pies – Peaceful Reader

{Back door of my grandmother’s home : circa 1999}

I come from a long line of gardeners. My grandmother had an amazing green thumb and had a large square garden in her backyard and grew a variety of plants in and around the house. I remember clearly the Clematis that climbed a trellis right outside her backdoor so as you walked out you were greeted with an airy wall of delicate purple flowers and lovey green leaves. She had a huge hill of rhubarb growing that we would suck on after dipping the end in a cup of sugar she would provide. I remember eating garden produce like sugar snap peas and raspberries right out of our hands as we picked. She didn’t believe in spraying and loved that her garden was clean of chemicals. Oh and the ground cherries-so delicious to pop right out of their paper-like shells and eat immediately except if we were saving up for a pie. Rhubarb-ground cherry pie is still my favorite even though I haven’t had it for years.

{My new garden box with lettuce varieties}

My husband is blessed with a green thumb as well. I can grow things but he has like magical powers and we are amazed at his ability to resurrect plants that look like they are ready for the compost pile. Every year we plant a variety of flowers and vegetables around the house. We don’t have a set spot for either but intermix them together. This year we planted kale, sugar snap peas, cauliflower, broccoli, basil, cilantro, butternut squash, and cucumbers. Plus we watched a master gardener class with Ron Finley and we are rooting and will plant a sweet potato bc he made it look so easy. And then we have a whole variety of flower pots and window boxes that we filled in yesterday. My grandmother loved geraniums and this year I have two varieties planted in pots to remind me of her all summer long. I don’t have an actual photograph of her smiling while gardening but in my mind I have many snapshots.

With our extra amount of together we stumbled upon an Epic Gardening video with Kevin and we learned a lot about ginger and have a large root planted in a shallow pot. Both the sweet potato and ginger pot may need to live inside our house in order to stay warmer if we have an unusually chill fall season. Today we celebrate old memories and new ones we are making together. We will always look back on the 2020 spring/summer pandemic with interesting memories of gardening, good food, good books, extra streaming time, and planting some new adventures. Peace.

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I can remember to Easters of my past, waking up at my Grandma Bruch’s house with a huge basket next to my bed from the Easter bunny. My basket overflowed with green, shiny grass with chocolate bunnies, oval malted eggs and jelly beans of every color poking through the grass. On top looped on the sides was always something to wear for Easter servies at my grandmother’s Lutheran church. I remember a beautiful Easter bonnet, a pair of white gloves, and black patent leather Mary Janes nesting in my basket in different years.

I loved those baskets filled with simple joy and thought it certainly equaled Mary Magdalene’s thrill at seeing Jesus out of the tomb. I’ve kept this tradition going with my own children although I don’t fill their baskets with as much candy as I remember from my baskets. They do usually have an item in their basket to wear for church although as they get older it is difficult to thrill them. College boy is partial to picking his own clothes which leaves me to stock his basket with a packet of white T’s and AE boxer shorts for the last few years.

Groovy Girl, on the other hand, adores the clothes I pick for her. This year I’ve heard that the Easter bunny is bringing her a pair of {audible gasp} high heel patent leather Mary Janes. She’s 10 and I’ve never really allowed her to wear something with a heal even though she’s begged and pleaded. I think she’s going to love them! I predict she’s going to dance with them on all the way across the hardwood floors at 6:10 a.m. as we prepare to head across town for our sunrise service. She’ll probably have chocolate in her mouth as she twirls

Our Easter celebration will end with this pie because what says Springtime more than bright yellow lemons:

Aunt Betty Jean’s Lemon Pie
Sweety Pies; an uncommon collection of Womanish observations with pie by Patty Pinner

One 9-inch single Flaky Pie Crust, rolled out, fitted into a pie plate, and edge trimmed and crimped

1 cup sugar
1 T unbleached all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick), unsalted butter, melted
1 T. grated lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Whipped cream and thinly sliced rinds for garnish

Makes one 9-inch pie

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pie crust and set aside. (I made the pie crust already but am not including the recipe from the book as it is a pretty standard pie crust recipe-if you really want this one request it in the comments section and I’ll see that you get it)

In a medium-size bowl, combine the sugar and the flour, then add the beaten eggs and corn syrup, mixing well. Stir in the melted butter, lemon rind, and juice. Pour the filling into the crust, place in the oven, and bake until the crust is golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Garnish each serving with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and a thin twist of lemon rind.

Oh, my! Pie.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekend cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts to brighten your Easter Weekend.

Tag: pies

Growing memories

Weekend Cooking: Easter baskets and pie!