My favorite pie

My sharing of something to Sepia Saturday this week is, well, weak.



What, I don't have any old photos of baking?
Or kitchens?
Or me in an apron?

Or anything along those lines?

Scratching my head.  I used to do those things, but they weren't considered photo-worthy.

My favorite pie, Dutch Apple Pie.  I make my own from memory.




I sometimes make the crust from scratch, but usually just get the refrigerated folded up ones from the grocery. Apples are not peeled by me...but just cored and sliced. I like a golden delicious, but other semi-tart apples are also good in pies.

I use 6 large or maybe 10 medium size apples...stir in a big bowl with
 1/2 cup of flour
 1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

I pile the sliced apples in the pie pan with only a bottom crust (unbaked).
then mix up 
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of butter
the butter must be cut into the dry ingredients to make a good topping, so when the crumbs are the size of peas, you are ready to spoon it over the pie, and press onto the apples, making sure none are uncovered.

Place on a cookie sheet and cook at 375 for about an hour until the topping has sunk into the apples and is nicely brown.  If the edges of the crust are getting too brown, put aluminum foil over them so they don't burn.

Cool well, then slice.  A scoop of rich vanilla ice cream just adds to it's great taste.

Go over to Sepia Saturday to see what other Sepians are cooking up...



And I thought I had a photo of a pot pie in one of my "mug-bowls" but am not able to find it today. Being a potter, you know I like to set off my pots with beautiful food, and vise versa. Here are the mug bowls. 


Today's quote for a minute of pondering...perhaps.

The more you sense the rareness and value of your own life, the more you realize that how you use it, how you manifest it, is all your responsibility. We face such a big task, so naturally we sit down for a while.

Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi

More pottery and some magic afoot

Functional wares this week going to the Tailgate Market.
Of course that doesn't mean that's what folks will be looking for.

If I had any magic, I think I'd like a Fairy Godmother who knows marketing.  I am not that great at retail.

Of course I did work in the jewelry department of a big department store in Hartford, CT.  And there were also a few part time jobs to supplement my regular income at Albertsons, and Target, for a short time, usually holidays.

I am not a shopper.  I do love to look at good art, and won't pass up a museum or a nice gallery.

So this weekend I'm going to have a magical mystical marketing theme for my section of the Mudbuddies display.

Why not!

You only turn 51 once

As I post this, the day before my eldest son's 51st birthday, I'm thinking how it was the last day of that pregnancy. 

A first time mother, about to give birth in a Naval Hospital in 1964.

I had no women friends, and my mother lived 800 miles away.  My grandmother was closer, but I didn't think to ask her to come help me through this.  I was so sure it would be easy to do.  I was so wrong.

Well, this is that good old 20-20 hindsight.

Women need other women when giving birth.  I now have so many more women friends who support me whenever I need to share, emote, laugh, or just let my hair down.  Why oh why did I think one man, my ever lovin' husband, would be enough for all the support I needed.  It had to do with believing mainly in romance...like novels and movies, and sometimes TV shows.  That of course eventually led to my wising up and getting a divorce a few years down the road.

In reality, doctors and male nurses helped deliver my son.  I'm so grateful that they knew what was going on, because I sure didn't.

I was really thrilled the first time they brought him to me the next morning after his birth.  The night before he'd been weighed and given a number based on who knows what (my nurse friends do)...and taken to the nursery, while I went to a room full of other new moms.

And I was taught how to breast feed, fortunately by a female nurse by now. 

I'm so glad that new-born babies are given more comforting and so are mothers these days.

But the main point of my story is that he's lived over half a century now, and is doing fine.  I'm so proud of him, for his accomplishments and his children.  He has a wonderful sense of humor, is an imaginative and creative person, is very intellectual, is a great dad, a gentle boyfriend to his lady love, and works diligently on his newish (to him) home.

Congratulations, Marty!

More walking - part 2

I am currently at home, sitting at my desk, seeing Panther the cat above my laptop screen, on the towel folded on the printer sunning in the window.  When the sun peaks out.  It's been off and on raining, and due to continue for days.  Last week was dry and sunny, so I've got a few photos from then.

I also threw a few pieces of pottery...and today I've got 2 tasks in the studio.  To wedge up about 20 pounds of recycled clay, and to trim a couple of plates.

A native plant, the Flame Azalea

But for right now, I return to looking at the photos of my walk this weekend.  It wasn't long, and I can't give justice to the view up through the branches and leaves that create a cathedral above me.  Those photos just never look right, but I did spend a lot of time craning my neck and standing still.

This quiet pool looked very inviting and I imagined young people laughing and splashing when the day and they were warmer.

Quote for today:

We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that something deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

e.e. cummings

Finally, more walking pics...part 1

The bridge over Flat Creek near the memorial gardens leads to several trails.

These days I take the road more traveled, staying close to the creekbed and not climbing the more exciting trails that might lead to vistas on higher mountains.

A new bush (to me) has some exotic looking blooms on it.

Flowers are about 4 inches across, with gorgeous coloring in the center.  Sorry for blur.

And then I cam to another bush with similar blooms, this time in orangish pink.

Again, the blooms look to be about 3-4 inches wide.  And these are bushes that already stand about 3 feet tall.

My friends who I consulted say they are Bittersweet.  Mmm, can't wait to see the berries in the fall!

More blossoms from this walk tomorrow.

Trail choices

There are a lot of trails in Montreat.  Highway 9 north from Black Mountain leads into this little village, and then you have to go back out the same way...because it's the deadend!

Right after arriving at the stone gateway to the town, a parking lot on the right is the site of this map, and once you cross the little bridge over Flat Creek, you've got several choices of trails.

Elizabeth Trail runs above the creek to the left, up into the area of the village.

It's a relatively easy trail, which includes looking down on the town's homes

And here is where trail signage loses me...the arrow yes, but what's that above it?

A serious hiker went in this direction...and later I went down this road to see what it led to...

There were all kind of heavy equipment, chippers...

snow plow attachments...

 And trail signs by the big dump truck.

What do the 2 hiker silhouettes mean anyway?

Sorry the signs are out of focus...something about wintertime in the protected sleeve.

And there behind the truck is the trail to Rainbow Mountain.  At least I think that's what the tiny symbol meant.

There's an actual ford across the creek, which is how the trucking equipment gets over to the Highway 9, or Montreat Rd.

Why haven't I shared pictures of the trails myself? Well, my hiking days are over due to breathing limitations. I can travel from car for short distances on level terrain these days.