Right Out of Pollyanna

We were quite the sight walking into Ocean Grove, NJ from the train station; the eight of us in the rain, walking in a caravan of umbrellas, rolling suitcases and stroller.  

As we passed through the gates into town we read the signs "Enter his gates with thanksgiving in your hearts", and we were charmed. (Ocean Grove is called "God's little square mile" and was founded in 1869.)

Hmm... this one's for sale, two blocks from the beach and only nine times our current mortgage! Gulp.

 This is part of the "tent city" that surrounds the auditorium which was built in 1894.

 Folks on the lawn outside the auditorium listening to a concert inside.

One evening's event was a big choir festival with close to 800 voices.

 We just hung outside, wandered around, and we might have had some delicious ice cream at this place.

All I wanted to do was wander around town with my camera, go to the beach, and hang out with the family. And that's all that I had to do. How wonderful is that?!

 Are you charmed too?

 I kept saying to myself, this one is my favorite...

 No, this one...

Or maybe this one, yes definitely this one. (Do you see the sunflowers over on the right side of their yard? They are the cherry on top.)

We were inside of the movie Pollyanna, or a Norman Rockwell painting. Magical.

Another ice cream institution... I told you it was magical.

Catchphrases

I just need to jump in somewhere... we've been back from our big East coast vacation for two weeks already and I have yet to share about it! I'm still processing and uploading photos to share with the family, that's been quite a project in itself. But before memory fades and those spaces of my mind fill up with everything else, I need to solidify them with words.

One of the sweetest things about this trip was most definitely the extended time together with our family. On Philip's side we are all scattered about the states and that has made it more challenging to have chunks of time together for Evie to really bond with everyone. But if there was any question of those connections before, they are answered now with fondness... and funny little sayings. There were a lot of catchphrases flying around during our vacation.

"What's up buttercup?"

(Smiling up at Grandma Great on the balcony.)

"How YOU doin'?"

(We were on the Jersey Shore.)

"Where's your hat, Pat?"

"You're gonna step on it!"

(Referring to her bottom lip.)

"BORING."

(Especially fun to blurt out at random times.)

Bubble blowing tips from Grandma Great, (Gigi).

PaJoe's Donald Duck voice.

The first of piano lessons from LaLa.

LaLa would sing this song to Evie, and now she will ask me to sing "our star is shining". I still need to learn the words to this song, not to mention to sing ... so for now we will watch a friend of LaLa's sing it.

Kristin Chenoweth - Goodnight My Someone

Raspberry Sour Cream Pie

My friend Tanya Tandoc had the brilliant idea of hosting a "Pie Party", (which she wrote about on her great new blog). And since Tanya is queen of all good food, I knew that if I was going to appropriately contribute to the occasion, I would have to bring something really yummy. It was good encouragement to finally try this pie crust recipe from my wonderful cousin Bethany's blog.


Bloggity-blog-blog, right?! (This is what happens when you are surrounded by creative people, you sit and look at their blogs and soak up all their wonderful thoughts and ideas and get inspired to create as well, but then it's time to go to bed. Or is that just me?)


So anyhow, back to the pie...

This is a recipe from my days as the kitchen manager at the "Riverside Cup of Tea". I have the fondest memories of working there. Even though the kitchen was tiny, it was packed full of some of the sweetest dear-hearts ever. This is one of the many delicious goodies that we would make, and it's recipe was in the cookbook that Linda Lamp (the owner) wrote.

Here goes.

Pastry for 1 crust pie (I ended up doubling this recipe because the crust recipe makes two crusts)
2 eggs (these quantities are not shown as doubled)
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 1/3 c. sour cream (an entire 24 oz. container if doubled)
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. frozen raspberries, thawed (it's better with fresh berries if you've got them)

Streusel Topping:
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
3 T. butter
1/3 c. chopped pecans (or more)

Although the recipe doesn't say to, I prebaked the crust for about 5-6 minutes to be certain that it wouldn't get soggy. Who likes soggy crust?

 And it would have been a shame to waste the trimmings, right?

I was so excited about the cinnamon and sugar crustos that I forgot to photograph the first couple of steps. Beat the eggs. Add sugar and flour and beat.

 Beat in sour cream.

 (If you have Mexican vanilla, use it. I am sad this bottle that my brother Jason brought back from a trip umpty-nine years ago is now empty. That MUST mean that it is time to go back. Mexico anyone?)

 Add vanilla and beat in.

After washing the berries, I shook them a handful at a time to get the extra pools of water out.

Fold in raspberries.

 Pour into pie crust.

 Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

 I remembered that the last time I made this pie, there was a bubbling-over mess in the oven. So I put a cookie sheet underneath in case that happened again, which I'm glad to say it didn't. That cookie sheet wouldn't have caught everything.

 While the pie(s) is baking, mix together flour and brown sugar for streusel topping.

 Cut in butter.

 And add nuts.

 Play hide and seek while waiting for the pie to bake.

 Remove pie from oven,

 Top with streusel topping and bake 10 more minutes.