Today is Pi Day: 3.14.15, so I thought I’d reflect a little on pie.
When I was a kid, I loved lemon meringue pie.
My mom was an excellent cook and I thought she was a genius. I loved the tangy taste of the lemon and I loved watching her make the meringue, which, had a not quite crisp texture the first day, then beads of sweetness the second.
As I’ve gotten older, I haven’t really tasted a lemon pie as lemony as my mother’s. She had no special secret, she used Shirriff lemon meringue pie mix. Maybe it is just my old taste buds. She did always make her pie crusts from scratch, though.
From my dad, I learned to eat apple pie with a slice of cheese. We always used Kraft medium cheddar. The sweetness of the apples is contrasted with the sharp taste of the cheddar. It is marvelous. Do you know the old rhyme?
Apple pie without the cheese
Is like a kiss without the squeeze.
It really is that good. If you’ve never eaten apple pie with cheese, you are in for a treat.
Here in Oregon marionberry is a local favorite, but I have never been a big fan of berry pies. A marionberry is an indigenous blackberry developed by the USDA and Oregon State University. The marionberry is currently the most common blackberry in Oregon, accounting for over half of all blackberries produced in Oregon. Don’t get me wrong, I would NEVER turn down a slice of marionberry pie, but, given a choice, I would probably choose apple or lemon meringue over berry.
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