Getting To Know Me: I Love Pie -- I Hate Lying

My husband says the other day I was going on and on about Pecan Pie. I think he's wrong, but at the same time, I do like pie and Pecan Pie is my favorite. Of the all the wonderful things I do so well, I can't bake a Pecan Pie. Admittedly, I haven't tried but a few times and was so discouraged at the finished product, I just leave it to Edward's Pies.

Now, I do make a better-than-anything-known-to-man Pumpkin Pie and an even better Country-style Apple Pie. The recipe for the apple came out of a magazine probably something like 20 years ago. It has a great little brown sugar and butter crumb topping and the filling is nothing but apples, sugar and some spices. There's just something about the combination that is a hit. When I make the apple, I have to make two, one to keep at home and the other to take with me.

The Pumpkin Pie is nothing but a dressed up recipe from the outside of the can of Libbys solid pumpkin label. "If it says libby's, libby's, libby's on the label, label, label, you will like it, like it, like it on your table, table table . . ." I remember one Thanksgiving my father-in-law gave me a song and dance about some kind of gastric problem my mother-in-law had with cloves, could I please make one with "less cloves". I was pretty naive at the time. I figured out through process of illimination that he just didn't like cloves and was especially unappreciative of the amount of ground cloves I put in my pumpkin pie. I remember being more angry that he had to lie to me and put it on my mother-in-law. Why couldn't he just tell me to cut back on the cloves on one of the pies at Thanksgiving? He was like that, though. A manipulative liar and a cheat. I didn't offer my pies around the holidays any more while he was alive. I hate lying.

Both pies were good enough to make it to a little waffle house/cafe in our little neighborhood. For a little while, I made two pies each of apple and pumpkin a day until the crusts stuck in the pan and were soggy a few times. The owner of the cafe said my pies were not "consistent" enough. She was going to switch to a prepared pie from a distributor. Her loss.

Ah, well, now I have gone on about pie. I think I will go get an Edward's Pie tomorrow afternoon to have with dinner. Pecan Pie.