God's Gift to Bakeries

I made a pie yesterday for the first time.

That's only partially true. I made the innards of a pie. We cheated and bought pre-made pie crust. It's not that I'm not capable of making pie crust, I just don't have the space. We have about 1 square foot of counter space in our kitchen and it is always occupied by dirty dishes. So all of our food preparation takes place on a small cutting board that rests right on top of the burners of our stove.

Don't waste your time asking me how excited I am to move in 2 months. The answer is most definitely what you would expect.

Needless to say, we steer clear of recipes that involve rolling pins and spreading things out, much like pie crust.

Leni's dear mom had given us some berries about a month or so ago. They'd been in the freezer and I had no idea what they were. Raspberry? Blackberry? Could have been anything really. But I threw it all in a big bowl with some sugar and flour as Mrs. Crocker advised. Dumped it all in the pie crust, baked it for the appropriated amount of time and then the wor

st part...waiting. It's not just about waiting for the oven to do its job but about the 2 hour cooling period afterward.

The verdict? Quite tart but otherwise good! The tartness was easily taken care of with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. I think they must have been blackberries but who really knows.

Some may scoff. I've heard the snickering. Call me Susie Homemaker if you want but I really like making things in the kitchen. I rarely eat dinner in our camp Dining Hall unless I am a team member on the retreat (rare anymore now that our wonderful staff is all trained up and 100% cap

able). There are some around here who do not get this...and I understand their confusion. Why wouldn't someone go for the free meal that you don't have to clean up after? The reason is not because I don't enjoy our food but rather that I so enjoy making our own. In my professional life, I see so few benefits of the work that I do. Not only is it ministry work, in which glimpses of the fruits of our labor are so rarely seen, but it is also behind the scenes administrative ministry work. So I see far less than other people in The Pine

s' employ. But the projects I do at home, meal preparation included, are the times in my life when I get to do something and enjoy what happens next.

Anyway, thanks for listening. If you are interested in some pie and ice cream, feel free to drop by.

Just wanted to share one more thing with you:

This is a pumpkin that my brother, Nick, and our friend Christian made back in the Fall of 2004. If you can't tell, it's a profile of the late Pope John Paul II, and in keeping with honoring his incredible life, we call it the POPE-kin. While it has long since decayed and been scavenged by squirrels, I always keep this photo and make it my computer wall paper each October. Enjoy!

Keep It Real!