SWEET THINGS

My grandma was a pie baker.  It's how she made her living.  I was very young when she spent all day making pies and delivering them to local restaurants and stores, but I have memories of being in my Memmy's baking room.  What I remember are the dried apples that sat on baking sheets atop the stove and the big green tins that sat under her workspace.  Those tins held lard, flour, sugar, and other ingredients that she used to create her delicious cheese pies, fruit pies, and what we called "fish" pies.  Members of our family have tried to recreate the fish pie, but it's never the same as I remember.  Her fish pie had a thick green-grey molasses filling with a thick soft crust.  

I wish I could have spent time with Memmy and learned her baking secrets.  One thing that has always been a challenge for me is pie dough.  I most enjoy making cakes and cupcakes and have perfected three kinds: applesauce, banana, and chocolate as well as three frostings: cream cheese, chocolate, and peanut butter.  But pies are something I never really took an interest in because making good pie dough seemed such a mystery as well as a hassle. 

At this time of year, when apples are in season, I always get the urge to bake an apple pie.  I found the link below tonight while searching for apple pie recipes.  The website itself is one worth exploring.  If nothing else, you'll learn how to make good pie dough and the secrets to a flaky crust.  Then you can use your favorite recipe for the filling.  Perhaps pumpkin.  

Under the link I posted some photos of my cake creations.  Far from professional, but perhaps they'll inspire you.   It's such fun to create sweet things in the kitchen.  Kids love to help too, so get baking.
 http://www.simplebites.net/lets-bake-an-apple-pie/