After a pretty full week/weekend, we are pretty knackered. But we made the best of our move-in weekend! After loading up with all sorts of goodies to outfit our new place, unpacking suitcases, etc. we ventured into Washington to drive around and check out the "seat of the American empire," grab coffees from Washington's Best Chinatown Coffee and hit some hot neighborhoods. Later, we drove down to Alexandria old town for lunch at another of Jordan's finds, Bittersweet that serves DELICIOUS sandwiches and cupcakes too.
And we found our new "Nexen Beach," a quiet walking path along the Potomac River (pronounced Pa-toe-mic), not "Pot-o-mac" as in "Hey Ma, I'm hungry! Can you make me a Pot-o-mac 'n cheese?" It's Jordan's mission to have me so confused every time I say Potomac that I will mispronounce it every time. He thinks it's hilarious and quite possibly the name of our next dog. Sort of like "Abitoke" (rather than Etobicoke). We argue about the nickname. "Mac?" "Po?"
In all of our adventures, dragging Gabriel and Abe around, we chose to forgo naps. Gasp! Yes, we did. So today we sleep before checking out our 'hood--from the walking trails by our house to nearby Shirlington Village. Lots of people out today, could have sworn it was Thanksgiving. But it wasn't. Not here. It was Columbus Day.
So instead of turkey and all the fixings, which we were ill-equipped for in our new place, I decided I'd opt for pie and put my new pie-making skills to the test. Quickly I learned a number of things about pie. First, American stores don't carry Tenderflake. They carry Crisco. Close, but not the same thing. I rolled and rolled and rolled that pie crust out (without a rolling pin) for three hours before I decided I was either going to launch it off the deck or buy a rolling pin. I couldn't decide what the problem was: my wine bottle make-shift-rolling-pin or my dough. Anyway, managed to make a crustless pie this afternoon. Which I effectively butchered by serving it steaming hot. Apparently, I know astonishingly little about pies. It was a little sad looking, but it was flaky despite HOURS of rolling. Wishing we had our typical "orphan" crowd to celebrate Thanksgiving with.
Happy Thanksgiving Canada! We miss you! And we are streaming CBC and thinking of you.
With pastry, the less you handle = the better :) Roll out just until it all binds, no longer. I'm sure it still tasted fabulous xoxo
ReplyDeleteOh, trust me! This is exactly what I tried to do. But because I was using Crisco or perhaps the wine-bottle rolling pin, it wouldn't stay together, stuck to counter despite copious amounts of flour. I had very detailed "Pie-making" instructions from Judith which I attempted to follow. Somehow I think that the rolling pin, or lack thereof was the REAL issue. We'll see. I'm on a pie making bender, in an effort to perfect a pie. I'll keep you posted! Pie was a delicious bumbleberry pie but was a bit too sweet. I have high hopes for the next one.
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