Baking Pies

I've made pies before.

Well, I've made pie before (singular).  An apple one.  From scratch.  Well, kinda.  I did you the already made uncooked pie crust from the store because, well....let's just put it this way, I'm living proof that Murphy's Law is fact.

Anyway, apart from the crust I made the rest from scratch.  I hand peeled the apples.  Sliced them meticulously to ensure they were uniform in size and would, therefore, cook evenly.  I tossed them with the amount of sugar and cinnamon prescribed by the recipe.  I made cute little designs in the top of the crust to properly vent the pie so there would be no explosions inside the oven.

And I thought it turned out well.  But the place I brought it also had a bunch of store/restaurant bought pies (pumpkin and cherry and chocolate).  My poor little pie got a few "mercy tastes" by sympathetic eaters.

And I hadn't made a pie since.

Until today.

Now normally, for kinship group I bring chips and salsa.  Homemade salsa, but I know...cheap and easy.  Quite frankly it was because it was cheap that I always did it (being a part of a kinship group does not mean one necessarily has the funds to provide snacks for the entire group on a regular basis...nevertheless, it is expected.  No one has ever complained about my salsa.  In fact, it has quite the following.  At least one BIG fan who cheers when she sees me walking in with my tell-tale plastic bowl and rustling bag of tortilla chips.  And I've never once had to take any home.

So I have no idea what on Earth possessed me to make pies for tonite.  Yup, two pies this time...one blueberry and one apple.  Maybe it was because I just saw the movie Waitress and while I couldn't rave about the movie (it was ok, I guess) it sure made me hungry for pie.  I had the funds this time around, so I thought "why not?"

Complication #1:  My back

Having recently returned from a 1 week tour of 12 states in New England, by car...and my doing all the driving because we didn't want to spend the extra $125+ to add my friend as a driver; plus sleeping on the world's worst hotel mattresses for a week (I missed my sleepnumber bed); plus sitting contorted for 4 hrs on the plane home because I was next to a guy who decided to claim the armrests for the entire trip (I kept looking at the Bible he had stuck in the seat pocket in front of him and was tempted to ask him if that was his or if someone had just left it there)...my back is seriously tweaked.  I think I have a pinched nerve between my shoulder blades, which makes driving painfully hard and sleeping on my side completely impossible.

Complication #2: My cute little cookie cutters

Having recently stopped at Michael's for one small thing...I ended up purchasing a set of mini-cookie cutters shaped like apples and pumpkins and leaves and acorns.  I thought they would be perfect for cut-outs on the top crust of the pie.  I came to find out quickly that they were likely on sale because they break the first time you use them.  There was no blood, but there were tears.

Complication #3: My greasy little fingers

I have just learned that they way they keep those pre-made crusts nice and soft is through liberal use of grease (aka: Crisco).  Unfortunately, I did not learn this until AFTER I attempted to brush something off the black shirt I WAS planning on wearing to kinship tonite.

Complication #4: Time 

I have just realized that I have been sitting here typing for entirely too long and now must hurry to go shower,etc BEFORE the timer on the pies goes off.  AARRRRGGGGHHH!!

to be continued....