We spent this morning at Wayne St, and we finished the drywalling in one of the bedrooms. We are on hiatus now.
It is hunting season.
Tim bustled around once we were home getting ready to leave. He is sighting in his rifle. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are rifle days for senior hunters, and he is taking advantage of those days. Tonight, he has one last night with his crossbow.
I made myself a very tall glass of green juice and sat myself down to begin chopping. I am emptying out the freezer on the downstairs refrigerator in expectation that we will have venison at some point. I had taken out a chicken breast to thaw in the refrigerator over night, with the idea of making a chicken pot pie. So I chopped vegetables in my quiet kitchen and thought about life.
It's been a while since I made pie crust from scratch, I'm ashamed to admit, and I was afraid that I'd lost the knack, but as I cut the butter into the flour, it felt comfortable, like I knew what I was doing. I added the ice water, and I rolled it out. It behaved just as one expects a pie crust to behave.
I transferred the chicken, vegetables, and gravy into a pie dish, and draped the crust over the top, pinching the edges, and piercing it with the leaf pattern my mother taught me years ago.
Somehow, I felt as if making the chicken pot pie had reminded me who I am. I felt centered and calm as I popped it in the oven. It cooked as I cleaned the kitchen. When I took it from the oven, it looked good. Smelled wonderful. Tasted great.
I like the references to your pie and the feeling that it was not just something to eat. It meant more than that.
ReplyDeleteIt was something that I could do in a time when there is so much going on that I cannot do anything about.
DeleteComfort food for the soul......................
ReplyDeleteIt was!
DeleteThat's a great achievement, the pie crust. They are so easy to purchase, but we know what our mothers and grandmothers knew...and should practice that art.
ReplyDeleteIt is not hard to do. As I blended it all, I really found myself wondering why I don't make my own crust more often.
DeleteI save pastry for a special treat, when the bathroom scales say OK Your pie would tempt me to indulge.
ReplyDeleteObviously a woman with way more self control than I have. Truly though, the reason it was made at all is the great emptying out of the freezer. One more thing gone.
DeleteReminds me of Tom Lehrers Hunting Song:
ReplyDeleteI went and shot the maximum the game laws would allow
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.
Enjoy your venison. Unfortunately I haven't seen any venison to buy for a long time.
Portia (UK)
Over here, I don't know where you would even buy venison. You either bring it home yourself, or you don't.
DeleteHome cooked food is just the ticket Debby.
ReplyDeleteIt made me ridiculously happy that it turned out so well.
DeleteI made a chickens pot pie once, with purchased dough, not homemade. It was fine but not worth it for me. I can buy those pies, and while they won't be nearly as good as yours. they suffice. I am but a lazy slob. 😎
ReplyDeleteIt was the process for me. Sometimes I like to putter around the kitchen. Other times, well...I guess you could call me a lazy slob. :)
DeleteI love chicken pot pie! Mail me some! :)
ReplyDeleteNo! You will have to meet up with Jeanie (see below) and get yourself here. Bring Olga. (Dave can come too!)
DeleteQuestions regarding the pastry - blind bake or no? Brush with egg or milk? Cheese within for crispness? Can you save me a slice?
ReplyDeleteAnswers regarding the pastry: I only made a top crust. Unbrushed. No cheese, although it sounds like a wonderful addition.
DeleteOh, comfort food! Chicken pot pie, or chicken and dumplings - both are medicine. The act of cooking in a quiet kitchen is meditative for sure. I am literally at my best when cooking. Something about chopping, slicing and dicing that sets the world right again.
ReplyDeleteChicken and dumplings! Tim loves that, and I have not made it for a while. It will be a nice thing for him to come home to after a day in the woods.
DeleteYou sound very contented with what you are doing, at home and baking away.
ReplyDeleteSince covid, I do have to admit that I am quite happy within my own four walls.
DeleteI've been thinking about making a chicken pot pie lately. Perhaps I shall do that. I never, ever could make decent pie pastry until I started using a recipe involving my food processor. I know- HERESY! Oh well. It works beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI find cooking to be a major source of comfort.
Ah phooey on the heresy business! Off to google food processor pie crust.
DeleteIt is funny how things work in my mind. I woke up this morning with the realization clear in my mind: When life becomes unfamiliar and difficult, there is great comfort in the old familiar things, isn't there? It is probably the very same reason that Tim was up in the dark and out the door with half a pot pie and a rifle. He, too, is taking comfort in an old familiar thing. He has hunted all his life.
ReplyDeletePurchased pie crusts, at least a select few, are getting good enough that making a pie crust from scratch is something I save for a special occasion.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to find that I still had the knack.
DeleteI can't even remember when I made my own pie crust. I can see how old traditions and recipes can bring comfort during an unsettling time. Hope Tim enjoys his hunting.
ReplyDelete