Sweet Potato Pie

When talking with others about sweet potatoes, Strongheart always tells people that I have a good recipe for sweet potato pie.  So, when he realized that I was posting pictures of the first of the sweet potatoes that he dug, he suggested that I include the recipe for the pie.  Seemed like a good idea, so on his authority here is the recipe that I obtained from a blogging friend from years ago...Mary Zatlik.

Sweet Potato Pie

3 Tablespoons flour

1 2/3 cup sugar

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes

2 eggs

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup evaporated milk (NOT condensed milk)

1 9-inch pastry shell

In a large bowl, combine the flour and sugar.  Add potatoes, eggs, corn syrup, nutmeg, salt, butter and milk; beat well.  Pour into pastry shell.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 55-60 minutes.

Sweet Potatoes Anyone?

A few days prior to our son and daughter-in-law's visit, Strongheart spent time in the garden harvesting our sweet potatoes.  He ended up with four bushels of sweet potatoes, out of the 16 sweet potato plants that he started.

These are just a few of the very first ones that he dug.

While some of them were small (will make terrific baked fries),

as you can see some of them were quite huge.

What will we do with four bushels of sweet potatoes you ask?

We will share them.

As a matter of fact, he took a half bushel of them to church this morning to share with our church family there.  

Not a single one was left. 

From My Journal

 TODAY IS: October 14, 2024

AROUND ME: I will be trying to get back into my day-to-day routine after having fun with family.  

I AM PONDERING: this quote by F. B. Meyer "If you carefully watch yourselves, you will find that failure in temptation is always preceded by some permitted evil, which took place perhaps days before.

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS:   

This was a gift given to Strongheart by one of the grad students that he helped in the research lab that he was a part of.

Her grandmother made it, and we have been blessed to enjoy this in our home because we understand the amount of work that it took to make the gift.

 BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY READING:

  Refreshment for the Soul is a collection of Richard Sibbes thoughts on different topics and is compiled as a devotional.  So, it will be an ongoing reading throughout this year.

The Soul's Conflict by Richard Sibbes  I'm making a bit of progress on this read.  While Richard Sibbes writings as a Puritan are much easier reading than some of the Puritans, I have taken my time on purpose as I've read through the pages.  It's been not only a learning experience, but also a convicting experience as well.

A Place for Weakness by Michael S.Horton  Almost finished with this one.  Hopefully, I'll be able to do a book review next week.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: The wonderful time that we had with our son and daughter-in-law from Maine last week.  They were only here four full days, but we packed a ton of fun into those four days!

.FROM THE KITCHEN:  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen prior to our son and daughter-in-law's visit preparing meals to store in the freezer and baking treats for the freezer also.  I knew how much fun we were going to be packing into these few short days that they were here, and I didn't want to spend my time in the kitchen cooking, but I wanted them to be well fed.  However, I did not take a single picture of any of it.  I did a turkey breast, Julia's meatballs and pasta, pulled pork, chocolate chip cookies and raisin filled cookies, plus homemade bread for sandwiches for our lunches.

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY:  A bit of laundry and some cleaning, as well as spending some time in the kitchen.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 91:12

Be Encouraged

 

Please note that I will be away from blogging for the week next week

in order to spend time with our son and daughter-in-law.

Lenten Lands ~ a book review

 

Lenten Lands ~ My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis by Douglas Gresham is my favorite book of the year.  Douglas Gresham is one of Joy's two sons from her first marriage to William Gresham.  He is a wonderful storyteller and the picture he paints with words of his childhood on through to his marriage with Merrie makes one feel as though you can close your eyes and follow along with all the details, as though you were one of the people who actually were friends of Joy and Jack (C.S. Lewis).

One of the first books that I read this year was Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan.  While I wouldn't tell anyone that they shouldn't read Patti's book, I will say that there is no comparison between it and Lenten Lands...mainly because Patti didn't live the life that Douglas did.

He speaks only briefly about his American father without going into a lot of detail about the divorce and the reasons for it.  He doesn't go into detail about everything that his mother did when she was ill and went to England to meet with Jack.  He really starts telling "his story" when he, his brother David and their mother Joy boarded the ship to take them to England to live.  

He shares about their very first trip out to The Kilns, Jack and his brother Warnie's home.  I loved how he talked about his disappointment when he first met Jack because of his ordinariness. He was sure that someone who wrote about such things as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and all the rest of the Narnia characters must surely be someone who would be suited in armor of some sort.  Douglas was 7 at the time, I believe.

Reading Douglas' description of The Kilns, Jack, Warnie, the friends they came to know brought about such warmth to the book.  He spoke of his mother's battle with cancer, how he and his brother were brought home from boarding school to be with her.  

He gave the reader the opportunity to rejoice with the family when Joy's treatments put her cancer into remission and how she went about putting The Kilns in order as far as hiring people to take care of the maintenance, as well adding new paint, and drapes, etc.  Once she had that accomplished, she took to the gardens outside.

Then came the day the boys were once again summoned to the director's office, but Douglas had already sensed what had happened.  His mother had lost her battle with cancer.

He shares about Jack's compassion when it came to caring for the boys in the midst of his own grief.  Also, there had been a point in Joy's fight with cancer that she was in so much pain that Jack could barely stand it, and he prayed and asked God to remove her pain and give it to him.  Briefly Joy was relieved of some of her pain while at the same time, Jack began feeling the pain in his own body.  He was diagnosed with osteoarthritis.  

Jack did not do well after Joy's death and only lived a matter of a couple of years after her death.

The cover I have pictured is a bit different than my copy that I ordered from Thrift Books, but I feel relatively sure that it's the same inside.  In my copy there is one section that's all pictures that I thoroughly enjoyed.

If you are familiar with the film Shadowlands, please be aware that the film was based off of Douglas' Lenten Lands.

I could go on and on...but then you wouldn't need to read the book!  😉

I highly recommend that you put the book on your To Be Read list.