PIE AND PRAISE 2011

Tonight was the Third Annual Pie and Praise at church.  It is our annual Thanksgiving service.  The first hour is given over to praise songs, scripture reading, testimonies and prayer.  The second hour is for eating pies.  Everyone brings a pie (or 2 or 3).

I made a pumpkin spice pudding pie and a sugar-free pumpkin pie.  The pudding pie turned out great.  However with the sugar-free pie I didn't realize until it was baking that I used too much splenda.  Joe said all you could taste was sweetness and no spices or pumpkin.  So I left it home.

When we got to church, there weren't enough pies so I ended up leaving and going to Shop Rite and getting an apple pie (which was out of this world) and a sugar-free pumpkin pie.  They really get you with the sugar-free stuff.  The sugar-free pie cost 3 times what the sweetened one did.  By the time I got back the service was almost over.


I was looking back to last year's Pie and Praise entry on this blog.  You can see it here.  What a difference a year makes.  I was so sick back then and waiting for the surgery.  I couldn't even eat anything.


Here are some pictures from the service tonight.

One of our elders, Shaun, read the scripture.  His baby, Kate, wouldn't stop crying unless he held her, so she was up there also.  It was so cute.

Pastor Justin led the singing.

One of our other elders, my husband Joe, gave the closing prayer.

The pies.  Coconut custard, key lime, chocolate mousse, apple, and pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!

Sydney and Joe were having a deep discussion.  You know it was a good conversation because Joe hasn't even touched his pie.  (ha, ha)

The line forms to the rear.

Pastor Justin and his wife Cherie.  One of the nicest couples I know.  And I'm not just saying this because he reads my blog.

I wonder who this cute couple is.  We're both smiling, but we're both sick.  Joe is running a fever again.  I'm going to insist he goes back to the doctor this week.  I'm just so tired and fighting a headache.  But we got there and we had a good time.

Have a good night everyone.  Busy week this week, but at least it's a short work week.

APPLE PIE

I had so many apples from the farm co-op we belong to.  I decided to use them up I would make an apple pie.  I heard that putting various types of apples in one pie makes it extra good, so I put in what I had:  Red Delicious, Fuji, and Northern Spy.

I cut the apples into chunks and put them into the pie crust.  Then I added my sugar (in my case Splenda so that Joe could eat it), butter, cinnamon and flour.

Next I put on the top crust and put it into the oven.

Doesn't it look good?  It really is.  It turned out to be one of the best apple pies I have made.  There's not much left of it.  Since Joe used to be a baker when he likes it, I know it's good.

Believe it or not I got the recipe from the bottom of my pie dish.  It's a no-fail recipe.

Apple Pie

6 cups diced apples

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 nine-inch pastry shells

Prepare pastry and slice apples.  Combine sugar, cinnamon and flour.  Arrange apples in layers.  (Sprinkle each layer with sugar mixture.)  Dot each layer with small pieces of butter.  Cover with top crust.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.  Reduce to 350 degrees.  Bake 30 minutes longer.

Now I have to figure out what to make with all of my pears!  Any suggestions?

The Evolution of a Pumpkin Pie

Take one long-necked pumpkin from Lancaster County.  (I have had this for awhile and was surprised that it was still good.)

Cut into slices and peel.

Cut into cubes and boil.

When done, puree it.

Add ingredients, put in a crust and bake.  And there you have a pumpkin pie!  Or three.  And a sugar-free apple pie thrown in for good measure.

Pie and Praise

Tonight we had our Second Annual Pie and Praise at church. I had to work last year and missed the First Annual, so was glad I had a chance to go to this one. We sang some hymns and praise songs, and then had time to give our thanks to God. I'm usually very nervous about getting up in front of people, but I did it tonight and it wasn't that bad. I thanked God for taking care of me the last 5 months of being sick and said if He did it thus far, He'd see me through the surgery and recovery.

What was really nice was that Joe had a part of the service. He went to the front and gave a "Personal Testimony of Praise and Thanks." It was so good. I didn't know what he was going to say, and was surprised at how eloquent he was and at the same time how down to earth. He should do more of this sort of thing.

After the service we had pie. Lots of pie. I wasn't able to eat any of it. : ( I had a little bit of iced tea and that was it. I was so afraid of getting sick somewhere away from home. I made a sugar-free apple pie so Joe could eat something. Well, everyone else got to it too. My friend, Dottie, actually took 2 pieces. Two people asked me for the recipe. There wasn't a smidgen left in the dish. I felt really good about that! Even though I didn't eat anything, I had a lot of fun talking with the other people there. My church family is so great.

15 days to surgery



Pastor Justin led the praise service





Me and Joe after the service, before the pie




My apple pie





Phyllis, Pastor Wayne's wife, cuts the pies into serving pieces. Pastor Justin is in the background.





Cherie, Pastor Justin's wife, and her brother, Keaven





Sydney and Pastor Wayne look at some photos.





Shawn, Connor, Juliette





Trish, Patrick, Sydney, Dottie