two kitties: The Rules of Pie (from the Queen of Tarts).

June 07, 2009

The Rules of Pie (from the Queen of Tarts).

Years ago, I was invited to a birthday party. A friend's boyfriend was turning 40 and she had invited all of his family and friends over for a mid-summer barbecue. Instead of a cake, she mentioned that she was planning to make him a cherry pie, and asked me to bring something to share.

Without a thought, I decided I would make my Blueberry-Lemon Tart and it was perfection on a plate. Homemade pastry with fresh lemon curd topped with the season's best berries. The lemon curd was divine - fresh squeezed lemon juice, zest, and egg yolk set to perfection. The perfect combination of tart, sweet, and smooth.The blueberries popped in your mouth and their cool juice rose up into the palate before settling back down on the flaky crust.

Her pie used cherry pie filling from the can. An unnaturally red, sour-thick glue stuck to a frozen pie crust in a tin foil pan. The kind of cherries that make your face screw up into a wince. By the end of the party, there was only one missing piece, and that piece sat on a damp paper plate, half-eaten and looking slightly radioactive.

While her boyfriend's family raved about my pie - and hers sagged in the heat - I realized what I had done. I'd broken the rules. I'd made a great pie, just because I could, without stepping outside myself and thinking of the big picture. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to.

And that's why, to this day, I always sign up to bring chips and soda. You're not really going to hurt a friendship when you show up with a bag of Doritos.

Posted at 10:34 AM in What's on my mind... | Permalink