Bangs McCoy

The Pie Hole

Two summers ago, our apricot tree was completely overloaded with fruit, and I had no idea what to do with it all. Maryanne (Bryan’s mom, who is an excellent pie maker) offered to help me make as many pies as we could. We made a deal - she would do the actual pie making (crust, rolling, etc), Bryan would pick the fruit, and I would prepare the filling and try to learn by watching her. For her efforts, she would keep half of the pies. Apricots come on at the hottest part of the summer (mid-late July), and we had a swamp cooler that was not cooling very well. And I was about seven months pregnant. It was hot. I don’t know how many pies we made, but it was close to two dozen. We baked them up four at a time, then when they cooled, we vacuum-sealed (Maryanne has a little trick) them into freezer bags and put them in the freezer. We’ve been enjoying them ever since. When you want to eat one, you just throw it in the oven for an hour and it comes out like fresh-baked.

Our apricot tree is very old and large. It’s the biggest apricot tree I’ve seen. We had it pruned the summer we moved in, and they took off about the top third of the tree. It has definitely rebounded, and because we haven’t had it pruned again, it has gone into bi-annual fruit production. This means that it mostly produces fruit every other year - a little one year, a ton the next. We have to pick up the mess every day or our lawn is completely covered. The raccoons make a big mess, throwing pits everywhere. It’s a big job.

Maryanne is busy right now, so Bryan and I have been making pies. Today we made eight. He does the picking and filling and I do the crust. I am getting pretty good. My recipe is a little different from Maryanne’s, but Bryan still seems to approve. Apricot is fast becoming one of my favorite pies. I like it warm with vanilla ice cream (gotta have the ice cream because it’s a little tart). My favorites pies are still Maryanne’s Fresh Strawberry Pie and my own pumpkin pie.

Oh, and if you’ve never seen Pushing Daisies, you should watch it.

1 comment July 26th, 2008

Things are looking up

Bryan got up early with Rees and made sourdough pancakes for everyone for breakfast. They were excellent as usual. The kids and I watched a movie in the car while Bryan visited with Grandma. Today she has more energy and is more alert. She is still very much herself. She told Bryan she would kill him if he damaged her sourdough starter (it’s been alive for many decades). We were talking about the possibility of her being able to swallow, when she said, “I could swallow if they would just give me something to swallow!”

We had lunch at Fiesta Vallarta in “downtown” Delta. I have to admit that I love this kind of Americanized Mexican food (much like Los Hermanos in Utah Valley). The food was yummy but the portions were enormous.

We picked up our stuff from the ranch and went back to the hospital for our last visit this trip. Grandma was still sleepy, but talking well. Still no movement on her right side. The doctors were hoping for more improvement by now. Tomorrow a speech therapist will visit to determine what she is able to swallow. Maryanne has effectively moved to Cedaredge to care for Grandma for as long as it takes, so we said our goodbyes to her for now as well.

The drive back to SLC was uneventful and nice.

Add comment June 29th, 2008

Delta

We got started later than we planned (shocking!) and thus did not arrive in Colorado until late afternoon. The kids were great during the drive.

The hospital in Delta is small, but very nice - it looks pretty new. We were the first family members to arrive, but Grandma had plenty of company. Her many friends had been keeping a constant watch over her since her arrival at the hospital. She was groggy and unable to move her right side. It was very sad to see her like that. When Bryan’s parents and aunt arrived, the kids were getting a little rambunctious for the ICU, so I took them out for dinner and to a park in Delta to play.

Afterward we picked up Bryan and went to the ranch. Bob stayed at the hospital with Grandma K and sent Maryanne and Anadeane to the ranch with us to get some sleep. Bryan’s cousin Ben also arrived with his little boy William. The mood is definitely somber. Being at the ranch without Grandma just doesn’t make sense.

Add comment June 28th, 2008

Slip-sliding

It’s been a cousin extravaganza around here lately. Today the boys went to Grandma & Grandpa B’s to play on the slip & slide (again) with Amanda, Tyler, and Brielle, and Berkeley. They enjoyed watermelon and played with some neighbor kids before having lunch and playing more inside.

Add comment June 26th, 2008

The golden egg

Today is Easter Sunday. We had our Easter lessons in Primary, and the boys enjoyed playing with their bunny ears and wore new Easter clothes. We didn’t do any kind of Easter baskets or gifts for them, since Bryan’s parents have an egg hunt planned for later today. I don’t really want to overload the kids with secular junk on this holiday. That makes me sound kind of like a religious freak, which I’m not. I just get annoyed when the commercial industry tries to take over religious celebrations and convince people that they need to buy a bunch of junk for yet another holiday. Cynical, no?

After church, we went to the Berretts for their famous Easter egg hunt. The kids are each assigned a color and size of egg (they each get four), and the eggs are hidden with appropriate difficulty for each child’s age. There are lots of boulders with great nooks and crannies for hiding eggs, so it can be tough. Bob also hides one egg for each daughter-in-law, and he goes all-out. One year, he was so clever that he forgot where he hid Shantell’s egg, and nobody else could find it either. It remained hidden for years.

My egg this year was metallic gold, and was the last to be found. After much searching by all, it was finally located by Brent in the water fountain near the front door. The egg was first placed in a zipper-seal sandwich bag. This bag was then placed in a gallon-size zipper-seal bag with a large rock (to hold it underwater), which was placed in the fountain and covered with a decorative frog statue from the garden. Classic Bob.

The kids had so much fun with the hunt, and eating all the candy afterward. It’s a really fun tradition.

Add comment March 23rd, 2008