what do you see

Over the summer we made cherry pie from scratch. We pitted two pounds of bing cherries with a cherry pitter - the kind that pits one at a time. It was a tedious task, but the results were worth it. That was one delicious pie. Above is what was left of the cherries - a bowl of pits or a future grove of cherry trees.

I am still not quite to seeing those cherry trees in that bowl. I still see the pits. As I look at the calendar, and see the days passing, I am getting anxious. My list of things I need to do seems to be growing while the minutes somehow pass by more quickly.

In a mere three weeks, Christmas 2008 will be a memory. It is amazing to think of all the things people will do between now and then to prepare and celebrate. From baking cookies to cleaning the dishes and dirty pans after the big Christmas dinner. In between there are trips to the post office and the grocery store. Gifts need to be wrapped, trees need to be decorated, cards need to be addressed.

I did make some progress today. The laundry feels more under control, as well as the dishes. The recycling can is full and at the curb. The plastic bags have been gathered to be recycled at the next food shopping trip. Dinner was made from things in the freezer, fridge and cupboard. We will have spent under $40 this week to feed ourselves. I have two bags ready to take to Vromans bookstore this weekend for their food drive.


on the night stand :: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

my lattice needs work

I made my first ever cherry pie from scratch! Started with two pounds of bing cherries and pitted those puppies by hand. I used a pitter, but the kind that only does one cherry at a time.

When we bought the pitter at Sur La Table, the guy working there tried to upsell us the one that can handle multiple cherries at a time. You just turn a handle and presto - all your cherries are pitted in a matter of seconds! It was triple the price, so we went with the hand held model by OXO. I wasn't sure I could actually commit to cherry pie. We were just working on ice cream that day.

Once the cherries are pitted and halved, the rest of the process is pretty easy. You add a half a cup of sugar, two tablespoons of cornstarch, and the juice of a lemon to the cherries. Put that in a chilled pie crust and then do a little lattice work....

Oh wait, did I say easy? Okay, maybe not easy easy, but nothing that a bit of practice wouldn't make perfect. I think part of my problem is that I don't have a truly flat surface. The counters are all tiled. I also know that I overworked the dough a bit. Oops.

The end product was still very tasty. We served it with homemade coffee ice cream that B made from his own recipe. I would definitely do it again.

Honestly, the hardest part was probably waiting the three hours for the pie to cool. I think next time I would plan on leaving the house so it wouldn't be so tempting. Now I know why in those old movies the women always got so upset when some jerk came by and stole a pie off their windowsill.

on the night stand :: I Was Told There Would Be Cake