It’s Easter Saturday – that’s a thing, isn’t it? – and my entire family is coming for dinner tonight. That’s twenty people, counting my youngest sister’s unborn child, which I totally get to count, because SQEEE, unborn baby!
Yesterday I spent most of the day making five different kinds of pie. This was my whole goal of having the Year Of Pie – to be able to make pies for large family gatherings, because seriously, can you even call it a family gathering if there is no pie?
Anyway, I’m past the point of having to swear and totally stress out at the making of the pies, but even so, you have to really, really love pie to invest a whole day in making them. Because besides all the finicky work involved, there’s bonus events like when you turn on the stove to bake your pies, but forget it is full of gluten-free waffles you lovingly handmade for your son that morning, and by the time you start to wonder what that smokey smell is, you’ve got six black Belgian waffles burning in the oven.
And if things really go well, you can yell at your husband to come and HELP YOU, and then grab smoking hot black waffles one by one out of the oven and fling them at him, as he tries to catch them in a bowl. Sir Monkeypants now has a new kitchen rule: no throwing burning things at other people who are trying to help you. I think he’s having it put on a sampler.
Another bonus! You may turn off the oven in your mad frenzy to deal with the waffles, then later put your pies in the “hot” oven, only to find them mildly lukewarm an hour and a half later. Whoops!
And once you do remember to turn on the oven, if you’re really, really lucky, your strawberry pie might bubble over and cause a huge spill in the bottom of the oven that creates enough smoke to mimic a forest fire, and which will have you on your hands and knees scrubbing the inside of the oven at 7 a.m. the next morning, because nothing says Yummy Turkey like the smell of burnt strawberries, unless it’s the smell of oven cleaner, am I right?
So needless to say, I REALLY like pie.
I still have about 50 dishes left to make so I best get cracking. Is it too late to have pie and cereal for dinner?
TurtleHead 
Hmmm – “no throwing burning things at other people who are trying to help you” is a kitchen rule that I wouldn’t have come up with off the top of my head, but I agree it’s a good one. Is it OK to do that when you’re not in the kitchen?
Loving the visual of you flinging black waffles at your poor dodging bowl-wielding husband. I imagine your happy, loud family dinner will make the oven-suckage worth it.
I tried to read this post very seriously with much concern and gratitude, but I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at the mental images.
Still, THANK YOU for the wonderful pies and all that you did for us on Saturday. I received rave reviews about the day. Call it a success!
As far as I’m concerned there is nothing wrong with just pie (why ruin a beautiful thing with cereal?) for dinner!