We’re looking forward to an awesome Thanksgiving meal with our neighbors later today. It was so nice of them to include the transplants (that’s us!) in their annual tradition.

We were put in charge of pies.

I have no idea where to buy pies in Portland since I’ve only made one Thanksgiving meal since we’ve moved here, and I think I made my pies from scratch that year. I think. Making pies to bring to someone’s house for a meal that includes 14 adults and eight kids is a *bit* too much pressure on my lackluster baking skills, so I instead set out to find some kick-ass Portland-area pies.

I looked into it, and stumbled upon Pacific Pie Co.

And by the looks of it, I am glad I did. Check these babies out!

We got these at the NW 23rd Street location, and we picked them up yesterday. I always panic about parking when I go to this part of town, so I was PSYCHED when I found a spot right on 23rd, that looked (on Google maps) to be about three blocks from Pacific Pie Co. The kids were off from school, so I had them with me.

We set out walking down NW 23rd. And walking. And walking. And walking. Gavin asked no less than three times if I was sure I parked on the right street. Grace pointed out every parking spot that was closer than the one I chose. Hahaha. I did begin to wonder if I had perhaps, gotten it wrong. A check of Google maps confirmed we only had a block and a half to go, so we kept going. Finally – we spotted it. The kids cheered. And suddenly, I got a bit nervous about having to carry three pies back all that distance.

The shop / restaurant is totally adorable. They serve savory and sweet pies for lunch and dinner on a daily basis. Who knew!? The menu was intriguing, so we are definitely going back to try it.

They brought out my handmade pies – Pumpkin, Apple Sour Cream and Chocolate Peanut Butter. The gal who was getting everything together for us asked if I knew about the pie plate deposit. I had, but had forgotten. My stomach dropped a little bit more – the three pies I was already a bit nervous about carrying back to the car just got significantly heavier: each was in a glass pie plate!

I paid and stacked the pies, and we set off. I made it quite a few blocks before I had to call in the muscle reserves, i.e. Gavin.  Funnily enough, he had tied his sweatshirt around his neck because it was 60 degrees out and he was hot, so he looked like some sort of pie carrying hero. I dubbed him Pie Guy:

He lasted two blocks. Then I carried all three pies two more blocks. Then I needed him to pitch in again for the last block again. Hahaha.

What was Grace doing? Skipping along beside us, singing Taylor Swift songs and occasionally providing some encouraging words like, “Those pies must be heavy. I am glad I don’t have to carry one.” And occasionally she provided some pointers like, “Gavin, your pie is crooked. You should make sure it’s even so it doesn’t get smushed on one side.” That’s our Grace – always “helpful” / entertaining. Hahahaha.

In any case, we made it to the car, and the pies made it home in tact. The look amazing and I can’t wait to try some later today. And go to the gym tomorrow to build up my arm muscle endurance. But first – pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!