It is a rainy cold evening in December. Is this what is meant by 'a long winter evening'? Remember all the 'stuff' that we were saving to do on a 'long winter everning'? That we didn't have time for right at that moment? Well, now that it is here, I don't remember what I was going to do, with all this 'time' on my hands!! Oh well, there is a never ending list of things that need done. So much for those long talked about and anticipated 'long winter evenings'!! I'm ready for April and warm weather.

Here is a photo of my Orange Christmas cactus. Charlotte gave me 4 or 5 pieces of one of hers, last Christmas and this is what it has become. They are all planted in this one pot. It sat out on the porch until I was afraid it would get frost bitten, then I brought it inside. It is sitting in our unheated laundry room and it gets COLD in there! So far it hasn't seemed to bother it.

I made the Cushaw Pie recipe and it is surely a keeper! E loved it! It doesn't seem to be as intensly flavored as a pumpkin pie and it also has a tiny hint of lemon it. It is just so good that you can't stop eating it. Now, if I just knew where to get my hands on another Cushaw Squash! I had enough of this one to put some in the freezer for a couple of future pies. I also saved some seeds from it and we will plant them next summer and see what we get. Are Cushaws a hybrid? I don't know.

Gotta end all this suspence over the new kittens name! I had the most votes for Gypsy, but E will only call her Nuisance! He isn't particularly fond of cats and he especially doesn't care for a cat that likes to rub on you or be all over you. And Gypsy is just a puddle of love when you pick her up! She just melts, and purrs so loud. He thinks cats should be skittish and do their job of catching mice, but leave him alone. I like a cat that enjoys hugs and cuddling. And Gypsy is on little cute 'love bug'!

Here is the recipe for the Amish Sugar Cookies. If you make them let me know how you liked them. I think they are just the best sugar cookies I have ever eaten!

Amish Sugar Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Beat first four ingredients well, then add eggs. Mix well. Add
dry ingredients and vanilla. Drop small ball of dough on lightly
greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Flatten dough with
bottom of a glass. Bake 375 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes. Makes
about 5 dozen cookies.

Here is a photo of my little guys, wearing their Santa hats. It is very hard to get them to hold still or sit or stand together, long enough to get them both in the same picture! They are 28 months old now.

Ok, Ruth, here they are. I think S must have taken this one. I didn't but it is a very nice picture of Grandpa and grandaughter. Some of the 'girls'.
Mumsie

Chief Cook! and a good one!

E and I had a busy day today. He dug up one of the water hydrants and tried to find out why it is freezing up. It is 3 feet in the ground so shouldn't freeze. But somehow it isn't draining the water back out of the faucet. It is the one nearest the barn, that we draw all the horses water from when they are in for the night. It is a real pain when it is frozen and doesn't work!! I'll let you know how it works out.

One day this week, I was in the local Burger King with the boys and their grandmother. A gentleman that was standing in line, asked if anyone knew where he could get a cushaw squash. Said he had purchased one before Thanksgiving Day at our local grocery store a few weeks back and wanted another one. But now they didn't have any. He tried their supplier also and couldn't get any there. He was from another town and couldn't find one anywhere. He said the local grocery store had some recipe sheets with the squashes that he had picked up also. He said it was just like the pies his mother used to make. (This man was about 60 years old). I asked him if he would share the recipe and he took my name and address. Yesterday, I was totally surprised to get the recipe in the mail from him! Today I cooked the cushaw squash that I had gotten from the same local grocery store, and tomorrow I will bake it into a pie. He said they make bettter pies than pumpkin! So...we will see if he is right! I looked online for cushaw and found that some else said the same thing about them!

I was too busy baking a 16 pound turkey, making mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, green beans and corn, (combined in one dish), and rolls to bake pies today. Since we are always gone to my folks or his folks for the holidays, I never get to fix our own meal. So today, I just did it. I cut up the left over turkey into 2 cup portions and froze it in baggies. Now we can make a chicken pot pie any time we want to, or anything else with it.

I also finally got my tulip bulbs planted in my new flower bed. Late this summer I dug a new flower bed along the east side of the house. I have iris, phlox, hostas, salvias, (perrenials) in it. Also two butterfly bushes are at the corner of the house. It should be pretty next summer.

Can't wait to try this pie! I'll let you know what I think of it! I made a new cookie recipe the other night and froze most of the cookies. It was an Amish Sugar Cookie, but was unlike any sugar cookie I had ever eaten before. I don't like most of them. This one was so light and delicate and tender and just sooo good! Maybe I will publish that one too. Maybe. I'll have to think about this a bit!