As I am reaching my final days in North Carolina, I have discovered one of the saddest things is making all of these lifelong friends but they just happen to live across the country from you.

During my first year here, I ended up in not only the transfer’s dorm but also the out-of-state student dorm. So, within my immediate group of friends not one person lives less than a day’s drive or a plane ride from me. One friend is from Washington. Another from New Mexico. My roomate from Boston. A girl from North Carolina itself. And then me in Minnesota. We practically border the country. Not exactly a quick trip to each other by any means. 

It may be because of graduation but it has also begun to really hit me that I may never see some of these people again. Sorry to start this post on such a low note, but it has been an interesting week.

But, moving past the sadness, my friends and I decided not to dwell on it and instead have one big farewell North Carolina dinner for the out-of-staters plus the North Carolina native. These dinners are always a funny thing for me because I am the only vegan in my immediate group. Because of this, I usually end up being in charge of several different dishes, one of which is always dessert. And then am later asked for the recipe by one person or another.

We’ve had these dinners a few times before and different pies are usually involved in some way or another. It’s so easy for me to be able to whip up a recipe quick and not have to think about it later.

This is comparing to the one time that I tried to make a layered cake with frosting and ended up spending all day working on it.

Other times in the past, I have made recipes in cupcake tins because they are so easy to travel with and also to divide amongst people. But this friends house is a mile from mine and anytime I make a raw cake, it just isn’t as satisfying biting into it if it’s not from a big slice. Is this just me or do any of you feel the same way?

I did make the mistake of giving my friends permission to come up with what kind of pie they would like. The flavors I would use. If it was going to be raw or cooked. Size. Everything.

Lesson learned: Never ask people who may never taste your cooking again what they want you to make.

They ended up divided between Coconut and banana, which I knew was because of a banana cream pie I made previously. So I decided a banana pie with coconut it would be. But since they didn’t request that pie specifically, I wanted to change up the method I used.

For starters, this cake is completely raw and cold. Which became an even a better decision when I woke up this morning to realize that the temperature is in the high 90s today.

I do keep this pie in the freezer until we are going to eat it, but I allow it a couple of minutes to soften up which gives it this amazing whipped consistency that I love.

But, in all honesty, I will miss having this group all in one place to be my test subjects for new recipes.

Because now I will have to rely heavily on my family to try out each new concoction I come up with. But this is a flip-of-a-coin system. Either you get the harshness and brutal honesty of my sister or the sugar-coating of my grandma. But at least I will not have to eat everything all on my own, which also may be good or bad.

But I once again will also have all of my kitchen appliances so the restrictions on what I can and can’t make will disappear in the blink of an eye. So look out for some more fun and out there recipes coming your way.

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