OMG!! That looks divine - I'm on my way over...

I am making the pie for dinner tomorrow. Did you use cornstarch or tapioca?

Oh, BTW, where do you live LOL

I used the cornstarch,way easier. Also I had a very heavy dark metal springform so I baked at 325 convection for 90 min and it was perfect. I was amazed at how much nicer the fruit was after long slow baking. It looks like it is still unbaked almost and the taste is richer...almost like it is dehydrated...I hope that makes sense...anyway it is much more flavorful.

I live in Opelika Al...1 1/2 hrs from Atlanta GA. I wish we could get together. c

I still say YUMMMM.

I have a springform which has a GLASS bottom and a medium dark non-stick metal rim. What would you suggest in terms of baking temps and time?

Next time we're near Atlanta I'll be sure and look you up. We're in the midwest near Chicago and there is no home grown fruit around here. I drive to Michigan or Wisconsin to pick fruit a couple times during the season. A few weeks ago we drove to South Bend and bought 45 lbs of blueberries for $45 and 10 lbs of sour cherries for $15.00. I wish I'd bought more cherries. I froze half, made 4 pies and TONS of other blueberry stuff including a coulis with vodka that should be good in a few more weeks.

In a few weeks we'll go to MI again for peaches then in the fall to WI for apples.

Tonight ds (8yrs old) asked if I could make something with watermelon rind which he loves. Any suggestions?

John said, "she's something else, she is." !!!!!

I did make stuffed/baked zucchini tonight w/zucchini from our garden (made it up as I went along), so luckily I was full when I opened this thread!

It looks very enticing BTW!

On the CA coast or I'd be on your porch!

I wish I could get those MI and WI fruits !! I remember when I was a little girl in Ohio, and my Dad would go to MI and get peaches...they were huge and sweet.

I think the glass bottom would be the same with the 325 and 90 min.

Robin and John..where are the pics ?? Come on you two...I want to see the garden and the results...I know what a great photog. John is...

vic....wish you were closer...let me know if you take a trip nearby..our door is always open. c

Oh, I just love food porn. Looks wonderful! Heading on over for dinner.....

You'll have to wait and see it in person...!!! (that's what you get for teasing us with those delicious looking creations!)

hmmm...I had no IDEA you had such a hard heart...just you wait...I'll get ya'. c

trailrunner - my goodness, you're killing me! I love to cook, usually 6-7 nights a week and our weekends are particularly great food fests. Problem lately, though, is that family travel and kids' summer "schedules" (read: no routine, ugh!) and icky humidity have made cooking/eating together a bit hard -- Oh I MISS IT -- maybe that's why I'm feeling so down lately, eh? Only a few more weeks until school starts and I'll get back in the groove. In the meantime, I'm just checking in on your posts like a food voyeur! :-)

You made this former southerner homesick! I grew up in Georgia, been gone for 22 years, but still miss great southern fried chicken. We have great food here in So. California, but not like home! I am baking cornbread in my brand new oven tonight. It was just installed this morning and I can't wait to breal it in. Your cornbread gave me the inspiration for dinner!

mnhockeymom, I'm assuming from your name that you're ice-hockey die-hards. How do you fit practice and games in and still cook and eat together almost every night. I envy you. I love summer because I can cook all day every day and there is nowhere anyone HAS to be IYKWIM. Please share.

mnhockeymom : you are so sweet ! THANK YOU ! I know what you mean. I am the only driver in our family...DH is legally blind. I remember the frantic evenings when the kids had to be so many different places and there was only me to do it. It is why DH became such a great cook , self-defense ! No Mom = no supper and that man likes his supper . I sure hope you will post pics of your kitchen in action. I LOVE YOUR KITCHEN !!

cindy : we wanna' see the pics....Kitchen Oven in Action !

trailrunner - you're welcome and thank you for your kitchen compliments!! My DH takes the train to work and since none of my DS's are old enough to drive, I'm also the primary driver. We rarely carpool because I like to see the boys supporting each other which means sometimes it's homework in the rink for one or two of them while the other skates - thankfully, they usually get their work done early so that doesn't happen too often. Often, DH and I tag team between rinks but I grew up this way as did he so it's not too bad!

loves2cook4six - I get asked this all the time and, honestly, I've been doing it for so long that I never see it as too much of an orchestrated event (maybe it's second nature now?). I've got three boys who combined play on 5 different hockey teams (yes, crazy I know but the older two are at the level of making that choice for themselves). In our house, top grades come first, then music (DH is a former musician so 2 boys play piano, 1 guitar and 1 also plays drums), then sports - always in that order - so they know that if we ever reach the point where "something's gotta give", the hockey goes first. Since hockey's in our blood (long family history on both sides, lots of D1 college players), they put much effort into their prioritizing and balancing it all (which makes my life easier, for sure). I'm also a stickler that their meals/food choice will be healthy and geared towards supporting their growing bodies and athleticism - thus, they eat very little with a shelf life, if you know what I mean!

I'm a big meal planner - at some point on every Sunday, I sit down w/ my schedule (I use the Busy Body Book - busybodybook dot com) and make a plan for every night of the week - I truly believe that, regardless of the insanity, family meals CAN be done, just not always at the traditional meal time. Sometimes we have to have dinner fairly early (4:30-5) or sometimes late (7:30 - in which case I will load them up w/ raw veggies, fresh cheese, etc before pratice) and sometimes at a more "regular" meal time. I have to always take note of how heavy a meal might be in order to avoid affecting their practice AND I take note of realistically how much time I'll have to cook something given my schedule that day and their schedule that night - I can honestly say that it's less than 2-3 times a month that we don't have a balanced meal, together as a family, sitting in our dining room. I don't have many "stand-by" meals since I love to try new things (my kids always say they're my kitchen guinea pigs) so there's a lot of variety each night. For better or worse, this is all my DH and DS's have known so the expectations are high but, heck, I stopped working outside of the house a few years ago and gladly accept this as my "job" :-) What else would I do in my new kitchen, right??

Anyway, I meal plan on Sunday and hit the grocery store on Monday. Then every morning I look at my "menu" for the week and make sure things get thawed as needed, etc. I'll often prep veggies and premeasure ingredients (mise en place, anyone?) and do those types of things whenever I have a moment during the day so I can pump out a meal w/o too much prep time. This might not work for everyone but we've made it a lifestyle and it seems to work well for us!

BOy I am impressed. I was never that organized. I went back to school and got my RN when DD was 4. It was a tough 2 years. I then started work and we immediately moved to Holland for a year. I planned vacations and we travelled every chance we got to all the countries we could. When we returned to the US I started back at the hospital and then started full time school again. What was I thinking ?? I lasted 2 semesters. I realized my life and family were worth more than another degree. I started Home Health and continued part time for 13 years. I am now retired and work part time for DS1...what goes around comes around. I clean up tables and remake the settings rather than beds !!

I and glad to hear your story MN...we were the exception at our house also in that we ate dinner together nearly every night . My kids friends were always surprised. It is a wonderful habit. c

Caroline - I can relate ... I had my first DS while in Law School and I can still remember my mom rushing between the law school and my house with my exam blue books while I sat at home writing the exams and breast feeding - even when I took my Bar Review course, I would care for my little guy all day, then get a delivery each afternoon of review lectures on tape and after he went down to bed I would listen to them on my Walkman until 2am and then start the whole cycle over the next day -- almost 8 weeks of that, only by the grace of God did I pass the Bar. I practiced law in a big firm for over 7 years after that and had two more DS's during that time and that is when my meal planning really took hold. Cooking every night was my way of shaking off the stress of the day and it became my way of coping with 50-60 hour weeks!

After "balancing" all that for a while (can you hear the sarcasm there?), life threw us a curveball w/ some health issues with DS2 (he spent a good deal of time on life support in a coma....LONG story) and I said "Enough is enough!" and stopped working. Although I loved what I did for work outside the home, I've never looked back and love being at home and raising my boys (and cooking for them too!!). Bonus is that DS2 (who, by only a miracle, is fine and thriving now) LOVES to cook too :-)

What a heartwarming story. You and your family are indeed very lucky. Thank you for sharing this with me and others who read this. c

WOW, mnhockeymom! What a story. I have goosebumps!!

You can and will be my inspiration.

I have 4 kids and we eat together 6 nights a week. My girls dance, my boys do karate and everyone swims but I set it all up so we're home everynight for dinner at 7:30 except for Tuesdays.

I've never planned a meal beyond 1 or 2 days out. We don't eat anything with a shelf life either but we always have lots of fresh fruit and veggies in the house, dh and I are green smoothie junkies LOL, and I have a freezer full of frozen fish and chicken. We don't eat much meat. You can cook fish from frozen or thaw it quickly under running water so that is a staple here. Dh doesn't like a big meal at night so we all tend to eat a big lunch and dinner is a lighter meal.

I think I need to try this planning thing. Any tips or hints to get started?

I must say I've turned my kids into food snobs. When they eat at some friends houses they come home and tell me how bad the mac and cheese is from a box etc and I just smile.

Last weekend we were at a fancy restaurant and my kids all turned down the desert tray as they said nothing looks as good as Mom can make it. THAT made my day as I LOVE to bake more than anything else. Now if they were at trailrunners DS1's reataurant...

WOW, mnhockeymom! What a story. I have goosebumps!!

You can and will be my inspiration.

I have 4 kids and we eat together 6 nights a week. My girls dance, my boys do karate and everyone swims but I set it all up so we're home everynight for dinner at 7:30 except for Tuesdays.

I've never planned a meal beyond 1 or 2 days out. We don't eat anything with a shelf life either but we always have lots of fresh fruit and veggies in the house, dh and I are green smoothie junkies LOL, and I have a freezer full of frozen fish and chicken. We don't eat much meat. You can cook fish from frozen or thaw it quickly under running water so that is a staple here. Dh doesn't like a big meal at night so we all tend to eat a big lunch and dinner is a lighter meal.

I think I need to try this planning thing. Any tips or hints to get started?

I must say I've turned my kids into food snobs. When they eat at some friends houses they come home and tell me how bad the mac and cheese is from a box etc and I just smile.

Last weekend we were at a fancy restaurant and my kids all turned down the desert tray as they said nothing looks as good as Mom can make it. THAT made my day as I LOVE to bake more than anything else. Now if they were at trailrunners DS1's reataurant...

loves2cook - I would LOVE to be able to include fish in our diet but unfortunately DS1 has anaphylactic food allergies to scaly/fin fish - thankfully seafood/shellfish is fine so we eat plenty of that. He also has tree nut allergies (almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc) so we have to steer clear of those which is a bummer since the rest of us love them and they are a great source of protein. I can honestly say that his food allergies are a BIG reason as to why I cook the way I do - the only way to be sure is to make it myself!

Don't you just LOVE it when your kids love your food better than what they get elsewhere (restaurants/friends'/camp)? My kids just groan if I suggest going out to eat (as in, give mom a break once in a while) BUT I secretly couldn't be happier. Once last winter the older boys wanted to surprise DS3 with a birthday cake that they made - they wanted to make a "hockey rink" cake and despite my offer to give them a simple 9x13 chocolate sheet cake w/ white buttercream frosting recipe to follow, they insisted on using a mix....although it turned out cute and their brother was touched, we all got migraines and stomach cramps that night...can you say preservatives? Honestly, I can't remember the last time we've had a box mix of anything and clearly our bodies didn't appreciate it.

How to get started..hhmm...I guess I'd just find an hour or so where you can focus on your week ahead, make a list of what's realistic for each dinner (big multi-course, quick and easy, something from the grill, all-day cooker, etc) based on everyone's schedule each night, then gather your favorite cookbooks (DH has cholesterol issues so I'm a huge Cooking Light and Cuisine at Home fan) and/or websites (like Epicurious - love that site!!). Then, pick something from different food familes (I usually have one vegetarian meal, one pasta-based, one or two poultry, one pork, one lean beef, one seafood, etc) and make a list of the recipe titles and what page/book they're on (or print them off the web) - then add to that list some sides for each main dish (I keep these fairly simple, loads of fresh produce, and very little, if any, starches). Once you've figured out what to make for the week, then starting with each recipe, just jot down what ingredients you need until you're done w/ the week of meals. I am an order and control freak by nature so I then rewrite this list in the order of where everything is in the grocery store ;P) I throw all my meat in the freezer when I get home and just take it out the night before or morning of that I'm going to use it. I will occasionally but not often rely on frozen veggies but most of the time what I buy stays fresh for the week (although I will admit to using up my produce according to what's going to spoil quickest) and worst case, a mid to late week trip to the store for some more produce is pretty easy to manage. That's pretty much it - I'm sure once you get started, you'll find that it's easier than it sounds and it makes your life so much better!

I love to bake too so that's a big family affair on the weekends w/ all my boys helping out. We usually over-do it so that we have plenty for them to take to school as snacks and for us to enjoy all week in the evenings. Also, every other Saturday in the fall and winter we make home made soups (CL has a Roasted Chicken Noodle that is TO DIE FOR!!!) and a quick cup of soup during the week can be a great way to tide them over until dinner after games/practices.

Okay, I've totally taken over Caroline's thread so I'll stop now but I hope you, loves2cook, feel like trying out some mealplanning for your busy weeks when summer's over!

Nope you have not taken over !! That is what this is all about SHARING...anything to that helps another is fair game. THANK YOU ...you are wonderful to contribute so much :) c

Thank you for being so gracious! You hit the nail on the head - even though I've been done w/ my kitchen remodel for over 8 mos, I still keep coming back here from time to time because of the great people and their willingness to share their wonderful insights. We are all very lucky to have a community like GW :-)

Nice fryer but I'd fry everything and we'd weigh 500 punds I fear ;-)

I use a pda phone (a Motorola Q) which is nice because I can schedule everything, it synchs with my Outlook calendar, my husband's Outlook calendar and it is with me all the time (plus it gets my personal and work emails). I tried paper and pen and it was too low tech for this techie I guess!

Love the pix and the stories!!

I'm curious what your countertop is where the deep fryer is set into...butcher block?? edge grain??

Again....YUM and thanks!

dgmarie - when I was working I used a Handspring (remember those? competitor to Palm/Jornada/etc) - I had been traveling and hadn't been able to sync it - it ended up being stolen and I was so totally LOST w/o it that I swore I'd stick w/ the low tech stuff! My BIL is an amazing man in the tech industry and thinks I'm nuts - in fact, he just helped w/ a new calendar/scheduling program which works w/ Outlook and is web-based as well that is specifically made for families like us...I don't have time to find the link right now but I think it's cozi dot com.

gotta go do camp pick-ups!

okay, back from camp - I just checked and the site I gave above and it is correct....I am embarrassed to say that I haven't tried it yet, but only for lack of time!!

dgmarie,,,I am amazed at how well things cook and that we use it but not all the time ! Certain foods just beg for frying to taste right..at least I think so.You would love it !

wallycat: we have teak counters in the "L" of the cooking and sink areas. I have butcher block on the island work table that is a TABCO brand. Then we have salvaged marble on the coffee area and soapstone everywhere else.I love my teak. When I look at the Peacock kitchen thread that is what I was after. marble, teak/wood counters/white cabs, wood floors,soapstone, leaded windows, vintage latches...I got it all and it wasn't 6 figures :) c