Darienne

We did eat the pie, the whole pie and nothing but the pie. And now it's November 3, our guest is here (out viewing the farm with Ed) and the pie is in the fridge awaiting dessert time. The same lime cheese pie with chocolate ganache topping.

That's two for eating the pie. Truth be told...we did eat some at lunch and will probably eat the entire thing over the weekend. It's a very unusual cheese dessert in that the ingredients are only slightly rich. One package of cream cheese only, one egg, part of a cup of milk, a little sugar, a smidgen of butter...hardly worth fretting over. And think of the anti-oxidants in that dark chocolate topping. Sold to the woman who has deluded herself once more.

Yesterday I made my familiar go-to simple lime/cream cheese pie with one egg, some milk, lime juice & zest, etc, covered with a dark chocolate ganache: heavy cream, a dollop of butter. It's in the fridge covered with a plastic topper but I can cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Today's lunch guest is not coming...onslaught of sleet, freezing rain, and now snow...oh goodie...winter's here... Now she is slated for next Thursday. Is there any possibility that the pie can last that long and not poison or at least revolt us? Thanks.

Hmmmm...in the same vein...we usually have the mice coming in during the month of October and yesterday was our first mouse and today our second. Late onset of cool weather. We are on East Central Ontario.

Seeing as we are all sharing...we had no earwigs this summer (my chief hatred - I have an earwig story to end all earwig stories), but a bumper crop of ladybugs (Asian variety) in the spring, and a bumper crop of house flies in the summer and fruit flies ( constant apple production in the house). We live on a more than 100-year old farmhouse and you cannot get rid of the cluster flies which come twice a year, spring and fall, but only to the upper storey of the house. [Wow. Who knew that American spelling of storey was story?)

For decades I refused all ice cream. No thank you. My parents had one of those early freezer plans in the 50s with constant buckets of cheap ice cream. Ice cream was dessert. The constant dessert. The only dessert. And only vanilla, chocolate and Neapolitan. So who needed it? Then one day, many decades later, in Moab Utah, my home away from home, there was an ICE-20 ice cream maker for sale in our favorite local second hand store, Wabi Sabi, for $5. Could not resist. Started making ice cream from scratch and had an epiphanal moment in my life. Ice cream could be delicious. But still, I can have all different flavored home made and delicious ice cream in my freezer and not be tempted to overeat on it. Two tablespoons at a time is sufficient for me.

dcarch: the video was wonderful. I notice that the older man was more careful in his rolling process than the younger. Perhaps pride in a job well done for the older man...simply a job to endure for the younger. Or perhaps I am way off base. I love how the hands and fingers know what to do and how to do it. I am an artisan in a totally different medium and after some years of practice, my fingers do the work without my brain having to be very engaged. And after many years I am still fascinated by the process.

Thank you dcarch and liuzhou for those photos and video. I felt like a child again looking at it all. Wonderful. Magical.

I have a pair of gloves very close by each of our two large freezers to make sure that I don't freeze my fingers or hurt them...painful injuries seem to be much more easy to get once the fingers are cold... And my own rule is inviolate now having hurt my fingers...and always the more useful fingers on my right hand...so many times in the past. I often wonder how I got to be so old and so brainless at the same time.

My vote would be for Shortbread Cookies. Always.

We are due for a visit in town to our favorite Asian grocery store. I shall look for a sugar section this time. Love this kind of ingredient information. Not that I can ever use it I fear.

Wonderful. Thanks liuzhou.

Who knew? This is fascinating. Is there more to tell? Please. And thank you.

And the apple harvesting and processing seems to go on forever. Does anyone know when to harvest Northern Spies? They are obviously later than the Macs. But then it would matter at what climate zone one lived. In the meantime, I took some Apple Butter made last year and never eaten...we are not toast eaters...added some chopped nuts and made as if to dehydrate it and make Apple Leather. Well, many hours later I have some kind of chewy candy. A bit sticky, but oh so delicious.

Fun to look back in this topic which started a number of years ago and see what folks wrote. I wrote in 2011, five years ago and of course the past hasn't changed. However I could add that I never taught our children how to cook and our daughter still doesn't cook and both our sons do, the youngest makes dinner every night for his wife and him.

And the apple harvesting and processing goes on and on at the farm. Nothing compared to last year (thank heavens) but still more than bountiful. None to give away this year unless folks will accept falls. We had the trees pruned in the spring and the pruners have to return to finish the job. The trees had been uncared for for over twenty years...did I say I'm not a gardener?...and now we and the trees are paying a price. Come back next year. Making a new family favorite: "Mother's Applesauce Cake (Poor Man's Fruitcake) generously given to me by eG member, Arey. (photo from 2015)

Sorry for the addition on Apple Leather. Forgot to add about leaving the oven door open during the drying process. A doubled over oven mitt does the trick.

Made some Apple Pie Ice Cream and some Apple Leather to take to friends for lunch today. The Apple Leather is 2 cups of apple sauce and 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts, spread onto 3 cookie sheets and left in the oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit until they are satisfactorily dried. The time depends upon the thickness of the spread. They are delicious and make the best snack.

Our apple season, chez Road's End Farm, is just beginning. So far all we have made is a small amount of Apple Cider to be frozen, Apple Leather with Walnuts for gifts, and I'm about to make some Apple Pie Ice Cream for a luncheon gift on Sunday. And all this is from falls only. One tree is Macintosh and the other, untouched as of yet, is a Northern Spy. When we moved onto this property 22 years ago, we were told that there were 19 apple trees. We have not located all of them. Probably some/many were Heritage varieties. And recently, a couple of the trees whose apples tasted not too wonderful are now bearing delicious apples. O no! Not more apples. We gave away so many apples last year. If you knew us and were willing to come to the farm...you got apples. And so it goes. Ed is out back right now, picking up windfalls after the storm last night. How I would like to try David Ross's Tarte Tatin. To eat I mean...not to make at this point.

Welcome Michaelt and the first thing I have to say to you is that I am green with jealousy. If only we had a cooking school of ANY kind in my area.

Poked around online and found a name for the electronic fly zapper: Koolatron Electronic Handheld Insect Zapper and a place: Staples. So off we go later today to get one of these little beauties. (OK. I am in Canada.) As noted before, the flies suddenly pretty much disappeared when we purchased just simple, but effective, traditional fly swatters. Karma, I guess. But I am taking no chances.

Flies. Ugh. Last year we were inundated by two different kinds of ants. First in 21 years. This year it was houseflies. First in 22 years. I found the source of the flies. Revolting. Don't want to tell. And then when we got some new special deluxe fly swatters...they just disappeared. Well, of course we got rid of their 'harborage' (that's really where cockroaches live...I can't find a word for 'fly nests'.)

Oh, get in line, Kerry, Anna N and kayb. I've been thinking about this one for a couple of years. I can feel myself falling....falling.....

So three times this week I have dropped the lid of the small pepper shaker into whatever I was making along with a fair bunch of ground pepper. The last shaker had a removable lid and top...this one you open the top bit...unless you are too tired and you simply take off the lid and let fly. I should use gorilla tape and fasten the tape on. Not too aesthetically pleasing...but useful. Not trying to one up JoNorvelle in the realm of stupidity...

My DH says that we have never toasted the Seeded Quick Bread and I have never used barley flour as noted at the bottom of my recipe printout.