Day Fifty-Three- 2/22/11 Make a Cherry Pie to Celebrate Washington's Birthday

Day Fifty-Three: 2/22/11
New Thing: Make a Cherry Pie to Celebrate Washington's Birthday.        
Inspiration: George Washington
Cost: $11.37 in baking supplies.    
Time: About 2.5 hours   
Bottom Line: I cannot tell a lie--I made a cherry pie. (I'll try not to rhyme again.)

A legend is born.

Reflection: Today is George Washington's Birthday and so I decided to make a cherry pie for the first time in honor of the legend of the cherry tree. I distinctly remember learning about this tale in grade school. Our story begins with a young Washington as he chops down one of his father's prized cherry trees. When his father finds out, our intrepid young hero, all ablaze with the glory of honor declares, "Father, I cannot tell a lie. It was I who cut the tree." As the daughter of a forester, I knew how valuable a wood cherry was, and I was moved by this story. In fact, I remember feeling awful for weeks after when ever I would look at the little paper ax with the cherry detail that we had made in class. It seemed to only serve as a reminder that I would never be as virtuous as that amazing Washington. (Even then, I had a crippling guilt for sins I had not yet committed.) Of course, I found out years later that it was all a myth made up by his biographer--but still, he was an amazing man. Certainly worthy of a pie.

You may remember that I do not have a love for baking, and part of that is due to the precision that it takes. In cooking, I can just add things as I feel and not worry to much about the specificity of ingredients. But that is not the case in baking since you have to have exactly the right amount of everything--time, ingredients, patience.

Well, I made a mistake in this vein right away by adding to many cherries. It called for a full can and 3/4 of a second can, but I thought that would be a waste, so I put in two whole cans. Then tried to pour the batter on top of that not realizing that the extra room which would have been left in the crust by the lack of 1/4 a can of cherries was designed to serve the purpose of letter the batter fill-in. Batter got everywhere. However, I made it anyway. It's cooling now (I was tempted to let it do so on a windowsill, but did not want it to get stolen by some kids with yo-yo's and sling-shots in their pockets) and I will let you know how it tastes tomorrow.