Joe: Yup, I can bake pretty well. I'm from the southwest corner of (lower) Michigan, which is a major fruit growing area. I make dang good apple pies and cherry pies and blueberry pies and strawberry pies and peach pies, among other stuff. Yes, I make my crust from scratch -- Crisco and water -- that's all. And as for other stuff - well, I don't bother with cakes all that often, but my apple dumplings are (as described by a fellow that was taking a five from working on the house a few years back) "...the best food I ever ate in my whole life!". I'll send the recipe if you'd like it.
