Ferguson Farmers' Market Pie Contest

What fun! For the first time, I entered a pie contest! I've always enjoyed making pies and consider my crust somewhat wonderful, and today we are putting it to the test! The Ferguson, MO Farmers' Market is sponsoring this pie extravaganza today. So, last nite there was some very serious pie making going on at my house!

My two entries were a Dried Cherry Apple Struessel and a Buttermilk Cherry. Of course, you can't just make one . . . the family had to be able to sample! At the time, I didn't realize that you could enter more than one pie, so my dad and my son, Michael, and his wife, Angela, came by last night to pick a "winner" to submit this morning. Hands-down, the Dried Cherry Apple Struessel won.

As you can see, I had a mix of apples and took a quick pic before hitting the oven.

And here are the completed beauties!

So this morning, bright and early (VERY early for getting up on a Saturday) I loaded both pies in the car and delivered them to the Market. Mine were the very first there, and we had to wait until after 11 for the announcement. so I saw quite a bit of the Market.

This is a shot of the typical booths at the Market - and all kinds of people enjoying themselves:

And here's the table of pies! There were 24 entries, total - I didn't envy the judges!

And speaking of judges, here they are - including the Mayor of Ferguson. While judging, we all got our hopes up when one judge was overheard to say my Dried Cherry Apple was "almost perfect."


It was a shame, but the Buttermilk Cherry's crust soaked up some of the liquid from the filling and lost its crispy-ness overnight.

Pictures of the pie slices are the "sample pies" and are not as thick with filling as the real deals are . . . Unfortunately, when all was said and done, neither one of my pies won a prize. The cheering section - Michael, Angela, and my high school friend, Mike, felt "robbed" and it is probably attributable only the the overwhelming number of pie samples and the fact that mine were sampled very early in the process. Needless to say, it broke my heart, but we will try again.

As Angela pointed out - I have an entire year to "practice" and they will be happy to come and help judge the effort! hehehehe

Summer 2005's Last Hurrah

Yes - the Mandevilla Vine is putting on one last show!

6 Jul 05 in Blu's Backyard

It's Stargazer Days at Blu's!!!

This year the bunnies didn't eat them, and the squirrels didn't dig them up!! So, there are a total of 10 blooms. These have all opened up since Tuesday morning, and they are absolutely glorious!


Not a bad closeup!


The whole bunch together . . .



And - Here's Lazlo - my "grand-dog" who is visiting while his "parents" (my son, Michael, and his wife, Angela) are off to the east coast to shoot wedding pictures. Tonight included an emergency trip to the grocery store for Milkbones - and a new, BIG tennis ball. Ever since I gave him the toy, I am no longer allowed to touch it! hehehe! He's HUGE - 111 pounds and can almost knock me over. I say "almost" because he hasn't quite done it yet, but it's only a matter of time! He's already picked a favorite stick in the backyard - and I'm no longer allowed to touch that, either! It is a nice treat to have him for almost a week - but I gotta admit, Granny's tuckered after just one night's entertainment.

Also - quick job update. I still have one this week - and they're keeping me busier, so I'm enjoying it more. Hopefully, something else permanent will come along soon and I can rejoin the normal workforce and start feeling like a member of a team (any team?) again. Will be nice to finally get my life a bit more settled after the last two full years of uncertainty.

Keep those fingers crossed! - and thanks!

Hydrangeas Everywhere!!

Well - before they were painted on cabinets and trivets. This time, these are the real ones - the inspiration for the painted ones! This is just a sampling of the ones in the back and side yards.

Enjoy!