That
sums up our weekend! Elliott has
baseball practice on Saturdays and he came home rather excited. The coaches
“tested” their skills as they are working on player positions. Elliott could end up being a pitcher. Wow – first year playing. He was excited
about that too. That made me happy to see him excited about the possibility of
him pitching. One of the coaches told
John that Elliott has an awesome arm. I
was excited to hear this news but I also wanted to get him in the shower so we
could head up north to see family and meet our new nephew. He is a month old
and I wanted to get my hands on him. It has been a long time since we have had
a baby in the family. So the shower came
after some pitching time in the side yard.
Our trip was not quick either as we planned to stop at Olympia to buy a
new bat. Father and son certainly can
disagree. Son doesn’t like to listen to
his fathers’ reasoning but momma stepped in and bought the bat father
recommended. Off to the grocery store
for two items and then we were on the road.
We
had a very nice visit with our family and I held Cruz most of the day. Olivia
was my shadow so I let her hold him too (not enough, I have been told) and the
guys even held the little man. We went
with gifts. We took gifts for the big sister and the new little one. The big sister loved opening all the gifts.
Our visit was too short but enjoyed by all.
We had a great dinner followed by dessert and then it was time to
leave. Cruz was waking up so we did get
to see him awake for about an hour. We
are so glad that our family has been blessed with another child!
Since
we arrived home late, I was going to attend Sunday morning mass alone. I got up
in time to have a quiet, slow morning.
John and I were talking in the kitchen over tea and coffee. He noticed a pair of wood ducks landed in the
lower pond. So we looked at them with
the binoculars. They didn’t stay long
but we appreciated their visit. Then I noticed a bird in a tree along the edge
of the yard. It looked like a puff
ball. At first I thought it was a
morning dove but the binoculars told me I was wrong. I had John look at it. He thought it was a
sparrow hawk. So I grabbed the bird book
and looked it up. I was directed to American kestrel, part of the falcon
family. This kestrel was being pestered by three blue jays. She flew away but
came back and landed in the ash tree we have in the middle of the back
yard. Perfect spot, as I could watch her
without any interference from other trees.
I really wanted to see her fly but I had to leave to get ready for
mass.
American kestrel - aren't they beautiful?
After mass, I went to Walmart for
a few things and took my time returning home.
I had laundry to do and baking. Olivia
chose a new cookie recipe to make – maple crescents. While she mixed that batch up, I decided I
could make a pie. I have wanted to make a vinegar pie. Not only will this allow me to cross of the V
on my Baking through the Alphabet project, I was curious about the flavor of
the pie. I will admit, I love vinegar! Elliott wanted to help so after he
donned his apron, we made the crust. He did a good job but I had to remind him
not to handle the dough a lot otherwise it doesn’t turn out flaky. And flaky is
how a crust should be! After popping
that into the oven to bake, we set about making the filling.
Vinegar
Pie
1 9-inch
pie crust, baked
1
cup white sugar
2
Tbsp. flour
2
Tbsp. distilled white vinegar
2
eggs, beaten
1
cup water
1/2
tsp. lemon extract
1
Tbsp. butter
In
a double boiler, combine sugar and flour. Mix well, then wisk in vinegar, eggs
and water. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Just before
removing from heat, stir in butter and extract. Pour mixture into baked
pastry shell. Chill before serving.
I
stirred and stirred for a long time and it still was not thickening. So I
dumped it into a saucepan and within a few minutes, it thickened up nicely. I
also did not have lemon extract so I substituted orange extract.
The
kids were so excited about the pie. They
agreed not to tell John the name until he tried it. They even tried it and
Elliott is not a pie person. He ate most of it too! It had a nice flavor and tasted like a lemon,
oops, an orange meringue pie. So this went
into the recycle bin – not because it wasn’t good. I can just use a lemon
meringue pie recipe.
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