For as long as I can remember, my grandmother has made the best pie crust on earth. I grew up believing that all pies should taste that good and boy was I wrong! Lemon Meringue, Apple, Blackberry, Banana Cream, Cherry, Raspberry, Pumpkin, Peach...you name the flavor, my grandma made it and made it well!
As the last few years have went by, I have realized something that I wasn't sure I was ready to realize. My grandma is getting older. Do you realize how hard that is? I have always thought that she was going to live forever. She does everything for our family. She cooks, she takes care of, she listens, she sews, she crafts, she gives advice, she writes genealogy books, she prays, she quilts, she's the matriarch of our family. But again as time has passed these past couple years, I am realizing even more that I need to retain as much information as I can from her. She is filled with so much amazing knowledge and I want to soak it all in.
It's getting harder for her to make pies, as it is becoming a tiring task. My dad reminded me this summer that it was 'time' to learn to make grandma's "famous" pies. Every time he helps her with her computer (which is her pride & joy for writing her books and emailing friends across the country) she bakes my dad his favorite apple pie. He wants to make sure her delicious recipes & techniques are passed on to the women in our family. So... I planned a girls pie baking day this past November. We brought dinner & grandma provided the pie ingredients with plenty of open counter space.
We brought together generations of women from our family for pie baking day! Below are just a few pictures from our evening of learning grandma's tips & tricks of her pie crust! We had a great time & learned a lot too.
We all took pies to freeze or bake at home. We baked our pie the next day and it was so delicious! The secret to an amazing pie is definitely the crust and I am so blessed to have this recipe & wonderful memories for years to come!
Maybe, just maybe I will share Grandma's pie recipe someday...but for now, I will hold it close to my heart & every time I bake these delicious pies, I will remember all of the amazing things my grandma has taught me over the last 33 years. I hope to make this girls pie baking day a yearly tradition to help grandma make her holiday pies and create lasting memories with grandma.
What recipes do you hold close to your heart?
Love this post. Your family is beautiful. I think it is lost art of cooking together as a family. Glad you were able to make it a priority and reminding me that I need to do this more often.
ReplyDeleteI love this! What a wonderful time to spend with family!!
ReplyDeleteThat all look delicious! What a cute/sweet story!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful you learned all of that with your Grandma! Love the story. <3
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered how exactly pies in the making look like - at the Americans. Well, now I know. I am only left with the task of trying to bake one myself. I'm really curious to see how different they are from my mother's.
ReplyDeleteAlso, congrats! To both your grandmother and you! She looks like an awesome person. Keep learning from her. I'm sure she loves it. :D (May she live long.)
That's really great that you now have the recipe for the future!
ReplyDeleteI don't have the recipe but my grandmothers food was my very favorite! She made the best oatmeal raisin cookies!
It's nice to have that memory and that your children will too!
I have my grandmother's blackberry cobbler recipe and it's so dang good!! Nothing compares.
ReplyDeleteI want so badly to have the recipe! lol. My grandma made the best pies, and it was all because of the crust. But she wouldn't share her recipe, because she said she didn't use a recipe. She just did it all by feel. Sadly I didn't spend enough time baking pies with her to really learn it's secret.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Crust can make or break it!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sweet post. I don't have any living grandparents anymore and it makes me sad. You are definitely doing the right thing to learn these family traditions that she does now. My mouth sure is watering from this post! That pie looks so darn good!
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