Pie in the sky....or on my thighs.....

I have been baking pies....Just average everyday fruit pies. But my husband thinks they are extraordinary! Sometimes, I use strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, or sometimes a combination of them all. But, he always asks when I am going to make another pie, and he just "shines" when he is eating something that I have created. Isn't that wonderful, that my husband, who is just a man, thinks that my baking of pies, almost elevates me to sainthood? I think that is so cool. Never really had a guy, that thought my baking/cooking stirred something so primal in them. That just rocks my world. Now, a couple of things that I forgot to mention. This pie recipe is not some reciepe that came out of my great great grandmothers cookbook. NO, quite the contrary, it came from a magazine article that my friend, Becky found. She actually made the pie for a family gathering recently, and since I have never been a "berry" pie sort of girl, I had a piece, and liked it, but wasn't in love with it. But a few weeks later, while at Becky's house, working on our projects and chatting....she asked me if I might like the recipe? I said sure, not really sure if I could bake a berry pie, or any other type of pie, for that matter.... A few days later, I decided to take the plunge, yes, become a pie officianado, a baker extrordinaire, an idiot, if it didn't come out right......Well, anyway, I was amazed at so many parts of the baking process. First, I had to make the pie crust from scratch. I was amazed that I actually not only read the recipe and made it, that it actually came out to resemble a pie crust yay!!!! But the funny thing was, I found the rhythm within the crust. I thought of it, like a potter sitting at the wheel, spinning, pulling, yes, just like that. I made the crust, it was sticky and felt just like clay. To make it sit up on the top of the pie pan, making it a crust like you see in a restaurant, you have to dough it up, then put it in the pan, and use your fingers to "ply" it, and mold it again and again until it reaches that place where it feels right. Just so much thickness, here and so much thinness there.. Then putting together the actual fruit part. The sugar, the berries, each ingredient one by one, going into this art pie-ce. I'm not sure who would be more proud of my work, Martha Stewart or my great cherokee grandmother, but they would both be happy with the patience and perserverance of which went into it. The final step is to bake it after making the 'topping" out of flour oatmeal and butter with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, ginger and other spices. Then bake for 50 min at 375* , it smells so good, it breathes in and out, as it bubbles in the pan, cooling off. Just the end of another perfect summer day, pie, tea, and my wonderful hubby, who thinks I make the best pie he has EVER had.