Virus Apple Pie

Another day, another lockdown.

It poured, making a tattoo to rival the Edinburgh tattoo (without bagpipes) on the skylight.

It was a perfect day to make an apple pie. I had all the ingredients, including pre-made pie crust. 

My favorite crust will always be Crisco, but the Crisco in the cupbard is over 7 years old. I didn't want to risk it. 

It was left over from when I used to make one apple pie a year for a special get together with my friends Rosalie, Barbara and Lydia. It was the most difficult part of the pie making. Much easier to unwrap and fold the crust onto the pie plate. After we lost our friend Barbara, none of us had the heart to continue the tradition. Maybe someday we will be ready but it is more likely we will have the pie as a dessert for a meal we share not the occasion for being together.

My daughter, when a student in Edinburgh, was doing a Thanksgiving dinner for her Scottish friends.

"Can you bring me some Crisco when you come?"she asked. We were visiting the week before the American holiday and would be back in Geneva for our own with America friends. Neither the Swiss nor the Scots celebrate the holiday.

The American store had Crisco enough for both our Thanksgivings. All went well until we hit Geneva security. 

"What is this," the security officer held up the can. He was probably in his late twenties and cute. I explained. He was satisfied but not until I told him where to get the Crisco and gave him the recipe which was in my head.

The knife hitting the cutting board as I chopped the apples was a counterpoint to the rain. The cinnamon made a pleasant aroma, and of course the pie baking, added to the ambience of the flat.

I wondered how many other pies had been cooked on the table. We bought it at a Depot Vente and it had all the markings of a table that had seen many pies and meals be prepared over the decades if not the century. I suspect it probably was handmade as well. I wish the table could tell me its story.

The last step before baking the pie was to cut a vent. Usually I use a bird cookie cutter used by my mother, grandmother and great grandmother. This time I used an airplane cookie cutter. Rick and I had bought it at a Williams Sonoma store in Boston a few years back. It was its maiden use. This was not just a virus apple pie but one that captured Rick's passion with flying. 

Now maybe it is time to get rid of the old Crisco. If lockout ever ends and we get back to Geneva we can get new Crisco at the American store.

Who would have guessed that a world-wide pandemic would create another in a long list of apple pie memories. So it wasn't just the pleasure of the baking and the eating.