Phoenix

Phoenix was beautiful. A little warm around 101 degrees, but there is no humidity. I can't describe it but it is so different than heat in the midwest. I have lots of photos of the grand canyon. We did the helicopter ride over, it is unbelievable to see what God can accomplish. I'll share when I slow down a little.

It's always a struggle to catch back up at home with the work.

Recipe Friday: Plumcot Blueberry Crisp

Plumcot Blueberry Crisp:

• 2 lbs. pluots, pitted and quartered
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 Tbsp. cornstach
• 1 Tbsp. red wine or creme de cassis liqueur (optional, I don't use it)
• 1/2 c. cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal (or quick oats)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1/2 cup (1 sticks) softened unsalted butter, diced

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. For the fruit, in a large bowl, combine the pluots, blueberries, (1/4 cup) brown sugar, cornstarch and the wine (or liqueur if you have it, I don't and didn't buy it just for this recipe). Pour mixture into a 12 x 8″ shallow baking dish and level out. (I increased the plumcots and made a 9x13 pan.)

3. For the topping, combine the flour,brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, oatmeal, and butter in a bowl. Work together with fingers until clumpy, and then stir in nuts.
4. Scatter evenly over the fruit mixture.

5. Bake the crisp for 40-45 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the top is browned. Serve warm or at room temperature, served warm with vanilla ice cream it is a huge hit.

Borrowed this recipe from the internet........it's a keeper.

Apple Pie

I have been trying to decide if I should post my recipes here, but honestly I dont' care if others make them, I got them from somebody else, so here goes:

Apple Pie


Ingredients1 whole Pie Crust

6 cups (to 7 Cups) Peeled And Sliced Granny Smith Apples
½ whole (juice Of) Lemon
½ cups Sugar
4 Tablespoons Flour
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ cups Flour
1-½ stick Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
½ cups Quick Oats
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ cups Pecans, Chopped
½ jars (or More) Caramel Topping
Preparation Instructions
In a bowl mix peeled apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. Set aside. For crumb topping, cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter, then add in brown sugar, oats, and ¼ teaspoon salt.

Add apples to prepared pie shell and top with crumb topping. Cover crust edges with aluminum foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from crust and place back into the oven for another 30 minutes. Chop pecans, and when five minutes remain, sprinkle them over the pie. Finish baking. Quiver with anticipation.

Remove the pie from the oven and pour ½ jar (or more, if you’re feeling dangerous and naughty) of caramel topping over the top. Allow to cool slightly before serving, or don’t if you can’t wait.

German Chocolate Pie

Here is a new one I tried:

German Chocolate Pie

Make your favorite recipe for a one crust pie: Pre-bake the crust

Filling:
1/3 c. Sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1 1/2 c. cold milk
4 oz. german sweet cooking chocolate chopped
1 T. unsalted butter
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 t. vanilla extract

Topping:
1 egg, beaten
1 (5 oz. can) evaporated milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter
1 1/3 c. sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 c. chopped pecans

1. For filling, combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, then stir in the milk, chocolate, and butter. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened and bubbly. Turn down the heat to medium and continue to cook and whisk another 2 minutes.
2. Gradually stir about 1 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks, then pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan. Return to a boil over medium heat and cook and whisk another 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, pour into the crust.

Topping:

1. Combine egg, milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir just until thickened and bubbly.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut and pecans, then spread topping evenly over the chocolate filling.

Cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then chill in the refrigerator for several hours before slicing. Serve chilled.

Recipe Friday: Macaroon Cherry Pie

Macaroon Cherry Pie

Pastry for a single crust 9 inch pie

3 cans (14 1/2 oz each) pitted tart cherries
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp red food coloring, optional

Topping"
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 T. Milk
1 T. Butter (melted)
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 c. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. flaked coconut
1/2 c. sliced almonds

Line a 9 inch deep dish pie plate with pastry. trim to 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate, flute edges. Bake 400 F for 6 minutes, set aside

Drain Cherries, reserving 1 c. juice. Set cherries aside. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, gradually stir in cherry juice until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from the heat, stir in cinnamon and food coloring if desired. Gently fold in cherries. Pour into crust, cover edges loosley with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine the first 6 topping ingredients. Stir in coconut and almonds.

Remove foil from pie, spoon topping over pie. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until topping is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Chill for 4 hours or overnight before serving.

I use this in the deep dish 10 inch pie plate, adding one more can of cherries and a little more sugar. It makes a decadent pie.

Cherry Macaroon Pie and Rhubarb Crunch

I delivered both yesterday, they are loving the cherry macaroon pie.

Rhubarb Crunch:

9x9 pan, greased or sprayed with PAM

1 C sifted flour
1 C reg. oatmeal (uncooked)
1 C brown sugar firmly packed
1/2 C melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix until crumbly. Press half of crumbs into a greased 9" baking pan. Cover w/ 4 C diced rhubarb

Combine the following and cook until thick and clear:
1 C sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 C water
1 tsp vanilla
Pour over rhubarb. Top w/ the remaining crumbs. Bake @ 350º for one hour (longer if you double it) This is great served warm w/ vanilla ice cream.

I do it a little differently for a larger serving:

TO make this for a picnic or a crowd, I mess with the ingredients

Rhubarb Crunch:

9x13 pan sprayed with PAM or greased

2 C sifted flour
2 C reg. oatmeal (uncooked)
2 C brown sugar firmly packed
3/4 C melted butter
2 tsp cinnamon
Mix until crumbly. Press half of crumbs into a greased 9x13" baking pan. Cover w/ 8 C diced rhubarb

Combine the following and cook until thick and clear:
1 1/2 C sugar
4 T cornstarch
1 1/2 C water
2 tsp vanilla
Pour over rhubarb. Top w/ the remaining crumbs. Bake @ 350º for one hour (longer if you double it) Still great served warm with vanilla ice cream........The cherry pie will be next with photos to follow.

Wal-Mart receipt checkers

I found this article on the internet and found it interesting. I recently went to our local Wal-Mart to get some things, a couple things were too big for bags, a very large Tide, a large bag of potatoes and I can't remember the other item. On the way out the door I was stopped and asked for my receipt. There were 4 people ahead of me getting their receipts checked.

I had no problem with it, but had just stood in line for about 15 min, it was hot in the store, there were kids everywhere crying. It was irritating, and I had just checked out at the checkout right by the door. The girl saw me check out, so I was more irritated that she asked for my receipt. I hate Wal-Mart stores anyway and have taken to going there as little as possible.


Today on MSN there is this great article about stores checking receipts. I found it interesting and am going to write to the companies that do this at their doors. It might not help, but then again it might, you never know. Color me irritated.

Can stores really ask you for that?

It has become common for retailers to request your ID, your e-mail address and even your Social Security number. Are you obligated to provide them?

[Related content: financial privacy, credit cards, retail, shopping, Liz Pulliam Weston]

By Liz Pulliam Weston

MSN Money

Retail sales haven't been spectacular lately, so you'd think stores would want to please their customers rather than trample on their rights. But many retailers seem to be adding ways to tick us off.

More stores seem to be:

Stopping customers to check their receipts before they let them out the doors.

Posting minimum-purchase requirements for credit cards.

Insisting that customers present identification when using credit cards.

Asking customers for personal information, such as phone numbers, addresses or (heaven forbid) Social Security numbers before starting transactions. The Credit Card Indicator

These behaviors are so commonplace that you might not realize there's anything wrong with them.

But there is.

1. The receipt checkers
If you've signed a membership agreement with a warehouse club such as Costco or Sam's, you've agreed to present your receipt upon exiting one of their stores. Other retailers have no such agreement with you, but some station employees at their doors to ask for your receipts anyway.

Receipt checks are supposed to be voluntary. The law varies from place to place, but U.S. retailers generally aren't allowed to detain you unless they have good reason to believe you've stolen something -- and refusing to present your receipt does not constitute probable cause.

Some people report that they're able to breeze past receipt checkers simply by saying, "No, thanks." Others say they've been harassed or even detained by overly zealous employees or security guards when they refused. (One woman in China was beaten to death for failing to turn over her Wal-Mart receipt, according to Chinese police.)

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Retailers typically try to walk a fine line between protecting their merchandise against theft and inconveniencing their customers, said Daniel Butler, the vice president of retail operations for the National Retail Federation. Many opt for universal receipt checks, he said, rather than risk discriminating against certain customers by singling them out for checks.


Receipt-check tales
Certainly, some shoppers are happy to give up their rights in exchange for low prices. If you're not, you can:

Cause a stink and risk an incident.

Shop somewhere else.

Shop online (same stuff, no frisking involved).

Write a letter to the chains' CEOs telling them exactly what you think of their receipt-checking policies. Here are a few addresses to get you started:

Michael Duke, CEO

Wal-Mart Stores

702 S.W. Eighth St.

Bentonville, AR 72716

Brian Dunn, CEO

Best Buy

7601 Penn Ave. S.

Richfield, MN 55423

John Fry, CEO

Fry's Electronics

600 E. Brokaw Road

San Jose, CA 95112