Feedback!

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Isn't that a cool picture? I told my dear husband, the Big Bison, the kind of picture I wanted for this post, and pointed out the microphone I wanted a picture of, and what background from his studio I thought would look cool, but that's as much credit as I can take. My concept, his execution.

Putting words out there for people to read over the internet is what I like to do. And putting music out there into the world for people to hear is what he likes to do. And when you put sound out through a public address system, sometimes you get feedback. And that kind of feedback is generally pretty painfully bad. It makes your ears hurt. I can remember a time when my ears felt like they had been stuffed with cotton for hours after a particularly horrific explosion from the sound system at a live gig my husband was playing. And THAT, my friends, is not the kind of feedback I am interested in.

But I have noticed that my number of readers is growing, and I want to say, first off, "Welcome!!!!" It's very gratifying to know that someone out there is taking their precious time to stop by to see what I've written. Thank you so much for that!!!" And secondly, would you mind taking a moment to satisfy my curiosity by letting me know where and how you heard of my blog? Sometimes I put up announcements on a couple of different forums I frequent, some of my facebook friends have found me through facebook, but I think others of you have clicked on my link from other sites, and it would help me to know how you found me.

So, if you have just a second, would you mind leaving me a comment in the comment box, and let me know how you first found me? If you want to leave a verbal vote for the kind of things that keep you coming back, I would love to know that, too! Are you drawn here by the personal stories, or the inspirational/devotional type posts, or the recipes, or what? What brought you here, and what keeps you coming back? That's what I am interested in learning! I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!!!

Thanks for your help! I so look forward to reading your comments!!!



And, as they used to say on the Beverly Hillbillies, y'all come back now, hear?

New Bonus Attraction!!!! Recipe Links!!!

Pin It If you will scroll down a bit, to just below "ABOUT ME", and look to the right:-------->
you'll notice a new series of links on the right hand side of my blog. If you come over here searching for one of my recipes, these links will take you quickly to the post containing that particular recipe. I have noticed that some of the people following this blog seem to have an interest in food. Well, hey, if that's you: you've come to the right place! I share your passion.

I think it is significant, and a little scary to to notice how many of my links pertain to sugar. And you know....we could dwell on that....but, really, I'd rather not...



Just enjoy in moderation, is my motto. I do love to eat, but derive a lot of my pleasure from watching people enjoy the food I created with love, just for them.

So anyway, now, there's an easier way to access my recipes, in case you happen to come back here looking for one of them. Hope this helps!

And remember to give me a shout-out in the comments area if you try one of my recipes. Nothing would please me more! Until next time....

Life is Just a Bowl of Blueberries

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Since at present I have this beautiful purple background going, and since 'tis still the season of the blueberry, and since I have these old photos hanging around of my blueberry pie...well...get ready to feel your mouth fill with spit, because I am going to treat you today to some lovely pictures of and a beautiful recipe for blueberry pie, guaranteed to make your empty mouth water, and your sagging spirits soar.

Blueberry Pie

(note: the filling of this pie is the same topping that I put on my cheesecake, if you tuned in for that recipe. It is kinda awesome, so this works out fine.)

Well, here's the pie crust recipe:

This recipe is from Southern Living:

DOUBLE-CRUST PASTRY

2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. salt
2/3 c. plus 2 T. shortening (I use those sticks from Crisco - no mess measuring!)
4 to 5 T. cold water
(I use ICE water - and sometimes I only need 3 T. water, especially if it's humid.)

Combine flour and salt; cut in shortening with pastry blender (use two forks if you don't have a pastry blender) until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle cold water (1 T. at a time) evenly over surface; stir with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Shape into two discs and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Double Good Blueberry Pie:

3/4 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/8 t. salt
4 c. blueberries (divided into 2 c. each)
1/2 c. water
1 T. butter
1 T. lemon juice

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan. Add water and 2 c. blueberries, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and is thickened. (Mixture will be quite thick - I added another 1/4 c. water to mine at that point to get the consistency I wanted, which was somewhat thinner.) Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon juice. Add remaining blueberries.

Roll out first pie pastry disc and place in pie dish. Pour in pie filling. Cover with 2nd rolled out pastry disc. Flute edges, and cut in vents for steam.

Here's a little trick I learned from my Momma and it will give your crust a sheen, and a sparkle: take about a teaspoon or so of milk and kind of dabble and smooth it over the top of the crust, and then, sprinkle about a tablespoon full of sugar on top of the crust before you slide it in the oven.




Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

Oh, baby. Oh, baby.

The Right Stuff

Pin It I feel British Petroleum's pain. No, seriously, (sorta) I do. Because here in the Boonies, we, too, are in the midst of a massive cleanup effort. It is in the bedroom of one of my dear children. And today, that child is working on the closet. And by faith, I believe this child may someday emerge from the black hole in this child's bedroom, coming out of the closet as it were, a victorious conqueror. For a day or two, at least, this child may experience the beauties of an ordered bedroom.

Clean-up efforts began yesterday. See, I need to order curriculum for my kids' schooling next year. Which means I need to get my homeschool room in order to receive said curriculum. But I have kids who can take a book OFF of an organized bookshelf, yet they can't seem to get said book returned TO that bookshelf. So, by the end of the school year, one particular shelf is mostly empty, and all those books must be rounded up from the far corners of the house, so that I know what I have, so that I can know what I need to order.

But unearthing those books, especially from the bedroom of one of my kids in particular? Oh, well, that's quite a challenge. So, just like BP...the cleanup efforts continue, and unfortunately for my little "Gulf", at this point, there is no end in sight.....



The stuff goes into our homes. We acquire the stuff, because the old stuff wears out, or becomes obsolete, or out of style, or we outgrow it, or it breaks down. But the getting rid of the stuff: ah, how I hate that part. De-stuffing is kind of like breaking up: it's so very hard to do. When we moved to the Boonies, our friend Steve volunteered to loan us his trailer, that we could fill with our stuff, and he also volunteered to drive it to the dump for us, because he is a prince among men. And do you know how much stuff he hauled away from our old home, that we had inhabited for 16 years? The people at the dump, who weighed our stuff, told him he had brought to them over 2000 lbs. of stuff!!! That's a literal ton of stuff! I lost 2000 lbs. and not one of my friends noticed. People can be so oblivious, can't they? But, it's because they are involved in their own stuff. How they can acquire more of it, new stuff, better stuff. But, one day, SOMEBODY is going to have to figure out what to do with all YOUR stuff when you leave this planet, so why not do that person a favor, and go ahead and lose a ton or two of your stuff while you can? And then you can feel miserable and overwhelmed, just like I do, as you face your own mountain of stuff.




Tell me I'm going to be really glad I did this.

What if the fruit of the Spirit were blueberries?

Pin It The last fruit of the Spirit is self-control. And why do I bring that up now? Well, if you've been reading my blog lately, you know that I have been doing a series of posts that involve some thoughts on the fruit of the Spirit. And self-control, the last quality listed in Galatians 5:23, might have been the topic you expected to be covered in this entry. I hope today's offering will not disappoint, and, if you make the recipes that I am about to share with you, some self-control might be just the ticket, so really, I think TECHNICALLY, I'm staying with the theme. Sort of.





This past Sunday was the fourth of July, and every year for 10 years, we have been going out to our friends' house who live on the other side of the Boonies. Our creek flows into their river: truly. They live in a beautiful log home up on top of a bluff, and our tradition is to go wade in our water shoes across the river that flows at the bottom of that bluff out to the little island in the middle of the river. The parents sit on lawn chairs that we carry over to the island, and the kids swim, and jump into the river. The older our kids have gotten, the more relaxing it has become (because now we're not constantly worrying about them drowning).





Long about suppertime, we wade back across to the riverbank, carrying our chairs, up to an area our hosts mow off for picnicking, we eat fried chicken and whatever summer salads that this year's pot luck offers up, and at dark, we do our very best to set their field on fire, by shooting off fireworks. They set off $60 fireworks called, "One Bad Mother" and "The Angry Mother-in-Law". (Holy Cow, fireworks are expensive!) I think we might as well just take dollar bills and hold them up and light them. Now you might think that legal tender burning might not make quite as spectacular a show, but I contend that my pulse WOULD be racing watching my husband stand there and incinerate our income. But it would be very Ebenezer Scroogelike (if you'll pardon my mixing of holiday metaphors) NOT to enjoy fireworks, and I actually quite love them. My friend Laura and I were sitting there together in the dark on the riverbank watching the fireworks together, our hands and arms in constant motion as we scraped these little swarming black bugs off of us, non-stop, for the half hour we sat there. (And this, after several liberal applications of bug spray.) You know it's bad when the crowd sees a bat flying by, and begins calling out competitively, "Here, battie bat!!!Come HERE, little bat, and eat MY bugs!!!" Our host and a bunch of the older kids were down on the island, setting off the fireworks, and my husband was trying to get some photographs of the fireworks. So Laura and I dug bugs out of our swimsuit tops, and cheered, and swatted, and laughed, and really, what a grand 4th of July it was!




So, since it IS blueberry season, all throughout the month of July, I thought my readers might enjoy a lovely blueberry cheesecake recipe, guaranteed to cause you to give thanks for the bounties of summer. One of the guests at the party, a large man of Egyptian descent named Habib, (who was perhaps slightly given to hyperbole) after tasting this cheesecake exclaimed, "Ohmygoodness, Susan, I would give five years of my life for this cheesecake. Don't you have a sister or something that I could marry? No really, don't you have a sister who could marry me and make this for me?" (I :heart: Habib).

Well, the fruit of the Spirit ain't blueberries, but this cheesecake is pretty darn close to a spiritual experience, as Habib would be the first to tell you. Here's the cheesecake recipe. Hope you enjoy it! And don't forget to ask the Holy Spirit for an extra helping of self-control, because you just might be needing it.







Blueberry Cheesecake


To make your own almost spiritual culinary experience, you'll need a couple of recipes. This takes me a few days to make. It's worth it.

In the beginning, Sooze created the cheesecake and the crust.

Now the refrigerator was without dessert and void. Hunger rumbled within the tummies of the inhabitants.

On the first day, Sooze and the Bison took their family and went to a blueberry farm to pick a whole bunch of blueberries. (This step is unnecessary, due to the modern advent of Costco, which can provide you with delicious blueberries at a reasonable price, and with the loss of a whole lot less sweat. But your cheesecake devourers may be all the more overwhelmed by your loving dedication to culinary excellence if you pick your own. Just sayin'.)

And Sooze saw that it was good.

On the second day, Sooze made some shortbread for the cookie crumbs for the crust. Do not skip this step. This crust is sublime. The recipe, Scottish Shortbread, is from the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.

Scottish Shortbread

1 lb. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Stir in vanilla.
Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt, gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed after each addition. Mixture will be stiff. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 8 to 10 times.
Press dough into an ungreased 15x10 inch jellyroll pan. Prick dough at 1-inch intervals with a fork and score into 2 1/2 x 1 inch bars. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.
Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes; cut shortbread into bars. Cool completely before removing from pan. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or freeze up to 3 months. Yield: 5 dozen.



On the third day, Sooze created the cheesecake itself.

She refrigerated the cheesecake overnight.

And Sooze saw that it was good.


For crust:

2 1/2 c. of homemade Scottish shortbread cookie crumbs
1 T. sugar


For filling;
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
5 large eggs
1 16-ounce container sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract


Make crust:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Wrap outside of 10-inch-diameter springform pan with heavy-duty foil. Combine ingredients in processor. Blend using on/off turns just until sugar is distributed Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and 2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Bake until crust begins to brown, about 6 - 8 minutes. (Keep an eye on it.) Transfer crust to rack and cool. Maintain oven temperature.

Make filling:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until will blended.
Beat in flour. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined. Beat in sour cream, milk and vanilla. Pour filling into crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan.

Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake cheesecake until just set in center and top is slightly puffed and golden brown, about 1 hour. Turn off oven; keep door closed. Let cheesecake stand in oven 1 hour. Remove cheesecake from roasting pan. Refrigerate until cold, at least 6 hours. Cover; refrigerate overnight.

On the fourth day, the day of the party, Sooze made the topping.


For topping
3/4 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/8 t. salt
1/4 c. water
1 T. butter
1 T. lemon juice
4 c. blueberries



Make topping:

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan. Add water and 2c. blueberries, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and is thickened. Mixture will be quite thick. Reove from heat and stir in butter and lemon juice. Stir in remaining blueberries. Let cool a bit. Spoon blueberry mixture over top of cake, spreading evenly. Chill until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Run small sharp knife around sides of cake to loosen.
Release pan sides. Transfer cake to platter. Cut into wedges.



And the inhabitants of the party did eat thereof, and behold, it was very good.
And there was rejoicing and gladness of heart.
And self-control. Yea, verily.