I took a break from crust today to make two special little pies. I’ve named my six-inch pies “Bitty Birds” as a nod to the fortyandtwentyblackbirds name. Last weekend at the market, a friend told me that she loved the Bitty Bird pie, because it was just the right size for two people to eat in one sitting and not have any left on the counter to tempt you. Nice of her to pretend she was planning to share it with her husband :).

Today’s two Bitty Birds were Apple Pies I baked for the two fantastic custodians at our church. They both work incredibly hard. They don’t just clean stuff, they do ANYTHING they’re asked to do without complaining. As a master complainer, I find this to be an amazing feat. A gift, really. They set up tables and chairs, move stuff around, wipe stuff off–you name it. Like most people who really matter in a workplace, they can’t possibly get paid enough. So I baked them each a pie. I was rewarded with a hug, which made it more than worth the work.

Who cleans up after you?

Thank them today. If not with a pie, thank them with a hug, a smile, or a card. A little thanks goes a long way.

On a side note, I learned to use an interesting tool today.

This apple-peeler-corer-slicer was loaned to me by a good friend. Now, you might not be able to tell from the picture, but the first few apples didn’t peel. They only got cored and sliced. It took about four apples (my son was thrilled to eat the rejects, by the way) to figure out that I needed to move the little peeling blade. After that, AMAZING. You get this spiral of peeled apple–one knife cut and it’s ready to go into the pie. Very nice.

I realized last week that my hands are older than the rest of my body. They really hurt after peeling all those apples, so I’m very thankful to use this nifty gadget. Many thanks to Julia for the loan–looks like I need to budget for one of my own.

Gotta go now. Lots of crust to make and a couple of pre-orders to get baking on.