Dearest Reese,
We missed you at Thanksgiving and since you haven't had a chance to call, I wanted to fill you in on the excitement...there wasn't any since you and Dustin weren't here. However, Joshua caused more than enough problems all by himself.
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| A whole lemon pie just for me? |
You know my tradition of calling everyone and asking their special meal choice. Choose one dish and I will make whatever you want. Every year when I ask Joshua what he wants for Thanksgiving, he always replies "lots." I want "lots" to eat. He is so easy to please.
Well, this year, for the first time ever, he made a request. He texted me, "I want lemon pie."
LEMON PIE? LEMON PIE?! LEMON PIE!!! No one has ever wanted lemon pie and I have never made one in my life! It was Wednesday night, Thanksgiving was the following morning and I was in trouble.
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| I am supposed to do what with this pie? |
I decided to run to the grocery and buy one. I could slip it out of the factory aluminum pan, put it in my fancy glass pie pan and he would never know the truth since he won't read my blog. Easy peasy.
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| Don't underestimate my appetite. |
I rushed to the grocery store to discover a place that closely resembled the path following a tornado. The parking lot was full, the store was almost empty of food and the clerks looked exhausted. There were no lemon pies, icebox lemon pies, instant lemon pie mix or even instant lemon jello pudding. There was one broken, crumbled pie crust with a ripped open package in the freezer section. All I found was a package of lemons. I didn't even have a recipe for lemon pie.
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| Looks...edible? |
It was late. I returned home with my bag of lemons and searched the internet for a recipe. Before going to bed, I baked a homemade lemon pie topped with meringue plus a crust all from scratch.
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| Gulp. |
When Joshua arrived for Thanksgiving the next morning, I sat him down and said, "You will eat this pie - love it or wear it!"
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| Hmmm. Do I like it? |
It was a success.
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| Mom, when life gives you lemons, make lemon pie. |
This was the first year our family wasn't together for Thanksgiving and we managed to adapt. I learned a new recipe and we spent the afternoon talking to Dustin over the internet.
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| Hi, Do! |
One last thing, since you were excited about buying a blender for free with your Amazon credit card points, we decided to help you. We all ordered a bunch of stuff on your credit card. Enjoy your free points!
Miss you.
Love Mom and Dad
Additional Links
Thanksgiving Preparations, 2017
Scooter's Difficult Thanksgiving, 2017
Roofer Reese, (After Thanksgiving 2017)
Happy Thanksgiving, 2016
Sweet! I've never made a lemon pie from scratch. I'm not a huge fan, although I love key lime pie, especially with graham cracker crust. Go figure! ;-) Happy belated Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteIn my panic while searching for a lemon pie, I noticed key lime pies. I considered them but wasn't sure it would be what Joshua was dreaming about. It is our tradition that they get one thing they really want, and some dishes are only baked at Thanksgiving. If I had thought he might request something special this year, I would have asked him earlier, but this was a first. I have learned a valuable lesson.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a great day with your son. I've found that every single year and every single holiday, I just cherish the ones who can come, because there are always several who are away for one reason or another. And, I always feel sad for a little while. But, then, I do what you did and enjoy those who are there. I'm sure my mom was happy this year, since all 3 of us girls were here for Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny that you had to make a pie like that with those leftover ingredients! Lemon meringue pie is a family favorite in my extended family, but we are all so "high maintenance" as my sister calls it now, that we hardly ever get it. But this year, in marched my nephew with a gluten free lemon meringue pie! Trust me it was all gone but one piece and Grandma snagged it quickly when the leftovers were being handed out. We all let her have it, since she is our mother, but..... We were not short on dessert, though. My oldest daughter was feeling stressed out on Wednesday and stayed up until midnight making dessert---cupcakes, pies--and more than one of each. We were all in a cooking mood, I guess, and everyone brought loads of food, so we all had tons of leftovers for everyone to take home afterwards and no one had to cook on Friday unless they wanted to.
I am still cracking up about Reese's credit card points. If he needs more points, I can send a list of Christmas gifts to buy:). I guess it's time to start thinking about Christmas, isn't it? When I got to my sister's after church today, I loved the fact that she had already decorated for it. I, on the contrary, sat around like a slug all day Friday. It was one of the very rare occasions that I could do that, so I did. I will get my simple decorations up soon, because Miss Patsy will certainly remind me until I do:).
The first thing I noticed when I was reading your comments was a gluten free lemon pie. I wondered how that could be done without cornstarch. The doctor is testing me for a gluten intolerance and I hope it comes back negative. If not, I will be bugging you for more recipes.
DeleteI can't even think about the holidays yet. We probably won't be together again then...can't think about it now.
Cornstarch is gluten-free. We use it a lot for thickening, but also have used sweet rice flour for gravy and arrowroot for thickening at times. We also use tapioca flour (tapioca starch), potato flour (potato starch), sweet rice flour, brown rice flour, white rice flour, corn flour and corn starch, masa, buckwheat flour, gf oat flour/oats, millet flour, coconut flour, quinoa flour, amaranth flour, teff flour, and bean flours (like chickpea), as they are all gluten-free. A mixture works best. So, in all reality, we use Bob's Red Mill 1-1 all purpose gluten-free flour the most. They've already done the mixing for us! If I was going to buy one thing gluten-free, that would be it. There's a lot you can do with it. I also love Pamela's pancake and baking mix--it has almond flour in it. There are many recipes to make your own mixtures, and I have a large bin of various flours, but love how handy mixes are when I'm in a hurry. Rye, Barley, Spelt, Tritacale, and Wheat have gluten. There may be more I'm forgetting.
DeleteThe one thing I would check before buying any mix is that you can tolerate all the ingredients. My mom, for instance is both gluten and dairy free, so she would not want a mix that had either. My friend is nut-free, so she would not want the one with almond flour.
Where I would not wish it on anyone to be gluten-free, it made such a tremendous difference in my health that it was like a miracle to me--I felt so much better. Not only did my severe digestive issues resolve, but my energy levels drastically increased. So, if it's your problem, it really could make a daily difference in how you feel. (Just a note--I didn't test positive for celiac because I'd already been off wheat when they did the test, or I don't have it, but officially was diagnosed as "sensitive." But as the doctor said--it didn't matter what they called it--DO NOT EAT GLUTEN!, she said! It makes you sick!). It's really not so hard once you get a few recipes down that you like. Things taste so good now-days that you cannot really tell much difference (says the woman who has not eaten wheat for a few years!). Meaning, maybe it does taste different, but it sure is good to me!
So many choices! I had no idea. I don't know anything about gluten or using many of the flours you mentioned. Right now I am on an extremely limited diet, (a few meats, some vegetables, fresh fruits, coconut products, walnuts if I wash them and olive oil) and when the test results are in, I will begin trying some things again. I am beginning to feel life returning to my body so I am full of hope.
Delete"Love it or wear it" -- I totally lol'd!
ReplyDeleteAnd so thoughtful of you to help him earn those points!
I always enjoy your posts. :)
He wisely chose to love it. Such a smart son.
DeleteGlad to see you have a moment to read another blog. Motherhood is awesome but time consuming.
Lemon pie is something I have never made or eaten. But I do know that it is a very popular
ReplyDeletedessert in Great Britain and in the USA. It looks as if there is a sort of meringue on top,
so I suppose, this pie should be eaten soon before it gets too soft.
Thanksgiving has a different meaning in Germany. It is not the family day, but a feast day in
churches. Altars are decorated with grain, vegetables, fruits and flowers. Family gatherings
mostly take place on Christmas days. And that is also when special meals are served.
Christel