Like Father, Like Daughter: Cherry Pie Cookies

My dad was the first person to teach me how to bake. I’ve already blogged about my him as an expert pie maker and all-around awesome person a few times. On Thanksgiving, he made pumpkin pie for breakfast and proudly displays the “evil pie” print I purchased for him in our family’s living room. He also sent me a surprise package of baking supplies to celebrate Spring!

Last year, when I sent him photo evidence of my Apple Pie Cookies, he lightly scoffed at my use of canned apples. :-P At my parent’s house, we have apple trees in the backyard. One year, my dad went into uber-pie mode and made more than ten apple pies, not wanting the fruit to go to waste. After we’d had our fill, he shared some with his coworkers, our cousins and the neighbors, too. It’s no surprise that he earned a new sense of respect from those who hadn’t ever tried one of his pies before.

So when my dad was in town, I was determined to have him bake with me. :) We already had an ambitious schedule of activities for my parents’ visit, so I forced him…(err, I mean asked him nicely) to retry a quick recipe. We followed my Apple Pie Cookies recipe using cherry filling, instead. Cherry pie always makes me think of my dad because (1) any pie makes me think of my dad, (2) he loves cherries and cherry-flavored foods and (3) he tells a funny story about a girl he once met named Cherry. As the story goes, he was working as a substitute teacher and saw the name “Cherry Pie” on his roll call sheet. Wanting to avoid embarrassing her, he pronounced her name “Sherry,” thinking that “Cherry Pie” was just too unlikely a name. He quickly learned he was wrong when she shot back a harsh, “It’s Ch-erry Pie” response. Ah well, he had the best of intentions! (He always, always does.)

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! I’m sending out lots of love to my dad for being my mentor in so many ways.

More Sweetness: