Things are pretty low-keyed in the Zeorian camp right now.
Yesterday was a day of being on the road. Callie and I left camp yesterday morning and headed for Woodward, OK. Jim and Taylor had left about an hour earlier to get Frank to his appointment with the mechanic. Frank had a leaky wheel seal and a broken spring. I swear I’ve been treating him nicely…sometimes, though, things start falling apart because of age (believe me, I know).
Once Callie and I found the repair shop, we all jumped in the Nasty and headed for Oklahoma City. The new parts could either be shipped from someplace like Memphis, take several days and cost double OR we could take a road trip to OKC for the same things and less money spent. We opted for the OKC trip, of course. It was about a 5 hour round trip excursion. Taylor tried her darndest to get her dad to take her to the OKC bombing museum and memorial but it didn’t work. Not this time. We picked up the parts, made a quick trip to Taco Bell and were headed back to Woodward.
This morning was spent catching up on laundry and some much needed cottage cleaning. Jim and Taylor left about an hour ago to pick up Frank. I’m not sure what the plan is but I think we’re all beginning to feel like it’s time to be moving on! I’m going to assume (and you know you should NEVER assume anything but I’m gonna) we’ll be loading equipment tomorrow and making the first trip north to Deerfield, KS.
In the meantime, I’ve heard from Jamie and Mark about the cherries they’re picking from my tree in my yard at “home, home”. I got that cherry tree quite a few years ago from my bestest buddy, Trish, as a gift. I planted it with the anticipation of having cherries like the ones I used to pick from my Grandma’s tree as a kid. I have NEVER picked one cherry from that tree – everyone else does. Why? Because I have been gone every summer since that tree was planted. I’m so glad it provides so many happy memories, pies and other cherry recipes (and yes, Callie, even cheery ones) for the ones who do get to indulge in them. I’ve got a neighbor who will freeze a few bags for me so I have been able to enjoy them too.
Jamie was requesting my Ohio Sour Cherry Pie recipe so I decided I would just include it in this posting so you could enjoy it, as well. No pictures to help show you how to do it – you’ll have to just imagine how it looks.
Fillings:
1 20 oz. bag frozen unsweetened pitted tart cherries (about 4 cups) or you can use 2 16 oz. cans, drained (reserve ½ cup liquid). Reduce sugar in filling to 1 cup. Add 5 or 6 drops of red food coloring.
1 ¼ c. sugar
¼ c. cornstarch
¾ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2 Tbsp. margarine/butter
1-2 drops red food color
In 3 qt. saucepan, cook frozen cherries, sugar & cornstarch, stirring occasionally until mixture boils and thickens; boil 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat, stir in vanilla & almond, margarine/butter & food coloring. Cool one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Put filling in prepared pie crust (I use the boxed pie crust found in the refrigeration section of the grocery store). Brush pie with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake 35-40 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Cool.
Yum!! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
Pie sounds good. I have not made cherry for some. Like you and buy the crusts. I used to make great ones and then could not mak one and was a waste of money and ingredents,so just buy them. I bet yours are delicious. yes, you probably know before any ones says that it is about time to move on. You have been at it for awhile. ha Nice you have a friend to save you some of YOUR cherries. Not to many teens would want to make the museum a part of their trip. You have special girls,but you already knew that. Take care. sharon
Yum on the pie..but if you’re in Oklahoma, Taco Bueno wins out over Taco Bell any day! (It’s one of the things I miss from our 15 years in Oklahoma; the others include a lot of dear friends, and the widespread availability of Quik Trips, Mazzios pizza and Braum’s milk and ice cream 🙂 Greetings from another Nebraskan (I grew up a farm girl in southeastern Nebraska before my family moved to Colorado. And then I married a southern boy in ’82 and moved to Tennessee, then we headed west to Oklahoma, and now we’re home again in middle TN – for good I hope!
Terry
Hi Terry!
Good to hear from you and thank you for commenting on my blog! Where in NE did you live? I wonder because I, too, am living in the southeastern part of NE. I was married in April, 1982 and have lived in the same house for the past 26 years. I most enjoy the Braum’s for their cheeseburgers and cherry limeades. I wish they would move further north 🙂 I will DEFINITELY keep my eye out for a Taco Bueno. Thanks for the suggestion!
Wow – small world, huh? When I say SE Nebraska I REALLY mean SE. We spent my first few years of life in a tiny town that’s a stone’s throw from the NE/KS state line. My parents bought a farm a few miles away – outside Fairbury – when I was four and we lived there until I was in 4th grade, then we moved to Colorado where I lived until I got married right before Christmas in 1982. My husband and I started out in Knoxville, then moved to middle TN for a couple years. He took a job near Tulsa when our oldest was 6 weeks old; we lived there for 15 years (our other two kids were born in OK.) We moved the family “back home” in 2000 to middle TN – we’re about 20 miles south of Nashville. I still have family in Norfolk, Omaha and Beatrice (as well as scattered throughout South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma 🙂 So where do y’all hail from when you’re not out harvesting?
We live directly south of Omaha in a little town by the name of Manley. I’ve been to Fairbury MANY times. As a matter of fact, we usually make it that far the first night of leaving home heading south for the summer. We usually don’t get away from home until late afternoon and that’s always a good town to park in for the night. So, maybe sometime when you’re back in “The Good Life”, we’ll have to meet for coffee some time. 🙂
I’ve never been to Manley – that I recall, anyway. (When I was a kid most of our family was right there around Fairbury and Beatrice.) So you’re probably familiar with Fairbury brand summer sausage and those infamous bright-red hot dogs. I still love ’em both! Crystal Springs is/was a lovely place to camp – our old farm is just down the road from it. Yep – if our paths cross, we’ll have to meet up and figure out who we might know from our families and friends.
If I understand right you are in Deerfield,ks. Hope goes ok. Still cutting here. Most of fields are cut. Some made straw bales and some just working under.
One field being cut this afternoon at 4 pm whne i was coming from my Moms in /arkansas City was next to the hospital north of A.C. They looked like trying to keep dust from hospital as possible.A couple gave the new hospital land to build on and still crops in same area.Until there is more buildings added.Hospital year and half old.Really need it bad.Take care.Sharon and Harry
[…] them and packaged them for me. I, again, had the better part of that deal! These cherries make the BEST cherry pie. Because you are my friend, I will share my cherry pie recipe with you. The recipe can be found […]
[…] them and packaged them for me. I, again, had the better part of that deal! These cherries make the BEST cherry pie. Because you are my friend, I will share my cherry pie recipe with you. The recipe can be found […]
[…] we had our traditional meal ready to go: grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, pasta salad, beans, chips, cherry pie and Jenna’s Krispie […]
I am terrible, I pick the cherries out and eat the cherry “goo”! lol! Thanks for sharing at our PiDay Party