The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

One Slice. Two Forks.

December 1, 2009

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. I was still recovering from the ol' turkey hangover along with everyone else. We'd been eating leftovers for two days so it was frozen pizzas Saturday night. I made it fun by folding them in half after they were baked. I sliced them up and we had rather strange folded pizza finger things for dinner, but no one seemed to care. It wasn't turkey, or pumpkin-flavored, after all.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. But this time of year, things do tend to go into overdrive. I hadn't had pie in weeks, and then one day there was pie everywhere. Pie, pie, pie. I love pie, but one piece will do me just fine. And we all know about the One Piece of Pie myth. Because there's always The Rest of the Pie. Same with Turkey. With turkey on sale as cheap as it was, how many of you bought just one? How many of you have room in your freezers for corndogs or mixed vegetables or ice cream?

This is the time of year when people lose control. Why buy one cashmere sweater for Uncle Larry when you can buy two, get one free and cover all three uncles? Why not get a bucket of pistachios? And even though we don't NEED a new TV, they're so dang cheap we really can't NOT get a new one, can we? Think about it. Think. We CAN not get a new TV. No one really likes pistachios all that much, and will the uncles really go for cashmere? Especially if lime green is the only color left?

Breathe. Breathe again. It's December and you don't have to change a thing. Take a walk this morning, write a letter to your grandmother this afternoon, and have a slice of pie after dinner tonight. One slice. Two forks. Remember it's the simple things, the very simple things, that bring us together.

My good friend Shirl sent me this recipe last week. She lives down the road and fills her life with simple pleasures. Like time on her deck, good books, and fruit with cinnamon.

Shirl's Spiced Peaches

Drain two large cans of cling peach halves,
saving juice from one can in a sauce pan.
Use the juice from the other can any old way you wish.

Add ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ cup vinegar, and three cinnamon sticks
to the juice in the saucepan. Using a tea ball or gauze material,
add 1 T of whole cloves to the juice.

Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Cool juice mixture to room temp. Remove all of the spices and discard.
Add the peaches, covering with the juice. Cover and refrigerate up to 5 days.

You may wish to cut the peach halves before putting into serving dish.

Enjoy!