"Can she bake a berry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy?"

Before tonight, if someone were to ask of me that classic question from the good ol' song, I realized that I wouldn't even know the answer . . . primarily because I've never tried.

My younger sister had been dubbed all summer the unwritten Duchess of Dinner . . . the Master of Meals . . . the Queen of all things Culinary . . .

. . . and then she left me.

So tonight, I, not wanting the bounty of this weekend's berry-hunt to be left un-enjoyed for any longer, decided to step up to the proverbial plate and prove to myself that I, JaimiDoodle, can bake a berry pie. You can see, judging by the condition of the cookbook (see below), that this recipe could probably be considered among one of the most tried-and-true out there---but, unfortunately, no culinary endeavor is safe from being completely slaughtered by JaimiDoodle, a college graduate who could explain to you the effects of osmotic pressure on the capillary eletrophoretic enantioseparation of chiral chemical compounds, but can't pull off a decent batch of rice for the life of her.

That being said, it was to be expected that the episode not go without hiccups (I may or may not have had to practice my suturing skills with the crust, which I may or may not have rolled out much too small to cover the pie plate . . .) but when all was said and done, a good time* was had by all.

*NOTE: "good time" = not having to include a fire department crew or emergency toxicology squad. Victory!

Before . . .

. . . After

Who'd've thought, ey?