Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Tasting this tomorrow

      
THE ULTIMATE PUMPKIN PIE




Crust:
1 1/4 c All-purpose flour
1/2 c Powdered sugar
1/2 c Butter; cut in pieces
3 tb Whipping cream
Filling:
3/4 c Sugar
1 tb Light brown sugar
1 tb Cornstarch
2 ts Ground cinnamon
3/4 ts Ground ginger
1/4 ts (generous) salt
1 cn Pumpkin; large can
3/4 c Whipping cream
1/2 c Sour cream
3 lg Eggs; beaten
1/4 c Apricot preserves

. For crust: Preheat oven to 350
degrees. Blend first 3 ingredients
in processor until mixture resembles
coarse meal. Add cream and process
until moist clumps form. Gather dough
into ball; flatten into disk.
Wrap in plastic; chill for 15 minutes.
Roll out dough on floured surface to
14-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch
glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch.
Fold overhang under. Make cut in
crust edge at 1/2- inch intervals.
Bend alternate edge pieces inward.
Freeze 15 minutes. Line crust with foil,
pressing firmly. Bake until sides
are set, about 10 minutes. Remove foil.
Bake crust until pale brown, about
10 minutes more. Reduce oven temperature
to 325.

For filling: Using whisk,
mix first 6 ingredients in bowl until no
lumps remain. Blend in pumpkin,
whipping cream, sour cream and eggs.
Spread preserves over crust; pour in
filling. Bake until filling puffs at
edges and center is almost set, about
55 minutes. Cool on rack. Cover;
chill until cold.

( I didn't do the jam on the crust)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Evening with Book Club


My dear friend has the photos
of our Evening discussing
The Guernsey Literary and Potato
Pie Peel Society.

I hope to get the photo off the camera
and onto this blog of the lovely
basket of gifts given to me ~~ for
my upcoming surgery. I was well
loved and surrounded in prayer.
Pretty soon I'll be running around
the block !

New Book



Our library has it and I have it coming from
another branch! I'm excited.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Charlotte Mason



"Let a child have the meat he requires
in his history readings, and in the literature which naturally gathers around this history, and imagination will bestir itself without any help of ours; the child will live out in detail a thousand scenes of which he only gets the merest hint."
Charlotte Mason

Prayers today


Very cold out this morning and
there's ice about it patches. Just
so cold! Praying for a dear friend's
premature baby born on Tuesday
that he will make it. I have those
angels camped around him from
Pslam 34:7

The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and
delivers them.

AND a line from a poem we worked
on knowing last week by Gerald Manley
Hopkins, a poet-priest in the Victorian
Age:

From God's Grandeur:


Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and
with ah! bright wings.


BROODS:

  1. To sit on or hatch (eggs).
  2. To protect (young) by or as if by
  3. covering with the wings.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/41/75736085_16bfa415c6.jpg?v=0











Friday, November 21, 2008

A Letter from My Third Son


In our discussion of our Book Club
last night on The Guernsey Literary
and Potato Pie Peel Society , we wondered
if men wrote letters. The book is written in
letters. My third son does and he's up in the
mountains to come home for pumpkin pie
and that turkey next week. He addressed it
to : MOM......and then our address with this
quote on the back:

" I not only use all the brains I have,
but all that I can borrow."
Woodrow Wilson

And ends his letter with " Always praying
for me~!"

Of course! Knee pads are getting worn!

Love, MOM

Thursday, November 20, 2008

the way it is


"I dream of an art of balance, purity,
tranquility, devoid of disturbing or
disquieting subject matter~something
akin to a good armchair."--Henri Matisse

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Coffee at the library!!!


I had not been in this larger
branch of our city's library
in over a year! So to my
surprise when we went to do
some research ( 15 students),
there is self-checkout of books
and opposite that area is a
Coffee Cafe! No kidding. It has
the feel of the big bookstore
which is down the street . You
can take your cup of latte or
a regular cup or a hot choc.
and even buy a cookie or muffin,
go snuggle up with a book
or research! Lovely misty day
to have coffee at the library!

Monday, November 10, 2008

W. Heath Robinson

A World War I cartoon by W. Heath Robinson
A World War I cartoon by W. Heath Robinson

The Return of the BLUE Vans


The return of the blue Vans,
those sleek sneakers for my 22
year old, took me to the PO once,
the UPS once, and now to return to
the UPS store again tomorrow. The
return prepaid label was inside the
shoebox under the tissue. No one
told us that in the directions so we
had the wrong label on the outside.
Inside of me was a storm brewing!
But when I called Vans in CA the young
girl walked me through everything and
now the package is ready to return. I
told her she made my day. She returned
YOU did mine just saying that.

Do that for a stranger today or this week!

http://shop.vans.com/wcsstore/Vans/images/products/5013099B.JPG
and the crazy 19 year old has these in BLUE

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/197674890_a96f415a10.jpg

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Billy Collin's poem


Collin's was Poet Laureate in 2001- 2003 and his
new book Ballistic is out. This is from The Apple that
Astonished Paris:



Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.

Billy Collins

Friday, November 7, 2008

God's goodness....Holocaust survivor


We heard a 93 year old
survivor of the Holocaust
Frieda Roos-van Hessen

who seemed to be 20 years
younger. Quite a story teller,
escaped the Nazis 8 times,
an opera singer, and converted
after the War. Riveting testimony!
She read Psalm 22 and said "Why
did the Bible steal from Bach?!"
( St. Matthew's Passion) and then
read on to read verse 16:

a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

And believed.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The next day.....GKC


The sun came out today and
the skies turned Carolina blue.
The world is different and will
be.


“We do not need to get good laws
to restrain bad people. We need
to get good people to restrain
bad laws.” G.K. Chesterton

There are two kinds of people: those
who say to God, "Thy will be done,"
and those to whom God says,
"All right, then, have it your way
C.S. Lewis



Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Bright colors for Election Day


NO lines when I went with
Brad ( 22) to vote today.(2:00)
Everyone else is my family who can vote
already did. I was thankful to go
in and out and no problem parking!
Then to Starbucks for a free coffee
for voters and the drive was glorious!
The leaves are in their gay scarves as
Emily Dickinson said!


The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gay
er scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned, I'll put a trinket on.

Emily Dickinson
Nature XXVII, Autumn.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Mitford on Election Eve


Just checking out Jan Karon's
site on Election Eve to take in a bit
of small village life! There are new
pictures and gentle music that soothe
your tired soul! You'll want to snuggle
back up into Mitford where they know
each other and life is simple. At least,
from my perspective. Maybe not to some
of her characters!

John Q. Adams said " Men will forget
policies but they will sing poetry!"




Saturday, November 1, 2008

Acedia and Me



I did finish Kathleen Norris'
new book yesterday. It was very
good to know what happened in
her life since her last book. I think
of her differently now. I love auto-
biographies and this is partly one.
She seems to dissect words down
to their root and take them into
the light to see them. All aglow with
God's Spirit.


Reformation Day Soda



Mix Cherry or Cranberry soda
with vanilla iced cream ....sing
A Mighty Fortress is our God!