Easy as Pie.

I have a confession. It's difficult to admit. It's kind of embarrassing as well. Please don't think any less of me.

OK.

Here goes...

I suck at making fruit pies. There. I said it. *looking down at feet*

Seriously. I've never found a crust recipe that tastes good to me. There is never enough filling and/or it's too runny. The crust gets soggy. I want to be good at making pies. They seem so comforting. And so simple. I don't have a family recipe for fruit pies either, which kind of makes me sad. Now, if you need an heirloom poundcake recipe, or a cheese pie recipe, or a cookie recipe, then look no further, I've got you covered.

Where am I going with this? Well, I had about 8 about to rot peaches. (sounds yummy, right?) But seriously, they were so sweet, too soft for me to want to just eat them. So, I went to epicurious.com for a recipe for anything peach-related that didn't involve milk (none in the house) or eggs (still in my mother's fridge). Pie! Ooh. Look at this pie recipe! Sounds good and a little different! No bottom crust to get soggy! The reviews say how easy it is! I have cardamom! Serendipity!

So, Abby and I started with the crust (after warning her that pie crust must chill in the fridge for 7 years... that's the pre-school equivalent of 1 hr.). Things were going swimmingly. Ooh, and the raw dough is very tasty! This is going to be the perfect summer's evening dessert.

We work on the filling. I'm thinking I may not have enough peaches, so I added a mango. Same color and equally as sweet. I'm so creative! We smell the cardamom and declare it wonderful.

Finally the pie crust is ready to roll out. The child does this (with some help from me) and she expertly cuts out little hearts with a cookie cutter.

After consulting with my friend and expert apple pie baker, we conclude just to sprinkle the crust with water (remember, out of milk & eggs) to make the raw sugar stick to the crust. No biggie.

The pie comes out of the oven. My house smells pretty damn delicious. This will be so good!!!

After everyone was in bed (my husband went to bed early and my daughter had Mr. Softee for dessert), I cut myself a slice of the pie.

The result: Meh.

The crust, well the crust was delicious. I will keep this crust recipe. The filling was scanty and reminiscent of baby food laced with perfume. The cardamom just didn't do it for me. Too much, or just not the right spice for me. I think allspice would have been perfect. I would normally say, "Oh well, next time." But, I'm pretty sure there won't be a next time. Hey, at least it's pretty!