It may have been our last sixty degree day. And when it may be the last sixty degree day, you lap it up in your shirtsleeves. (That I'm talking about sixty degree days, and a quick check confirms that it is, indeed, November [and this is indeed Wyoming], makes the possibility of a happy-dance entirely likely.)
That's why the fuss to get outside yesterday.
There was plenty to do. Leaves, for one. Sticks, for another (hello cottonwood and golden willow!) And if I was going to get the peeling front doorjamb sanded and painted with a coat of crisp white, I couldn't delay. It was now or never, as they say.
Yes, now, with the sound of the creek beside me, now with the dialogue of winter birds, now with an eye on the heavy sun in the western sky - how much daylight left?
When finally I taped the wet paint sign to the front door and put the can and brushes away, there was just enough rim of sun remaining to let me settle the outside before I turned inside.
Inside to a cherry slab pie.
It's a terribly random thing for a Sunday evening, I know. Lucky for us. Since recently reading about cherry slab pie over at Smitten Kitchen, it kept bobbing to the top of my thoughts. I realized I should do something about this, especially since I have several bags of sour cherries in the freezer (thanks to the fruit truck that comes through here in fall), and especially since it may be the last sixty degree day of the year. No better time for a salute & celebration.
Since I'd made the filling already, several days before, the crust was all I had to pull together. (This is how I often roll, making part of a thing one day, part another day - even sometimes putting them together on a third. A week to make a pie? Yes.)
By the time dinner was warmed in the oven the pie was ready to go in and boom! a thing that can look like so much effort, was, in fact much less. No fancy crimped edges, no fussing when the top crust didn't fit the bottom just right, just a rustic slab pie with cherry juice bubbling out where it could.
Here's where I want to say, make the pie.
With the upcoming holidays that bring all those pastry possibilities, don't ever be nervous about making pie because you might be nervous about making pie crust. The best way to learn how to make a good pie crust is to make pie crust, experience being the best teacher, and all (random Sundays are good for this). Making it teaches you what it feels like when it's too dry, when it's too wet, and when it's just right. Don't for a moment think you can't always have a pie crust up your sleeve.
Especially when it may be your last sixty degree day.
Go ahead and follow Deb's guidance for the filling as well as the crust, and you'll be having your own celebration. Oh, and one final thing - when you're a beginning pie maker, always remember that a mangled pie tastes just as good as a perfect one.
Wink.
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