Pie. Friday.

First off-two words. Pie. Friday. But you’ll have to wait for it.

I was on my way home from work today after making two stops for alcohol. One for wine and then on second thought some beer while for while I wait for my friends to get here to drink wine. It was a bitch of a day to end one hell of a week. I was listening to a Christian radio station and they were interviewing a new band. The band was talking about how cool it was to be playing alongside bands they grew up listening to. They mentioned the song “What if I Stumble” and suddenly here I am driving in “rush hour” (I live in Iowa) traffic with tears in my eyes.

I grew up in the Lutheran church, but then spent a few years as an agnostic. When I was really struggling with coming back to God I knew that I was in it all the way or not at all. I couldn’t do this whole “social Christian” thing I had seen growing up. Just going to church on holidays but really not letting God have much control over my life Monday-Saturday. So I fought Him for a long time. Not long after I first made the leap my husband (then boyfriend) played the DC Talk song “What if I Stumble” for me. It brought me to tears. I felt so much pressure. I thought as a baby Christian I was embracing the love of a God in a way different from I understood it growing up, but instead I was just vowing to not mess up. I was so afraid I would be a hypocrite.  But I did mess up. I used to cry over the idea of not being good enough for God’s love and the pressure of not knowing how He could love me if I ever stumbled and fell away from Him. But I did. And He still does. In the end the biggest instance of being a hypocrite for me was not accepting the grace I believed in for so many others.  Amazing how different these words can mean to me over seven years later.

What if I stumble, what if I fall?

Will I lose my step and make fools of us all?

Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?

What if I stumble, what if I fall?

What if I stumble, what if I fall?

You never turn in the heat of it all

What if I stumble, what if I fall—

Everyone’s got to crawl

Do they see the fear in my eyes?
Are they so revealing?
This time I cannot disguise
All the doubt I’m feeling

You’re up against a wall, it’s about to fall

I hear you whispering my name you say

“My love for you will never change”

Now for the pie.

For this week's bake-a-long the theme was ginger. Bitter truth, not a ginger fan. However, this pie has seriously made me reconsider this position. Seriously. However, rewind back to before I knew of my upcoming challenging of my ideas on ginger, so Tuesday. I knew that I would be baking a pie this week. I also knew that I couldn't (shouldn't) eat a pie alone. Due to having to work late Thursday I had to miss knitting this week. So, it seemed like a great idea to invite a couple of good friends over for pie.

Ginger Pear  Pie from All Recipes

3 T. cornstarch

1/4 t. ground ginger
1/2 c. water

1/2 c. dark corn syrup

1 t. lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon grated lemon peel

4 large pears, peeled and thinly sliced

1 T. butter or margarine
9 in. pastry shell

Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/8 t. group ginger
1/4 c. cold butter

1/4 c. chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

To start off with I made my pie crust. The crust called for a bought shell, but hell no. That's not how we roll here. I don't like the funny aftertaste, but hey, to each their own. I made the shell first so it was done, but put it in the fridge while I made the filling so the butter didn't get too warm.

Next for the filling. In a saucepan, combine the first six ingredients until blended. Gently stir in the pears. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally; boil for one minute. Add butter.

Pour the filling into the pastry shell.  For the topping combine the flour, brown sugar, and ginger in a bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the pear fillling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.

We let the pie sit for 30 minutes or so. It was still nice and warm, but the filling was a little firmer this way. Sided with ice cream and it was amazing. What a great reason to spend a fabulous Friday night with fabulous friends. Most definitely the stage for a new tradition. Pie Friday sounds like a great way to end every week. Even ones that don't have you wanting to crawl in the fetal position under my desk. My friends rock. Pie is great. It's on.