In retrospect, I can see how this invitation to bake may have been perceived as homework rather than a party favor. But leave it to my good friend Kristin to be the first to take me up on my offer to pie it forward. I am so excited to be able to share her heart in my first official guest post! Enjoy!
I want to preface this blog entry with the fact that there is no way my words will ever be adequate to express how much the recipients of the pies mean to me.
Let's face it...it is not
very often that parents of children get along with each other as well as their
kids do. My husband and I feel so fortunate to know Erin and Will and watch our
children grow up together to be the best of friends. As our friendship grows,
our children's friendship has blossomed as well.
I have to admit - during my
entire second pregnancy, I had an idea that a little boy would be in our future
and from my experience with most little boys, it brought me much anxiety. Fear
of the unknown and the "typical" busy and rambunctious toddler boy
left me a little concerned and thinking I may not be cut out for this challenge.
Every time I started to feel uneasy, I thought back to what a wonderful little
boy Wilson was/is (and now Henry also). His sweet nature always put my mind at
ease - plus I loved that he had a bit of a cautious side that I secretly hoped our little boy would share. As Erin mentioned in a previous blog, Wilson is "the apple of her eye," so it's not surprising I fell in love with
this little boy as I feel the same about his mom. Paige also loves Wilson to a
fault and there have been many talks about Wilson and Paige still sharing
experiences when they are all "grown up" well into adulthood. Erin
eased me into my first experience with boys and I am enjoying the truly magical
experience that is "boy" (especially the trains). (P.S. I will never forget
sobbing the ugly cry through the "Love you Forever" book she gave me
after meeting Grant for the first time.)
Erin and I met in junior high. During a time of extreme awkwardness and insecurity - in which nobody wanted to be different in any way - Erin was always herself, which was something I admired then and something I strive for now. She never attempted to be fake just to "fit in," which to this day continues to stand true. Erin is the most genuine, sensitive and kind person I know. She has always understood and listened to me, even when her opinion may differ. I feel so fortunate to have her as a friend. Some people say that relationships succeed not because of what a person says or does for you but by the way a person makes you feel. I have always felt cherished in our friendship and only hope I do the same for Erin.
As Erin mentioned in her blog, we were old friends reunited with
common interests and experiences. We have so many similar experiences prior to
us reuniting and then we have been so fortunate to share in so many first motherhood experiences together. I can remember the nervousness I felt the
first time we got our husbands together for our first trip to the snow, hoping
our husbands would get along as well as Erin and I did. I remember thinking that
Will would probably think we were crazy driving forty minutes just in order for
our three and four month olds to experience snow, but then Will got out of the car with
a smile and a snow saucer.
I have so many vivid memories similar to this of all
the firsts we shared together...we visited almost every museum in Sacramento,
zoos, fairs (I will never forget the wonder on our kids faces when visiting the
animals at the State Fair), fishing, train rides (so many train rides),
birthday parties (her creativity cannot be matched), parks (including Livermore
where our kids experienced water for the first time outside of the bath) and
even established many yearly traditions such as Bishops' Pumpkin Patch (I love
our photos of the kids with the pumpkins), Christmas caroling, Christmas light
viewing, Christmas Eve with Santa (one of our favorite traditions), Apple Hill
and berry picking. I will treasure the memories of all these firsts and the
many more memories our families will make together.
Although we have busier schedules that do not allow us to
spend as much time together as I am sure both of us would like...life is always
"s'more" fun when we do get together.
Kelli and my friendship developed under unusual circumstances.
Kelli and I did not really know each other well until my junior year (her senior year) at Del Campo High School. I had recently asked a mutual crush to
TWIRP (a girls ask boys dance) in which - to put it lightly - Kelli was not
really excited about me asking him before she got the chance. We found
ourselves sitting at a basketball game next to each other and amongst the
awkward silence Kelli asked about what creative way I had asked Mike to the dance.
After that day, we knew we had met our friend "match."
She and I conversed about creative projects we planned to do and what we had done in the past. This was the case of foe turned friend. To this day, there is not a birthday party or shower that Kelli does not help me do the cupcakes. Not only has Kelli been my person to bounce creative ideas off of, she has been there for me during every pivotal part of life. She knows as much about me as my family. In fact, when I went away to college, my boyfriend hacked into her email account to find out what I was up to while living in the dorms - he knew I told Kelli everything.
She and I conversed about creative projects we planned to do and what we had done in the past. This was the case of foe turned friend. To this day, there is not a birthday party or shower that Kelli does not help me do the cupcakes. Not only has Kelli been my person to bounce creative ideas off of, she has been there for me during every pivotal part of life. She knows as much about me as my family. In fact, when I went away to college, my boyfriend hacked into her email account to find out what I was up to while living in the dorms - he knew I told Kelli everything.
There have been so many laughs during our 17 year friendship. In
particular, I remember falling down a flight of stairs just to provide some
comic relief before a first date for her. I used to have to use the restroom
before we attended our line dancing classes, or I would pee my pants.
And then there were oh so many dance parties (I can still pull out a mean
shopping cart), overnight trips, camping trips, casinos ("put it all on
black") and our love for San Francisco (Asia SF and Kareoko stand out in
my mind).
Kelli was there to meet me at the airport when I told her that I met
the "guy of my dreams" in Costa Rica - we "painted the town"
for my Bachelorette party, she stood by me as one of my Maids of Honor at our
wedding and she has been a huge part of both of my children’s lives (attending
baptisms, coming to sports events, buying Girl Scout cookies and taking an
active interest in everything they are). She even brought me a bagel the
morning I was in labor with Grant and offered to drive me to the hospital,
assuring me that he would not come out if I used the restroom (haha). My
children love her like family because really that is what she is. I laugh more
with her (sometimes at her) than anyone I know.
Along with all the wonderful
times we have had together, our friendship has endured more obstacles in life than
one should - including a cancer diagnosis/treatment, driving in San Francisco, miscarriages,
really bad New Years Eve's (I think that Tahoe one topped the list - remember the
burnt pillow?) and bad breakups - but we always come out stronger because of it.
Kelli is my perfect friendship match and I cannot imagine my life without her.
Life is just "s'more" fun when we are together.
After leaving Erin's wonderful "Pie Party," my mind was
running wild with ideas about the assignment attached to the empty pie box she
gave to each of her guests. The card on the box read, "It's true what they
say - it is infinitely better to give than to receive. That's why I'm passing the
rolling pin to you. Here is an empty box, just waiting to be filled with your
homemade creation and gifted to someone you love. And if you're up for
documenting your baking endeavors, I'd love to share your story on the blog! So
pie it forward. It's your turn to "Bake Somebody (else) Happy."
I knew I wanted to reciprocate and attempt to "Bake Erin
Happy" (in addition, I needed a little redemption for the Blueberry Sour
Cream Pie debacle). I knew there was no way anything I could bake could match Erin's pies, but hey I had nowhere to go but up from my last pie
blunder and I wanted to bake a pie to honor Erin. The problem is...the
assignment was for me to "pie it forward" not "pie it back,"
so I came up with this: I am going to bake two of the same type of pie and tweak the
recipe a little (as Erin would say) to make each one a little unique and as
special as the recipient. So I made Erin and Kelli's Life is "S'more" Fun When We're Together Pies.
Since attending Erin's "live" debut, I learned a few
things from her that I wanted to try out. I found a few recipes for similar
pies and "tweaked" them. (Don't worry Erin - I steered clear of too much
salt.) I also avoided traditional crust, as I knew if I was going to botch
something it would be that for sure.
I started with a traditional graham cracker crust with a little
twist. I accidentally bought a box of cinnamon graham crackers and a box of
original graham crackers, so I used a cup of each, crushed and mixed with one stick
of melted butter. I placed it in a greased pie dish and pressed it with the
bottom of a cup and baked for 12 minutes at 325 degrees.
Then I worked on the pie filling. I took a ten ounce semi-sweet chocolate bar and used a grater to
chop. (This was certainly a labor of love project - I don't know how Erin does
this as often as she does.)
Then I whisked a cup of heavy whipping cream and 3/4 cup of milk
in a saucepan over medium heat while adding the chopped chocolate slowly and
stirring. I then added one teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and two
eggs (whisked) in a saucepan and continued to stir.
Then I poured the pie filling over the graham cracker crust and baked at 325 degrees for 15 minutes (until the pie was solid, but still jiggled a little).
Then I poured the pie filling over the graham cracker crust and baked at 325 degrees for 15 minutes (until the pie was solid, but still jiggled a little).
Kelli and I share the same love for Easter (I think it is because
of our Spring birthdays). Kelli is obsessed with "Peeps" (for every
season she gets packages and waits for them to harden for future enjoyment). I
actually pondered naming the pie "Peep-A-Ru," as Kelliru is her
nickname. So for Kelli, I added a layer of golden Peeps (or two packages).
Erin made the most meticulously designed pecan pie for her
mother's Not Your Mama's Pecan Pie that I have admired since seeing the
pictures - therefore, I decided to attempt a design top with marshmallows for
Erin.
"Nothing is as good for the soul as a marshmallow roast." - Jonathan Lockwood Huie