A Little Slice Of Heaven...Steals The Show!

A few weeks ago,  one of the Families from Church invited Dave and me to a Walleye Fish Fry!  How could I possibly say no?   They informed us that they would get things ready and set the day for Thursday ( yesterday)   I was very excited, because Deep Fried Walleye brings back so many great memories from those days of fishing as a kid.  ( and teenager... and adult!) There were others who got to join us ( five guests in total!)  and it was sold to us by Dave that everything was bound to be home made and delicious.  Jerry was an avid Fisherman and was a master at cooking fish.  Helen had already entered the Crockpot Cook off last weekend and was known for her side dish cooking skills.   It was bound to be a great meal. 

Walleye frying up!

And almost as an after thought,  Dave added that Helen would probably  top things off with a slice of apple pie. 

The walleye did not disappoint.  The guys separated to the Man cave to cook fish, drink beer, and swap fish stories and cooking techniques.  The ladies hung out in the kitchen and did "Girl Stuff".   ( Men don't know what women do  or talk about in private... It is part of their mystery....) 

The table was set.

Ok, That is not entirely true.   Helen was busy cooking up some Potato Cakes as the side dish.  Along with coleslaw, Pickled beets, and sliced Rye bread.  I was put in charge of keeping the fish warm by racing to the kitchen and transferring the fillets to the oven. in hardly any time at all, the entire meal was ready and we dug in. 

It was great!  As expected.   The Walleye was wonderful and I made sure there were no left over scraps to be thrown away.   ( Who would throw away fried Walleye?)  Well,  just in case...  Dave and I made sure.  The entire meal was as delicious as  we had been prepared for.     I can't stress this enough...  Everything  about the meal was a Home Run.  

And then Helen served us Dessert.    

A single slice of apple pie with a single scoop of Ice cream. 

And everything changed.    

Helen's Apple pie.

My mind was completely blown away when a single slice of apple pie could trump an entire meal of Fried Walleye and Home Made Potato Pancakes!   Especially when Apple Pie is not my favorite.  Oh, I'll eat it and enjoy it... But if given a case of pies,  Apple will be near the bottom of my choices.   Usually because there is such a huge list of factors conspiring to keep it there.   The filling is too chewy, or sweet. The crust  is too tough,  or soft, or damp... The apples are too mushy or  tart.   There is always something about apple pies that fail to excite me. 

Yes...  My reaction was captured.

But Helen's apple pie changed all of that.   My dear readers,  I'm not lying when I say that this was possibly the best pie I have ever had.  EVER! There was only one other instance:  a french silk pie in Alaska, that comes close to  challenging  this experience.   Words fail me in describing the taste.   The texture.   The hot and cold mingled with the creamy of the ice cream.   And the  soft crunch of the nut laden topping.  

Nuts?   Yes!  Walnuts.   Lightly toasted and placed on top. How is that possible?  Who would have ever thought of such a thing?  All I could say was:  "This Pie is AMAZING!"   over and over again.   To the point where even I became uncomfortable. It was simply Amazing!  

I offered to buy one to bring home to Cheryl next week.   Helen said she would give me the recipe.   But.... I know that making a pie is MORE than a simple recipe.  It is love and art and skill and craftsmanship.... combined and baked at the perfect temperature for the perfect amount of time.   It takes years or LOTS to trial and error to get such a creation right.  She even hinted that she got the recipe from a newspaper but added and removed things to make it her own.  ( Something an artist would do...)   For example... No raisins!  And cinnamon instead of ginger. Butter instead of Crisco. Etc. etc...

Now I know that the atmosphere can play a heavy role in making or breaking a meal.   And the atmosphere was great!  True.  But as I stopped to savor each bite... and searched for how the apples could be so soft and melty while  still tasting like apples.   The crust  was so soft and flaky...  you ate the wrap around the edge!  The Walnuts....  Who would ever think to put Walnuts on an apple pie?  Lightly Toasted!  

I have spent time in the kitchen watching Cheryl unravel the mystery of the perfect fruit pie.  It is no joke and takes a lot of failures to get something to turn out "right". Mom never did it.  My Grandmothers were supposed to be awesome pie makers... but I do not remember any of their pies being particularly special.  ( Mostly because Mom set the bar pretty low.) I lived among the Amish for 12 years!  And their pies are pretty good!   Helen's pie blows them out of the water and into outer space!  Unless I attend some national Champion Pie Bake off... I believe this pie will archived as the best Pie I have ever had in my life.   It has set the bar so high, I don't know if Helen will ever be able to reach it again.  In fact!   Helen should enter that pie into a contest!  She would win!

So that was it..   The best pie ever.  EVER!   I was stunned when no one else was having the same reaction as I was.  Dave admitted later in the car that if he had not been trying so hard to be polite, he would have asked for a second slice!  ( That's what I'm talking about!)  I was afraid I was going to cross that thin line from "Extremely Enthusiastic" to "Annoying and Bothersome" with my compliments.   Or rather... My "This pie is AMAZING!" line... Over and over again.  How can you top a Walleye Dinner with a single slice of pie?   Such a feat should be impossible!

So...If you have read this far and have not yet got the impression that I really REALLY liked this pie.   I will leave you with this:  I would want to be able to give a slice of  Helen's Pie to each and every person I have ever loved in my life.   Everyone.   So they can share that pure emotion of joy that I felt for that brief moment in time.  

That's it.  The end.  A pie like no other I have ever experienced.   A slice of heaven.  

Thanks for stopping in.