Yup. McDonald's Famous Hot Apple Pie

These are challenging times. Pi Man is not exempt.

The coffee houses and the dessert shops are shuttered. The blessing to sit with a friend and enjoy a slice of pie has been curtailed. Like many of us, I have been driven to nostalgia for comfort. Driven way back. To the humble beginnings of Pi Man's journey.

I kissed a McDonald's Hot Apple Pie this week. And I liked it.

It's been decades since I indulged in Mickey D's contribution to pie-time cuisine. Not since Pi Man's 4-20 days maybe. But I digress. Before I jump into the Experience, let me share some facts.

• The original McDonald's Hot Apple Pie debuted in 1960 in Knoxville TN.  So giving props where props are due - this thing has outlived about 100 other items on that menu which have come and gone over the years.
• In other countries, fruit pie tastes run wild. McDonald's offers pineapple pies in Thailand and banana pies in Philippines. 
• All the apples that give their life for your pie-filling are American born and bred! 

The Experience

COVID lock-down meant this was a drive-thru experience. To ensure instant gratification, I needed to eat the pie in the parking lot. I was bit concerned, because I remember the pie of my youth burning the shit out of my mouth.  I was also concerned because I did not see my Pie on the drive-thru menu but upon asking the helpful Mickey D associate, I was informed that it indeed still existed at 99 cents!

Upon receiving the pie and pulling over to eat it,  I was shocked!

• It is not fried anymore. It has not been fried since 1992 or something like that. It is baked. Damn, if I knew that I wouldn't have brought my cholesterol medication with me. 
• It has lattice on the crust. Which is like when I put nice rims on my 1976 Ford Pinto in college. Solid effort to impress but really, not so  much.

I bit into it. Carefully, expecting it to be scorching hot. It was not.  It was room temperature plus 2 degrees. Very nice actually.  

The verdict?  It isn't the worse pie I've had, believe it or not. It is better than some lame ass store pies. It may be better than a couple homemade pies people have shoved under my nose in the past decade too.

The sad part. Well, there are a lot of sad parts, but the saddest is a grown man eating a pie by himself in a parking lot. That is not exactly what Pi Man and the Pie, Coffee and Conversation blog is all about. But you know, desperate times... 

Pi Man signing out and wishing everyone safety and sanity!