What an eventful day! Mom invited my two sisters-in-law and myself to her house for the day. Plans were to bake pies and do whatever other projects we wanted to bring along. Pies sounded like an impressive option to me, especially since I just don’t find as much time to work in the kitchen as I used to. But then, that’s OK. Daniel doesn’t expect me to reach around to everything I would like to do.

Mom had plans of making five pies to send to the food pantry in a nearby town. It only seemed like the practical thing to do to join her, furnishing some ingredients rather than just make a mega amount of pies. One of Daniel’s favorites, which was also served at our wedding, is peanut butter pie. In fact, it’s a “Flat Rock favorite.” Our community is known to be especially fond of peanut butter pie. My personal preference is adding some banana slices for an added flavor, and of course I’m always looking for ways to incorporate healthier foods into our diets.

We mixed up the dough. I tried to recall all the tips my mother-in-law had given me some time ago: don’t over mix the dough; instead, mix like a bowl of feathers; or don’t make crumbs too wet. Soon I started rolling out the crusts. Once more I was blessed with countless motherhood duties. There were dirty diapers that needed to be taken care of, little tummies to be filled, squabbles to settle and “love tanks” that needed to be replenished. I hadn’t realized how fast the pie dough dries out if not covered. So after my return, I added some more of my egg mixture, resulting in a stiffer dough. Oh well, it just won’t all be grade A, I decided,

That’s just a part of being a mom. Of course, my mom was there to help me with whatever she could, as she also worked on making a delicious lunch for all of us.

My high hopes of having pie ready for lunch were fast diminishing. I apologetically told Daniel at noon that we weren’t just baking pie, we were primarily taking care of little ones and the pie simply wasn’t ready yet!

Of course he told me it was just fine; he would never want me to neglect the children for anything earthly.

After lunch, while the three youngest children slept, I cooked several batches of filling for the peanut butter pies while Mom made coconut oatmeal and several fruit filling pies. Dear little Jesse had a bit of a rough afternoon as I spent extra time holding him. Seemingly his vaccination shots from the day before were bothering him.

By breaktime at the shop where Daniel was working, I once more apologetically told him that the pies simply weren’t ready yet, to which he once more kindly assured me that it was quite all right. After the dozen pies had been made, I did feel like quite something had been accomplished, even more so than if everything had gone smoothly. As I looked over them, the coconut oatmeal got my attention the most. They taste almost like pecan pie, but then you don’t have the expense of buying pecans.

Matter of fact, this recipe is just like our family favorite pecan pie with coconut and oatmeal used instead!

COCONUT OATMEAL PIE

3 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup pancake syrup

1/2 cup corn syrup (I use maple syrup instead)

1/3 cup melted buter

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup quick oats

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring (optional)

Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Mix everything in a bowl until well blended. Pour into an unbaked pie crust of your choice and bake for 1 hour.