I was scared for the pie contest. Not because of my pie, oh no, I have confidence in my baking skills- they are some of my best abilities, but it was the other part that scared me. The meeting the entire family of the boy I am now dating part... including two. older. sisters. Brothers, oh I can handle brothers, the bad boyfriend had an older brother, and I think he was intimidated by me, but sisters- and older ones at that. I was scared. And I was scared of parents, too. Oh, I was scared. Do you get it?
And what is funny is, I am never, ever, ever scared. Of people. I can do people. Astronomy tests and long division I cannot do, but people yes. Maybe it is because it's been a long, long time since I've had to meet the family of the guy I'm dating. I was just out of practice ; )
So Friday around noon Lars came over and we started baking. We settled on the New York Times Juiced Apple Pie, a la the pie that is my dad's favorite, because apple pie is just an all around crowd pleaser. Not much to do there since my crust was already ready to be rolled out : )
Then he was a king and helped me put together the expedit shelf. Oh my Lord in heaven, I should devot an entire post to this. But here it all comes, because I know you want to read this right now, dear readers...
The expedit shelf. Almost killed my sanity. Lars and I started out jovial, Lars picked up the heavy boxes while I just "held the doors" (at his request, what a guy). We pretty much had it almost done. It was looking good. Ray Charles was playing, and I felt really accomplished, I can do anything type of acomplished. Then. It fell. apart. And three pm hit, so Lars had to leave.
I was left alone, sure that I could try to put it back togehter, and twice I almost succeeded until the last part. I was sweating, and angry, and hungy. I was so mad. I took a roll, and ran with the car keys out to the garage. Escaped to Michaels to catch some sales. My mother called me, and I started to cry. How can a piece of wood defy me? and upset me? I almost have a bachelors degree, I should be able to put together a $%#@ shelf. Mom understood.
I got home, and she and my stepdad had it put together. If that's not love, then I don't know what love is. After that I showered so I didn't smell like I'd been fighting furniture all day ; )
When it came to getting dressed. Oh. I wanted to make a good impression. Sometimes I worry that I wear too much black, and so I changed from a black to cream top. Lars came over around 6pm to help me finish the pie, and he said, "you look beautiful." That was a good sign : )
Here we are... with the masterpiece...
This is the part where one drizzles the caramel sauce into the holes of the pie. Want to know what's in it?
Caramel Sauce
•Juice left over from soaking apples
•1/3 cup butter
•2 tablespoons flour
•Enough corn starch to create good consistency
And, because it was a contest, I needed to rev up the pie crust. I added this to the top:
•Egg wash
•3 table spoons melted butter brushed on
Sealed the deal. We put on our champion faces and headed out the door. Lars had to get gas, so after he did that we sat in the lot, and he said a little prayer for/with me... to help calm my nerves. : ) About twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of the most festive, lovely, elegant Victorian home. I could already tell it was full of people.
I got scared. But then I remembered the prayer.
And you know what? The prayer worked... I had a really nice time, and lost all the butterflies in my tummy right in time to devour dozens of pies. Meeting Lar's family was such a treat, they were so nice, and friendly. Very nice people. It was fun to see the house where he grew up, and relatives. I did have a great time, even if I didn't win the contest ; )
