Saturday, June 19, 2021

No Title


 These ethereal blooms are garlic blossoms, believe it or not. A friend of ours brought me some yesterday just because they were too pretty to throw away after he cut them. He said not to put them in water because they'd rot so I put them in my tallest vase and I hope they last a few days, at least. 


I have them on the back porch because although I do love the smell of garlic, I'm not sure I want it to permeate the air in the house all day and all night. They seem happy out here. 

Today has been a mishmash of not much. Mr. Moon went to the Watermelon Festival in Monticello this morning but I did not. The weather has been threatening to rain all day- the tropical storm that came up through the Gulf has brought rain and winds all around us it would seem, but none have made it here except a drop now and then. But the air has been heavy with the sultry threat of it and at times it's been breezy. There were so many things I needed to do today but did almost none of them, perhaps weighed down by the barometric pressure, perhaps just lazy. I had absolutely no inclination to make and can salsa which is what I should have done. I did, however, start the dessert that makes my husband happiest. It will be his Father's Day present. 
I know I've told this story before but...when we met he had a cookbook that his former mother-in-law had self-published. She had a little tea room in Auburn, Alabama and I guess a lot of people wanted her recipes. Mr. Moon pointed one out to me and told me that he loved it. Here it is.


Now if you know one thing about me it's that there's no way in hell I would be making a recipe calling for instant chocolate pudding and Cool Whip. Or margarine either, for that matter. But the basic idea of the dessert is sound and so I make it my own way. Today I made the crust with butter, not margarine and not two sticks of butter either. Just one. And even that is somewhat sinful. 
I make my own chocolate pudding with cocoa and milk and half and half and cornstarch and egg yolks the way god intended for pudding to be made. And of course, I whip my own cream instead of using Cool Whip. 
Now all of this is not to say that I have not eaten my share of instant pudding and Cool Whip- I have. But not lately. Like...in decades. 
I've told my children that if I should die and my husband remarries, they should tell the new wife about the recipe. If they like her, they should tell her how I made it. If they do not like her, they should stay silent on those details. 
Sometimes I've been tempted to make it as written myself to see what it tastes like. 
But I think I can imagine it. 

So all I have to do tomorrow is whip cream and mix some of it with softened cream cheese and put it all together. 
That will be after our little brunch. Lily and her kids are coming over and possibly Hank and Rachel. May has to work. I'll make the traditional pancakes and bacon, and scramble some eggs. Lily said she'll bring a hash brown casserole. There is a watermelon to cut up. 
I will miss May and Michael and Jessie and Vergil and those wild boys of theirs. I told Jessie the other day that I was making THE dessert. 
"Damn," she said. "That's my favorite!"
"Well," I told her, "When you go to NORTH CAROLINA for the summer you miss a few things." 
We laughed. 
And then I told her I'd make some for her when we come visit if she wants me to. 
I'm so easy. 

I did work on the eternally-not-finished dress. I wanted to get it done because we'll be using the dining room tomorrow which is where I have everything set up for my sewing. You'd think in a house this big I'd have a dedicated sewing room but I do not. One of the upstairs rooms would be great but the idea of going up and down those stairs is NOT. I finished the bias strip trim on the neck and went to work on the trim for the armholes and mysteriously the strips I had cut and sewn have disappeared. Just...gone. 
So I cut and sewed more. Actually, better ones. And I got one armhole halfway done and pinned and ironed to finish it and as I started sewing I thought, "I bet I run out of bobbin."
And yes. I ran out of bobbin. 
On my old Singer, when you run out of bobbin, you have to unthread the machine, rethread it to go to the bobbin uptake thing, run the bobbin, put that back in its clever little case, and rethread the whole thing for sewing. 


And you don't usually realize you've run out of bobbin until you finish the part you were "sewing" but not sewing because...no bobbin. 

This is not a third-world problem. 
I ran a bobbin, rethreaded, etc. And then put everything to the side for tomorrow. This is the cursed dress that never got made and if I DO ever get it made, I'll probably hate it. 

Oh well. 

Check this out. 



Can you have too much of a good thing? 
Yes. Yes you can. 

Sigh. 

And suddenly it is pouring rain. It smells so good. 

Love...Ms. Moon



35 comments:

  1. We call that Fat Man Pie. Always, always at my family functions growing up. Love it.

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    1. Okay. I'm going to go add that name to the recipe because- yes. Yes it is. And Fat Man Pie is the best name ever.

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  2. It looks like rain here too, hope you have a good time tomorrow.

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  3. One of the many reasons i gave up sewing- the frustration undid me. My friend talked me into buying a fancy new machine with a brain, I did, i hate it!AND like you I have no sewing room- no laundry room, no pantry, no workshop- the guy who built this house knew nothing about living sensibly, but then, he was a guy.

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    1. Well. At least you have a kitchen and bathroom. Right?
      Ha!

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  4. I have a similar recipe but it's called sex in a pan and it has another layer of vanilla pudding.

    I am fucking exhausted tonight. We've had Jack for the last three days and he is grumpy as hell. Not sure what's going on with him but he's not pleasant to be around right now. I'm too old for this.

    The garlic flowers are lovely.

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    1. If I had to put another layer of pudding in this thing I would have to have a bigger pan. Good Lord!
      Do you wonder if Jack doesn't start worrying about his mother after not seeing her for a few days? He doesn't have any way to express that worry or anxiety except for fussing. That may not be it at all but it could have something to do with it.
      Three days is a long time with such an energetic little guy.

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  5. I would have made all those pie adjustments, too.

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  6. I definitely agree with the changes you're making on that pie.
    And I hope you all have a great time tomorrow.

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    1. Thanks, Boud. It is a killer pie. Hopefully, not literally.

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  7. That pie sounds wonderful. Happy Father's Day to Mr. Moon!

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    1. It's sin in a dish.
      Thanks for the Father's Day wish.

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  8. It is a while since I used my sewing machine, but the bobbin had to be refilled in exactly the same way. I used to make clothes for myself and husband (I made some trousers once, many years ago!) but the last few things I did were curtains, and that was at least 10 yrs ago. Have you heard of a BBC series called " The Great British Sewing Bee" ? I think you would enjoy it if you can find it. A series just ended last week. About 10 stitchers start and they have 3 challenges each week and it finally gets to the last 3.

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    1. I have heard of the Great British Sewing Bee and I want to watch it very much but so far, it hasn't made it over here yet. Soon, I hope. I want inspiration!

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  9. What a great title for a recipe 'Donna showed me after ....' - that's sort of how I get all my favourite recipes too.
    Jane cooks everything by the book - to me, it's all in my head - and much to her annoyance I make way the better cakes!

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    1. I can't stick to a recipe entirely to save my life. But as I get older, I do like some guidelines on how to make new things.

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  10. For a day when you didn't do anything you seem to have done a lot. I hope Mr Moon enjoyed looking at all those ripe melons over in Monticello. Did he get to handle them too?

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  11. I think "heirloom" recipes are just wonderful (but I agree with you on the chocolate pudding and cool whip)! I have a recipe for "Windsheimer pastry" and "Aunt Alma's dip" and they really are a treasure. It would be nice to see that cook book! And as for those tomatoes!!!! Oh my word, we're only just now getting a few flowers on our tomato plants!

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    1. Well, you'll still be getting tomatoes when all of ours have been destroyed by bugs, disease, and heat. So there is that.
      I should look through that cookbook and see what else looks good. I actually never have.

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  12. My gosh. I can only hope my cherry tomatoes do as well as yours.

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  13. PS if they do, I'll become the cherry tomato fairy, dancing around and sprinkling everyone with cherry tomatoes. I'll even have a magic wand.

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    1. Now THAT's a good idea. My daughter May dreamed that I was selling them at the Co-op where she works, pouring them out of a lovely crystal pitcher.

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  14. Never too many tomatoes at my house!

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  15. I love the name of that pie. Hilarious. I'm tempted to try it as written, although I'm not sure I can get Cool Whip over here. If Dave made it he'd have to do it more like you do.

    I love that Florida tea towel hanging in the background behind your garlic blossoms.

    That's a serious pile of tomatoes! And I can just imagine the smell of that rain...

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    1. You SHOULD make that pie. Make it for Dave on his birthday. He'll laugh so hard. And hell- it will probably be good.
      Lis gave me that towel. I love it.
      Oh, the rain. That is the best smell.

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  16. this is why I don't plant cherry tomatoes, just the big ones.

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  17. That wild garlic reminds me of dill.
    I have made that pie and I have followed the original directions. We loved it. I also have a similar recipe using lemon pudding that is yummy too. I haven't made those for years because my daughter is gluten free/ dairy free now so for family celebrations I always keep that in mind.

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    1. Yes! The garlic does look a bit like dill heads, doesn't it?
      I ONLY make this pie for Father's Day or sometimes for Glen's birthday. One or the other. There is absolutely no excuse to make it any other time.
      But the lemon does sound intriguing.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.