sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

March 14, 2010


3.14…
posted by soe 11:15 pm

Hey, folks! I hope you celebrated all things round today by eating some pie. (For those outside the know, pi is 3.14… and today was March 14th, so those people fond of dessert celebrate our very own holiday with crust and filling.)

Friday night I announced my intention of marking the day by making hand pies, which are essentially the Southern version of pasties, turnovers, or sweet empanadas. Rudi was intrigued, particularly since he shares my love of the now (mostly) defunct McDonald’s deep-fried apple pie.

Because I’m seemingly incapable of starting desserts early in the day and to recover from frustrating news from Utah, I sprang into action with this recipe from Confabulation in the Kitchen around 7 tonight. Mind you, we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, nor even started to prepare it.

But I peeled, cored, and cooked up some apples and then made a simple dough. Lacking round cookie cutters, I just ripped dough around our cereal bowls and managed to make six reasonably sized hand pies and one large, overstuffed one to finish up my fixings.

Raw Hand Pies

After a lovely pasta dinner and an episode of Buffy, Rudi and I headed back to the kitchen to begin the process of frying the pies.

Turning Turnovers

Mind you, we hadn’t washed the dinner dishes or the dishes from the prep work, so space was at a premium. I settled on putting the plate with the uncooked pies into the colander and took the lid off the stock pot so I could balance the plate of finished pies on top. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.

Cooking

While Rudi supervised my use of hot cooking oil (thank goodness we have an electric stove…) and made some cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top, I turned sizzling pies and watched them turn golden brown.

Sort of Shallow Frying

And, then, the moment of truth…

I should have suspected they were pretty good as Rudi’s first pie was gone before I’d even sat down…

My Pi Day Pie

No McDonald’s retro treat, but still something quite delicious. New England, I highly recommend stealing this Southern treat posthaste!

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who are these people?
posted by soe 12:47 am

Dear Conn College Alumni Magazine People,

I have just finished leafing through the Class Notes of the alumni magazine, and I’m a little concerned: I don’t think some of the people you include in that section went to Conn.

First of all, the good news: Sukey definitely went to Conn. She’s still totally recognizable. And while I might not have looked at Stephanie’s picture and seen the housefellow of 17 years ago, once I saw her name I knew it was her.

But some of those other people? Are you sure they were once the people who populated the campus with me?

I saw some names that seemed familiar, but, frankly, I couldn’t pull up faces up to match them. Is it possible you’re just making up alumni now? I realize that if all classes are like Rudi’s and mine, failing to file Class Notes issue after issue, the back of the book would be a bit thin. If you have to invent a few students here or there, it’s completely understandable. But maybe consider sticking them in the older classes. Those alumnae have memory problems and probably wouldn’t pick up on your adding a few extra women from the current New London phone book to their roster.

But just stay away from the mid-’90s. I’m on to you….

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