" Little Boys Pies "

My Mom is a good baker. I remember well her making pies and cakes and cookies. Whenever she baked, us kids were in the kitchen, "helping." The woman has the patience of a saint. We would help peel apples and core them. Get the flour and sugar. Sometimes she would let us crack the eggs.
Depending on what was being made we always got to lick the spoon and bowl. I'm sure that is a universal thing. Kids have probably been doing that since the first cave woman ( or man ) made a cake. My own grand children help their Grandma all the time. Baking together is a bonding thing. The whole, food, comfort thing. Grandma still makes a lot of things from scratch so they get the full experience.
The one thing I recall the most was making what Mom called " little boys pies " or sometimes " little girls pies when my sister would complain. "
These were made by rolling out the left over pie crust dough. We would sprinkle the entire rolled out piece with sugar and cinnamon. Sometimes we would add butter or maybe jam. Then you carefully roll the crust up, like you would roll up a carpet. Cutting across the roll we would make the pies. They looked like tiny cinnamon buns. Putting them on a cookie sheet and into the oven. Mom would tell us to " watch " them closely. I can still feel the heat of the oven as I put my face close to that little glass window in the oven door. The lighting was poor and I would strain to watch as they turned a golden brown.
When they were done, out they came. Being " little boys pies " they were mine to do with as I pleased. I could eat them all or share them. Sometimes I would only eat a few and save the rest and other times just sit and eat them till they were gone. I remember the way they tasted to this day. Hard and crunchy with little real flavor. Oh,I could taste the sugar and jam but that hard baked crust overpowered everything. They were great !

I haven't had any " little boys pies " since I was a little boy. Made them for the grand children once. I don't think they enjoyed them as much as I used too. They do like baking with Grandma though. Morgan,my grand daughter,even bought matching aprons for her and Grandma.

Ah,time in the kitchen. Was a day when most of your life was spent in the kitchen. Now I think we spend more time in the "family room". It is still true that the best times are spent in the kitchen with good food and even better friends.

Let's Bake !