On Father’s Day, I gave my dad a membership into my very own Pie of the Month Club.  What’s that mean?  He picks a type of pie that he would like each month and I learn how to make it.  Full Disclosure: I rarely cook, for instance, I make pumpkin pie from a can on special occasions for my son, so this Club should be an interesting adventure.

This month, to celebrate the Fourth of July he requested an All American cherry pie  I used this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen – (thank you very much).  The recipe taught me 1) Foundations Matters – I made my first pie crust.  Now that I know handmade crust is so simple, it will be foundation of all my joy pies in the future –  it was easier to work with and tasted sooooo much better then store bought crust.  And 2) Research Is Good – I choose this recipe because it uses sweet instead of tart cherries – who knew there was a difference?  But this, on the Joy meter was a 10 – because joy is typically sweet and not sour…

THE REAL GIFT: Asking my dad each month what “sweet” thing he would like me to make for him, really is more a gift for me.  He tells we something yummy, and I get to research it, test it, try it, fix it, laugh about it, succeed, fail – and then have the JOY of sharing it – one slice at time.

How did his cherry pie turn out? The actual pie – a 7 on the 10 scale because my novice skills didn’t understand the signs that it should have been cooked a little longer.  On the Joy scale a 10 – I came to the 4th of July party with something special for my dad, that extended the fathers day celebration of what a wonderful dad he is… and how great is that?

Today I learned, sometimes, joy is simple as pie.  Be Your Own JoyMaster.