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August 30, 2005
Mom's Pies
I don't remember when exactly, but it was some special occassion. It must have been; I was at my parents's house and I don't go there all that often, maybe once or twice a year. I remember it was summer, so my dad cooking out on the grill didn't seem like it was too out of place. I should have known better.
There was some sort of ongoing argument between my mom and my dad, something about the kitchen stove. I'm not positive what the argument was about. I'm never really sure what their arguments are about. Even when I think I know I'm convinced I'm wrong. That can't be what their arguing about; it doesn't make sense I end up thinking. Like the argument about the stove.
My parents had an electric counter-top stove and one of the burners failed. Emergency repair or replacement wasn't necessary, after all their were three others, but talk about replacement had begun. That turned into an argument. I'm not sure what the sides where. Someone wanted a new flat-top stove, someone else wanted to live with it. Someone wanted the same style coiled-top. Someone else wanted a new gas stove.
In the mean time another burner failed.
Still no resolution.
A third burner no longer worked.
More arguing.
When I arrived only one burner on the stove worked and then only half way. After about half an hour on high water would begin to steam. My parents resolved the stituation by having my dad cook every meal on the grill outside. Rain or shine.
My mom prepared for the worst by baking and then freezing pies. So she would have them just in case the oven -- a seperate appliance in their kitchen -- went the way of the stove top.
I was treated to a little bit of both. I got dinner off the grill and a reheated pie. The dinner was not too memorable, the pie on the other hand was.
I'm not what one would call a pie connoisseur, so perhaps I'm not to be trusted when I say this, but the pie was horrible. It was some sort of fruit, berries I thought. It was dark purple and full of small seeds. It was the seeds that made me think it was made of berries, but it didn't taste like any berry I knew. I thought maybe the freezer burn and gumminess caused by drying out changed the taste and threw me off.
I asked. "Mom what kind of pie is this?"
"Oh, I don't know. Why? Is it bad?"
"No. No. I just can't place the taste. I wanted to know what it was made of." That was a lie. The crust was freezer burnt and the top layer of the fruity filling had a consitency of tar while the center was slightly thicker than juice. But it was my mom and sometimes I design my lies to keep from hurting her feelings.
"I don't remember what kid it is. It was a frozen pie."
"Where's the box? I'll check the box."
She was evasive here. "Don't worry."
"I'm not worried, I just want to know."
"It doesn't say what kind it is."
"You mean you bought a pie not knowing what kind it was?"
"Umm. No. I made them."
"Ok, you made the pie, but you don't know what kind it is?"
"Well, I think it's raspberry, blackberry, rhubarb."
"What?"
"Well I made so many."
"What do you mean you 'made so many.'"
"I made about a hundred pies and I froze them."
"You made a hundred pies?"
"Oh, yeah. Just in case the oven breaks."
"And you didn't bother labeling them?"
"I did. I just don't remember what the labels mean."
"You made the labels and you don't remember what they mean?"
"Well I was making pies like a factory, but I was only making a couple kinds, so I just made them with one letter codes. But then at the end when I didn't have enough left for a whole pie I mixed everything together. This once was 'rbr' or maybe it's 'rbn' but I don't know what 'n' stands for."
I think my mom is coming to visit me tonight. She should be around for a couple weeks. Stop by if you want some pie.
Posted by calculatoronfire at August 30, 2005 09:21 AM
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Comments
awesome. :)
i like rhubarb, myself. :) no seeds though. so it was probably raspberry.
grinning, grinning.
you'll be okay. crazy is livable. parents are livable. hang in, man.
Posted by: d2ana at August 30, 2005 10:09 PM