Baby Loves Pie

We watched the movie Waitress the other night, and although the cute story seemed muddled in places and the questionable moral message had us scratching our heads, there was a little tune (simply called The Pie Song) the lead character sang, and we've all been humming it nonstop since we heard it.

Baby don't you cry,
gonna make a pie,
gonna make a pie
with a heart in the middle.

Baby don't be blue,
gonna make for you,
gonna make a pie
with a heart in the middle.

Gonna make a pie
from heaven above,
gonna be filled
with strawberry love.

Baby don't you cry,
gonna make a pie,
and hold you forever
in the middle of my heart.

Creative pie names and flavors are the gimmick of the film and Claire got in to the spirit of things, creating her own recipe at bedtime last night and extracting a promise from me that we could make it today. As with anything Claire would tell you to do, she wants to be sure her instructions are followed precisely: first, put a thin, even layer of sliced bananas on the crust; then, pour in a liberal amount of hot chocolate pudding; cover the whole thing with whipped cream, and put blueberries on top with a strawberry heart in the middle.

And there you have it: Claire's Baby Love Pie. Luckily, the results met her exacting standards. I know this because, even after she had an official slice on a plate, I found her standing inside the refrigerator eating another serving with her fingers...

Stew Love 4ever

The cold, grey, wet weather has our dutch oven working overtime this season. Nothing says comfort and warmth like a hearty slow-cooked stew, and the one we had for dinner last night must be the mother of them all. I took one bite and the heavens cracked open and a chorus of angels sang "Alleluia!" Okay, maybe I'm the only one who heard the music, but don't call me crazy until you've tried it. I swear, the pot had a glowing halo around it...

My life-long search for Stew Love has come to an end with this recipe from Sunset Magazine, reprinted here on the left (it's so good, they put it on the cover!). When you make three squares for six people every day, the cooking romance can kinda fizzle out. But this dish, Smoky Beef Stew with Bleu Cheese, restores my faith. Never mind that it takes four hours to make and that everyone wolfed it down in fifteen minutes and mostly forgot to say thank you; certain labors are their own reward. Sigh.

The Cookie Chronicles, Vol. I

The cookie creating/baking/decorating thing is definitely the new obsession around here; Jack and I were at it again yesterday and there's another batch planned for today. This situation is as rich in irony as the dough is in butter, since I'm generally known to be anti-sugar, especially the white stuff. But as soon as you can find a way to incorporate 73% cacao chocolate, most sins are forgiven.

My crash course in all things cookie is self taught, and the latest lesson was about the proper way to melt and temper chocolate (for use in piping designs). I feel like I'm back in Chemistry 101. I tried two more batches of Royal Icing that both went royally wrong: the first one expanded to twice the size of the bowl, and the second one separated almost instantly when I applied it. Mixing the colors presents its own challenges, and there's a lot of try, try, again going on. But in this case, all the mistakes are obligingly eaten, so there's no waste.

I've had to give up my metalsmithing class for now, so this is the perfect creative outlet, and something that the whole family can participate in. Last night, Coco was discussing designs with her friends on the phone. And I can't wait to see what Wynham comes up with once he starts decorating. Interestingly enough, many of the tools and techniques of my jewelry making can be applied to this edible art (see heart inlay above). But the best part of all? Everyone loves a cookie. Cookies make people happy, and that's what it's all about...

Waiting for Gateaux

Some pictures just speak for themselves...

My Cookie, My Love

My brother and I were talking the other day, still disbelieving that our Mom is gone, even though it's been a year now. Somehow, the subject of her cookie cutter collection came up. I have some of them now, but I never really tried to match her talent with pastries. When it comes to cookies, pies, and cakes, she was an artistic genius. Her standard always seemed impossible to live up to before, but in talking to Jonathan about those memories, I was struck by an overwhelming desire to make something beautiful.

There was a bit of a learning curve to overcome with the particular type of cookie I set out to make, but it was soon a family affair, with all the kids joining in, and James coming by to do occasional taste tests. The kitchen was a complete sticky disaster. My royal icing was way too fluffy and took days to dry. My piping hand was less than steady. But we had hours of fun, everyone's designs were so creative, and yes, they were things of beauty (it's in the eye of the beholder, after all)...

Me and Julio

If you ask Claire, I'm fairly sure she'd say that Julio's holidays were not at all shabby. Julio (the class "pet") went back to the kindergarten classroom yesterday, and at the end of the week he'll go home with one of Claire's classmates. He was a pretty good little house guest, always very polite, and he joined in all the festivities. He didn't even seem to mind being upstaged by the dramatic arrival of Claire's new puppy, Louie, who viewed Julio as Chew Toy Number One...

James fired up Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard the first day we brought Julio home, and I think we've heard Paul Simon singing that song about five hundred times since then. But it's such a catchy tune, you can't help but chime in every time it plays.







Having Julio around really made me look at things in a whole new light. He reminded us that a little monkeying around is a good thing. And that it's easy to turn any occasion into a special one if you just make up your mind to celebrate. Knowing that we'd share Julio's adventures in the class journal helped us all look at everyday life in a new way.





A few more things we learned from Julio:
1. Enjoy the small moments.
2. Don't forget to take LOTS of pictures.
3. Dole out the hugs generously.
4. You can make friends with just about anybody.
5. Oh, and ALWAYS wear your seatbelt...

Bye-bye, Julio, we'll see you on the monkey bars!

Blaze of Glory

The last sunset of the year was so spectacular, I keep going back to this picture to remind myself of the joy and inspiration I felt when the sight of it caught me by surprise. I was going out the front door to light the hurricane lamps before our guests arrived on New Year's Eve, and I was stopped in my tracks by the splendor of Nature's display. Five minutes later, and I would have missed it. It's a good lesson for 2008: it's always worth looking beyond your own four walls.

Weathering the Storm

Yes, the storm was really as impressive as they predicted. The wind howled all night and day, blew out the dust in the upstairs rafters, forced rain through the cracks in the kitchen window, and turned the trellis on our front deck into a pile of toothpicks. We emerged unscathed from our house, warm and dry. We were lucky enough to not lose our electricity, which allowed us to have a movie marathon and bake cornbread in the electric oven to go with our chili. James apparently likes to court danger, however; don't ask me what he's doing, standing on a rain-slicked three-legged stool, leaning against a wobbly railing eight feet above the ground. I couldn't tell you...

Louie Louie

The newest member of our family is a little mutt named Louie (who was delivered to Claire by Santa on one of his early gift runs). Louie has made it quite clear that he’s the one running the show, and everyone else spends a lot of time running after him. He has cute floppy ears that apparently don’t work so well unless you’re crinkling the bag of dog food. He thinks licking folks all over the face is a perfectly acceptable way to wake them up in the morning. He’s already chewed through three leashes, he bolts the minute you open any door, and he refuses to get in the car when he’s supposed to go somewhere. When he's put in Time Out, he won't stay. He likes to show off – loudly – whenever anything larger than him walks by. Louie’s manners are questionable, and he simply doesn’t know how to sit still. In short, he’s obviously one of ours…

Auld Lang Syne

We were privileged to be surrounded by a fine group of folks as we rang in the new year; with 12 adults and 14 kids, the grownups were clearly outnumbered (and loving almost every minute of it). As the ball dropped in Times Square, hoots and hollers went up in our jam-packed kitchen and a single word came to my mind: gratitude. I'm thankful that we have such wonderful people in our lives, delighted that they joined in this special occasion with us, and hopeful that we'll share many more celebrations as the years go by.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

We wish you many great things in the year to come, not the least of which is the company of good friends. Happy 2008!