Thursday, November 26, 2009

Pie Snobbery

We were invited to be company today for Thanksgiving. It was such a gift. We were asked to bring pies and green bean casserole.

Craig peeled and prepped, opened cans and cleaned up while I was knee deep in flour. The result; 3 Pumpkin, 1 blackberry, 1 deep dish rustic apple, and 2 lemon curd tarts. A cloud of home made whipped cream and ice cream for those who wished it.......

I need to quietly mumble in my shirt collar, to sheepishly confess: I come from a long heritage of pie snobs.

"Hi, I'm Kathleen, I'm a pie snob."

Will you welcome me?

Grandma and mom can make a crisp, flaky crust that frames the filling, whatever it is, with tender, perfect style and panache. Mom usually has a warm pie welcoming us home when we visit. How do we spell love? P-I-E. My favorite is rhubarb strawberry.

There is a gold standard to reach. A thick, soggy, tough, mealy pie crust would shamefully ruin the family's reputation. There's a little pressure to try and measure up. OK, more than a little. There's family pride at stake here.....

To buy a pie would be an infamous scandal, worthy of a proper shunning. A skeleton in the closet forever, never to be spoken of again. We feel pity for the people who buy those tough, thick, crusted pies made assembly line fashion from Costco and think they are eating pie.

Pride, shame, pity.....those are strong, dangerous words for something as harmless as pie, huh?

Whew. The pies passed today. Or maybe people were just being kind, sampling one of each? :)

I'm so glad my worth and value doesn't hinge on my pie performance. It's nice having it mastered after all these years of practice, but I HAVE conveniently bought pies from the store when desperate. One year I forgot the sugar in the pumpkin and almost made the guests throw up in shock!

Being worthwhile is about being loved, even if, no matter what, in spite of ourselves, no conditions, no strings. Worthwhile is different, opposite of trying to be 'worthy'. Worthwhile isn't about our performance.

When the girls had piano recitals every year, Craig would hand them a bouquet before the performance. We wanted to make sure they knew they were pre-worthwhile because we loved them. No pressure to contaminate the pleasure of the creative process. The end result was delectable.


2 comments:

Janet Oberholtzer said...

Hi ... found you somehow, somewhere on Twitter.

Like this post! Too often we allow our self-worth to be determined by what we can or cannot do. And what a great idea for your husband to give your girls roses before they played.

As for pies ... my mom is a pro, but I have not learned how, maybe one of these days I will.

Anonymous said...

I love making pies too! I was muttering to myself this year that it is such a shame to finally get things figured out as the kids are all leaving home. Making dinner this year felt like a snap...easy as pie, likely because I had the whole house to myself. Our favorite is pecan but I made blueberry and pumpkin also. ss