Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. These are the pumpkins that my nephew, my spawn and I did.

Blue October

October is probably my favorite month, as I've said before. Days are beautiful and blue, mostly warm, and sometimes the nights get cool. I'm sorry it's almost half over. This poem always reminds me of a special October.

Blue Girl

because you wore blue yesterday
today I am in love with everything blue
The blue books on my shelves smile at me:
TEN GREEK PLAYS and CONVERSATIONAL FRENCH
Que j'adore le blue!
Bleu, blau, azul, azzurro.....
words popping like blueberries in my mouth
My indigo wastebasket too pure for use:
applecores fly out the window
When I close my eyes
visions of violets and sapphires blow them open
bluejeans & bluebells; blueback trout leap from the
walls

No good telling myself
It's only a wavelengh of energy
so many radiant millimicrons zapping my eyeballs:
one man can handle only so much blue
I'm writing this with a red ballpoint pen
using blue only for punctuation
at my age even the semi-colon is risky
but I hate being careful
I feel like ending it all
Looking for you
I'll dash out in this blue October day
and let those bright blue chips
fall
where they may

--Peter Meinke

Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding

I made this once to take to a potluck. It was a hit.

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 bananas, slices
2 cups milk
1 box instant French vanilla pudding (5 oz)
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened (8 oz)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed (12 oz), or equal amount sweetened
whipped cream

Line the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2" dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas
on top. In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a
handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and
condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the
cream cheese. mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and
stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover
with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 12
servings.

Modern version of boiling in the can

A lot of recipes (not just the incredible ones here!) include the step of boiling sweetened condensed milk in the can as a way to caramelize it. I think that people assume the only danger is in the can exploding if you don't keep it covered with boiling water.

There's actually another concern that is more serious. Although lead solder is (legally) no longer allowed in making cans, there is still always some sort of sealant closing the seams of the can. Heating this sealant to the boiling point can cause the chemicals to leach into the liquid.

So instead, heat the SCM in a double-boiler for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Still gets the job done (even slightly quicker!) and you don't have to worry about what's leaching into the caramel.


Edited for Angelique: Either way, covered or not. It can be easier to remember to stir if it's uncovered, but it also needs to be stirred more when it's uncovered (the surface gets dry and tough otherwise). The important detail to remember is to check on the water in the bottom part to make sure THAT doesn't go dry.

Danger pudding pie

I'd been making this pie for almost 40 years when I read the Sweet Potato Queen's first book and found that she included a variation of the recipe. I got it from a cousin in Arkansas. I always just called it banana pie, but the SPQ called it "Danger Pudding."

You'll need a can of Eagle Brand, unsweetened whipped cream, a graham-cracker or vanilla wafer crust, and fresh bananas. You could also use strawberries or any other kind of fruit.

In a large, deep pan, like a Dutch oven, boil the Eagle Brand can, unopened, label removed, keeping it covered with water, for about 2 hours. Don't, don't, don't...........a thousand times "don't" do this if you can't plan to be right there watching it for the two hours, so that you can add water when it boils down. Use as low a heat as you can to keep it boiling. I usually boil two cans at once and then keep one in the fridge to have on hand.

After the two hours is up, let the can cool down and then put in the fridge or freezer until it's completely cooled down.



Open both ends of the can and you'll have a big round block of caramel. Slice and layer it in the crust with the whipped cream and fruit. Top with whipped cream. You'll see why you don't need to sweeten the whipped cream.

If you don't like really sweet stuff, don't make this pie. It's SWEET!

I learned the hard way about leaving the cans unattended. I forgot I had two cans on the stove (it was my stupid-head ex-husband's fault!) and went to bed. Next morning, one of the cans had opened and burned up in the pan. The other had exploded and slung sticky stuff all across the kitchen ceiling into the living room. The kitty was sick from eating it, and the cabinet next the stove had a coating of caramel underneath. We had to repaint the kitchen.

The Eagle Brand can does have a warning about heating an unopened can, but as long as you watch it, keep it covered with water, and only boil on low heat for 2 hours, it should be fine.

The SPQ book suggests that you just eat it out of the can, but it's pretty rich.

Creamy chocolate pie

Or you can call it decadent or obscene.....either way, it's a once a year treat for us (well, maybe twice.)

Creamy Chocolate Pie

1 9-inch baked pastry shell
3 1-oz. sqs. unsweetened chocolate
1 14-oz. can Eagle Brand Milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup hot water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (1/2 pint) whipping cream, whipped
Extra sweetenedwhipped cream for topping

Over medium heat, melt chocolate in saucepan with Eagle Brand and salt. Cook and stir until thick and fudgy, about 5-8 minutes. Add water, cook and stir until it thickens and boils. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Cool 15 minutes. Chill 20-30 minutes, stir. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into shell. Chill 3 hours. Top with extra whipped cream and chocolate curls.

Don't substitute Cool Whip for the real whipped cream, or it just won't be as good. I usually cover the whole pie and then add the chocolate curls, but you could get creative and pipe the whipped cream around the edges or create designs--depends on how much you like whipped cream. Don't sweeten the cream that's going into the pie.

Flight Over Africa

A friend sent me this Youtube clip of the flight over Africa from the movie "Out of Africa." It's almost four minutes long, but really an amazing video of a very beautiful country.

Anyway, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHjwq3e7lHw

Autumn Evening

Thank you for the beautiful images, Angelique! I couldn't resist adding one more...

The smile that flickers on baby's lips when he sleeps- does anybody know where it was borne? Yes, there is a rumor that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born . . . .

- Rabindranath Tagore