Get ready to embrace a whole new family tradition this Christmas. Pie Day.
Now you're listening. Everyone loves a new family tradition don't they, whether it be the unspoken rule of not going out over the Christmas week, religiously watching the Queen's speech or making everyone at dinner table eat a sprout. Christmas truly is a time for making the family do funny, nostalgic and ridiculous things in the name of making more family memories.
This December, save the date for the 27th of December (day after Boxing Day) because we want to see you spend it eating pie.
So why Pie Day, and why I am I making all of you do it?
It started off as a personal family tradition, when my Dad decided if we make use of Turkey Leftovers, we should make use of gravy, sprout, roast potato and other leftovers. After the cold meat day of the 26th, he made a pie of left over Christmas dinner 'stuff' and served it up to us. He jokingly named it the pie of all pies, and for that day to be the day of pie making, perhaps never expecting us to go on about it again.
Until the following year, when in December, we watched a Jamie Oliver programme where he was making pie, and I decided we should make it at some point. Seeing as we had pie of the 27th the year before, it was made on that day and the Day after Boxing Day has become Pie Day in my house ever since. My family, the six of us love Pie Day. It is one of our favourite family traditions and I joking have encouraged friends to partake in it, until Christmas 2013 which changed things.
Last Christmas (I gave you my heart) and Pie Day became something new, something beyond just my family. I knew I was going to be in hospital all over the Christmas period and my church ad extended family wanted to do something to help, or just do something to let me know they were thinking of me, without having to have the awful 'So you have cancer...' talk with me. Pie Day was this outlet.
After my mum text everyone in her phonebook, and Cathy my minister spoke to the congregation we had around 50 people take part in Pie day last year. Most of them sent pictures of their pies, I had a letter off've one lady who had typed and specially printed the letter so it had pictures... Some of my best friends got together and had a pie making session with some of them delivered to my house, to put in the freezer so my family could eat without having to cook properly. I had tons of pictures sent to me of friends eating pie- even I it was just the humble mice pie or a big celebrity chef inspired number.
This year I want Pie Day to be bigger and better.
In years gone by, Pie Day was a fun family tradition, which dragged out the proper Christmas festivities out a bit and was massive fun. Last year, Pie Day became something else. It became a known event sure, but it also became a mechanism to show someone you're thinking of them, and to be a time to think about hose family members or friends you can't be with this festive season, for any reason.
I would love more people to get involved this year.
Pie Day can be what works for you. It could be you delivering a pie to someone lonely or in hospital. It could be you sitting down with a mince pie and emailing friends and colleagues who need to hear a friendly message at what can be a very hard time of year. It could be a time to invite relatives not close enough to come for Christmas Dinner over and spend time with them. It could be, as it was originally for us, a fun gimmicky tradition to use leftovers. It could be your excuse to buy that giant pork pie. It could be whatever you make it to be.
It may seem like a strange thing, a charityish blogger, urging you all to eat pie the day-after-boxing-day, without asking for donations. That is not what I want. I want it to be a time where you sit back and be with or think of those you love, and just be. Not much of Christmas is like that, not really.
Obviously, I'll be celebrating Pie Day, just as much as any other festive day, and in much more style than last year. Last Pie Day I was recovering from having my Hickman line in, I still had my chest drain in and I was just a general medical mess. I'm not entirely sue whether I even ate any pie!
I just hope you all decide to join me in eating pie this 27th December. I want to hear your recipes, see your pictures and just spread a bit of love on social media. I know there are some of your reading this who were bitterly disappointed that they for one reason of another were unable to sign up to be a Stem Cell donor. Maybe you could spread the #RemissionPossible love through your pie making skills!
My mum is desperate to have a Pie Day cookbook made, so maybe with your support this year, it could become a possibility for Pie Day 2015.
If you decide to celebrate Pie Day on the 27th December tweet @remissionpos using #PieDay2014. You can read more of Emily's blogs about the life of a teen with cancer, find out more about her and get involved with her campaigns by visiting www.remissionpossible.org.uk