Well, pie lovers, I’m reporting to you from one of the most beautiful days of a Connecticut summer–high of 80, low of 55, sunny and breezy. Yes, please, I’ll take 20 or 30 more days just like this one. In other sunny news, the last pie I baked–blueberry–was devoured straight from the dish, according to our neighbors. They brought back the plate with these beautiful and delicious tomatoes. How kind!

The smell of them brought back the best memories of my Dad, who grew tomatoes that were the very best. I’m thankful this neighbor’s gardening skills are a close second.

I’m making my way down our street with neighborly pie-ness, so I chose the young couple diagonally across the street as the next pie winners. They’re very friendly, and they’re often out walking one of their two dogs. The exciting news in their home–they just got married! They’re only a few days back from their honeymoon in Hawaii. Now that I’m almost done being jealous of that, I plan to take them a tasty little congratulations present. 🙂

I was excited to start on this particular pie-venture, because I tried something new:

hand pies.

 

When I sold pies at the Farmer’s Market in Georgia, there were several times when folks requested hand pies, but I just never got around to it. Today was the day. I used store-bought crust cut into circles with my new biscuit cutter. My husband requested cherry, so that’s what filled each little pie.

It’s a delicate task to determine how much filling should go into each pie. It’s a lot less than you may think. When I sealed each pie around the edges with the tines of a fork, some of the filling was already trying to escape. Even more snuck out as they baked. Interestingly, the pies only took a few minutes less than a whole pie–about 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

While I was working in the kitchen, my awesome teenager created something really cool. It’s a piece of Paper Pie. I’m gonna use it as a bookmark. 

I love the hand-painted crust and the fantastic detail on the fruit. Love that kid. Can’t wait to try my bookmark in the book I’m reading.

 

Anyway, I decided to also try some apple pies.

Even though I have plenty of apples around–granny smith and red delicious both–I really only needed ONE apple to make three little pies. I’m tellin’ ya, they just don’t hold a lot of filling. I love this photo of the two apples side by side. Some bakers don’t like to mix varieties of fruit in pies–I am the opposite. I think mixing things up keeps life (and pies) interesting.

Take marriage, for example. People are different–like these apples–but underneath the “peels,” they are just alike enough. No matter what the outside of folks looks like, they are similar enough inside to make something delicious together–IF you add a few things: sweetness, effort, time, and sometimes–a little heat.

And isn’t love delicious?

I think so. Seventeen years ago, my husband and I were making the final preparations for our wedding day–August 24. We were different from one another, to be sure, but we were in love then, and we are now. Seventeen years worth of sweetness, effort, time–and sometimes a little heat–has made for a delicious marriage. I wouldn’t change a single thing.

 

So to our newlywed neighbors, we wish you sweetness and joy and just the right amount of everything in the recipe of your marriage.

 

 

Most especially, we wish you so much love that it sneaks out the sides.

Congratulations!