APPLE PIE FROM DUSTY APPLES featuring ROCK HARD PASTRY
alan skeoch
Feb. 2018
For a few years we constructed rural displays for Ivan Goring that were assembled at the Canadian National Exhibition and the
Royal winter Fair. Here is Kevin hoping that someone will come along to admire our work.
At the end of this show we had to clear out our fanning mills, corn shellers, … and one huge cast iron cook stove. Dad came along to help. His help was always risky. In this case he filled the cook stove oven with as many apples as he could steal from the apple booth…about two bushels. When we picked up the stove the oven door popped open and apples rolled like marbles all over the place…some of them even rolled to the apple booth. Dad grinned. A bit embarrassed I suppose. He gathered up as many as he could. He took no responsibility. As I remember he used them to make his first apple pie at home. His pastry was bullet hard…break your teeth hard…rock hard. Mom and Marjorie said “You bought this pie!” Dad got really miffed…hurt. “Made the goddamn thing from those apples.” Do you mean the apples that rolled across the CNE floor? Did you wash them, floor was dirty?” “Made it myself damnit all” “A little dust won’t hurt you.” Mom went to check the garbage for dusty apple dealings. Empty. No evidence one way or the other. One thing is for sure…this was the only apple pie Red Skeoch ever made…if he really made it.
Dad left … horses were running at Woodbine racetrack … said nothing … was a bit angry. We were never sure he made that pie. Ungrateful, I suppose.
alan
Every fall we collect some nice clean field corn cobs. Get them before the fall rain turns the husks black and brown. Marjorie carefully pulls off the clean inner husks for the body and then gathers the stiff outer husks for the dress and the brown corn tassels make for flowing hair. The cobs? Feed the birds or give them back to the farmer.