Pies & Pinecones

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Speaker 1 The holidays can be a lot, can't they?

Speaker 1 For business owners, especially, this time of year can go from cozy to chaotic. Fast.

Speaker 1 I remember my first holiday rush. I was so worried something would break.
The website, the checkout, my own brain.

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Speaker 1 Sign up for your free trial today at shopify.com/slash nothingmuch.

Speaker 1 That's shopify.com/slash nothing nothing much.

Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good

Speaker 1 and then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I read and write

Speaker 1 all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week. And this week we are giving to the Movember Foundation.

Speaker 1 They are more than mustaches folks. They are taking on men's physical, emotional, and mental health globally.

Speaker 1 Learn more in our show notes.

Speaker 1 So my listeners, I've been working on something special

Speaker 1 to help you unwind both in mind and body.

Speaker 1 It's a weighted pillow. It's made just for us by Quiet Mind.

Speaker 1 Now, how many times have you heard me say that busy minds need a place to rest?

Speaker 1 Quiet Mind answered. I have one on my lap right now.

Speaker 1 I use one whenever I record.

Speaker 1 The gentle pressure keeps me grounded in my body and cues my nervous system to relax and rebuild. These are the perfect holiday gifts for Nothing Much Happens fans.
I picked the color myself.

Speaker 1 And the first hundred orders will get two free months of our Premium Plus podcast subscription. You can order now through the link in our bio.

Speaker 1 As always,

Speaker 1 I have a story to tell you.

Speaker 1 And just by listening,

Speaker 1 we'll accomplish two things.

Speaker 1 We'll send you off to Dreamland now

Speaker 1 and we'll train your brain to respond more readily to these cues over time.

Speaker 1 Sounds good, right?

Speaker 1 Just follow along with the sound of my voice and the simple shape of the tale.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice

Speaker 1 and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night,

Speaker 1 try thinking back through any bit of the story that you can remember

Speaker 1 or just press play again. You'll drop right back off.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called Pies

Speaker 1 and Pine Cones.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about an upcoming adventure dreamt up in front of a fire.

Speaker 1 It's also about a drawing spotted in the paper, a fence with a shared gate between yards, deep breaths, a shelf full of cookbooks, and delicious plans.

Speaker 1 Okay,

Speaker 1 lights out, campers.

Speaker 1 It's time.

Speaker 1 Snuggle down

Speaker 1 and get as comfortable as you can.

Speaker 1 Let your shoulders and neck relax.

Speaker 1 Notice your feet,

Speaker 1 your hands,

Speaker 1 the muscles on your face,

Speaker 1 all softening.

Speaker 1 Now take a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth.

Speaker 1 Nice.

Speaker 1 Do that one more time. Inhale

Speaker 1 and release.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 3 Pies

Speaker 1 and pine Cones

Speaker 1 I read about it in the village news

Speaker 1 at the end of October.

Speaker 1 Learn to make pies for the holidays with our very own baker, the ad said.

Speaker 1 There was a little illustration of a pie with a prettily trimmed top

Speaker 1 and perfectly crimped crust, and my my mouth had watered just looking at it.

Speaker 1 The class was a few hours long,

Speaker 1 would be held at the bakery in the evening when they were normally closed,

Speaker 1 and promised to send us home with confidence, skills, and two baked pies each.

Speaker 1 I'd been standing in my kitchen, my hip leaned against the counter,

Speaker 1 as a cup of tea steeped beside me,

Speaker 1 and I'd quickly looked out the window into the back yard

Speaker 1 to see if my neighbor behind me was home.

Speaker 1 The lights were on in his kitchen.

Speaker 1 We'd grown up in these houses,

Speaker 1 and been friends since we were kids.

Speaker 1 We went between our homes so often

Speaker 1 that we'd actually had a gate installed in the fence that separated our yards so we could skip walking around to each other's front doors.

Speaker 1 We both had a passion for food,

Speaker 1 for cooking,

Speaker 1 for eating,

Speaker 1 and for discovering new recipes.

Speaker 1 So before I phoned the bakery to reserve a spot for myself,

Speaker 1 I thought I'd better check in with him to see if I should book two rather than one.

Speaker 1 I tucked the newspaper under my arm and took the tea bag from my cup to drain in the sink.

Speaker 1 You know that old saying saying about how good fences make good neighbors?

Speaker 1 Well, even for neighbors who installed a shared gate, it was still true.

Speaker 1 So we usually messaged each other before we crossed into the other person's yard.

Speaker 1 I sent him one that said,

Speaker 1 meet in the yard?

Speaker 1 Very important issue to discuss.

Speaker 1 After a minute, I saw him stepping out of his back door

Speaker 1 and then saw his reply come through.

Speaker 1 Let me guess.

Speaker 1 You saw the ad for the pie class?

Speaker 1 Whatever, I mumbled as I reached for my tea.

Speaker 1 Honestly, pleased that a friend like him knew me so well.

Speaker 1 When I slid my own door open,

Speaker 1 I called out across the yard, Want tea?

Speaker 1 He shook his head, and I strolled out in my slippers to meet him at the fence.

Speaker 1 The air was full of autumn scents,

Speaker 1 dry leaves, cooling earth,

Speaker 1 and it mixed with the cinnamon scent in my cup.

Speaker 1 I handed the newspaper across to him as I sipped, though I knew he'd obviously already seen it.

Speaker 1 Mm-hmm, he murmured as he reread it.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 we obviously need to sign up.

Speaker 1 The real question is, what kind of pies

Speaker 1 do we aspire to create

Speaker 1 I smiled into my cup as I'd been thinking the same thing

Speaker 1 we had been hosting a friends giving meal together for the last several years

Speaker 1 and one of our favorite things about it was the chance it gave us to experiment in the kitchen and try new things

Speaker 1 We figured most Thanksgivings were already full of traditional dishes,

Speaker 1 so ours didn't have to be.

Speaker 1 Our potluck, which

Speaker 1 was by now big enough to fill the community hall on the village square,

Speaker 1 could be a showcase of different flavors,

Speaker 1 fusion recipes, and new ideas.

Speaker 1 And while pie was a traditional dish for sure,

Speaker 1 we could certainly take the knowledge we gleaned from the baker

Speaker 1 and add in our own twist.

Speaker 1 I'll call now and save our spots, he said.

Speaker 1 And I raised my mug in toast to the idea.

Speaker 1 As he turned to go back to his home, he called over his shoulder,

Speaker 1 have fun going through all your cookbooks.

Speaker 1 I chuckled, turning back myself.

Speaker 1 Boy, he did know me well.

Speaker 1 That was my first thought.

Speaker 1 As much as I loved to invent,

Speaker 1 I found that first

Speaker 1 I liked a little bit of inspiration.

Speaker 1 I went to the books that I knew worked, the trusted recipes that I relied on

Speaker 1 to understand the basics of flavor and technique.

Speaker 1 There was a chill that followed me through the yard

Speaker 1 and up to my door, and it shivered through me as I reached for the knob.

Speaker 1 A good night for a fire, I thought.

Speaker 1 And coming in to set my mug on the kitchen table,

Speaker 1 I went into the garage for some logs.

Speaker 1 I know a lot of folks like a gas fire. It's so convenient and fast.

Speaker 1 You flip a switch, and you've got instant warmth and atmosphere.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 I prefer a wood fire.

Speaker 1 It takes some skill and time to build,

Speaker 1 but it's a satisfying chore,

Speaker 1 and nothing beats the smell of wood smoke.

Speaker 1 I usually started by sweeping out the old ashes into a can.

Speaker 1 But since this was my first fire of the year,

Speaker 1 and a good fireplace cleaning was always part of my own spring cleaning, I had a blank canvas, so to speak.

Speaker 1 I took the rest of the village paper, having already read the most essential piece of news in it,

Speaker 1 and crumpled the individual pages and made a sort of bed of them to lay my kindling on.

Speaker 1 I'd been collecting pine cones through the year and had a milk crate full of them beside the grate.

Speaker 1 They were dry,

Speaker 1 and their thin woody scales made for excellent fire starters.

Speaker 1 I set them strategically on the paper,

Speaker 1 then carefully propped the smaller, thinner logs into a frame over all of it.

Speaker 1 Fires need air.

Speaker 1 If you pile everything

Speaker 1 too densely,

Speaker 1 it will suffocate the flames.

Speaker 1 It was a comparison my yoga teacher often cited during class,

Speaker 1 especially on cold days as we worked to build some heat in our bodies.

Speaker 1 That fires need oxygen, so to breathe deeply as we moved.

Speaker 1 Just thinking of it led me to take some deeper breaths,

Speaker 1 and I stopped with a long match in my hand,

Speaker 1 pausing before striking it just to drink in this moment.

Speaker 1 The daylight was going

Speaker 1 and I had a few small lamps on

Speaker 1 It made the room feel cozy

Speaker 1 and soft

Speaker 1 I could see through the kitchen window the light on in my friend's home

Speaker 1 We had an adventure to look forward to

Speaker 1 and in a few minutes my living room would be full of flickering light and the scent of burning logs.

Speaker 1 I'd brew a fresh cup of tea,

Speaker 1 take a stack of cookbooks down from the shelf,

Speaker 1 and curl up on the couch,

Speaker 1 ready to be inspired.

Speaker 1 Pies

Speaker 1 and pine cones.

Speaker 1 I read about it in the village news

Speaker 1 at the end of October

Speaker 1 Learn to make pies for the holidays

Speaker 1 with our very own baker,

Speaker 1 the ad said.

Speaker 1 There was a little illustration of a pie

Speaker 1 with a prettily trimmed top

Speaker 1 and perfectly crimped crust,

Speaker 1 and my mouth had watered

Speaker 1 just looking at it.

Speaker 1 The class was a few hours long,

Speaker 1 would be held at the bakery in the evening when they were normally closed,

Speaker 1 and promised to send us home with confidence,

Speaker 1 skills,

Speaker 1 and two baked pies each.

Speaker 1 I'd been standing in my kitchen.

Speaker 1 My hip leaned against the counter

Speaker 1 as a cup of tea steeped beside me

Speaker 1 and I'd quickly looked out the window

Speaker 1 into the backyard

Speaker 1 to see if my neighbor behind me was home.

Speaker 1 The lights were on in his kitchen.

Speaker 1 We'd grown up in these houses

Speaker 1 and been friends since we were kids.

Speaker 1 We went between our homes so often

Speaker 1 that we'd actually

Speaker 1 had a gate

Speaker 1 installed in the fence

Speaker 1 that separated our yards

Speaker 1 so we could skip walking around

Speaker 1 to each other's front doors.

Speaker 1 We both had a passion for food,

Speaker 1 for cooking,

Speaker 1 for eating,

Speaker 1 and for discovering new recipes.

Speaker 1 So before I phoned the bakery to reserve a spot for myself,

Speaker 1 I thought I'd better check in with him

Speaker 1 to see if I should book two

Speaker 1 rather than one.

Speaker 1 I tucked the newspaper under my arm

Speaker 1 and took the tea bag from my cup to drain in the sink.

Speaker 1 You know that old saying

Speaker 1 about

Speaker 1 how good fences

Speaker 1 make good neighbors?

Speaker 1 Well, even for neighbors who installed a shared gate,

Speaker 1 it was still true.

Speaker 1 So we usually messaged each other before we crossed into the other person's yard.

Speaker 1 I sent him one that said,

Speaker 1 meet in the yard?

Speaker 1 Very important issue to discuss.

Speaker 1 After a minute,

Speaker 1 I saw him stepping out of his back door

Speaker 1 and saw his reply come through.

Speaker 1 Let me guess,

Speaker 1 you saw the ad for the pie class?

Speaker 1 Whatever, I mumbled as I reached for my teacup,

Speaker 1 honestly pleased that a friend like him knew me so well.

Speaker 1 When I slid my own door open,

Speaker 1 I called out across the yard

Speaker 1 Want tea?

Speaker 1 He shook his head,

Speaker 1 and I strolled out in my slippers

Speaker 1 to meet him at the fence.

Speaker 1 The air was full of autumn scents,

Speaker 1 dry leaves,

Speaker 1 cooling earth,

Speaker 1 and it mixed with the cinnamon scent in my cup.

Speaker 1 I handed the newspaper across to him as I sipped,

Speaker 1 though I knew he'd obviously already seen it.

Speaker 1 Mm-hmm,

Speaker 1 he murmured as he reread it.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 we obviously need to sign up.

Speaker 1 The real question is,

Speaker 1 what kind of pies

Speaker 1 do we aspire to create?

Speaker 1 I smiled into my cup as I'd been thinking the same thing.

Speaker 1 We'd been hosting a Friendsgiving meal together for the last several years.

Speaker 1 And one of our favorite things about it

Speaker 1 was the chance it gave us

Speaker 1 to experiment in the kitchen

Speaker 1 and try new things.

Speaker 1 We figured most Thanksgivings

Speaker 1 were already full of traditional dishes,

Speaker 1 so

Speaker 1 ours didn't have to be.

Speaker 1 Our potluck,

Speaker 1 which was by now

Speaker 1 big enough to fill the community hall on Village Square,

Speaker 1 could be a showcase of different flavors,

Speaker 1 fusion recipes,

Speaker 1 and new ideas.

Speaker 1 While pie was a traditional dish for sure,

Speaker 1 we could certainly take the knowledge we gleaned from the baker

Speaker 1 and add in our own twist.

Speaker 1 I'll call now

Speaker 1 and save our spots, he said.

Speaker 1 And I raised my mug to toast the idea.

Speaker 1 As he turned back to his home, he called over his shoulder,

Speaker 1 have fun going through all your cookbooks.

Speaker 1 I chuckled, turning back myself.

Speaker 1 Boy,

Speaker 1 he did know me well.

Speaker 1 That was my first thought.

Speaker 1 As much as I loved to invent,

Speaker 1 I found that first

Speaker 1 I liked a little inspiration.

Speaker 1 I went to the books

Speaker 1 that I knew worked,

Speaker 1 the trusted recipes that

Speaker 1 I relied on

Speaker 1 to understand the basics

Speaker 1 of flavor

Speaker 1 and technique.

Speaker 1 There was a chill that followed me through the yard

Speaker 1 and up to my door,

Speaker 1 and it shivered through me

Speaker 1 as I reached for the knob.

Speaker 1 A good night for a fire, I thought.

Speaker 1 And coming in, set my mug on the kitchen table

Speaker 1 and went into the garage for some logs.

Speaker 1 I know a lot of folks like a gas fire.

Speaker 1 So convenient

Speaker 1 and fast.

Speaker 1 Flip a switch, and you've got

Speaker 1 instant warmth, an atmosphere.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 I prefer a wood fire.

Speaker 1 It takes some skill and time to build,

Speaker 1 but it can be a satisfying chore.

Speaker 1 And nothing beats the smell of wood smoke.

Speaker 1 I usually started by sweeping out the old ashes into a can.

Speaker 1 But since this was my first fire of the year,

Speaker 1 and a good fireplace cleaning was always part of my spring cleaning,

Speaker 1 I had a blank canvas,

Speaker 1 so to speak.

Speaker 1 I took the rest of the village paper,

Speaker 1 having already read the most essential piece of news in it,

Speaker 1 and crumpled the individual pages

Speaker 1 and made a sort of bed of them

Speaker 1 to lay my kindling on.

Speaker 1 I'd been collecting pine cones through the year,

Speaker 1 and then had a milk crate full of them beside the grate.

Speaker 1 They were dry,

Speaker 1 and their thin woody scales

Speaker 1 made for excellent fire starters.

Speaker 1 I set them strategically

Speaker 1 on the paper,

Speaker 1 then carefully propped the smaller thinner logs into a frame

Speaker 1 over all of it

Speaker 1 fires need air

Speaker 1 if you pile everything

Speaker 1 too densely

Speaker 1 it will suffocate the flames

Speaker 1 It was a comparison my yoga teacher often cited during class,

Speaker 1 especially on cold days,

Speaker 1 as we worked to build some heat into our bodies.

Speaker 1 The fires need oxygen.

Speaker 1 So to breathe deeply

Speaker 1 as we moved,

Speaker 1 just thinking of it

Speaker 1 led me to take some deeper breaths.

Speaker 1 I stopped

Speaker 1 with a long match in my hand,

Speaker 1 pausing before striking it

Speaker 1 just to drink in this moment.

Speaker 1 The daylight was going

Speaker 1 and I had a few small lamps on.

Speaker 1 It made the rooms feel cozy and soft.

Speaker 1 I could see through the kitchen window the lights on in my friend's home.

Speaker 1 We had an adventure to look forward to

Speaker 1 And in a few minutes my living room would be full

Speaker 1 of flickering light

Speaker 1 and the scent of burning logs.

Speaker 1 I'd brew a fresh cup of tea,

Speaker 1 take a stack of cookbooks down from the shelf,

Speaker 1 and curl up on the couch,

Speaker 1 ready

Speaker 1 to be inspired.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.