Category: Small Town Life

Ee i ee i oh!

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Onion

If any of you live in a small town close to a not so small town…you know the inevitable is going to happen some day, it just is. That said, one of the benefits of living in a small town is that you and your neighbors can be architects of what you'd like it to look like, smell like, and sound like when that day comes.

The dilemma is always the same… how do we grow without losing our small town feel. I mean the other day I got a hug from my doctor in the produce section of the HEB, where else does that happen?

In looking at ways to revive the town and its culture and create a more sustainable future… I say we look no further than our past. My town has some
incredible resources that could really be tapped – an
abundance of farmland and a strong agricultural tradition.

I knew that there had been an ongoing discussion and there was a meeting this past
year to access what level of local interest in the for organic or
natural farming.

One of the blessings of being a city council member is actually getting someone to listen to you and take you seriously…well kinda.

I had a meeting with my neighbor , who works for the Sustainable Food Center in Austin. We
met to discuss the reality and or viability of convincing and
assisting willing Elgin farmers to transition to a more sustainable
farming practice and becoming part of a farm-to-work, farm-to-school
or other community sustained agriculture program.

I presented the idea to our Economic Development Corporation… and after a few weeks of rounding the troops… the meeting is this evening. I'm pretty excited. Next step is to get our County Extension Agent here for a presentation for cotton and hay farmers that are interested too.

Wish for a good turn out

Golden

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The groom’s family home, Cloudwood Ranch

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The wedding crashers

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Hey! and I don’t mean hay

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Okay Sarah, this is the clutch. I just ordered the matching handbag ( "Knave") this morning

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The lining is gorgeous

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New knitting bag from Queen Puff Puff

I am finishing up a scarf for my Ravelry scarf exchange, not in the yarn I’d started ‘cuz I wanted something chunkier after all.

I started Gretel in a beautiful burgundy tweed, but could not see my stiches for the life of me! Frogged and will attempt again with lighter colored yarn.

The Punishment Sock & a Pie Recipe

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Wild Blueberry Almond Crumble Pie 

Filling

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (or more) sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

7 cups fresh wild or regular blueberries (32 ounces) or 32 ounces frozen wild or
regular blueberries (do not thaw)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

Topping

2/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour

4 ounces marzipan or almond paste, broken into 1/3-inch pieces (about 3/4 cup loosely packed)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 teaspoon salt

Whipped cream or ice cream

Roll out pie crust disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Turn crust edges under and crimp decoratively, forming crust edge 1/4 inch above sides of pie dish. Refrigerate while preparing filling and topping.

 

For filling:

Whisk 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and cornstarch in heavy large saucepan to blend. Stir in blueberries and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens, frequently stirring gently, about 13 minutes. Chill filling until cool, about 1 hour. If more sweetness is desired, stir in sugar by tablespoonfuls.

For topping:

Combine first 4 ingredients in processor; blend until mixture begins to clump together. Transfer to bowl; chill 30 minutes. Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Spread blueberry filling evenly in unbaked crust. Sprinkle topping evenly over. Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake until crust and topping are golden and filling bubbles thickly, about 50 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Serve pie with whipped cream or ice cream.

The reality
Just use your favorite homemade or store bought crust, I say this only because the crust is not the star of this pie. I used frozen wild blueberries which were so yummy and I ate them by the frozen handful. I bought four 10 ounce bags because I was afraid I’d be short. I did not adjust cornstarch or anything and consistency was great. If my pie pan had been deeper all the filling would have fit nicely, but I had about a cup left over.

Okay, now the real dilemma. I live in a small farming community of about 8,000. Marzipan is NOT at the top of everyone’s shopping list therefore not available at my local HEB. So . . . I tossed some almonds, alot of almond extract and some white and brown sugar to the topping mixture. May have been less sweet but was still great. I gotta tell you the salt in the topping is key. You definitely know it’s there (in agood way) and it rounds out the topping nicely.

This being Texas, pie must be topped with Bluebell Homemade Vanilla How can you not love a company who’s trucks read, “We eat all we can, and we sell the rest“?

FYI . . . I am about 6 rows away from completing the toe on the The Punishment Sock. I know now that if I didn’t knit them simulataneously  (and use spell check for that matter) simultaneously I would NEVER, oh and I do mean NEVER, knit a second sock in my life. Don’t care how cold my other foot is. Second Sock Syndrome is too nancy a diagnosis… I propose a motion to call the second sock simply the The Punishment Sock.