Random Bits + A Recipe

     This morning when I checked Facebook I had a new invite to like a page. That wasn't surprising. Hardly a day passes that I don't get a new invite or two. I usually ignore them, but the name of the page I was invited to like intrigued me enough that I hopped over to check it out before deciding not to accept the invitation.
      For some reason I decided to take a look to see how many other page invitations I had waiting to accept or decline. The sheer number surprised me. Nine hundred forty eight! It would take way too much time to go through and decline them all, so I'll resume ignoring them. I wonder how long it will take to get to an even thousand.

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      I'm looking for a light hearted fiction book to read next. Something that's fluff, an easy read that hopefully gives me a few good laughs.
     I finished a book earlier this week that was more of a heavy read. Disturbing actually, at the end of the book I closed it and became covered in goose bumps. I hadn't thought it would affect me quite like it did, but being reminded of the horrors the Native Americans suffered at the hands of those in authority was chilling.
     So light hearted fluff is what I need to read next to balance out my reading. If you have any suggestions I'm open to hear them.

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     I have two new pie recipes I'm considering to bake tomorrow. Both fascinate and scare me just a little. Which should it be, a grape pie or a poppy seed pie? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

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    I got multiple requests for the recipe of the Bob Andy pie I had made earlier this month.  So here we go.

Bob Andy Pie

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
4 Tbsp flour
½ tsp. cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter (melted)
3 eggs, beaten separately
2 cups milk

Mix dry ingredients. Add milk, melted butter, and beaten egg yolks and mix well. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into 2 unbaked pie crusts and bake at 400º for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350º and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

35 Random Things

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so here we go. Thirty five random things about me.

1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes, I don't use it every time I eat a salad, but I do enjoy it several times a month.
2. Have you ever smoked? No.
3. Do you own a gun? I don't like guns.
4. What flavor Kool-Aid? Pink lemonade or orange, though it's been years since I've had any.
5. Do you get nervous before a Dr Appointment? Not so much nervous as just eager to have it over.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Once in a while having a hot dog is great, but I would get tired of having them if they were a regular at our house.
7. Favorite Christmas movie? The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Hallmark) Though there are quite an assortment I really enjoy.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water. Fresh, sweet, and cold ... straight from the kitchen faucet. Well, before you get the image of me contorting myself in order to drink from the faucet, I do fill a glass with water and drink it like a proper lady.
9. Can you do a push up? I'll leave push up to the pros.
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? A necklace LV got me for Christmas one year.
11. Do you have a favorite hobby? Writing ... perhaps ... or reading ... or sewing ... crafts ... baking ... cooking ... hand lettering ...  art ... I can't pick one as my favorite since I really enjoy most everything, but would get tired of all of them if I had to focus on only it.
12. Do you have A.D.H.D? I didn't think so, but given my answer to the previous question it could appear that I do.
13. Do you wear glasses? I don't. I used to have to wear reading glasses in 4th and 5th grade due to my Grandmother's insistence my gall bladder attacks would go away if I wore them. They never made a lick of difference in my sight, or gall attacks, but they sure made life miserable at school. I heartily despised having to wear them.
14. Who was your childhood idol? No one ... I thought my Grandpa was pretty great though.
15. Name 3 thoughts at this moment? Plans for the weekend. (We're having friends over) Things I need to do before the weekend. (Some cleaning, create a menu, and make an Amish amount of dessert.) And what's with all the traffic this early in the morning?
16.Name three drinks you drink regularly. Water, water, and tea.
17. Current worries? I'm getting better at not worrying about things. I have learned I have much more control over my thoughts than I used to think possible. I might not be able to keep a thought from popping into my head, but I get to choose whether or not to think about it.
18. Current hate? Not hate ... but I dislike the cats that plague the bird feeder. I've chased them away so often that the slightest rattle of the doorknob makes them run now and I'm seeing them there less and less.
19. Favorite place to be? Home sweet home
20. How did you bring in the new year? By sleeping. Sweet, sweet sleep. I couldn't imagine any way better to start a new year than to be well rested and ready to go.
21. Where would you like to go right now? I love where I am right now, but if a free vacation were to fall into my lap I'd love to go to Asheville, NC.
22. Do you own slippers? No, I don't. Every morning when my feet are cold I think a nice pair of slippers would be lovely, but somehow I never get around to actually buying a pair.
23. What color shirt are you in? I'm wearing a cream colored dress with blue flowers sprinkled on it in a random pattern-less pattern.
24. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No. We had a set once upon a time, years ago. Slippery, cold, and uncomfortable it proved to be!
25. Can you whistle? Yes, I can.
26. Where are you now? In our school room. I got the school assignments ready for the day, LV has left for work, and I have a few minutes at the computer before the children start waking up.
27. Would you be a pirate? I would not.
28. What song do you sing in the shower? Usually, nothing.
29. Favorite sports team? Any team from Pittsburgh. I'd be perfectly fine never watching sports again, but ... I'll cheer on what ever team LV likes.
30. Favorite food? I love a wide variety of food, but will always happily partake of Mexican or Italian food.
31. What's in your pocket? Sadly, I'm pocket-less.
32. The last thing that made you laugh? A conversation the girls had last evening.
33. What's your favorite animal? I really loved the dogs we have had, but when thinking of all the animals out there ... elephants. I don't want a hippopotamus for Christmas, but a baby elephant for my birthday ... that would be a dream come true.
34. Worst injury? A broken ankle was my worst injury, but not the worst thing that has kept me immobile for a while.
35. How many TV's in your house? Only one, and there are times when I think that's too much.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

    The second pie I made for my 52 pies challenge was an apple pie, using an old favorite recipe that I had shared here. It turned out as delicious as always.

    Week three's pie was a new one, and since it was a hit with everyone I'm going to go ahead and share the recipe with you.

I tried to get a decent picture featuring the layers of the pie. It didn't turn out the greatest, but at least you get to have an idea of how the yumminess looked.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

2 eggs - beaten
1 - 8 oz package cream cheese - softened
2-3/4 cup powdered sugar

Beat until smooth and pour into an unbaked pie shell. (My favorite pie crust recipe can be found here.) Bake at 350º until golden brown.. Somewhere between 30 - 40 minutes.

Allow to cool completely and top with two cups of blueberry pie filling. If desired, add an 8 oz container of cool whip on top.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to allow everything to set better.

If you decide to use my pie crust recipe ... I had a lot of left over pie dough this time, since I didn't want to make multiple pie. It can be frozen, but I opted to make herbed crackers, and a few other little treats with it instead.

Currently

Reading ... in my Bible, this morning, I Peter. In other reading, I just finished up a book on old fashioned home remedies. It was both horrifying and hilarious. And it made me wonder, in several hundred years, what will people be looking back at and shaking their heads that we ever thought such and such was a good idea?

I have a stack of recommended books sitting here waiting on me. I had requested them from the library over a period of more than a month, but somehow a whole batch of them arrived at the same time. It should keep my evenings full for a little while. I may share the ones I find I really liked, and maybe give mention to any that were a definite no.

Watching ... Worst Cooks in America. It motivates me to make sure all our children know how to cook. They all do, but practicing and adding to our skills doesn't hurt.

Listening ... to Sharon practice her latest assignment from her piano teacher, Steven talking to himself as he's trying to decide which book he wants to read next, the hum of the furnace blower running, and the clicky noise the keyboard makes as I type.

Wearing ...  a gray patterned skirt and a pink-ish shirt. And my coat. I get cold after eating and my coat was closer than my robe, so coat it is.

Eating ... for breakfast I had avocado toast, and for lunch we'll be having leftover chili from last night.

Cooking ... I haven't decided what I'll make for supper tonight, which is different since I usually plan a week's worth of menus at a time. For some reason the thought of cooking tonight makes me feel like saying, "but ... but ... but, I just cooked last night! And thousands of meals before that."

I'm sure inspiration will come to me before long, but right now the desire to cook has left me. I don't care for that feeling.

Cleaning ... I like adding something along the lines of deep cleaning in addition to our regular housekeeping every week. This week it's taking apart the faucets to do a deep clean on them and make them sparkle from the inside out.

Playing ... we've been playing a lot of 'Sleeping Queens' lately. It's fun and fast. Two of my favorite things in games.

Loving  ... the waterfall. I'm not even going to complain about the lack of snow, even though January is not the ideal month for things to begin looking a little green. Even the daffodils have started to grow.

Kicking Off 52 Weeks of Pie

   On Saturday afternoon I pulled out my old faithful cookbook and opened it to the pie section. Instead of going to our favorites I decided I would finally try my hand at baking a Bob Andy pie. 

     It used to be my Aunt Sadie's favorite pie. Every family get together she would show up with one of those pie, and every family get together I would eat a slice of my favorite pie instead. 

     For some reason we never made the pie while I was growing up, and until Saturday, I had never made it since we got married. That was all about to change. It was time to try Aunt Sadie's pie.

      I followed the recipe and it came out of the oven looking just like Sadie's used to.

      After it had cooled it was time to taste it. It was good, but I don't see it becoming a favorite. 

     If we're ever invited to a family get together I may bake one and take it along in memory of Aunt Sadie.