Food, Friends, and Fun...(and a pig)

Our weekend was full.

Saturday morning, after breakfast at Pryor Creek Bar with Brandon, Jessica, and Malcolm's uncle, Jon, I ran to Walmart for groceries and to pick up some dog food at this little hole in the wall pet store.

So, at breakfast we had discussed dinner. I invited Brandon and Jessica to join us since Brandon was coming up anyway to work on his truck, and Jessica was spending the day at the hospital with her mom who had surgery, so I knew she wouldn't be feeling like cooking. Also Brandon was leaving that night to get his hopper trailer in Iowa and planning on staying out a long time, so I knew we wouldn't be seeing them for a while. So when I got home I got the chicken in the marinade (Caribbean Jerk), and made two of these...

Strawberry Custard Pie

1 1/3 c sugar

6 Tbs cornstarch

1/4 salt

2 c milk

2 egg yolks (lightly beaten)

1 Tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 baked pie shell

1 c water

1 T lemon juice

1/2 tsp red food coloring

6 cups strawberries, halved

Combine 2/3 cup sugar, 4 Tbs cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 1 min. Whisk milk mixture into egg yolks. Return to saucepan and cook, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into baked pie shell.

Stir together 2/3 cup sugar, 2 Tbs cornstarch, and 2 T water in a bowl. In a saucepan, bring remaining water to a boil. Whisk in sugar mixture and cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes or until thickened and clear.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and food coloring. Let cool.

Fold in strawberries and spoon over custard. Chill for 4 hours. Garnish with whipped cream and mint sprigs (which I don't do, but it would look pretty!)

...and at this point I have to interrupt the story. We're parked in down town Billings in the semi getting some tires put on the trailer, just off the main strip through the historical downtown area, and a pig just ran across the road. Malcolm noticed he had a tag on and thinks maybe he escaped from the sale barn. Animals and wild life in Billings....that's a whole blog entry on its own.

Sunday morning, Jon was leaving after breakfast. I had been wanting to try this recipe my sister gave me years ago for Waffle House Waffles. Every time I think I'll make them I get out the recipe and only then remember the batter has to sit in the fridge over night. But this time I had remembered and mixed them up the night before.

Waffle House Waffles

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 egg

3/4 cup half and half

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine flour, salt, and soda and set aside. Cream together sugar, shortening and egg. Slowly add half and half and buttermilk. Add vanilla. Slowly beat in dry ingredients. Cover and refrigerate over night.

I can't say for sure if they actually taste the same as Waffle House, but they were very good!

Combined with my cantaloupe and peaches, it was yummy. Malcolm decided he wanted some eggs too, and so did Jon, so when I finished with the waffle iron, Malcolm took over. He said he's always cooked them this way when he has waffles. It gets them done really well the way he likes them and doesn't dirty another pan. Personally, I thought it was a rather nifty idea, and a lot more fun, because I really don't enjoy cooking eggs. In fact, I might do it this way even if I'm NOT cooking waffles!

With Jon on his way, Malcolm went to the shop to work on his truck, and me and the girls spent some QT in my library watching movies I'd borrowed from the in-laws. I watched "How to Loose A Guy In 10 Days," "A Walk To Remember," and "Hidden In Silence." OK, actually I watched two of those the night before with Jessica.

Around 4:00, another trucking friend from our cow haulin' adventures called. Doug was home and he and Ashley wanted to come up and say hi, and take a look at the computer stand in our truck. He and Malcolm stayed in the shop. Ashley and I discussed movies and books, and horses. Doug's draft mare had had her colt and so the two of us drove to their house, about 5 miles away, to see it and I borrowed two movies from her, "The Secret Life of Bees" (a great book!), and I forgot the name of the second one, but I had seen the previews and was wanting to see it.

This morning, after a bowl of cereal, we left in the truck, stopping at the bank, post office, prorate office, fuel station, and now Waylan Tire downtown. We should be out of here in an hour, and then in Spokane by late tonight.

Glancing back over this, I realize the majority of my weekend centered around food. But I guess that's OK. I enjoyed the cooking. I enjoyed having "real" food, good food, that I got to prepare. And we had lots of company, lots of QT with friends, and that makes it even better. In our almost 7 years of marriage, we've never really had other couples as friends. I had my friends, he had one or two, and mostly we spent time with family if we went out with anyone as a couple. Granted, our friends here are trucking buddies so we're all usually home at different times, and both Ashley and Jessica are several years younger than me, but its still fun to get together as a group. Its nice to have things we can all talk about. Its mostly trucking, but we also all like livestock and horses. They all have ranching or farming in their background, and it just feels good to know that even though we live hours from either side of our family, we have people here too.