Yesterday I celebrated the end of my first school year as a Montessori preschool teacher. Since November I’ve been with a local school that serves 3-6 year olds (and growing!). It’s a bit of a career shift away from Museum Education, but one that I’ve been happy I’ve made every day since I started. The commute is an easy bike ride from our house, the families we serve are lovely, and I adore my two coteachers. It’s been wonderful working with the same students day in and day out, getting to know them as independent and creative people. I feel so lucky to be a part of their lives, and they definitely keep me on my toes!

For our end-of-the-year celebration we had a potluck picnic at Greenfield Lake, a lake in downtown Wilmington that is gorgeous, huge, and home to a fair amount of alligators (Dan saw his first alligator in the wild yesterday!). We gave each student a certificate and a rose (a Montessori tradition), sang songs, and ate as a community. It made me feel so thankful for this Wilmington family we’ve been welcomed into. We’ve only been here 7 months and yet this feels more like home than I could have ever imagined.

For the celebration pie I was able to get my hands on local wildflower honey, local strawberries, and local blueberries. The pie was so simple but the flavor was overwhelmingly honey. It was the perfect Spring dessert- light, bursting with flavor, and just sweet enough.

Honey Pie

crust:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

Pinch of ginger

Pinch of cinnamon

1/4 cup shortening

1 stick butter

1/2 cup cold water

filling:

1 cup wildflower honey

3 eggs

3 tbsp flour

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

topping:

2 pints strawberries

2 pints blueberries

3 tbsp wildflower honey

Stir together dry ingredients for flour. Work in shortening. Cube butter and work it in with your hands until the texture of the dough is like coarse cornmeal. Stir in water, a little at a time, until a ball forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Melt butter. Mix together butter, honey, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add flour and salt.

Roll the dough out and press into a pie dish. Heat the oven to 400 and pour the filling into the crust. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes and then drop to 350 for an additional 50 minutes. Pie should be golden brown. Let rest for 2 hours or until center has firmed.

Hull and halve strawberries. Toss berries in honey and spread over pie once set.

Slice and serve.