Trash or Treasure?

Like most boys growing up in the 1960’s, I dreamed of one day becoming a cowboy.

What I knew of the “Wild, Wild West” came as a result of watching countless television shows like Gunsmoke, Big Valley, Bonanza, and High Chaparral.

The Cast of Bonanza (minus one member)

Even as a small boy I knew that if I played my cards just right, one day I would be asked to work on the Ponderosa Ranch. Move over Little Joe; make room for John John (as I was called at the time). The moment there was a need to add another member to the cast of Bonanza, I was ready.

John John Fechino ready to ride the trails?

To prepare for the part, I even managed to convince my parents to let me try riding a horse, but that was just a one-time thing. Okay, so maybe it was just a pony. Anyway, as you can tell from the look on my face, the idea of riding a horse was a whole lot less scary than the real thing.

The good news is, when I was finally old enough to get a job, I did actually get hired at Bonanza!

But, unfortunately for me, it was just the Bonanza Steak house. And let me tell you, it was nothing like the TV show.

Reality is often less exciting than fiction

After a lifetime’s worth of busing tables, filling the salad bar, frying chicken fried steaks in the deep fryer and grilling countless steaks, I left Bonanza to take a job just across the street at one of the south’s leading department stores: Miller & Rhoads.

The work ID for Miller & Rhoads' jolliest trash man.

I started off at Miller & Rhoads working in the shipping/receiving/gift-wrap area. I did anything from unloading trucks to taking out the trash to wrapping gifts for customers.

While taking out the trash was not my favorite job, it did have its funny moments.

One evening, while emptying the trash behind the sales counter in the Ladies Lingerie Department, I noticed a young girl walk into the department with her mother. As her mother browsed through the nightgowns, the young girl, who must have been about 10 or 12 at the time, walked over to the bra display. Her mother, taking notice, asked her daughter, “Janey, do you think you might be ready for a bra now?”

At first there was total silence, then Janey let out a shriek of horror and humiliation that I will never forget. “MOTHER!!! PLEEEEEASE!!! THERE’S ….A… MAAAAAAAAAN IN HERE!!!”

At that point, there was nothing I could do but sink out of sight behind the sales counter and begin a round of the “I’m in church and not supposed to laugh” giggles that lasted until I had tears rolling down my face.

The Downtown Richmond Headquarters of Miller & Rhoads

Miller & Rhoads stores were beloved for many things. Many people fondly remember the lunches served in their famous Tea Room.

The famous Tea Room at Miller & Rhoads

Others will tell you about meeting the Snow Queen and the REAL Santa Claus at Miller & Rhoads.

Meeting the REAL Santa Claus

As for me, I will always have a place in my heart for their Chocolate Silk pie. Sure, it was expensive and fattening, but to me, it was totally worth it. It was total perfection. Every bite was incredibly rich, creamy and best of all, chocolatey.

Heaven on a plate

One of the hardest things about taking the trash out each night was emptying the trash in the Bakery Department. But it was tough for a reason you might not expect.

The women working in the Bakery Department were instructed to throw out everything in the bakery case each night. All the cookies, all the doughnuts, all the brownies, all the cakes and all the pies had to go. The women in the Bakery were strictly instructed not to eat or give any items away. Watching all the baked goods go in the trash each night was tragic. To quote a famous on the spot reporter, "Oh the Humanity!!!"

You can imagine my horror

I could deal with most of the things being thrown away, but whenever they threw away a one of those perfectly good Chocolate Silk Pies, I swear a little tear would well up in my eye. Each time I saw a Chocolate Silk Pie being tossed away, I consoled myself by saying, "Oh well, if I can't have it, I guess no one will".

When I got my first paycheck from Miller & Rhoads, I bought a Chocolate Silk Pie to celebrate.

Many years have passed since I last worked at Miller & Rhoads. In fact, Miller & Rhoads department stores no longer exist. But my love of their Chocolate Silk Pie is still strong.

Alison and Kip

Recently my daughter Alison and her college friend Kip came over for dinner. I asked Alison what she wanted me to make for dessert and she said, “Chocolate Silk pie”. It had been years since I thought of Miller & Rhoads' Chocolate Silk pie, but I was more than happy to recreate it if I could.

As luck would have it, I found the recipe on the internet and it was not only easy to make, it was every bit as wonderful as I remembered.

Today I am happy to present the recipe for Miller & Rhoads' Chocolate Silk Pie. No need to wait for a special occasion to give it a try. Just being able to eat it is reason enough to celebrate.

Miller & Rhoads' Chocolate Silk Pie

Crust:

½ Cup Unsalted Butter

½ Cup Granulated Sugar

2 Cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs

Filling:

½ Cup of Unsalted Butter

¾ Cup of Confectioner’s Sugar

1 Ounce Unsweetened Baking Chocolate, melted and cooled

1 Pinch of Salt

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

3 Eggs

Topping:

2 Cups of Whipped Cream

Chocolate Shavings

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

* Please note that uncooked eggs can contain salmonella, which can cause severe illness particularly in infants, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. If you are concerned with the quality of your eggs, please substitute pasteurized liquid eggs.

Crust:

Beat the unsalted butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer until it becomes light and fluffy.

Gradually mix in just enough graham cracker crumbs to make a crumbly paste.

Press the paste into a chilled 9-inch pie plate.

Bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool the crust to room temperature.

Filling:

Using an electric mixer beat the unsalted butter and the confectioners sugar together until it becomes light and fluffy.

Add in the melted (and cooled) chocolate along with the salt and vanilla.

Add in one egg and then beat the mixture no more than 5 minutes.

Add in the second egg and beat the mixture again no more than 5 minutes longer.

Spoon the filling into the cooled piecrust shell and then allow it to set in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Just before serving, top the pie with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

You can use pre-made whip topping, but I prefer to whip my own whipping cream. It is very easy to do. You should give it a try if you have never done it before.

Pour in one cup or more of cold heavy whipping cream in your mixing bowl. Add in one to two tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar, depending on how sweet you want it. I use confectioner’s sugar rather than granulated sugar because confectioner’s sugar contains cornstarch, which helps the whipped cream keep it’s shape. Add in a few drops of vanilla. Regular vanilla is brown and will tint your whipped cream, but clear vanilla is available on most baking aisles. If you want whiter whipped cream, try the clear vanilla. Whip the cream on high speed until firm. Just be sure not to over whip the cream or you will end up with really sweet butter.

As for chocolate shavings, use your vegetable peeler to shave a dark chocolate candy bar. This added step really puts the finishing touch on the pie.

This pie is very rich, so when it comes time to serve, start off with a small piece. If you can’t stop yourself from taking another piece, I won’t tell. But that just might be me with the church giggles that you hear coming from behind the door!

Enjoy.

It's the Berries

I am still a member

That's me in the photo above. I was a soapbox derby racer. Our club was named the Optimist club. I am an optimist. Always have been. People used to say I was "happy go lucky". I guess that means I was always a pretty happy kid. As for the lucky part, well that is probably true too.

I think that being lucky has a great deal to do with being open to luck.

Let me give you an example. A few months ago, I got a call from a friend of mine. The call came in while I was working at my office. The cellphone coverage was so bad at the office I had to run outside or risk dropping the call. While I was outside talking on the phone I looked down and noticed a four-leaf clover.

Then I saw another. And another. By the time our conversation was over, I had collected 5 four-leaf clovers. As soon as I was through with my call, I went inside and gave the clovers to my co-workers. I figured they could use some good luck too.

One of the people I gave a clover to was amazed that I found them. "I've never found a four-leaf clover," she said. As she was saying this the sound of the lawnmowers outside almost drowned out our conversation. The grounds keepers were mowing the grass where just moments ago I had found the clovers.

"Boy , you sure were lucky to have found them when you did," she added.

Those clovers had been out there all week. Anyone could have found them. I just happened to look for them. I feel like finding those clovers had more to do with being observant than being lucky. Had I not looked down to see if I could find a four-leaf clover, even as "lucky" as I am, I would never have found them.

Many of the things we attribute to luck have more to do with initiative than luck. People who become famous, high paid movie stars are not simply lucky, they work at it. People who find gold looked for it. People who get great jobs prepare and pursue the work. In other words, we all make our own luck.

I also think that happiness is a choice we make. That might sound silly at first, but when you think about it, it really is true.

We each decide if we are willing to be happy with a situation or not. This I guess is where being an optimist come in.

Sometimes, happiness is little more than a comparison.

In 1988, I had the worst day in my life. On April 18, 1988, my wife gave birth to our stillborn daughter Emily. I have never known a sadder day in my life and to this day it is still my benchmark for what it means to be sad.

The day after Emily's birth, I found myself in a hospital elevator riding down to the first floor to fill out the papers so that my wife could be discharged. After more than nine months of planning and making dreams for the future, my wife and I would be leaving the hospital empty handed knowing that our baby daughter was lying in the hospital morgue.

It looked like it was going to be a direct ride as I was the only person in the elevator. But the elevator suddenly stopped at the floor below. The doors opened and a young hospital attendant entered the elevator.

She pushed the lobby button, leaned against the wall of the elevator and then let out a long sigh. She then looked straight at me and said, " Boy I am glad this day is over. Man, this has really been a rotten day."

I just smiled at her and said nothing. She had no way of knowing the amount of pain, suffering and turmoil I was enduring.

It was at that moment that I made a point of declaring to myself "I now know what it feels like to have a really bad day".

Furthermore I vowed that I was not going to ever again complain about having another bad day.

As I saw it, anything that happened from that moment on was going to be better by comparison. If I had a hard time or things didn't go my way, I would chalk it up to being a full day, but not a bad day. I decided that I would focus on the good things that occurred each day and be happy and grateful for them. In regard to everything else, I had to find a way to take those things in stride.

So far I have managed live this way and am a happier person for it.

Happy to be getting my big boy teeth at last!

When I was a child, there was a saying that when a woman wanted to cheer up or needed to change her outlook, she simply needed to change her hair-do or buy a new dress.

If my mom was looking for a lift, she didn't just buy a dress or change her do. She changed the arrangement of the furniture in our home. She did this so often that my dad used to say that he would never walk into a dark room because he was never sure where the furniture might be.

I wonder if Laura had a bad day?

I don't change my hair or move furniture when I want an emotional lift. I cook.

When I cook it makes me feel happy to know that soon there will be something special to enjoy. It is much the same way that making cakes make me think of birthdays and cookies make me feel like the holidays. Sometimes I cook for others to give them a lift.

For the past several weeks my mother has been house bound while recovering from back surgery. She is doing great and has been the model patient. Every day or so I stop over to say hello and either bring a baked treat or I'll make something while I visit.

As I pulled in the driveway to my parents home last week, I noticed their blackberry was bush heavy with ripe berries. As soon as I saw those berries, I made plans for them.

There are plenty for the birds and us!

While visiting with my parents, I mentioned to my mother that the blackberries were ripe. She said, "I saw them earlier today when the nurse came by. She offered to pick them for me but I told her you would be by soon and would enjoy picking them yourself." And right she was. I was able to pick a full quart of them that day.

I have always loved berry picking. Well, that is not entirely true. What I mean to say is that I have always loved the end result of berry picking.

Whether we picked pea-sized wild strawberries from the woods,

Wild Strawberries

or gathered big fat blueberries at the Roz's house when we lived in New York,

Blueberries on the bush

or suffered countless cuts and scrapes as we filled buckets of blackberries when we visited our former neighbors, the Ortiz family, in New Jersey,

Sweet treats worth the pain to harvest

the end result was usually the same. We always seemed to make fresh pies , sweet cobbler or muffins from our harvest.

Take my advice, you will be happiest if you focus on the good things like the berries and think less about the work and cuts and scrapes.

This time I decided not to make a pie or cobbler or muffins with the berries. I had other plans. This time I was going to make a cake that I had just read about.

I love my subscription to Bon Appetit magazine. Not only are the photos enticing, the recipes are easy to follow. I like that the recipes consist of the ingredients that are easy to obtain and the buyer does not need to take out a second mortgage in order to afford them. In the back of each issue they feature a section I really enjoy entitled Prep School that teaches the reader a cooking technique.

The July 2011 issue features a timely article called Berries Berries Berries on page 102. The photos alone are enough to make your mouth water, but the recipes are really the prize.

Today's recipe is a Blackberry Buttermilk Cake. It sounds so good I am sure it must be the lyrics to a love song, or soon will be.

I made this cake with the berries I picked and then presented my parents with the cake the very next day. The cake was moist with a subtle flavor that did not overpower the berries.

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

(Courtesy of Bon Appetit, July 2011)

This recipe would work equally well with blueberries or a combination of fruits. Just be certain not to use too much fruit as the berries release juices as they cook down and can make the cake soggy if too much is used. This cake is great anytime of day, but it would be especially nice in the morning if made the evening before.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup of room temperature Unsalted Butter (plus additional to grease pan and parchment paper)
• 2 1/3 Cups of sifted Cake Flour (sift flour first, then measure it)
• 2 1/2 Cups fresh Blackberries
• 1/4 Cup Sugar plus an ADDITIONAL 1 1/3 Cups of Sugar
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
• 3/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
• 3 large room temperature Eggs
• 2 Teaspoons of Vanilla
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon finely grated Orange zest
• 1 Cup of Buttermilk
• Powdered Sugar ( for dusting)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and postion oven rake to the middle of the oven.

Butter a 9 to 10" springform cake pan then line the bottom of the pan with a piece of buttered parchment paper. Dust with flour the pan being sure to tap out excess flour.

Arrange the Blackberries in a single layer in the bottom of the pan. Do not over crowd the Berries. Sprinkle the Berries with 1/4 Cup of Sugar.

Sift together the 2 1/3 cups of Flour with the Baking powder, Salt and Baking Soda. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat together the 3/4 cup of Butter and the 1 1/3 cups of Sugar at high speed until it becomes fluffy and pale in color. Add in the Eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in Vanilla and Orange zest. Reduce speed to low and add in the the Flour mixture in three separate batches, alternating with additions of the buttermilk. The batter will be thick.

Batter will be thick when added on top of the berries

Spoon the finished batter over the berries in the pan. Smooth out the batter with a spatula before placing it in the oven.

This cake takes a while to cook. After about 1 hour and 25 minutes, the cake top should be golden brown and a tester inserted into the middle should come out clean.

Once the cake is finished, allow it to cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Then run a thin, sharp knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake from the pan. Remove the sides of the pan then invert the cake onto the wire rake. Peel off parchment.

When the cake is completely cool and you are ready to serve it, dust the top with powdered sugar.

Enjoy.

As you take your first bite of this cake, I hope you will take a moment to pause and appreciate all the good things in life that you have to be thankful for. It might be even the simplest things that can give you pleasure. Maybe it is the fact that you have a loved one with you to share the cake with. Or you can be happy that it is the time of year that you can get fresh blackberries. Perhaps it is the fact that it is raining, or sunny outside.

Our lives, no matter how full they may be, each day are filled with an infinite source of happiness. Be one of the lucky ones. Take note and enjoy your gifts.

I know I will.

After all, when singing about life, Jaye P Morgan sings, "It's the Berries."

And who knows? Maybe life is just a bowl of cherries after all.

Hmm. Cherries. Now I need to get working on a cherry recipe. Until next time....

Peanut Pals

Peanut Pals

Okay, so we all have heard that blood is thicker than water, but what does that have to do with anything? If you want to get technical, a brick is thicker than paper, but so what?

Blood is thicker than water is a German proverb (originally: Blut ist dicker als Wasser). It generally means that the bonds of family and common ancestry are stronger than those bonds between unrelated people (such as friends). It reminds us that family members need to stick together. So why don’t we just say “Glue” and be done with it?

In regard to my family, our unity can perhaps best be summed up in two words: Peanut Butter. You see it is peanut butter that seems to run in our veins and stick to the roof of our mouths.

Four Generations of Mr. Peanut

For generations Fechinos, including me, my brothers, my Dad, even my son have made peanut butter a major staple of our diets.

Elvis liked his with a Banana

You might say that I have always been kind of a renegade when is comes to certain foods. Some I like a lot, others I just can’t stand. I remember it took a great deal of courage for me as a young boy to proclaim that I did not like Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. When I made this proclamation I was sure I was the only person in the world who didn’t like a PBJ. To this day I still don’t like them.

My sandwich of choice: Peanut Butter, straight up served with a cold milk chaser.

A plain peanut butter sandwich is heaven to me. A jelly and cream cheese sandwich is also divine. But mix peanut butter and jelly together on a sandwich and you can count me out. I cannot tell you how many horrified mothers innocently asked if I wanted a PBJ for lunch only to learn that PBJs grossed me out.

I really love peanut butter.

On a recent trip to visit my brother Brian, my sister-in-law Kristen demonstrated how using her little spatula, she was able to get the last bit of mayonnaise out what I thought was an empty jar. I was impressed. But, when she also indicated that she could do that same with a jar of peanut butter, I was in awe. I now have a little spatula just like theirs that I keep in my kitchen drawer for when my jar of peanut butter is nearing its final portion.

That Reese guy was a genius.

My Dad has been feeling poorly for a long time. Often he has little or no appetite. But no matter how bad Dad feels, it seems he always can manage to eat a piece of two of his favorite candy: Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.

Dad's favorite

And who can blame him? Peanut butter and chocolate is an irresistible combination.

I have always cooked for my family as an expression of my love for them.

I am not one of those people who is good about telling others how I feel about them. Like most people, talking about feelings makes me uncomfortable. Hopefully my friends and family know how much I care about them through my actions. It is a one-sided bargain I know, but it has been my MO for a long time.

When my Dad was getting Chemo treatments a few years ago in an effort to raise his platelet count, he really had a rough time. He couldn’t eat much and he was understandably depressed. I had an idea for something I thought might cheer him up. And of course my solution involved food. Hey, it’s what I do.

Taking a cue from Mr. Reese’s famous creation, each week I made Dad my take on a brownie version of a Reese’s cup. I made him brownies in a mini muffin size, filled them with peanut butter inside and then topped them with a layer of melted dark chocolate. They came out great and Dad really loved them. I like to think those little confectionary treats made a bad time a little more tolerable for him.

Let’s face it, while sending a card is very nice, giving someone a gift that includes peanut butter really shows how much you care.

From the time my son Jack was a small boy, his favorite cookies have always been peanut butter cookies. Since that time, I have baked countless batches of them for him. To this day if I know that Jack will be visiting, I'll make a fresh batch of cookies for him. Sometimes I’ll even throw some semi sweet chocolate chips into the peanut butter cookie dough just to kick it up a notch. The combination of the peanut and the chocolate is great. What can I say that I haven’t said before? That Reese guy was onto something.

Want to try something tasty? Come on. I know you do. Why don’t you make a batch of my Peanut Butter cookies so you can see what all the fuss is about?

What are you waiting for? Give them a try and get in on the fun. If you do, I’ll be your best friend... We can even be Peanut Pals!

Jack's Peanut Butter Cookies

1 ¼ Cups of All Purpose Flour

¾ Teaspoon Baking Soda

¼ Teaspoon Salt

½ Cup of Butter

¾ Cup of Chunky Peanut Butter

½ Cup of Sugar

½ Cup of Light Brown Sugar

1 Egg

½ Teaspoon Vanilla

(optional: 1 Cup of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips)

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Add the Flour, Soda and Salt into a bowl and, using a whisk, stir them together.

In a mixing bowl, beat the Butter for about 30 seconds. Next add in the Peanut Butter and Sugars to the butter and beat until fluffy. Add in the Egg and Vanilla and then beat until combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

At this point, if you want to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, add in the Semi-sweet Chocolate chips. Using a small cookie scoop, form the dough into small balls and bake them on an ungreased cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven until just slightly browned (about 10 minutes or so). Cool before removing from the cookie sheet.

If you want to make traditional Peanut Butter Cookies, omit adding the Chocolate chips. Instead, shape the dough into 1-inch balls and then roll the balls in white granulated Sugar.

Place the sugar coated dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the tines of a fork, make a crisscross pattern on each cookie. Bake the cookies in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until they are just slightly browned. Cool before removing from the cookie sheet.

I suggest you follow what Mr. Peanut says. Relax and go nuts.

I hope you will give this easy recipe a try. Until next time, remember that blood is thicker than water and, truth be told, my waist is now thicker than it used to be.

Blueberries! Blueberries!

Today's story and recipe come courtesy of my uncle, Ron Carducci. Ron is married to my father's sister Phyllis.

Ron for a long time worked as a professional jazz drummer. Today while he is enjoying his retirement, Ron is an accomplished cook. Listening to jazz and spending time cooking are some of the things that both Ron and I enjoy the most. It is so much fun to exchange emails with Ron. I never know what kind of tip he will pass my way next.

Ron sent me the recipe I am sharing with you today a just a few days ago. It was a mere coincidence that Ron would then share the story that follows with me yesterday. I read the story just before I left to attend the Senior Showcase at my son Jack's school.

My Kindergarten Class. That's me, back row, third from the left.

My Kindergarten days were a really, really long time ago yesterday. But I will never forget some of the things (beyond the three R's) that my kindergarten teacher taught me. And for that matter all the teachers that succeeded her.

I was thrilled to once again play role of proud dad as I attended my son Jack's Senior Showcase that was being held at this his high school yesterday.

As I entered the dark auditorium, I saw my little boy Jack, now a 6'1" young man , standing on stage in front of a full audience. With his natural engaging manner, he was entertaining his schoolmates and some assorted parents with recollections of what he encountered while trying to make a recording as part of his recording seminar.

How in the world did my son ever get to be so knowledgeable I wondered. Certainly his experience at Maggie L Walker Governor's School had been enriching. It was clear that his teachers had made a positive impact on him.

The student body of Maggie L Walker Governor's School is comprised of a small group of hand selected students who must pass tests and screening interviews before being chosen to attend. Jack's schoolmates are some of the brightest and most talented kids I know. As I thought about this, I could not help but think about the story I had read earlier.

And now I would like to share the story with you.

The Blueberry Story

(by Jamie Robert Vollmer)

I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of in-service training. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife.

I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that became famous in the middle-1980s when People Magazine chose its blueberry flavor as the "Best Ice Cream in America."

I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the Industrial Age and out of step with the needs of our emerging "knowledge society." Second, educators were a major part of the problem: They resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly. They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! Total Quality Management! Continuous improvement! In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced-equal parts ignorance and arrogance.

As soon as I finished, a woman's hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant. She was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload.

She began quietly, "We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream."

I smugly replied, "Best ice cream in America, ma'am."

"How nice," she said. "Is it rich and smooth?"

"Sixteen percent butterfat," I crowed.

"Premium ingredients?" she inquired. "Super-premium! Nothing but triple-A” I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming.

"Mr. Vollmer," she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, "when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrives, what do you do?"

In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap. I was dead meat, but I wasn't going to lie. "I send them back."

"That's right!" she barked, "and we can never send back our blueberries.”

We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, junior rheumatoid arthritis, and English as their second language. We take them all. Everyone.

And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it's not a business. It's school."

In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians, and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, "Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!"

And so began my long transformation.

Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.

None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when, and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission, and active support of the surrounding community. For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs, and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America.

Jamie Robert Vollmer, a former business executive and attorney, is now a keynote presenter and consultant who works to increase community support for public schools.

My uncle Ron says this recipe is for those “splurge” meals we all need now and then. Enjoy!

Ron’s Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Pie Filling Ingredients:

5 cups of fresh Blueberries

Zest of One Lemon

Juice of One Lemon

2 Teaspoons of Flour

A pinch of Salt

14 Ounces of Blueberry Jam

1 Cup of Sugar

½ Stick of Butter, cubed

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and then put it aside while making Ron’s Pie Crust

Ron’s Pie Crust Ingredients:

5 cups of Flour

2 teaspoon of Sugar

2 teaspoon of Kosher Salt

1 stick cold Butter, cubed

1 cup of cold Crisco, cut up

½ cup of ice Water

Directions:

Pulse flour, 2 teaspoon Sugar and Salt in food processor till blended. Add Butter and Crisco and blend till the consistency of wet sand. Pour the ½ of ice Water into processor through top until dough forms to one side of the processor. Remove dough and form into a compact mound. Cut dough in half, and form each into a ball. Roll each ball out to ½ inch thickness. Place one on pie plate and the other on wax paper and place both in the refrigerator for one hour.

Once the dough has set in the refrigerator, fill bottom piecrust with the blueberry filling. Place the top piecrust in over the pie filling. Cut steam slits in center of pie. Leave 1 ½ inches of overhang crust. Roll overhang up and pinch crust all around rim of pie. Bake the pie in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then at reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and pour the hot Orange Sugar Pie Glaze over top crust. Return pie to oven for 10 more minutes.

Orange Pie Glaze Ingredients:

½ cup Sugar

¼ cup of Water

The juice of one Orange.

Combine the Sugar, Water and Orange juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer and until the liquid becomes a syrup and has reduced by 1/3. Pour the syrup over pie while it is hot and pie is hot.

I'll be when Carol Channing makes this recipe, she will use a different fruit. I'll just bet when she makes this pie, she uses...

Raaaaahhhsperries!!