WHB #111 : I’ll Miss You Adrienne Shelly Pie
Despite strawberries being available all year round in this country, I usually only allow myself to buy them for personal consumption, around this time of the year when the weather starts to get warmer. Out of season, strawberries are like fake jewels : bloated and glistening, but so lacking in quality and flavour. One of my favourite memories of visiting Melbourne as a child, is of picking tiny knobbly strawberries from the garden of the house we stayed in, and eating them dipped in demerara sugar. Hopefully the fact that they are naturally high in fibre, potassium and vitamin C, would have negated the effect of all that added sugar. No harm done so far, is all I can say.
For Kalyn’s WHB this week, I’m combining strawberries with custard in a mini pie I’m calling, “I’ll Miss You Adrienne Shelly Pie”.
I recently watched Waitress, and will mourn the loss of Adrienne Shelly. She was in one of my all time favourite movies, Trust by Hal Hartley, and I didn’t realise she had since become a film maker herself.
Waitress is a beautiful film. An homage to the inner strength of a woman, Jenna, who is unhappy, pregnant and stuck in a loveless marriage to a husband who mistreats and doesn’t understand her. She works at a diner, where she makes amazing pies inspired by her life. Take for example, “I Hate My Husband Pie… You take bittersweet chocolate and don’t sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel” or “I Can’t Have No Affair Because It’s Wrong And I Don’t Want Earl To Kill Me Pie… Vanilla custard with banana. Hold the banana.”
For I’ll Miss You Adrienne Shelly Pie, take a blind baked tart shell and fill with orange liqueur spiked custard cream. Top with fresh strawberries glazed with Pinot Noir jelly. Like the film Waitress, or Adrienne Shelly herself, these pies are sweet, light and uncomplicated, with an unexpected depth that resonates a long time after it’s (she’s) gone.
(Adrienne Shelly 1966-2006)
Kalyn said,
December 3, 2007 @ 12:48 am
I loved that movie too. What a tragedy that she died so young. I agree that out of season strawberries are not worth noticing, but when they’re in season, wow. Your pie sounds delicious!
Laurie Constantino said,
December 3, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
We were just talking about Shelly’s death this morning — it is so sad. I’m glad she got to make Waitress, a wonderful movie, before she died. Your pie is a worth tribute.
Y said,
December 3, 2007 @ 8:25 pm
I was shocked to hear about her death and to read about how she had died. It further reminds us about how fleeting and fragile life is.
Susan from Food Blogga said,
December 3, 2007 @ 10:30 pm
Thank you for reminding all of us about life’s preciousness.