Special occasions in our family always start with “baking day”. When a large number of people are baking, there is a lot of commotion. People start to gather in the kitchen while food smells waft through the hallways and up the stairs. To account for these interruptions, the aunts always started cooking about three days before Thanksgiving. We usually had relatives near and far (our family was more spread out than others), as well as the usual bums (they were considered family), girlfriends, boyfriends, and anyone else who was “around.”
Kate (Ben’s fiancée) was “invited” to help make a pie. She was looking forward to this baking day more than any of the kids I had seen lined up for the roller coaster. This was her first time participating in such an “event.” I couldn’t help but burst out laughing: I had never thought of the pie-baking day as an “event,” but more like a “circus.”
Aunt Nellie quickly pulled me aside and explained that Kate had been spoiled before she joined our family because she was the only girl in the family. She told me to be polite and considerate. First of all, she should stop laughing at her comments about this “incident.” Kate only has two brothers and no sisters. I wondered if she was lonely until she met us. You can imagine my surprise when I realized that our family seemed a bit strange and often confusing to her. (I had to stifle my laughter at that point.) I didn’t think anyone would think our family was “mysterious.” There was nothing mysterious about our home. Everything is out in the open, like nature. You can’t hide anything in this house. And nothing was mysterious.
Aunt Nellie sent Kate and me to the pantry to stock up on peaches, apples, pumpkins, and strawberries for the pies for Thanksgiving dinner; we made four trips back and forth and when we had filled all the jars, we had to sit down and have a hot chocolate before we could continue the “event.” Aunt Nellie and Aunt Nita joined us. Kate teamed up with Aunt Nita and I teamed up with Aunt Nellie and the party began.
First, we made the pie batter. No one can compete with the perfect pie batter that Aunt Nita makes. Even Aunt Nellie thought Nita’s recipe was the best. I made 30 pie shells (some of which were given to my neighbors), made new friends, and most importantly, memories that will last a lifetime.
Here are some of Aunt Nita’s pie recipes and her specialty, apple pie.
Aunt Nita’s pie batter
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 tsp. sour cream
1 1 tsp. butter diced cold
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch cloves (ground)
Flour (to dust the work surface to spread the dough)
Combine the flour, salt, and a pinch of cloves in a large bowl. Mix well. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry knife or fork until it becomes crumbly. Add the sour cream and vanilla and stir until the mixture forms a ball. Immediately put the dough in the refrigerator and let it rise for 10 minutes. Do not take the dough out of the refrigerator until you have rolled it out. Sprinkle flour on the work surface. Sprinkle flour on a rolling pin. Divide the dough in half and place on a floured work surface. Roll out to desired thickness and size. Prepare two pie pans.
Signature Apple Pie
1 large can of apple pie filling (best apples for pie Canada)
1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons wholemeal flour
1/4 teaspoon brandy
1/2 tablespoon butter
Put the apple pie filling in a large bowl. Add ingredients carefully, a little at a time, so the apple slices don’t break. Pour the batter (3) into the unbaked pie pan. Grease the filling; place the can of 2 on top of the pie and wrap it around the edge of the pie. Make a small indentation in the top of the pie. Bake the pie in a preheated 425°F oven for 40 minutes.
Aunt Nellie mixed 2 tablespoons of brandy and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves in a small can of Cool Whip. She keeps this mixture in the freezer and when she bakes the apple pie, she tops it with this frozen mixture. Yum!!! She has love in her belly.
