And I do mean daze. I've been in a pie daze for two weeks now, but it's not from eating them, far from it, it's from making them...I mean, helping kids make them!
First the 12 year old girls came to make pies, eight girls who each made two pies. I pre-made the pie dough - they rolled it out, made pumpkin filing, filled the shells and while the pumpkin pies were baking they peeled apples for their apple pies. It all went swimmingly!
(Kate, Dawson, Kaitlyn, Cassidy above, not shown Amber, Sabrina, Grace and Leah.) Most of the dough stayed on the table and the counters so clean-up wasn't too bad and the girls did make wonderful pies (6-inch pies, just enough for two servings - for a total of 16 pies.) Since it went so well, when I was asked to have the 12 year old BOYS come make pies, I hesitated briefly before agreeing...I didn't question my sanity long enough to have any affect...so like I said, I agreed.
Eight boys showed up. EIGHT 12 year old boys!! And then I questioned my sanity!!! But, the boys were great - really, just a teensy bit more mess than the girls with a whole lot more noise but those boys turned into pie makers!! (Casey, Camden, Thompson, Ethan, Cameron, Josh, not pictured Michael and Jayce.) They each made two pies to take home - one we baked (the pumpkin) and one they took home to bake (the apple) and just look at how proud they are!! We made a total of 16 pies.
Twelve year old boys made those pies - and they were beautiful!! So...then... then my friends, I was asked to have the 16-17 year olds over to make pies...the night before Thanksgiving. I'm not sure when it happened, when I completely lost my mind...when all sense of normalcy left only to be replaced with what can be described as the calm before the storm. Because I was calm...I was still giddy over how well the 12 year olds had behaved, and was convinced the 16-17 year olds would be a piece of cake/pie compared to them, and really, what could go wrong??? Calm before the storm...
The kitchen was prepared, an extra table brought in to hold the huddled masses...giant cans of pumpkin were purchased, along with 60# of apples, 8# of butter, 4 gallons of cream, 20# of flour, 20# of sugar...and this time, each kid made their own pie dough and two full-size pies. 15 kids showed up...FIFTEEN!!! It was like the Mayflower had disembarked at my front door! Godfrey!
Pilgrims, Indians and a couple of turkeys, shoulder to shoulder with flour flying! (Tyler, Adlai, Vanessa, Kayla, Eli, Colin, Alana, Jahden, Eli, Jack, not pictured Katie, Hunter, Nikki, Ali, Payton.)
Fifteen teenagers and four adults - we were out-numbered from the get-go. There was laughter, whining, running, slapping...high-fiving-dough-tossing-cinnamon-sprinkling-dish-washing-chaos! But pies were made...16 pumpkin pies were baked (we used a neighbor's ovens to help bake the pies) and 16 apple pies were wrapped in plastic to be taken home to bake. When the 12 year olds came, we finished in two hours time...the older group took THREE hours to do what 12 year olds did...what does that tell you?
They did have fun. And they did make pies. Goals and objectives accomplished! Plus only one band-aid was used, the house wasn't burned down and most importantly, I survived. Barely. I'll be good as new and ready for Pie Night next year once I stick my finger in an electrical socket.
Let's do the math, shall we?
32 pumpkin pies +32 apple pies + 3 adults + 32 kids and 1 crazy lady = 64 pies and a candidate for a lobotomy. The kids left, the kitchen was put back together, the last of the dough was scraped off the floor and then it was time to start on Thanksgiving dinner...somebody should really protect me from myself!
