Father’s Day Appleberry Pie

So we made it to Connecticut! It was a long drive, but we stopped a lot and tried to have a little fun along the way. Today marks one whole week of living “up north” and, I add much less enthusiastically, my SIXTEENTH night sleeping on an air mattress. I might add that we still only have one chair, because our storage pods have not yet arrived from Georgia. So as long as I’m standing (that air mattress ruins my Sunday afternoon nap tradition), I figured I’d bake a pie.

Besides, it’s Father’s Day, so I love any chance I get to say “Thanks!” to the best dad around–my sweet husband.IMG_2944I’m so grateful for the wonderful Dad he is to our kids. They love him so much, and so do I!

Seeing how I only have one(1) pan and one(1) bowl, both of which I bought out of desperation, my pie materials were limited, however; I was able to whip up an Appleberry Pie.

berryappleI peeled and chopped one red delicious apple, one granny smith apple  and added a little under a pint of strawberries. I used the measuring cups I was born with (hands) to add some flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. There was also a bit of lemon juice in there, to keep the apples from browning. I dumped it all into a pie crust in an aluminum pie pan. Normally, I prefer glass pie plates, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Next, I set my new(to me) oven for 375 degrees and hoped that 45 minutes was the same here as it is in Georgia. Time would tell. One thing’s for sure, the house smells great, and I opened to two windows in my kitchen to tease the neighbors. 🙂

 

dadpieThe pie turned out tasty-looking, and it turns out that this oven takes another 10 minutes, but it’s worth the wait. It will wait here until after supper tonight. There’s a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream in the freezer just waiting to make friends with this Appleberry Pie. Definitely something to look forward to–like getting furniture.

We’ve had a good time getting to know our new town, and we’ve been LOVING the cooler weather. Stay tuned for more pie news from “way up north.”  Happy Father’s Day!

 

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All Buttoned Up

Today, I baked a Granny Smith Apple Pie for a friend. She ordered it for her daughter’s birthday, and she needed the pie to have some very interesting crust accents–buttons! Apparently, the birthday party has a sort of buttony theme with cool sock puppets, etc. I love creative people. So my challenge was to create some buttons for the top of the pie. I think it turned out sufficiently buttony. I had to resist snatching one of those crust buttons off the top and tasting it once the pie was baked. 

It was nice to make ONE pie today.

Over the last month or so, I’ve baked quite a few pies to sell at the market with some special request pies baked in there. It’s been fun, and I’ve made a little bit of money, but one thing’s for sure–I have been BUSY. Especially considering this is supposed to be summer break. My kids have been delightfully busy with Drama Camp, sleepovers, and other fun summer stuff. I feel thankful for both the fun and the laziness they’re having. Summer break’s short here–barely 8 weeks, so it really flies by. They’ll start school in only NINE days.

As much as I hate to say goodbye to summer (which we don’t really get to do until October in Georgia), I’m looking forward to a schedule. I’m no the sort of gal who functions well in such an “unbuttoned” environment. Without deadlines, I don’t get a lot of stuff finished. Oh, I have great ideas, but my follow-through really suffers without schedules and time limits.

For example, between pie-making, I’ve been painting my daughter’s room. It’s not a big room, and she actually chose a simple color–white. I’ve been working on it for over a week now. Still not done. I keep seeing something else that I need/want to do. Like cleaning out a closet. Or watching “Clue” with my husband (really funny movie if you get a chance). Or NOTHING. So there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be buttoned up, if you will.

I love a to-do list, especially when I get to check stuff off. But it can be daunting if it just keeps getting longer and nothing gets checked off. A person might just get overwhelmed enough to take a nap. I’ve considered just adding “Take nap” to my list so that I can check something off.

Instead, I’m reminding myself of some wise advice I heard from my husband’s sweet great-grandmother. She lived to be 101 years old. Once, when I asked her how she lived so long, she said that she pretty much just did “one good thing every day–then I rested.”

Do one good thing every day. Then rest.

Makes sense. If you (and by you, I mean me–or I…whatever) spend your days running from one busting button (POP!) to another, nothing will ever get properly buttoned up. It seems wiser to do one thing well and then move on to another. Sorry multi-taskers. Sorry me. Slow down and focus!

It really is something to consider in today’s fast-paced world. One thing every day. Rest.

Rest.

Maybe I’ll rest first…Nah, better get back to painting. Or maybe the dishes. Or the laundry. Hmmmm….POP!