A taste of summer.

Ahh.....fresh strawberries, picked only this morning. Juicy, red and sweet. Best straight out of the box, while still warm from the sun. They are only available for about two weeks a year. We bought them at the farmstand and came home and made a pie. I saw a recipe in the newspaper that I wanted to try. It was easy an delicious! Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Icebox Pie

10 graham crackers (2 1/2-by-5 inches)

1 cup sugar, divided

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice

2 quarts strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced (a few whole berries reserved for garnish)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend graham crackers with 2 tablespoons sugar until finely ground; add butter and pulse until crumbs are moistened. Press mixture into the bottom and up the side of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until crust is lightly browned, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar, cranberry juice, 2 cups strawberries, cornstarch and salt. Using a potato masher, gently mash strawberries. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until very thick, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir in remaining strawberries. Pour into cooled pie crust. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours (or up to 1 day).

3. In a large bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over cream and continue to beat until soft peaks return (do not overbeat). Spread whipped cream over pie, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border around edge. Garnish with whole berries.

School's Out for Summer

All day long I've had that song running through my head. I don't particularly like the song, nor do I know any other words than the title.....but it's summer!

Kate and I have lovely tradition of blowing each other kisses once she boards the bus. I don't know how much longer she will partake in it, but it warms my heart every day. Right now she's not embarrassed or ashamed of me and she will blow and catch kisses all the way until I'm out of sight.

I promised Brock and his friends that I would treat them to ice cream. As I was backing the car out of the driveway, we heard the most terrible, gut wrenching sound. I had backed over Tupelo, our six month old puppy. I don't think I actually ran over him, at least I didn't feel anything.....and he's acting okay. His screech is still ringing in my ears. He's walking fine....but he's definitely more mellow than earlier. Maybe I scared the crap out of him, like he did me! I plan on spoiling him tonight with lots of good tummy rubs and as a special treat, he can cuddle on the couch.

An open letter to the person(s) using my toilet

Dear Toilet User,

I don't know who you are because I have asked each member of my family and they claim: "It's not me!" My guess is that you wait until we are all asleep and then come inside and use our guest bathroom. That's clearly the only explanation to my dilemma.

So who ever you are, please make note that the toilet brush is NOT a plunger. I repeat, IT IS NOT A PLUNGER. I can't tell you how disgusting it is to go and clean the bathroom, only to find left over waste on the toilet brush. I shouldn't need to clean the brush before I clean the toilet. Gag!

If this problem doesn't soon get remedied, I will have no choice but to issue bathroom passes with inspections following each use.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Erin

Summer time, and the livings easy

An undisclosed amount of cash later, and the 1976 Jeep is back on the road....here's a shot from a ride. The weather has been picture perfect for days, which is rare for here in early summer.

The kids still have a bit of school left. I'm ready to put this school year to bed and enjoy the summer with the kids. Kate has a paper chain ring counting down the days left of school. I have a paper chain ring counting down how many more school lunches I have to pack. Have I mentioned that my kids NEVER EVER want to purchase lunch? They prefer for their mom to wake at the crack of dawn to prepare their wholesome meal....and of course they each want different things for their lunch which makes preparing them that much more difficult.