Pie in the Sky

Gastronomic Delights

2012-02-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

We've been enjoying our time together with our far-flung family back in the home nest. Except...that every person in our household (except me) has been getting over sickness or getting sick every single day. Fun times!

When Katie arrived, she and the little guys were getting over a virus they'd been down with at home. Just a few days after her arrival the members of this household began dropping like flies. Soon the house was full of the worst flu of the season and Valentine's Day was celebrated with big pots of chicken noodle soup and hot tea.

Yesterday Katie was feeling well enough to break out of the house for a planned girl's night out in the big city.

We started with a bit of big city shopping. Andrew came along for the ride, as did our friend and Katie's sister-in-law, Loraine (who, as a mom of six, needed a little girl time out).

The special treat of the night was an invitation from Brother Kris to indulge in some fine dining at Blue Hour.

I told the girls how I had walked past this restaurant about ten years ago and peered in the windows, wishing I had the financial means to eat there. I had been reading all the restaurant reviews and knew this was the place to go for a memorable meal.

Because the restaurant was busy, we were treated like family by sitting at the server's meal table near the kitchen where the staff eats family style with the chef every day before the evening bustle begins.

It was actually fun to watch the kitchen and staff in action. We also got to meet the important cogs in the wheel, most notably Chef Thomas, the new chef who left the domain of Wolfgang Puck in Hollywood for the Great Northwest.

My son Kris arranged for food to arrive at our table at regular intervals. He took a moment with each course to explain the composition of the dish.

With her first experience in haute cuisine, Alyssa got to try victuals way outside her comfort food zone.

Here's a poor photo of some fabulous house-made charcuterie that included head cheese, divine foie gras on brioche and (Alyssa's favorite) blood sausage.

This sashimi melted in our mouths with delicate flavors of sea and soy.

The octopus terrine caused trepidation at the table but won everyone over with its deliciousness.

I was too busy eating gnocchi with rabbit ragout, seared scallops and drinking some fine libations to take more photos until.....

Dessert! House-made truffles with surprising flavor varieties.

This was the most amazing, satiny flourless chocolate torte in the universe, with barley ice cream to rival any Italian gelato in Roma. There was no polite leaving of the last bite when spoons dueled over this plate. We almost stormed the kitchen with demands for more.

Kris made the mistake of describing a new dessert of brown butter creme brulee with a garnish of a magically bacony (!) strip of crispy parsnip on top. So he had to bring us one.

Our family times do seem to orbit around good food, at home and abroad. We're so spoiled.

Hearts

2012-02-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

And now for something just a lil' bit different...

Just in time for the day we demonstrate our love for those special people in our lives, some vintage cards that made me both scratch my head and chortle.

Dead rodents= True Love

Love me or you'll be sorry.

Are you sure you want to know?

Our modern cultural sensibilities have changed a bit I think. Do these strike anyone else as being a tad bit violent in their passionate expression?

Even a little stalkerish?

Yes, the flames of desire....

..burning passion...

...hearts on fire...

What is the message exactly?

Are they examining the abused aortas?

Lest you think these cards represent my mood for the day, here's a pretty one.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Be careful with the hearts of those you love!

Evan

2012-02-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

Last year when he came to visit he was just a blue-eyed baby who loved to snuggle, suck his thumb and twirl your hair.

This year he's a very busy toddler.

He still likes to suck his thumb and twirl his own hair but he has many other things to do also.

In just three days he has inspected every drawer and cupboard in Grandma's house that is within his reach, reinspecting as necessary.

He mauls the kitty who tolerates his examinations with patient yet cat-like indifference.

Evan talks a lot- in his own tongue without benefit of an interpreter. He especially likes to pontificate in a loud voice whenever anyone else is reading a book aloud for the benefit of others.

He can be even louder when he doesn't get what he demands.

He is bi-lingual. While speaking only his own language he understands English perfectly. We, on the other hand, can only guess what he is saying.

Shoot! The battery is running low. Need to charge it.

Excuse me guys, I need to take this call.

Dude! Yeah, I'm in town for two more weeks. We need to hang out.

Oh sorry, gotta go. The diaper's getting a bit ripe. Catchya later!

Baby Bonding

2012-02-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

Everyone arrived, safe and sound, though terrifically tired.

The first order of business was simply to get to meet and snuggle the newest member of our family.

Andrew was happy to meet each and every one. Not the least bit hesitant or shy.

Three months old is simply the greatest age!

Precious and sweet, loving to be held and cuddled without end.

Lots of baby bonding going on around here.

His feet will never need to touch the ground. His mama says the only time she'll get to see him is when he's hungry, poopy or crying.

Ready to Occupy

2012-02-06T00:28:00.000-08:00

Remember our little construction project? We tore down an old decrepit section of the house and rebuilt it just a hair larger and certainly much straighter and tighter. Part of that addition is a bedroom.

Our kids have been helping us since the beginning with the demolition. Now they are helping to get it finished on the inside. In November we used this space to seat twenty four people at our Thanksgiving feast. Now, with the help of our kids, it has finished, painted walls....

...a nice floor....

.... and electrical power and lighting!

There is still more to be done but it is fit to be occupied.

Just in time for the arrival of Katie and our three grandsons! They arrive today. It is completely appropriate that Katie is the first guest to occupy this space. When we first came to this shack of a house (built for people of diminutive stature) in 1993, this part of the house had a teeny tiny bedroom that belonged to our oldest daughter. Now it is about three times the size and much more comfy and will be a unique homecoming for her and her own offspring.

Another Excuse to Eat Well

2012-02-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

We're kind of odd Americans in that we don't watch football around here and the Super Bowl passes us by with barely a blink of notice. No one ever invites us to Super Bowl parties because we just don't hang with that kind of crowd. (In fact last year I ignorantly planned a big birthday party for my girls on SB Sunday because, hey, I didn't know any better. Consequently, there were a couple people who didn't come to my party!)

That said, this time of year, days before the game, there are menus and recipes for all kinds of good ol' American party food like hot wings and guacamole everywhere I turn. Now that is something I can get into- party food with a theme that everyone looks forward to as part of the special day. It almost makes me want to throw a Super Bowl party and try to find someone who would come. Almost.

Today I found another excuse to eat on a theme. An Oscar party. With food inspired by the nominees for best picture! I'm sorry, but I just love the fun idea of cooking and eating with a theme like oats and apples in the form of Cranberry Apple Crisp and Oatmeal cookies to honor the movie War Horse, or Cheddar Hot Dogs and Caramel Corn Clusters for the baseball movie Moneyball, crab cakes for the Hawaiian setting of The Descendants and oysters and champagne for Midnight in Paris. Please! Someone throw this party and invite me! Or, I'll throw it and you come and help me cook and eat. Who cares who wins the best picture award, let's just eat good food for fun!

This is one reason why I love the gourmet dinners we have a few times a year with my gourmet cooking friends. We always pick a cuisine and work up a menu that is fun to make together as well as a delightful treat to eat together. At our last meal we made Thai/Vietnamese food and I learned the proper way to make Phad Thai. We'll see if I remember what I learned because Monday is daughter Alyssa's birthday as well as the day Katie and our precious grandson's arrive from Michigan and Alyssa has requested Phad Thai for our celebratory family meal.

So I do have great party food to look forward to, even if not a football game on the side.

Satellite Image of Snow and Ice in the NW

2012-01-31T14:30:00.000-08:00

Interesting perspective on our storm!

Mt. Hood is the white spot in the lower left corner, between the words Portland and Oregon.

The Real and Sad Aftermath

2012-01-30T16:18:00.000-08:00

Ten days ago I blogged about the winter storm we were having. My last post on Thursday the 19th was called "Aftermath" but it was misnamed. The storm wasn't over and there was much more aftermath to come.

The freezing rain continued for another day and two more terrifying nights. I say terrifying because the sounds of trees and limbs falling all around us kept everyone in the valley awake and alert and praying for a warm front to melt the ice and snow. It was emotionally stressful and devastating to think about the destruction the storm was causing.

Our neighbors left their house and their worst fears came true when a limb fell on their home. There were wide spread power outages up and down the Columbia Gorge in both Washington and Oregon. We were spared that inconvenience. Our power did go out about half a dozen times but only for an hour or so. Other people were without power for days as electricians worked around the clock to clear trees and restore power lines.

After another sleepless night of worry we were immensely relieved Saturday morning when the temperature had risen above 40 degrees and things began to thaw. The thumping and rattling sounds on the house were the clumps of snow and ice falling off the trees rather than their branches.

When we finally ventured out, the true aftermath became apparent. The orchards with their carefully pruned trees were spared any damage but everywhere else, tall trees with straight boughs that had been bent over with the weight of snow and ice snapped off in the middle leaving debris along every road and in every yard.

I wonder what this tree will look like in summer with leaves only on the sides.

A beautiful birch in this yard will never be the same.

We've got lots of clean-up to do. That pile of branches from the Douglas fir was created when the top branches fell and took all the lower branches off on the way down. All the limbs on one side of the tree are gone.

The plum tree continued to go to pieces.

Though we have always been Do-It-Yourselfers for many types of jobs, we'll be hiring an arborist to tackle these dangerous dangling limbs.

On top of all this we still have frozen, crusty snow covering the ground, weighing down my ornamental shrubs and breaking my heart as well as their branches.

Spring will be an interesting time.

Lattice Pie Crust How-To

2012-01-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

I made a lattice top blueberry pie for National Pie Day. I know that sometimes weaving dough strips into a lattice pie crust seems intimidating so I thought I'd share my easy method.

(Please pardon the focus problems with some of these photos. Between learning how to use the features of my new camera and my deteriorating eyesight my photos are not coming out the way I intend!)

It's a good thing to keep in mind that a lattice top pie, because of its open spaces, is more likely to have the filling bubble or leak out. Apple pie is an excellent filling for lattice top because it tends to be less juicy and runny. Sometimes. Though I knew this perfectly well, I still chose very juicy blueberries for my filling (because my freezer is full of them!)

For a blueberry pie I always squeeze the juice of one lemon over the berries to add some acidity for a bright flavor. Lots of good butter adds richness to the juices.

For the lattice strips I roll the top crust out as I would for a closed crust pie.

I cut the dough into strips. For this pie I varied the width of the strips, inspired by a pie design made by my daughter, Katie. Start the weaving of the lattice by taking two strips from the middle of the dough circle, they will be the longest length. The outer, shorter strips will be used for weaving the outer edges of the pie.

Lay them on the pie, crossing in the middle.

Fold back one side of the strip that is underneath the other. Take another strip of dough and lay that alongside the unfolded strip and perpendicular to the folded strip.

Lay the folded end back down in place. Lay another strip over it, alongside the other two.

Now the method here is to fold back one side of all the strips that are under other strips, lay a strip perpendicular to the folded strip and then lay the folded one back down over the new strip. The pie can be rotated to do each side, working from the center out, folding back "under" strips to lay new strips perpendicular to the folded ones. Does that make sense?

So here are all the "under" strips folded up. I'll lay another strip there, fold the strips back down flat and fold the next set of "under" strips up and repeat.

Please tell me if you feel like your head is about to explode.

When all the strips have been laid and woven the pie should look something like this. If it doesn't....so what. It's only pie and it will still taste great!

At this point I don't trim any of the ends off, I roll and shape them into a raised edge around the pie and then flute it. All that edging dough is needed to build up a dam that will keep those runny juices in the pie as much as possible. If there is an area that is a little short, pull off a bit of the longer, extra bits and transfer to the short part.

Just like any other pie, I brush the dough with an egg wash (a beaten egg with a tablespoon of water) and sprinkle with some sugar for a bit of sweet crunch.

My finished pie is a bit over-baked because I took a walk while it was in the oven and failed to return before it was finished. See- these things happen to experienced pie makers too.

Try a lattice top pie sometime. It's easier than it looks!

Let's Eat Pie!

2012-01-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Today, according to the American Pie Council, is National Pie Day. Therefore, I think it is fitting that I write a post about pie. And then make some pie. And then, of course....eat some pie!

Pie is a traditional food that has been around for centuries. Even millenia- some historians think that it goes back to the Greeks and Romans. Pie was certainly made in medieval Europe and colonial America and appears in many forms in other cultures around the world. The historical pie that I speak of is the classic two crust pie.

The crust of pie served an important purpose in the days before baking dishes and storage containers. The crust of old was very thick, one or two inches often, and was intended to completely encase and contain the contents for baking and for storage. It wasn't called a crust in those days but the coffyn. The pie could be baked without a pan and stored on a shelf for a future meal. The filling of the pie could be anything but was usually meat and even fish (or eel!). Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie? That was not as odd sounding when composed as it is today. Whole birds, feet and all, were often baked into a fancy crust for royalty. Pigeon pie was a popular dish of the elite because pigeons were scarce and could only be eaten by the privileged. It wasn't until later that fruit and sweet fillings began to be used in pies.

Pie was an early travel food in the form of hand pies and pasties. Immigrants from Cornwall brought their traditional food to northern Michigan with them. Cornish pasties, a hand pie filled with meat and vegetables was their daily lunch meal when they worked in the copper mines in the Upper Pennisula. Today there are restaurants and food stands that sell these Cornish pasties for a taste of the old days.

Sadly, today, the two crust traditional pie is not as ubiquitous in American kitchens. I believe this is because the technique of making a crust and forming a closed pie is not taught from generation to generation and is being forgotten. It is much easier to crush cookies and press them into a pie dish. Filling it with pudding and whipped cream doesn't need a teacher. That kind of pie is delicious and has its place in our food catalogue but it is a poor replacement for the traditional two crust pie. The prevalence of bland and bad tasting factory pie is erasing the memories of what pie should taste like.

So in honor of our American food heritage and National Pie Day, I am going to make pie today. How about you? If you need tips or tricks to help you with the challenge of making crust, check my posts under Pie in the sidebar. You will find recipes and links to help with the task. Your effort will be rewarded with not only a delicious, hand made dish, but in the satisfaction of participating in one of our longest held comfort food traditions.

And if you do make pie today, I'd love to hear about it!

Aftermath

2012-01-19T22:57:00.000-08:00

Freezing rain. All night.

Numerous times during the night I woke to the sound of gunshots, followed by the tinkling of fireworks.

Freezing rain has continued all day. We're afraid to go outside because the trees all around us at any moment will emit a loud crack followed by limbs raining to the ground in a puff of snow and ice. When the boys were out doing morning chores a branch came down near Samuel who came running into the house vowing to stay indoors all day.

This is one of our ancient plum trees. (The yellow plum, kids!)

Every upright bough of this old oak tree has been snapped off at the top.

We have a bit of clean-up to do. And it's only been one day. We fear there are more downfalls to come.

This is the branch of a big Douglas Fir where the kids had their swing. It was taken out by another falling limb.

I was sad to see my magnolia encased in ice. This tree was given to me by my late father-in-law many years ago when it was a tiny sapling. It was one of the first things I planted when we came to this property.

And I was too late. I should have knocked the snow off of it yesterday.

I'll have to do some significant pruning on it come spring.

Snow Day

2012-01-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

Winter Wonderland Part 2!

We woke up to even more snow this morning. A total of about two feet has blanketed our area.

Even our backyard, under the dense canopy of several tall spreading Douglas fir trees, has a covering. The branches of the firs are weighted heavily with the snow.

My car is in there somewhere.

Have you ever heard the ---swoosh, rumble, ffwwwumpfff---- of snow sliding off a metal roof?

Unfortunately, as often happens here in the Northwest the last few years, a warm front coming off the south Pacific followed the snow storm. The snowfall changed to misty rain and the forecast is for lots more rain for the next week. Our beautiful snow blanket turned into heavy wet snow.

Anticipating the snow cement to come we worked at clearing our way out.

This is the third time in twenty four hours that the driveway was plowed out and it was tough. Two vehicles had to be towed out of their snowbanks. With the snow clinging to every tree branch and twig the rain will cause a lot of damage as the wet snow pulls down limbs. We are expecting flooding, mud slides and land slides and possible power outages (we had a short one today.) In 1995 we had a similar weather pattern here. After several landslides that affected the highways we were cut off for a while from the outside world. Our water source on the mountain was damaged by a mud slide and we were even without water for several days.

We have plenty of firewood and food so we'll hunker down and see what happens!

Riding a Cold Wave

2012-01-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

Even with the photo oriented correctly (heh heh) these are some craaazy icicles.

Cool! Huh?

It's a Puzzlement

2012-01-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

Can you figure it out?

Winter Wonderland

2012-01-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

Finally, on the 15th of January.... it happened.

Snow.

There is nothing like the first winter wonderland of the season. It is always special.

By March or so, no one enjoys them as much as the first one.

My husband and I took a late night walk while the snow softly fell. We've done that many times but it has been quite a while since the last one.

In the morning I took my new camera out to get some shooting practice in the clean and sparkling air. I took these photos around my neighborhood.

I love my rhodies. They are always ready for spring at a moment's notice.

Do you remember our kitten? She's turning into a great mouser.

The boys are thrilled that there are about two more days of this in the forecast.

Busy Work

2012-01-12T15:41:00.000-08:00

Giving birth to and spending a long chunk of your life raising a passel of boys is a good thing.

I highly recommend it.

Because boys are very useful human beings. Despite their tendencies for muddy footwear, voracious appetites, noisy movies and language unrefined, I like having them around.

Thank you, guys! You make your mama's (and daddy's) life easier (and better) every day.

Refrigerator Art

2012-01-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

Frosty

2012-01-08T23:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend I had a wedding cake to make. The bridal couple requested sugar frosted leaves to give their January wedding cake a wintery look.

I had never made a cake with frosted leaves though I was familiar with the easy technique. I love new ideas for decorating cakes!

I got some nice leaves in different shapes from a local florist. I asked for unsprayed, green-grown leaves.

The method of frosting leaves or flowers (or fresh fruit!) simply requires brushing the surface with an egg white wash (two egg whites and two tablespoons of water beaten together). The egg wash is sufficiently sticky for the sugar and dries hard and clear. Nature's glue.

A sprinkling of fine sugar....

Frost!

After a few hours drying on a rack the sugar stayed in place perfectly.

I was pleased with the results and so was the bridal couple.

Trifling with Cake Scraps

2012-01-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

Whenever I make a wedding cake I always have piles of cake scraps left over. They are the remnants from leveling the tops of each cake.

In the summer, when I do three or four wedding cakes a week, there are mountains of cake scraps in the kitchen. And my family thinks they need to eat all of it. They'll gladly eat the cake plain, grabbing bits and bites whenever they walk through the kitchen leaving a trail of cake crumbs wherever they go.

But sometimes they get lucky and there will be leftover cake filling and icing too. In this case that's lemon curd and lemon cream.

I take the leftover cake bits and throw them in a bowl, layering them with whatever is available- cake filling, fresh fruit, jam and my light cream icing.

It ain't purty but I've never heard anyone complain about that. It's a good thing there are going to be lots of cousins and extra people around here this weekend because lemon curd is my favorite and this is not a good thing to have around when I'm still trying to work off my holiday hips.

Unidentified Flying Objects

2012-01-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

My dad always said that the best gifts are homemade.

This year's best Christmas gift was homemade by an uncle who has retired to his wood shop and enjoys applying his skills to the unique and unusual. After teaching school for thirty years he also knows just what will engage kids in a thoughtful and fun way.

In this case, that is with a trebuchet. What is more fun and engaging to boys of all ages than weaponry?

Thank goodness it's miniature weaponry (unlike the enormous potato gun that appeared under the tree one year a while back) and the ammunition is only big enough to put an eye out.

This trebuchet is finely constructed and the boys are learning actual scientific principles like balance, levers and counterweights.

But frankly, they couldn't care less about scientific principles. They just want to fling things.

And it's not just the little boys that are launching nuts around my house. At one of our parties chocolates were also flying through the air but the aim wasn't quite true enough for those with their mouths open in readiness.

At Christmas dinner the ammunition was roasted brussel sprouts.

Just what we need around here- a new way for boys to play with their food.

A Year of Many Blessings

2011-12-30T20:35:00.000-08:00

I don't often review a year as it comes to a close but this year, 2011, was so full of memorable moments for me that it seems fitting that I should look back and count my many blessings with thankful remembrance.

These are only the highest of highlights in a year brimming with special memories.

I began the year in an unusual way by painting, exhibiting and selling my first ever acrylic work of art. Despite that encouraging start, I haven't had the inspiration or courage to pick up a paint brush since!

At the beginning of 2011 I got to spend some precious time with my grandsons when they came to visit.

Having all of my kids together at once is the best of all possible joys in any given year.

One of several milestones was the marking of thirty years of marriage to the most loving and loyal man on the planet. I gave my groom his first ever wedding band. (He got to choose between two designs and by his choice revealed how much he has changed in thirty years.) He is working hard at getting used to wearing it.

My little wedding cake business kept me more busy than ever in 2011. I delivered thirty something something wedding cakes (I lost count) and baked a bazillion cookies. With a couple newspaper articles, a photo in a bridal magazine and internet attention, I am ever so grateful for work that I find fun and challenging in these times of corset tightening in the wedding industry.

One of the surreal events of the year was my trip to Oklahoma to hang out at The Lodge with my daughters and grandson. We got to bake some pie, hang out with the Phillips girls, ride some horses and...

...oh yeah, the one and only Ree Drummond was there too. She made me swoon over cheesy bacon grits. That weekend still has a surreal aura to this day. I watch the Pioneer Woman show on Food Network and feel a certain deja vu every time.

As I approached the mid century mark of my life I managed to accomplish a long held goal. I swam solo across Lost Lake a couple times followed by an early morning Labor Day swim across the Columbia River with 400 other water lovers. I am thankful for the good health that gives me the opportunity to do this. And yes, I'd like to do it again!

After decades of driving station wagons and mini vans with one or more child car seats strapped in the back, I made a mid-life transition to a spiffy little car with no child seat in sight. It's just right for a wedding cake or two and I am having fun driving it.

I spent the whole month of October as well as my milestone 50th birthday waiting with my daughter and her family for this little guy. He was worth the wait. It was the highest privilege to witness his birth and welcome him into the world. Despite that joy I learned what real homesickness feels like as I missed my husband, other family members and home like never before.

Being absent made my heart grow fonder. It's been a great year. I'm looking forward to what the next one may bring.

May you also be so richly blessed with love and family in 2012! Happy New Year!

Family Music Making

2011-12-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

One of my very favorite things in the world to do is to make music with my children. These days I don't get enough opportunities to do so but I know with the little boys just beginning to embark on their music education there will be more in my future. I now understand why my own dad tried so often to get me to play with him when I was at still at home. He didn't have a very big repertoire on the guitar and mine was completely different from his so I found it difficult to play with him. I also hadn't had much of a music education aside from a couple years of piano lessons and wasn't very good at improvisation and jam sessions. He grew up without any music education and expected me to be able to play without one too. But after my kids got involved with orchestras I had the opportunity to play orchestral percussion and I learned so much during my years with them. The learning curve was steep and long but my playing and musical understanding improved greatly.

Several of my kids have had music lessons and opportunities but the two that have stayed with it are Katie and Seth. Both of them took piano lessons but Katie also learned the flute and played in a couple orchestras. She even had the privilege of playing flute in an orchestra in Zurich while she was living in Switzerland. Seth dabbled with the cello while he took violin lessons and eventually took up guitar, mandolin and viola also. He has played with numerous orchestras, participated in a concert tour to Europe and had several solo concert performances on violin. He is currently playing viola with an orchestra in the city. He definitely has the musical talent and ability to play by ear that my dad had wished I had.

Back in 1999, when Seth was nine years old and Katie was sixteen we played Ashoken Farewell together at a church talent show. Seth ended up bringing down the house that day by burning up a few fiddles tunes and winning the first prize.

When I was in Michigan with Katie in October, waiting for a baby, we occupied ourselves by playing music. Jonah hadn't really heard his mommy play flute or his grandma play anything so he at least was mightily impressed. He even put a tip jar on the piano and would add his homemade money to it whenever we played. We also entertained a few Amish visitors who stopped by to use the phone. They don't play or hear instrumental music of any kind in their communities.

My playing is not of the caliber of my kids. My old fingers and slow brain just can't keep up with them but I have fun none the less. I wish my dad were here to participate too. He'd love to see his grandkids keeping the family music-making alive.

If you don't have an aversion to mistakes (mine!) and out of tune pianos, this was the way families enjoyed music before the invention of Ipods and CDs.

Merry (4th day of) Christmas!

Making Tradtions in the Kitchen

2011-12-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

One of the most special parts of Christmas is the food. Every household in every culture that celebrates this holy day has some unique menu item that adds special memories to the occasion both with its making and its eating.

The main food traditions I remember as a child were special Christmas cookies and homemade fudge. Christmas was the one time we would make rolled and cut cookies in shapes of stars, trees and gingerbread men that were decorated with icing. We would frost the cookies with colored icing and decorate. Many families do this I think but believe it or not, I did not continue that tradition in my house.

When my firstborn was little I looked for a cookie that she could help make and I found one in a Good Housekeeping magazine (my go-to recipe source in the early days!). It was a simple cream cheese dough with chopped walnuts. They were just dropped on a cookie sheet and topped with a chocolate chip (or two or three). So easy for a little toddler to do. We have made those every year because so many years we had little ones around to help. My firstborn now makes these cookies with her little helpers. That's how a tradition is born I guess. For the first time in our family history we almost didn't have any this year but the kids finally made them the other day while I was out shopping.

There are a couple other things I started making in the early days of our family that have carried through to today. One is our Christmas morning sweet rolls, filled with cream cheese and iced with strawberry jam. The recipe came from Betty Crocker (my second go-to source for recipes. I had no Martha Stewart in those days!) There have been a few years when I tried to make something else for Christmas morning, like Grandma's fruit and nut wreath, and my attempts were met with loud lamentations from the family. They insist on the strawberry cream cheese rolls. That is also how traditions are born.

Another is our smoked salmon spread for our Christmas Eve post church buffet. This is a newer tradition established after we moved to the Northwest. We also always have some kind of wild game (venison, elk or bear) in the form of summer sausage provided by the hunters in our family.

I am really interested in hearing about these special food traditions in other families. If you have a few minutes of time I would love to hear about yours, especially if you don't live in America! I love to learn about the Christmas celebrations in other countries and cultures too. Please share!

Back to the kitchen...

Results of Persistant Maternal Persuasion and lots of practice!

2011-12-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

After a year of piano lessons, Samuel and Peter had their very first recital last Sunday. It was held at a local retirement home (assisted living facility) which was much better than having it at a church with only family members attending. The residents of these places always enjoy having contact with children and don't mind that they were all beginning level players.

Samuel did very well despite his nerves.

And Peter surprised me by playing with so much expression!

They will get a chance to play again for an audience when they repeat these pieces at church, Christmas Eve, as part of the preludes and postludes of the service.

Random thoughts in a rare moment of quiet three days before Christmas

2011-12-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Amazing fact of the day: December has been the driest month of 2011 in our part of Oregon. We haven't had rain or snow and it's setting records. December drier than July and August?? Weddings rained out in August?? Crazy man. The employees at the ski resort on the mountain are playing cards and reading books, waiting for the season to start.

So it's three days until Christmas and here's where I'm at:

Done with cookies.....finally!!!

After several late nights and some time addressing envelopes in a doctor's waiting room....the cards are in the mail.

Most, but not all of the shopping is done.

Began the marathon of wrapping. Have miles to go.

Grocery shopping without a list means I brought home more than enough. I think. Even if I forgot something, we will eat well and be thankful.

Church is decorated, children's program is practiced, memory work is learned, song rehearsed. All set to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning worshiping and focusing on why we do any of this.

I have absolutely no idea what I am making for Christmas dinner. Gonna wing it!

How about you?

An Old Fashioned Birthday Cake

2011-12-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

I had a birthday cake order this weekend for a young lady turning 90 years. The friend who was throwing the party said the birthday girl was very specific about the cake that she wanted. She wanted a cake like the one her mother made her when she was a girl (in the 1920's!)

Her mother made her a white coconut cake with buttercream icing and sweetened shredded coconut on the icing.

The only decoration she wanted was purple sugared violets, like her mother made.

I have made sugared blossoms including violets, roses and lilacs, but I told the client that I couldn't get any violets to crystallize for decoration this time of year. She told me to buy them on the internet. Of course, everything is available on the internet. For a price.

I found some and they arrived in time for the party but these babies were $2 a piece with the shipping.

But they were worth the price because these sweet blossoms were absolutely perfect, delicate and fragile, crystallized violas with every detail of a fresh flower. And completely edible!

The cake was large and the flowers were few. I debated about clustering them in the center but they were difficult to arrange since they were perfectly flat and easily broken. I opted for this.

There were a few for the extra gluten free cake. I grouped three in the center and I thought they were sweet.

I hope they had the appropriate nostalgic effect.

Cookie Week

2011-12-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

It's Cookie Week in the Fleur Cakes kitchen. I'm baking cookies, not for our own festivities, but for gift boxes that are given to clients at Expertec. Yes, they fix cars and trucks there but really, delicious homemade cookies are their thing. So the clients don't get free oil changes at Christmas, they get cookies.

Making cookie gift boxes is a challenge. I have to choose cookies that will package well. That means no soft cookies that will stick together or frosted cookies that need lots of room to keep their neat appearance. I don't include elaborately decorated cookies with royal icing because I want cookies that will be moist and delicious with every bite. Just like wedding cakes. The beautiful royal icing and fondants are lovely to look at but not the most delightful to eat. I choose flavor over fancy.

I give careful thought to the selection of cookies too, trying to give a variety of flavors. This box contains the must-have holiday chocolate and nuts, but also mint, lemon, cranberry, dates, caramel and cream cheese. I try to make cookies that are both nostalgic and uncommon enough that they won't be appearing on every other cookie plate available at the party. This year there isn't as much variety in the shapes of the cookies as I have done in previous years simply because I didn't do any rolled and cut varieties.

The cookie selection is turtle brownies, date pinwheels, chocolate mint snow caps, lemon cream cheese wreaths and cranberry pecan noels.

The cranberry pecan noels have been included every year in these Christmas cookie boxes because it meets all my criteria for flavor, packaging ease and holiday appeal. I thought I'd share with you how I make them.

These are actually a Martha Stewart cookie recipe. I'll let you get the ingredients list at the link. I can always count on Martha to have well-tested recipes that work every time. I find myself tweaking a lot of the recipes too with good results.

The predominant flavor of this cookie is butter so it is vitally important to use the best tasting, quality butter. Of course I say this about everything I bake. Especially pie crust. Cakes too. So when do you not use best quality butter. Um.....never. And please, only real vanilla. Again, the best flavored cookies are made with the best flavored ingredients.

I'm a snob and not ashamed to say it.

Using soft butter and white sugar, beat them until they are fluffy. Walk away from the mixer and fold laundry or something. Come back five minutes later and find sweet fluffy goodness. Beating the butter and sugar to this extent will give your cookies a more tender crumb with the sugar thoroughly dissolved.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients as directed. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a piece of plastic wrap.

Shape the dough into a log and then wrap in the plastic. Continue to roll the plastic-wrapped dough to get all the bumps out for a nice smooth log that will yield nice round cookies.

Each one of these is one recipe. I don't divide the dough as the recipe instructs and don't find it too big to handle. Refrigerate the log for several hours or overnight until firm.

Slicing the log with a serrated knife leaves the cookie with nice color from the cranberries and nuts.

These cookies are so easy! Just lay them out on a cookie sheet to bake.

These are tender and buttery with the holiday flavor and color of cranberry and pecans. They ship well too for your far away gift recipients.

What kind of cookies are you making this year? Any good recipes you can recommend that meet my gift box requirements?

Getting in the Spirit

2011-12-12T23:25:00.000-08:00

Do you ever use Groupon? Or Living Social? Or any other internet coupon/discount service? I've gotten a number of deals through these services but the latest one I used was a real gift. I got a great bargain on a night's stay at Skamania Lodge, nestled in the forest, high on a hill, across the river in Washington. There are great views of the Columbia River Gorge from their location.

I've been to the Lodge a number of times- they have some wonderful Christmas concerts- and this year I delivered wedding cakes there, but I have never had an opportunity to stay and enjoy the full range of comforts it offers. The lodge packages were always out of our budget so when the Groupon deal came along last October (while I was separated from my husband by thousands of miles) I jumped on it and bought the offer. We had to use our purchase this month before it expired despite the fact that December is a pretty difficult time to get away from the To Do list at home. It turned out to be well worth the effort.

The Lodge was beautifully adorned for the Christmas season.

My husband and I were tremendously impressed with every aspect of our stay: the atmosphere, the amenities, the service and the attention to detail. We've stayed in a number of places around the Northwest and this get away was by far the best.

The large community living room with the massive fire place and Christmas tree was the most popular spot of all. The comfortable seating and the freely available hot drinks worked to lend a relaxing atmosphere that was hard to resist. There was a library, gift shop and of course restaurants with fantastic menus. The golf course and spa ensure complete vacation opportunities. We thoroughly enjoyed the salt water lap pool and spa pools (four of them were available!) If you are ever in the Northwest, I highly recommend that you stop by the Skamania Lodge. We will definitely go back.

A little treat was a holiday cocktail demonstration. I got to learn how to make a Spanish Coffee and a White Chocolate Martini.

The Lodge was completely booked when we were there. Google was hosting their Christmas party at the lodge. Google has a new facility down the road in Oregon.

It was wonderful to see that the employees brought their families for the stay. The Lodge was full of babies, toddlers and children. What a special Christmas memory for those young families to stay altogether at this unique place.

We spent our time counting our many blessings and thanking God for every one. This short excursion provided another special memory for our already great year.

Gingerbread Christmas

2011-12-10T23:54:00.000-08:00

I was thinking that I'd like to make a big fancy gingerbread house this year but as usual I was too busy and uninspired to do more than think about it. So instead I am admiring the efforts of others that I am finding around town.

The boys and I stopped in to the art gallery to check out a few gingerbread entries in a small fund raiser they sponsored.

Each edible art work was made by a child and their helper. This one was created by a former nationally known wedding cake maker whom I admire very much and her little daughter.

It was easy to tell that this gingerbread house maker knew her way around a piping bag.

We loved this one with the peppermint gravel. The little girl, a budding artist, created it with her grandmother, a well known water color artist here.

I really enjoyed the imperfectly strung candy light string on this one and the candy cane porch. I think my boys got some good ideas for the gingerbread project they'll make during their Christmas school break.

This gingerbread scene, complete with a chugging model train, is in the lobby of the Skamania Lodge.

The fun of gingerbread house construction is all in finding creative ways to using all the candy. The licorice strings and rice krispie trees were imaginative.

There are more and more kits available to make these projects as easy as possible. We recently saw a kit with a finished building so that all that had to be done was to stick on the candy. We like to make our houses from scratch, including the paper patterns for the buildings.

I guarantee that when my boys see these photos, they will immediately make plans for adding a train to their project.

Do you make gingerbread houses at Christmas?

Not An Ordinary Birthday Celebration

2011-12-08T00:28:00.000-08:00

I had a fun excursion yesterday with two of my sons and their friends. I got to attend my first ever winery tour and wine tasting, courtesy of my son Kris' girlfriend who was treating the group for a birthday gift for Kris.

Oregon has a prestigious wine country in the Willamette Valley, half way between here and the Pacific Ocean. Attention was drawn to it and the celebrated Pinor Noir grapes by the movie Sideways a few years back.

My meager wine collection has improved in quality and quantity ever since Kris started working at one of Portland's most revered restaurants. His interest in fine wine was piqued there and with his employment connections he has been able to get into Oregon wineries for the VIP tours. This time I got to go along because it was his birthday and, well, I had a little to do with that!

At our first stop, the Andrew Rich winery, we were treated to a tasting by the owner and wine maker himself. He presented his best products.

We also got a brief tour of the production facilities.

Since the harvest this year was very late, as we experienced here with the garden and the orchard harvests, there was still some wine production happening in the warehouse.

It was great to get a peek at the wine in it's early stages.

Normally by December they are wrapping things up in this area. It still remains to be seen if the long cool summer will produce some good wines or not.

Our second winery stop was just next door at the Cana's Feast winery. This was a vineyard with a distinctly Italian style both in the winery's appearance and decor and in the types of wines they produce. It would be lovely to return to this area in the sunny summer for the full Italian effect but this time our visit was on a foggy, cold December day.

In their Cucina we were able to have some delicious antipasti with our libation.

The one bottle that really stood out at this tasting was their experimental vermouth. A rich, spicy wine with a lot of depth of flavor, this aperitif was my only purchase of the day. There are so many cocktail possibilities with this that it will be perfect for holiday celebrations.

At this point I felt we had had a good day and was ready to retire. But we had one more stop on the schedule and it was well worth the time.

At the Soter Vineyards,as soon as we stepped out of the car we were greeted by the sommelier with a glass of their famous bubbly Rose. Impressive!

This tasting was a true VIP experience. We got to try their finest wines in a lush setting.

Though we couldn't view the vast vineyards from the many tall windows, the roaring fire on this foggy day lent its own cozy ambiance.

I had made my son a birthday cheesecake which we broke out and shared by the fire with a few more glasses of the Rose.

We could have easily called it quits and been completely satiated- fat, sassy and happy- but no....there was more!

Dinner! At another prestigious Portland restaurant, clarklewis, a sister restaurant to the one that employs my son.

I've read about and wanted to eat at this restaurant since long before any of my dinner companions had ever tasted their first glass of wine. Since they were babies in other words. Well, not quite. But a long, long time!

So we gilded the lily of our day with some amazing food like Oregon black cod with Italian white beans, manila clams, pork belly, brussels sprouts and truffle oil...

And Garganelli, a pasta dyed with squid ink, served with chanterelle mushrooms, autumn squash, spinach and parmesan.

Are you swooning yet? I was...

Too stuffed to eat another bite, no one ordered dessert but the restaurant got word of the birthday and sent out a final treat- an apple crostata and rice pudding. We'd been digging into each other's plates all evening so sharing dessert was the perfect finish.

It was a special treat to spend this birthday of surprises with my son.

The memories of all the sleepless nights he has caused me are starting to fade...

Don't Count Your Eggs

2011-12-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

We raise chickens. Chickens have been part of our daily life since we bought our first country house over twenty five years ago. That is a lot of chickens.

We have chickens that lay eggs.

And we raise chickens for our dinner plate.

These signs posted outside the chicken coop doors keep everyone in mind of the poultry's purpose in life.

Despite the presence of all these chickens, I don't always have fresh eggs in my kitchen. The last year has been an especially slow season in the egg production department. Our flock of ladies was getting old and tired and I didn't have the time to cull out the slackers. Despite the fact that I would add a few new pullets to the hen house every year, the flock just never pulled it together and kept eggs coming. Then, inadvertently, the hen house got an overhaul by marauding racoons. Over the winter, despite our efforts to deter them, one raccoon after another pillaged our poultry, and the girls disappeared- one chicken dinner at a time. Sometimes we managed to greet the masked bandit with our shot gun. A dead raccoon was nothing more than cause for celebration by the rest of his gang in the neighborhood. (More chicken for me!) By spring our flock of twenty layers was down to four survivors.

I've always enjoyed having a large variety of breeds which produced many colors of eggs. Silver Laced and Golden Laced Wyandottes, with their elegant, ink-edged feathers are my favorite. We also had the green egg-laying Aracunas and the faithful Buff Orpingtons. The problem with having such a big flock of different chickens is that I couldn't keep track of which were the oldest birds that needed to be retired. My neighbor proposed the method of getting one breed of bird at a time but getting a new breed for each new infusion of pullets. Great idea. So last spring I bought eighteen Plymouth Rock (aka Barred Rock) chicks to start a new egg laying flock of hens. The chicken chores continued all summer though eggs were only a distant hope for the future.

We go through a lot of eggs in our household. For my business I buy eggs in boxes of fifteen dozen at a time. For our family use we prefer organic eggs from well-raised chickens so when we don't have our own to eat I buy eggs from friends who raise their own chickens and have eggs to share. My three sources for those eggs have dried up this fall and I'm back to buying eggs at the store. The other day organic eggs were on sale for $2.99 a dozen so I cleaned off the shelf and bought the last seven dozen. I told you we eat a lot of eggs around here.

Wouldn't you guess, because Murphy's Law dictates any sequence of events around here, after I spent over $20 on eggs this is what finally appeared in our own chicken coop:

Our first eggs from our new, young flock!

Now with our new flock we'll have eggs every day through the winter. I'll get another batch of chicks in the spring and they will take over next winter while these ladies take their seasonal rest.

It's only taken twenty-five years but maybe we'll get this chicken raising thing figured out.

Phad Thai- Successfully

2011-12-02T22:54:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we got together with our gourmand friends for another fabulous dinner.

This time the theme for the menu was Asian style. Our hosts had traveled extensively in Thailand and Vietnam and learned some cooking tricks they were anxious to pass on and share with us.

They had authentic recipes, ingredients, tools and methods to apply to our evening of cooking and eating.

The meal was made even more special by using a set of hand made Vietnamese pottery dinnerware.

My assignment for the evening was to make Phad Thai. My older kids and I attempted to make Phad Thai once and we failed miserably. I know now that the reason was the lack of proper cooking tools. It just did not work to make this dish in my largest skillet. It absolutely needs a wok to come out right. Thankfully our hostess had several woks.

I spent a good amount of time assembling the mise en place for the Phad Thai. The dish cooks up very quickly and it's most important to have everything measured out and ready ahead of time.

I think another reason the first attempt at Phad Thai with my kids was unsuccessful was because we did not have this....tamarind...which is an important flavor component to the dish.

My friend has a whole arsenal of Asian flavors in her kitchen.

For this dinner she sent me to a large Asian market in the big city to pick up a few things. It was my first time in an Asian market and I found it quite interesting.

I followed her instructions and used her authentic tools. The peanuts were crushed properly and not just chopped with a knife or whirred in a food processor. This was part of the fun of the whole cooking experience!

This Phad Thai was made with firm tofu but it could also be made with chicken. The whole dish was cooked in a well used wok.

I've only cooked tofu a few times in my life and this was the best result I've ever had.

Phad Thai is a great meal for anyone staying away from gluten. It is made with a rice noodle that is easy to prepare.

The sauce is cooked quickly in the wok and includes the oil left from cooking the tofu, lime juice, vinegar, tamarind juice, soy sauce, garlic and palm sugar. Then the noodles are added and cooked very quickly. The whole cooking process takes less than ten minutes.

Fresh ingredients are then tossed in, green onions, bean sprouts, cilantro and the peanuts.

I was thrilled to learn how to make this. It is so easy to make this healthy dish when you have the right things on hand. The flavors were perfect! It tasted just like any Phad Thai I've had in restaurants.

Our whole meal and evening was wonderful. It started off with a delicious Vietnamese soup followed by grilled prawns. The Phad Thai was accompanied by a delightful cashew chicken (on rice, but I like mine without) and long beans with pork.

Another adventurous dinner in which I learned something new. As soon as it was over we all started looking forward to the next one.

This makes me happy.

2011-12-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

My husband gave me this azalea topiary last spring. It was in full bloom at the time and I rushed out to buy it a lovely pot. The blossoms stayed on the plant for a long time. I kept it outside during the summer, on the deck in the shade. It had gotten lots of new leaves and growth by the time I brought it in the house again in September.

And now it is blooming again! Just in time for the holidays.

It makes me happy to have flower blossoms in my life.

Especially in December.

Annie Oakley

2011-11-30T00:25:00.000-08:00

The attraction to guests at our Thanksgiving gatherings is not only family, food and fellowship. It's also firearms.

Somehow, years and years ago, target shooting and clay pigeon shooting became an after-dinner Thanksgiving tradition.

My dad was a firearms safety instructor for most of his life. I learned at a young age how to safely handle guns and to shoot clay pigeons. I didn't have a girly-girl fear of guns, just a healthy respect for them. I often hunted grouse and deer with the menfolk of the family. Dad instructed countless young people, including my older kids, in the skills of shooting and he took groups out in the mountains for shooting practice. I think this is where our holiday shooting games started. Dad's been gone since 1999 but the after dinner shooting tradition has continued.

His voice emphasizing safety still rings in our ears.

After some time getting warmed up with practice the shooters play a game we call Annie Oakley. This is where the shooters take turns taking a shot at a flying clay pigeon. If someone misses but the next person in line hits the clay, the first shooter is out. Anyone who misses the shot on their turn is out of the game until there is one winner left who hit the most targets. The girls made a good showing this year. The little boys are getting very proficient with the shotguns and hit at least as many as they missed. They were mighty proud of themselves.

And once again Mama won a game of Annie Oakley. Yes, she did.

Thankful

2011-11-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

I finally have some Thanksgiving photos to share!

We had a lovely, wonderful time with more people, more food and more help in the kitchen than ever before.

I feel so blessed this year, for many reasons, but the added bonus of family, friends, fabulous food and fellowship gave me even more for which to be thankful on this feast day.

We assembled in the biggest empty space we had to offer, our unfinished, new addition on the house. It ended up being a cozy place with a golden glow that added a special ambiance to our gathering.

This year it was Bring Your Girlfriend to Thanksgiving Day. There were a total of four girlfriends by the end of the day.

I try to avoid having a kid's table but with twenty-four place settings it could not be helped this time. In the end the youngsters enjoyed their special seating.

The only way our holiday could have been better would be if all our family could have attended. I was dearly missing having my grandchildren here. With the blessing of modern Jetson-style technology we were able to visit with them on our computer.

Skype- the next best thing to being there.

Our blessings are innumerable, our joys outweigh our sorrows.

We are thankful.

So on the day set aside to thank the One from whom all our blessings flow, my husband gave this prayer of thanks:

Lord, on this day set aside to remember at least a few of our many blessings, we give thanks before we eat. In these days of war and violence, we are thankful for being able to gather and worship in peace. In these days of repression and totalitarianism that pervades much of our world, we thank You for the freedoms we enjoy in our country. With the hunger and poverty that stalks much of the world, we should always be thankful for the abundance of food that we enjoy today and throughout the year. Lord, we thank You for the jobs and work we all have, when so many people in our land are out of work. We thank You for the warm homes we enjoy, when so many are homeless and living in cars or on the street. We pray on behalf of those families that cannot be together today and thank You that we are so blessed to be together and enjoy this food. We are thankful for those who spent so much time and effort to prepare this wonderful meal. Lord, we thank You for the greatest of all blessings, that You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for the sins of the whole world, that all who have faith may enjoy eternal life with You in heaven. Amen.

Pie Prep

2011-11-22T23:51:00.000-08:00

As we do every year....the kids make the pie for our Thanksgiving feast.

After all, what kind of a pie teacher would I be if I didn't pass on the pie secrets to my own offspring?

They diligently work to make their best presentation but I have to keep reassuring them that the taste is more important than the look. We'll take refined or rustic when it comes to pie.

But really, there are only two kinds of good pie...

Warm pie and cold pie.

Thanksgiving Week

2011-11-21T23:46:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving week here in America and like all my other countrymen and women I am preparing for the feast day. Our family gathering will be held here, as usual, with a number of special guests attending. So far the head count is at 23 dinner guests.

Can you imagine 23 people sitting at a dinner table?

I can't either.

Well, I can imagine twenty-three people at a long banquet table in a cavernous room with candles blazing and servants bending at the guest's elbows. But I can't imagine twenty-three people sitting at a dining table in my little country cottage.

My dinner table sits eight people. Ten when the kids are all home and we squeeze really tightly together in a cozy family way. So the plan for Thanksgiving dinner is to put three or four tables together in our newly constructed house addition and put some chairs and benches around it. The new addition to our home has a roof and four walls but no insulation or electrical power. There is currently three inches of snow on the ground and more in the forecast. Needless to say, people need to eat fast before their food gets cold.

We'll be serving two turkeys, venison roast and ham. No shortage of animal flesh on our feast table!

Every year the Thanksgiving guest list grows. It may be the food but it also may be the shooting session that takes place on the mountain afterwards. People really like filling their bellies with turkey and taters and then shooting shot guns at flying clay pigeons. Usually I'm at home putting my feet up during the annual Annie Oakley shoot-outs, but I may go participate this year (if it isn't raining) just because- well, the more the merrier!

It's been a while since I have shared a recipe on my blog. I've been baking a lot of pumpkins in the last few weeks since it was the one crop that produced abundantly in the garden. I've made pumpkin pie, pumpkins soups and pumpkin bread. I'm still making cookies every day for the Expertec customers so this Thanksgiving week they are getting pumpkin cookies.

I looked at a few recipes for pumpkin cookies on the interwebs then tweaked one to fit my purposes. Most pumpkin cookies have a frosted top. I need to be able to stack the cookies in a jar and not have them stick together. I eliminated the frosting, added raisins and chopped walnuts and came up with a cookie that is like a muffin top. A not too sweet morning treat along side that cup of coffee while waiting for your car repairs to be finished.

The cookie "dough" is more like a batter for pumpkin bread.

Despite its soft quality, it stayed in place when spooned onto a cookie sheet.

They baked up into a nice cookie shape and were soft and chewy.

These spicy fall treats are a hit at the repair shop.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together in the bowl:

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add and stir in:

1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes until the cookie is set and the edges are browned.

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving this week? Are you cooking? Are you a guest at someone's dinner table? Will there be 23 shivering people squeezed together trying to spread frozen butter on the rolls?

Another Special Gift

2011-11-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

The hand blown glass keepsakes from my mother and sons were not the only crafted with love gift I received for my milestone birthday. My daughter, Alyssa, also presented me with something special when she came back home from her sister's.

Alyssa spent about a year cross-stitching this garden scene especially for me-

And I love it! The detail is astonishing- the sunbeams coming through the gate, the lilacs and wisteria stitched with such painterly effects. Lovely!

If anyone knows how to frame a work like this, I need some tips. I want to do it right so that it will be preserved well and I can enjoy it hung on a wall.

Shrimp Chips

2011-11-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

The other night, at a special dinner with friends who just happen to be the best home cooks in the Northwest, I learned how to successfully make Phad Thai. I'll tell you all about it. But not right now because I have to run to the airport to pick up my daughter.

But in the mean time I wanted to show you this fun Vietnamese snack we had as a little appetizer.

Shrimp Chips?

These little dried discs were made with shrimp, tapioca flour and seasonings. They were not really edible right out of the package.

They were prepared by dropping them into hot oil in the wok for about fifteen seconds and this is what happened.

They were kind of like a Cheeto in texture, light and puffy with a melt in your mouth quality. They had a nicely seasoned flavor that had only a hint of seafood. Most people thought they were quite additive.

Just one of the interesting and very different menu items we ate at a dinner of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine.

The World Needs More Good Pie

2011-11-14T23:30:00.000-08:00

....and it's going to be getting some...

....because four lovely ladies learned that pie crust is not so intimidating to make after all.

They discovered that they can make a beautiful hand made pie with a flavorful, flaky crust that will please the most discerning pie palette.

At the beginning of the day these girls expressed that they felt fear and trepidation at the thought of working with pie dough but by the end of the day they were confidently rolling and shaping pastry perfection.

If we keep spreading the fresh pie making word and preaching the flaky pastry truth of butter and leaf lard, we can overcome the onslaught of bland and gooey factory-made pies. Let's bring back a demand for the real hand-made thing. The world needs more good pie!

Now go forth and fill the world with tender tasty pie!

Pie Workshop

2011-11-10T23:02:00.000-08:00

I am currently getting ready to go down to Salem, Oregon on Sunday to conduct a pie workshop. I'm making plans to cover lots of ground in the day-long class including apple pies, pumpkin pies, savory quiches, fruit tarts- some with fresh picked pears and others with pastry cream and strawberries- as well as galettes, hand pies and chicken pot pies. I've got lots of grocery shopping and food prep work to do. I think the participants and I are going to have lots of fun rolling dough and creating fillings.

This workshop will be similar to the one I taught at the Pioneer Woman's Lodge in Oklahoma last summer. That one was attended by about twenty-five people and I had lots of great helpers before, during and after the class. This workshop will be more intimate with four ladies who are eager to expand their kitchen skills and baking knowledge. We'll end our day with a meal together that will include samples of what was created.

As I've been preparing the tools we'll need and writing my lists of ingredients, I've been thinking of the people I've met in other classes and the excitement I've witnessed when someone makes their first successful pie. It is so gratifying to me to help someone improve their baking skills. It took me years of struggle and frustration before I became successful at making pie. Making pie seems like a small thing and yet whenever someone acquires a new skill or new knowledge it improves their life and builds up their confidence to try other new things. I am honored to pass on my knowledge and help others achieve their goals of becoming more proficient with their baking skills. And though pie is a humble offering, it is something anyone can use to bring joy or comfort to friends, family and strangers too.

I've witnessed the power of pie. The world needs more good pie.

A (Good) Day in Our Homeschool Life

2011-11-10T00:02:00.000-08:00

I don't talk much about our homeschooling. We've been doing it a long, long time and I don't feel the need to talk about it any more. I just need to get it done. Five kids down, two to go. Before I die.

These last two kids are a challenge because they are so very different. I hesitate to talk about their differences in this public place because I feel like it would be disloyal to them but let's just say that these two brothers are opposites in nearly every way. This makes schooling them together a challenge. I just used that word again. I don't think there is another word that conveys the challenge of schooling two brothers together who are so different. It's more than simply having different strengths and weaknesses. They also have completely different learning styles. That means that because they have nearly all their classes together, I have to present what we're studying in multiple ways so that both can grasp and retain it. That wears me out. Also, being brothers makes any competition between them more emotional and potentially damaging to relationships. I have to mediate and try to keep things balanced. Boys have a need to measure themselves against other boys and when one is measuring himself against his brother it can have long term effects.

Many of our days in the last year or two have been bumpy. Difficult. Long and arduous. Emotionally draining. I'm just trying to be real here. Homeschooling is not all fun and games let me tell you. There are days when I want to stand out on the road in my pajamas and flag down a passing school bus. But my commitment to what I know and have experienced as being the best chance I can give to my kids keeps me going every day. I've learned a lot in over twenty years of home educating and the most important thing I've learned is that it is up to me to model self-discipline by not being lazy myself. We have an important job to do every day and we must do it.

The pay-off for the perseverance despite some really bad days has been that I have seen so much growth in maturity in my two little boys. Not a week goes by lately that I don't hear a complimentary word about these two from a friend or neighbor. Those kind words build us up. I have noticed that the boys are more self-disciplined about getting their work done. Their attitudes have matured and they don't kick at the responsibility of the task at hand. I have seen them buckle down for the satisfaction of getting it done. That is maturity.

Today was a good example of their new attitude. I was dazzled at noon when I couldn't think of another scholastic subject to lay before them. They had covered everything. As they completed each assignment they built a momentum that accelerated until they had completed everything before lunch. I'm betting that that satisfaction will motivate them tomorrow to do the same thing.

Are you interested in how a (good) homeschool day goes around here? Here's what we did:

9:00 a.m. (not early starters around this farm)- Breakfast and chores. This includes feeding and watering the goats, watering the chickens and letting them out, taking out compost and chicken feed and on Wednesdays, gathering garbage and taking the full can out to the road for collection. They also bring in firewood for the day.

10ish- The boys like to start with math. Peter is multiplying three digit numbers and Samuel is learning division. This morning they followed that by practicing cursive writing by copying the seventh commandment and its meaning (from Luther's Small Catechism). This is also their memory work and they practice it by writing it. Before bed they do additional work on their memorization with their dad. While they were writing this morning they decided to write their spelling words two times each.

Next is reading. They have become much more proficient and now can read chapter books to themselves. They are reading one chapter a day of an A Beka book called The Secret in the Maple Tree. The boys are also taking a literature class from a tutor in town. In that class they are reading ancient Greek mythology. I recently bought a woven cornucopia at a thrift store and Samuel delighted in telling me that the symbolic cornucopia descended from the goat's horn that fed milk to the Greek god Zeus. The boy is paying attention!

The boys are also taking a writing course with the same tutor and today they had to reread and edit their composition about their favorite object. They both wrote about a cherished stuffed animal. I love that they are retaining their childish innocence a bit longer. In just the few weeks that I have assisted them in typing their stories this term I have seen great improvement in their writing and most importantly for little boys, in their attitude about writing. It's worth every penny of the check I have to write for the class.

At this point today we sat down together in our comfy living room to read and analyze our Bible story about Samson followed by some time reading our history book about the original thirteen American colonies. This is when I had the boys read aloud to me so that I can see how well they are reading and comprehending.

11:30ish. How could we have covered so much territory in an hour and a half? There must be more to do. The boys took out their vocabulary list (which is also their spelling list) and did an assignment that analyzed sentences to discern the meanings and grammatical uses of the words. They got this done in a surprisingly short time and no errors. What is going on here?

In the past I have been slack about teaching geography and resolved this year to concentrate more on this subject. We are working on the states and capitals which is always a good place to start. Today I quizzed the boys on the western states. One child easily got everything correct and one...did not. But he eventually figured it out. More practice is necessary but we are making progress.

By noon we had covered math, memory work, cursive writing, reading, spelling, history, Bible, geography and vocabulary. Really? I have the rest of the day to myself?

The boys had a free afternoon. What did they do with it? They went to a neighbors to help her plant garlic which the neighbor turned into an enterprise for the boys. All the leftover garlic from the harvested crop (after the neighbor takes what she needs) can be sold next year to the local farm stand. The boys will be responsible for helping with the rest of the cultivation and for negotiating with the buying farmer. They won't see a payoff until next year. Are there a few lessons to learn here that they can't learn in school?

One more afternoon scholastic activity is working on a typing program on the computer. I have promised the boys that they can get their own email account when they learn to type. Motivation!

Tonight my young sons finished their educational day by practicing their piano lesson for thirty minutes. Being gone from them a month has really helped me to see the progress they are making in this area too. I am most delighted to see that they have crossed over that intangible line where piano is not just work but an enjoyable pastime. Today they were sight-reading through a new book just for the fun of it. It warms my heart like nothing else can.

It is days like this that give me hope for the future. I need days when everything goes smoothly and peacefully so that I can face up to the next.............Seven. Years. Teenage years. With boys.....

Pray for me.

The best gifts are always handmade.

2011-11-07T22:18:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned that I love glass? I am attracted to glass as much as I am to pottery. Well, maybe even more than pottery now that my love affair with clay has cooled a bit. I have a modest glass collection going too: stained glass window adornments; glass balls, vases, and bowls; antique glass bead jewelry. I love blown glass, fused glass and lampworked glass. I love to visit glass blowing studios and I've been to the American mecca for glass lovers- the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. I took about eight thousand pictures of the bridge of glass there. I also had the privilege of visiting the glass blowing shops of Venice, Italy and there witnessed a master glass blower demonstrate his craft. From that trip I brought home a small collection of glass fruit and candies because a chandelier wouldn't fit in my suitcase.

Once I got to make a fused glass plate at a class I attended with my friends in Switzerland. I've pondered taking stained glass classes here at home and came really, really close- late one night while internet window shopping- to buying a lamp working kit so I could start making my own glass beads. But every time I start thinking about doing any of those things I have to ask myself Do you really need another hobby? Then I give myself a reality-checking swat upside the head.

So that is why, despite the prodding of my oldest son, I haven't gone to visit the newest glass blowing studio that is only ten miles from here. My son, Kris, knows the artists and has done some photography for them. I know deep down that if I go there I am doomed. Doomed. I will be sucked into a glowing glory hole that will cause me to stop returning the calls of brides and to exchange my apron for asbestos gloves. I'll have to give up flour and butter for molten balls of silica. This place is in my back yard for crying out loud. It would just be too easy.

But last month, while I was far away waiting for a baby's arrival in Michigan, my mother took my youngest boys to the studio on a special mission.

After my return home, I was utterly delighted by a very belated 50th birthday celebration. My mother and boys felt cheated out of a day-of celebration and a piece of my birthday cake. They were impatiently waiting to present me with their special gifts, made at the glass studio just for me.

They each got to blow the air into the melted glass to form these precious artworks. Samuel made this beautiful green pear.

My mother assisted with the formation of this delightful apple.

And Peter's breath is in this hanging ornament. He is anxious to see it on our Christmas tree but in the meantime I want to let it sparkle in the sunlight of a window.

Because they were made with love and thoughtfulness, these pieces are going to hold special places in my glass collection and in my heart!

Grape Juice

2011-11-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

Our Concord grape vines were loaded with grapes again this year and again, like last year, we didn't pick a single cluster from them. The summer was too cool for the grapes to ripen at all. It's such a disappointment after the time spent pruning vines and caring for them. The grape vines were one of the first things we planted when we moved here eighteen years ago but I'm thinking we need to pull them out and replace them with a variety that will ripen in a shorter time. Those Concords just need longer or at least hotter summers.

Some friends who live lower in the valley and therefore had a bit more warmth than we did (a mere ten miles from here) were more successful with their grapes. They gifted us with their excess. The boys and I picked several boxes and basketfuls.

Even these weren't as deeply colored and sweet as they would be after a hot summer but they were good enough for juice.

Another friend loaned me her steamer/juicer (she didn't have any grapes to juice this year either.) Have you seen this nifty thing? I need to get one for myself because it produces wonderful juice without the mess of hanging cheesecloth bags of cooked fruit. I can see using it for cherry and plum juice too.

The juicer has three parts. The hole-filled strainer top gets loaded with washed fruit....

...In the bottom water boils to produce steam...

The middle part directs the steam onto the fruit to gently cook it until it releases the juices which drip down and collect in the pot.

The scalding hot juice pours out a tube with a clamp to control the flow. I fill commercial juice jars and reuse them every year. As the hot juice cools in the bottles it creates a vacuum that seals the lids tightly. No canning necessary.

Yes, I know that the extension office may raid my kitchen for using this method. I occasionally get a bottle that doesn't seal so I put that into the fridge for immediate use. Mostly I hear the satisfying ping, ping of the sealing caps.

I eliminated store bought juice in this house years ago (my poor deprived children) when the dentist bills got out of hand. Our homemade and nutritious organic juice is a treat every Sunday morning with our pancake breakfast. We're grateful for generous friends.

My Long October Nap

2011-11-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

Maybe you are wondering if my plane ever made it to Oregon. I've been a bit absent from cyberspace. Or Bloggerspace anyway.

Returning home after a month away has been a bit like waking up from a long sleep. A reeeeally long Rumpelstiltskin-style sleep. There's been so much to catch up on and it's been a challenge to get back into the groove here. A lot changed while I was gone.

Summer disappeared. Jack Frost zapped my garden and all my flowers. I was sad to see the bushels of red tomatoes hanging frozen on the trellises. There was no one available to pick them and make them into something delicious.

My expanding house got a roof and a beautiful entry door.

My little boys got taller and became more accomplished at the piano.

My family got jipped out of my birthday. They didn't get any birthday cake. I missed Seth's birthday but I think I made it up to him. He got a pie and a day at the symphony with me.

But, I can verify, absence does make the heart grow fonder.

I left my camera cord at Katie's. Being a very visual person and a photo fanatic, I find it difficult to write a blog post without photos. I'm still taking photos, I just can't get them off my camera and onto my blog.

So looking through the file from Michigan I found a couple photos to share. The day before I left I paid one last visit to the Amish neighbors. After our chat in the simple Amish kitchen I took Ruth back with me to see the new baby. She brought along her adorable toddler, Edna.

Being a strongly visual person and a photo fanatic I was painfully yearning to photograph beautiful barefoot Edna with her long blue dress, white bonnet, and crystal blue eyes. I have faced similar photographic desires whenever I was around the Amish children who are so doll-like in their dress and so innocent and joyful. I wanted to take pictures of them so badly! When we went out the door to visit Baby Andrew, Edna's mother put a tiny black cape and black visiting bonnet on Edna and I just died a thousand deaths.

At Katie's house I screwed up my courage and asked Ruth if I could take a photo of Edna from the back just to see her dress and black bonnet. Even that pose, without her face, was not acceptable and permission was denied. The Amish don't allow any photos because they think it breaks the commandment against making and having graven images.

But then Ruth playfully put the bonnet on my grandson Evan and suggested I photograph him. Which I gladly did because even he was adorable in a black bonnet!

Oops! Edna almost stepped into the picture!

Ruth even suggested putting the blue dress on Evan but I think that would have been going a little too far.

I wonder what my Amish friends think of me, always carrying a camera around and making graven images.

I feel sorry for them. I have dozens and dozens of photo albums full of special memories of special times and I couldn't live happily without them. I'm such a sinner.

My photos make me happy. Right now the photos of my beautiful grandsons remind me that I was not napping during October. I was making memories.

Random Last Minute Thoughts

2011-10-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

I arrived here a month ago today. I never expected to be here this long. I've never been away from home for such an extended time. My family has adjusted but it was a process. Did they miss me? Did they become more self-sufficient while I was gone? I'm heading home in the morning and we'll find out.

Out of the four weeks I was here, I only got to spend forty-eight hours with this precious package. That was not enough time to inhale all his newborn sweetness.

As soon as I get home I'm digging out a newborn photo of my first born, this baby's mama, because this photo looks just like that baby.

Compare this photo to the close up in yesterday's post and see how quickly he's changed already. This is going to only accelerate in the weeks and months to come. Why do babies have to do that?

I baked cake almost every day for four months this year but in the last four weeks I didn't bake a single one. (Lots of pies but no cakes). At the request of the midwife, I made a chocolate fudge birth day cake for Andrew with chocolate cream icing and strawberry filling.

I had a special, memorable time with my girls that culminated in a remarkable homebirth. I was reminded once again how powerful and magnificent birth is when it's approached with respect and love and trust. It was worth the long wait to witness the arrival of this new little person into the eager arms of his family.

Andrew participated in his first Skype call today. I think there will be many more in his future.

I'm going to miss these little guys a whole lot.

The Wait Is Over

2011-10-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

These two boys woke up this morning to a new kid in town.

"What do you mean....brother?"

"Let me think about it..."

I think maybe partners in crime. Comrades in arms. My buddy. My wingman.

It's a new world. A new day. A new life.

Andrew Paul was born right on time.

He wasn't late for anything.

Expectations

2011-10-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

The mums loved the summer heat wave in Michigan this year.

These beauties are for sale everywhere in many glorious colors. This giant was all of $4 at the farmer's market where we stopped to buy apples for pie on Saturday. I have never seen mums like this in Oregon- and most certainly never for such an appealing price.

I never expected to be here in the heartland for a month or to have to reschedule my flight three times but that is how it has turned out. There is no cause for concern or worry over this long, arduous wait for a baby. It's pretty clear that the expected due date was miscalculated and everything is really on schedule as it should be. Birth is mysterious but is a well-designed process that can be trusted. Babies are born when they are supposed to be if we just stay out of the way and let it happen. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. Stay tuned because in the very near future, by the grace of God, there will be a joyful introduction to our newest family member.

A Mystery Garden

2011-10-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

On my birthday my two daughters and I went to the nearby college town of Hillsdale to have lunch and attend an art exhibit. We had a little lunch at a quaint coffee shop on the historic main street.

Before we left, Katie found this sign on the hallway door that led to the restrooms. We were intrigued by the idea of a secret garden so decided to check it out.

It seemed unlikely that we would find any kind of a garden at the end of this nondescript hallway in the middle of October but we were game to take a look.

We were so glad we did. Because....yes....there was a secret garden behind the door!

Our jaws dropped when we found a vine-covered courtyard with crumbling brick walls and a circle of ancient cobblestone.

The walls and beams overhead where covered by decades of ivy growth. The architecture had a distinct European style. To me it felt like we had walked through a portal into an Italian village.

In the center of it all was a massive wisteria vine. We had noticed the wisteria hanging on the outside wall where we parked the car on the street. I even photographed it but because of some camera glitches I don't have photos to share. I noticed the unique style of the building immediately when we parked in town. It was not very farm-townish. The street side wall outside is also covered with ivy and hanging wisteria but no one, I have learned not even the townspeople, seems to give a thought to the source of those wisteria branches. The source is this trunk hidden in this courtyard and accessible only down that hallway from the coffee shop.

It has no doubt grown here for decades. There are numerous pieces of steel- posts and implements and bars- that must have been added for support during the vine's lifetime but are now embedded deeply among the twisting tangle of branches.

It was a beautiful sight in the dim autumn light and I can only imagine the stunning splendor of the spring bloom of this massive vine.

I know there must be an interesting story behind this place. Who built that building in this middle American farm town with a style so different from the rest of the buildings? Did that person also plan this special courtyard and plant that vine? How long has it been here?

I asked some questions of the locals while we were in town and no one knew a thing about this place. I even called the local historical society and they also didn't know anything about it. The person I spoke to had never seen the hidden courtyard. The historical society is one block away from this spot. I hope I sparked an interest for her to walk out her door and check it out. It is worth the trip.

Milestone

2011-10-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday. My 50th birthday.

This 50th year has been full of blessings and many exciting and interesting events that have made it memorable. It has been fun having a blog on which to chronicle these things and to make virtual friends in far away places. I am thankful for each one of these blessings but especially for my wonderful family and friends that forgive my many faults and continue to love and support me each day.

I have not spent a birthday in Michigan since 1992 and I have not spent it with both of my daughters since 2002 and I have not missed celebrating it with my husband in over thirty years. Those facts will make this day especially unique as I will be celebrating it here without my husband but with my daughters and my Michigan family.

We are making some special plans to attend an art quilt exhibit, go out to lunch together and spend the afternoon challenging ourselves with making croissant dough.

But, wouldn't it be a good day to have a baby too?

Table Project

2011-10-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping busy with projects while I've been here at my daughter's waiting for my time of postpartum ministering and newborn snuggling to start. Most of the projects have involved a paint brush including this last one which was also the most creative and satisfying.

Katie and Nathan acquired this table early in their courtship when it was given to them for a place to set a romantic candle-lit dinner for a date. It is a lovely table with nice lines and lovely embellishments but it was in very rough shape.

After consulting with my friend, Karen, who has turned her skill at repurposing furniture into a successful business, I painted the table a nice creamy white.

Karen felt that a white would best accentuate the incised lines and edges on this table. Katie loved that idea too since painting it white would make it a good accent piece to use anywhere in her house.

To give the table an appropriate aged appearance I sanded the edges after the paint had cured for several days. I also rubbed the table with some stain to further age the finish of the paint. A final rubbing of a paste wax completed the project.

This project was a lot of fun and Katie is pleased that the old table has been given a fresh look.

There Are No Stupid Questions. Just Stupid Answers.

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

My six year old grandson's main occupation is asking questions. All. Day. Long.

However, he does not ask ordinary, childish questions.

Here's an example (from what I can remember. Often his questions cause my brain to temporarily stop functioning.)

Can an ax go through chain mail? Can a mace?

What is a squire?

What army attacked Egypt?

How does a muscle work?

How do you make chain mail? Is chain mail stronger than armor?

Is Kipling still alive? Did my parents know him?

What does "drama" mean?

uh......{blink} {blink} Go ahead. Try to define the word "drama" for a six year old. Here's how I did it:

Drama is the opposite of comedy. If drama goes unchecked it can lead to tragedy.

I know. Brilliant. That's why I'm a grandma.

Today was the day I was scheduled to fly home after snuggling a newborn for two weeks. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men....

So I have a three day extension but we need to keep petitioning heaven for an end to this agonizing wait.

Changes. Or Not.

2011-10-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's Groundhog Day here. The movie. Every day we wake up and repeat the same activities as yesterday. Even if there is a slight variation, like a yoga class or a movie in the theater, it still feels the same.

Especially in the morning when we open our eyes and realize nothing has changed. There is no new baby sleeping cozily in someone's arms. Katie still has her unwieldy belly and my departure date is still looming. We're still on edge waiting for that powerful event that is supposed to happen. Sometime.

There's a flinch every time the phone rings. No matter who is calling the question will be the same. And so will the answer.

I took these photos a week ago. These colors were as bright as it got this year. A dry summer leads to a fall of muted colors and quickly falling leaves. Still, the landscape is starkly different than the one back home where the view is dominated by deep green fir trees. That green is dotted with the gold of aspens and occasional pops of red from small shrubs in Autumn. Here I'm enjoying the spreading maples with their red and orange and the burgundy tones of the sumac. But already these leaves have fallen in the blustery winds and the scenery is taking on the brown tones of winter.

At least these color differences are a sign that we aren't reliving the same day over and over again.

I'll let you know if anything else changes, besides the colors of the leaves.

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

2011-10-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

The weather has been spectacular here since I arrived. We're experiencing a beautiful Indian summer with sunny skies, 80 degrees, no frost yet and landscapes of orange and red. This follows weeks and weeks of rain that were generated by the hurricane out east last month. The first Saturday I was here it was sunny and bright so it seemed everyone was out mowing their lawns and hanging out laundry. Everyone was so happy to see and feel the sun again.

The weather is supposed to change soon and there is still some work to be done. The Amish neighbors have been working hard all week to get the hay in the barns before the rain starts. While out on my walk yesterday I came across this pair of teenage brothers mowing a field of alfalfa.

Here's how an Amish teenager gets in trouble with his dad: the younger boy, he's maybe fifteen or so, was galloping one pair of horses down the road pulling a piece of equipment. (The equivalent of an English boy speeding in dad's car.) They normally don't go faster than a trot on the paved road. Just a minute later one of the horses slipped and went down on the road. It got back up and seemed to be uninjured- they did continue to work with it all day- but I'm pretty sure that was about the same as denting dad's car in the English world.

Getting a field of hay cut this way takes them a couple days rather than a couple hours of tractor time.

After cutting, the hay was raked and put into windrows to dry out.

I could see that these boys had a long day's work ahead so I packed up my paparazzi camera and walked home. Not too long later while trying to load photos for yesterday's blog post, another Amish neighbor and good friend of my son-in-law came by the house to use the phone. Enos casually mentioned that they were short on helpers for the hay work and didn't have anyone to drive the wagon. He joked that it might be a good job for Katie to do. The bumping wagon might help shake the baby out, he said. Or not. I offered to come along and help though I have never driven a team of horses before. I have ridden lots of horses but I have no experience with draft work horses. Enos immediately took me up on the offer of help. He must have been reeeeeally desperate!

The next thing I knew I was on an Amish hay wagon heading out to the hay field. Jonah came along for the ride.

My job was to guide the horses around the field over the windrow while the machine pulled behind the wagon picked up the windrow and dropped it on the trailer. Enos forked the hay around evenly on the trailer as it dropped on.

There were two pairs of horses working this job. This pair of 14 year old Belgian draft horses knew pretty well what to do without me. Taking the corners was the only tricky part. After the wagon was loaded we left them to rest and took out a pair of 18 year old black Percherons. Those two were not happy to work that day. One horse continually tried to eat the hay. Whenever he got a good mouthful the other horse would try to take it away from him. Needless to say, that pair worked a lot slower than the Belgians.

This was my view. I had to stand and balance on the rail of the rack at the front and grip the reins. It was like standing on a fence that was moving six feet above the ground. And I was occasionally trying to take sly photos. The horses seemed to know when I wasn't giving all my attention to them so they would take it as an excuse to mess around. Jonah stood beside me and as the hay piled up he got to stomp it down. That's my water bottle hanging on a string so it wouldn't get lost in the hay. Enos' idea.

One pass around the field got a load good enough to swap for an empty wagon.

These men had a system for baling the hay that kept them working within the rules of their community. Though they can't use any form of electricity, gas engines are allowed. They had a baler powered by a small engine that was attached with a long belt. Both pieces of equipment were put up on timbers so that they wouldn't move.

My mechanic husband will look at this photo and tell what the engine is, because I've forgotten what they told me.

Here's where the rules came in to play. Gas engine, yes. Electrical start, no. They had to pull start with a rope. But they weren't strong enough so they tied the rope to a pair of horses who pulled harder and fired it up.

While we headed around the field again with a fresh wagon, a couple of men unloaded the hay with pitchforks, feeding it directly into the baler. The bales were loaded onto another wagon and the Amish boy who was speeding on the road that morning stacked the bales.

The Amish men joked with me and said that we don't often have a woman from Oregon helping us bring in our hay. I have no doubt that is very true.

And I don't often drive an Amish hay wagon!

Still No Baby- So here's another Amish story.

2011-10-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been trying to write a blog post all day. The internet here in the country is driven by little squirrels running on a track so it takes quite a while for the pictures to load on Blogger. While I waited for each set to load I worked on making my first sweet potato pie.

Also, I got invited to drive an Amish hay wagon so had to leave. But that's a story for another post....

Since there is no baby to introduce yet, I thought I'd tell you about our excursion last weekend to Shipshewana, Indiana. Also known as Amish Central.

Our first stop was the big Amish grocery store. Since it was Saturday it was quite busy.

In this store there were aisles and aisles of candy in every color, shape and flavor. The Amish have quite a sweet tooth.

The busy cash registers were run by Amish clerks and baggers.

We bought some cheese and wonderful sliced salami and a giant chrysanthemum (for $4!).

We then headed out to the Yoder farm for their big October auction. I had dreams of Amish quilts.

The parking lot was full when we arrived.

This part of Amish territory is quite, shall we say, liberal. Or modern. They are allowed rubber so they use bicycles a lot. I'm sure the horses appreciate this.

We felt a bit sorry for the horses since they had to stand around in their harnesses for hours and hours in the parking lot.

This was an auction by the Amish and for the Amish which meant that all the vendors were selling items useful to the Amish.

Lots of horse tack....

...and a horse auction....

...and the latest in Bishop approved appliances.

I would actually like to have one of these for our backyard bonfire suppers. Or for camping. I just couldn't see getting one in my suitcase for the airplane trip home.

Though we saw lots of Amish handiwork, I was disappointed that we never found a quilt sale. About twenty five years ago my husband and I attended an auction like this in Michigan on another Yoder blacksmith farm and there was a huge, well-attended quilt auction taking place in a barn. I may or may not have gotten auction fever and bought a quilt that was too big for our bed.

Before we left we found this ice cream stand with home-made Amish style ice cream.

Since these were modern Amish the ice cream makers were powered by a little gas engine.

But the black raspberry ice cream was still very tasty.

House Dreams

2011-10-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

When we're out on the road here in Michigan, killing time doing some shopping or looking for a farm stand selling the fruits of harvest, I love to look at the old Victorian houses that are so ubiquitous to these old towns.

They don't build them like this anymore.

These unique houses were built in the nineteenth century and have stood up to generations of use. It's great to see them respected and cared for and kept in beautiful condition.

These are the houses of my dreams. When I dream about "my" house, it's always something with lots of rooms and passageways and staircases. I love that upper story door on this house. The arched window is gorgeous. Can I go sit in that room? The beautifully designed woodwork trim, the wrap-around porch...I want to marry this house.

The attention to detail in these structures, always with gingerbread trim and embellishments, makes an otherwise plain brick home something special.

The antique stores here carry the remains of the pretty houses that have been taken down. For a wee price I could take these home for my little Northwest cottage.

I want.

My humble abode is just not grand enough for these kind of accoutrements.

I can almost imagine the regal room that featured these doors a hundred years ago.

If I could pack one of these into my suitcase and take it home, I would do it.

My Favorite Grandsons

2011-10-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

I'm spending some rare and precious time with my grandsons.

I only get to do this about twice a year because of the long miles of distance between us.

I am learning about them and they are getting to know me.

My oldest grandson, Jonah, is quite a boy. He has the most vivid imagination and active brain.

For a six year old he already has a lot of knowledge about many things. Boy things. Here he is dressed in his chain mail and armor with his helmet, sword and shield. He already knows all about knights and castles, vikings and weapons. Yesterday he said to me, If you want to know more about good weapons you can visit my website at dubluudubluudubluu dot better weapons and armor dot com!

Kids. They say the darndest things.

He has been helping me with projects, the busy work we are doing until the baby decides to make an arrival. If he was visiting me at home I would not have this kind of time to spend with him so it is a blessing that I am on his turf.

Jonah is a voracious reader. He reads for fun all day long.

I have had a couple kids who enjoyed books but I've never seen a six year old read like this. I don't read to him, he reads to me. The first thing he did when I arrived was read a book to me. Right now he is reading to me while I write this blog post. He is on the third book. His parents have to redirect him to other activities just to rest his eyes. He is reading Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle, which is a book I didn't read until I was ten years old. He is reading it for the third or fourth time.

Did I mention that Jonah is six years old?

The boy is a bottomless well of curiosity and imagination.

This boy is a story yet to be told. He is a sweet and cute and cuddly thumb sucker. A mama's boy who will challenge the rival about to usurp his position as baby of the family. Let the battle begin! I can't wait to witness it.

Farm Neighbors

2011-10-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Last summer when I was here, the Amish neighbors were harvesting wheat. Now, in the early autumn they are bringing in the corn stalks to make silage.

The Amish community here are not allowed by their rules to have any rubber on their steel wheels so their buggies and wagons make quite a clatter on the roads. The rumble and shake from the double trailer loads can be heard from half a mile away.

The idyllic weather combined with the old fashioned machinery and horses make for pastoral scenes.

My son-in-law is good friends with many of his neighbors who stop by to chat, get advice or use the phone nearly every day.

We never know when someone may be stopping by and it keeps the day interesting.

My Firstborn

2011-10-02T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am embedded once again at my daughter, Katie's, home in Michigan. For those of you who don't know, before living in Oregon, I lived in Michigan for nineteen years of my life. I went to school here, got married here and gave birth to five children here. The Regentin centennial homestead is in Michigan and our ancestors sleep here in quiet graveyards. It's the fatherland for our family. Returning to Michigan is always nostalgic for me.

Michigan is very, very different from Oregon. The Midwest is different from the Northwest. The landscape, the climate, the people, the politics, the trees, the birds...I could go on and on. In Oregon the landscape is dominated by fir trees. In Michigan it is hard wood and in October the sugar maples and oaks are turning red and orange. The houses and architecture in Michigan are different from Oregon. Walking into Katie's farmhouse always immediately draws me back to the farmhouses of my youth, the homes of my grandparents and cousins in the midwestern states of America. We don't have farmhouses like these in the Hood River valley of Oregon.

I don't think my daughter knows how much her life reflects the life of her ancestors here. She and her husband are living the country life, self-sustaining on a little patch of land, working hard from dawn 'til dusk, just like her grandparents did.

Yesterday morning I woke up to the aroma of bread baking.

When was the last time I awoke to the smell of baking bread?
Answer A: I've never awoken to the smell of baking bread.
Answer B: The last time my firstborn was at my house.

My firstborn daughter and I are alike in many ways but since Katie is so much brainier than I, she has taken her creativity, inquisitiveness and talent to a much higher level than I will ever achieve with my interests.

I've made lots of homemade bread in my lifetime, but my firstborn doesn't just make bread. She makes artisan sourdough bread which requires a scientific understanding of the structure, formation, and baking technique of bread dough. She makes sourdough instead of regular wheat bread because she has researched and understands the health benefits of fermented wheat flour. She makes this bread several times a week.

My firstborn also milks her own goats and makes cheese. I've made some cheese in my kitchen with only occasional and very moderate success (making cheese is not that easy) but Katie successfully makes her own delicious mozzarella, ricotta, chevre and feta cheeses.

She also makes yogurt for her family. By the gallon. Every week.

My firstborn child is also interested in brewing. She's made ginger soda pop, root beer and this week she's working on hard cider and vinegar from the apple cider pressing. She plans on getting into brewing beer too.

My little Katie Rose is also an excellent cook and not necessarily because I taught her anything useful in the kitchen because I don't think I did. She has honed her skills and kitchen talents with her own brains and perseverance.

These home-making skills are becoming more and more rare, the methods are being forgotten. It's exciting for me to see my firstborn daughter practicing and becoming proficient with them. I can't wait to see what she does next!

(Could it be a baby?)

Off On the Next Adventure!

2011-09-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the airport in Portland heading to my daughter's home in Michigan. Here are a few random things:

*My house is under construction. In my scramble yesterday to get my eight mile long To-Do list finished, I forgot to take a photo of its current state. The walls have siding and windows but there is no roof. It looks interesting! I wish I had taken a photo, darn it. This weekend the trusses come and young, able builders will be cat-walking the upper framing to put them in place. Someone take photos for me! Then the roof sheathing gets put on before the rain starts Sunday night. That's the plan.

*Alyssa and I are now an apple turnover machine! Together we turned out twenty dozen apple turnovers that Alyssa will bake and deliver while I am in Michigan snuggling grandsons and nuzzling a newborn.

*Speaking of my young daughter, I said good-bye to her last night and will not see her again until almost Thanksgiving. That kind of separation is a first for us. We have been together nearly every day since she was born. She will fly to Michigan to her sister's the same day I leave there and we won't even meet in the airport. Life...it keeps moving on and taking my children with it.

*I have been so ridiculously busy and my mind has been so cluttered with details of sundry life activities that I haven't been able to take enough time to reflect on the event about to occur. A new member of our family is about to arrive. I am only now thinking about the imminent birth, my role as a mother to the one giving birth and my blessed occupation as grandma to some little guys that I don't see often enough. It's time for me to switch gears and submerge myself in this special time.

*My thoughts are also with the family I am leaving behind. It's not going to be easy for them to soldier on with Mama gone. I'm thankful for a daughter who grows more competent every day to fill my shoes and for two boys who are also growing more mature and responsible.

Time to board my plane for the next adventure!

Delicious and Nutritious Black Bean Salad

2011-09-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy gardening year. We had such a long, cold spring and a late start to summer without ever having much real summer heat. The garden grew but not vigorously. The hot weather crops have produced slowly so that we are still picking corn and tomatoes though it is almost October. Some things seemed to thrive with the cool weather. We had more blueberries than we could pick. Some of the bushes are still hanging to the ground with berries. Peter counted sixteen gallon bags of blueberries in the freezer.

The peppers also liked the cool summer because we've had an abundance of them from just one or two plants.

I had never planted jalapenos before, thinking that they needed hot sunshine every day but I took a chance on them. They loved our cool mountain summer and produced many perfect peppery pods. What to do with them? Last night I threw together a big jar of pickled peppers. A first for me in thirty plus years of gardening and canning! Oh, and that eggplant there is also a first. I put a plant in the raised bed on a whim and it made a fruit! There are actually about six more fruits coming on but we'll see if a frost doesn't take them down soon.

During the month of September our evening meals have been loaded with our homegrown garden produce. Sometimes everything on the table, including the chicken or elk, potatoes and vegetables will have come from our own efforts to feed ourselves. Those are some very satisfying meals.

So despite our cool summer I have had an abundance of vegetables from the garden in my kitchen every day. Here is one recipe that uses a variety of them.

Black Bean Salad

Black bean salad is a great side dish for taco or enchilada suppers. I also make it for pot lucks and picnics and eat it for lunch. The kids love it. Black beans are very nutritious and with all the vegetables it is a truly health-building salad.

I start by chopping lots of vegetables- sweet peppers, jalapenos peppers (very finely chopped), sweet onions or green scallions, tomatoes and lots of fresh cilantro. I also add fresh or frozen (and drained) sweet corn.

Drain and rinse two cans of black beans.

The dressing is simple. The juice of one lime, cider vinegar, sugar, cumin, oil and salt and pepper.

Start by squeezing the lime for about two tablespoons of juice. Add two tablespoons of cider vinegar, a tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cumin (to taste), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

Whisking with a fork or a whisk, add 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil until emulsified.

Pour over the beans and vegetables, toss and serve!

Simple, delicious and nutritious.

A great way to use the garden harvest.

Season Finale

2011-09-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

One last wedding cake of the season.

And I am exhausted. I have never been so tired at the end of wedding season as I am now. Tired of baking cake. After thirty-something weddings in four months I'm just tired of it all. I really need a break for awhile. It's been a great year- the best ever. I've met some wonderful people and been challenged by their unique ideas. I've learned many new things about providing this most special of desserts for the most memorable of events. I still have much more to learn but I have made great strides this year. Many people in the wedding industry in our valley- the venue owners, the caterers and florists, wedding coordinators- have blessed me with opportunities and support that have grown my business and I am grateful.

I have had a few unfortunate events too, disasters and almost disasters and customer relation issues. I'm told that as a business grows these kinds of things are inevitable. I found each one to be a valuable learning experience, the kind that is painful to learn but will stick so that I do not need a repeat lesson.

This week I am leaving for a break from my routine at home to help my daughter, Katie Rose, as she and her husband bring their third child into their fold. I can't think of any better way to step back from the cake then to snuggle up with my grandsons and read books and to nuzzle a newborn. It's going to be great!

One last minute birthday cake order. Thank you, Karen, for the beautiful flowers that made this cake just right!

Now my focus is to prepare the family as best I can for my absence and to try to pack for colder climates. There is still lots of construction taking place here. Once again I'll be returning from a trip to find a house that is not the same as when I left it.

Life continues to be an adventure.

Morning Surprise

2011-09-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Some secret friend left this bouquet of loveliness on my door step this morning!

Thank you, secret friend!
Whoever you are...

UPDATE: I'm happy to say I found out who my thoughtful secret friend is! My neighbor, Annette, read this article about me in our local paper and was so excited about it that she went out and found these beautiful dahlias for me. I taught Annette how to make pie a couple years ago at one of my classes so we have a pie kinship and she was thrilled to hear about the Pioneer Woman Lodge pie workshop.

Thank you, Annette! You are so thoughtful!

Getting It Done

2011-09-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

Construction projects usually progress pretty slowly with us. A little here, a bit there, as we have money and time. The current addition on the house has been getting done in record time since -the rains- they are a' comin'!

The last two weekends and the next three or so will be work parties from dawn until dusk. Last weekend the sons helped their dad and so did my little brother.

Son Neal would like to just build the whole thing himself except that he has this regular job he has to go to every day.

Even the little boys have been busy. Sam is in his element. He loves anything that involves tools and working with the men. He's getting very proficient with tools too. Peter is always cheerful when asked to complete a task. Both boys are learning about the satisfaction that comes from working hard and doing things for ourselves.

Though Samuel prefers tools over toys, he also can set a very pretty table. He spent a lot of time and thought tonight setting the table for our al fresco supper on the decking of our new construction.

The boy is a paradox. Actually, he is simply creative and has an interest in many different things.

Kind of like his mama.

Carrot Harvest

2011-09-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

The kids harvested a nice crop of carrots from the garden.

I've tried a number of ways of storing them including keeping them in a spare refrigerator but inevitably the carrots end up getting moldy or rotten pretty quickly. This year I just don't have time to blanch and freeze them all so we're doing what I did successfully last year for long term storage.

In a large heavy plastic container the carrots are being buried in clean play sand and the whole container will be kept in the cold storage/root cellar where we keep potatoes and pumpkins. The sand keeps the carrots from freezing in the winter while keeping them dry enough to prevent mold growth or decomposition.

The kids got most of the wheel barrow load of carrots into this container and completely covered them with sand. We'll pull them out as we need carrots and they'll be as crisp and fresh as when they were harvested.

Buried- But Not Treasure

2011-09-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

The foundation had been poured and finished and it was time to back-fill the trenches before starting the floor joists on our home improvement project.

I decided that those open trenches were a good opportunity to get rid of some junk pottery that has been collecting in my kiln studio for years and years.

Every potter has a certain percentage of work that comes out of the kiln with cracks, warps, glaze drips and other undesirable effects. Old, ugly pots qualify as junk too. There are seconds (pieces with slight flaws) that can still be useful but then there is garbage. There was a time in the beginning of my career as a potter when I had a hard time parting with anything that I had put my blood, sweat and back muscle into. My family collected my cast-off junk and I used the rejects in my own home. Some of my ugliest, most poorly made work still exists and occasionally comes back to haunt me.

As I've gotten more mature in my thinking as a potter I have become more jaded and hard-nosed about getting rid of the junk and keeping only pots that I am happy to leave behind as my artistic legacy. But a box full of stoneware garbage is a heavy box. I couldn't just dump it at the curb so junks pots have been collecting in the corner of my studio for years and years.

Filling the trenches gave me an opportunity to clear out my studio and follow the lead of centuries of potteries in cultures all over the world that have shards and pieces buried under the ground.

It makes me smile to think that someday in the far future this property could be excavated and all these bits could be unearthed. Or, they may just stay there forever, leaving a reminder that once a potter lived here and she made things with clay, things that don't decay or decompose but that can last for centuries underground. The good work, the work I'm proud of, stays above ground in the hands of family, friends and collectors, to be seen, used and enjoyed.

The rest- good riddance!

Digging the Money Pit

2011-09-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

Work on the Money Pit has progressed in earnest this week. I love it! ...and....I hate it!

I love it because it's progress. Moving forward is always good.

I hate it because I am conducting household business without a mudroom and with this.....

...right outside my kitchen door. Can we say DIRT? Blowing in the windows and doorway, coming in on the bottom of shoes and boots. Speaking of shoes and boots....

Without a mudroom/entry way there is nowhere for those dirty critters to go except piled in my kitchen. This photo actually shows them in a somewhat orderly presentation. Normally they are sprawled everywhere for maximum trip-over and dirt-spreading capacity.

For the first time in thirty years and three home remodels we hired some guys to do part of the work- the foundation forms and cement work. After the day of constructing the forms I heard one of the guys declare I can't believe how dirty I got doing this! I feel like Pig Pen. I feel your pain, dude.

These two are in hog heaven with all the tool trailers, cement mixers and masculine grunt work going on here.

Who can concentrate on schoolwork when there is manwork to be done?

If I play it right the noisy outdoor activity can be a motivating factor. You want to get your tool belt on and help? Get that math lesson finished!

But there are certainly good life lessons to learn in hearty physical labor like building and construction.

The big boys got to learn lots of building skills with their dad when the first Oregon house project was done as well as the barn and farm building that has taken place over the years. Now is the time for these boys to get their experience.

And will have plenty of opportunity for that here in the next few weeks.

Summer Tomato Tart

2011-09-15T00:52:00.000-07:00

It's finally fresh summer tomato time here on the homestead. It seems like it has taken forever for the green tomatoes to ripen during our cool summer. Doesn't everyone always wait impatiently for the first juicy tomato of summer? The wait this year seemed so much longer and it probably was considering the harvest of all the valley fruit is at least two weeks later than normal. I only plant the earliest of tomato varieties like Early Girl and Oregon Spring yet still have to wait and wait for their maturity.

I am going to make a confession here on Pie in the Sky.

I never ate fresh ripe summer tomatoes until I was well into adulthood. I mean... I was at least in my late thirties before I really ate fresh tomatoes and I haven't eaten and appreciated them regularly until much more recently.

Isn't that sad? Pathetically sad!

This terrible omission in my culinary appreciation came out of my childhood and I have to blame my sweet dad. My dad, for some unknown reason, did not like fresh tomatoes. He was not shy about saying so when he eschewed them at the dinner table. I think he must have had some kind of traumatic childhood experience with...picking tomato worms in the garden or....nasty rotten tomatoes in the military...or something. Because he wouldn't ever eat a fresh tomato. This was good enough for me. If my dad didn't like them (and my mother did but that didn't matter) then there must be a good reason for me not to like them either. So, I never ate them. Ever.

As a parent I have remembered this effect I can inadvertently have on my offspring. Though I didn't eat fresh tomatoes I never talked about it and so my own children didn't repeat the behavior. They all eat fresh tomatoes and some of the kids adore them. I believe that parents should keep any food aversions to themselves and let their kids discover their own palette preferences, which by the way are very fickle in childhood and will change from day to day and week to week if those finicky aversions are pretty much ignored. That's been my experience anyway and all seven of my offspring have grown to be very adventurous eaters.

But back to fresh summer tomatoes.

Now, I love them. I look forward to the day those orbs hanging on the plants in my garden finally turn a deep red and are ready to be made into something special. Roasted tomato pasta sauce. Salsa fresca. Tomato sandwiches! (On toasted garlic sourdough bread with a wee bit of good cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper.) I could eat tomato sandwiches two meals a day every day til the end of summer and not be ready to give in to winter.

Another special treat reserved for the time when the tomatoes are coming fresh off the vine is tomato tart.

When I was still waiting for my own tomatoes to ripen I brought a few beauties home from the farmer's market. Some gorgeous garlic and hand made artisan cheese fell into my market basket too.

A tomato tart must have roasted garlic. Roasted garlic is simple if you plan ahead, which I almost never do. Since I am a rebel in the kitchen I don't follow the conventional wisdom of taking a head of garlic and chopping off the top portion before roasting. Instead I break off the number of cloves I want, or use the whole head in tact, and place them in a baking dish (here I used a ramekin for three cloves) so that I don't waste the tiniest bit of garlic. Drizzle olive oil over, cover in foil and bake in an oven at pretty much any temperature until the scent of garlic permeates the house and drool starts to ooze from my mouth and the garlic is soft when given a gentle squeeze.

This delightful and fragrant garlic paste can be squeezed out on some toasted bread or a cracker but since I'm making a tomato tart, this soft garlic will get smeared over a buttery pie dough that I have rolled out on parchment paper.

All three roasted garlic cloves were smeared on the pie dough. Then I sprinkled some grated cheese- pecorino romano is great or a good parmesan works- over the garlic.

Then the fresh tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper...

Finally, some more shavings of cheese...

Bake in a hot oven (425 degrees) for 20 minutes until the tart is just browned.

I won't take credit for this amazing tomato treat. It comes from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. For the best tart it can only be made with flavorful summer tomatoes. Try it and enjoy the end of the summer season.

Monday Wedding Review

2011-09-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Three weddings over the weekend and all three had the color of the year incorporated in their designs. Sometime I'm going to sit down and count all the weddings I have done in 2011 that have used orange. I think that color has predominated, even over purple. I've seen orange and grey, orange and purple, orange and pink and this weekend, orange and red, a nice combination for September.

I was challenged by our heat wave over the weekend. It got near 100 degrees all over the state. That kind of heat doesn't work well with any kind of cake icing but I take particular care with my specialty icing made with whipped cream. I had to work carefully to keep everything cold, delivering the cakes and cupcakes at the latest possible times to ensure that nothing was served in a melted state.

I loved the dahlias for this cake. Paired with the ivy I was pleased with the results.

These mokara orchids come in a rainbow of colors. The red is especially beautiful.

This outdoor wedding had a bevy of garden flowers in colors including orange. For the cupcakes and bridal cutting cake the bride wanted to use pink rose buds only.

This was one tempting buffet of scrumptious chocolate fudge cupcakes with chocolate cream icing. The chocolate-loving bridal couple had a fudge cake covered in rich dark chocolate ganache. A few vanilla treats were thrown in for those occasional folks that don't like chocolate.

The wedding season, like the summer, is winding down. A few more events are on the schedule and soon I'll be preparing for my trip to greet the arrival of a new grandbaby!

Random Friday Stuff

2011-09-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

I have three weddings on the schedule this weekend which means I'm going to be a little tiny bit busy.

Did you know that tomorrow is 9-10-11? Lots of people want to get married on 9-10-11.

So today, besides contributing to the scholastic education of my two youngest offspring (aka homeschooling) I need to bake marionberry cobbler for 100 guests, 150 cupcakes in chocolate fudge and vanilla flavors and I also need to bake four dozen of those pesky apple turnovers. The kitchen is going to smell yummy. And it will be hot considering we are finally having our summer heat wave. Now. In September.

Better late than never? No going to the beach today.

This afternoon I have to do three separate flower pick ups. Orchids, roses and...something else. I don't know what the third cake will have until I see what they give me.

We got our building permit yesterday! Yay! That means work will quickly progress and it may only be one more week of walking the balance beams over the trenches in front of my door. See how positive my thought patterns are?

The mountain is still on fire. It feels like it is burning up and there will be no trees left. Over 4500 acres of forest have burned.Yesterday again there was no wind which meant that the smoke hung heavily in the air. We sit in a valley with lovely views of mountains all around us but with the smoke we can't see anything. We can't open the windows for a breath of fresh air. Those of us with asthma feel it a bit more than others. The evening sunsets have a more brilliant palette of color with the smoky screen. I heard that Lost Lake, my open water practice swim place, is now closed because of the fire's proximity.

This fire is burning only trees now but there is another fire across the river in Washington that burned nine homes yesterday. And of course there is the terrible conflagration in Texas. We can be thankful that only trees are burning here. Let's all pray for rain!

While I sugar up the marionberries and mix up some cobbler dough you can take a look at this fun little slideshow of the cross channel swim last Monday. And here's a great shot of Mr. Alligator taking the plunge into the river.

Have a great weekend!

I know summer's over when my kitchen smells like cinnamon.

2011-09-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

In September and October you will find apple turnovers in my kitchen every Friday. I bake them for Saturday customers of an orchard farm stand that is open seasonally in my little mountain village. We are fully into the harvest time of pears and apples with pickers in the orchards and trucks on the roads hauling bins of apples. Despite our uneven weather this year good fruit is in abundance.

The farmer gives me the fruit that he wants to feature in the apple turnovers. This week I am using Tokyo Rose, a small, early apple that is packed with bright tart flavor.

We use a couple mechanical peelers to peel and slice a large box of fruit.

I then chop them up with a knife and mix in sugar and spices. I have learned through much trial and error that pre-baking the filling makes the assembly of dozens of turnovers a much easier process.

Working with my daughter, Alyssa, who rolls all the dough by hand using the parchment paper method, we turn out hundreds of these every season. We hear that no matter how many we make they all sell out the first day they appear at the farm stand.

I had some plans to sell turnovers and pies at our local farmer's market. Wouldn't these treats be great with other fillings- strawberry, blueberry, marionberry, pears, peaches...? Can't you just see a table covered in baskets of these flaky pastries and customers lining up to score some home made pie? I'm not sure we are going to be able to do this since finding out that the liability insurance required by the market has such exorbitant cost that it will suck away any profit. Hhmmm....not sure what to do. Anyone know a good insurance company with great prices? (Is that a dumb question?)

Scratch This Off My Bucket List

2011-09-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I was awake at four o' clock thinking about the swim across the Columbia River. By 5:30 a.m. I was making a protein smoothy to fortify myself for the task. My husband drove me to town to check in with the crowd of swimmers at 6:00 a.m.

This is significant in that I have never, ever been a morning person. The months that I baked at a cafe in town, arriving at the kitchen at 7:00 a.m. was the closest I ever came to being a morning person. During those months I marveled at the morning world that I had never really experienced. The distinctive morning radio programs in the car, judging my timeliness by where the radio personalities were in their morning routine of schtick; the sunrises; the quality of the air; the waking up of the world. I usually sleep through all this.

You morning people who are possibly tsk tsking me don't know the advantages of being a night owl. The quiet sleeping house at midnight when I can work or craft or read without interruption or threat of interruption has been the biggest one. But it's a morning world and I've always known it and felt the discrimination.

So here I am at 6 a.m., the sun just beginning to glow, the air chilly and crisp, getting ready to exert myself physically in 64 degree water for 1.1 mile with 400 other morning people.

Understand that that was the most significant part of my feat. If I had been swimming the river at 3:00 in the afternoon it would have been no big deal at all!

I had never before done the Roy Webster Cross Channel Swim and had no idea how it worked or what I was supposed to do to prepare so I just made my best guesses and followed the crowd. I checked in at the chamber of commerce (who was running the event), eschewed their offer of banana and energy bar, squeezed myself into my son's surfing wet suit and hopped on the shuttle that took the swimmers to the pier where the sternwheeler was docked.

My husband took my clothing back to the car and went to Starbucks to wait for me.

The swimmers were divided into "flights" of ten who would jump off the boat together, group by group. I was in flight 31 so I went to the top deck. I watched as other swimmers walked up the plank and boarded the boat. I was completely amazed at the variety of humanity who were participating in this event.

There were fit, athletic types in wet suits and goggles to be sure but there were also many, many people that did not look so fit or able to swim a choppy river for a mile. Many were wearing only a swim suit, shivering in the 55 degree air. Some were wearing black plastic trash bags which baffled me. Another swimmer told me the bag was a disposable wind breaker since we could take nothing on the boat that we would want back later. I asked why some people were wearing clothing, I even saw a couple fur coats, and was told that all the clothing left on the boat would be donated to Goodwill. I saw a young man wearing a tuxedo but I was never able to determine if he swam in it or left it on the sternwheeler.

I saw young and old, adolescents and grandparents, boarding the boat to swim in the event. There was a lady in a black swim suit who was quite overweight and needed help walking. There was another large lady with a prosthetic leg! She's going to swim the river? After the swim my sons saw her emerge at the shore where she was met with her leg and a chair at the water's edge. Way to go!

So maybe this thing isn't really that challenging after all?

The sternwheeler took us up river and tied to a barge near the Washington side. Immediately sailboats and pleasure boats, kayakers and stand-up paddle boaters began taking their positions to edge the route we were to take. The county sheriff's water crafts started motoring around the area with their lights flashing. An angled, arching swimming lane began to emerge, though not very distinctly. Off on the distant shore there was an area of orange and red that marked our finishing line.

I was starting to tremble from cold or excitement as I stood on the outside upper deck watching the activity. The majority of swimmers were inside the heated boat and it was a crowded party atmosphere in there. I jumped up and down in place and swung my arms to warm up my muscles.

Finally the swimmers began jumping off the lower deck in flights. The first swimmer to emerge had a large inflated plastic alligator tied to himself. I was told that this pair has always been the first in the water and the first out of the water. As the man swam the alligator skimmed along the surface behind him, leading the pack across the Columbia.

All the swimmers were wearing orange swim caps with their flight number on them. As group after group jumped in the water and set out, the water soon became a sea of bobbing orange globes that slowly spread down the swimming lane toward shore.

I decided to head to the bathroom for one last quick stop before it was my turn. After I mashed my body back into the wetsuit, I stayed on the now emptied-out lower deck to wait my turn. The flight numbers weren't being called out and I wondered how I would know when it was my turn. I put on my cap and suddenly heard someone say the number 32. What? I'm 31! Did I miss it?? As my brain was calculating what to do I heard someone yell 31! 31! 31! Yikes! That's me!! I was not ready but ran to the opening, apologies spilling out. The rest of the flight was waiting to jump and weren't allowed to because one imbecile was not ready.

One, two, three! Nine people jumped in the water. I was trying to decide if I should put on my fins, my swimming goggles or just jump.

You have to get in the water!

Okay, jump it is!

I plunged in, grasping my fins in hand. The water was ten degrees warmer than the air so there was no cold shock. When I popped out on the surface the river immediately began slapping me in the face for my incompetence. I did an armless backstroke to get away from the boat so the next group could jump, all the while sputtering and choking as the river continued to punish me. I think the nearby paddle boaters probably thought this was one swimmer they were going to end up pulling out. I managed to get my fins on and my glasses in place without swallowing a gallon of river water.

Whenever I swim, whether doing laps in the pool or crossing Lost Lake, the first half of the swim is always the most difficult part. It takes about twenty minutes for my body to get into a rhythm and for my muscles to warm up. If I am tired at all it is during the first part of the swim. At some point I am suddenly energized and the inner Mark Spitz comes out. I can go on forever. I've enjoyed the open water swims because there is no stopping. No walls to turn me around. No pauses to change direction. Just keep going. The problem with this in open water is that inevitably I end up swimming the wrong direction and if I don't stop there is no painted line to correct me. I have to pause, locate my goal point and reorient myself.

The Columbia had a 1/2 knot current that morning, just enough to cause people to leave the swim channel if they weren't pausing to redirect. The paddle boarders and kayakers were kept busy chasing people that were heading off to Portland on the current. I got redirected a couple times myself. Swim left! Swim left! Stay to the left of the sailboats and keep heading toward the orange goal line.

While swimming there was no thought about the depth of the water, the fish below or the distance to go. Just swim. And try not to bump into the others doing the same. Back stroke. Free style. Breast stroke. Eventually, when the rhythm is found, all free style, watching for other swimmer's legs underwater.

As I passed a big sailboat I paused to get my bearings. A happy-go-lucky style swimmer that I had seen on the sternwheeler wearing nothing but a speedo was bobbing in the water near me. He pointed out a man on the sailboat chilling in a hammock watching the flotilla of orange caps. Look at that guy! Someone needs to splash him!

Before I knew it the shore was just before me. There were hundreds of people gathered to cheer each swimmer as they emerged from the water and an announcer on a microphone encouraging the crowd.

The bottom was rocky so there were helpers stationed near shore to help anyone feeling wobbly while trying to get their land legs under them.

My husband with camera in hand and four of my sons greeted me on shore with pats on the back.

The bright sunshine reflected the joyous mood on shore as more swimmers accomplished their feat . I gave the staff my number so they knew I had made it out, got the commemorative t-shirt and mingled with the celebrators.

The motel on shore that was hosting the event provided a few rooms for swimmers to shower and change. There were also hot drinks and sandwiches waiting for the finishers.

I joined my husband and boys for a lovely breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the water.

I'm ready to do it again next year. Anyone want to join me?

A Random List of Updates

2011-09-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

1. All the pie talk last week motivated me to make two pies for us. Two pies in one week for us. There was a lot of pie for breakfast.

Oh. And a tomato tart with beautiful ripe tomatoes that I brought home from the farmer's market.

But that's okay. I can eat well because....

2. ...I've been working off all that good pie- a swim across the lake Friday was another practice run for the cross channel swim happening Monday morning at the crack of dawn on the Columbia River.

If you see a 49 year old grandmother of three in a wetsuit, that would be me.

3. The mountain is still on fire. I took this photo Friday night on the way home from the lake. The fire is much worse now, two days later. The mountain is completely obscured by smoke and depending on wind conditions, so is everything else. It smells like a campground around here.

We've never seen fire at such low elevation and so close to home.

4. Alyssa and I made about ten dozen apple turnovers to kick off the farm stand season. After two years we've got it figured out and are pastry making machines!

I've got some farmer's market plans for these babies too. Blueberry filling, strawberry, marionberry, peach....

5. This showed up in my yard Saturday morning. The men started digging the money pit.

And the little boys had some fun with the man toys.

My patio. My yard. My flowerbeds. They'll never be the same.

It's a good thing we're starting so late on this project. Now there is time pressure to git 'er done. No dilly dallying. I'm glad I didn't have to spend the whole summer walking planks over the moat around the house. A few weeks of carrying the groceries over a balance beam is quite enough for me.

Fire on the Mountain

2011-09-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Our side of Mt. Hood is on fire.

It began with a lightening strike a few days ago. This fire is at a lower elevation than the large Gnarl Ridge fire in 2008 That fire started in early August by lightening strike and burned until the rains started in October. This fire is also in the state forest and currently not threatening any homes but it sure is creating lots of smoke. Early this morning the sky was completely overcast, hazy with white smoke. Then the day's winds started up and the sky cleared to its usual summer blue with the smoke once again blowing off to the west.

Events like these cause lots of excitement in our little community. Last night our tiny town of Parkdale, population 273, was featured on the big city news because of the fire attention.

Here is a great night photo of the glow of fire on the mountain taken by Blaine Franger.

Blueberry Maple Syrup

2011-08-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

We are having a bumper crop of blueberries this year.

Whether it's because of the weather, the fact that I was too lazy to prune the bushes too hard last winter or some other unknown factor, we have so many to harvest that we can't keep up with the picking. They are exceptionally sweet this year too. Our freezer was empty of berries so we're very glad to get them and it's such a blessing to wander around the front yard every morning grazing on berries for breakfast. We just don't get tired of those fresh anti-oxidants.

When I met up with my daughter, Katie, in Oklahoma, she brought me a load of her home-produced maple syrup. My son-in-law gathers the sap in February and they cook it down in evaporators with their Amish neighbors. It's great to have a ready supply of this quality, natural, mineral rich sugar. I love it in my morning coffee.

With such an abundance of blueberries it's finally time to make some more blueberry syrup. I don't like to use white sugar to make the syrup so was happy to find a recipe for blueberry maple syrup. It' so simple and straightforward and results in a delicious pancake syrup.

To make about two cups of syrup, combine in a pot: 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup, 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, 1/4 cup water and 2 or 3 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice. Heat and simmer for five minutes until berries are soft.

As you can see I made a big pot. I used twelve cups of berries and a whole quart of pure maple syrup.

When the berries are soft, strain the berries and juices through a fine mesh strainer or a food mill. Press the berries to extract as much of the berry goodness as possible. Discard the solids in the compost bucket for the chickens.

Since I made a large pot I reheated the syrup and sealed it in pint jars.

When I brought out the blueberry syrup for Sunday morning pancakes, nearly a whole jar disappeared during the meal. That means I'll need to repeat this project about seven more times to have enough to last until the blueberry harvest next summer. Which means I'll need more maple syrup.

What a great Christmas gift home-made blueberry syrup would make too!

Demolition

2011-08-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

When I left for Oklahoma, this is what the back entrance to my little farmhouse looked like:

A few days later when I returned, this is what it looked like:

I'm glad I missed the in-between part that happened here.

This was the start of the home improvement project that has been planned and intended for a few years now. It isn't spring any longer, our original start time, but we do hope to get the bulk of the building done and a roof over it before the rains begin in October. We better get hopping.

The final assault for this phase took place a few days ago with the removal of the porch and the old concrete steps that were under it. Jack hammers may have been used.

Our three youngest men were put to the clean-up task.

Working hard or hardly working there, guys?

Summer Saturday Kitchen

2011-08-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

It's August, for a few more days anyway, and that means that there are wonderful things happening in the garden and in the kitchen.

One of my very favorite summer garden flowers is oriental lilies. This majestic white beauty is called Casablanca. Since I can see it from my wicker chair perch on the deck I haven't had the heart to cut it. Their bloom lasts so much longer on the plant.

But I had to bring this amazing one into the kitchen so I could enjoy its fragrance.
Despite the best efforts of an underground varmint to eat all my lily bulbs, I have a few of these to enjoy. I have many more of the Asiatic variety but these Orientals just knock my socks off every time.

Alyssa and I spent the morning in the kitchen preserving some of the garden bounty that has just begun to be harvested. Yesterday a customer gave my husband a box of fresh ripe peaches so Alyssa peeled and sliced them.

I'll make a peach pie filling by baking the sliced peaches with sugar, cinnamon, tapioca starch and butter in a 350 degree oven until they are bubbly. Just like making a pie without the crust. After the filling cools completely I can freeze it in containers for future pies or maybe I'll throw a pie together to eat now. I have found that making a filling like this for peach pie is the best way to avoid those soggy bottom pies that juicy fresh peaches tend to produce.

I also took our first good harvest of basil. Alyssa made several batches of pesto that we put into the freezer to enjoy over the winter.

Except Alyssa's asking for pesto pasta tonight.

I spent the morning picking blueberries, making strawberry jam, blueberry jam and blueberry syrup.

Later this week I'll post the easy recipe for making blueberry syrup.

Photo Album

2011-08-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

All right. I'm going to share some random photos from the Pie Workshop Weekend at The Lodge and then we'll move on, because....aren't you tired of hearing about it by now? These photos are mostly of food and the preparation of it because food was why we were there in the first place.

I am a salad lover. Love, love, love a good salad. This was a good salad. Spinach with bacon and poached eggs drizzled with mustard vinaigrette. Classic and sooo yummy. It accompanied those cheesy grits and pork loin with apples. I ate it for breakfast and lunch too. I'll be swimming a few extra miles for a while to work that weekend off my hips.

Friday was our prep day for the workshop. There was much to get ready. Alyssa valiantly squeezed lemons for my lemon curd.

My girls made a small trailer load of pie dough. They know how to make my pie dough better than anyone else.

Ellen chopped mushrooms for Tiffany's pot pie fillings. Tiffany, by the way, was the assistant cook that made this workshop so successful. She was masterful!

Vivacious April did the grunt work with the apples and the dirty dishes. Always with a smile on her face.

Ree cooked for us again Friday night. She's good at that. I'd like her secret to staying so svelte.

Friday night supper was a delectable Asian style chicken on egg noodles. Afterwards Evan licked everyone's plates and cleaned their chicken bones. It was that good.

Saturday morning prep included getting the mise en place ready for quiches. Roasted red peppers, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and spicy sausage set a mostly Italian theme.

Ree's willowy girls swept up a bit before the guests arrived.

April's Ellen and my Alyssa bonded over the baby.

More food. Yes, because can there ever be enough food? This was the spread put out for the guests to graze on in case they got hungry while making pie. Delightful chicken salad wrapped in crepes was my favorite. And I loved that simple cheese with jalepeno jelly!

The buffet of pastry goods was sampled but the whole fruit pies in the pretty fluted glass pans went home with their makers. The newly minted pie bakers were thrilled to share the fruits of their labor with friends and family at home. A couple of those mini quiches went on the plane home with me which was appropriate because pie was the pre-sandwich era travel food.