This blog has suffered terribly as a result of our busy summer, but rather than attempt to recapture everything that happened since I last posted I figured I'd just sum it all up and go from today. So. The summer was great -- very full, but good. Lots of traveling, moving, people visiting, four baby showers, etc., etc. If you want to know more, call me.
Now, moving on to today and the Great Pie Fiasco of 2010.
Today was a special day in the Bedinghaus household because Rob had his first day of school. Yay for going into his second year of masters! I think the first day of school should be marked as special because it is embarking on a new season, and frankly, if I didn't make it special it just wouldn't be any fun. So I asked him what he wanted for dinner and decided in addition to dinner, I'd make him a special treat for the end of the day.
Oh, but first, I got up at 6:45 right before he walked out the door and took the customary first day of school picture. He was very cooperative. And handsome. :)
What a hot teacher!
I'd decided beforehand that for his special treat I was going to make him a Sugar Cream Pie. First, you should know that the Sugar Cream Pie is the official pie of the state of Indiana and second, it is made of two very yummy things -- sugar and cream. Duh. Rob has been talking about how good sugar cream pie is so I thought this would be a good time to try my hand. Bad idea.
Pie crust is not my speciality so I opted for a frozen one from Kroger and set about making the pie, which literally went like this: Dump flour and sugar into the unbaked pie crust. Pour cream on top. Stir together in the pie crust with your fingers. Not kidding. The recipe actually said to stir with your fingers. And that worked for a bit until cream started spilling over the top and I ended up making a huge mess. Should have been my first clue this would be a disaster.
I put the pie in the oven and baked it for a while, keeping in mind that the recipe said it doesn't really set in the oven, but you have to let it sit out for a while afterwards to actually get a firm, more custard like texture. So I figured it was ok, even though it was really sloshy in the middle and bubbling on the edges. After a bit though, I heard a sizzling sound and realized the pie had completely overflowed (mind you, I was not smart enough to put it on a cookie sheet) and was dripping down into the bottom of my oven where the sugar was burning into a black mess. I pulled the pie from the oven to put it on a cookie sheet at which point half the pie sloshed over the edge of the crust and down into the crack between the door and the oven. Literally, there was gooey mess everywhere. Running down the drawer, pooling on the floor, etc.
I managed to get the pie back in the oven on a cookie sheet and let it finish baking. At this point however, there is smoke pouring out of the vent above the stove filling my kitchen and setting off the smoke detector. Picture me madly rushing about opening doors and windows, waving my latest copy of Real Simple magazine in front of the detector and begging my pie to finish so I can turn off the oven. Just imagine.
The black mess. This photo is actually after I wiped most of the oven down so it did look much worse.
The pie finally does finish and looks miserable. Really awful. My oven however looks even worse. I managed to wipe up most of the goo on the doors and drawer and floor before it burned, but the black mess was another whole story. I've basically decided that until it is scrubbed off I can't use my oven or risk giving my smoke detector another workout.
Eventually Rob came home and I laughingly told him the whole story. He was touched that I really tried to pull this off at least, but we both agreed it was a pretty miserable looking pie.
Yup. Looks pretty sad. Did I mention letting it sit out for hours didn't help it set either? Pure goo.
However, and here is the saving grace of the Great Pie Fiasco of 2010, it tasted just like it should, (very sweet in my opinion), even if it was just a pile of goo on our plates.
This is supposed to resemble a piece of pie.
Not to worry, Rob loved it and that is really all that matters in the end.
