I grew up in a small farming community in the mid-west. Interestingly, I do not have a single memory of any woman in my family ever baking a pie. I am sure I had some highly qualified pie bakers in my extended family, but not my mother, aunts, sisters, or grandmothers.

In high school, I used to jokingly tell my mom, “Woman, go bake me a pie!” She would almost always respond with “Go bake your own damn pie!”

Looking back, baking pies represented everything that I did not want in my life. At that time, it represented being a woman in the kitchen, living a southern lifestyle. The stigma of baking pies was strong and negative for me as a kid, although I am not sure where I got that perspective.

Baking pies was the antithesis of how my parents raised me. I remember being in the fourth grade the first time my dad asked me where I wanted to go to graduate school. Fourth Grade. I left home at 18 and went to college, with big plans for my life. Throughout the next few years, I became fluent in a second language and lived in three foreign countries. I moved across the U.S. and started grad school at 22. By age 25, I had visited 25 countries. I felt very accomplished and far from my small town. I never felt the urge to bake a pie.

After grad school, my husband and I received a gift certificate from Williams-Sonoma as a wedding present. My husband bought a rolling pin. I remember blankly staring at him while thinking, “What in the hell are you going to do with that?” He said we needed it in case we wanted to bake. I remember rolling my eyes and thinking that was never going to happen.

This is my current go-to pie crust, courtesy of Food 52:
https://food52.com/recipes/78548-stand-mixer-pie-dough

Stand-Up Mixer Pie Crust

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, refrigerated until right before you use it
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of very cold water
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1. Chop the butter into pieces about ½ inch thick. Place the butter in the freezer when you prep the rest of the recipe.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment.
3. Add the pieces of butter and mix for 5-10 seconds.
4. With the mixer on low, pour the cold water in very slowly. (The ½ cup of very cold water is necessary at higher altitude. Use less water at sea level, more water the higher you are in elevation)
5. Mix until the dough is shaggy that holds together when squeezed.
6. Turn off the mixer, form the dough into a ball, and wrap it in plastic wrap.
7. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. You can freeze it too (this actually turned out better for me).

I am back to the blog after taking a break for a few months. Since my last post, I have been biking, canning, camping, cooking, shooting, and perfecting a super simple spinach quiche (more on that later). I have been fully taking advantage of the work from home lifestyle due to COVID-19, but I missed the blog, so I am back! Keep reading for my recent experience with shotguns and shooting clay.
. . .
“I do not want a shotgun.” Famous last words.

My husband recently bought an over-under with both 20- and 12-gauge barrels. He asked me (a hundred times?) if I wanted a shotgun too. I assured him that I absolutely did not want a shot gun and had no use for one.
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Then I went clay shooting in the National Forest. First, shooting in the National Forest is absolutely stunning. We go about 40 minutes from our house in the Rocky Mountains to this secluded field.

The first time I went clay shooting, my job was to throw the clay into the air using a hand held plastic throwing device while my husband tried to shoot the clay. That sounds super easy, right?

That was a complete disaster.

Half of the time, the clay did not even leave the thrower. So, my husband would yell “pull,” I would try to throw the clay and it would still be in the thrower. When it did leave the thrower, it was completely unpredictable as to where it would go. On one occasion, I actually hit my husband in the chest with one of the clay while he was armed with the shot gun. Upon reading the fine print on the box, apparently it is really dangerous to break a clay on someone's chest. 

At that point, it was decided that I would no longer be throwing the clay.

​We bought a small throwing machine instead. There is a foot pedal that you step down on and the clay shoots out like magic. I can easily step on the pedal and can adjust the trajectory of the clay. The throwing machine is absolutely a game changer. 

I never thought I would even shoot clay, let alone really like it. Within the past few months, we have spent quite a few Saturday afternoons in a field in the National Forest.

It is extremely calming and beautiful to be out in nature, especially with the state of the world right now. Even shooting the clay is calming. When I shoot my rifle, it is extremely loud and can be a bit jarring; when I shoot the 20 gauge shotgun, it is a much quieter and calmer.

I also really like that the shotgun shells are inexpensive. With my rifle, I am always thinking that each shot costs $3; with the shotgun, I can shoot for hours for a few dollars.

So, now I really do want a shotgun and to go bird hunting. I have already chosen the bird hunting preserve for a hunt in the fall. Stay tuned on the shotgun.