Ten-Finger Exercises

apple pie and I

This is the time of year when United Way campaigns are on. In our office, one of the admin staff has always put on a clever little contest to encourage our pledges. This year the first prize was a home made dinner of tamales or chicken enchiladas with rice and beans and Mexican hot chocolate. I won!

So, it was a great opportunity to ask company over for dinner, something I ought to do but hardly ever make it happen. The house was clean, and dinner was nearly all prepared. All I needed to do was set the table, make a salad and a dessert.

So, it's fall, right? I set the table with yellow and red placemats and napkins and a center piece of mums and the last of the zinnias from my yard. It looked bright and attractive. Now, dessert, well apple pie of course. I mean, I live across the street from an apple orchard where I walk my dog every day; and every day we stuff my pockets full of fallen apples that are whole and unmarked. (We're about to the end of that bounty though.)

I haven't been baking for a long time, not since Bill became diabetic. I had put the flour and the Bisquick, etc., away in plastic containers. I had butter in the fridge, and plenty of cinnamon. What else did I need?

Well, I needed to remember that I don't really like to make double crust pies, for starters. Even that would have been okay though. I used a Cuisinart pie dough recipe that's fast and easy and makes three crusts. Surely that would give me enough to make a big pie! I divided the dough into three bags to chill, but first I tasted a crumb. Woops! That didn't taste right! Very salty, or at least more salty than it should have been, with an odd, almost cheesy taste. Then I figured it out. I'd used the Bisquick instead of flour.

Bisquick is great for a lot of things. (This was probably Krusteez, by the way. It's our local favorite.) It doesn't make good pie dough. Well, I didn't want to start over, so I rolled it out to fit a long Pyrex pan, put the seasoned apples in it, covered them with coarse sugar and a crumb crust and called it a cobbler. Cobblers come in many variations, right? It tasted okay, but I don't think I'll submit the recipe to any contests soon.

Sunday, after church, we flew up to Ritzville and met Lenore and her friend Linda for lunch. Sophie was at a sleep over, and Jack was spending "man" time with his dad. Besides, it was Linda's birthday, and Lenore wanted to get out of the house. After lunch she and I sat and talked while Bill took Linda for a quick flight. She loved it.

Today Lola went to Penrod's, the local boarding kennel, for a two hour session of "dog park" and a grooming afterwards. She doesn't look like the same dog. She has very fine fur that mats easily, and the groomer cut it pretty short so she wouldn't get so many weeds and things caught in her coat. I don't like the look though. She's nice and soft, but her muzzle looks long and thin, and her head looks very high. The nice fur on her back that looks like a Sheltie is short now too. Her lamb-y legs look okay and will be serviceable, I'm sure. I guess the rest will grow, and also get de-fluffed soon enough. Maybe she'll let me comb her out daily now. I hope so. The groomer said she only had to correct her once, and I can hardly get a brush or comb near her without a game beginning. Sigh.

I'll try to get some blog reading done tonight, after some necessary mending, one of my least favorite chores. I'd even rather clean the oven than mend, but hole-i-ness is calling my name.