Pickle & Peach Joy; Corn Grief

While Jeannie and I were making a joyful mess in the kitchen over the weekend,


the ever-present varmints were having a picnic outside, with my corn as the main course:

Jean and I sighed and cleaned up the mess. Then I took it as a sign that it was time to harvest the remaining ears--obviously, someone thinks the corn is ready to consume. My little patch yielded 18 small ears (minus 5 from the critters' dinner party). Not bad for a first experiment.

J and I were so pleased with our 10 pints of Bread & Butter Pickles! The canning water bath was still hot, so we pulled 2 quarts of last year's peaches out of the freezer and made 5 pints of Peach Jam. After all that hot stove work, I was still dithering about what to have for dinner. I made a half-hearted attempt at defrosting some chicken and poblano peppers. We briefly thought about going out for Mexican food, but when Jean expressed a desire for a margarita and we told her this was a dry county--no margaritas in this venue--we quickly decided on pork tenderloin leftovers, hash browns and steamed green beans. And much wine. And the last of the awesome apple pie I made on Friday.

Awesome Apple Pie

1 pie crust

Mix together and pour into unbaked crust:

8 tart apples (I used 4 Winesap and 4 Granny Smith), peeled, cored and sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbls. cinnamon

1 Tbls. brandy

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup Pie Filling Enhancer (from KA Flour Company)

1/4 cup Boiled Cider Syrup (from KA Flour)

1 tsp. vanilla

Topping

Mix together with fingers until crumbly:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans

3 Tbls. cold butter

Spread over the apple filling and press down lightly. Spritz lightly with water, just until topping is moistened.

Bake 20 minutes at 450, then cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes more at 350.

Bill left for Illinois yesterday, and is on his way to St. Louis with his dad this morning. Jeannie left for Kentucky in the early afternoon. I went to the movies, and spent a happy two hours with Julie & Julia.

Julia Child was my heroine when I was growing up. I used to watch The French Chef on my lunch hour when I was in elementary school. She was my secret crazy aunt, and I knew even then that she was changing the world with her whisks (no one in America had ever seen a whisk until her TV show!), her butter and her wine. Bon apetite indeed. Obviously, I loved the movie.

And now, I am up early, keeping my ambivalence at bay while I figure out what to wear and how to get to WORK at the appointed time. A new adventure.