makin' pie

We have been thinking about our personal economy, as you could probably tell by one or two recent posts. One of the things we have decided on is eating in more often. In this "have to have it now" life, eating in takes planning and preparation... and cleaning up after. Not what we always want on our agenda. Still, I have been in a personal place where I really wanted to eat out more than I do now. A time when my mouth wanted what was "out there" more than it wanted what was here. I'm not in that place any more. We have been concentrating for a while on fresh foods, not just warming up previously prepared dishes. It makes a lot of difference. Of course, it doesn't hurt us that Carl is an excellent cook. OK, I'm not bad... I didn't get this body from horrible tasting, yucky food, OK? But Carl is GOOD. He studies things like I do not. He learns about what goes together. He tries recipes... you know like a chef!

Sometimes, we watch cooking shows. Alton Brown is awesome, and what a great show to watch to learn how cooking works. There are other cooks that we enjoy as well. Today we were watching a cooking challenge program that was a pie bake-off.... mmmmmm... Fran, you were talking about being mouth hungry? Wow, that show made me want some PIE!!!

Now, here's the thing, I'm the pie person around here. I've been in charge of the pies since Thanksgivings and Christmases in my teens. And that's about the only time I make them. What a shame, huh. I got this epiphany today about it. One of the things that will make eating at home better is making it more enjoyable. Pie is enjoyable! (if not always strictly on my diet - but then, I'm not the only one it has to be enjoyable for) So. I think pie will be on the menu more often. I'll practice up my rolling out skills, and become a "leet" pie maker. I'm tellin' ya, you're gonna wanna come over for some almond pie!