It is physically exhausting taking care of children. I love it.
October 2007 Archives
I like pie. I love the way the sweet, soft inner fruit makes the crumbly crust moist but still crispy. Fresh sour cherry pie is what I grew up on and how I came to love pie. We don't have fresh sour cherries nearby - the season is over anyhow. We have a bakery nearby that makes delicious pie- but we're trying to save.
I decided to make peach pie. And just for fun I decided to compete against myself. I made one pie with fresh peaches and one pie with canned peaches. Now- I did not use the revoltingly sweet pre-prepared pie filling. I drained sliced peaches in light syrup.
To keep things fair I simply doubled everythign in the recipe and split it between the pies. It wasn't perfect- but good enough. An intersteding not is that the cost was almost identical for the two pies.
Both pies were good. The fresh peach pie was more excellent. It was less moist but the peaches had a lovely crisp texture. The canned peach pie lasted longer(in fact is still around), and was much more moist and mushy.
Amazingly enough- the fresh peaches, though not soaked in sugar water, were voted as making a sweeter pie.
The fresh peaches were also very easy to prepare - I left on the skin cause I wanted to, and I'm glad I did. It made the pie a little more colorful and helped create the better texture.
Fresh pie wins the day.
Another interesting note- I used whole wheat, unbleached white flour for the crust - it was easy to work with and resulted in a wholesome, crumbly crust.
Dear Friends,
Many of you requested that I keep you informed as to what I'm up to. I recently acquired a position as a nanny for a family with the $$ to pay me nearly as well as Fairfax County. There is a 7 month old and three year old girl. The family is very friendly, and works with a responsive classroom sort of philosophy in terms of behavior. I've always wanted to stay home when I have my children, and this will be great preparation. I'll be taking a month off in July, as planned, to go to Argentina. I hope you are all enjoying the school year. I've enjoyed working with you. Keep in touch.
For those who are wondering, I suspect that I won't be leaving the public realm of teaching permanently. But it may be many years before I return. Best wishes!
Sincerely,
Rae
