Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?

Cherry Pie Filling

Of course you can always "simply" make a Cherry Pie

or

you can go a little further and make simply delicious

Cream Cheese Cherry Pie

•  Cream Cheese Filling
• 3 oz Cream Cheese
• 1/2 c. Powdered Sugar
• 1 c. whipping cream

Step 1. Whip cream until it forms soft peaks
Step 2.  Mix the sugar and cream cheese - a hand mixer works well
Step 3. Fold the sugar/cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream.  If you do not know what fold means, look it up =)
Step 4. Put the final mix into a baked crust and add the Cherry Pie filling on top. 

Side note - Although I like the challenge of making a good pie crust (and have had some embarrassing failures); I use refridgerated boughten pie crust on occasion.  My aunt who is quite the fabulous pie baker reccommended it...and boy howdy is it handy! =) Yes, my favorite recipe is that of my mother's in the Seasoned with Love cookbook.  Makes plenty of crumbs to have around in the freezer for that sudden pie inspiration. I feel like I have sooo much to learn in the area of pie crust finesse. Another great pie baker in our family probably prefers to remain anonymous on this topic, but she keep Krusteaz Pie Dough Mix in her pantry.  She gave me some and it works very well.

But I will give 3 little tips.
1.  Refridgerate your dough slab before rolling it out...20 min or so...but not ad infinitim. 
2. Use Ice cold water when mixing the dough. 
3.  The Baker's Roller from Pampered Chef works very well in repairing edge separations before you put the dough in the pie pan.  You can even use it on the dough once it is inside the pie pan.  Happy Pie Making!

Pie filling in jars ready to be Canned

I used Martha Cover's recipe in the Seasoned with Love Cookbook.

Water bath time

I always find it interesting how the color of the pie filling changes post water bath.  When they first come out, the cherries are brightly colored distinct globes.  The clear jel has not yet taken on the cherry color. 

And now

Last but not least, this is a 32oz jar of pie filling.  The store bought comes in only 20oz.  So a qt. of pie filling will do 1.5 Cream Cheese pies.  Guess good things DO come in threes =)  (yes, you have to do the math on your own!)

P.S. I gave David one of these for Valentine's Day 12 yrs ago.  ;)     (a pie, not a jar of pie filling!)

Thought question - do you think the verse "O taste and see that the Lord is good" refers to food? And on a lighter note, what is your favorite kind of pie?



P.P.S.  I can food faster than I can blog about it!  Cherry syrup...improved my previous recipe.  Boysenberry Jam - All sold!  Carrot/zucchini pickles. Coming up....several more types of jam....like Black and Blue Jam.   The fabulous Berry Cherry.  Maybe even straight cherry.  Adios!

In Honor of John - C.G.B.G.B

The Sunday before Memorial Day Weekend we decided that we weren't going to go camping that weekend. Why?  A variety of reasons made it not the best time.  So to "make up" for it, we planned a fun weekend.

• C - campfire meal
• G - gardening
• B - beach
• G - gardening
• B - baseball

 These almost 2 yr olds are just a week apart in age =)

No comments needed =)

It wouldn't be a campfire without some singing.

Enjoying those smores cones.

 A campfire evening with those we had been planning on camping with suddenly came into question when it started raining Fri. afternoon.  We left the decision until a hour before....and it stopped just in time!  Our meal was simple and "campfirish" - even if we cooked on the propane stove.  I made what I had been going to fix for our group supper.  Zappatos Red Beans and Rice mix with sausage added.  The others brought cornbread (Trader Joe's mix with an added can of corn - so good!); watermelon, and smore cones. "Smore cones" you say? Yes, Sharon discovered them on Pinterest. Due to the chance of rain, David nixed the setting up the tent in the backyard idea, promised the children they could sleep on the trampoline.  But we were having a little cold snap (as in it snowed close to where we wanted to camp) and they soon came in =)

The next day was a garden day.  It needed weeding and watering and attention in lots of different areas.  But we focused on the boysenberries.  David patiently ties up the new growth so that it is much easier for us to pick them. 

 He wears gloves and holds the stems up.  I tie them where needed and he weaves the stems if possible.  Aaron spent quite a while cutting our twine and then weeding the walkway by the berries.  Yeah!  I don't have to wear jeans to pick them now.

 Most Saturdays will find Sarah in denim - we are just outside most of the day. Correction, David and the children are outside most of the day, and I join them whenever possible. 

The ocean was beautiful, but windy.  Sadly, my camera got left at home. We enjoyed supper at Sea Harvest - Thanks A. Margaret.  I get a kick out of watching the sea lions there!

The next day we gardened some more, followed by a baseball game and picnic with friends....we definately have many blessings in life.  So thankful for this country to live in, for godly family and friends. 

Oh, and John is on an acronym kick.  I vividly remember annoying my friends with my named based acronyms....I'm so sorry!  I won't name them here =)  You can do the honors in the comments section if you feel inclined! 

Reading Wish List

Magazines I enjoy reading

• Creation
• World News
• Testimony
• Real Simple
• Readers Digest
• Consumer Reports

And occasionally....i.e. waiting rooms

• cooking magazines
• popular science
• National Geographic.
• ...and that great American rag...."P_ _ _ _ _" 

Reading magazines at this stage of life suits me well.  They usually aren't too demanding mentally, thereby allowing me to go to sleep shortly after reading.  I get my little reading fix AND get to sleep quickly. 

It's rather obvious that our reading materials do say a lot about us.  If I listed the last 5 books I have read, you would think that I was a Christian who likes to read, housekeep, raise children, and live healthily, and make JAM.  What do the titles in your life say? 

Flashback - Somebody Special Turned 5

Way back in Febuary, little miss turned 5. She heard about her 10 yr old cousin in Ore. who had had a tea party for her birthday party. Viola! My almost tomboy declared that her favorite birthday party theme would be Tea Party...yes, it rather surprised me. Then, I just felt sad. You see, the last tea party I was at was Grandma Mary Jane's 85th birthday party, when little miss was 3 mo. old. Grandma loved pretty china and all the ways that a table can be made beautiful. So this party was a little bit a way to honor her - to pass on to my daughter, that the simple can be made beautiful. Really, isn't that what God did, took "simple" DNA...little molecules..ADGC and created life. Beautiful, spectacular, amazingly unique life. Thank you Grandma....for lovinging the beautiful in life!

 My sisters even know how to make jicama beautiful!

Mini cupcakes w/ flags - thanks A. Mary!

Chocolate covered strawberries WITH sprinkles!

Blueberry Lemon Scones from Cooks Illustrated....mouthwatering!

The ever determined birthday girl getting rid of the smoke. =)

Her actual birthday was special too. We (she, youngest man, and I made blueberry pancakes...our family birthday tradition)

Yes, it's a penguin with sunglasses....yes, he loved it =)

A. Sharon came and ate lunch here, then she got to go out for a birthday lunch with Daddy. 

She is so blessed!

Grandma Irene came over and let Sarah help a little bit making the placemats tea party worthy. 

Stamp...stamp....stamp.

After all, you are only 5 once! 

Do you remember your 5th birthday?  I don't. But that is hardly shocking....I have an anemic memory.

Thought question?  Look around you...what beauty has God placed in your life right now? 



Paddington might be hunting Strawberry Marmalade!

I've had the recipe marked in my Jam cookbook that has been calling my name for quite a few months. Last week, in an urge to put off doing all that I needed to do to coordinate the "End of School Year" Picnic.....I up and made some Triple Berry Jam.

Strawberries

Boysenberries

Blueberries

All mixed together in a fragrant sugary pot.

Washing the jars in hot soapy water

S was doing her best to take a picture of me skimming off the foam. =)

Fast forward to this week...last week of school, mind you....I managed to remember the ingredients when making my grocery list. I stopped at the Strawberry stand to find that they had 1/2flat of jam berries. After lunch I started processing and figured out that I had just enough to make a double batch of Strawberry Marmalade

Strawberries mixed with a plentiful amount of Orange and Lemon zest and fruit. The citrus brightens the sweet jam delightfully. The handy dandy zester comes from Pampered Chef. I highly recommend it. (The side prongs nicely score a cucumber as well)

The marmalade mixture at first showed the citrus color...as you can see below, cooking made it primarily red.

My efficiency loving side delights in being able to use my 9 qt canner + a towel on the bottom to can all of that jam in one shot.

Oh Paddington....where are you....there's marmalade available!

Caramel Pear Jam, Strawberry Marmalade, and Triple Berry Jam....it's what's in stock. But by far the most fun one to say is....STRAWBERRY MARMALADE.

Thought Question....Dorcus was the only woman raised from the dead. She served her community selflessly. What can I(you/we) do to better serve our community? In the spirit of humility, i don't expect public answers...but take a minute or two or three...PAUSE...and let the Lord speak to your heart. We all have room to grow.

P.S. Kendra - you must be streamlined....20 minutes? Hahahahah! =) Excellent post right there, blogging friends! I've definately caught myself comparing myself to other bloggers. Then low and behold life happened and I got so far out of this that I wondered if I should simply bid everyone goodbye here in blogland. But I didn't...obviously =) Goodnight!

Swiss Chard anyone?

"A time to plant...and a time to pluck up that which is planted"

Saturday was great, even if I did sew the entire side seam of my dress-in-progress wrong for the second time.  You see, I spent a good part of the day outside with my favorite Master Gardener!

It's that time of year. The time where baby leaves coat the oaks, the fog is gone, and the March storms delightfully fickle.  Here in the Great Central Valley, if we are lucky enough to have gotten winter crops planted, well, we truly do both parts of that famous Ecc. verse.  The boysenberry vines have been pruned and meticulously tied.  See the new growth?  Just 2 short months and I'll be back to picking boysenberries every 2-3 days.  The one outdoor activity I missed Sat. was the planting of a 2nd row of berries over on the far hill.  Next year will be the first harvest.....I'm hoping to have some u-pick berries from that row! 

 Striding out with camera in hand, I found the imaginers and their sidekick.  Sarah was picking weeds (yeah, weeds at our house in spring time is fairly common) and feeding "glansen" to her horses.  John was adding sticks to a leftover tomato cage to make his windmill.  Stephen? Just wondering around blissfully a part of the outdoor action =)

Stephen - watching our Master Gardener hoe the baby potatoes.

MG actually said it was one of his favorite things! 

Tiny onions...I had the pleasure of dividing and transplanting the "extras". I'm actually a wee bit concerned about the size of our possible harvest.  3-4 35' rows?  

Seeing the rows of potatoes coming up IS extra rewarding when you have a hand in dividing all of the potato seed. It's a bit of a contest to me....how many eyes CAN you separate out of ONE potato? =) 

 

Yes, my husband is a measurer...each row gets a piece of pvc at both ends, a string to mark the row....and voila...straight rows.  It really is GOOD that I'm not in charge of that process. =)

 Our trusty 4 row planter completed the 7 row job faster than our row man could make new rows.  =) 

 Yeah, we like to gang up on him like that.  For those of you interested in varieties, we planted Ambrosia - a bicolor "sister" corn to our favorite - Bodacious. I'm sure our next planting will be the latter.  Thanks, Sharon - for bringing some seed from IN!

First time ever - we planted some beans to dry - Italian Rose.  I'm rather intrigued.  The zucchini doesn't "call" me at quiet the same level...especially when I hear that there are 14, yes FOURTEEN, Zucchini out there.  "Well just feed the mission if there is plenty" says He. Hmm, I'd better reserve further comments until said squash is ready to pick.  But if you see me dashing around the church yard this summer after church...=)

A few of our cabbages have heads, the rest appear ready to bolt - a combo of warmer Feb. weather and starting our seed at the time we should have been planting transplants. I'm really ok with it, b/c that amount of cabbage sounded a bit overwhelming....I like sauerkraut, just not sure I'm ready to make it.  Plus I don't have a big crock.  Which is ok, gotta save SOMETHING for next year, yes? =)

Sugar Snap Pea picking bribery abounds at our house...it happens so much happier when you say...."you have to pick one container full.  When you get 3 containers full...then you get a sucker"

 Whoosh...they are out of the house.  I joined them today for a more thorough going over.  They aren't perfect, but my older 3 all eat them - esp. with that childhood favorite...ranch dressing. 

Speaking of eating...the last and best garden moment of the day was walking out to the front flower bed and picking a bunch of swiss chard with Sarah.  It was the seed SHE picked out this last fall, and now we've had it 2x for supper.  The Multicolored really is pretty!

 We had to wash it thoroughly.

 and sauteed it with oil,  garlic, salt & pepper, and boysenberry vinegar for a bit of sweet zing. 

delish...hardly enough for 5 of us. Now i just need to let it grow and get BIG like the acreage over on Covert Rd.  That is some lovely swiss chard. 

I really do have hope for Stephen - right now he's a bit of a fruits and veggies snob....but how can he resist the delicious bounty of Daddy's garden?  He'll learn....=)  cause I'm not about to give up. I'll just send him out with John this summer to pick beans....cause John eats them off the vine...tomatoes too...you MIGHT not want to have him over if you have a garden .

Keep planting and hoping and eating and praising the Lord for his bounty.  Most all of us know the law of the sower.

You reap what you sow

You reap more than you sow

So sow in truth

And that wonderful thought question....what is the one veggie you don't really like?  Why?  Mine is bell peppers.  The odor is offensive.  The crunch? delightful.  I like them roasted....but NOT raw.  And please don' t ruin a pizza with them =)  And beets?  Well, I'm neutral on those beauties.  My husband wants to plant some, so who knows, maybe I'll be plugging beets into allrecipes.com this summer?

Kendra - No, I didn't aim this post at you...and I hope it doesn't make you sad!  Ok, now I'm sad b/c it has been so very very long since we've seen each other.  Praise the Lord for computers, yes?  Miss you, and certain other of my far flung friends that go waaaaayyyy back to teen years =) I can't name you, b/c that would be leaving someone out.  But if you knew me back then, consider yourself missed.  There is just something special about old friends. 

P.s. - When I say "Master Gardener" - I mean of our small domain - there are LOTS of Master Gardeners out there!