HIDDEN TALENTS

I think everyone has hidden talents. I am a bike mechanic who also is the owner of a bike store. Those talents are not hidden. In fact I am not sure they are talents, after 30 years of working and owning a bike store we are forced to learn things all the time. Mine has been trial and error. Racing a bike is not a hidden talent for me either, I write about it every week, I have World Championship medals on display at the Sunnyside and we tell race stories at work everyday.

One of my hidden talents is making pies. I love to make a pie, and yes it is from scratch. Pie crusts are the key to any good pie. Many people think pie crusts are hard so they just don't bother with a good pie. For me pie crusts are easy. It comes from a couple of things. When I was 14 I spent the summer at my Grandparents in Northern Montana. They owned two diners. These were the real thing made out of stainless steel and vinyl. No booths just bar stool type chairs at a curved counter. My Grandfather made pies every night. They also bought pies at the local bakery so they would have enough for the day. He could not make enough pies for the demand. Of course the locals always would ask for his pies or would come in early enough to make sure they would get a piece. Watching him make pies made me realize how easy it was.

Later in life Kathy and I started to watch Masterpiece Theater on Public Television. One of the first shows was about a large household in London the head cook (Mrs Bridges) was always making some kind of pastry. If an actress can make pie dough why not me. I had a few disasters, I seem to remember one pie crust getting thrown against a wall. Now a days it is just routine. If you want a lesson let me know. The trick is cold butter, good flour, not being afraid to use enough water and a Cuisinart. These are my last two pies. Kathy does the fancy decoration, one of my hidden talents is not artistry.

Don