Wednesday, Dec. 10

I couldn't face the winter wind this morning to go to water aerobics. Instead, I did a treadmill session, got ready for the day, and headed to the kitchen to prepare holiday fare for this weekend.



I started by baking a pie for tomorrow's Master Gardener potluck lunch and gift exchange. As the pie was baking, Hubbie, who was elsewhere while I was putting it together, sniffed the air and commented appreciatively, "Nothing smells better than an apple pie baking."



"Except that it's a cherry pie," I laughed.



He blamed his olfactory mistake on a stopped up nose. "I guess my smeller isn't working right," he said.



This time, I watched the pie carefully, to keep the crust from getting "high brown," as Hubbie described the cherry pie I took to his daughter's house last Sunday.


There were scraps of pie crust left from trimming around the edges of the pie plates. With a rolling pin, I flattened these into a single layer, smeared butter on it, sprinkled it generously with cinnamon and sugar, rolled it back up, pinched the ends, and baked it to a golden brown, about 20 minutes. This made a treat for Hubbie to have with coffee. None for me, thanks. Pie crusts are too high in fat, and the pre-made ones also contain yellow dye, which I'm highly allergic to.



Speaking of last Sunday's cherry pie, Hubbie's daughter e-mailed, saying that Son-in-Law really liked it, and would I mind giving her the recipe. No problem. Buy pre-made crusts. Put one in a pie plate. Pour one and half cans of light pie cherries into the crust. With finger tips, wet crust edges with milk. Put the top crust on, pinching to close. With finger tips, spread milk on top to brown the crust, bake at 425 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cherries bubble and crust is golden brown. The recipe is on the can of cherries...except that I use one and a half cans for a fuller pie, and I use milk to brown the crust.



The second pie I made this morning was apple, to be given to my daughter for her birthday while she is here Saturday. She loves my apple pie and requests one each year. Hubbie was running errands while this pie baked, so he missed the actual "nothing smells better than an apple pie baking."



Once the pies were done, Hubbie air popped popcorn for me to use in making baked fruited popcorn. He also cut up candied cherries, and broke pecans for the recipe. I cooked a butterscotch type syrup to coat the popcorn, cherries and pecans, and then baked the mixture for 20 minutes. We made a second batch after supper. One batch will be our contribution to the Second Friday events downtown, and part of the other batch will be included in an exchange gift for the water aerobics Christmas lunch Friday.



In between pies and popcorn, Mother boiled chicken to have for supper with mashed potatoes, chicken broth gravy, and English peas. The rest of the chicken and broth will become chicken noodle soup for Saturday's lunch, while Daughter, Granddaughter, and great-grandchildren are here.



Hubbie and I finished the evening watching our favorite college basketball team romp over their opponents.