The Poet's Occasional Alternative

The Poet's Occasional Alternative
by Grace Paley
From Begin Again

I was going to write a poem
I made a pie instead      it took
about the same amount of time
of course the pie was a final
draft      a poem would have had some
distance to go      days and weeks and
much crumpled paper

the pie already had a talking
tumbling audience among small
trucks and a fire engine on
the kitchen floor

everybody will like this pie
it will have apples and cranberries
dried apricots in it      many friends
will say      why in the world did you
make only one

this does not happen with poems

because of unreportable
sadnesses I decided to
settle this morning for a re-
sponsive eatership      I do not
want to wait a week      a year      a
generation for the right
consumer to come along

Ratatouille Pie

Pastry for 9-inch deep-dish pie
1/2 lb Jimmy Dean hot sausage
2 cups peeled diced eggplant
1 can diced tomatoes, rinsed and drained
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's seasoning
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk

Brown sausage and drain. Combine sausage and the next eight ingredients; spoon into pie shell.

Combine eggs and milk, stirring well. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

(Adapted from a recipe by Mrs. James A. Tuthill of Virginia Beach, VA, from 1988 Southern Living Annual Recipes)