November 12, 2014

WordPress says:  “Write about pie.”

Mom, who preferred sewing to cooking, nevertheless loved to have the family around for holiday dinners. She’d make turkey roll, and ham, and vegetables in creme sauce, and mashed potatoes, and fruit jello. And, she’d get a Mrs. Smith’s pumpkin pie, and then make a cherry out of Cool Whip and pie filling. And, maybe there’d be an apple, too, if the whole family was coming.

My memory of dessert, which was actually quite rare in our house, was about choices. For the life of me, I could never understand how anybody could pick pumpkin over whipped cherry, or vice versa. And, fatefully, Mom obliged me; every single time, I’d request a “sliver of both” – and, that’s exactly what I would get.

Because pie was always so tasty, and the flavors of each so distinct, I would deeply appreciate as many juxtapositions as could be devised. Needless to say, pot luck dinners and buffets were the order of my day. I’d sit through hours of lofty Bible study for the long, plank table filled with casseroles in the church basement afterwards.