Pie, pie again

The pecan pies were an absolute disaster—burned on top, liquid and unset inside. As the bakers in the family, my sister-in-law and I were horrified. What had gone wrong? And more importantly, how could we fix it on Thanksgiving morning, with guests already arriving?

Because Jenny and I both have event-planning experience, we’re great at managing minor messes. This didn’t faze us, but we knew we had to act fast.

 

“You make two more crusts,” Jenny said, “and I’ll check Baking 911 to figure out what went wrong.”

As the old saying goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” No matter how well executed, there is always the likelihood that something won’t work as you envisioned. Good strategies—whether for Thanksgiving pies or corporate communications—build in contingencies, budget and resources to cover the “what if” scenarios. For us, it was simply buying enough ingredients to make two more pies. For my sister Jill, our host for the day, it meant having a stash of Gigi’s Cupcakes in the pantry as a backup.

Yes, we’re a family of planners.

This doesn’t mean we always have a complete secondary plan, however. Sometimes the event contingency kit is a roll of duct tape and a couple of safety pins. Or a friend on speed dial who can give an amazing keynote when the speaker’s flight is delayed. Sometimes the food rescue is making the original into something else entirely. It’s what my dad calls “The MacGyver Move.”

“Yes!,” said Jenny’s mom, warming to the concept. “What would MacGyver do? Serve ice cream and pour the molten pie on top! Mmmm!”

But it’s not always about the disasters. Comms expert Peter Shankman reminds us that you also have to have a “backup plan for success.” What if things go wildly RIGHT? What if your idea suddenly goes viral and the orders are pouring in?

It’s a predicament that catches many businesses off guard, including my own backup plan, Donna’s Pie House on Lover’s Lane in Dallas. I went in earlier this week to order a pie or two as my “just in case” (because my family doesn’t take chances when it comes to pie). But when I said I needed to place an order, the counter woman shook her head.
 

“We’re overwhelmed with orders,” she said, gesturing to three women frantically rolling out pie crusts behind her. “I hate turning away customers, but we don’t have the resources to make any more pies this week.”

She said that Donna’s is enjoying a growing following, in part thanks to features on local foodie blogs like Feed Me Dallas and Cravedfw. I know from personal experience that it’s also getting a lot of word-of-mouth buzz—more than one Facebook friend directed me there for Thanksgiving dessert options.

“We’ll be ready for this craziness at Christmas,” she said. “Now that we know, we can adjust.”

As for my own Thanksgiving dessert crisis, everything turned out fine. The second batch of pies cooked perfectly (turns out my aunt’s oven cooks too hot, so we just adjusted the temp accordingly). Those extra cupcakes came in handy: last minute (but welcome) guests arrived just as we sitting down to eat. And as my dad will tell you, slightly burnt and liquefied pecan pie makes a delicious ice cream topping.