I Made Pie

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving, and I was invited over to Jack and Steve's and Portia's house for dinner. It's always lovely to go over there. I'm very very thankful for friends like that.

It had been a long time since I had made apple strudel and seeing that it was a holiday doo-dah, I went to work.

First, you have to make the dough and then stretch it paper thin across a table. (Jack's Slovenian grandma taught me how to do this about twenty years ago.) It's quite a sight to see such a small amount of dough become so thin you can see your hands through it.

Then, you spread sliced apples across it along with lots of buttery, sugary, cinnamony breadcrumbs. Then, you roll it up, slather it with more butter and sugar, and bake it.

I made two of them. One ended up looking like a pig's hoof, but there you go. Afterward, I still had lots of sliced apples left over along with lots of the buttery breadcrumbs.

Jack's grandma would never have let that go to waste. She would even gather up the pastry trimmings from the strudel dough and fry them in butter and sugar.

So, I whipped up a pie crust and made an apple pie. My pie crust fluting needs work, but there you go. Grandma would have been pleased.

Making Grandma's Strudel

It was almost twenty years ago when my friend, Jack’s, Slovenian grandmother taught me to make her famous apple strudel from scratch.

He had told me about her impressive talent for making strudel – how she would take a small piece of buttery dough and stretch it and stretch it and stretch it until was so thin you could see your hand through it.

A couple of times, he'd return to Texas after visiting his family in Chicago with one of these strudels in tow. I'll admit, it was some pretty amazing stuff.

Finally, one time about twenty years ago, Jack and I were up here in Chicago visiting his relatives and I got Grandma to let me in on her strudel making. I’ll admit, it was impressive to see this 86-year-old woman turn out such a labor-intensive product. (It also involved me getting up at 6:00 am with a whopper of a hangover – no less impressive, let me tell you -- but I wasn’t about to miss out).

I practiced until I got it right.

Grandma has long since passed, but I always feel her presence whenever I make strudel for her grandson.

Yesterday was such an occasion. Here’s how it’s done:

(Lorraine and Kimberly Ann appreciate this)

Mix together flour, melted butter, oil, water, an egg and a dash of salt. Pound the dough on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Let the dough rest for about an hour. (When I asked Grandma how long to let the dough rest, she replied, “Long enough for me to go get hair done,” and out the door she went. That was her routine.)

Meanwhile, melt two sticks of butter, a lot of bread crumbs, cinnamon and sugar. Oh, and also peel, core, and slice five pounds of Granny Smith apples.

Place a sheet on a counter measuring approximately 5’ by 3’. Flour the sheet and begin rolling out the ball of dough.

Then, begin stretching the dough by hand. Stretch it some more. And some more Until it covers the entire surface and hangs down the sides. Cover one end with the sliced apples. Paint the dough with butter. Lots and lots of butter. Cover it with the buttered breadcrumbs, cinnamon and sugar. Take one end of the sheet on the apple side, and begin rolling it up. Transfer to a baking pan, slather with more butter, cinnamon and sugar, and bake.

Repeat process, 'cause why make one when you can make two?

Ta-daahhhh! This stuff is legendary! Believe me. Thanks, Grandma.

A very heartwarming story about strudel

My friend, Jack, and I have known each other for almost twenty years now. He had been born and raised in Chicago, the son of Slovenian and Polish parents.

When we met in Texas, he'd often mention his Slovenian grandma's apple strudel. She made it the "old world" style where the dough is made from scratch and then stretched and stretched until it's paper-thin and covers an entire table surface. Apples, cinnamon, breadcrumbs and sugar are then strewn, the paper-thin dough is slathered with butter, it's rolled up and baked.

Occasionally when Jack would go home to Chicago, he'd return with one of Grandma's strudels wrapped in white butcher paper.

Oh. My. God. I'd never tasted anything quite like it. I was fascinated.

He said Grandma was truly an artist at this. Other family members never learned how to do make it and now that Grandma was pushing 90, it might be a lost art in the family.

Chicago 1988: Jack and I go up to Chicago to visit his dad and Grandma. I told Jack that I'd love to see Grandma in action and maybe learn how to make her wonderful strudel. He said that Grandma had a strict routine of getting up very early in the morning to make it, but if I was willing, she'd let me in on her strudel action.

Well, the night before, we stayed up very late, drinking Old Style beer with Jack's dad who was quite a character. Great guy. Fun to be around. The Old Style flowed late into the evening.

Grandma reminded me (in her broken English) that she and I had a strudel appointment very early in the morning. Yeah yeah yeah. I was having a blast with Jack's dad.

6:00 am: Grandma is rapping at my bedroom door. "You get up! It is time!" she announced, very loudly, in her Old-World accent. However my head was pounding with an Old-Style hangover. Still, I didn't want to miss the chance of seeing Grandma in action, so I roused to the occasion.

A five pound bag of Granny-Smith apples was assigned to me for peeling and slicing. And a big mug a of coffee.

"You vant breakfast?" she asked.

"No, thanks, I'm fine," I mumbled.

"You need breakfast," she replied.

"No, really, I don't. . .

"I make you breakfast."

Eggs and toast appeared. I soldiered on with the apples.

Grandma was in command of the kitchen. I watched as she dumped some flour in a bowl and I really wanted to get the measurements. After some gentle persuading, she did let me measure the ingredients which I wrote down on a yellow Post-it note. She then kneaded the dough into a ball.

BLAM!!!

She began hurling the dough against the top of the table. (I later learned that this is to get out any air bubbles). This 89-year old woman shook the whole kitchen with the force of it. If anyone was still asleep from the night of Old-Style, they'd surely be awake by now.

The ball of dough was placed in a buttered bowl and into a warm oven to rest.

"How long do you let it rest?" I queried.

"Vile I go get hair done" was her quick reply, and out the door she went.

Apparently, this was Grandma's routine. She made strudel on Saturday morning and got her hair done down the street.

About an hour later, a newly coiffed Grandma appeared, and continued on with the strudel.

She took the little ball of dough and began stretching it on the kitchen table that had a floured sheet across it. And stretching it. And strrrretching it. Then she was walking around the table, pulling the dough from all sides.

It was amazing. The dough began billowing across the table, so thin you could see her hands though it. She kept stretching it even more until it was hanging down the sides of the table, practically to the floor. It was truly amazing.

She took my apples which had been adequately sliced, mixed them with sugar, cinnamon, lots of buttered breadcrumbs and spread them in an even layer halfway across the paper-thin dough.

"Vee used to put it all de vay across, but vee change it," she said without looking up.

I smiled to myself as I pictured a panel of Slovenian grandmas, weighing the pros and cons of putting the apples all the way across or halfway across.

She finished the strudel by rolling it up, placing more butter on top and baking it.

In this day and age of ready-made this and instant-that, I could certainly see why none of her female offspring took the time to learn her trade. This was truly a labor of love and I felt as though I'd just witnessed something holy.

I didn't want to let this bit of artistry die out with her. I went back to Texas with my little Post-it note of ingredients and practiced. And practiced. And practiced.

And you know what? I got pretty good at it.

Chicago 2001: The house where Jack's grandma and his dad lived was passed on to Jack after they passed away and Jack had the place remodeled.

But here we are back in that same kitchen where Grandma taught me to make her strudel and now I'm the one making for the family.

Oh, and I still have the little yellow Post-it from 20 years ago. I have it clipped to my own grandmother's old little clipboard she got from the local grocery story where she'd keep phone messages. (Just to give you an idea how old her little clipboard is, click on the pic and notice the grocery store's phone number on it -- it has three digits!)

But this little clipboard along with the strudel recipe sits proudly in my kitchen. Such a treasure.

Click HERE to see the strudel making in action. (Be patient, it takes a while to load).

By the way, Jack just called and was wondering when I'd be able to make strudel again.

I like that. It feels good. Thanks Grandma.