Did Someone Say Pie?

Pie season has officially begun with the first blueberry pie of the summer just out of the oven. There is nothing quite like the joy that beams on my youngest son’s face when the first scent of pie in the oven fills the house resulting in the lip-licking anticipation of that first bite.

And while I would like to believe it is the love that goes into the pie that brings out his now toothless smile, I think it is the combination of sugar, cinnamon and blueberries. Yet, it is that sheer happiness and his face in the plate, which is why I will time and time again fire up the oven to bake even on a hot and humid July day. Thank goodness for central air!

And as much as I enjoy baking, it has been a nice respite not baking these past couple of months. But with the first pie down, the floodgates are now open with high expectations for the baking to continue straight through the holidays. It all starts with this first blueberry pie, but we will now need to take advantage of all of the splendors of summer for a variety of pies.

And although the oven will go on to bake the pies, there is the added enjoyment of getting out to local farms to pick your own berries and peaches. Or in my case, my pie obsessed son insisted on planting blueberry bushes and apple trees to have the fruit for his two favorite types of pie on hand for pie baking. And as I normally am in competition with the iPad, the computer and the video games, baking is a simple way to get outside to gather the ingredients and also get some help in the kitchen, and why? Pie, that’s why.