First things first, I promised a pie-follower that I would post the recipe for Good Pie. Here it is. Hope it works out for you!

Now on to today’s pie, Pink Lemonade Pie. We’ve got some fun stuff going on this weekend–company twice–so I wanted to make some yummy dessert that could be made in advance. This pie worked great. I love just being able to pull something out of the pantry or freezer and serve it up without any fuss.

I found the recipe online. I just don’t know what anyone does without the internet. We use it for everything around here.

Here’s what this tasty pie includes: a graham cracker crust, cream cheese, lemon extract, sweetened condensed milk, red food coloring and whipped topping.

The first thing I did was to make the graham cracker crust. I’ve only made one other one before, and the whole process brought up some wise words my Dad once said,

“Let your tools work for you.”

My Dad had tons of tools. Tiny tools, big tools, dangerous tools, homemade tools. The man could really make stuff work, and even when he didn’t have the right tools, he still found a way. But he took care of his tools. He didn’t leave them out, and when he sent one of us kids to fetch one, he usually knew right where it was.

Anyway, I started crushing up some graham crackers by hand when I thought, “DUH. You have a food processor.”

So I crushed up the crackers that way. Worked great. Use your tools!

I pressed the crumbs into a spring form pan with some butter and sugar. Hands, by the way, are the best tools for this job.

Then I mixed up the condensed milk, cream cheese, and lemon extract and added some red food coloring. This yielded the most gorgeous, creamy, pink stuff ever. I put the pie in the freezer and made the topping. All I did was to mix some food coloring into a tub of whipped cream. Then I spread it on the pie and sprinkled on some red sugar. That was it, and I put it back in the freezer.

I cannot wait to cut it, but I’m supposed to wait a day so it can harden, and I’ve learned my lesson on sloppy slices, so I’m waitin’.

Another tool I’m counting on is that spring form pan. My husband is really the master of it, because he is the Cheesecake King. He makes the most delicious cheesecake around, and somehow, it pops out of that pan perfectly every time. We’ll see if I’m as lucky when this pink confection springs forth tomorrow evening…I’ll try to remember to post a picture of the finished product.

A word about tools.

Most of us have plenty to work with,

but it seems like we just have to do it the hard way sometimes. We (and by “we” I mean “I”) just insist on doing stuff our own way, the hard way, the same old way, the stupid way. Often, if I just stop and think for a minute…pray for a minute…ask for help…look for tools…then it gets easier.

So a reminder to you and to me–Let your tools work for you.