Yes, I’ve been making pie. With the best intentions, of course. You see, a wise friend of mine once told me that a sure-fire way to bring on labour is to have someone else make a pie on your behalf. Pie making by proxy, you might call it. And the trick doesn’t even lie in eating the pie. Just having a pie made in your name seems to bring out tardy babies. Last week when a rather pregnant and impatient friend asked my advice, all I could think about was that pie promise.
I suppose there isn’t a whole lot of road between I’ll pray for you and I’ll make a pie for you. Both promises show support and love. Both lift another up. For a table-based faith like ours, patient, prayerful pie-baking might even count as spiritual practise. Especially, if the pies are baked for sharing. So that’s what we’ve been doing this week.
On Friday, I made Appeltaart for Katherine as she waited for her baby. As she’s American, apples seemed fitting and Appeltaart is king of apple pies. It is a tall, Dutch apple pie with a lattice top and so many apples. It felt fitting for us, too, because all week, our Dutch family has been filling our thoughts. One of the Spouse’s uncles died last week, which brought our much-loved Oma and Opa for a visit in our house on their way home. But before they arrived, there was pie to bake.
On Friday morning, Plum and I went to the market to buy heaps of apples and then spent the day making a very large Appeltaart which turned out very well, thanks to Magda and her excellent recipe on “My Little Expat Kitchen” (the photos alone are deliciously worth it – just beautiful.) I’ve made this pie a couple of times, tinkering with the recipe and trying new things each time. I found that I like it best with some Granny Smiths and some Braeburn. I also add a little almond essence and an egg to the filling to make it hold together a little more saucily.
On Friday evening, we shared this whipped-cream-topped pie with a table full of friends from church – and somehow demolished the whole thing pre-photographs, so you will need to drop by Magda’s blog to see how beautiful it can be.
Oma and Opa arrived yesterday, and yes, I made another pie. This time, it was White Chocolate and Cranberry pie. It is the signature tart of Three Tarts, a much-loved bakery in Ottawa and several years ago, I found the recipe in an LCBO magazine, Food and Drink. I discovered it thanks to K. in Ottawa, on whose back porch we’ve indulged in more than a few broad slices of this beautiful tart. This week, we’re slicing it thin and trying to make it last. It’s that kind of a visit.
Then this morning, an email turned up from P, another Ottawa friend with promises of a visit this summer with his wife and toddler. P and K both shared a table with me back in our communal living days, and he likes nothing better than shared pie. So, there will be more beautiful pie baking ahead.
And that awaited baby? Born first thing on Saturday morning before the pie dish was even washed. His name is Micah and I can’t wait to meet him Perhaps I should drop by with a pie.
