C's Crafted Creations: Bonne Marche (and a recipe for PIE!)

C's Crafted Creations: Bonne Marche (and a recipe for PIE!): And what a good walk it was... This past Saturday was exciting on the family front. My daughter came for a visit, a bit of a lunch, then a...

Bonne Marche (and a recipe for PIE!)

And what a good walk it was...

This past Saturday was exciting on the family front. My daughter came for a visit, a bit of a lunch, then a trip to her Grandparents. My grandson also came to spend the day. 

Lunch was baked chicken and gravy, dressing, roasted root vegetables and deviled eggs. The apple pie for dessert, we decided to take with us to Mom and Dad's house. My grandson waited patiently for it. 

When we arrived, the folks and their dog, Seven, greeted us all warmly, as expected, even though the weather was damp and cool. We visited for awhile before our youngest member reminded us all there was apple pie to eat. So we commenced to delving into it, regardless of the fact that we forgot the whipped cream. 

Recipe for Apple pie with sorghum:
Ingredients:
6 Gala apples  (or whatever pie apple you prefer)
1/3 cup of sorghum (similar to molasses or cane syrup, not Karo)
1TBSP cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 stick of butter or margarine
Crust for two-crust pie:
Frozen or dairy aisle canned pie crust is fine but if you prefer homemade-

2 c. all purpose flour
2/3 cup shortening
1 Tsp white, distilled vinegar
1/3 cup of cold water
Cut the shortening into the flour until it looks like coarse corn meal
Add the vinegar to the water and add this to your flour mixture, mixing until it forms a ball. You may need to add more water, but only a 1/2 tsp at a time. 
Chill dough, if time permits, to make it easier to handle (about 30 minutes). 
Cut ball in half and roll out one for bottom crust and the other for top. 


Wash, core and slice thinly 6 gala apples - I chose not to peel them, since Gala's have a thin skin. 

Coat sliced apples with lemon juice to prevent browning (or you can wait until you have the crusts ready to prepare the apples, then put them right in and bake them). 

Toss apples with sorghum, cinnamon and nutmeg and place all into crust- lined pie pan. 

Dot the mound of apples with pieces of butter.

Cover with top crust, make a few slits in the top and bake in a hot oven (425F) for 15 minutes then turn down to medium heat (350F) for another 40 - 45 minutes. Check to make sure crust is not getting too brown around the edges; if it is, put pieces of foil around the edge of the crust for the remainder of baking time. 

Serve warm with whipped cream or a la mode. 

                                                   =====

Back to the walk...


Having eaten the pie, we decided to take Seven for a walk. Grandson and I leashed her up and proceeded down the long hill to the creek. We had no problems until we encountered another dog minding his own business in his own yard. Grandson lost the leash and mayhem ensued! Luckily, Seven just chased the other dog farther into his substantial yard, then gave up. She languidly returned to us, after a bit of mandatory chastising, but she wasn't sorry; no, not at all. 

The less frigid temps were melting the remaining sleet accumulation that adorned the roadside, but that did not prevent my grandson from making a few slush balls with which to pelt his Gramma. Needless to say, we arrived home, dog on leash and bedraggled. A nice walk, indeed. 


Then, there was the magnolia fort...

Seven chose to remain outdoors, so we put her on her long leash, but grandson was not ready to go inside either; he wanted to explore the back yard, still heavily burdened with downed limbs from the previous week's ice storm. The folks have a huge magnolia tree in the back yard which really got hit hard, so there were limbs surrounding it. Southern Magnolias are umbrella shaped, with long, evergreen, leafy branches that reach the ground. They make a natural shelter. Stepping inside, it became obvious to us both that, with a little work, we could make this into a 'killer' club house. 

We set to work arranging the larger broken limbs around the exterior of the tree, sticking the sharp ends into the mucky sod beneath. We filled in with smaller branches. The large, thick leaves made excellent walls. By the time we'd used up all the debris, we were pretty soggy ourselves, but the finished "man cave," as my grandson named it, was none to shabby. He decided he was going to play in this magnolia fort every time he visits. 

                              ---------------------------

       Thank God for Grandsons that bring out the child in Grammas. 

In the Cold Mid-Winter, who needs March?

February needs more days. Just why is it that this poor, diminutive month was chosen to be shortchanged on its hours of existence? March should be the short one, in my opinion, or replaced altogether.

Think about it; January is the decompression month following the high anxiety of the holidays and it really only needs 30 days to accomplish that; February is our first real "back to normal" month of the year and deserves at least 31, if not more, days.

March is an interim month, at best, and, if any deserve the fate of shortened time, it does. April heralds in Spring, so needs all the days it can get to get us ready for Springtime-in-full come May.

Which brings us to May, blessed with 31 days as it stands - as full a month as any in the calendar. May is the best month, aside from October (in my opinion) which also happens to have a full complement of days. If it were up to me, I'd do away with March altogether and give some of the other months extra time. We really only need 11 months; 12 is simply too many.

March is the best one to remove since the word march has enough recognition on its own - we march to the beat of a different drum, we march on, march in a parade; we're marching to Praetoria, marching off to war; we have march music and processional marches, too. March has plenty as it stands, without even being a month of the year. And so I propose a calendar of 11 months, sans March.

January is to have 30 days (that's enough), February 33, April 33, May 33, June 33, July 33, August 33, September (a very busy month, what with trying to get summer holidays in at the last minute and school restarting) 35, October 33, November (also busy with winter preparations and family-visiting time) 34, and December 35 (so very busy, as we all recognize).

Starting with 2016 I will have new calendars printed up. I feel that if George W.Bush can change the daylight savings regimen, then it's perfectly within my wheelhouse to change the Gregorian calendar. Now, isn't that better? I think so, too, and you're welcome.

Have a wonderful rest of February and enjoy April, which is just around the corner.

Ending on a High Note

2014 ends tonight at 11:59 pm. Or does it end at the stroke of midnight? I don't know the answer and may 
never know - it doesn't matter. It's funny how perspective changes with time and experience. I always looked at 
New Years as a beginning, like most people, I suppose. It now seems more appropriate and true to look at New Years as 
an ending with a focus on accomplishments. 

When you take stock of your own productivity, you must be very careful. We tend to view our own lives through one of two (or three, perhaps) lenses: a rose-colored one, where everything is lovely and wonderful, or a magnifying lens, where every flaw is revealed. I like to think there can be a third lens; one of clear glass, preferably antique glass with bubbles and waviness within it, that allows me to view correctly and completely but with the knowledge that all images may not be perfect. 

I see myself sitting before a wood-framed, 6-pane window, made with that antique, wavy glass. Pane one is the first part of 2014. It's hazy, to be sure, but if I concentrate, I can start to make out a few images: working on my health, my book, my crafts and such. Started networking more, mostly on google and tried to blog more regularly. So, first window pane, not too shabby. 

Next glimpse is end of winter, beginning of Spring and a leap into the world of craft fairs. Sounds better than it turned out to be, but it WAS a learning experience and I sold a few things. Problem is, I didn't do any others after that. Lots of positive reinforcement received and more networking, though. Also decided to try getting back into nursing and interviewed for a telephone triage nurse job. Long story short, it went to someone else. Moving on. 

Late spring, early summer and the juices are flowing. I see myself getting busier outdoors with gardening and yardwork while still keeping up the crocheting. Came up with some new products and lots of cotton yarn projects. Sewing machine getting more use. Yard sale time, too. By now I quit the online games and stopped spending hours reading FB posts and clicking on every link. Turning 60 makes me realize that time is ever more precious and should be used more wisely. 

Midsummer days appear. Inside during the hottest parts of the day leaves lots of time for writing and thinking. With funds depleting, it makes sense to think about a paying job again (horrors?!?). Nursing seems low on the list of possibilities, even though that seems an unwise path to want to follow. I'm crocheting afghans even though it's 90 degrees outside. The AC does a decent job keeping it comfortable inside this 140 yr. old house, how thankful am I about that? Very. And, oh, major events this year! A visit with a dear high school friend to catch up on the past 40 years of our lives. That's an entire blog post in itself. And a reconnection to a past love, an ex-spouse, old friend, father of three of my children. Another entire post that I do not plan on writing anytime soon. Did I say major? I meant MAJOR. Yep. 

Pattern for commissioned afghan

oil painting in progress

Looking at early fall days now and, while it's still hot outdoors most of the day, there are comfortable mornings that allow me to flex my artistic muscles and do some oil painting. Great feeling to use that medium again to create with. Acquired a more disciplined approach to each day. I decide I need more structure in my life, and one way to do this is to make sure to allow 30 minutes or so for piano practice daily. This serves a dual purpose -  my 8-years-old-this-September grandson really enjoys my keyboard playing (not to mention the guitar and fiddle), and showing him how practice makes more perfect is something special. I've also decided to devote daily time for spirituality - always a  good thing. Sales increased at my etsy shop during this time, but it's still not paying any bills, so I apply for a job at a local grocery store. I'm not hired. Well, well, well - that's kind of deep.

The remaining vista is clearer simply because it is recent and the emotions tied to it much easier to reach. Holidays are a challenge for many. Being with family and the stress of preparations, stretching dollars, etc. puts a damper on feelings of joy and peace. I'm fortunate to have only experienced this a handful of times in my life. I know I am. And knowing that makes my 60th Christmas season so very much like a beautifully wrapped gift to me. Happily, I was able to concentrate more on sharing the togetherness of the season with those I love than worrying about making sure everyone got the perfect gift, or their favorite sweets, or a spectacular dinner with all the trimmings. I made lasagna and a few finger foods. Everyone enjoyed it and I, for once, got to sit down and enjoy it with them. Why does it take 60 years to figure out what's really important? I have no idea. Maybe I'll figure that out in 2015. 

Happiness, prosperity and a healthy amount of humor are my wishes for all in the coming year. Consider yourself hugged.

The Allure of Autumn

Leaves are falling, as are temperatures. All I can say is YEA!

Autumn has always been my favorite season. As a child, raking leaves into super large piles and jumping into them with neighborhood friends and cousins was THE event that meant fall has come! 
After this, in the early evening, Dad and Uncle George (or whatever Uncle was around at the time) would light that pile. We always stood far away from the flames until they burnt to glowing embers. Then, we were allowed to toast some marshmallows. The best part of it all was knowing that, soon, Halloween would be upon us. 

We all loved Halloween up north. Our town had a huge parade with floats and bands and many categories to participate in. The categories, which anyone could sign up for,  included many different types of costumes, props and themes. Families and groups often created wonderfully imaginative constructions and elaborate costumes. What I found out after several years of attending the event was that it was judged and prizes were awarded for the tops in each category. 

'The townspeople would line up on both sides of Main Street and watch the line of costumed walkers, wagon-pullers, flatbed truck floats, intricately constructed castles, robots and rocket ships. I recall seeing the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz one year. Of course, witches, ghosts and skeletons were always in abundance, too. 

Yoda and other Star Wars characters make for
great costume ideas nowadays

The year I was 10, I decided I wanted to be in the parade myself. My mother had sewn my Uncle Ed a witch costume with a great black, pointy hat for a party he was going to attend. I asked if I could use it, too, after his party, so I was allowed to wear it in the parade. The costume came complete with a green, hideous, craggy-faced mask, but I wasn't satisfied. So, I crafted a broom from a good sized tree branch, some dry weeds I pulled from along a neighbor's fence and a bit of twine. It came out really good. 

However, I still felt that I needed a "hook" - something to make my witch stand out in a crowd - and brainstormed a variation of the usual black cat riding on the broom. My version had a dark brown, stuffed dachshund (that belonged to my brother) astride my broom. To clarify, I wore a sign around my neck stating, "So? I'm allergic to cats." I won third prize in the Traditional category and a whopping $6.25! A small fortune for a ten year old in the early sixties. 

Granny square afghan with pumpkins, sunflowers and daisies for fall

Obviously, this was a gigantic part of my childhood and an experience I'd never forget. 

After moving down south in the early '70s, it became apparent that our new home base was not much in favor of Trick n' Treating or Halloween in general. No parades, no parties, no Tricks, no Treats. An era had been bypassed. It's no small wonder I ended up going back north, as a young adult, to enjoy several more years of Halloween parades and nights.

 My home town still has its traditional, annual Halloween parade, and, while the southern town I now live in finally gave up the anti-ghost, so to speak, and now embrace Halloween decorations and kids in costumes going house to house, it's still nothing like what so thrilled us as children. That's not to say there aren't some homegrown rituals that may be just as thrilling for the people who grew up down here in the hinterlands - it's just that I've not yet been able to figure out what they may be. 

crocheted pumpkins and leaves

A Friendship Rekindled

Summertime was coming to a lethargic close when it came to my attention that an old friend was going through a rough patch and could use a helping hand. Fact was, I had seen my friend at a class reunion a couple years before but, before that, hadn't been in close touch since high school. Oh, we'd emailed and did the social networking stuff, but that's not the same as spending time in the company of someone, heaven knows. 

Life had high-jacked us; education, family and professions had waylaid any thoughts of reconnecting with former friends who didn't live within driving distance. And, even though family visits had brought us to within miles of one another, we hadn't known the others' whereabouts at the time. 

But here it was, 50 years since high school, and, hey, what about taking some time to reconnect? 

So, a few phone calls later, I boarded a plane and headed on down to the southernmost, eastern U.S. state for a singular reunion. 

Here we are and above us are some of her flora 

First, I had to get acquainted with the pups, as they are fondly referred to. 

 First was the big guy, Axel
and his smaller friend, Erin.
A Springer Spaniel, Erin loved to play and we played a couple times a day while I was visiting. Mostly toss and fetch kind of stuff, and she was really good at it, too. Axel was more of a walk around and sniff kind of fellow. No playing for him.

We spent a lot of time talking, my friend and I. We also watched a few movies, the first season of Breaking Bad, and went out to eat a few times enjoying the warm, tropical breezes as we did so. 

We had appointments to keep, too, since my friend was recovering from a recent total hip replacement. I had brought my crocheting along, so I was never bored. To top the hip replacement, her marriage of 38 years had dissolved in a heap of smoldering ruin, so there was a meeting of a divorce support group that I drove her to and they kindly allowed me to sit in. I'd been through a divorce myself, many years before and got through it with the help of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, my kids and family lending their support. That and a lot of gardening. Nothing renews a damaged soul like digging, hoeing, sewing and weeding will, in my experience. 

My week of rekindling the friendship we'd once enjoyed so many years ago couldn't have gone much better. The comrade I'd known was unchanged at heart. We found we enjoyed a lot of the same things, found the same things funny, liked the same actors and actresses, listened to similar music, and shared many opinions about world situations, although we didn't get into current events very much. 

We had more to talk about than the world; our lives, our children, our loves, our failures and disappointments and our triumphs. 50 years is a long time to cover in a week, but we managed. 

As I write this, a month or so has gone by since the visit and I look forward to the next one. I'm sure there were important things we forgot to mention. Also, I've since finished the entire series of Breaking Bad and we need to discuss that whole thing. 

Easter 2014

Easter Day dawned bright and clear, sunny but cool. The church parking lot was already full when I arrived but I found a pretty good spot. The flowers by the altar were so lovely - white lilies - and the feminine members filing in looked so pretty in their spring colors. When the organist began to play the processional hymn and everyone started singing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" the Hallelujah chorus never sounded as good. The homily, while encouraging to those who don't usually make attendance a regular event, made the rest of us think as well. We all laughed about the myriad reasons we often come up with for not attending services weekly: "Way too tired, It's my only day off, Weather's too cold or It's raining, I have something else to do, I'm sleeping in, Have nothing to wear, Just don't feel like it"  were a few of the most commonly expressed excuses.  We've all been tempted and even have given in to the temptation to skip a service now and again. 

Does it even occur to us what would happen if God decided to skip a day looking out for His Creation? Sometimes I wonder if we truly believe there is a loving God always aware of our needs. I wonder if we don't treat each other with apathy and unconcern because we really do believe that God is unconcerned for us. There was a time in my early nursing career during which I was caring for a woman with cancer. I heard a preacher on her roommate's TV asking for donations. At the time, I thought I'd get a positive response as I said aloud, "If there was a loving God, there wouldn't be so much sickness in the world." The woman responded immediately, saying, "God has nothing to do with my cancer. It's because of our own free will that sickness and death is in the world. I don't blame God for my illness." Of course, I apologized to her, but, more importantly, realized how off-base my thinking was. When I hear people say,  "There's no God watching out for us; children starving and people suffering and homeless all over the world proves it." I think about that little conversation. I also think about the non-believers I come in contact with on social media outlets and wonder if I am being a decent witness to the power of the Spirit of God. Those three sentences spoken by the woman dying of cancer was a strong witness to me. I hope my words might be as helpful to someone who needs to hear them, as much as I did that particular day. 

May the rest of 2014 be a blessing to us all.