke box is here! House Party has sent a gang of goodies to inspire us.

 Tipsy Tea was inspired to create a gift bag for the event! It included Blackberry Surprise Tea and Joanne's Rimming Sugar for cocktails and mocktails along with recipe cards, a tea cup and tea ball in addition to a personal sized homemade Blackberry Pie to go.

Recipes created by Joanne Fluke and a Blackberry Pie booklet.

Tea cups are great for cocktails! Tipsy Tea Blackberry Surprise Tea and Joanne's Rimming Sugar.

Game, stir stick/glow stick (house party) Soap, Navitas Naturals Cocoa Balm (Tipsy Tea)

 You saw that Joanne prepared us with some great recipes in the House Party pack, but we also ransacked some of her other books to round out our potluck.
Here is The Food:

Pate and "Christmas Cheese Round"  before

After (with bread and crackers)

The pate inspired several proposals of marriage due to its deliciousness.

J. K. made Blackberry Surprise Cookies and Heavenly Teacakes. We also noshed on Pepperidge Farm raspberry cookies from the House Party goodie box.

Personal sized Blackberry Pies for all the guests to take home (before baking).

Blackberry Pie Martini and unbaked pie

Tito's Vodka infused with blackberries

The spread

Beautifully baked Blackberry Pie

Individual crumble topped Blackberry Pies. Recipe from Blackberry Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke.

Lastly we made Popovers! Angela and J. K. have been talking about them for a while now and this was the perfect time to do it ourselves, using a Joanne Fluke recipe. They got a bit brown, but still tasted great.

Book lover with popover recipe

Popover Popped Open

Popovers In Muffin Pan

Everyone had a bunch of fun at the house party event, drinking cocktails and mocktails, talking about the book, and playing Simpsons Clue. Here's the candid shots (plus some portraits!).

who will win???!

If you'd like to get a bit of the action, we have two Joanne Fluke Blackberry Pie Murder Party Gift Bags (created by Tipsy Tea). Just post to us in the comments if you have read Joanne Fluke and tell us about your favorite recipe from her Hannah Swensen series. Two commenters will be picked at random to win! You'll be just as excited as the guest who attended the party in our triptych below.

House Party has a wide variety of events available and if you'd like to host one, just sign up(and invite your friends)! Tea Time applied to host Joanne Fluke too, but we were happy Stephanie won the honor. Joanne Fluke writes other novels as well, so if culinary mysteries aren't your thing, maybe another of her books will thrill you. Happy Spring parties with a side of books!

Chile Pie x2

Pie. Ice Cream. Hand Pies. Sweet, savory, Chile Pies (and Ice Cream) has it all! You can visit them at their NOPA locations, or hop over to their Green Chile Kitchenette. Both are easy to get to by public transportation and also have street parking available (perhaps not ample, but if you have to lot lizard around a bit you can just meditate on your reward of pie a la mode).

Tea Time visited their NOPA location first. It's a medium sized resto with an ice cream counter (Three Twins, Yo), plus a great pie station as well. Tea Time was hungry, so we got lunch before dessert. It's a nice bonus that Chile Pie serves savory pies as well as traditional fruit pies, cream pies and nut pies. (Oh, don't forget the Frito Pie!) We settled upon a hand pie with side salad. This meal was filling even though we shared a plate. We really enjoyed the salad, it was a a great counterpoint to the hot pie.

Chicken hand pie and Beet salad on kale  with a yummy biscuit.

Hand pie cross section.

Pies, glorious pies! Whole to-go or by the slice.

Tea Time had spied on all the pies prior to ordering, and we settled on a winning combo. We'd eat this duo again and again.

Berry Pie with 3 Twins Chocolate Ice Cream-FTW!

The Green Chille Kitchenette was calling our name to check it out too. So after a little bit of wandering the Castro J.K. and I were ready to eat! The kitchen-ette is a place to get a quick bite, with fewer tables and less space. However, they still had plenty of pie. We let our stomachs do the ordering and ended up with leftovers! Our cup of savory sausage soup came with a biscuit and side salad, plus a shot of sour cream to tame the minor heat in the soup. We also got a full order of the beet and kale salad (which was just as tasty here as at the first resto). Finally we ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich with slaw. (J.K. took home half a sammie and lots of salad-it was a large serving!)

Cup of soup with side salad and yum-o biscuit

So nice we had it twice!

Pulled pork sammie with slaw-fritos on the side

This peanut butter pie with a chocolate cookie crust was very tempting...so we gave in. Of course we got it a la mode, can't resist those Twins! If you love peanut butter, this is the pie for you. J.K. and decided we prefer the berry with the chocolate ice cream, but that's just our taste buds talking.

Peanut Butter pie with Three Twins Chocolate ice cream

Even though the holiday rush is over, you may still find an occasion for pie. If you don't have the time/inclination to bake, head on over to the Chile Pies nearest to you (or just give them a call!) and grab what strikes your fancy. Don't forget to get some scoops to go on the side. Ice Cream is this years hottest accessory for baked goods.