A slice of pie is best accompanied by a scoop of ice cream, or, as some argue, a slice of cheese. And apparently, a milkshake is best accompanied by a slice of pie.

Given we live in a country in which we deep-fry Oreos and manufacture two-pound Snickers bars, I am not terribly shocked someone somewhere has tried putting some deep-dish apple goodness into a blender with ice cream and milk. I mean, there really are no limits to drunken creations/cravings.

But the fact that this is not the passing fancy of a few lone adventurous potheads and seems to be a trend with some staying power online and in restaurants does amaze me, if only because there are easier and less expensive ways to make milkshakes that taste like pies. Having never done a side-by-side comparison of a "blueberry pie" milkshake and and a blueberry pie-milkshake, I can't speak of their respective merits and failings.

I could do some research via at-home experimentation, though I'd much prefer to take a roadtrip to San Francisco's Chile Pies & Ice Cream, where one of my dessert options is a slice of green chile apple pie with cheddar cheese crust blended with vanilla ice cream into a sweet-savory shake. From SF I would head then to Long Beach for a chocolate "banberry" pie milkshake (banana cream pie topped with strawberries) at Polly's Pies.

Options also abound on the other side of the Mississippi. Next time I visit my home state of Pennyslvania, I will stop in Philly en route to Harrisburg because this summer, Chef Holly Ricciardi is jumping on the bandwagon and offering pie-milkshakes at her beloved dessert boutique Magpie. As long as I'm on the East Coast, maybe I should swing by Hill Country Chicken for their pie shake. Because there's nothing like going all the way to New York for a taste of Texas.

Here in Houston, Katz's has long afforded me the opportunity to have a piece of cheesecake thrown in my milkshake. The thought, however, of that much dairy passing through my system at once gives me shivers.

Any other H-town establishments mixing pie, milk and ice cream into a beverage? Notice I'm resisting the urge to make up some bad portmanteau.