Beach Eats: PIE À LA MODE

<<Third in a continuing series exploring the tastes, histories and crafts of favorite food items mentioned in THE BLOND LEADING THE BLOND…>>

          “Be it apple or humble, pie should always be served à la mode,” the woman tempted me.

          I hesitated, thinking about my half-diet and wondering if I’d rather limit myself to one full piece of pie without ice cream or one half of a piece with creamy vanilla melting over it. 

          ~Excerpted from The Blond Leading the Blond 

           Which “foodies” amongst us hasn’t heard the story about the invention of the Sandwich? Well, not so much the “invention” of as the naming of it.  I’ll save you a Google search:  While the idea of tucking meat between slices or on top of slices of bread (in lieu of plates) had been around for a while, it wasn’t until the late 18^th century that the term sandwich was coined.   The 4^th Earl of Sandwich was fond of asking his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, enabling him to continue to play cards while eating the meat.  As you probably realize, eating meat without cutlery left your hands messy, so this was a perfect solution.  Others at the table would say “Bring me what Sandwich has,” and the rest, as they say, is food-naming history.

          But very few people know the story behind the naming of Pie à la Mode.

          Many people mistakenly think that à la mode is French for “with ice cream.”  Nothing is further from the truth.  It means “to the modern” or more loosely, “how fashionable.”

          So how did pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top become to be named à la mode? 

Beach Bling: Wine Stakes

Beach bling is all about stuff ya gotta have when you go to the beach.  I’m not just talking about trips to stretch out and absorb those golden rays of sun or to build sand castles with the kiddies or to surf like Gidget.  There exist other opportunities.  Romantic opportunities.  Sunset opportunities.  Picture this:  a hunk of soft havarti cheese, a sleeve of water crackers, a bunch of grapes and a bottle of your favorite wine enjoyed wile you and your true love snuggle in a beach blanket, the surf crashing just a few feet away.  But nothing ruins that special moment more than a glass of merlot spilled on your white bikini.  Good news, though.  This type of catastrophe can be avoided if you equip yourself with the proper Beach Bling.

I’m guessing necessity was the mother of invention when some really smart person came up with the idea of wine stakes.  Check out these nifty ideas from Uncommon Goods <<http://www.uncommongoods.com/search.html/find/?q=wine+stake>>:

I have a set of similar wine stakes that I take along on family trips to the beach because they work equally well with bottled water.  I drag them along not because I need more things to schlep to the shore, but because I got tired of transferring sand from my water bottle to my sandwich every time I took a sip.  (FYI, sandwiches were not so named because beach when enjoyed at the beach they invariably get sand in them, but because in the wee hours of one night in 1762, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich was too busy to stop gambling so ordered the waiter to bring him slices of roast beef slapped between two hunks of bread, enabling him to continue gambling while eating…but I digress...) 

Wine glass stakes are also very useful when attending concerts in the park (they work equally well in grass) or a polo match.  Without fail, they draw a couple dozen comments from people like, “Hey, why didn’t I think of that????”  I do, indeed, wish I’d had the foresight to come up with a simple solution to the age-old problem of wine spilled at the beach.   Then I would be a millionaire and could spend all day at the beach, not just the few hours I can spare when I’m not writing.

In searching for a place to buy the win stakes I also came across these totally ingenious ideas for a wine table…

…and a wine balancer.

I am the first to admit all of these things look easy to make at home, especially if you are the crafty sort.  But the question remains, will you take the time and make the effort to do so?  Or just buy a set to keep handy for your next beach outing?   

I thought so...

Cheers!