Don't Mess With Taxes

Waitress is a nice little movie. A romantic comedy, but not really a chick flick. In fact, there's a bit of black humor throughout.

A quick plot synopsis for those who haven't heard about the movie. Jenna, played by Keri Russell of TV's "Felicity" fame, is married to a lout (an archaic word, but it really describes Earl) and has been secretly squirreling away some of her Joe's Pie Diner pay so she'll one day have enough money to leave Earl.

Since Jenna's the best pie maker in the region, her tips are probably pretty good. But before she can stash a sufficient amount, to her dismay she discovers that a moment of weakness with Earl (explained by a reference to too much booze) has led to an unplanned pregnancy.

Jenna naturally decides to keep the baby. If she didn't, the film would end after 20 minutes and we'd miss out on her illicit affair with her obstetrician, the sage words of advice from diner owner Joe, played by Andy Griffith, and, of course, her pies.

To deal with her increasing sense of frustration, Jenna uses her crusty culinary skills and invents -- and names -- pies inspired by her daily dilemmas:

• I Don’t Want Earl’s Baby Pie, which actually made it onto the diner's daily menu but as the renamed Bad Baby Pie because that fit the menu board better:
  A quiche of egg and Brie cheese with a smoked ham center.
• Kick In The Pants Pie: Cinnamon spice custard.
• I Hate My Husband Pie: Unsweetened bittersweet chocolate made into a pudding and drowned in caramel.
• Baby Screaming Its Head Off In The Middle Of The Night And Ruining My Life Pie: New York style cheesecake, brandy brushed, pecans and nutmeg.
• Earl Murders Me Because I’m Having An Affair Pie: Blackberries and raspberries "smashed" into a chocolate crust.
• I Can’t Have No Affair Because It’s Wrong And I Don’t Want Earl To Kill Me Pie: Vanilla custard with banana. Hold the banana.
• Pregnant Miserable Self Pitying Loser Pie: Lumpy oatmeal with fruitcake mashed in. Flambé of course.

Thanks to WaitressMovie.net for refreshing my memory, especially when it comes to ingredients. Jenna also whipped up Peachy Keen tarts, Marshmallow Mermaid pie, Falling in Love pie and Naughty Pumpkin pie.

I don't know what the hubby expects for dinner tonight, but I'm heading to the bakery!

Mmmm. Pie: It's no surprise to regular readers that I liked a movie about pies. I've lauded this form of dessert before when I blogged about the local pie heaven, The Blue Blonnet Cafe.

But I also got a kick out of this flick because one of the secondary story lines involves the romance between Dawn, another diner waitress, and Ogie.

Ogie just happens to be a "spontaneous poetry" spouting tax auditor. As is usually the case in Hollywood when it comes to B-story lines and tax officials, Ogie is a bit of a geek. But he's a lovable one.

And if he's as persistent in his tax investigations as he is in his wooing of Dawn, he'll be able to single-handedly close the tax gap and fill the fictional U.S. Treasury of filmdom in no time.