a rare evening at the place

yesterday was an uneventful day for me, as i worked at the office all day then went back to the apt to do some housekeeping and bake a pie for boss dennis's birthday lunch, which is today. on my way home, my truck turned over 107,000 miles. it's growing up so fast. it's amazing how fast those 1,000's tick off when i'm driving around the big wyoming country out here. i've spent a lot on gas this summer, going places and hauling horses, but it's been totally worth it. better spent on that and getting to be outside on a horse in the sage and sunshine than spend it in town going to movies or out to eat or at the mall or at the bar.

the pie i chose to bake is blackberry peach, and i picked up the fruit at sam's.


i used my mom's traditional pie crust recipe, because it always turns out light and flaky. i've tried to vary my crusts with other recipes, but i'm generally disappointed. pie crust can be a tricky thing.

i had good assistance from my little chef, who insists i pull out the stool so he can see what's going on:


he's good at keeping things together when we're cooking.


i had some extra crust and enough peach pie filling for one ramekin but not two, so i made use of some fresh strawberries i had in the fridge.

all bubbling and baking and getting happy.


they turned out really good. i ate both of them. :-D might as well, they're only warm and fresh from the oven once.

all i had for dinner otherwise was dill pickles, at five calories each, so i figured i could do both pies and oh, it was worth it.

here's the big pie. the top crust had messed up when i unfolded it over the filling, but turned out not to matter cause i disguised it with brown sugar that bubbled and crystalized.

link lost interest in cooking and turned his attention to the thunderstorm outside.

after the storm the kittehs both went back outside. i'm really glad i live on the ground floor so it's kinda like we have a yard. otherwise they wouldn't be able to go out and explore. and find things like crickets and earthworms and sparrows to bring inside....

my little sweets, lexus.

i'm pretty pleased with my flowers this year. some of them gave up and died, but most are doing well.

my herbs are also doing really well. some of them are coming to the end of their season, like the dill, thyme and parsley. basil, rosemary, chives and oregano are still going strong.