This weekend felt weirdly long. Saturday night felt, not unpleasantly, like Sunday night, that relaxed, back-to-school feeling, and Sunday just felt like a day too much of the weekend, Sunday Part II. But most of Saturday was unexpectedly wonderful.
My in-laws have a camp about an hour away from us, although it’s not a camp in the pretty Muskoka sense. It’s an old falling down farm miles away from anything, on a large piece of property covered in deer trails and old buildings and weird rusting old equipment, and they entertain themselves by renovating some buildings and knocking other buildings down and on Saturday, my father-in-law wanted my husband to come up and help him put a foundation under a little house. My mother-in-law wanted to see the kids, and I was just along for the ride.
The Girl has been surly and snarling since she started back to school, so we decided that what she really needed was more time with her parents. We left The Boy and The Baby with my parents for the day and The Girl was thrilled to have a day to play Only Child, and be doted upon by her grandmother, and they spent the day in the tall, thorny blackberry bushes, picking the last of the seasons blackberries.
And while she and her grandmother industriously filled the old metal berry pail, I wandered around all of the old buildings and pretended that I was the Mayor of Shedtown. Later, my mother-in-law gave me an ice cream pail full of blackberries and said, smiling, that The Girl would like me to make a blackberry pie, and also that the poor, poor little child had complained that I NEVER EVER make pie. Yes, the poor, poor girl, growing up all sugar-deprived.
So yesterday, I knew what I had to do – I had to make a freaking pie, even though I HATE making pies. They’re messy! But The Girl had her heart set on a blackberry pie, and The Boy was eager to help me, so I set to work. First, we made a gluten-free pie:
That’s the food processor attachment for my stand mixer. I love it. Of course, gluten-free pie dough is just HORRIBLE to work with, and after several frustrating attempts, I gave up and made several mini pies for her.
There’s nothing to indicate scale here – doh! – but they were baked in custard cups. "LITTLE PIES JUST FOR ME?" The Baby screamed when I showed them to her, so she was pretty pleased. I attempted to pretty them up a bit by cutting leaves out of the leftover dough, but they looked so MANGLED. Grr.
And then The Boy dumped flour everywhere. (And where was The Baby? Her dad had taken her for a walk by this point. Fear not.)
MESSY, MESSY PIE-MAKING.
Oh, and then I was taking the pie out of the oven and I put my oven-mitt-clad thumb RIGHT through the crust. But all in all, it wasn’t too bad:
I can never make my pie edges look all nice and fluted, like some people, although the way they Girl ate THREE PIECES makes me think that I’m going to get LOTS of practice. "That was a very good pie," she told me at bedtime, rubbing her full stomach with her hands still covered in thorny scratches, her fingernails still stained purple.
mmmm….pie. I LOVE making pie. If I’m ever in the area (wherever that is) I’ll come over and we’ll fill your freezer with pies and they will all have perfectly fluted edges and it will be grand. Okay? Okay. Also, you need a leaf cookie cutter which is my lovely little segue into telling you that you need to make sure to enter my bloggy giveaway contest in two weeks…. 🙂
Aw! You’re a pie-making hero!
I bet the pie tasted especially delicious because they were made with the blackberries that she picked 🙂
YUMMY! I have an 11 year old who would squeal with delight if I gave her her VERY OWN PIE! But I’m not a pie baker, myself. Tarts? Yes. Cakes? Definitely. Cookies? Oh, YES. Pies? Not so much. But I’ll take ’em when I can get ’em – that’s for sure.
Whenever I talk about any kind of dessert The Loved says in a monotone, sad kind of voice, “I like pie.” I NEVER make pie.
Beck, there is a little tool like a roller for making the fluted crust edges, but I personally prefer the thumb-pressed effect. Much more homey and appetizing. And as for the thumb in the pie…my oven mitts are permanently stained from thumbs winding up in pies, lasagnes, pizzas, etc.
Looks warm and delicious and you have TOTALLY inspired me to go pick up all the windfall apples in my back yard and make an apple pie for after-school snack today. Won’t the girls be surprised!
I have never made a pie, I am more of a crumble or crisp gal. The Girl is so big now, I can’t believe how quick they grow. I love having one on one days now and then, I think they are good for everyone.
I have never made a pie, I am more of a crumble or crisp gal. The Girl is so big now, I can’t believe how quick they grow. I love having one on one days now and then, I think they are good for everyone.
I think pies look infinitely better when they aren’t perfect looking. They taste better, too.
Who cares what it looks like- it’s all about the eating of it. And it looks more homemade that way! : )
Steph
Put your pie ball between two big pieces of suran wrap and roll away, when your ready, peel of one later, dust your pie plate and the rolled out dough that you just exposed, with flour. Then put it on the plate. Do the same with the crust. It really helps!
Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever made a pie. Well, never pie crust or the kind of pie that has crust on the top too.
I like it that your photo is now with your KitchenPost. Love your posts.
First of all, The Girl is stunning.
Second, pie is about the only thing I CAN make.
Finally, You people live in the coolest places.
PS I forgot to mention that the house we want to buy has 2 apple trees on it!! When I saw that I nearly cried!
What a wise mom to arrange for some alone time with the crotchety-acting (but lovely; thanks for the photo as she’s no longer an ethereal faceless entity to us:-)) child. And a brave mom to make two different rounds of pie!
Pie is my favorite food on the planet. It sounds like the girl had a dreamy day all in all. Good for her, and for you for making it happen.
How wonderful that she got a special day. And that little poochy tummy, I can just imagine it like my own’s under her long and soiled fingers.
Mayor of Shedtown. hehe.
Yes, but do you have a good recipe for a chocolate pie?? That’s the kind of pie I would like.
Lovely pictures, lovely post. I like to make pie. I’m kinda good at it. I only make them at Thanksgiving and Christmas though, I don’t really know why. Some fresh blackberries would definitely convince me to make more though. That’s for sure.
I don’t do pies either (unless it involves a box of jello pudding)… cookies on the other hand… I am a champ at cookies. I love how you describe your daughters hands as she was going to bed… made me smile.
you are a lovely mummy. i love pie and yours looks delish! i’ve also got a little girl who’s demanding some alone time with mummy – we’ve designated thrus mornings for just us and so far it’s been really helpful.
Here’s the deal: You come here and Mr. Right will teach you who to make a perfect pie crust. The end. (But kudos to you for making something that The Girl was really wanting…
I love the word pie, but I’m just not a huge fan of pie itself. Don’t know why. Fruit, good. Crust, good. Together? Not so much. Hmmm.
I love pie! All sorts of pie. I’d rather have pie than cake anyday. But I don’t make it either because of the fuss and mess. And I can never get it right.
How nice for the Girl that she had you all to herself. And what a sweet compliment from her at the end of the day!
i remember picking blackberries with my mom (and getting all bit up from mosquitoes) and making a pie, and then when my dad was getting it out of the oven he bumped it and flipped it upside down on the oven door. We scraped it off and ATE IT, gosh darn it, because we gave BLOOD for those berries.
it still tasted good. 😉
The girl? She is lovely. Glad you had some time together, even if it was pie making.
Blurry or not, she’s a pretty little girl. 🙂
Sometimes the kids just need us to themselves, don’t they? It sounds like a lovely time.
I made pie yesterday, too! It was the last-of-summer peaches topped up with blueberries I froze earlier in the summer because the consistency of last-of-summer peaches can be tempermental, it seems. I made a big mess and, for some reason, the filling turned out runny but we ate warm bowls of pie with cold vanilla ice cream for bedtime snack last night and nobody seemed to mind the mess in their bowls or in the kitchen.
Ok now I’m really jealous. Blackberry pie! Yes! I love pie so much that I don’t even mind making pie. My husband’s fav too. I put Granny Smith apples in my blackberry pie, along with cinnamon, and it is an especially yummy combination. (I assume it’s British, since my mother is Welsh)
PS I decorate mine with cut-out leaves too!
Beautiful. Always. So inspiring. I totally agree that I would take an imperfect (looking) homemade pie over a perfect looking but not homemade anyday. Yummmm.
I see it IS possible for you to eat locally grown, in-season food! You’re so green! : )
That looks like a lovely pie. The best part is the taste, anyway. And, it made your girl happy, so there’s that. It is nice to see a picture of her. She looks awfully sweet. It is hard to believe she could ever be grumpy. 🙂
I used to make pie crust from barley, rye, tapioca, and chick pea flours (mostly separate because some kids could eat one some the other). No fun. I learned not to roll those doughs out, press them gently into the pan and put a crumble on top. SO much easier with low gluten/gluten free crusts.
And I hated making pie crust till I learned from an 1919 cook book the right way to do it and started using a silicone mat for rolling out and transferring. Makes all the difference in the world.
We have days and weeks like that with the girls. And usually there is some need that is being unmet triggering it (though usually it is also horribly hormones.)
I think as long as the pie is edible, you’re in the clear. I’m a terrible baker, my creative spirit will not allow me to conform to such confines as baking powder versus baking soda…it always ends in a failed pie, but i’ve had some impressive fruit volcanos.
I think I’ll be making an apple pie tonight. After another visit to the orchard, I need to get rid of a few dozen apples… 🙂
Your pie looks yummy, and I can’t be bothered with that fancy crust stuff either (although in high school I did it all).
Both those pies look amazing. I love fruit pies but we don’t make them much. Pastormac loves pecan pie and so I make that for him every Christmas. Truth be told, we don’t need too much pie around here – we’d all just get a lot rounder.
Happy Monday. I love your kitchen posts.
I do that potholder-covered-thumb-in-the-pie thing EVERY TIME I pull a pie out of the oven.
Mmmm. Imperfect-looking pies taste better.
MY HUSBAND MADE PIE!
You already know this b/c you read my blog but really truly YOU inspire us to try more things from scratch and guess what!?!?!? WE LIKE IT! Thanks … you rock