Before a recent dinner party a friend asked if he could bring a pie for dessert.   Perfect I thought.  I love pie but can’t bake one to save my life.  And, being the neat freak that I am, having a pie brought to my house sounded so….well….. tidy!  (For those of you who don’t know me, I am a neat freak. It’s not the best quality to have in life, but at this point, I’m stuck with it)

Fast forward to the night of the dinner party and guests begin to arrive.  The “pie guy” shows up with a brown paper bag in hand. He puts the bag on the counter and reaches into the bag.  I assume he is going to pull out a full baked pie.  Not so.  The first thing he pulls out of the bag is a small bag of apples.  Next is flour, then butter, sugar, and so on.  Is he going to make a pie right here, right now?  Is he going to interrupt my carefully orchestrated workflow?  After a few minutes of disbelief, I realized, yes in fact, he is going to make the pie right here, right now.  Thoughts were buzzing though my head….. how could I avert the chaos that was about to ensue?

Before I could make a move, the pie making commenced.   Flour was everywhere, precious counter space was gobbled up, guests were moving their drinks to accommodate rolling, chopping, slicing and dicing, and I was trying to remember to breathe!  After a few minutes of a rapid pulse and a few beads of sweat I realized, this wasn’t so bad.  Nobody cared.  And the pie turned out great.

So, beware all you hosts out there…. when you ask people to bring food to your house, it can really run the gamut.  But, not to worry, all you really need is good friends, good beverages, an open door, and all will be a success!

Recipe

As I mention above, I am not a pie baker, but my blog partner Edie is!  Click here to get a great, and very easy pie recipe.   Or, if you are like me, and want all pies to be made by someone else, go to Lou’s Bakery in Hanover if you live in the area.  Or find your favorite local bakery and ask them to hook you up.

Sue’s editorial comments

I’ve never been a big fan of the cliché “easy as pie” because it just isn’t true.