Wednesday, July 17, 2013

DEWBERRY PIE SURPRISE

It's the story, of a lovely lady, who was looking for some dewberries of her own...

OK, Brady Bunch memory aside, here is a post two months in the making.

The week before Mother's Day, I got an email from someone who found the blog while searching for dewberries in the Houston area.


She wrote the kindest note and asked if I knew where she could either pick fresh dewberries or buy some.  I told her that unfortunately, most of the places had closed up for the season.  She then asked if we allowed picking on our property.  I wouldn't have minded that at all, except we were in between them being not all ripe and not having a very good season anyway.  She needed them because she wanted to bake a dewberry pie for her boyfriend's family for Mother's Day.  It was their first one without their Grandmother and dewberry pie was a favorite family memory.  Their Granny used to make it all the time.


After writing back and forth a few times trying to come up with an option, I found out that she and I only worked a mile apart...in a city of  millions of people, she randomly found us on the internet, what are the odds?

It seemed like it was meant to be.



It was time to practice a random act of kindness again and do something to help someone out.  So I pulled three 2-cup bags of dewberries from the freezer and we made plans...



We met on the Friday before Mother's Day at a grocery store near both of our offices.  I had my bag of dewberries and she had a gift bag for me.

"Yes officer, I swear, it's only dewberries..."


She could not have been nicer.  As it turns out, she has read the blog and enjoys the aspect of us working our way out TO the country as she grew up IN the country and worked her way to the city, ha.  She had trouble thinking of something to give us in exchange (though NOTHING was necessary at all).  She said she realized she had fresh from the cob frozen corn...direct from Iowa, where she grew up.  Her mother loads her down with "fresh from the stalk corn" to remind her of home and she thought we might enjoy that.

We did, and of course there was NO comparison to any corn we've ever eaten.  We could eat that fresh corn every single day!  It was delicious!

Thank you "C"!

Out of the blue, the other day she emailed me a bunch of photos from their gathering and she wanted to share them with me.  We though we'd share them with you.

Dewberry Pie

Here is her end result!

I wish I could tell you first hand how delicious it was but she said it was and I believe it.  It certainly looks delicious.  And I'm loving the Made in Texas box she served it in.  How cool is that?  She was nervous making it because she wanted it to be authentic and tasty but of course it came out beautifully and said it was a huge hit.  Everyone was surprised and they all laughed and talked about their Granny on Mother's Day.  I'm so glad we could play a small part in their happy day.  I love how food brings us all together!

Perhaps next year, I can provide them with some fresh picked dewberries.


Pie AND ice cream!
YUMMY!

31 comments:

  1. I think you got a lot of bonus points for paying it forwards this time. That pie looks fabulous, and that family had a good day on what could have been a very sad one for them! Well done!

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    1. Ha, thanks, it did look great huh? I might just have to try my hand at that some time.

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  2. 1st Man, you know that i am a big fan of trusting that most of the people in the world are good and kind! it fills me with hope. you had absolutely nothing to pay forward here, just a random act of kindness on your part. to imagine her family without their dewberry pie on Mother's Day, oh it would have been so sad. the fact that you were able to help, and did, just shows me that acts of kindness really pay off. if you speak to her again - tell her that her pie looks delicious and would have made her granny proud!

    here's a big CONGRATS to you for being a nice, kind person. i am glad to call you my friend! your friend,
    kymber

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    1. You make me blush. And she reads the blog so I think she'll appreciate your comment. :-) Again, thank you so much sweet lady.

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    2. And I edited my post to reflect the 'random act of kindness' phrase, thanks to you. That was the phrase I was looking for and couldn't remember. Thank you!

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    3. oh you are soooo welcome! and i hope that she sees all of these comments because i think they will make her feel very happy! i forgot to mention the corn - oh i would kill for some of that corn!

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  3. Such a lovely story! That box makes me miss my home state of Texas. So much pride and love for that state. And that pie looks delicious! We have wine raspberries on our property. Maybe I'll start a tradition within my family of summertime Wine Raspberry pie!

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    1. Thank you! Texans definitely have pride for our state. It's neat to see. People are asking me about dewberries but I've never heard of a wine raspberry. Cool! And that would be a great tradition huh? Something unique to your area and something available only for a limited time.

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  4. Sometimes you can meet the nicest people on the internet.

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  5. what a great story!!! love the pie box!

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    1. Thanks and yes, the pie box is awesome huh?

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  6. You can never have to many friends :-) That is the best warm and fuzzy story ever!! You rock FM. I love what you did to pay it forward and especially love she shared pictures of her pie. The box she crafted is super cool. Maybe this is a whole new business for TMAALF..Dewberry pies in hand crafted Made in Texas boxes.

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    1. Amen! It is kind of warm and fuzzy huh? Yes, and she was sweet enough to send me pictures of the whole gathering and each step of the pie as she made it. Very cool. And hey you might be on to something. We'll keep that in mind. :-)

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  7. That was such a great story. I'm so glad that you were able to help her in this endeavor and you enjoyed your corn. Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks, it made me feel good to help and I was more than happy to do it. An that corn was amazing, ha.

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  8. Forgive me, but I am a transplant to Texas, so, what is a dewberry? Is it what we call blackberries in Kentucky? Or some type of raspberry? Enjoy your blog.

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    1. Ah, dewberry newbie! Dewberries are related to blackberries, they trail along the ground instead of upright on canes and produce a sometimes slightly larger berry. They can be sweeter and they do have a few more seeds than regular blackberries. Go over to the side of the blog and there is a 'search' feature and just type in dewberry. You can see my posts on it to see what they look like growing. They are a somewhat 'Southern' tradition. And welcome by the way!

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  9. Pretty amazing! This story left me grinning from ear to ear.

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    1. My work here is done! Ha. It made me smile typing it. :-)

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  10. I love this!! What a happy story. How is a dewberry different from a blackberry?

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    1. It's much like a blackberry, related actually, they trail on vines instead of upright canes and they are slightly larger and some say sweeter. They also ripen earlier than blackberries. Down these parts they spring up anywhere, sometimes on the roadside. I should create a post specifically about them, lots of people ask. I'm happy to oblige!

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  11. What a great story and such a happy ending. I have met several new friends through this internet that otherwise I would never have known. That pie was even more special because of you.

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    1. You know, it does have a happy ending, the best happy ending huh? And yes, the internet has given me a lot of new friends as well. I like that. :-)

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  12. Okay. Goosebumps AND tears? You've done it. ::smiling::

    THIS is why I love blogging. How wonderful you are. And to go to such lengths to make a family happy and share in memories of their Grandma.

    I don't have many blogs on my blogroll. . .I am choosy. But I have to say I am honored and happy to have you there.

    YOU SIR, ROCK!!!!!!! [and that is not an inappropriate use of exclamation points. You deserve every single one. So there. :P] hee

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    1. Wow. Now I'm blushing again. You know, it never even really crossed my mind NOT to do it. I guess that's just in my nature to help if I can. Thank you so so much for the very kind words. They make me smile and get a few tears as well.

      Very sweet lady, much much appreciated.

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  13. Oops "Choosy" makes me sound snobby. I'm not. I just have a hard time keeping up with the awesomeness that is blogging. hee

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  14. Yes, I'm late in chiming in. It's crazy here. You could send me a wonderful treat made with dewberries.

    Love ya and miss ya!

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    1. Well I would if they weren't all gone, ha. But next batch, I'm sure something could be arranged, ha. Love and miss ya right back at ya!

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