Peachy Keen

We packed up our kids Saturday and drove to a peach orchard for our 2nd annual picking fest. We came home with 32 lbs. - enough to make peach pies & shakes, eat some straight out of the skin, and still have some left over for me to try my hand at canning. I am a total novice, but it was a fun experience - thanks to my dear friend Veronique, who walked me through the entire process - and I think I'll try it again (next time with bigger peaches).


I tried your pie, Aud. It was delectable! I made it with my aunt's crust, which is sweet and tasted so great with your pie. (I've included your recipe for anyone who doesn't have it already). Happy peach season!

Nancy Morgan's Fresh Peach Pie
5 large fresh peaches
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp. cornstartch
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Slice 3 peaches in pre-cooked pie shell. Mash other 2 peaches in pan along with sugar, cornstarch and water. Cook 5 minutes until boiling or thick. Add almond extract and butter. Pour over sliced peaches. Chill.

Phyllis' Ultimate Pie Crust
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks
4 Tbsp. ice water
1 tsp. vinegar

Beat together butter and shortening until smooth and creamy and chill until firm. Sift together flour, sugar, salt in medium bowl. Cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients. Mix egg yolk, ice water, and vinegar into the dough. Form into a ball and refrigerate for one hour so it will be easier to work with. Makes 1 two-crust pie.

W's Book Choices

W is loving book time right now. Here are his two current favorites: How Do You Make Baby Smile by Philemon Sturges and We've All Got Bellybuttons by David Martin. We seem to rotate genres from week to week. This week is animals, last week was trains and the week before we read about construction vehicles. I love the library!

Sugar City Shop

I just wanted to make sure that you knew that Melissa and Lynne's shop is open. I love their creations. Especially their whimsical wolfie. It looks like all of their stuff sold out in the first day! Here is their link!  Sugar City Shop

Opinions, please!

I need your opinions. I am refinishing a dresser for my room. Which finish do you like better - rubbed edges with white and brown showing through or smooth green paint? Inquiring mind wants to know.

Swishy Skirts

I love wearing skirts in the summer. They are so cool (especially with the humidity) and cute. I have a favorite place that I get my skirts from and I don't want to mention it for fear of making them too popular, but click here if you want to find out:) I usually grab some during their end of season sale when they are really reasonably priced.

Books, books, books

I just finished this book on Monday, and it was both heartwrenching and inspiring - a true tale of victory. It is the story of a Tutsi woman who survived the Rwandan Holocaust by hiding in a cramped bathroom for 91 days with seven other women. While there, she came to know God in a most intimate way. This book really made me contemplate my own relationship with God.
I watched "Hotel Rwanda" several years ago, and I was so upset that I cried for some time after the movie was finished. It was a very touching film, but I thought I wouldn't put my emotions through watching it again. I think now that I have a much better understanding of the conflict and history in Rwanda, I would like to see it once more.

Audrey, I read "A Mighty Heart" by Mariane Pearl while on vacation, and I loved it. What an amazing book. It was so well written. My favorite part, though, was their love story.

Wonder of wonders...

It happened. I actually grew something in my desert soil! Do you remember the teeny starts I planted months and months ago? Well, here they are in all their glory...

and here are the fruits of a day's picking.

It amazes me how the things that used to make my eyes roll as a teenager now bring me such pleasure. I remember learning to can in YW and thinking, "This is the most boring activity ever!" Yesterday I went to the store to buy a water bath canner, and I thought I would flip from the excitement of it all! I am going to can peaches from Apple Annie's Orchard and make my own salsa and freezer jam.

I made wheat bread on Monday, and I think I may have done in my KitchenAid! It actually started smoking!! I might just have to start saving up for a Bosch. I am now "saving up" for so many gadgets that I don't think I'll ever get to them all.

I have loved seeing shots of all your beautiful flora. The before and after photos were inspiring. Do you think now that I'm going to be here another two years I should plant some grass in our pebbled plot?

All Aboard!

This alphabet book is one of the best that O and I have discovered. The art is fantastic. He had a blast trying to find the hidden letters in each of the pictures. Can you find the hidden letters? We checked this one out from the library, but we might have to add it to our permanent collection! Check out All Aboard!: A Traveling Alphabet -by Bill Mayer.