My sister recently told me that she heard that the reason we sometimes refer to affluent people as being the "upper crust" is because at one point in time, only those with money could afford a top crust for their homemade pies. When I googled upper crust, I found a lot of restaurants with that name, so I added "expression" and found this explanation at Kidzworld about familiar expressions originating from the 1500's.
Bread was given out according to status. Workers were given the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle and guests got the top or the "upper crust."
Both explanations sound reasonable to me, but I thought my sister's was interesting since I recently made a blueberry pie. The recipe for Aunt Julie's Blueberry Pie came from Veggie Mom's blog, and I found it while reading Melissa's blog, The Scholastic Scribe. Both are great blogs that I have recently added to my "must read" list.
The reason that I am blogging about my pie is that it reminds me of teaching sixth grade math. I used recipes a lot to help my students understand why they really did need to know math. Recipes and menus are real life ways to get the point across. Sometimes for assessment, I had them double recipes or cut them in half. To demonstrate their knowledge of percentages, they had to select menu items, and add on the tax and tip. A lot of times they worked in groups. For final projects, they brought in family recipes and designed their own restaurants, complete with floor plans and menus.
When I bought the ingredients for the pie, I found myself thinking as a sixth grade math teacher. "Okay, how many cups are in a pint?" I asked myself since the blueberries were sold by the pint. Luckily, I remembered.:)
My top crust clearly demonstrates that I am a random person and that the pie is homemade. I'm sure my former math students would probably say something about my uneven top crust since I was a stickler for straight lines, but it tasted mighty good.