Pumpkin Pie and Remembering Grandma

My husband has been hinting several days that it's time for pumpkin pie.  I have to agree with him.  As I am writing this, the smell is so wonderful I can't wait to get a big slice and a big dollop of whipping cream.  I guess that means an extra several laps around the pool this evening.  :(

I never make a pumpkin pie that I don't think of my dear sweet grandma.  I make my pumpkin pie just the way she did.  I can still see her little chubby hands holding a knife and slicing three slices of butter to put on the top of her pie.  I always put butter on the tops of my pumpkin pies for no other reason than in rememberance of her.  I loved watching her cook and she was a wonderful cook.  I loved spending weekends with her because she would play with me and she always made me something wonderful to eat.

I made an extra pie for our vet.  He has helped us so much with our animals.....just a little thank you gift.  Well, the timer is calling me and I must go.  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Caramel Apple Cake

Just a reminder.  In May, I posted a recipe for Caramel Apple Cake.  It's my first post for May.  I would just like to encourage to make this cake, and be sure and greased the bundt pan, so it won't look like mine. :)  This cake is so wonderful and has all the flavors you want to taste this time of the year. This is a great Sunday dinner dessert or you would love it for the holidays too.

I can already smell it.  This Sunday, pot roast, cauliflower salad and this wonderful caramel cake.

Last Baling of the Season

I know I have posted this probably too many times but I love bailing. I love looking at the tractors, the hay bales, the pasture freshly mowed,  the whole process.  I have on our barn the quote "Barnes are the shrines of a good life and they ought to be remembered." So farming and baling hay is another part of the good life that I think should be remembered.  So, I suppose I will continue to post these pictures as I see them from time to time.  It so moves my soul I can't help myself. It's my hope that you enjoy them as much as I do.

These are pictures of our neighbor once again getting the last bit of hay for his cows. He was here at the crack of dawn working.  My pictures don't capture the beauty of the rising sun on him as he does his labor.

Thomas Jefferson's Home and Garden

Southern Living had a wonderful article on Thomas Jefferson's home and garden.  The man who had rebuilt his gardens and found seeds he had probably used in his gardens was retiring from his job of 30 years.  This is one of the places on my "Bucket List" that I hope to get to visit some day. I tried to copy the photos from the magazine.....not the greatest but it looks beautiful there.

Believe me,  I have a long bucket list!

Beautiful Kale - Great for Juicing

These pictures don't do this kale justice.  It is so beautiful...the colors are just amazing.  The kale almost died out during those 100 degree temperatures.  But with the rain and the cooler temperatures they have come back to life once more.  Great for me! I'm getting ready to juice all of these greens and I have an apple I'm going to throw in, a couple of carrots and I think I have some celery too.



Green drinks are wonderful for your body.  They help eliminate inflammation from your body if you drink enough of them daily.  Do your research.....almost all disease starts from inflammation in your body.

Oriental Snack Mix

I'm sure we all have the chex mix snack recipe that we make for the holidays but I ran across this one several years ago and I love the twist.  It is still made with chex mix and nuts but it has an oriental flare and I love wasabi covered peas.  This is a great snack while you are watching the football games.  :)

4 cups Corn Chex cereal
4 cups Bugles, original corn snacks
2 cups chow mein noodles
1 cup pretzel sticks
1 cup salted peanuts
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 package (1 oz) chow mein oriental seasoning mix
1 cup wasabi coated peas

In a large bowl mix cereal, corn snacks, chow mein noodles, pretzels and peanuts.

In a medium saucepan melt butter. Stir in garlic powder, soy sauce and chow mein seasoning with wire whisk until well mixed. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.

Preheat oven to 250.  Pour cereal mixture into a large roasting pan.  Bake uncovered 50 to 55 minutes stirring every 15 minutes until mixture looks dry and crisp.  Spread on paper towels, cool 15 minutes.  Place in serving bowl and stir in wasabi coated peas.  Store in airtight container.

About 28 servings.

Ancestors

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with one of my cousins from Florida.  She and her husband have been doing research into our family and her husband's family.  They are retired and have spent a lot of time traveling and research family history.  Her dad and my dad were brothers.

Most of my dad's family is buried in and around Meeker, Oklahoma and I had just recently asked my sister if she knew where our great grandmother was buried.  It was my dad's grandmother from his maternal side.  She didn't know where she was buried and I was wanting to visit her grave.  So when my cousin called, I found out where she was buried and a lot more information about her. 

My great grandmother's name was Johanna Cahill and she was from Ireland.  I haven't found out the town she is from yet.  She arrived in the United States from Ireland in the midst of the Civil War.  My cousin told me a conversation she had with our grandmother and she said, "that all our great grandmother had to eat the last two weeks on the boat was molded cheese."  My great grandfather was already in the US and waiting for my great grandmother to get here.  They settled in Illinois.  Their children were born in Illinois.  After the death of my great grandfather, my great grandmother moved to Oklahoma with a son Will and lived by my grandmother until her death.  She was taken back to Illinois and buried next to her husband.  She had seven children and they are all buried with her and her husband except my grandmother and one son who is buried in Texas.

Now for my great grandmother on my dad's faternal side was English and Welsh. They settled in Kentucky.  When the railroad put land up for sale that it wasn't going to use, my great grandfather traveled to Illinois and bought land for $1.25 an acre.  He went back to get his wife and 9 children and became ill on the return trip and died. My grandmother got two covered wagons and brought all the children and their belongings and moved to Illinois alone and started their farm.  My dad's father was one of these nine children.

My grandfather and grandmother met and married in Illinois and then moved to Oklahoma where my grandfather secured land for them in the Oklahoma Land Run.

I really have not been into researching family history but after talking to my cousin and finding out this information. I felt a sense of deep gratitude for my ancestors and their pioneering spirit. I have thought a lot about them lately and what they must have endured and sacrificed  It made me want to leave more detailed information about my life for my decedents.

Sometimes life gets tough and tries to beat you to the ground but with ancestors like that,  how can I ever give up!