This recipe came from a great friend who we originally met in Delaware, and who we visited in Atlanta. We ate this pie and absolutely LOVED it. So I’m sharing it with a few of my good friends. Enjoy.
Crust:
12-14 graham crackers, crushed
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Combine and press into 9" pie pan
Filling:
12 oz cream cheese
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup lemon juice (OR 1/4 cup Kahlua - YUMMMY!!!)
Beat together and pour into crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven for 5-10 minutes then add:
Topping:
1 cup sour cream
3 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pour topping over pie and bake 10 minutes longer. Refrigerate 5 hours before serving. Actually, it’s better on the 2nd or 3rd day (if you can wait that long).
So why is this post titled "Donkey Pie"? Here’s why. This pie is good enough to be full payment for the VERY cute donkey.
Last summer I spent quite a bit of time telling you about the process of doing hay. For city people, it’s quite an education. I am still learning - in fact every time I get on the tractor, it’s like learning all over again. Well, this year I learned something new. It’s a bit embarrassing, these lessons of mine. But I feel like you need to know. I mean, if you ever get thrown onto a farm (willingly or reluctantly) I want you to have the knowledge that I wish I’d have had before this process. It’s like the parent who wishes their kids would learn from their mistakes and not let their kids learn from personal experience. It doesn’t always happen that way, but at least I’m doing my part.
One day I was in a store - can’t remember which store. I saw this, and thought it was a sort of gag item. Something that might have been sold around April Fool’s day or maybe Halloween.
Doing research for this post, I happily stumbled across this:
Let me ’splain. It’s been hay time again. And while I’ve helped fairly extensively in past years, there’s always been reprieve. Prince Farming’s dad and his help have come over, and Prince Farming has done at least one of the processes himself, so my time on the tractor was broken up. But this time I had to mow, fluff, and rake three huge fields. Normally I mow with a tractor that has an air-conditioned cab. But on my way down the hill when I tried to raise the mower arm, there was a hydraulic hose in just a wrong spot, and the hose got pinched and broke, rendering the hydraulic system useless. With very little time to spare (rain in the forecast), I parked that tractor, and rode over to Prince Farming’s dad’s farm and borrowed their mower, which was already conveniently attached to their tractor. An open cab with a canopy. No worries, I can handle an open cab. Never mind that this tractor has to be started, not with a key, but with a loose wire that you hold to two spots and it kicks on. That’s another post though. So I got started mowing, and only an hour later than I’d hoped. The shade of the canopy was good, but it was still hot. I was in shorts and flip-flops, and figured I’d probably get a bit of sun, which couldn’t be a bad thing. First day - all the mowing was done.
Second day - on to fluffing (or teddering, for those of you who can’t stay on the farm when the word fluffer is used). This time I could use our own tractor - but not the air-conditioned cab one. The little cub cadet - also with a canopy - was the vehicle of use (not choice). I don’t love this process because I can’t see where I’ve been as clearly as when I mow or rake, but it’s a necessary process to help in the drying of the hay. I got all the fields teddered, and went to bed exahausted. Spending 6-8 hours on a tractor might sound like a lazy day, but my body was sore and my mind numb. I woke with a start at 2am. It was POURING RAIN on my freshly cut and teddered hay. That means that instead of raking first thing in the morning, I had to go over and fluff all over again. So there I was - on the open tractor. Let me paint a little word picture for you. It’s HOT. The fields are BUMPY. On the sides of hills, you can barely keep yourself from sliding off the seat. And you’re SWEATING. The combination of wet, sweaty shorts, very bumpy, slidey riding . . . well. Here. This might give you a better idea.
This is what spending endless days on a tractor leaves you feeling like. I’m not kidding. Prince Farming came home from work when I was just done with the teddering and suggested I take a break. I was SO relieved. I really didn’t want him on the tractor much - especially on the bumpiest of fields because he hurt his back a few weeks ago, and I didn’t want him to aggravate the injury. His dad came over to help bale. I’m not sure how the conversation went between them, but Prince Farming made it known that I needed a break from the tractor seat for a while. He finished raking and his dad did the baling. And my butt got a break.
It took a couple of days to feel totally better, but I was able to go back out and load the hay bales onto the trailer and bring them to the barn before too much more time went by. And I wasn’t on the open tractor for long enough to aggravate my injury.
Hello to all my skywatch friends . . . it’s been fun visiting your amazing sites and seeing your photos. I have not been leaving comments, but I have been stopping by. You continue to inspire me!
I’m doing a bit of catch-up here - about a month ago it was COLD - spring was in the air, and then it just reversed itself and turned back to winter.
The trees look misty, but they weren’t really . . . it was ICE. brrrrrrr. Check this out (sorry for the blur)
The ice stuck around just about all day because temperatures didn’t get high enough to melt it.
You can see hundreds of amazing skies by visiting the skywatch blog here.
I was going to make this a "Top Ten" list, but then I wasn’t sure how many things I’d end up with. My next option was a "Top xx List" but then I worried about what kind of hits and nonsense that would produce. So I’ll stick with a less conspicuous and more ambiguous option.
This is a list of things I could blog about but a) didn’t; b) won’t; c) can’t; d) shouldn’t or e) might still
1) The chickens’ first eggs
2) Landscaping my yard - the strong desire and almost a vision of what should happen, but strong doubt that the inspiration will stick for longer than the rain.
3) Grass planting and the agony of spreading hay over the seed all by myself because my kids went camping and Farming had to drive for 3 hours to get the fertilizer and then spread it so our farming day "together" ended up with me unrolling 3 huge bales of hay that I spent less painful hours last year putting into the bales. And I’m not done. But I am still sore. ALL over. (hey - that’s an entire blog entry right there)
4) My precious daughter’s 13th birthday surprise
5) Learning how to ride a dirt bike with a clutch (that would be me)
6) My commitment to blog 10 times in the next 20 days with no whining, apologies, or fear/hang-ups
7) The behindness of where I am with work and other assignments (don’t tell anyone)
8) A very fun trip to Charlotte to visit friends over Easter
9) Stamping that I’ve done and still wish to do
10) A stamp room that is photo-worthy for an "after" shot (I already have several "before" shots that could be recipient of some sort of "least inspiring of creativity" award).
11) A link to a cousin’s site introducing his amazing work with "World Outside My Shoes" - look for a book in the near future
12) Observations of Prince Farming’s 25th Highschool Reunion
13) Book reports on my new pass-time (audiobooks - have to LOVE that invention (or discovery) coupled with iPhone)
14) The chicken’s new house and their general life to date
15) Spring time beauty on the farm
16) The death of a cow. And a few chickens.
17) A wonderful and stress-less weekend with Prince Farming while the kids were gone
This is a random post from skies past. This first one was from last year when I went to Bermuda for a week. We had a blast - just a girls trip (well, and Prince Charming). My creative and wonderful friend from UStamp4Fun.com took me as her guest. (Note: Amy is NOT taking me to Hawaii this month . . . her husband decided it was his turn. Whatever). It was incredibly windy for part of the trip, but you’d never know it from this picture.
This next shot is more recent . . . we’d had a huge bonfire on a Friday night in early February. The next day, the cows were warming themselves by the coals - in fact they visited that area for several days in an attempt at staying warm. It reminded me of Farside jokes from long ago . . .
And, for those of you who have been missing it, here’s a shot of our pond - in the winter time. Some time I’ll post a photo of the kids playing on the pond - for now, this is an undesturbed pond in the winter time.
You can see more photos of skies (and ponds and even animals) from around the world by visiting here. Happy Skywatch Friday!
Here’s something that should have been blogged, but missed it’s time. . . and alas there are no photos. It was a photo-worthy and bloggable thing for sure.
We’ve been having some amazing weather. The contrast between hot and cold on two different days is crazy. And the wind!! It’s been so cool to watch and hear. We were home on a day off (President’s day or another day when the teachers had inservice) and the forecast predicted strong weather. With the radio on, the "weather alert" was going nuts - every few minutes that disturbing, belching and mechanical "beep, beep, beep . . . we interrupt this broadcast with a special weather update . . . " with tornado warnings and watches and strong wind advisaries. Living on a hill with a panoramic view is awesome at times like this - you can see the wind, but can’t feel it. I love that! And when it rains, it feels like you’re sitting right in the rain, but you don’t get wet. It’s the coolest thing. Anyway - we were home, and the winds were picking up speed. We kept saying "the trampoline is going to fly" and we watched it - and it lifted and lowered, but didn’t move. Until one huge blast of wind picked it up and threw it down the hill and across the drive way. It was like the thing weighed less than a feather - it was so effortless. The rain was coming down in torrents and so some of our visibiiity was obstructed. When it cleared enough for us to see, the trampoline was upright against the neighbor’s fence. Upon closer inspection (after the storm) we saw that part of it was over the fence. There were trampoline parts all the way down the hill (mostly springs).
A couple of weeks after the storm, we had a house-full of guests. Prince Farming suggested we use the man-power to bring the trampoline back up the hill (makes a person want to stop in for a cup of tea, doesn’t it?). It wasn’t too difficult with all of us - and we had the kids do a sweep of the hill for missing parts. Almost half the springs were "sprung" all over the place. We dragged the trampoline up and put it back where it had started, but it wasn’t "jumpable" yet - two of the legs had been ripped right off.
Last week Prince Farming got home from work "early" (still daylight). He went down and got the welder from the shed and I found all the extension cords I could in the garage. We figured out which leg parts went where and did the necessary repair. We had to bend some of the net-braces up and fenangle a few other parts to fit - but we finally got the trampline looking almost like it used to. There is a significant bend on one edge which gives the trampoline an almost egg-like appearance, and the kids say it doesn’t have as much bounce - but at least it’s useable for getting rid of the extra energy and craziness that periodically occurs in smallish people.
Isn’t it great to have someone around who can fix things!? In a former life, that trampoline would have sat there, on it’s end, till it naturally deteriorated. Or it would have been dragged to some trampline graveyard heap. Prince Farming can mostly fix anything!!
Or maybe I should say "finally skywatch." I’m reluctant to post (more reluctant about that than being a farm chik at this point), but am being sucked in by the amazing shots I’m seeing as I scroll through the skywatch list (1st time in many moons, it seems). Your photos inspire me. So I’ll share too. No pond today -it’s still out there, just not recently photographed, I don’t think. Let’s see what’s on my my desk top.
Oh yes - this was when we were clearing behind (actually in front of) our house. We also needed wood for our outdoor furnace (that heats our home and water during the winter). My son and I started this fire with all the scraps - the stuff that isn’t worth hauling over to the furnace. Great fun. We’ve had several big fires lately. Luckily all of them controlled and contained.
Let’s see if there’s a sky picture somewhere.
Yes - this is on the way back from the in-law’s. The horse mail box is just out of sight to your right. I took this shot because of the amazing moon hanging out above the cloud, but my iphone camera doesn’t have a zoom (or any other feature other than "click") so the clouds are more impressive than the moon. And the partial wooden fence adds character too.
You can see more amazing sky pictures from all over by clicking here.
Hey look - I managed to figure out how to log on to my blog again! It’s crazy how that works. If I don’t do something often, I forget. It freaks me out sometimes to think that something so simple can be pushed to such deep recesses in my mind that I struggle to access it. Not that it’s such a huge deal. It’s just that it happens more than I’d really care to admit in areas that are a bit more critical than blog access. It makes me wonder if this is how I am at 40-something, what’s going to happen in 10 or more years?!?! I have notebooks with user names and passwords and information to remember . . . sometimes I have a very vivid memory of "I didn’t write that down because I KNEW there’s no way I’d forget it . . . .now what was it!?! Anyway . . . that’s not what this post is about.
This is a big step - this posting of a new blog entry. Life got a little nuts - you might recognize the decline in the last several posts over a month (or more) ago. The desire to stay with it - to keep producing. To have the outlet. But I couldn’t maintain it. I was kidding myself. Kind of like "if my life on the blog looks okay, then my life must really be okay." I couldn’t keep all the balls in the air. So I dropped them. Just about all of them. Very recently when I logged back onto my Facebook account, an epiphany struck. I was trying to think about a status update. I wanted it to say something about seeing the light - being able to take on life with a bit more courage and energy. I had the analogy of a cave in my mind. A hiding place (by the way, I hate caves - claustrophobia and I are pretty tight). And when I started entering the status, it came out as "I’m almost done caving." I’ve been working hard on not caving. Caving as in "giving up" or "giving in." But as I contemplated that status, I realized that I had been giving in - to a large extent. And the strength that I am fighting for, that I am seeking after, is actually the strength I need to just BE. No giving in. No escaping. No caving.
Thank you to those who have continued dropping by to check on me. Forgive me for not responding. I didn’t have anything to say. I still don’t have a lot to say. What needs to work through my system will continue its journey. I will share where I’m able and deal with the rest. And I’ll lose the cave analogy. Spring time will probably help.
See you on the blog . . . and I’ll be visiting some too - as I am able.
Now I have to check my anti-caving sentiment. Can I click "publish"?
You know who you are. Your Christmas shopping is all done, and everything was wrapped and ready before December even hit. AND your Christmas cards are handmade and mailed with perfectly matching holiday postage stamps. Arggghhhh. My Christmas list isn’t even complete. I mean, I went shopping last week, and spent one month’s salary stipend in an alarmingly short period of time. And while I suffered some amount of "AAaahhhhhh" over the bill that will be coming, I felt some satisfaction in being pretty much done. A few online orders to place, and I thought I was SET. But as the days have gone by, I’ve realized this small detail:
My LIST isn’t even done
Meaning, I didn’t have a complete list, so my shopping is not complete.
Unfortunately, all the money I’ve set aside for Christmas is long spent. So, I’ll just have to THINK about the things I would want to give to the people who didn’t yet make it onto my list. Because it’s the thought that counts, right!? RIGHT?!
And you KNOW those people aren’t going to be getting any truffles!!
The blogs I visit don’t ever have comments about blogging or not blogging, or guilty feelings over long pauses in blogging. Well, except for this one. But then maybe it’s because I’ve not only NOT been blogging, I’ve also not been visiting my friends blogs to hear them whine (I’m starting to see the wisdom in blogging even more clearly now!) But seriously - I have this feeling of "what a loser am I - I can’t even keep up with my blog." Even though Louise, who set the blogging hook that others had cast, said that I shouldn’t worry about when I can’t blog - to just do it when I could - but I still just love to torture myself obviously gain SOME pleasure with guilt. Whether its warranted or not.
It’s not like I don’t enjoy blogging. I do. Although I find it freakily weird that people actually stop to see what I write. But I get it when I go and read other people’s blogs. It’s like people-watching in the airport. It’s fun to see what other people are doing. And blogging gives a little window into their world. So I miss out on seeing what people are wearing most of the time on blogs. But the great trade-off is I get to see what they’re thinking and doing - which is what I wonder about when I’m in an airport. Blogging is deeper. Airport people-watching you want to go and add "when you decided to wear that travelling" to the usual "What are you thinking?" question. So here’s my plan. Since my iPhone camera seems to be doing fairly well, I’m going to start doing little blog entries (well, right after this one, I mean). Just sort of snippets. Of the things that float through my life and head where I think "this is bloggable." I’ll go ahead and blog it. Just like writing a status update on Facebook, which I manage to do fairly frequently. So there. You can breathe a sigh of relief, or remove me from your reading list - whatever you choose. I’m back.
You know I’m only back because it’s a stressful time of year, right!? It’s like "What else can I possibly cram into this week!? Oh wait, this is bloggable."
This has been my current dilemma: Actually no. This has been what I SHOULD be worried about, and am, on some level, or I wouldn’t have used it in my Facebook status either. Now I’m blogging about it. Maybe it warrants some analysis. I bought these truffles at S*Ms club. A 3-pack, that I might be able to use as gifts if the need arose. They’ve been in my house for about 2 weeks. This weekend I decided I should open one of the boxes, just to check them out. If they’re disgusting, I certainly would not want to give them away.
Well, let me tell you. I won’t be giving any of these away. They’re absolutely TERRIBLE. Like melt in your mouth into buttery extasy. Wonderful. Delicious. Completely non-shareable. Well, except for single others who might be able to appreciate how divine they really are. And worth the hour-drive to go buy the whole stock in case they aren’t available after the holidays terrible. Ghastly. Like a lump in your stomach because you have NO SELF CONTROL. Gross. Like maybe if I eat some yogurt or an orange, this heavy feeling might go away. But oranges and yogurt aren’t melt-in-your-mouth delicious, so maybe I should have one more. . .. it’s sick. Really. I know. I probably ought to have therapy. Then I started to wonder (out loud, on FB) how many truffles are in one serving. If any of you want to know, I recorded it here.
You can look and see, but please don’t tell me, because even though I asked the question, I truly do NOT want to know the answer. Nor do I want to know what’s in these amazing orbs. Unless of course S*MS has run out and I have to try to make my own. Then I’ll take them to a lab and have them dissected and analysed so I can reproduce them. Oh - but only half of one, because I’ll not want to waste an entire one on science. Unless that science has it’s processing plant in my own body - like this is how chocolate travels from your mouth, down your throat and plants itself on your hips, butt, and stomach. And thighs.
I’ve been so proud of myself, because my previous vice was this:
Laced with this:
in milk. I had it daily. Sometimes multiple times daily. For YEARS. And years. And I finally gave it up this year. Not because I haven’t tried before - it just didn’t work. This year I got sick for a couple of days. Really sick. And couldn’t eat or drink anything. And when I came out of it, I just didn’t feel like my coolers anymore. There are still at least 8 boxes in my pantry, because I had to buy them in the big city - no local place would stock them. I tried - believe me! And the bonus was that I lost about 20 pounds. Just when I quit! I didn’t know I was losing weight till I went for a 6 month recheck at the doctor and my weight was vastly different. I had to get on the scale a 2nd time just to check. Hmmmmm. What a wonderful thing. Now I’m starting to worry. How many truffles will it take to turn this thing around?
