My fondest memory of baking is the summer I spent with my grandparents and my grandma taught me to bake pies. I was forever hooked.
Grandma and Grandpa lived in a suburb of Pittsburgh right next to the train tracks. In the ’60s, there was a lot of train traffic, lots of soot and you could feel the rumble of the train long before you heard the roar of the train coming down the tracks. Their house was built into a hill so the kitchen looked over the backyard and the railroad tracks. I spent many hours sitting on the back porch watching for trains while my grandma cooked dinner. I just loved to spend time with my grandparents over the summer and that was where my love for baking and sewing began.
I can feel and smell my grandmother’s kitchen just like it was yesterday. The small steel-trimmed Formica table, her green gingham terry-cloth apron with the pear-shaped pockets, the flour that seemingly stuck to everything (especially after I helped bake). I can’t remember what kind of pie we made—I think it may have been cherry—but I remember the lessons I learned and the fact that she actually trusted little 7-year-old me to make my own crust for my tart-sized pie. I remember that everything was cold, the shortening, the water, the flour–and I was not to handle the dough too much. I remember rolling out the dough into a circle with her very heavy rolling pin which I use to this very day.
And I remember how she taught me to pinch the crust just so—so it would look like a rope! She even allowed me to put my pie in the over and take it out by myself. I remember that she told me that I was quite a baker and that my mom must have taken after my grandpa because my mom could not care less about baking!
I remember sitting down for dinner with my grandparents that evening, sharing that little tart-sized pie with them, and thinking that it was the best pie I had ever tasted.
It still is.
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CindyP says:
Beth, I love this! Thank you for posting!
Isn’t it funny how some things are just etched in our brains and we will never forget them, no matter how many other things we tend to forget? These are the memories I want my grandkids to have 🙂
On September 5, 2010 at 6:17 am
marymac says:
Sound like a lovely sweet memory. Makes us yearn for days gone by. Thanks for posting this.
On September 5, 2010 at 8:33 am
Valerie says:
What a lovely post. Wonderful memories of your grandmother for sure. Thanks so much for sharing this little glimpse of your childhood with us.
On September 5, 2010 at 9:19 am
Cathy Jones (catray44) says:
Beautiful post! Thank you for sharing it.
On September 5, 2010 at 9:43 am
Vicki in So. CA says:
My grandma and grandpa lived right next to the RR tracks too! And we could hear/feel them rumbling waaay off in the distance, and hear the faint whistle. Did you go down (with supervision, of course) and put pennies on the rails?
I loved reading that part of your post as well as your pie-making memory! And that she had you make a small one – one that you would not be overwhelmed by, and could have success with – smart grandma.
On September 5, 2010 at 2:11 pm
NorthCountryGirl says:
What sweet memories! That was lovely, I really enjoyed it. I remember the trains, too. Took me back to the old days!
On September 5, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Pete says:
Awww. Good stuff! What sweet, sweet memories.
On September 5, 2010 at 4:52 pm