Random Acts of Pieness

January 23rd is National Pie Day so in anticipation and celebration of this “holiday,” I baked a cherry pie for my husband Paul yesterday (so Betty Crocker of me!).  Although I love to cook I’ve never been much of a baker but have learned over the years to make a couple of delicious baked delights.  Here’s my simple cherry pie recipe:

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 bags frozen sour cherries (I like the Dole brand)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream


In a medium sized bowl, mix together sugar, corn starch, salt, cinnamon and vanilla.  Next, add cherries to the bowl and toss well then add lemon juice and toss some more.  Pour cherry mixture onto pie crust, place top crust on the filling, then brush top crust with cream.  Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil and bake on 375 for 30 minutes. Remove foil and return to baking for another 20-30 minutes, or until pie is bubbly.  Let pie sit for at least an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Here is the finished product.  Fittingly, I’m wearing the “Cherry Pie” Retro Revival apron.  I’ve gone “pie crazy” and sewn up lots of pie aprons -- here are a couple more:

My cherry pie is in a beautiful, ceramic pie plate given to me by my friend Melanie and the pot holders were handmade from a couple of my vintage, 1950’s tablecloths by my friend Renee. Here’s a closer look at the potholders:

The American Pie Council (www.piecouncil.org) suggests many ways to celebrate National Pie Day; here are a few:

1. Perform random acts of pieness by baking a pie for your loved ones.
2. Eat pie.  Whether you make it yourself, buy it at a supermarket or bakery or order it at a restaurant, eat some pie on National Pie Day.
3. Share pie.  If you make or buy a pie, share it.  By its very nature, pie is meant to be eaten with others.
4. Hold a pie night.  Gather family and friends for a pie celebration.  Everyone should bring one homemade pie for the pie buffet.
5. Hold a pie-making contest.  Invite the best pie-makers in town to compete for prizes in various categories and be sure to include the kids.  Ask cooking teachers, pastry chefs and pie lovers to be judges; contact the American Pie Council and receive a sample APC pie judging sheet.
6. Hold a charity pie-throwing or pie-eating contest or a pie auction and donate the proceeds to your local community food bank.
7. Stage kid's pie activities.  Have kids compete in pie-making, pie poetry and pie art contests.
8. Publish pie memories and recipes.  Make pie often and serve them to the next generation.
9. Join the American Pie Council.  Contact the American Pie Council, the only national organization devoted to eating, making, selling, promoting and enjoying pie!

My thanks to one of my favorite customers, Sara Courtemarsh from Santa Clarita, California, for sending me this picture:

How cute is Sara?!  She’s wearing her “Hello Hello Birdie” Retro Revival apron, designed with a nod to the 1940’s; it slips comfortably over her neck and ties at the waist, behind her back.

RETRO REVIVAL’S FIRST BLOG GIVEAWAY – WE HAVE A WINNER….

Thank you all for becoming followers of this blog and many thanks for your comments –I really enjoy hearing from you!  I wrote down the names of all nine participants, placed them in a bowl and Paul drew the winner for me…Congratulations to "Just Mimi"!  Mimi: please email me your address to cindymolitor@yahoo.com so I can ship you this pretty little number this week.

And everyone, please check back next week when I’ll announce the February Retro Revival Blog Giveaway – it’s really cool but will keep you warm (hint, hint).

Why I Use a Shower Cap

My hair is naturally curly and a bit frizzy, especially when it’s exposed to humidity (did I mention I live in Florida where it’s almost always humid?!). Straight haired people have always told me, “You’re so lucky to have curl in your hair,” but like so many people, I want what I don’t have – sleek, shiny, straight hair and I work hard to achieve it. After an hour-plus of shampooing, conditioning, blow drying and flat ironing my hair, it will usually look straight for at least two days so I use a shower cap to keep it dry when I bathe. A well made, waterproof, washable shower cap is an essential part of my beauty routine and I’d really be a frizzy mess without it!

This leads me to think back to the “old” days…remember what our mothers did? Women of that generation would visit their beauty parlor once a week to have their hair washed, dried, set and styled. They’d wear a hair bonnet or shower cap to bed each night and while bathing so that their hairstyle would last all week before going back to the beauty parlor the next week to begin the process all over again! Back in those days, including many years while I was growing up, most households didn’t own hairdryers, electric rollers, and certainly not flat irons. I remember as a very young girl my mother washing my hair in the utility sink in the basement every Saturday then sitting me at the kitchen table under a giant hair dryer like the one pictured below – this was high tech!

It wasn’t until I was a teenager in the late 1970’s that handheld hair dryers became commonplace and I received one for my 15th birthday – what a treat! The first hand held dryer was invented in 1971 and revolutionized the hair industry. No longer did we have to sit under a dryer for long periods of time.

So back to shower caps…how many of you have taken the complimentary shower cap from a hotel stay? And how many of you are embarrassed by how ugly these clear plastic things are? For years I searched, unsuccessfully, for a pretty shower cap until one day I decided to make one for myself. Attacking my unruly stash of fabric scraps I found the perfect, floral cotton material. I cut the fabric into a big circle, lined it with a plastic shower curtain, added coordinating bias tape, a pretty bow and voila, the perfect shower cap! I sewed a couple more models, shared them with friends and family and soon realized, if we all loved these waterproof, washable caps, others would too! Five months later, my Retro Revival shower caps are my best selling product. If you are searching for a pretty and practical shower cap check out the options I offer at www.RetroRevival.Biz. And in the meantime, leave a comment on this blog about why you use a shower cap or your early hair (retro hair dryer products, for example) experiences and you’ll be entered into my first ever GIVEAWAY. I will enter each of your comments and pick one randomly on January 18, 2010 to win this fabulously chic shower cap! If you're not a shower cap user remember that these make excellent gifts.  Can’t wait to hear from you and send you this cap (I only made two of this model from a gorgeous black fabric covered in pretty purses – fabric is long ago discontinued and I can’t buy any more)!