Rhubarb Pie

When I was a young bride, I thought I would impress my husband with a pie.  Since it was rhubarb time of the year, I decided to make a Rhubarb pie. I searched for a good recipe, then bought rhubarb at a local farm. I went directly home and started a new adventure; cleaning and dicing the rhubarb, spooning the sugar on top of the green and red cubes, and adding the rest of the ingredients. I set the bowl that held the gems that would put a smile on my husband’s face aside and made the crust.

The rhubarb looked delicious in the pie shell, then my phone rang.  It was my mother on the other end. We talked and laughed and talked some more.  When I finally got off the phone, I preheated the oven, then put the pie in and waited.  I baked the pie at the right temperature and for the amount of required time.  I was so excited!

When I took the pie out of the oven, something did not look right. Being a novice of this particular pie, I thought to myself; maybe it’s supposed to look like that.  When the pie was cool, I put it in the refrigerator to get cold for dinner.  Every ten minutes, I opened the door and took a look at the nine-inch pie pan and thought, that’s strange!

Finally, it was dinner time, we enjoyed our meal, then I proudly walked over to the fridge and pull out my masterpiece. As I walked over to the table, my husband took a glance at the pie. His eyes grew large as saucers. I asked him if he would like a slice, and he said, ” You first.” I looked at him and replied, ” After you.”  We both looked at each other and laughed.  My beautiful pie, that I had tried so hard to perfect looked like asparagus floating around the pie shell. Even our dog, who loved to try everything we ate took one sniff and walked away.

The story of the floating Rhubarb pie became quite a story at picnics. Everyone wanted to know when I would be baking the next Rhubarb pie.  I just looked at them and said, ” Very funny!”

However, the pie escapade did not end there. Later that summer, I decided to make an Elderberry pie. It took me over an hour to pick enough of those itsy bitsy berries to fill the pie shell. This time the pie turned out great, however, I did not. That evening, I started scratching my arm. Later that night, I started with a blister that kept growing and growing. The next day, I needed to make a trip to my family doctor. Little did I know that the elderberry tree was nestled among two Poison Oak trees.  I learned a valuable lesson that day!

In time, I became a very good baker, however, from time to time, I still find myself with a recipe that just does not work.

Baking is a lot like life. Sometimes the pies, cakes, and desserts we make are delicious and sometimes we wonder what went wrong.  In life, we sometimes make mistakes and wonder what went wrong too. Just like my Rhubarb pie, we can decide to either give up or keep trying to make it better.

Life is a challenge and a journey; do the best you can, learn from your mistakes,  love like there is no tomorrow, forgive those who have hurt you and most importantly remember to forgive yourself. Mistakes happen, period. Smile, laugh, be kind and loving to all you meet but do not forget to love yourself and try not to be too serious.  Take time to smell the roses,  hug those you love and keep looking up for guidance to the One who makes all things possible.

So, when you have a recipe that does not turn out the way you thought or if life gets rough, just think of my Rhubarb pie and smile. Life is good, enjoy each moment!