By Cole's business is growing faster than his original projections. He added four accounts in the fourth quarter, all of them referrals from existing clients, and he's had two inquiries about therapeutic work that he's been referring to me while he studies for the therapeutic shoeing certification on his own. I offered to help him prepare and he's taking me up on it — we've been going through the coursework together on Tuesday evenings, which means I'm reviewing material I know well from the teaching angle rather than the learning angle. The teacher learns more than the student in these situations. That remains true even when the teacher thinks they've already learned the thing.
I turned thirty-seven and a half this week, which isn't a milestone anyone marks, but I mark half-years privately because they're where I am between the anniversaries. Thirty-seven and a half, five years sober, ranch fully mine in practice, twelve therapeutic accounts, seventy posts on RecipeSpinoff, six magazine columns, Tom Whelan's second book in production, a pilot farrier apprenticeship, Cole running his own business, June Hartfield alive and gaining weight and looking at ceiling fans with great philosophical interest. That's not a bad accounting for a man who used to sit in parking lots outside bars deciding not to go in.
Dr. Crain moved to once a month eighteen months ago and I haven't needed more than that in the past year. I've been thinking about whether to move to once a quarter, which she said we could do when I was ready. I'm not sure I'm ready. The work isn't done. But it's in a different phase — maintenance rather than construction. I'll ask her at the February session.
Made a vegetable pot pie with the root vegetables from the pantry — parsnips and turnips and carrots and potatoes under a butter pastry crust. Cold weather food. January food. The right food for a week with no particular news and all the usual work to do.
The pot pie came together the way the week did — nothing dramatic, just the right things in the right order. Parsnips, turnips, carrots, potatoes from the pantry, and a butter pastry crust made from scratch, because that’s the part that earns the rest of it. When you’re doing the accounting of a half-year and the numbers come out decent, you don’t need a celebration recipe — you need the kind of crust that makes ordinary root vegetables worth sitting down for.
Perfect Pie Crust
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min (shell only) | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min (includes chilling) | Servings: 8 (one double crust or two single crusts)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 6–8 tbsp ice water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional, helps tenderness)
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl until evenly mixed.
- Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Those uneven pieces are what make the crust flaky — don’t overwork it.
- Add ice water. Drizzle 6 tablespoons of ice water (and the vinegar, if using) over the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until the dough just begins to come together. Add additional water one tablespoon at a time only if the dough is still crumbly and won’t hold when pressed.
- Form and chill. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press it together gently into two equal discs. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight. Cold dough rolls cleanly and holds its shape in the oven.
- Roll out. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc from the center outward into a roughly 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Fit it into a 9-inch pie dish, pressing gently into the edges without stretching the dough.
- Fill and top. Add your filling — for a vegetable pot pie, that means your cooked root vegetables in a savory sauce. Roll the second disc into a matching circle, drape it over the filling, and crimp the edges together to seal. Cut a few small vents in the top crust to let steam escape.
- Bake. Brush the top crust with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water) for a golden finish. Bake according to your filling recipe — typically 375°F for 40–50 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the vents.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 295mg