[speaker001:] And I guess, the suggestion is that we maybe talk about a menu for a dinner party, if we wanted to do something like that or,
[speaker002:] Yes, uh-huh. sure.
[speaker001:] share recipes or something, um.
[speaker002:] Right,
[speaker001:] Are you one who gives dinner parties very often?
[speaker002:] No.
[speaker001:] No, nor am I.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I avoid them with all [LAUGHTER],
[speaker001:] They are a lot of work, that is for sure.
[speaker002:] Yeah, they are, I mean I do them,
[speaker001:] Yes.
[speaker002:] but they are a lot of work.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] I usually have them when I, [sigh] there is a special event in our lives and I,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] I make a big deal out of it for them.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh, uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, I think I am most, uh, happiest with my most,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] familiar foods that I know are successful.
[speaker001:] Right, yes.
[speaker002:] You know, and I have, I make my own pies and pie crust and,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] you know, I can make my pies from scratch, I do not need a recipe to follow. And, uh,
[speaker001:] Oh, that's great. You sound like my mother who has been, well I bake pies too, but my mother was always the famous pie baker in the family and [sigh] she has the same, the same technique, I mean, I guess after many years of doing it, you just,
[speaker002:] Yeah, you just know from heart.
[speaker001:] kind of do it second nature.
[speaker002:] I had one of the ladies at church that tasted my coconut cream pie and she said make me one, and I made her one.
[speaker001:] Uh.
[speaker002:] And when I, when she gave me back the plate, she said "I did not share this with anybody". [LAUGHTER] And I thought whoa, [LAUGHTER] that was a big pie.
[speaker001:] She enjoyed it, huh [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yes [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Well, there is a woman in our choir, who is nearly famous for her apple pies,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, uh, we had a, a, [throat clearing] an auction one time at the church [throat clearing] excuse me, and, uh, one of her pies was auctioned for fifty dollars [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] My word,
[speaker001:] [Throat clearing].
[speaker002:] she must have a great pie recipe then.
[speaker001:] Well, I think I, I have had it once and it has been a few years ago, but I do recall that it was quite good, so, uh,
[speaker002:] Wonderful.
[speaker001:] Yeah. So, that is her specialty, uh, I like to bake, uh, also, I do not bake so much now that my children are grown, but I do enjoy baking and I guess I always liked making, uh, cookies and bars and things like that, that was more my specialty,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I suppose. And they seem to last longer than pies around here [LAUGHTER] pies would go practically,
[speaker002:] Yeah you,
[speaker001:] in a day's time [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] That's right, yeah they are meant for the, that evening's,
[speaker001:] Yes.
[speaker002:] dessert and, you know, it has got to be gone or daddy gets into the, you know, the leftovers.
[speaker001:] Right [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Puts about two more inches on his waistline and then he is [LAUGHTER] chastising,
[speaker001:] And,
[speaker002:] himself afterward [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Well, it is interesting that, yesterday, I had lunch with a friend and she was telling me that she had a dinner party over the weekend,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] for friends of hers. For, um, uh, one of her acquaintances, one of her old friends, I guess, had been in town and, uh, they invited two other couples over and so there were seven of them that, uh, I said "well, what did you have" and she said what she had, uh, just Mexican food, but, you know, she had, uh, uh, guacamole and, uh, I cannot remember all she had. But she also had made, uh, flan, which is actually Spanish, I think. Have you ever made that or had it?
[speaker002:] No, I have not, huh-uh.
[speaker001:] It's, uh, it's, um, I had, used to work with a gentleman who was from Cuba, who would make it,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] uh, it's just a wonderful dessert. It's like, uh, an egg custard in a caramelized sugar,
[speaker002:] Oh, okay.
[speaker001:] with on top of it. And it's, it's quite, actually, not very difficult to make, but it's very, very high in cholesterol, I am sure with all the eggs that are in it.
[speaker002:] Sure, yeah.
[speaker001:] But, uh, she said that she and her husband had, uh, traveled in Spain a couple years ago. And, and flan is almost, uh, a basic with every meal that you get,
[speaker002:] Like apple pie in America, right.
[speaker001:] there. Yeah, uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Wow, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] It's just very customary to get flan. So if you ever run into that [LAUGHTER] you will sort,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] of be aware of what that is all about. But, uh, I would never have thought of making that as part of a, a Mexican dinner, but, you know, sopapillas, I guess, would be another kind of a dessert, if you decided to do something like that. But [throat clearing],
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] flan is something you can,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] make ahead and have just, you know, have ready but, uh. Well, I would, have been thinking I would like to have a dinner party sometime soon, but I tell you it, th-, I my it's one of those things where it does require some real, uh, planning and,
[speaker002:] Yes, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] it's, you know, you don't just make the dinner, you have the house to clean and, you know, the whole business that goes with it.
[speaker002:] Well, when I have a dinner party that is my motivation for getting the,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] house clean [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Probably a good way to do it. [LAUGHTER] Oh, the house needs cleaning, I guess I had better have a dinner party [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah, we are catering a wedding, uh, um, in August and,
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] uh, this lady that is, it at, it's at her house, she is not a good housekeeper.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So she has got to hire this crew,
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] of four women to come in two weeks prior to the wedding and get it ready.
[speaker001:] Good heavens [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yes,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] and there, you know, she is, she must have found some jewels,
[speaker001:] Uh.
[speaker002:] because they start in the corner and work out.
[speaker001:] Oh, wow.
[speaker002:] Yeah, so,
[speaker001:] That is such a nice thing, it's,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] [Sigh] I, you know, until, well we have, my husband and I have been married twenty six years, and until last year I had never had another person clean my house, {C and,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] then } I got so involved and so busy, I said "this is one luxury I am going to let myself have every now and then". And so, I had a woman come in, uh, once a month, and you know, it was not just very often, but for me it was wonderful [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Sure, yeah that is nice, you know, to have that, that's a,
[speaker001:] Well,
[speaker002:] luxury, today.
[speaker001:] it is, and it is buys you time to do other things, like have a dinner party, I guess.
[speaker002:] That's right, yeah, yeah.
[speaker001:] So, it is just a real gift of time as far as I am concerned,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] but, [sigh] well, uh, I,
[speaker002:] I, I have a pie crust recipe that I, that is unique,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] that has vinegar and egg in it,
[speaker001:] I have heard about that.
[speaker002:] Have you?
[speaker001:] but I have never tried it.
[speaker002:] .
[speaker001:] No, well I should say I have heard of one that has vinegar in it, I do not know that it has egg in it.
[speaker002:] Egg and sugar.
[speaker001:] uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Do you have it right on the top of you head? [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Uh, I, no, I think it would be too hazy, because, um, the, I, uh, no.
[speaker001:] You do not have it, yeah. I would,
[speaker002:] Well, it, like the liquid is like,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] a half cup of water and then your egg and then your tablespoon of vinegar,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] and you mix that together and then you, [sigh] you know, your, see it makes, it makes, uh, five pie crusts at once.
[speaker001:] Uh, quite large, yeah.
[speaker002:] So, that, it's quite a volume of,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] I think it's four cups of floor,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and, like, uh, a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar and,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and you combine your dry ingredients and then you, uh, put in your liquid.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Uh, what is it about the, uh, the vinegar that, uh, makes,
[speaker002:] It just,
[speaker001:] the crust better.
[speaker002:] it just makes it very pliable and,
[speaker001:] Uh.
[speaker002:] and very flaky,
[speaker001:] Interesting.
[speaker002:] and, [sigh] you can really treat it rough and you are still going to have a flaky pie crust.
[speaker001:] Yeah, yeah, boy, that, that's the real secret.
[speaker002:] Like, uh, it's not mine, it was from the, one of the magazines, probably, [sigh] twenty years ago and it said you can throw this on the floor and step on it and,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] it will still be flaky. I thought, wow, quite a statement for them to make.
[speaker001:] Oh, th-, it makes me think of years ago, uh, when I was visiting my mother-in-law in, uh, Michigan, she lived very near an apple orchard and we just had, we could take as many apples as we wanted from it. Accor-, you know, according to the owners, and so [sigh] I decided to bake about four pies ahead, you know,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and freeze them,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] well, talk about working with big amounts of pie crust, and having it be tough. [LAUGHTER] Those were the toughest apple crust, or apple, uh, pie crust,
[speaker002:] Oh, wow.
[speaker001:] I have ever, ever made.
[speaker002:] Wow.
[speaker001:] It was terrible. I, I could have used that recipe, it sounds like.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Well, I am from Michigan.
[speaker001:] Where about?
[speaker002:] Detroit, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Well, we lived in Plymouth for four years, uh,
[speaker002:] Oh yeah, that's real close.
[speaker001:] Yeah. In fact, I, we were there from, uh, seventy three to seventy seven and,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I was, I worked for the little, the weekly newspaper there, the,
[speaker002:] Oh, how neat.
[speaker001:] the Plymouth, {F oh what was it called, } CRIER. [sigh] And, uh, my husband is from the upper peninsula, so he was born and,
[speaker002:] Oh, okay.
[speaker001:] raised up there.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] That is where my mother-in-law still lives, so, uh. Are you originally from Michigan or,
[speaker002:] Oh, yes.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Born in Detroit.
[speaker001:] I will be darn.