Under Construction

Dispatch from the lake

We're at the lake for our annual week with Mr. H's family. The above is pretty much the view: Hot Rod Lincoln's bow (a term Biscuit has learned to use properly), flat water, puffy clouds and brown hills.

There has been a lot of swimming and floating (check out Mr. H's nifty shade structure ;)

There has been even more making of mud pies (and salads, and rock sandwiches etc). Literally the only toy the girls have played with all week has been discarded cups, spoons and plates along with water and the plentiful dirt around here. HOURS of messy entertainment.

There has also been tube riding (much to my chagrin and Mr. H's joy, Biscuit is a total daredevil in the tube). And a lot of eating and drinking and reading and lazing about.

There was a memorable balloon ride for Grammie and the girls. Luckily theirs was not the group to get dumped sideways into the lake!

The sunsets and clouds have been spectacular and I'm enjoying the "sunset" setting on my camera which turns everything brilliant orange.

I think that about covers it. Back to reality on Saturday and hopefully back to a more regular blogging schedule.

Mini-pies!

For months I've been wanting to adapt Amy's hand pie concept into a bite size pie using a wonton maker. They delay was because I don't own a wonton maker and couldn't find one locally. I finally  borrowed from a friend and it worked out better than I could have imagined!

Four flavors: apple, nectarine, apricot and rhubarb. Each chopped fine and mixed with a bit of sugar, a touch of flour and, for apple and rhubarb, a dash of cinnamon.

 

Then came the laborious part. I used the crust recipe from Amy's recipe cheat sheet (love that thing) and rolled it as thin as I could. Then I used a biscuit cutter that was the perfect size to make "wonton skins" which I filled and pinched. Be sure to wet the crust edges before pinching.

Some came out better than others. I also tried to label the flavors using the toothpick prick air vents. That didn't work so well.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the kitchen. My assistant became bored with scooping the filling and started a project of her own.

I brushed my little pies with an egg wash and baked these gems for 7 minutes at 400 degrees then about 12 more minutes at 350.

Delicious!
I proceeded to eat almost the entire batch. What? They were really tiny.

Back

The computer is back from the dead (and, in the end, much cheaper than the $600+ repair estimate). Hooray!

I am back from my four day vacation. If you can call 22 hours of driving in four days (with my mom and kiddo) a vacation. Two days driving. Two days hanging out with these cool people.

And while my near-dead camera is not back, I replaced it with what appears to be an awesome choice, the not-DSLR-but-it-may-as-well-be Canon G10. So far: love. Except when I finally got these four cuties in the same chair and inexplicably had the camera set to black and white. I got it back to color about the same time the baby got tipped over and started to cry.

And, finally, it seems I am back to blogging. So here's a quick trip to San Diego recap:
Coronado

Beach

More beach

Cute newborn

:::
Ironically, when I put my old memory card in my new camera it resurrected long lost images of Biscuit's first trip to visit my best friend (mother of the adorable baby pictured above). Three+ years ago Biscuit and I flew to Virginia to introduce Biscuit (then 11 months) to Little Man (then nearly 2).

Amazing what a few years can do.

With a camera and a computer and several sewing projects completed I should be good to go again on blogging. If not, I can always take more photos of the chickens. They're getting big, you know.