One Last Hurrah!

Where did summer go? How is it that we are already at the threshold of the last weekend of summer, and the school year is knocking? Wow. I’m a little bummed. We’ve had a very nice summer, combining busy-ness with lazyness and the kids have been playing together rather remarkably. I swear that just yesterday I was looking at the calendar and thinking that I had a whole yet before school started.

Ah, well. To celebrate the last weekend of summer we’re off for a short weekend away to the Twin Cities and the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. (Warning- the link takes a little while to load- even with high speed.) I went to Renfest three years ago with my brother and his wife while Andy was working out of town, and ever since then I’ve wanted to go back. I love the ambiance and the fact that you’re spending a day in a completely different time. And, lucky for Andy, the weekend we’re able to go is also the Royal Ale Fest. I hope he’s not disappointed…

No recipe to share today, although I do have a rather decadent cake sitting on the counter. But it hasn’t been tasted yet and needs to make the 4 1/2 hour drive to the cities before it does get tasted. I am also happy to report that the pear pies I made a week ago and froze survived freezing wonderfully. In fact, the crust has never been better. I pulled the pie out of the freezer and put it into a cold oven, then I turned the oven on to 350. Since I froze the pie directly in my pyrex plate, I didn’t want to cause the plate to explode-hence the cold oven entry. I baked the pie for about an hour at 350- covered with foil. Then I turned the oven down to 200 for another hour. The filling did get a little mushy- but I swear my pie crust has never been better. I can’t wait to try this with other pies.

Well, happy Labor Day weekend everyone! I should be back posting away on Monday morning. In the meantime, in honor of World Blog Day, spend some time checking out a blog you haven’t before from my sidebar. They wouldn’t be there if I didn’t think they had something.