A little more inspiration

Remember a while back when I posted about the Storylady, a cry for help, and an international ring of cook book thieves? Today I read the column Mama F (Did's mother) wrote for the Sunday paper using some of the responses to her recipe query for her friend, The Storylady. This is what it spawned:

When Husband & I were dating I found out he wasn't a big fan of cakes. For his first birthday after our wedding, I wanted to surprise him with a special treat. I decided on his favorite sweet, coconut cream pie . I'd never tackled anything like this before, so I asked some of the older ladies I worked with for advice. One friend offered to give me her favorite from scratch, coconut cream pie recipe.

She called me that night at midnight to sneak me the recipe over the phone while Husband was showering (we all worked second shift in a factory at the time). At one point in the telling she said, "When you get to this stage you'll think, 'I have really botched this up. This is horrible!' and you'll be tempted to toss the entire mess in the trash. Don't. Trust me. It will be fine."

That Saturday, while he was gone to work, I gathered my ingredients & started on the pie. It was not as simple as I thought it would be. My friend was right, I was tempted to toss the entire mess in the trash about half way through the process, but I persevered. I even made my first meringue to top it all off. When it came out of the oven, I was so proud!

Husband came home from work & I presented him with his birthday pie. He ate it without saying much & I got antsy. Finally I couldn't stand the suspense & asked him how it was. "Good," was all he said. "Um...how good?" I asked. "Probably my second favorite coconut cream pie," he replied. "OK, that's good. What's your favorite?" I pestered. Husband said his favorite pie was the one his grandmother used to make for him. She passed away 2 years to the day before we were married.

The next day we had dinner with his parents. I told my mother-in-law that I needed her mother's coconut cream pie recipe because it was Husband's favorite. "Well," she began, "you take a box of coconut instant pudding and you follow the directions on the side that say 'To make pie.'"

Needless to say, I have never since made him a coconut cream pie from scratch.