When you are a homeschooling mom whose husband is self-employed there is often no such thing as a weekend. The week never ends. So it is up to me to create the party atmosphere. This is not an easy thing for me. I am not, as are my mom and sister, from "fun country". I am from "perfect/control country". (thank you Rev. Andrew) I would prefer to just "keep on truckin' ". I am okay with "all work and no play" as long as we are making accomplishments. But for the sake of my children who are at least 1/4 "fun country" I persevere in the pursuit of fun.
We try to differentiate that is it indeed the weekend by celebrating Too Fun Friday! For at least 5 years the kids have had Chicken Nugget and Fry Day. They eat this culinary masterpiece on plastic segmented picnic plates at our Little Tikes picnic table while they watch a movie. As if that weren't enough, we party hearty into the evening on a wave of frolic and jocularity with Fiesta Friday. In our revelry we consume refried beans, tacos, and pina coladas. At the same time, thanks to a long ago gift from my dad for the occasion, we're serenaded by Mariachi Madness.
On the particular Friday in focus we would be skipping the Fiesta as I had invited us to my folks' for supper. I offered to provide dessert. Since I recently covered cream pie school with my oldest sous-chefs in training, and mostly because said help was finishing up book work, I commandeered the younger set for a lesson. The following is what passes for fun at our house. How to make an apple pie...
-Use as little iced water as needed to hold your crust together. If available use lard, if not use real Crisco shortening. Cheaper brands have too much liquid content. 
-Free apples fresh from the tree make the best pie. If the apples aren't tasty add extra cinnamon and serve with butter brickle ice cream. As long as the crust is tender and flaky no one will notice.
-Get some cute little sprite to drool and take a few bites from the apples while cutting them. This keeps them from browning and adds needed moisture. This always worked for my mom when my brother Sam helped her make cookies. Aunt Mary won't eat them to this day...
-Use a tiny cookie cutter to cut the shape of an apple in the top crust. This will distinguish the kind of pie and also distract from tasteless apples. Brush the top with 1/2 and 1/2 and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Remember it is all in the crust!
-My mom always lays a beautiful table. These were my grandmother's everyday dishes. Love the little orange nasturtiums.
The apples were only okay, but favorable comments were made concerning the crust. I count that a victory. Mom suggested we serve some smoked cheese alongside. She quipped, "Apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze!" I can only guess that one is from before they made butter brickle ice cream...
No comments:
Post a Comment