Turn Turn Turn

I guess this means that Pesto Season is over.
That's my basil plant, all brown and freeze-burned.
Welcome, cold weather.
You know I love you.
Even more than I love pesto.

Turn, Turn, Turn.

Aunt Lillian's "Eat It First" Banana Pudding

There's a new post up at The City Farmgirl Blog. What is your Thanksgiving Prayer this year? Come over and visit the Farmgirls at www.maryjanesfarm.com. Here's the link to my latest post.

In that post I mention my Aunt Lillian's Banana Pudding. Now, I don't have a picture of it, but I do want to share the recipe with you. And come Thursday, I'll have a picture!

One of everybody's favorite dishes at our Thanksgiving gathering is Aunt Lillian's Banana Pudding. Aunt Lillian is the matriarch of the family, being the oldest aunt. Many of us cousins are known to sneak over to the dessert table before we serve our plates with dinner.

There is one reason we go there. It's for a spoonful of Aunt Lillian's Banana Pudding. You learn to do this when it happens to you the first time. You finish your dinner and head over to the dessert table for the pudding and what's this? The bowl is empty? THE. BOWL. IS. EMPTY! Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!

So, lesson learned. Next gathering. You "Eat It First."

Aunt Lillian's "Eat It First" Banana Pudding

Ingredients
1 box Vanilla Wafers
3 large ripe bananas, sliced
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
2 TBSP flour
2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. whipped topping

Directions
Mix together sugar, egg yolks, flour and milk.
Stir over medium heat until boiling.
Then remove from heat, and add vanilla.

Layer the bottom of 2-qt pan with half of the vanilla wafers and top with half of the sliced bananas.
Pour half of the pudding on top.
Then, repeat, forming a second layer.
Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Top with whipped topping before serving.

Yep, my first stop on Thursday will be the dish full of Aunt Lillian's Banana Pudding.

Cheese Pennies

No one in the south has ever had a bridal or baby shower without Cheese Pennies or Cheese Straws.
It's just the way it is. I don't know why.
I always make Cheese Pennies because I don't have one of those fancy squirty things that make Cheese Straws.

I like them so well, I make them on many occasions other than bridal and baby showers. They are great for appetizers at a party. And oh, how I like to serve them with soup. These are so yummy on cool, fall evenings when you're serving a big bowl of soup. (As you can see from the pumpkins in that picture, I made a batch for Halloween for our annual soup party.)

And. That's why I mention them today. To go with your soup. Or your Thanksgiving appetizer table.

Start these the day before you need them.

Cheese Pennies

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
8 oz. extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated with small holes of a cheese grater
8 TBSP (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Sift the dry ingredients together.

In another bowl, cream the butter until soft and pale yellow. Add the cheese; mix well. Gradually stir in the flour. (Mixture will be stiff.)

Shape the dough into two 9" long logs about 1" in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and then in aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Slice the rolls into rounds 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Place them about 1/2 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake until they are golden, about 12 minutes.
Transfer to a cooling rack.
And then let the eating begin....

Just looking at those pictures and thinking about the way Cheese Pennies melt in your mouth makes me want to make another batch. Yes, I think so....

The Largest One In History

drum roll, please.

here it is.

witness if you will.

the largest mushroom ever.

with Strudel-Doodle under it.

p.s. think I'll make some Mushroom and Tortellini soup for dinner.

 

'Srooms

Do you remember in the '70s when mushrooms were used in home decor?
On kitchen canisters.
On wallpaper.
On ceramic little nick-nacks, sitting around our orange-carpeted dens.
On those wooden hand-painted or decoupaged pocket books our moms carried.

I've always like the mushroom theme.
I've also always liked mushrooms.
And, news flash: I ate THE mushroom for dinner last night.
Yes, that ONE mushroom growing on my Shitake log.
Well, it was ONE with a baby beside it.
I added it to my Risotto.
That one mushroom.

One mushroom: that is the reality of home gardening.
(I remember one year my greens beans were pitiful.
I'd put 3 or 4 on each of our plates.
That type of harvest always gets a big laugh out of Hubs and Daughter.)

In my maryjanesfarm post I mentioned that mushrooms tend to grow in my yard.
It's a weird thing.
So after a few days of good rain, I headed out with my camera.

Which is your favorite?

I particularly like the first one.
That's the way I'd draw mushrooms when I was a kid.

Family Secrets

I just put up a post at The City Farmgirl Blog about families and family ties. With Thanksgiving around the corner, a time most of us spend with family, I think it's a good time to consider how we can improve our own. What can I, as an individual, do to make my family better?

What do you think is the secret to a close-knit, healthy family? What kinds of things can parents do to nurture that? What about the children? What can they do?

As I mentioned in that post, I had the opportunity to visit with a very special family last week. As I witnessed the dynamics, I was inspired. I later asked the father what they, the parents, had done--what their secret was--to raising such a nice bunch of kids who are now parents themselves. Kids who seemed to genuinely like and respect each other, their parents, and grandparents. Kids who stuck close. It warmed my heart.

The father's answer to my question about how he and his wife had done so well? "A lot of prayer."

That happened at my farm in the country.

Where I live full-time, I'm used to seeing disjointed families. Daughters walking beside mothers, the daughter texting, the mom on the phone, and both dressed provocatively. I notice that many fathers are not present, either living elsewhere because of divorce, or busy with work or golf. Kids too. Children are over-busy, with activity after activity after activity. Parents are over-tired. Children are tired. And everyone is stressed and distant with each other.

And selfish. That's the other thing I've come to realize, we are all so selfish and self-absorbed these days. And, as I mention all the time, another result of this trend is that adult children are not taking care of their aging parents.

It looks to me like families are falling apart around here. What's a parent to do?

What do you think the secret is? Is there one? Or is it just one big crapshoot?