“The waltz held the feeling you get when you finish a well-loved book. It left me longing for something I couldn't name.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“You should always do what you can to make life sweeter.’” “Amen to that,”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Dusk had fallen, and when I stepped outside, I was drawn to the light spilling from the barn, golden and inviting. I poked my head in. Margaret had outdone herself. The long tables were covered in cream linen. Squash-colored tapers stood tall in sparkling silver candelabras. Fat bouquets of sunflowers, goldenrod, and black-eyed Susans stuffed into mason jars were surrounded by tiny pumpkins and crab apples. I looked up to see a thousand white Christmas lights hanging from the rafters. The whole room glowed.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“There is no better compliment you can pay a baker than to tell her she has made you gain weight.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“The waltz held the feeling you get when you finish a well-loved book. It left me longing for something I couldn’t name.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“I might have escaped the pressures of growing up in a large family, but I suspected that there were some things you could learn only from living with parents whose love was an active, living thing.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Not making a decision is making a decision.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“1. Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Make sure there is enough room for a tall pie—you may need to remove a rack. 2. Remove the dough discs from the refrigerator and set aside. 3. In a large skillet, melt the butter. When the butter is sizzling, toss in the apples and stir so they are coated in the butter. Cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. If you do not have a pan large enough, you can do this in two batches. 4. Remove the apples from the skillet (but not the liquid from the pan) and put them in a large bowl. Toss the apples in the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. 5. Brush the inside of the bottom crust with the beaten egg white. Pile the sautéed apples into the crust, then cover with the remaining dough disc. Trim the crusts, then pinch them together. Using your thumbs and index fingers, crimp the crust edge into a pretty pattern. Slice air vents into the top crust. I like to leave my crusts plain, but you can brush the crust with an egg wash (if you like it shiny) or milk (if you like it brown and soft). 6. Turn the oven down to 375˚ F. Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet, and bake until the crust is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 50–60 minutes. 7. Let cool completely before serving.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“But you made it for Dotty. You should keep it in the family,' I said.

Henry took my hands in his and leaned toward me. 'That’s what I’m doing.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“It’s not what happens to you but how you respond to it that matters.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“I still felt like something was missing. I didn’t want Martin to have to know that the pain never goes away, that it just becomes a part of who you are.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Double Crust Pie Dough Ingredients 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter 3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening (like Crisco) 6 (or more!) tablespoons ice water”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Instructions 1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt, butter, and vegetable shortening until the mixture looks golden and resembles coarse cornmeal. 2. Pour the flour mixture into a large bowl. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, lightly fluffing the mixture with your fingers. Add ice water to the mixture until the dough just begins to come together. (I always mix the water by hand so I have more control.) If you are not sure, try squeezing a little of the dough together in your hand. If it clumps, you are done. 3. Gather the dough into a ball, divide it into two pieces, then flatten the pieces into discs. Wrap the discs in plastic and put them in the refrigerator to rest for at least 1 hour. 4. Roll out the two pieces of pie dough. There are two main tricks to rolling out pie dough: One is to not use too much flour—you can always add a bit more if the dough is sticking to the table, but you can’t take it away. The other is to never roll the dough out using a back-and-forth motion. Always work from the center and roll out. That will keep you from working the gluten too much. Use one dough disc to line a 9" deep-dish pie pan. Place the second rolled-out dough on a cookie sheet. Place both discs back in the refrigerator to rest.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Now onto the filling! Ingredients 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into ¼-inch thick wedges (I like to use a mixture of mostly Cortland and McIntosh apples, with 1 or 2 Granny Smith thrown in for tartness and texture) ¾ cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1 egg white, for the crust bottom Instructions”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Only a couple of weeks in the country and I was getting dangerously close to becoming what all chefs loathed—a vegetarian.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“People can have more than one dream, dear,” she said. “And it’s not for you to decide which one they should follow. Tell the truth and step aside, I always say.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“You asked me what I thought about our friendship.'

I nodded, wide-eyed.

'It makes me feel like I’m home.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“You should always do what you can to make life sweeter.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“I spent the day stripping the purple out of my hair and redyeing it—Manic Panic Electric Tiger Lily. The jar promised it would glow under a black light, but somehow I didn’t think the grange hall was going to turn the lights off and get funky.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Welcome to Guthrie.'

'What do you mean?' I asked.

'Where everybody knows everything but no one says a word.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Margaret cleared her throat. 'Now, how long have you been baking?'

'For twelve years. Since I graduated from the CIA.'

'You learned to bake from the government?' She scowled.

'No, no, it’s a culinary school in New York.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“Sharp-nosed and thin-lipped, with dark eyes framed by black plastic eyeglasses, haircut and shave long overdue. He felt familiar. Then I realized I was remembering a man in a Walker Evans photograph taken during the Dust Bowl.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends For everything Thy goodness sends.”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living

“If you want to use all shortening, the trick is to baste the crust with butter afterward,”
― Louise Miller, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living