Baking Pies

This isn't my first pie... there were no photos of that momentous occasion. I downloaded this one-- thank you, Internet!

     I can very clearly remember the first pie I ever baked. I was 10 years old, and my friend Margaret and I had picked some wild blackberries we found growing behind my backyard. I had gathered barely enough for a small pie. My mother was probably not very enthusiastic about the project, because she hated baking pies, but since I had asked her to show me how, she agreed. My father loved pies and always paid huge compliments to her when she produced one. Maybe this was some kind of Oedipal (Andromedal?) thing, but I wanted compliments from my father too. Plus, I really kind of liked baking.

     Mom got out her Betty Crocker cookbook and opened to the pie crust recipe. Fortunately, the book had a series of how-to photos here. I am a visual learner, and between Mom's demo and the photos, I was able to produce a decent enough pie. Fresh baked, totally organic blackberry pie, fresh from the oven, for dessert that night. I got the compliments I had hoped for from my father.

     In the years since, I have baked many pies. I don't do it much now because pies are not good for bulging waistlines or high cholesterol issues. When I do bake one, I insist on making my own crusts. The mixes and sticks and store-bought premade crusts just don't hold a candle to home made. There is just nothing like a pie, warm from the oven, with a little vanilla ice cream melting on the side, to tell someone you love them. No matter the flavor, it always brings smiles to those I serve it to and compliments to me. When I am feeling insecure or perhaps questioning my abilities or self-worth, I can bake a pie and get instant validation.

     I discovered the recipe from Betty Crocker hasn't changed since my childhood. I have my grandmother's Betty Crocker cookbook (same edition as the one my mother had and still uses...) but you can use it too by going here (please note this is for one crust-- most pies need two, so you'd have to double the recipe):
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/pastry-for-pies-and-tarts/e74dfc22-dd54-4564-b653-0f142faf91a2

      Unfortunately there are no how-to photos, but for a written description of the process, try this:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/tips/tipslibrary/baking-tips/how-to-make-pie%20crust

     There are many other pie crust recipes-- I also really like the one in a cookbook called Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond. You can find it here:
 http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/pams-pie-tutorial/  

     I have learned that sometimes you just have to do something special for your loved ones, and the best gifts like this are ones you make yourself. You give a little of yourself. Don't scrimp on short cuts-- and if you have trouble with it, keep practicing. And usually, you'll get back way more than you gave. Especially if you bake a pie!!