On the farm in Northern Colorado

1940’S to 1955

If you asked my Dad what kind of pie he wanted, he would say “gooseberry” or if we ask him what kind of ice cream he would like, he would say “gooseberry.” My Mother’s recipe for gooseberry pie follows.

I remember eating this sweet-and-sour pie but it was a lot of work to pick, cook, and prepare so Dad rarely got gooseberry pie. Actually he was happy to eat any kind of pie with ice cream on it. He loved Mom’s mincemeat pie in the wintertime, the way mom made it, with no citron. She made her mincemeat pie with deer meat and canned it for the holidays. She added lots of apples and more spices. I make my mincemeat with moose.

On the farm we had gooseberry bushes growing in the windbreak but they rarely got watered and picking the gooseberries was a labor of love. Sometimes one or 2 cups was all I could pick before I lost interest.

I think my love of rhubarb pie in Alaska has replaced the gooseberry pie. I am so happy to see my rhubarb up and almost ready to pick in about two weeks. Yum.. fresh rhubarb custard pie!

Mom made her own piecrust. I have been spoiled by the frozen type piecrust already in foil pie pans. How easy is that?? My Mom and my Grandma would just roll their eyes and tell me that was the lazy way. I have not mastered making pie crust from scratch, and I don’t intend too!

Graduation Time

I received a graduation announcement from my little niece Kaylee who lives in Colorado Springs. I cannot believe she’s all grown up and graduating from high school!

This led me to try and remember about my own graduation from Timnath High School in Tmnath. Colorado, in 1955. Try as I may, I cannot remember one thing about our graduation! The only thing I do know is that there were 13 or 15 in our graduation class. After 12 years of going to school through thick and thin, winter cold and spring weather, eating homemade lunches in grade school, riding a school bus to high school, going to football and basketball games, going to the prom, I cannot remember one thing about graduating from high school! Well that was a few years ago so I guess I will forgive myself for not remembering!!

Mothers Day Surprise!

I do hope you all have a nice Mother’s Day week end. I did! My grandson Michael Jordan, who lives in Washington, surprised his Mom and Dad, Susan and Porter and me, by showing up Sunday afternoon at the greenhouse. That was a wonderful Mother’s Day surprise for this Grandma!! Thank you Michael!! We get to keep him for a week!