I'm thankful for...

modern conveniences! Today I spent literally all day baking. I stood in the same spot measuring, mixing and pouring and now I'm spent. I made 7 pies today (because I really really like leftovers) and I started at around 11:00am and finished at maybe 7:00pm or so. I did wrangle a few kids here and there, and I did take Kimberly to gymnastics. Oh, but don't worry...Patty babysat my pie that was in the oven while I was gone.

After a few hours I started to feel chained to the kitchen. It was like I had always been there and I was always going to be there. The alpha and the omega of baking if you will. Doing such a long lasting menial chore got me thinking about my great grandmothers. For me, I like to cook. I think it's fun...a novelty. But for them it was more like the welfare of their family depended on not burning the catch of the day. Did you loathe their position in the household? Did they whistle while they worked? Interesting.

I saved baking the lemon meringue for last. I was about 10 minutes into whipping the egg whites for the meringue and a crazy storm blew in. It crossed my mind that the electricity might go out and how the hell would I finish my meringue without my electric mixer? I could use my hand beater but was that even possible? I'm sure it was because wasn't meringue invented before electricity? Who the hell decided to whip the stuffin' out of egg whites anyway? Would I have ever been so resourseful as to make a dessert out of egg whites if I lived hundreds of years ago?

I'm convinced it was a pregnant lady:

...Mmmmmm, eggs and sugar! Sounds yummy! Oh, only the the whites please. Hang on a sec...let me whip them for 3 days before I eat them... I've just solved the great meringue mystery. :) Aaaaaaanyway, I guess it's official. I've gone pie nucking futs! And now it's time for some pictures:

First up are the lemon meringues: Here are my first ever apple pies:
And an oldie but a goodie...Pumpkin! They look sad. They want to be covered in whipped cream!
Yes those are Christmas orbs in the centerpiece. And yes those are dreidels decorating the plates. I have to keep the Jew in the house happy.
Happy Jew! Tired Jew? My Jew!