Baked Custard

Once in a great while I like to share a recipe. I always choose one I've been asked for time and again. This is one I often make when asked to bring a dessert to share. It's almost a lost art, elegant in its simplicity. The creamy specialty is not all that difficult to make, but its life expectancy in our house is quite short. We like to top it with whipped cream.

Grandma's Baked Custard

Ingredients

3 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 Cup sugar

3 Cups whole milk

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 Teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°

Butter a 1-quart baking dish and place it in a roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the side of the baking dish.

Place in the oven to heat.

Combine the eggs, egg yolks and sugar, and whisk until thick and pale.

Heat the milk to boiling point and slowly add to the egg mixture, stirring constantly.

Stir in the vanilla.

Remove roasting pan from oven and pour mixture into the baking dish (carefully)

Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Return to the oven. Don't slosh.

Bake 45-60 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The time will depend on the depth of the baking dish.

NOTES: I often double this recipe and use a 2-quart baking dish. With my particular baking dish it needs to bake about 85 minutes.

Yes, you can use nutmeg from a can, but there really is a difference you will taste if you get some fresh nutmeg and grate it yourself. It's cheap, stays fresh forever and will impress your own taste buds.

Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie - It's Great

As requested by a reader, here's the Cheeseburger pie my husband and I enjoy so much. This is the basic, original recipe, although I admit to taking liberties with it if I have exotic cheeses or special ingredients in the house. I've been known to make it with chicken and jarlsberg or swiss with green onions, but then (of course) I don't call it Cheeseburger Pie. Bisquick is the staple I keep in that "extra" canister supposedly made for tea. I keep my tea in tea boxes, liking flavors and not wanting to mix them up in a canister.

Although I have to idea who wrote the original recipe for this amazing and impossibly easy family favorite meal, I wish I did so I could personally give them my thanks. And Mason Canyon? Thanks for asking for it here.

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

Ingredients:

1 lbs lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
3/4 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1 1/2 cup milk
3 eggs

Directions:

Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.

In large skillet, sauté onion until transparent, then add beef and cook until thoroughly done, salting as desired. Drain thoroughly.

Empty into pie pan and cover with cheese.
In small bowl, whisk remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour over other ingredients in pie pan.
Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake an extra five to ten minutes.

It's The Little Things: Mr. Coffee Café Frappe

There are few special treats my husband appreciates more than a good blended mocha. In one of the after-Christmas sales I had ordered him a Mr. Coffee Café Frappe machine to make icy blended coffee drinks at home. Since I've not been feeling well, between the broken rib and the chest cold, I just stuck the box out of sight until I mended a bit.

Tonight was the big night. I made a cheeseburger pie, and once that was in the oven, used our phone's intercom feature to warn John to stay in his HAM room until dinner was ready so he wouldn't ruin "a surprise." Then I dragged out the box and set up the machine. Once I had everything cleaned, set up and figured out, I was nearly able to grind a drink without the machine, I got so angry.

These machines cost $79 retail. Once you open it up, you finally realize that you need to go buy a small size package of coffee filters before you can use it. You'd think they'd at least give you a few to start with. So there I was, with a meat pie ten minutes from the table, and my surprise a very unpleasant, "Well, you can look at how nice it fits on the counter, but I can't make you a drink until we go buy filters."

Really, Sunbeam Products (DBA Jarden Consumer Solutions), don't you think that an eighty dollar product should include everything the customer needs to have a good 'out of the box experience'? Especially if it's just a few filters that you could have packed in there for maybe three pennies? I noticed that at Amazon I could get 12 packages of filters, 200 filters per package, for $18.28 with no shipping and handling. That would mean I could have sent ten to each customer for seven cents. I'll bet a big corporation could get an even better price ratio.

Customers like to feel that they've been treated well. I will probably end up loving this machine and using it pretty close to daily, especially in the Summer. I won't, however, forget that the company didn't care if I had a hassle getting to use it when I first opened it. When it eventually breaks, I'll look for another brand.

What did John say? The cheeseburger pie was really good...

Bison Chili - A Perfect Winter Meal

One of our favorite Winter meals is Bison Chili. We always make it for guests because we know that other locales have a more difficult time finding bison to purchase. Although it can be made with ground beef as a substitute, it's not quite as good, and it's definitely not as good for you. I've recently found out that you can always find it at Whole Foods Markets in 38 states, and I'm pretty sure there are other places that sell Ground Bison as well. Here's my recipe.

Bison Chili

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Ground Bison

2 15 1/2 oz can Italian Stewed Tomatoes, with juices

1 15 1/2 oz. can Chili Beans

1 15 1/2 oz. can Kidney Beans

1 1.48 oz. pkg. Chili Seasoning Mix

1/2 Cup Chopped Onion (or 1 large onion, chopped)

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

1 Cup Spicy V-8 Juice

Instructions:

Sauté onion and ground bison in heavy skillet over medium high heat, breaking up clumps until browned.

Dump in large crock pot for the easy method or put on the stove where you'll have to watch it.

Add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly.

On stove: Bring just to boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until thickened to desired consistency, stirring occasionally, at least 40 minutes. Serve when ready.

In crock pot: Cook on low or medium 4 hours or all day, whatever you want, or on high for about two hours. If you don't have a crock pot, may I recommend mine? It's cheap, works great, and the side hinges keep the lid in place, and the lid holds the ladle. Here's one place where you can buy it.

Pecan Pie Crust

This is one of the recipes I took to our early Thanksgiving dinner with Matt & Heather that wonderful Sunday. She asked for a couple of the recipes. Since I had more than one person ask for this pie crust recipe, I figured this was a good place to put it. It makes one 9-inch pie crust.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Pecan Pie Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups unsifted all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Cup well-chilled unsalted butter, diced

4 Tbsp frozen butter-flavored Crisco shortening, diced

1/2 Cup chopped pecans

3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

Instructions:

1. Mix together flour, confections sugar and salt in large bowl.
2. Add butter and shortening.
3. Using pastry cutter (1st choice) or fingers (in latex gloves in you're me) cut the fats into the dry ingredients until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal.
4. Add pecans and toss with forks to mix.
5. Add ice water, one Tbsp. at a time, around the edge of the bowl, stirring with a fork until moist clumps form.
6. With lightly floured hands, shape dough into one disk, breaking gluten by creasing it with the side of your hand.
7. Cover dough with plastic wrap, refrigerating for at least an hour.
8. Roll into one 9-inch pie crust

Bake as with any other pie crust. At this point, it will depend on whether you're making a pre-baked crust or filling it first. Go with the instructions for the pie you're baking.

.-.-.-.-.-.

I take the scraps from the edges of the pie, place them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle them with sugar. Bake in a 350° oven for about 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it, as every oven is different, and I live at 6,000 feet, so I've adjusted for that. You'll get a wonderful treat from your "scraps." When I do this with plain (not pecan) pie crust, I add cinnamon and sugar to the scraps before baking. Part of the fun is the different sizes and shapes of the scraps. Don't try to make them look pretty. Just put them in the cookie sheet the way the come off the edges of the pie.

Asparagus with Gorgonzola Sauce

I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes with everyone. It's the way I prepare asparagus here at home as often as I can. It's great with or without the sauce, which I always serve on the side. I love the sauce, but a little goes a long way, as it's very rich. Since I can't get my friends to visit as quickly as I'd like, so I can cook for them all, instead I share some of my recipes occasionally. I'm hoping this will tempt them to visit—as if our gorgeous scenery wouldn't be enough...

Asparagus with Gorgonzola Sauce

TIME: Prep/Total Time: 20 min.

Ingredients for two servings:

• 1/2 pound fresh asparagus spears
• 1 Shallot
• 1 Clove Garlic
• Olive Oil
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons evaporated milk, half-and-half, or cream
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola

Directions:

In a small sauté pan, sauté chopped shallots and stir fry asparagus until crisp-tender, adding crushed garlic during last two minutes.

Meanwhile, in another saucepan, whisk cream cheese, milk and salt over low heat until smooth. Stir in gorgonzola cheese and heat through.

Remove asparagus from pan and top with sauce or serve on the side.

Lemon Custard Pie

I always hate it when I forget a promise. Not too long ago my friend John M. said (on Face Book) that he was getting ready to enjoy a Nectarine Pie. That sounded so good to me, that the fact I had just put one of my Lemon Custard Pies in the oven didn't sound so special anymore. Nectarines are my favorite fruit. There isn't even a close second, although I truly love lots of different fruits and pies.

Since John is in California and I'm in Colorado, it was obvious that we couldn't exchange pies, so I offered to trade recipes. He admitted that his came from a Farmer's Market, so I wouldn't be getting a recipe from him, but I did promise to post my recipe on the blog. It's an original, made up of a combination of other similar pies, and more like a Key Lime Pie than anything else, actually, so I figured I'd just go ahead and put it here before I lose it. We had company then, and I lost track of time. I seem to do that more often than not.

So here you go, John. Hopefully you and Marrianne haven't been thinking I didn't want to share it with you.

Lemon Custard Pie
(I make this with a chocolate graham cracker crust.)

Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Graham Cracker Crumbs
(Buy Chocolate Graham Sticks and put them in your food processor. Don't have one? Put them in a baggy and hit them with something.)
6 Tbsp Butter, Melted
2 Tbsp Sugar or Splenda (I tend to use Splenda now. Since I can't tell the difference, why not?)

• Mix it all together in a bowl.
• Pour it into the bottom of a 9" pie plate
• Use the edge of a rounded measuring cup (or whatever) to press it firmly and evenly in place along the bottom and sides.
• For this recipe, set aside for now. (For normal recipes, bake 15 to 20 minutes in 325° oven and allow to cool.)

Lemon Custard Pie Filling:
Preheat oven to 325°F.

4 Eggs, separated
1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (This is not the same as evaporated milk...)
1/2 Cup fresh Lemon Juice—from real lemons, preferably, but I've used concentrate in a pinch.
2-3 drops yellow gel food coloring makes it look nicer, but doesn't add to the taste.

• In medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. (Save whites in fridge for tomorrow's omelette.)
• Use a stainless steel, glass or ceramic bowl. There's something in plastics and some metals that reacts with the acid in the lemons that can ruin the pie.
• Gradually whisk in Sweetened Condensed Milk until smooth, and then whisk in lemon juice.
• Stir in food coloring gel (works much better than liquid) if you want to pretty it up.
• Cover the mixture and set aside to thicken, about 30 minutes.

Now you can preheat your oven to 325°

• When the oven is hot, bake your crust for 15 to 20 minutes, timing it to come out 30 minutes after you finished whisking your pie filling. The crust must still be warm when the filling is added.
• Pour the thickened filling into the warm pie crust and bake until the center is firm but still wiggles a bit when jiggled. This should only take another 15 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool at room temperature.

Refrigerate until well chilled. Top with whipped cream to serve.

It's pretty much a no-fail pie. It's not too tart, not too sweet. You can easily adjust it for your own family's taste. You could always serve it with ice cream instead of whipped cream, I guess. I hope you enjoy it as much as my John does.

Loose Ends

Sometimes problems gets solved before they really are problems. They're just little nagging worries about things that might become complications, or decisions that must be made. This week seemed to have a few of those, and since they've been resolved so neatly, I thought I'd include those together here.

John got a call from his contact at the Naval base, telling him that the missile operation in May has been "slipped" into June. That's great, since the HAM fest at Estes Park is the last weekend of May, and we've invited some good friends from Utah to stay with us that week. I really didn't want anything to mess up that weekend, since they haven't had a chance to visit us here before. So everything is a go for that weekend, Stacey and Ryan. Life is good.

The other concern, of course, was what to bring to the Easter feast tomorrow. I owe a debt of gratitude (one of many) to my friend Sherrie. She reminded me that there's no reason I can't just bring everything I want to bring. People are likely to eat it all. So the three things I wanted to bring, none of which seemed quite right on its own, are perfect if I bring them all, and that's what I'm going to do. I'll bring my "Methodist Jello," which is named after a funny event I'm not sure I should recount. I'll bring my "Juicy Lucy Salad,"  fresh greens with strawberries, caramelized pecans, gorgonzola cheese and poppy seed dressing. And we'll finish the list by bringing dessert—Italian Cream Cake with fresh Nectarine Topping for those who want it. 

I realize that Easter isn't about eating. The friendship on special days, though, makes me want to offer something extra nice from our home and hearts to add to their table. This should do it.

Guests for Easter Dinner

It's always fun putting together a menu when we have guests coming. It's more difficult to select a single item to bring when you're going to be a guest at someone else's home. This Easter we'll celebrate with good friends in Longmont. They're actually almost family, being two of our daughter-in-law's brothers and their families. We always have fun together, and whatever I bring will be sure to be fine. That's what they always say, and yet... 

Why do I do this to myself, making a big decision out of the choice? I've already thought of three things that would be perfectly acceptable—and then rejected them for one reason or another. Since I need to make sure I've got all the ingredients by tomorrow, I guess I'd better make up my mind pretty soon. 

Suggestions will be cheerfully accepted, but it's as my sons tell me. They're glad to listen, but they're going to end up doing what they want in the end anyway. I guess that's what I'll do as well. As soon as I figure out what that is.

A Daydream: Four of Me

Since there are never enough hours in the day to follow all my passions, I thought back to those days when our three sons played baseball at the same time on three different fields. I had quipped to my Mom that I was either going to have an out of mind or an out of body experience. I thought that, since I couldn't figure out the logistics to the out of body deal, the out of mind would have to do. So far, it's worked for me.

As the years go by, I've never quite given up the notion that if there were more of me, I could do several things at once. I've gotten to the point where my daydream is to have four of me. You've probably met most of us.

Kathleen the Writer: I'll probably forget to eat unless someone comes in and stares at me for a long time. I'll get up in the middle of the night with an idea for that chapter I'm working on. If I disappear in the middle of the afternoon, I'm probably taking a nap. If I'm not there, check the decks. I'm probably on one of them with a stack of printouts and a red pen. If I'm thinking about the best way to edit something, being out with the pines and the deer help me clear my mind.

The Musician: Just stand still and listen. I'm probably all by myself with the guitar or accordion somewhere. Check the basement or or the back deck. I could be out by the fire pit. If I'm learning new music, I'm probably near the computer. What am I playing? It could be anything, but probably something you've never heard before. 

The Crafter:  Most of the time there's a gift in progress, but lately I've started making a sweater for myself. It's a short-sleeved knit I just started. We'll see how much time I actually give to that. Usually it's baby gifts, crochet as often as knit, and sometimes it's bead work or leather tooling instead of yarn, but that's not often.

The Cook-Hostess: Isn't it fun to just make time to spend in the kitchen, fixing things for family and friends to enjoy? It's especially great when guests are coming to visit and you can let them know how special they are.

Good things to bake and wonderful recipes to prepare keep calling me, but there's only one of me, and I'm already busy being the Writer, Musician and Crafter. Yes, there's only one of me. I can dream of being four people, but so far I haven't worked it out. We share one body, wearing each other out. We work in rotating shifts, share the same computer, and try to get each other to finish her project quickly and please not to start another...

Chicken Tacos with Paprika Sour Cream

Last month John found a recipe for Chicken Tacos in the Sunday newspaper and handed it to me, asking if I'd try it for him. In the last month, we've had them six times. That's probably overdoing it, but I've made them three times, plus we've had leftovers each time, so I'll count it as six meals. Each time it was a treat. I decided tonight to put it down on my blog for all my friends.

I was thinking about my sister Ellen when I made it tonight, since there's cumin in the recipe and she's allergic to that. I've added cilantro to the original recipe, though, and I don't think she'll miss the cumin if she uses the cilantro. It adds such a wonderful flavor. I have made some changes to the original recipe, so I'm putting it down as I make it, not as the original calls for, so I hope any of you who try it will enjoy it as much as John and I do.

Smoked Paprika Sour Cream Sauce
1-2 limes (1/4 Cup lime juice)
1 cup Sour Cream
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika (regular is fine, if that's what you have)
1/2 tsp. Salt

Tacos
1 Medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Grape or Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped coarsely
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 tsp. Chili Powder
2 tsp. Dried Oregano
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 to 1 1/2 Pounds Ground Chicken
1/2 cup Water
± 8 Soft white corn tortillas, lightly grilled, or cooked however you like your tacos.

Paprika Sour Cream Sauce:
Squeeze juice from limes into a medium bowl and add the sour cream, paprika and salt, stirring until mixed. Refrigerate until ready for use.

For the Tacos:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.
Add chili powder, oregano, cumin and garlic powder, mixing to coat the onion evenly.

Add the ground chicken, breaking it up into small pieces at it goes into skillet. Stir to combine, then add the water, tomatoes and cilantro breaking up the chicken further with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Use the spoon to break any large clumps that might remain. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Cook tortillas as you prefer. I like to lightly grill in a sauté pan with a combination of butter and grapeseed oil (to prevent butter from burning) then blot well on paper towels. We like them to be not quite crisp, still flexible.

Put about 1/2 Cup of the Filling Mixture, plus about 2 Tbsp of the Sour Cream Sauce on each taco shell. Makes about 8-12 tacos.

Pocket Stew

By special request, I'm handing down one of my favorite kid-friendly recipes that's also easy on the budget. It has the additional benefit of being so simple to prepare that you won't need to pull out notes each time you make it. Some children will prefer it if you omit the onions. No problem. Add mushrooms or olives if you want. This is one of those meals that's easy to adjust for a family's individual tastes.

So here's to Lisa and Dan...

Pocket Stew
Ingredients: (approximate)
1 Package Pita Pockets
1 Lbs. Ground Beef
1 Large Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
1 Large Can Potatoes, Cubed
Bacon Grease, oil or butter
1 Clove Garlic, minced well
Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:
Chop onion and sauté in bacon grease (or whatever)
Add cubed potatoes, stirring until golden. Add parmesan.
Remove from pan.

Sauté ground beef and drain.
Add onion and potato mixture and stir well.
When hot, add minced garlic, stir.

Reduce heat to low.

Split pita pockets in half and toast, opening them up when they come out of the toaster.

When the pockets are ready to be filled, remove filling from heat and stir in cheddar cheese.

Stuff the pockets and serve.

Goes great with applesauce, cottage cheese with fruit, or a green salad.

Victory Gardens - Just Like Grandma

I'm posting an article I found in Glenn Beck's newsletter, which is my only online subscription. Five hours of Beck a week is not enough for me. He's crazy, but smart crazy, and between watching him and Bill O'Reilly I figure I fill in the gaps in my ability to follow politics, the economy, and trends in this country I love so much.

When I read this article on Victory Gardens, I wanted to post it on my blog. Living in Colorado on an acre and a quarter, I do have space to make a garden, if the deer don't eat everything. I'll have to do more checking on that. I didn't want to just put it up without permission, though. I wouldn't want anyone to just take my work like that. (As if they would.) So I emailed Michael Glassman, the writer of the article. He's pretty well-known. I've seen him on Discovery Home and HGTV, so I wasn't too sure he'd have time to answer an email. It only took a few hours for a reply to come, giving me permission to post his article. What a gentleman!

So here's the article on Victory Gardens, posted with permission from Michael Glassman, and a link to his web site should work near the bottom.

Get Prepared: Victory Garden

Planting a Victory Garden
by: Michael Glassman

Back in World War II the United States Government urged people to plant food in order to help ease the burden on the nation's food supply during a very difficult time in the history of our nation. The resulting gardens were nicknamed "Victory Gardens".

Today's economy is not exactly the same as it was back then, but we are facing challenges of our own. Our food supply is not necessarily in danger of going away, but in case you haven't noticed prices on the most basic of things are going through the roof---and that starts to add up. I realize not everyone has a giant corner of their yard to dig up and turn into a farm, but there are things you can grow in just about any landscape that will not only yield food, but blend in with the surroundings.

Vines that Fruit: Do you have a blank wall that needs something growing on it? Try building a lattice trellis on the wall and planting grapes to grow on the trellis. "Red Flame Seedless" or "Thompson Seedless" grapes are great vines to plant on a trellis or on an iron gazebo, the beautiful fruit bunches hanging down make a great addition to your landscape. Do you have an empty iron arch? A great vine is Kiwis. You need to plant a male and a female vine in order for them to cross pollinate and produce fruit. Plant one of each on either side of the arch. Sweet Peas or Snap beans also make a great vine for a trellis or an arch. If you have a blank spot in your garden that only gets morning sun, try planting Blueberries.

Pot Veggies: A bare patio could use a large pot planted with vegetables and herbs. In the center of a large pot place a wire topiary frame and plant a tomato. Tomatoes are the fastest and easiest to grow they take about 2 to 3 months before producing fruit. Place them in full sun and water daily. Around the tomato, plant basil, oregano, thyme and garlic-this pot has the making of a good pasta sauce. Or plant a pot with Butter lettuce, Romaine lettuce, radishes, a cherry tomato plant and you have a salad in a pot. Herbs make good ground covers: such as creeping thyme, lemon thyme, chamomile, strawberries, all make great ground covers and all grow in full sun.

Privacy Food: If you are looking to create some privacy between you and your neighbors, don't just get any old plant. Plant "Laurus Nobilus", common name Bay Laurels, for a good privacy screen. This is better known as Bay leaves, the same spice that we dry and use in our spaghetti sauce. They are an evergreen bush or tree growing up to 35 feet in height. They give you plenty of privacy. Or plant "Feijoa Sellowiana" common name Pineapple Guava. They make a great evergreen screen growing up to 20 feet in height and have delicious fruit that can be eaten and will also make great mixed drinks.

Made in the shade: Fruit trees make a great shade tree or patio tree. Try planting a self pollinating Cherry Tree. Cherries are so expensive in the supermarket and yet one "Bing Cherry" can produce over 10 to 15 lbs of fruit. My family just harvested our Cherry tree. The fruit was delicious and we picked over 10 lbs of fruit. Other fruit tree options would be planting a Santa Rosa plum or Apricot. These trees produce beautiful white and pink flowers that turn into delicious fruit. If you have a very small yard plant a dwarf or semi-dwarf variety. Full size fruit trees can grow up to 20 feet in height, yet a semi dwarf fruit tree grows about 12 feet and a genetic dwarf fruit tree grows only to about 4 to 5 feet. Genetic fruit trees are great to grow in a pot or large tub. Peaches, nectarines and apples are also great trees to plant in your garden. If you have very limited space and only have room for one fruit tree but you like so many of the summer fruits, you can buy a fruit tree that is called a "fruit cocktail tree". These are fruit trees that have been grafted with several different kinds of fruit on one tree, such as a cherry, plum and peach.

In warmer climates citrus trees and bushes are wonderful. A full size citrus tree can grow 20 feet, it is an evergreen tree with fragrant flowers and wonderful fruit. If you like navel oranges plant "Washington Navels" or "Robertson navels". If juice is desired plant a "Valencia Orange". If you are interested in making Lemonade, plant a" Eureka" or a "Lisbon" Lemon, if you want a decorative Lemon with an orange skin plant a Improved Mayer Lemon. Genetic dwarf citrus grow to a height of 4 to 6 feet are great to grow in a large pot. If you do get a cold spell you can cover them with a plastic tarp making a tent (try not to touch the leaves) or bring the pot inside or on a sheltered patio. Plant strawberries to drape over the container around the dwarf citrus.

Melons are very expensive to buy at the store. Take an area that gets full sun and build 12" high by 24" wide mounds of dirt. Place two melon plants "Ambrosia" cantaloupes or "Sugar Baby" watermelons on the top of the mounds and water daily for two weeks. Melons should be planted after the last frost. After the first two weeks water every other day. It takes 65 to 85 days for your melons to ripen and be ready to eat. When preparing the soil mix in coffee grounds or compost to add organic material to your soil. Aged horse manure is one of the best composts since it is not as high in Urinemic acid as cow manure is.

These are just a few starter ideas help you create an edible garden. Will it solve all of your problems with high food prices? No. But you'll be surprised at how much you'll gain from the work you put into growing your own food. You'll gain a little in the pocketbook; you'll make a few less trips to the grocery store. But most importantly you'll experience the satisfaction of growing your own fruits, herbs and vegetables---and you'll possess the knowledge that you are prepared to provide for your family (at least basic nourishment) no matter what is going on in the world---which is a bit of a 'victory' in its own right.

Michael Glassman is co-host of the Discovery Channel's "Garden Police". He has over 20 years experience, and a degree in Landscape Design and Horticulture from the University of California at Davis. He currently lives in Northern California with his wife and daughter and his work can be viewed on his website

Good Friends, Good Food

A large group gathered at Matt & Heather's today - we were included. There were Matt & Heather with their 5 kids; Joe & Heather with their 5; Dave & Heather with their four; Marv & Sharon; Aunt Dale and Great Grandma M; John & me... I don't think I missed anyone, but if I did, they were probably named Heather... The new twins were dressed and blessed, and then the feast began.

Food. Everything was marvelous. It seems each of the ladies has a specialty, and there were plenty of requests for recipes going around. I hope the Heather who made that wonderful sweet potato casserole remembers to pass hers along. I have no idea what that crunchy topping was, but it was the best I've had. It was like eating a sweet potato pie. Which brings me to my contribution - I made pies.  

So to keep my promise, here's the recipe for my Lemon Chiffon Pie. It's easy.

LEMON CHIFFON PIE

Make a graham cracker crust. (Massacre 8 graham crackers in your food processor; with a fork, stir in a small bowl with 5 Tbsp. of melted butter and 2 Tbsp. of sugar until blended; press it into shape in a 9 inch pie pan with the bottom of a glass and bake at 350° for about 25 minutes.) Set the crust aside to cool.

1 14-oz can Sweetened Condensed milk (NOT Evaporated Milk)

1/2 Cup Lemon Juice (Tastes best if free lemons are used)

Optional - add a couple drops of yellow food coloring to make it more yellow

1 Cup (1/2 Pint) whipping cream, 

         whipped with 1 Tsp. vanilla & 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1. In medium bowl, combine Sweetened Condensed Milk, & lemon juice (plus food coloring if you want to use any). Stir until well blended.

2. Whip cream into peaks. Gently fold into the Condensed Milk mixture.

3. Pour into the baked crust and chill at least three hours to set. You can serve it with more whipping cream if you want, but it's fine just as is. Best served with friends, of course.