Ode to Dough

Today I am baking 2  quiches.
Perfect pie to bake when  I haven't a clue what to bake.
This  brings my pie count to 84 and #85.
85 pies in 6 months.
That's not a pie a day..  not even  a pie every Sunday as I had prematurely assumed I would do.
Not that I didn't want to be baking every Sunday, but as they say..
time kinda slips away.
My day job gets  in the way.
Things have quieted  down now and I am ready to resume baking & writing .
The "story" left off in early December  of 2010.
I had just switched over to yet  another dough recipe.
I had tried three or four different recipes till I found the one. I could tweak this  to make it my own. And this is crucial ~ I have got to have my own recipe!
I thank-you Hilda Mars, Alan Carter and Mom ~ but I think I got this one now.  There isn't much one can do to tweak a dough recipe, but I'll  keep my secret just the same.
Any baker  will tell you its all in perfecting your dough. It  must be first and foremost . It is nothing  if it's not flaky & buttery. It must lend itself to manipulation; be able to twist and hold it's shape and above all  pass the test...will he eat it?
He loves 'em.

I  also decided it was time to get serious with the Christmas hints.. I needed  better equipment.
I asked Santa  for  more cookbooks.
Christmas morning arrived with a whole lot of goodies. My Sister from Texas sent me a wonderful Southern Pies cookbook along with Texas Pecans. Yummy!
My mother bought me a beautiful HEAVY  Marble slab along with a perfect exactly- what- I dreamed- of black marble  rolling pin.  Now I  realized   why  she was  so tired and hunched over for the past  week.  Mom carried these two items...
(my 81 year old mother ) from the store through the  mall to her car and home.. I can barley lift this slab from my cabinet to my counter. WOW and she never laid a guilt trip on me. But, she'll tell the tale forever.
Anyway.....

I baked pie #30 Chewy Pecan Pie with the Texas Pecans. Chewy and flat like a pancake because it dripped out of the pan and smoked up the kitchen something awful!
My pie shrunk to within a  1/2 inch thick. Oh well, learned another lesson.
and so on... Pecan Pies for the rest of the month till I got it right.

The plan

 April & May are killer months  when you work in a garden center.
Very very busy time of the year.
So much to do  and too many  people to help.. I can  barely keep up with the  stocking watering and designing..I really love how crazy it all is.
And it is so nice to see  so many people  rediscovering the joys of  creating their own gardens.
I love seeing all my regulars too  and to  hear their plans for this years garden.
But I am getting a little burn out and need to take a day off.. it's also  98 degrees today. So I watered my own garden and baskets turned the AC's on turned off my phone & locked my door.
Sorry folks but the plant lady needs a rest.
Soon this whole phase of my life will be over and I'll start my own business.
Yes.. the record store dream.
My guy and I have been planning this one for sometime now.
Kate's Piehole Records. coming soon (2014)
promote and nurture the love of vinyl records, live music, & warm pie .
Our goal is to create a space for our patron’s and employees to engage one another through the shared love of live music & cool vinyl.
It is our most earnest wish to enhance Rockford’s Downtown River District with a music centric environment while comforting its soul with delicious pie.

AT Kate's Piehole Records,
Our Atmosphere will be unique.
We will offer the ultimate in comfort foods,
while resurrecting a most beloved and missed institution...the record store.
We will sell vinyl ..... Specializing in punk, from the 70’s, 80’s and 90‘s, vintage country, blues,
rockabilly, and soul.
We will be a fully stocked record store! Of course we will still sell CD’s along with the usual record store items: T-shirts, posters, & other punk memorabilia.
We will sell pie..... Freshly baked classic meat and dessert pies only. Baked from scratch using only the purest of available ingredients.
We will offer a super quick lunch service for the downtown community in a comfortable rock atmosphere.
We will promote community..... On site wifi will be available, Each table will be equipped with it’s own charge port.
we will encourage an active involvement with our real & virtual community.
We will Promote thru. Katespiehole.com
local media, FaceBook,& Twitter.

Oh and I am on pie #82 as of yesterday.