Welcome to another week! The past two weeks have been about blueberries and peaches for me. Let me explain.
Volunteers from Fallowfield United Methodist Church peeled, sliced, and froze four bushels of peaches on Wednesday, July 22. We had a good crew, including my mom, my children, and myself. All the peaches are now in summer harvest and peach pies. Summer harvest is a blend of peaches, blueberries, and cherries. We’ll sell these pies at the Crawford County Fair.
We picked and cleaned 180 pounds of blueberries on July 13. I only lasted two hours in the heat, but fellow pickers stayed another hour and a half.
My daughter helped peel and slice peaches for the first time last Wednesday. If you’ve ever done this, you know how important it is to hold the peach correctly and slice carefully. It took her ten or fifteen minutes, but she got it. The reason she picked up on it quickly is because an encouraging, experienced baker took the time to teach her.
Mentoring is a big part of learning. I think one of the best methods, if not the best, is the medieval guild. It’s a fabulous way to learn. There are three levels: the apprentice, journeyman, and master craftsman.
We have some master craftsman bakers at Fallowfield. My daughter and son are apprentices. Last week they worked with master craftsmen to learn how to mix pie filling correctly. My son learned not to over-mix filling or it’ll be too watery. Then it’ll boil over the edges of the pie and we’ll lose too much filling. Or worse, it’ll blow up in the oven and I’ll have to clean it up once the fair is over.
I started helping at pie bakes when I was eight years old. I measured Crisco for pie crust. That was my job. An expert baker took the time to show me how to properly fill and level the two-cup measures we use. She told me to make sure I pressed the Crisco into the cup to release the air bubbles. I never forgot that.
Now I’m a journeyman. I work independently and supervise apprentice bakers. But journeymen need to confer with master craftsmen now and then, and there is always more to learn. Every bake is an opportunity to tweak my skills.
Learning from experts teaches novices the right way to do things. It’s so much better than picking up a cook book or watching Food Network chefs. And at Fallowfield, we bake pies to raise money for needy people at home and around the world.
If you’d like to learn more about pie making, come to Fallowfield United Methodist on Monday, July 27, at 5 p.m. We will have pie makes on August 3, 10, and 17, too.
I should tell you that the pie committee voted to quit making blueberry crumb pie. It’s way too messy. I know some people loved it, but it was a pain. We had to bake it 30 minutes, pull it out of the oven, stir the filling, add the topping, and watch the pies carefully. Blueberries are so full of water that the cooking process makes their juice boil over. Sometimes they’d practically explode. Cleaning up those ovens after fair week ends is no picnic, believe me. So blueberry crumb is out.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!