Author: still a dreamer

Summer Peach Pie

/ still a dreamer / 10 Comments

Mmmmm … summer fruit pies. This one is Peach Crumble Pie courtesy of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. I really was determined to not let the summer go by without making one fresh peach pie or dessert. I would love that my schedule afforded me more time to bake, but alas … I made this one!

Ready to go in the oven!

I now remember why I don’t make fruit pies that often, too. They are really time consuming, (unless you’re in the habit of baking regularly.) One of the pluses of this pie is that it didn’t ask that you peel the peaches, so that was a small time-saver. Another is that it is quite low on sugar. Only 2 teaspoons in the butter crust, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in each the peach mixture and the crumbled topping.

The recipe said to bake an hour to an hour and a quarter. The hour was just right and the edges of the crust are a nice brown and not at all too done.

And it’s delicious, not too sweet!

Here’s the recipe for Peach Crumble Pie on Martha Stewart’s web site. Enjoy.

Take Me Out to the Farmstand

/ still a dreamer / 3 Comments

I’ve always said it doesn’t take all that much to make me happy, so if I can drive to my local farmstand, buy wonderful fresh produce, and photograph it as well? Hey, that makes me happy. Hope these photographs taken at Phillips Farms in nearby Holland make you happy, too.

Plants, herbs and usually fresh flowers are for sale

Oscar keeps an eye on the stand and promotes the whole “Jersey Fresh” concept. I’ve suggested they try him at the edge of the road to promote business, but really, you either know where the farmstand is or you don’t. Located on a typical 2-lane blacktop in the middle of a variety of farms, it’s not the most highly traveled road.

Tomatoes of every kind. They had some Brandywine tomatoes; I don’t know what they are, but I got home and wondered why hadn’t I gotten some to find out? There’s always a next time, and tomatoes are still coming in. In fact, early Gala apples were already in.

Beautiful produce of every kind plus berries and greens in the nearby fridge. If only I had a parallel life I could just cook and bake with all this fabulous stuff. Although I didn’t photograph the peaches, I did buy enough to make something delicious over the weekend.

Corn! Today they had bi-color, which as long as it’s sweet makes no matter to me.

Hope this inspires you to go find or visit a farmstand by you this weekend and enjoy what nature has to offer while it’s still summer. Before you know it, it’ll be fall and the apples, squash and pumpkins will be in!

Thanks to Emily …

/ still a dreamer

How happy is the little Stone
that rambles in the Road alone,
And doesn’t care about Careers
And Exigencies never fears —
Whose Coat of elemental Brown
A passing Universe put on,
And independent as the Sun
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute Decree
In casual simplicity —

–– Emily Dickinson
Poem 1510

Lost when the Story Ended

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

How you know a book is truly fabulous is when you finish it and feel a bit lost. That’s how I felt after reading The Help. I was done the story, but I didn’t want to leave that world where Miss Skeeter was writing her novel with Aibileen and Minny. I wanted to keep cheering them on and holding my breath when Skeeter finds Hilly’s been in her satchel and wish that Minny would leave Leroy. And now it’s over.

It’s a wonderful author who can so thoroughly engross you in the world she’s created that you just sit and stare a while. The Help was not only a brilliant story but also a stark look into a time in the deep South when racism was sharp, but the edges were being chafed by the likes of Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers and Rosa Parks in the growing civil rights movement. It’s a portrait of whites and the “coloreds” who served them, and how the maids fared depending on the inclinations of their missus.  What a read!

I saw the movie before I read the book, and now am going to watch it again. Apparently, I’m not done quite yet.

But what do you choose to read after you’ve finished a novel that held you in thrall? I’m thinking something as far from it as I can get. Despite my many selections from the annual library book sale, I admit I did purchase a few new ones that I’ve been wanting to read, and The Camino is one of them. What a joy reading is.

 

Kids – Hope for the Future

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

Shazaam! I’ve got a magic wand!

Each week my local county paper has a kids’ section that poses a question or two and publishes the children’s answers with their names, schools and grades. I always read these. Sometimes – kids being who they are – the answers are hysterical, some about what you’d expect from a 6 or 7 year old, and sometimes remarkably perceptive. Those are the ones that always make me smile.

This week the paper posed the question, “What would you do with a magic wand?”

There were plenty of answers about making the child and sometimes his family rich, turning her backyard into Disneyland or taking him to Disneyland, getting rid of one’s allergies, getting lots of wonderful foods,  and so on. But then there were these.

“I would use a magic wand when people need help. I would wave my wand and magic spells will help them.”  –  Amy, 1st Grade

“If I found a magic wand, I would wish everyone the best and world peace. World peace is very important to me.”   – Lauren, 5th Grade

“If I found a magic wand, I think I would go back in time to see my ancestors. I would really like to see what they looked like and see what they did. I think it would be really cool.”  – Alexis, 5th Grade

“If I found a magic wand I would stop world hunger! I would also train my puppies to do their business in the woods …”   – Margo, 3rd Grade

“If I were to find a magic wand, I would use it very wisely and only for good …”   – Kristen, 4th Grade

“If I had a magic wand I would find clues to see who lost it and give it back to them because it is the right thing to do and I like to do what is right. I would do it with my parents’ permission.”   – Rhea, 1st Grade

And then there are the future artists and scientists …

“If I found a magic wand I would summon a unicorn! Me and the unicorn would play. I would name it Buttercup. I would ride Buttercup everywhere. That’s what I would do if I found a magic wand.”  – Derek, 3rd Grade

“I would make a duplicate of myself.”   – Wayne, 1st Grade

For those who are worried, take heart … there is definitely hope for the future.