American as Apple Pie

Good morning my friends. I am so happy you stopped by.
Isn't this a beautiful pie? I wish I could take credit for this gorgeous creation but I must admit my adorable husband made this pie. A few months ago he decided he wanted to learn to make pie crust. So, as he always does, he turned to the internet for some advise and pie crust recipes. One of the things we discovered is there are people out there that actually seem to think making pie crust is an easy thing. Well, they must have a God given gift to making pie crust. It must come very natural for them. There is an art to making a really good pie crust.  It has some very unique qualities. It must be tender, it must be flaky and it must have a heavenly flavor that melts in your mouth as soon as it touches your tongue. It took him more than a few tries but, Greg was persistant and before we knew it he was turning out delicious buttery pie crust that would make any little 'ole gray haired grandma proud. Now, I can proudly announce he has mastered the art of pie crust. Anytime I need a pie crust he is my "Go To" guy.

Now, let me say there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying and already made pie crust at the grocery store. Pillsbury makes an excellent pie crust. You can find it in the dairy case at your grocery store. You get 2 pie crusts rolled up in a little red box. Simply set it out for a few minutes so the temperature can rise a little. This makes it easy to work with. Just place it is a pie plate and you are ready to fill it with your family's favorite filling. As soon as they taste the warm goodness you will be well on your way to Mom of the Year.

There is something special about the sweet warm smell of a pie baking in the oven. It is the ultimate comfort food. A pie baking in the oven fills your home with a happy fragrance that will bring the kids out their bedrooms and make your husband turn off the TV just to come and see what yumminess is calling for them in the kitchen. The aroma will make them come running just to get a whiff of  the delicious sweetness. There is nothing more American as a fresh made pie and glass of ice cold milk.

Did you know that pies have a very special place in the heart of Americans? It is so special that we have set aside a day just for celebrating pies. Each year, National Pie Day is the 3rd Saturday in January. Our church celebrates this very special day with a Pie Social. It is an event that everyone looks forward to each year. In our church everyone gets involved.  A few of our youth kids are the entertainment for the evening. They have a pretend radio station K.P.I.E. The disc jockies are members from our youth group.  Some of our members will entertain us with their beautiful singing or many other talents they have been blessed with. No event such as this would be complete if we didn't have a pie eating contest. The biggest act are the pies themselves. There are rows and rows of pies. Fruit pies, custard pies, cream pies, single crust pies, double crust pies, fried pies, ice box pies, meringue pies, whipped cream pies.... My goodness the possiblities are endless. Every pie you can possibly imagine is on our tables. There are so many pies it is hard to decide which one to pick. The best thing to do is take a tiny little sample slice of each pie. Oh, your taste buds will be so happy. Sit back. Enjoy the entertainment and good food and good fellowship with your church family. Oh, but don't wait until January to enjoy a great pie. Pies are good any day of the year. Pies are good for the soul. The ultimate comfort food.
Stop by anytime.
Until next time....

Weekly Menus

When I was working full time I did not always have a good handle on purchasing food for our evening meals. We were like a lot of people. Greg and I both would run by the grocery store on our way home from work every night to pick up items we needed. Then we would run home to cook dinner. It became sort of comical because my husband and I think very much alike. So many times, when we brought our purchases home we would discover we had picked up many of the same items. I knew right then, I needed to get a handle on grocery shopping. I created a weekly menu and it would get posted on the refrigerator in a magnetic backed acrylic frame.  ( see the photos below for samples) I would use the menu to create a grocery shopping list and all four of us go to the grocery store to purchase everything we needed for the week.

I saved all of our menus over the years in a folder. Now, when I get stuck for new menu ideas I just pull out the file and browse through them. I must admit we have had some great weekly menus through the years. It was always fun to see what borders would show up on the menus. They would be seasonal or they might be a Happy Birthday border if one of us was celebrating a birthday that week. There were times when Greg would type the menu for me. His were always very creative. He always added a lot of graphics.

I wanted our girls to feel they were part of the weekly planning so I would get menu ideas from everyone. I quickly realized this was going to be a fun learning experience for Katy and Jenny. Since they were young they thought it was a cool and fun thing to do. It also got them interested in menu planning. They were learning how to plan well balanced nutritious meals. The girls were always so proud of themselves the night their meal was prepared. They were always so helpful in the kitchen.

Do you have a unique menu planning idea? Leave me a comment. I would love to hear about it.

Until next time.....

The Family Meal

Welcome to Heart of the Home Blog. This blog is intended to encourage and help. There is no better way to communicate with your spouse and children than through a peaceful family meal. Each day all across the world families have an opportunity to come together to relax and enjoy each other's company. No matter how young or old a person may be as long as they are old enough to talk they always have something they can contribute to a family conversation. There is no better way to get to know your family than over a family meal. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. It doesn't even have to be homecooked. However that would be my personal preference. It could be something as simple as a bucket of chicken from KFC. (Kentucky Fried Chicken)

Our lives are so busy these days. In many cases both Dad and Mom are working outside of the home. The children are in school and have many activites they are involved in after school. Many people have church activites at least 2 days a week. All of these things combined can add up to not having many hours to get to know your family. So, for me and my adorable husband, we decided when our girls were very young that we would make it a priority to all have the evening meal together. As our girls grew and began spending more time with friends away from home it was still very important for all of us to be at home for dinner.It was ok if they wanted to bring a friend to our dinner table too. As a matter of fact I loved it when the girls had friend over to join us for a meal. I remember one time when our oldest daughter, Katy was in middle school she came home with a very sad story. She told us that during lunch that day one of her friends asked if her mom cooked. Of course, Katy said that not only did I cook but her dad cooked too. One of us cooked dinner nearly every night. This conversastion quickly drew in several other friends. Katy learned that most of her friends not only did not get a home cooked meal at night but the majority of them did not even eat dinner with their family. Most just ate dinner alone sitting in front of the TV.  Katy and I both thought this was very sad. It seemed like a lonesome evening. You see, at our house dinner time was when our family came together after a long day. Sometimes dinner time was quiet with not much talking but most were pretty busy with lots of chatting and laughter. These were my favorite dinners. These were the times when we got to know our daughters. They would tell us the stories of their day and Mom and Dad would throw in a few of our stories too. This is also the place where many life lesson were learned.

Please feel free to post comments. As a matter of fact, I would love to learn about your family meal times.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Until next time....