Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Pies With Grandma


My mom freely admits that she never really learned to cook till after she was married, from her mother in law.  This has resulted in my Irish/Manx mother cooking like a Hungarian, for the most part.  My grandmother was an excellent baker, famous for her poppy seed rolls. Even when she was older and could no longer go easily up and down stairs, my mom would bring the dough up to her room so she could assemble the pastries for the holidays.
this is my grandma, unfortunately I don't have a
picture of her cooking
My mom is also admired for her baking, especially her pies. She makes a low sugar apple pie for all the family events that is so popular she makes it on a deep cookie sheet so there is more to go around. She is also the only person I know who still makes chocolate pudding from scratch. Everyone admires her never soggy pie crusts.

My husband is the family chef, but except for bread, which he is quite good at, he isn't fond of baking.  The problem is that he likes to cook by taste, which isn't possible when baking, where one has to follow directions and hope for the best.  He has never been able to make pie crusts turn out.  Last summer he advised the Girl, who likes to bake, that she needed to have her grandmother teach her how to make pie crusts.  So this fall and winter we spent several days at Grandma's house, learning the art of pie crusts.

First Grandma used some already prepared crusts to show her how to roll the crusts out and bake them.



 Also she showed her how to make chocolate pudding to go in it.

Next time they made the crusts up from scratch and froze them for future use. Then Grandma went to Florida with her sisters for a month.  The next week Dad wanted to make pot pies so she rolled out the crusts she and Grandma had made and helped Dad put them together. The pot pies were a big success.  But the real test came last week when her father wanted to make pot pies again, and she had to make them from the beginning, all by herself because Grandma was still out of town.

I was at work and didn't witness the actual creative process, but everything turned out just great.
I would show you what the filling looked like
but I got to the fork before I got to the camera.

The Girl is happy because she now knows how to do something no one else knows how to do and can brag about the superiority of her pie crusts.  My husband is happy to finally have a decent supply of pie crusts. Grandma is happy to finally have at least one child in the next generation learn this essential skill.  And I am happy that the Girl has this one special connection between her and her grandmother, this thing that the two of them alone know how to do. 
She doesn't understand its true value yet, but she will someday.









 

27 comments:

  1. That is such a great post. What a gorgeous tribute to grandmothers, and it's a win-win for everyone!

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    1. Thank you Bee. I am so happy she has gotten to have this special time with her grandmother. It will be with her every time she bakes a pie for the rest of her life.

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  2. That time that grandchildren get to spend with their grandparents is so special. It's nice to see skills and recipes being passed down through the generations. And that chocolate pudding pie - from scratch!! - looks so good! I'll bet it was delicious.

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    1. Thanks, Linda, the pie was delicious. Next project is for her to go to her other grandmother and learn how to make shortcake just the way dad likes it.

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  3. oh you bet. when she's older, she's going to treasure that skill and that bond. it's so special.

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    1. Thanks Icescreammama. As I mentioned in a recent post I still remember making coffee for my grandma when I was young, and she and my mom will have this special thing that they did.

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  4. What a lovely memory you've provided your daughter with.

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    1. Thanks Vanessa, I know how important these things are when we are older looking back.

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  5. How fantastic for all of you! Such a good thing to do with your kids... My mother-in-law wants to teach my daughter how to quilt and I'm all for it!

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    1. Quilting sounds like an amazing skill to master, I hope she and her grandmother have a great time with it.

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  6. Oh she will definitely understand the value one day! This is so beautifully told and such a wonderful memory that is being created! And I love the pictures!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and for the kind words, I had a great time writing it.

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  7. This is fabulous. Pie crusts are TOUGH, and that she learned from the expert - she will treasure this so much.

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  8. She certainly will someday! My grandma made the BEST apple dumplings ever. She tried to teach me a few times, but I never really paid much attention. I really regret it now. What I wouldn't give for one of those apple dumplings...

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  9. Nothing like having something passed on from generation to generation! And someday...you will ALL appreciate her knowing this skill.

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    1. We already do. I hope we are doing pot pies again next week.

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  10. What a lovely thing to pass down! I wish I had some of these things I could share with my grandmothers, but they were all gone before I was old enough to really appreciate them.

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    1. I understand. My dad died before my kids were born and I always think about the things they missed learning from him, I try to make sure they get the time with the other grandparents.

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  11. This post reminds me of time spent learning the art of baking with my grandmother. What a wonderful gift your daughter has received! She will remember these days forever :)

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    1. Next summer when the fruit pies start coming in I want her to learn about doing those too. My mom has 10 grandkids (5 of each) and she is the first one to go in for pies.

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  12. And isn't the Girl the spitting image of her grandmother! This is a tasty post :) I'm up for pot pies now!

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    1. Home made pot pies are a whole differant planet from what one buys from the store. They even reheat beautifully the next day, when I take leftover ones to work so I can torment my co workers.

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  13. How lovely that she has something so special to share with her grandmother!

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    1. I know, it gave me such pleasure watching the two of them in the kitchen.

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  14. Pies are a dying art! Glad they got to share something so meaningful... and delicious!

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    1. We believe in preserving dying arts around our house. (That includes the spinning and dying arts.) My husband comes from a farming family and likes things done the old ways.

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  15. What a wonderful way to pass a skill on to the next generation and to create a special bond between your daughter and her grandmother. It's a gift they both will never forget.

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