# 210: A is for Aprons

A New Year brings the first of an alphabetical series of posts. Today we start with A.

Happy New Year and What’s Up for 2024!

May this year bring you an abundance of love from family and friends, a wealth of health, time and coin to share with those in need, and the gentle warmth of the sun shining down upon you.

This year we will be visiting the letters of the alphabet as in A for Apple, P for Pie, Z for….well, I’m not sure just what Z will be yet, but I’m sure the muse and I will have plenty of discussions on my walks and create something for you.

Today begins with “A”.

A is for Apron

Upstairs in the attic tucked away in a box of photos, there is a one of me from 1960 standing by the Christmas tree wearing my brand new apron, a gift from my grandmother. It was one of those half-style tie around the waist numbers with vertical strips. Standing next to me was a white stuffed poodle wearing a sporty red beret and leash which was a gift from my godfather, and I was also sporting a holster with a cap gun given to me by my aunt and uncle (they wouldn’t dare do that now).

On my well-that-would-be-fun-to-do list is to bring all those boxes of my life downstairs, clear off a big table, and organize them. But, that will be for another day as I am not done making memories and 2024 has already begun with some unexpected wonderful ones that I think I will be savoring for years to come.

A Connection of Hands and Heart

As you may imagine, I’ve spent a great deal of my life in the kitchen…most all of it happy…and aprons have played a part. Many of them hold stories. One of my favorite sessions at the multi-day residential Pie Camps I used to hold, was on Sunday morning at a sharing time called “Aprons with Strings Attached”.

After we had tidied up after breakfast, we gathered once again at long banquet tables that were placed end to end facing the center the room in the dining hall so we could see one another. We brought mugs of tea and coffee, and each camper brought an apron that held history for them or had a story. Over the course of several hours, each pie camper shared their stories…some happy, some so funny that we laughed until tears flowed, and others so sad they brought tears of a different kind. Our hands had bonded at the baking counter but during this session a different type of connection occurred…a connection of the heart. It has been both an honor and privilege to witness and and share in this session over the years.

A Few of My Aprons

Today, I’ll share a few of my aprons and their stories with you. I’ll start with a very favorite.

Baking with Ruth Apron

I call this one my Baking with Ruth Apron…as in Ruth Reichl. Back in 2009 I was invited to be filmed with Ruth as we made pies together. It was to be included in her series Adventures with Ruth, specifically the episode in Seattle and the greater Puget Sound. To commemorate the occasion, I made an apron out of some white raw silk that I had set aside years ago. The pattern of the apron was based on a another favorite that I had found in 2005 at a thrift store in Vermont when I traveled to play music for the wedding of dear friends.

Ruth is a long-time pie-maker and we had a fabulous time sharing favorite pie-baking tips, tricks, and techniques with one another. But what really thrilled me was a special moment we had after the filming. She motioned me into the dinning room and said, “Kate, this has been the most liberating experience. You break every rule and it comes out perfect each time!” Well, since I didn’t go to culinary school, I didn’t know the rules I was breaking. Lots of trial and error over the decades is what has given me the basis of what works and what doesn’t…and what works is what I teach. We’ve stayed in contact over the years and, when she was building a new kitchen in her home, I asked if she might like a new apron for it. Her reply was ‘Yes!’ I photographed some swatches of fabric to choose from that might go with her color scheme and when she had chosen, I set up my sewing machine and created one for her. Now, if I could only find the photo that she sent of her wearing it when she christened her new kitchen!

A is for Apples Apron

Any self-respecting “A” knows that A stands for apples, right? I found the one below at the feed and seed store the next town over from me. Those green and red apples really called out. I wore and wore and wore it for many years before I had aprons with the Art of the Pie logo on them for Pie Camps. I had a motley collection of aprons for pie campers and it was always fun to see who chose which one. The apple apron was always one of the first to be picked.

In the picture below I’m making the recipe Small Birds in a Pie which is based on a recipe from 1378 originally known as—Ok, don’t faint now when I tell you—Tartes of Flesh. In Home Cooking I included an adaption of it layering meat, fowl, eggs, grated cheese, and spices. It’s a good one.

Bon Appétit Julia Apron

It’s not often that you get to hold a knife that belonged to Julia Child and that’s just what I got to do in 2014 on a Pie á la Road teaching trip down and up the west coast of the US from Washington to Southern California. I can’t tell you how many Art of the Pie Day Camps I taught during that 2.5 week trip other than a lot! On a free day in Santa Barbara, I visited Don Skipworth. He and Julia had been friends for many years and before she passed away she gifted a chef’s knife to him. This wasn’t just ANY chef’s knife. This is one that she used on the original WGBH series “The French Chef”! That knife had to weigh in at over three pounds and it was a tremendous honor to use. Here I am apron-ed up in Don’s kitchen, holding this very famous knife, and toasting her.

Bon Appétit, Julia!

Ko Camp Apron

I met Lauren Ko, the author of Pieometry, in 2018. when we were asked by All Recipes to create a pie together in a live broadcast. In the pre-planning conference call I suggested that Lauren teach me her dough and I would teach her a filling. Her reply was, “I don’t have a dough.”

“OK," I said. “Then I’ll teach you my dough and you teach me a filling.” This was met with “I don’t have a filling.”

What to do?

“OK, how about I’ll show you how to make dough and filling, and then you show me how to do one of your tops?”

“That works!” she answered and we had a plan.

When I met her on broadcast day, she shared with me that she had never done a presentation of any sort and was quite nervous. So, we sat down at a table and I shared with her a few of the lessons I learned over the years that might help, especially helpful were some from the all-day training session in Pennsylvania at QVC that I had to pass before I appeared on “In the Kitchen with David Venable” when Art of the Pie was to be released. Where to look, where to place your hands, and how to use them “to sell,” and such. The intense day of training has served me well over the years and I was happy to pass on what I could to Lauren during the short time we had before we went live.

She had also expressed to me that she wanted to teach so after the broadcast finished I invited her to come to a multi-day Pie Camp to learn technique, how to create recipes, and perhaps some teaching skills, too, and a few months later she did. As a thank you, she showed us how to make one of her now signature pie tops which is much easier to make then you might think!

Lauren is holding the cherry pie she made at Pie Camp and I’m in my all time favorite apron with usually has lots of flour on the front…this being no exception.

Kim’s Apron

That blue apron above has the most history for me of any that I have. I found it on the day I traveled to Seattle for the memorial service of my very dear friend Kim. As I had arrived early at the church, I found the gift store and wandered inside to look around. There were candles, scarves, books, and more and when I saw aprons hanging near the store’s front door I went right over as if drawn by a magnet. I picked up the pretty blue one, knew immediately that it was mine, and headed to the counter to buy it. I put it into service the very next day and have worn it so often that it is threadbare in places. If you look carefully you will find cameo appearances of it, along with my lucky red kitchen towel, in the cookbooks I have been so honored to have had published.

On that day at the memorial service, I could clearly see Kim smiling and laughing as she looked down on all of us from her perch in the big round window above the altar. I miss you so much, my friend.

Photo by Leigh Olson of As We Eat

The Recipe for Life Apron

And one last fav that was given to me by a very dear friend last year. You know who you are.  

Now It’s Your Turn

Is there an apron that has a story or special meaning for you? If so, it would be wonderful to hear about it in the comments. AND, if you have a photo, here’s the Chat Thread link where you can post it!

Books, Patterns and More

A few books on aprons and patterns for you.

• The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort
  by EllynAnne Geisel

• Sewing Vintage Aprons: Classic Aprons for Today's Lifestyle
  by Denise Clason

• Gingham Aprons of the '40s & '50s: A Checkered Past
  by Judy Florence

• The Perfect Apron: 35 fun and flirty designs for you to make

  by Rob Merrett

• Child's Cookie Apron
  Full pattern from Folkwear

• No. 8 House Aprons and Caps Original Vintage Woman's Institute Sewing Pattern Book 1920s
  by Mary Brooks Picken

• A very cute apron

What I’m Listening To

Waitress

Here’s the opening scene complete with aprons and pie from Waitress

Link to Full List of Recipes

Your paid subscriptions are much appreciated. They truly do help me to pay my bills and keep the lights on at Pie Cottage. So, if you like this post, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. And to those who already have paid subscriptions, thank you from the bottom of my heart.