Tag Archives: Laurel

Day 275: January 6

6 Jan

The date of January 6 is known by several names.  According to a few sources, it is called Little Christmas and it is celebrated by people in various countries in Europe.   It is also known as the Feast of the Epiphany  – the day that the wise men came to visit the baby Jesus and thus revealed to the world that he was the messiah.  Still others refer to this day as Twelfth Night, a celebration which brings an end to the twelve days of Christmas.

For our family this day has greater significance – it is the day that we lost my Mom.  It’s been 23 years since she passed and yet the memory of that day is still so vivid.  Our world changed in an instant.  When I look back it is like looking at two pictures – before and after, or rather, with her and without her.

Anniversaries such as this one are hard to forget, and harder still to talk about.  It’s almost like a  gentle dance of words with my sister and my Dad…  because I think we feel the need to say we remember and yet we don’t really want to dwell in sadness.

It was very important for me to find a way to honor my Mom with today’s pie and when my friend Laurel suggested the Lithia Springs School I thought she had the perfect solution.  I called to ask for permission to bring a pie to the school and found out that at this time that there are currently 27 students attending classes. That would mean that I would need 4 pies!  Instead, I decided to prepare a large pan of Apple Blueberry Cobbler so that I would have enough to feed everyone.

Laurel came with me to deliver the “just out of the oven” cobbler and on the way we hurried in to Shop ‘n Kart for 3 half gallons of vanilla ice cream to make this dessert even more memorable.  We were greeted at the school by several of the students who offered to help us carry in the goodies.  One of the teachers had plates and utensils at the ready and she proceeded to serve the cobbler and ice cream to the students (and some of the staff too).  It was really heartwarming to see them all enjoying the treat.

One of the staff who had arrived a bit late asked who had brought the goodies and why.  I don’t think she really was expecting an explanation but I told her that this was my way of remembering my Mom. It only seems fair that since she always had a way of making things special for me, that I should bring something special to share with these young people who might not experience that very often.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

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Day 272: Lisa and Lulu from Sanctuary One

3 Jan

Pumpkin, Potato, Carrot and Delicata Squash Pie

A few days ago I received an email from Robert Casserly, the director of Sanctuary One, the first non-profit care farm in the United States.  Care farms are farms where people, animals, and the earth work together for mutual healing.  Sanctuary One is located in the Applegate region of southern Oregon.

Robert told me that he had discovered my blog and that he liked what I was doing with pies and if I ever had the desire to make a pie for a few pigs, he knew just the pigs to give it to.  This morning I emailed Robert to ask if today would be a good day to visit the Sanctuary and later he called back with an emphatic “Yes.”  He thought Lisa and Lulu (the pigs) would be delighted to receive a pie and gave me some suggestions as to the ingredients:  no sugar needed for the pie, keep it vegetarian, and the best advice, “pigs will eat just about anything.”

One pie didn’t seem quite enough for two pigs and so I baked three smaller pies using mashed pumpkin, potatoes, and carrots.  I wanted to make them extra special and so I cooked off some delicata squash as garnish and arranged it and some parsley atop the finished pies.  Then I drove out to the Applegate to deliver the pies.  I was accompanied on this trip by Laurel, a young lady who wanted to videotape this pie delivery.

About an hour later, we arrived at Sanctuary One and were met at the gate by Sansa, the animal care manager. She let us in and took us over to where the animals were fed.  The pigs waited inside the barn while we arranged the pies on a large boulder and once that was done we were led outside of the gate for our own safety (because the pigs get so excited at feeding time!)

Then Sansa let Lisa and Lulu out of the barn and those pigs actually ran to the boulder and began slurping up the pies. It was a bit of a frenzy and they were enjoying every minute of it!   In no time at all their happy faces were smeared with pumpkin and the only thing that wasn’t devoured was the parsley garnishing the pies.

Once Lisa and Lulu were led back into the barn, the goats came over to the boulder and ate up what was left.  It didn’t seem fair that the goats hadn’t had a pie of their own, and that got me to thinking that there just might be another pie day at Sanctuary One with enough pie for all of the animals.  I imagine that will be a sight to behold!

For a list of ways that you can help Sanctuary One in its mission, please click here.

And for more photos of Sanctuary One, click on the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/SanctuaryOne/6421505367/in/photostream  or enjoy a youtube video of the pigs eating leftover Halloween pumpkins here:

http://youtu.be/TkBETO_d6D8

Thanks!

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Day 268: Sh*t happens

30 Dec

This morning we woke up to a rainy day here in Ashland. I wondered if I would even venture out for a walk with our “grand-dog” but around about 9:30 AM I saw that the rain took a break and I dressed for a potentially wet walk. The walk turned out to be glorious. The sun eventually peeked out and my walk was a lovely meditation on the day.

When I returned home I noticed that the sliding glass door on the back of the house looked strange. On closer examination I determined that it had somehow shattered in the time it took to take my walk. How that happened I still have no clue, but this is what I saw when I returned from my walk.

This changed my day as you might imagine. Now the important thing to do was contact the glass company (Ashland Glass) and hope that the glass would not break all over my deck… and luckily it didn’t. When Chris from Ashland Glass showed up he took one look at the glass and knew that it had to be removed. Darn it! And I still had a pie to deliver!!

About that pie… a few days ago I was driving through town and was about to pass by my friend Tom’s house when I thought of who had owned the house prior to him…. and that was our dear friend Nicholas. I have always been amazed at how Tom and his wife Janet took Nick’s small house and transformed it into the home that it is today. As all those thoughts were careening through my mind I noticed that Tom was standing there by his truck unloading stuff and I knew that I had to stop and say hello.

How interesting that our lives intersected as they did… like threads in a cloth. And if you pulled on one thread, it would lead to other connections. I think that is pretty neat… we really are all connected, whether we want to admit it or not.

Today, Laurel (the filmmaker) came to my house at 3PM and filmed me putting together a Chocolate Cream Pie for Tom. As I had all of the ingredients ready it took less than twenty minutes to do so. However, I had told Tom’s wife, Janet, that we would deliver the pie after 4PM and so Laurel agreed to return at that time.

At about 4:15PM Laurel and I arrived at Tom’s home to deliver the pie and Tom was not there. Janet and Laurel and I talked for a bit and we were about to leave when Janet noticed that Tom’s truck had arrived. That’s when the fun began! Laurel and I snuck out the back door and waited until Tom had entered through the front door. Then we ran to the front door and knocked. When Tom answered the door we were able to present him with his pie… and in due time told him that we’d already been there for 15 minutes prior to his arrival. Sneaky? Perhaps, but his expression when we gave him his pie was priceless.

So, I have to admit that this day did not turn out as I had planned. But who really plans for their glass door to shatter? I think that John Lennon said it best, “Life is what happens while we are busy making other plans.” And so we do the best we can… and for me, that means that my new glass door is on order and my Chocolate Cream Pie is at Tom’s house (hopefully being consumed!) And for now, all is right with the world.

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Day 267: Richard

29 Dec

For the past year and a half my husband, Emile, has been working for the Medford Food Coop. This coop opened in August after a long process and it seems to be gaining ground each day. There is an amazing group of people working to make sure that this venture succeeds and we are so very happy that they we have them on our team.

In addition to the great management team, Emile and I are both thankful for the encouragement and support from the Ashland Food Coop, and especially from the manager of the Ashland Coop, Richard Katz. Richard has been a friend and mentor for years but in this last year he has been an incredible source of support. He has shared his expertise and willingly offered his time whenever needed. That support has been invaluable to Emile and his team in Medford.

Today a young lady, Laurel, began interviewing me about this “pie project.” She filmed me as I made my pie and asked questions about various aspects of the whole process. I told Laurel that I wanted to give today’s pie to Richard and she agreed to meet me at the Ashland coop to film the delivery of the pie. And with all that going on I forgot to take a picture of today’s pie! It was a lovely Apple Crumb Crust pie… and I am embarrassed that I forgot to capture a photo of it.

But on the up side, it was fun to have someone film the “delivery” of a pie, for that has not been done before. And to see Richard’s smile when he saw the pie was great… the icing on the cake as it were. The gift of a pie is a small gesture but I hope he knows how much his support has meant and how grateful we are for his continued friendship.

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