1. If you give yourself the gift of a year, you will inspire others to do the same. Think of it! A gift that keeps on giving! I’m so thrilled to know that the idea given to me by a friend has passed along to several other friends who have adopted it for themselves. How thrilling to have shared the concept with many other women who are taking back a piece of their lives. A client-turned-friend of mine told me recently that she’s decided to give herself the gift of a year and my heart just swelled with joy.

2. Saving your own life is harder than it looks! While my intentions have always been good, keeping the commitment every day has not always been easy. It’s a constant renewal to keep at it, and to honor the gift I’ve given myself. For those of you who like a challenge, this will be the best part for you.

3. Some people just don’t get it — pay no attention and stay on track. A few people have kind of looked at me like I’d lost it when I explained the Gift. Pffft to them, I say.

4. Once you start, you won’t want to stop. I keep thinking about what I’d like to focus on NEXT year, and how I can continue to feel as awesome as I do right now. I’d also like to figure out how we can improve health care in this country to the point where manicures, pedicures and massages are covered by health insurance. Who’s with me?

To the left: Marijean Jaggers, September 1975. I’m four.

For the first time since I’ve moved to Charlottesville my faith was shaken. I love where we live and have always felt safe, but this incident left me angry and feeling violated.

It took some effort for the thieves to remove the kayak — a tandem — it is long and heavy and would take two people to move and load it onto a vehicle to cart it away. You’d have to know us pretty well or have been hanging around our property to even know it was there. The forethought that went into the job unnerved me further.

Never one to keep information to myself, I tweeted to my network to let them know what was happening.

And then,  because I know what you like, I said this:

And within a couple of hours, one of the people who follow me on Twitter spotted it at Play it Again Sports, a used sporting goods store only three miles from my house. Unbelievably, it was definitely our kayak, complete with aftermarket updates we’d added.

In short, the story isn’t over — the police are involved, we don’t have our kayak back yet, but the store — and the police –  knows exactly who brought it to them and who was paid for the stolen merchandise.

I’m still plenty angry but grateful to my Twitter network for seeking justice on my behalf.

I hope to have another update for you in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I owe somebody a pie.

The secret to a prize-winning pie? Patience.

“I really took my time,” he said.

I am not a patient person but have learned during this Life of Pie, that if I don’t take my time, the pie will not be as good. Pie has taught me to slow down; to carefully consider, prepare and plan.  I take it step by step, cut no corners and the more I do so, the better the results.

2. Making something with your hands is good for your soul. If you’re angry or stressed about something, it’s almost impossible to hang on to that feeling when you’re working shortening into flour for a crust. It’s impossible to have skyrocketing blood pressure as you inhale the scent of a bubbling hot pie, fresh from the oven. Peeling apples, blanching peaches or pitting cherries offers time for reflection and provides satisfaction as prepared fruit emerges.

3. Giving bears riches. I give away a lot of pie. I’ve given pie to friends, clients, strangers, neighbors, client prospects and nonprofit organizations. Every time I give away a pie, and I swear this is true, I’m repaid tenfold. I never expect it but I either gain a loyal friend, a new client, a trusted partner, a fan . . . and I am wealthy with relationships.

4. If you’re going to do something, do it up right. I started out on a mission to teach myself to make good pie. That grew into an obsession to be the best . . .  and to have everyone associate me with good pie. I grew passionate about this hobby of mine and when you’re passionate about something, I think you should go for it with everything you’ve got. (Go ahead and Google “Marijean Jaggers Pie” and see what’s happened.)

5. Be not afraid. A friend of mine always tells me I’m brave when I show up for a party with a pie from a recipe I’ve never tried before. I like to try new recipes and as I put a recipe together, I can tell if it’s going to be good. If it’s not, we might get a laugh out of it. I am not afraid to flop; I just try again.

Have you had a hobby teach you something about life?

I just made the best pie I’ve ever made.

How do I know it’s good?

I’ve made this pie before and it’s beyond delicious. As proof, ingredients:

• Organic, local, yellow peaches (which are especially good this year)
• Heavy cream
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Vanilla
• Brown sugar

Mmmmmmm.

I’ve taken my time making it — all morning, in fact, and paid particular attention to the placement of each and every peach slice. It’s the most obsessive I’ve ever been in making a pie.

And it will be at least seven hours before we eat it.

Drool.

Since it is peach season, you need to know that the fresh peach pie recipe comes from Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies by my friend Mollie Cox Bryan. It is, hands down, the best little pie book, ever. If you like to bake, or know someone who does, you owe it to yourself to have this book in your collection. The peach pie recipe is perfect. For my friend Amy and others of you baking a peach pie for the first time, I must direct you to this post, which tells you how to blanch (and peel, easily) a peach. You’re welcome.

So I hosted this giveaway of a Jar of Pie and the response was incredible! 58 comments in a matter of hours! And because of that I found some delightful new friends and blogs including:

Michael’s Killer Recipes

Brenda’s Handmade

Wishing Heart

Krista Krumbs

Middle River Dispatch

And that’s not all . . . let’s just say there was a dose of serendipity that happened, some pie karma that exists that was truly wonderful. I loved gifting many people around town with unexpected, random acts of pie and look forward to doing the giveaway again. Stay tuned!

Lifeguards

I spent six summers in love with lifeguards. One, of course, in particular, but they were ever-present in my summer life and therefore, the subject of numerous seasonal crushes. The crushes stayed with me through the school year, the absence of the lifeguards and the pool like the aftertaste of strawberry soda; sweet and long to fade . . .

Read the full post here.

One was offered to a reader of this blog via a random number generator giveaway.

I brought a couple to a friend who I forced to eat right in front of me, giving me honest, wine-fueled feedback.

Two more went to the unsuspecting father of a friend of the girl’s. He was in the right place at the right time, and mentioned pie. He was also forced to provide thoughtful feedback.

I brought one to my buddy Dan because it was his birthday (and, BONUS, he mentioned it on-air during the evening news!). I brought another to my buddy Rick because I knew it was his favorite kind of pie (blueberry).

And then I showed up on the doorstep of another friend (who wasn’t home from work, yet) and handed one peach and one Butterscotch Pecan pie over to her very shocked husband.

The reactions were delicious.

I am keeping the rest of the stockpile for a bit, but I think we can expect more random acts of pie in the future.

Saturday morning I bought three pounds of peaches from the farmers’ market. They weren’t quite ripe so they sat in brown paper bags preparing themselves for their destiny. This morning I blanched and peeled them, thinking of my friend Rusty who has been craving peach pie for about a week now.

Peaches, peeled and diced, coated in lemon juice, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

The peach pies I’m making today are Jars of Pie, a little project I’m developing in my spare time.

Here are the sinful little guys just before getting their crumb topping and going into the oven. Can I tell you what they smell like while they’re baking?

No?

It’s really just not right, or fair to do this to you.

One more look then I’ll stop.

They just came out of the oven and are all bubbly hot goodness.

Want one? I’m giving a Jar of Pie away over here.

Don’t hate me for torturing you.

Love,

The Pie Lady

I have spent the early morning hours of this holiday weekend baking dozens of pies. People who follow me on Twitter are, by now, puzzled. I’ve been tweeting about baking pies eight at a time. They must think I’ve lost my mind.

What I neglected to mention is that these pies are individually sized — pies for personal enjoyment. These pies are not meant for sharing!

The jars are half-pint Mason jars, just the right size for a pie that can be created, baked, cooled, sealed and stored in the freezer — or shipped, if need be.

A batch of my super flaky crust recipe makes about 16 jars of pie. Lining the jars with crust is the most time-consuming part of this project.

I made a test batch of Butterscotch Pecan pies a couple of weeks ago. I was overzealous and filled the jars too high. They spilled over and couldn’t be sealed in their jars. My neighbors loved them.

This weekend I have been busy making blueberry pies, Butterscotch Pecan (capitalized because it is my signature pie) and dozens of gorgeous little peach pies.

And now, I want YOU to have one. Leave a comment below and tell me whether you like peach, pecan or blueberry. I will choose a winner at 4pm Eastern on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 using a random number generator. Depending on where you live, I will decide how the pie is delivered to you and when. (Yes, I can ship a pie in a jar.)

Good luck, pie people!

****Pie Giveaway ended at 4pm Eastern****

*****We have a winner*****

Congratulations Jeff Gaffney! There’s a Jar of Butterscotch Pecan Pie heading your way!