A Good~bye July Garden Tour

“It was a good time to start something new. We have two lives, and the second starts when you realize that you have only one.” ~Isabelle Dubois-Dumee

Earlier this week my husband surprised me by taking this photo. He was inside our home and saw me taking photos so he snapped one of me as he called out. It was a fun candid moment. real time

This got me to thinking of how sometimes I wait until I think the moment is just right to do something (in an effort trying to capture the perfect moment)

subsequently missing the moment because I’m trying to capture it. does this make sense?

For example waiting to take a photo so I get exactly the picture I’m looking for.

 Hesitating to invite that new acquaintance for coffee because perhaps it’s too soon

or.…holding off to have a party until you get the perfect room all set up to sit everyone

or…. thinking this isn’t the right time to begin a project, class, or even that recipe

which looks so amazing.

 I must admit that I’ve been guilty of all the above and even now at times still forget that (there is no such thing as a perfect moment)  it’s the actual process of doing which is really the most rewarding.

That being said this past week I have been in the process of spray painting a few garden items

I’ve put this project off because the wind on the Oregon coast can be challenging especially when you are trying to spray paint.

However it’s not always windy so I got up a little earlier and worked around the windier times sometimes working a bit later after the wind subsided.

 Similarly like my spray painting projects I decided that the perfect time to have friends over, garden parties, perhaps even a spontaneous lunch gathering is now. 

Putting myself out there to share with others and enjoy the moment. As July begins to disappear I reminisce about the adventures of the month and look forward to heading into August with my heart filled with warm summer memories.

Memories to linger on because they will be over way sooner than we hoped.

Come let’s take a walk around the cottage garden….

Now here is an apple pie recipe in case you missed it that I recently baked for a county fair competition. This recipe is a combination of a few recipes I’ve collected over the years.  (btw as I write this post I’m not yet aware who the winner was for the contest.  However, as you can imagine it’s really not that big of deal to me because I had so much fun baking and entering! )

Pie pastry

This is a versatile pastry and can be used for all kinds of pies. For a flaky, tender crust, chill all your ingredients and do not overwork the dough. (I learned this the hard way) It can be frozen for up to one month if you wrap it well in plastic wrap, then heavy duty foil.

INGREDIENTS

2  2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

     3/4 cup (1 1/2  sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/2 -inch pieces

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cut in 4 pieces ( I confess I used lard)

5 to 6 tablespoons ice water

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, (or your fingertips) cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle 5 tablespoons ice water over the top, tossing the mixture with a fork until the dough just comes together. If necessary, add up to 1 tablespoon more water.
2. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Makes pastry for one double-crust 9- inch pie.

While the dough is being refrigerated go ahead and prepare the pie filling.

Apple Pie filling

INGREDIENTS

6-7 cups sliced peeled tart apples ( I used a combination of 3 green Granny Smith 3 fuji )

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, combine apples, water & lemon juice & cook over medium-low heat until apples are tender. (don’t over cook) Remove from the heat & cool. ( do not drain) In a large bowl, combine sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt; add apples & toss to coat.

Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pasty; trim even with edge. Add apple filling. Rollout remaining pastry to fit top of pie/ place over filling. Seal and flute edges. Cut slits in top. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350; bake 35-45 minutes longer or until golden brown.  Enter in your local county fair. (just kidding) Enjoy!