Monday, September 26, 2005

But it wouldn't win a ribbon at the fair

A wonderful woman I work with gave me a bag of apples from a tree in her yard.

Later that day, I had my new pampered chef "deep dish" pie plate on the counter. It contained a frozen piecrust(don't hate me because I'm lazy, come up with a better reason...or teach me how to make a piecrust...and make me care about making it from scratch...) and I was coring and peeling the apples.

My son wandered by. "Whatcha doing, Mom?"

I thought this was an exasperating question, naturally.

One thing I have been struggling with lately is that my children seem to ask questions without thinking things through first. Many of their questions can be answered if they just STOP and assess the information they already have, before saying "Mommmmm?"

Turns out the little guy was probably more astute than I gave him credit for. He may have noticed the absence of flour anywhere in my vicinity, and concluded that *I* didn't know what *I* was doing.

I wish he'd been more specific...

...because apple pie without some flour mixed into the sliced apples is something like chunky apple soup in a crust (which gets soggy) -- I'm guessing cornstarch would be even more apropriate to use. Because I have no idea, really.

However, most mistakes in the kitchen can be salvaged. If you ever make this mistake, just quietly pour out the soup part...your filling won't be all thick and sugary but it serves (me/you) right.

Mr. Carly gallantly said "it's not bad....", and really, it wasn't. Especially with ice cream. LOTS of ice cream.

Note to self: read the recipe, for crying out loud!!! Or buy a Mrs. Smith's pie, because she apparently has plenty of flour in her factory.

PS: Since D got home, he has eaten (in half an hour) a brownie, some goldfish crackers, two carrots, and a glass of milk...I may need to go back to work full time when he is a teenager...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Multitasking insures certain failure when trying to follow a recipie.

I can't tell you how many times I've missed adding an ingredient because of "Mommmmm...."

We're no Martha Stewarts... but then again we've never been in jail for insider trading, have we?

Johnny Virgil said...

eww. don't put cornstarch or flour in there.

Carly said...

but every recipe I've seen has one or the other....

FRITZ said...

I don't have children, but would probably get frustrated with those things as well. What's funny is that I can still hear my mother saying: "THINK the sentence in your head before you SAY it." That was when I was four.

Yeah, I don't have much tolerance for that kind of thing.

My mom was tough.

Blake said...

A. I was the most curious kid. I'm sure my parents wanted to kill me too.

B. I can't cook, meaning I'm always appreciative if other people cook a pastry and I'm lucky enough to get a piece. Who gives a shit if it is a frozen crust? I wouldn't. I'd still eat the hell out of it.

Blake

Anonymous said...

dude, I'm all about the cobbler - pie crust is overrated.

I've done the apple soup thing - your ratios were off and flour or cornstarch is a quick cheat - we should talk fruit dessert sometime.

Things will get better... right?

I distinctly remember a day in... maybe February?  I remember the moment, but not what day it was. I was sitting at work thinking about plan...