Pumpkin pie, Oh MY!

Listening to Christmas Music with Mom making Pies

During the holidays... I think mom made LIKE 6-7 pies and they were ALL heartily eaten with love.  Kevin loves pumpkin pie and WE love Lemon Meringue... It was nice to have mom in the kitchen while she was here.. baking away. 

I know there is something to be said about homemade pies, but I just was never one to go to all that trouble. I appreciate it when others do it, but I also think that they somehow have a love for baking "baked goods".  I enjoy making some things, but pies have never been on the top of my list. Not ever sure I have EVER baked a pie.  I have, on the other hand made Banana/pumpkin/zucchini Bread, cookies and cakes/cupcakes on a regular basis... never regular bread, though, except for the time when we had that bread machine and I went through that phase... waiting forever, it seemed... Baking pies, though, is something that my mom always did and I never carried on that tradition.

I caught her in the action ... LOL!

 It's funny how that sort of thing, in a family, gets delegated as one grows up!  My mom had two sisters and they were "known" for their cooking/baking abilities.  As a matter of fact, my aunt Carol "KK" was so inventive that she made up her own recipes and contributed to a wonderful cookbook which I refer to on frequent occasions... She even submitted some of her delicious recipes to contests but I am not sure she won any... SHE SHOULD HAVE!  When we would have a family gathering... my mom would always be the one contributing the rolls/bread and pecan or berry pies... my Aunt Lewellyne "Lulu" was the one to bring the staples such as veggies and potatoes and stuffing and things like that... KK always was asked to make a salad with her "awesome" salad dressing that only she could replicate. YUM!  She always made a couple of her "inventive", scrumptious desserts. Those were the days. As the girls (as the three sisters had all girls except for ONE boy) got older, they were "expected" to contribute as well... bringing dishes and/or making the dinner right alongside the other "wimmens".  The men didn't really have a role in the kitchen in our family... until now.  Back then.. I'm talking about 20-30 years ago, it was mainly the women in the family who cooked for everyone.  It brings back lots of old memories.

Mom's pumpkin pie in the oven... YUM!

Here is an old picture of our family growing up... My mom, grand mother and
great grandmother with Uncle, sisters and cousin.