The snow returned to central Maine last night. Much of the farm was bare ground yesterday, and this morning it was entirely covered in white once again. About 3 or 4 inches of beautiful new wet snow. The temperature warmed during the day, however, and by early evening most of the ground was back to bare.
Happy Pie Day
Today is Pi-day. Or Pie-day. March 14, 3.14. I suppose the big moment was presumably at about 3.14159265358979323846. How does that translate into time? If you start with 3.14 being the date, then 159265358979323846 would take you to about 6:35 AM, the perfect time for a slice of Black Oxford apple pie. The Black Oxfords in the root cellar are approaching peak flavor now, and they cook perfectly in the requisite one hour it takes to cook the crust. Perhaps 6:35 AM is a bit early in the morning to pull a pie out of the oven, so let’s say preparations begin at 6:35. Roll out of bed at 6:00, do a bit of this and that and then mix up two cups of flour, a half pound of butter and a few tablespoons of water at 6:35. Massage the dough into a ball, and put it in the refrigerator or pantry if it’s still cold out there. Leave the “crust ball” where it’s cool until early afternoon. Then slice up a dozen Black Oxfords. Mix in the tiniest amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and sugar. Cut the dough-ball in half, and roll out two crusts.
Put it all together, and slide it into the oven at 375 for 15 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 350 for 45 minutes. And voila, you should be ready for the perfect 3.14 celebration. All you need is a few plates and forks and maybe (not required by recommended) a scoop of vanilla.