Warm Fuzzies #8: Perfect Pie

I know I have written about this before, but if there is one skill I would like to perfect (after writing, of course), it is cooking. There is something about giving people instant gratification—and receiving instant feedback for that gratification—that is intoxicating and intensely rewarding. Writing is entertainment of the mind; it nourishes the imagination. Food is entertainment of the body; it nourishes the tastebuds.

I recently undertook the task of baking a strawberry pie. Although I already had a pre-made pie crust, everything else was from scratch, and while I have never baked a strawberry pie before—only cherry—I was pretty dissatisfied with everything I found on the internet. Therefore, this pie was the result of a conglomeration of recipes and imaginative substitutions. After all the mixing and matching, here is what resulted:

Now, I take pride in baked goods that look beautiful, but obviously the taste is the most important thing (although sometimes it is hard to convince myself of this, particularly when a cake collapses or cookies ooze into paper-thin pancakes on the baking sheet). Therefore, the true test of this pie's merit would occur when I took it to work. And here's where the warm, fuzzy part comes in. The reactions were so positive, they gave me a golden glow feeling all day long.

In no particular order:

• Wow! It’s reallllly good!
  
• I second that!
  
• Thanks for the pie! I’m trying not to eat it all before the run, but I had a few small bites and it’s hard to resist devouring the rest.
  
• I finally know how the detective in Twin Peaks felt….
  
• Your pie was great, the fruit was firm and not mushy and I loved the crust and crumblies.
  
• Count me in anytime. Do you make other pies?
  
• I am so not kidding when i say that was the best tasting piece of pie I have ever had.
  

  And finally, my favorite:
  

• If i wasn't already married, I would propose based on the contents of that pie....

So now all I have to do is trek out to the Upper East side, pie-in-hand, and start taking that direct stomach-to-heart route with a few attractive stock brokers…. Or maybe I should stick with doctors in this economy. Or lawyers. I’ll try blueberry pie next.