Sunday, November 23, 2014

Pie is Always a Good Idea!

I found out that one of my French teachers is also a pastry chef, so I asked her if she would be willing to bake with me sometime, to which she readily offered her time and her kitchen! Friday was our day to bake, and she asked me what I would need to bake an American pie - I wanted to make a fruit pie, so started suggesting fruit that might be in season here, only to find out that France imports nearly all of their produce, other than raspberries, which aren't in season right now, which makes it all super expensive.  This time of year I like to make a pear/cranberry/pecan pie, but when I suggested this she laughed at me. Evidently, you simply can't get cranberries here, and pecans are super expensive.  So... I rattled around in my brain to think what might go with pears, but we settled on a plain pear pie (much to my disappointment). However, as we were checking out at the store, I found a small container of dried tart cherries on the Christmas display and grabbed those.

We arrived at her cute flat, and her kitchen made mine in Denver look big! The only "counter" space was the top of the clothes washer (which was about 2'x2')  and it was next to the stove. Regardless, it was a delightful afternoon of converting Cups and Tablespoons to Grams, and Fahrenheit to Celsius, and learning more French vocabulary (Pear is la poire, and Cinnamon is la cannelle).

While we waited for the pie to bake, she helped me with my French as we shared some of our stories. It was exactly what I needed - baking, French lessons, and a new friend!



Pear Cherry Pie baked in a cake pan, because that's what we had!

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