Free The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel Page A

me to make these pies.”
    “I didn’t know that,” I say.
    She nods. “My mother and father had a bakery. Very near the Seine, the river that runs through Paris. I worked there as a girl, just like you do now, Annie. Just like you did when you were a girl, Hope.”
    “You’ve never told us about your parents before,” I say.
    “There are a lot of things I have never told you,” she says. “I thought I was protecting you, protecting myself. But I am losing my memories now, and I fear that if I do not tell you these things, they will be gone forever, and the damage I have done will not be reversed. It is time you know the truth.”
    “What are you talking about, Mamie?” Annie asks, and I can hear worry in her voice. She looks at me, and I know she’s thinking the same thing I am. Mamie’s mind must be clouding over again.
    Before I can say anything, Mamie begins breaking off pieces of the Star Pie and throwing them into the ocean. She’s whispering something under her breath, speaking so softly that I can barely hear her over the roll of the tide into the rocks below.
    “Um, what are you doing, Mamie?” I ask as gently as possible, trying to keep the worry from creeping into my voice.
    “Shhh, child,” she says. Then she goes back to throwing pieces into the water.
    “Mamie, what are you saying?” Annie asks. “It’s not French, is it?”
    “No, dear,” Mamie replies calmly. Annie and I exchange confused looks as Mamie throws the final piece of the pie into the water. She reaches for our hands. “Who is like unto You, O God,” she says in English, “and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
    “What are you saying, Mamie?” Annie asks again. “Is it from the Bible?”
    Mamie smiles. “It is a prayer,” she replies.
    She stares at the evening star for a moment while Annie and I watch her in silence. “Hope,” she finally says. “There is something I need you to do for me.”

Chapter Six

    Rose’s Strudel

    STRUDEL
    INGREDIENTS
    3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into narrow slivers
    1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and shredded
    1 cup raisins
    1 / 2 cup chopped candied orange peel (see recipe below)
    1 cup brown sugar
    2 tsp. cinnamon
    1 / 2 cup slivered almonds
    1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
    1 egg, beaten
    Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling (3 parts sugar mixed with 1 part cinnamon)
    DIRECTIONS
    1. Mix apples, raisins, candied orange peel, brown sugar, and cinnamon in large bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes.
    2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    3. Spread slivered almonds in a thin layer on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 7–9 minutes, until slightly browned. Remove and set aside for 5 minutes until cool enough to touch. Mix into the apple mixture.
    4. Spoon apple mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth and press down with another piece of cheesecloth, to eliminate extra moisture inthe mixture. Leave in cheesecloth-covered colander to drain while you place puff pastry sheet on a greased baking sheet. Roll lightly to expand area of pastry without breaking through the dough.
    5. Spread apple mixture down the middle of the pastry lengthwise and fold the pastry around the mixture, sealing on all sides by using a bit of water on your fingers and pressing edges firmly together.
    6. Brush top of pastry with beaten egg, cut 5 or 6 narrow slivers in the top, and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar.
    7. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until golden brown.
    CANDIED ORANGE PEEL
    INGREDIENTS
    Four oranges
    14 cups water, divided
    2 cups granulated sugar
    DIRECTIONS
    1. Peel all four oranges, taking care to remove the peels whole or in two pieces, if possible.
    2. Cut the peels into thin strips
    3. Boil 6 cups of water, and add the peels to the boiling water. Boil 3 minutes, drain, and rinse the peels, then repeat the same process again. (This gets rid of some of the bitterness of the orange peels.)
    4. Mix remaining 2 cups water with 2 cups sugar and bring to a