Who thought pie would be easy? In fact, who came up with that saying anyway?
When I think of making pie, I think of trying to achieve the flaky crust my mother created. Not so easy.
Pies were a staple in our house, loved by my father, and yes, all of us kids too.
Dad loved raisin pie (have you heard of that one?) and as a child I loved flapper pie, often made with a graham crumb crust. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. It is probably just like a vanilla custard pie, but look in any authentic Mennonite cooking book, and you’ll find a recipe.
We enjoyed all kinds of pies; often apple, and cherry, pumpkin and lemon meringue. I have made a lot of pumpkin pies in my day, another of my favourites. And rarely from a can, that seems to be sacrilegious in Mennonite circles.
Pie making takes time, and technique. I suppose those who are exceptionally good at it might call it easy. Not me. I don’t bake pies often anymore, and you will find me cheating with a gluten free crust from the store, just so I can enjoy it.
I asked Wikipedia for some help and here was a definition: “As easy as pie” is a popular colloquial idiom and simile which is used to describe a task or experience as pleasurable and simple. Well, certainly EATING pie would be counted as very pleasurable, I’m still not convinced it is a simple task to make one.
Nor was trying to paint pie, which I attempted to do. Not easy, but quite pleasurable and far less calories!! And I added another quaint saying… “as sweet as pie”, which just means you are sweet and friendly.
So how’s that for a sweet post? Thank you for the inspiration, Darleen… who asked me to paint pie, and inspired me to write about it too. Enjoy a slice for me!!

Sweet as Pie