Thanksgiving eve

I now have 52 Thanksgiving eve's under my belt.  Of course, I only remember the last 40 or so, but I have many great ones.  Be prepared to be lulled to sleep, or maybe even laugh, or say, hmmmm. . . that's what happened that time.

My pumpkin pie is in the oven.  When I make pumpkin pie, I make it from my roasted pumpkin that was a tribute to harvest, and Halloween before it hit the oven @400 degrees F until soft and able to be peeled.  Then I make sure it's drained, like yogurt, add a bunch of ingredients, etc.  But let me tell you, confessing that I cannot seem to make a decent pie crust was crushing.  Aunt Janet called me one day to get my recipe.  She said mine was like her mother's.  Oh nuts!  It's confession time for sure. . . it's Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust. Why struggle when experts have perfected this art, and my filling can be showcased as heavenly, and beyond compare?  Well, that's one of my secrets.  Another family sharing is my original apple pie.  Harriet Lea taught me how to make my pie.  Use Rome apples.  They get soft during baking.  You only need about a 1/2 cup of sugar, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, some lemon juice, a little salt, and some flour.  Then you pile in the apples.  Use too many so there is a big pile in the plate. Another confession. . .  I usually forget to put the butter pats on the filling and I wind up trying to stick them thru the steam slices in the top crust.  It's become a ritual, forgetting the butter.  After you put the top crust on and seal the edges and cut slits for steam on the top, use either an egg wash, or a milk bath on the top crust and put it in a 400F oven for 15 minutes, letting the top "set".  Turn the oven down to 350F and bake for another 45-50 minutes.  Don't forget to put foil around the edges if it gets too brown, and make sure you put foil on the bottom of the oven 'cause this baby is going over, I guarantee that!  Now, isn't that an easy recipe to follow?  But I have pie stories to beat the band, don't I?  Oh you might not know, or remember. . .

How about the time I didn't make apple pie because Carl wouldn't go to the store for me to buy Rome apples?  He said he wasn't falling for that trick.  He'd get to the store and there would be 4 kinds of Romes and he'd for sure get the wrong ones.  Not totally unreasonable after the great "wet mozzarella" debacle and the clam sauce drama, but he could have asked.  And I was out of time.  So, no apple pie that year.

What about the time I did make the pies and someone broke a glass right over them as they cooled on the counter?  No apple pie that year either.

Then there was the time Daddy hid the pie, and I didn't find it until it was growing on top of my China closet. . .. oh joy.

But I'm making pie this year.  Pumpkin for John and the "Apple Pie of Emeril's eye" recipe winner of 2001.  It has a crumb topping with pecans and caramel.  It's deadly good.

And I'm going to miss my family this year as I have opted to stay home with just my husband, but I need some quiet this year.  I am searching for my blessings.  And I hope my baby grandson Dominic is watching over us all, and wishing he could be with us too, but realizes that basking in the glory of God is way better than any pie Grandma can make.

Let it be.

oh the shame

Off to work I go at 8:54 AM.  Spoiled by my new surroundings and being one short mile from work, I climb in my Mercedes Benz CLK500 and off to the office I sped.  

It occurred to me as I pulled back into the driveway this evening at 4:45 PM, that I should have WALKED to work.  I should be ashamed of myself.  But I can't seem to get a rhythm in the morning that gives me the freedom of those 20 little minutes it would take me to hoof it down the street, make a right and keep going until I hit Borough Hall!  AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!  I have become a truly, lazy, American.  That said, I look at the weather forecast for tomorrow and it says cloudy, possible rain.  Whew.  Saved for another day.  What would I do if I lived in a city and had no car you ask?  I am a truly, lazy, American.  I would call a cab.  Oh the shame.

the passage of time and information

Blogging. . . the sharing of ideas or random thoughts, or truly important information.  Call it what you will, but I see a gift here somewhere.  One of my coworkers, Cheryl, keeps saying, "we all  have to share this Earth".  I believe she is correct, and her heart is pure in it's desire.  So I'm thinking, I need to share with my children for perpetuity my random thoughts and gifts etc.  There will be a time when I am no longer here, on this plane of existence, so I now accept the mortality of my body, but not my heart and mind.  So the blog begins. 

My life has been an unending series of choices that have lead me to each and every moment, place or other choice.  I may not have made their childhoods easy, but I hope to have made them interesting, and exciting, and informative.  Maybe even life changing from time to time for them; for me. . .always. . .life changing.

My babies, I have made mistakes.  And I am sorry for all your hurts and trials due to them.  But my choices have helped weave the fabric of who you are, and you my girls,  are better for them.  You have, by and large, faced them, and learned from them.  Your brother has not.  He suffers a darkness and pain I pray you will never know.  But this journey, so far, has made my girls strong, and able.  And I am proud of you.  Remember that the glory of God exists wherever we are, no matter what.  That will carry you through your darkest hours, and your brightest, greatest victories.

No matter what, no matter where, no matter why. . . I am with you.  To support you, to encourage you, to remind you, to cheer you, to comfort you.   I am your mother.  I hope that will always mean something to you. 

Let it be.