Reentry

It was a grand adventure. I'll tell you about it soon.

But I'm easing back into my place here.

A stop between the bigger trip and getting back home.

A place to catch my breath.

Taking time to tell Daddy-O about the things I saw.

The new people I met. And the next trip I want to take.

And catching up on what happened at the farm while I was away.

Give me another few hours to savor this quiet and I'll share some of my adventure. 

Frozen Coconut-Pecan-Caramel Pie

Coconut-Caramel-Pecan Pie

Let's be honest. Our knitting day at the lake last week probably should have been called an eating day at the lake. Everything was so good. And it was fun to sample other folks' cooking. A real treat was the frozen pie that Mellie brought. That was the perfect dessert for a very hot day. And she gladly provided the recipe for me to share with you.

Yes. We knitters take our food seriously. 

And when it got too hot to knit outside, we moved inside.

Truthfully, I nearly forgot to make a picture of this pie. I tasted it (a big bite) and realized how delicious it was. <swoon> I flew back into the kitchen and plated the one intact slice left so that I could make this photo. It was that good. Worth stopping mid-dessert to make this picture for you. Thank you, Mellie, for bringing the pie and sharing the recipe.

COCONUT-CARAMEL-PECAN PIE

3 regular 9-inch frozen pie shells (or 2 deep 9-in pie shells)*
1/4 cup butter
1 (7-oz) package flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 (8-oz) block cream cheese, softened
1 (14-oz) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 (16-oz) Cool Whip
1 (12-oz) jar caramel, butterscotch or chocolate ice cream topping

Bake pie shells according to directions and cool.

Melt butter in skillet. Add coconut and pecans. Cook until golden brown, stirring frequently.           Remove from heat and let cool.

Combine cream cheese and Eagle Brand milk, and beat until smooth. Fold in cool whip.  Layer ¼ of the cream cheese mixture in the pie shells.  Drizzle ¼ of ice cream topping over the cream cheese mixture.  Sprinke the nuts and coconut evenly over the topping.  Repeat the layering again.  1) cream cheese mixture, 2) Topping, 3) Coconut and nuts.  Cover and freeze until firm.                                                

Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Refreeze leftovers. 

        *Note: Can use 2 graham cracker pie crusts. 

One of our knitters was collecting some of the recipes from our lunch to use for Thanksgiving. She is hosting a large family gathering this year. This pie went on her list because it makes 3 pies and, like the sour cream muffins, can be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer. Her family is going to be happy.

The Squeaking Wheel

Baby Girl asked, "Mimi, would you make me some socks?"

"Mimi, have you started my socks?"

"Mimi, are my socks ready yet?

"Mimi, shouldn't you be working on my socks?"

"Mimi, did you forget my socks?"

"Mimi, when will you finish my socks?"

"Mimi, how much longer will my socks take?"

"Mimi, if you knitted more they would get done faster."

The squeaking wheel gets her socks.

Pattern: Ribbed Socks For Kids by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks Stripes, Meadow Stripes colorway

Needles: Size 2

Chihuly — And A New Recipe

We took a trip to Asheville last weekend for an early anniversary celebration. The one request I had was to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Biltmore Estate.

We had visited the Biltmore House many times before. Because the heat was so intense the day we went, we skipped touring the house again and only walked through the gardens to see the glass art.

This huge piece was centered on the lawn in front of the mansion. It was amazing. And we wondered how on earth do they transport this kind of work? Are there extra pieces in case of breakage?

These pieces are all huge. I should have photographed them with some people in the picture for scale. But trust me, it was impressive.

After the visit to Biltmore, we drove to Black Mountain for lunch. We have eaten at Veranda many times and there is usually a wait. But we were so late this time (we might have made a wrong turn along the way) that we were seated quickly.

The food is always delicious here. This time I chose the Indian Summer Salad for my side. As I ate it, I kept thinking this would be really good for our salad luncheon on the porch. And it was easy to see what vegetables were in it. It was the marinade that made it so tasty.

On our drive home, I googled several recipes and found one that sounded like a possible match. And I got lucky on the first try—this recipe, with some minor adjustments, tasted EXACTLY the same. There is very little prep involved so it's a good recipe to have on hand. It does need to be made a day ahead. I love make-ahead recipes. It was a good addition to our knitting day gathering. And we enjoyed the leftovers for a couple of additional meals.

Don't let the long list of ingredients scare you. It was one of the quickest recipes I've ever made. If you are handy with dicing the celery, pepper and onion, the rest is just draining the vegetables and measuring the marinade ingredients. Trust me. It's easy.

SWEET VINEGAR MARINATED VEGGIES (Indian Summer Salad)

1 (15-oz) can white shoe peg corn, drained
1 (15-oz) can young green peas, drained
1 (15-oz) can French-cut green beans, drained
1 (2-oz) jar pimentos, drained
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced green peppers
1/2 cup diced onion

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup white wine vinegar

Mix vegetables together.
In a small saucepan, combine sugar, salt, black pepper, oil,  and vinegar. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over vegetables and mix well to coat all the vegetables.
Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. Use a slotted spoon for serving.


I had my doubts that three cans of vegetables would make much salad. Those cans looked kind of small. But it's like they expand when you dump them into the bowl. It made a large bowl of salad. These are such ordinary ingredients. We made a quick stop at the store on our way home from the mountains to pick up the ingredients and I stirred them together soon after we walked in our front door. Then the next day it was ready to serve and it was delicious.

I think that next time, I might try using frozen peas instead of canned. They are a little crisper. Yes, you use them frozen. But it was perfectly fine this way. And I'd bet money that the restaurant used canned peas. And they are famous for this salad.

Knitting On The Porch

Daddy-O earned his "knitter's husband" badge yesterday. He's always been supportive of my knitting, even taking me to two yarn shops over the weekend while we were in Asheville for a short getaway. But we came home and immediately drove to the lake to get the cabin ready for "day of knitting" with my Thursday afternoon knitting group. And Daddy-O dove right in sweeping the gigantic porch, uncovering the furniture, buying ice, and even planting new flowers in the pots at the front door.

His reward (besides earring his badge) was getting make a hearty plate for his lunch. And also enjoy some leftovers for his supper. We had a feast! I had invited the knitters for lunch and an afternoon of knitting on the porch. The catch was that they also were asked to bring a salad for lunch. So many good salads, plus a few other goodies were on that table.

In the next several weeks I'll be sharing some of the recipes we enjoyed yesterday. There were several "new to me" recipes, and some others that were good enough to share with you again.

These tiny sour cream muffins (also known as sour cream gems—depends on where you got your recipe) are a must for a luncheon. They only take minutes to stir up. Then pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes and they are ready.

For reasons I don't know I patted the tops of a few muffins down so that they ended up with smooth tops. You can't mess this recipe up, but I did decide that I liked the rough top you get when you just use a spoon to drop the dough into the muffin tin. More crispy edges.

SOUR CREAM MUFFINS

1 cup sour cream
2 sticks butter, melted
2 cups self-rising flour

Stir together. Spoon into greased mini-muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees from 15-20 minutes.

Can be baked until almost done, then removed from pans and frozen. Place on cookie sheet to freeze, then wrap them securely to store in the freezer. Complete browning just before serving.

Makes 36 mini muffins


This recipe has been shared here before, but yesterday I was texting with a friend in another state while I was doing the last bits of preparation, like baking these muffins. I sent her a photo of the muffins as they came out of the oven. I know she is a blog reader but she had missed this recipe. Maybe you haven't seen it before either. So here you go.  

One of our knitters said yesterday, she wants this recipe to use at Thanksgiving. They can be baked ahead and frozen so it's a great recipe when you need some make-ahead recipes. We had so many good recipes yesterday that our "knitting mama" (we meet weekly at her business for knitting and visiting) has asked all of us to bring her the recipes we used and she will print out a set for everyone. I will share several of them here with you. 

Goodbye, Summer

Everyone is back in school this morning. Yes. BACK in school. I know in many parts of the country today is the first day of school, but Big Sister and Little Sister started a month ago. Baby Girl does go to her preschool today for the first time. She was ready. Watch out, teachers! She'll keep you on your toes.

We had such a good time with the family here for Labor Day weekend. 

But it was so hot, the only sane place to be was in the lake.

Or, in the pool. With little ponies on life guard duty.

There was porch time, too. Games of all sorts. 

From Scrabble to Exploding Kittens to Twister.

Then it was time to get back in the lake.

I would not have won any awards for my cooking this weekend. 

Thankfully, brunch was just a boat ride across the lake. 

And the pizza food truck fed us one night, too. Best. Pizza. Ever.

A hammock is always fun. But it was even hot in the shade this time.

So they went back in the lake.

The teenagers were so good to the little folks. 

Letting them hang out with them. Playing with them.

Loved seeing the teenage boyfriend sitting in the floor,

working a princess puzzle with the little girls.

I held down the shade. Someone had to do it.

And just like that...in a blink...

summer was over.

It was a good one.