CLICK on the picture for the recipe! Colonel Beauford really knew how to bake pies! (he kinda looks familiar)
Laura’s birthday is this month and I would really like to make her a Pecan Pie as it is her favorite… but she might have to satisfy herself with a “Birthday Pecan Torte” as we are both struggling removing the last pesky pounds…well, I have a lot more peskiness than she has to remove.
Which reminds me of an old saying that ” a chef should only taste his work.” It means that a chef – left to their own devices — will create something uniquely wonderful to their own tastes… and consequently be more likely to eat more of it… and we don’t want to have to use ‘apron extenders’ do we?
Yes, there is a lot of wonderful things in this pie… but you can diet another day!
the red is for peppers and the green is for tomatoes ... but first you must BUY them!
Okay, I don’t know what I really expected, but I kinda thought there might be some seeds in the container I bought… but NO… you go out and buy mature plants, high grade potting soil, time released fertilizer and water them every day…and then…. wahoo! Instant tomatoes! So, lets just say that the final price tag for this project is a bit higher than what it shows on the package!
So maybe I am not walking into this ‘fun’ project with the right attitude… but we’ll see how it goes. In the meantime, I am amused.
a real home makes you feel comfortable right when you walk in!
The above picture comes from one of the Harry Potter movies , it is a scene set in the Weasley’s very eccentric but warm and comfortable home. I wrote a blog about how a home should reflect the owners personality — a couple of years ago — and I warned of the evils of ‘feng shui’ that takes all life from a home and turns it into just a house!
In watching the back story of the movie “UP!”, some of the creative staff were joking about studying old people’s homes for authenticity. This sounded pretty funny until I realized that I sounded pretty much like one of the old people being studied! After thinking about it for a while, I began to understand that there is a difference between how people set up their homes. Some people are always thinking about selling their home ( maybe less today than in prior years) and their home always looks sterile and ‘feng shui.’ Some homes are sloppy, disorganized and the victim of some sort of hording maniac; however, this is not what I am talking about. My favorite home to live in or visit tells me about who lives there … and something about their lives: it contains family drawings, stories and messages which are hung proudly; coat hooks are everywhere to grab the stray jacket or visitor’s scarf and cap; the kitchen reflects someone who actually knows how to cook with everything within reach; and drapes pulled open to let in nature’s beauty.
Only someone from a large family understands the naturalness of mismatched chairs at the family dining table.
One doesn’t build a masterpiece of hospitality like the Weasley’s home overnight , one creates its warmth over the stretch of a lifetime as we add to it one beautiful piece at a time … as we age, we are just the same, we add experiences, knowledge and love to our lives.
the latest in a series of opinion pieces... this one reflecting my love of books and building a humble library! CLICK on the above picture to visit abebooks.com
On the subjects of books, I am very found of reading the original works, especially period pieces that talk about the life and times as they were happening. Too often history is rewritten to fit current sensibilities and with no concern for the impressions of the time. It is important to read Shakespeare in the original Klingon after all.
I am also reminded of a story concerning ( I believe) Mark Twain. Mr. Twain was sitting in the back of a large lecture hall in which a professor was delivering a lecture concerning all of the hidden meanings and messages that Mark Twain left for us to find. Patiently he waited until the end and students began to ask questions, Mark Twain stood and said,” I didn’t realize I said all that, sounds very interesting, I’ll have to go back and reread myself.”
In building your own library, you can gain a perspective on a subject and a culture that could all disappear with the flick of a computer switch. There have been times when I have pulled a book off my shelves in a discussion to demonstrate the perspective of the time, not just what someone said it was.
Oh yes, nuts really add something wonderful to an apple pie! ... CLICK on the picture for the basic step-by-step recipe
We’ve had a very strange year around our apple ‘orchard’ ( now two trees). What makes it strange is that normally we have the stove going continuously baking pies and then apple sauce. Two years ago, after making a dozen or so pies, I filled one entire freezer with prepared apple sauce that lasted until about 6 months ago. Laura didn’t complain as home made apple sauce is her favorite snack after dinner.
I rushed this pie out as I had a bunch of things I am preparing for the fall, but I think I am unlikely to get more than one more pie from our trees. Weather does that sort of thing around here. Normally I like to glaze almonds for the top of my pies , but I used what was at hand and I think it will be fine. This pie will go into the freezer for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
