Made with Love

If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a family to bake a pie. At least in our family, the latter holds true.

The idea of baking a pie came about last Saturday as Dan was finishing up yard work. He brought in a bag of apples from our tree and merrily said, "Here's a bag of apples from our tree. We should bake an apple pie or something." An innocuous suggestion, no doubt, but we already had a very busy weekend planned. With tempered enthusiasm I replied, "Yeah...that's a good idea," trying to conceal my reticence. I assured myself that, somewhere between cleaning bathrooms and taking the children to their various activities, I would find time to bake a pie. To my dismay, however, time quickly slipped by and the bag of apples was left untouched on the counter overnight.

The next day, Sunday, I affirmed my determination to bake the pie. Danielle immediately scoured the internet for the most scrumptious recipe for that most-American-of-pies. She presented her top 5 findings and we reviewed them together. Martha Stewart's recipe for "Old-Fashioned Apple Pie" won by a landslide. Dan proceeded to peel the apples and douse them in lemon juice (fresh-squeezed from our homegrown lemons). I made pâte brisée [paht bree-ZAY], a French term for "flaky pastry," with Joseph and Mary eagerly awaiting turns to help me cut butter into flour. Unfortunately, my goal to bake the pie on Sunday proved to be as allusive as it was on Saturday.

On Monday, our schedule continued its unrelenting pace. That evening, we made plans for my sister, Tita Cleo, to stay with the kids for a few hours while Dan and I attended a parent dinner orientation at Danielle's high school. While we were away, Danielle and Tita Cleo made Martha's apple concoction and filled the pie. When Dan and I reached home, our eyes were greeted by an impressive dome-shaped epicurean delight. We baked it for an hour, and -- voilà! -- a golden, old-fashioned apple pie.

Unbelievably, this apple pie was 3 days in the making: apples picked on Saturday, dough formed on Sunday, pie filled and baked on Monday.

Devoured on Tuesday.

All told, a total of 6 people -- 12 hands, 60 fingers -- lovingly baked this delicious pie. Whoever said "Too many cooks spoil the broth?"