So This Hot Young Surfer Dude Was Saying. . .

Avalon and the Super Rare, Super Exciting Eaton

My friend Brian lent my daughter not one, but two surfboards. So being the generous and selfless mom that I am, I drove my daughter and her friend 40 miles to Bolsa Chica State Beach to give the boards an inaugural run. In case you are not understanding the depth of my generosity and selflessness, you should know that it was over 40 miles on one of the most congested freeways in California and the only vehicle that we own capable of transporting surfboards has no functioning air conditioning. Yep, I am one awesome mom! Someone should give me an award.

Skip forward to 3 o'clock and I am loading all of our crap back into the truck. The long board is leaning against the shell and I am trying to figure out the easiest way to get the sock (Yes, surfboards have socks. No feet, but socks. Go figure) on the surfboard when I hear:

Surfer Dude: Dude! is that an Eaton Concave blah, blah, blah!

Me (in my head): Is that guy talking to me? What is he talking about?

Hot Young Surfer Dude: I thought I was the only one riding one of those around here.          
                                        Blah, Blah, Blah. . .

Me (in my head. confused look on my face): No, really, what IS he talking about?

I turn around and really look at the guy. He is still talking about . . . Oh, the surfboard!

Hot Young Surfer Dude: . . . really rare. Good  to see!

He stops talking and looks at me.

Me: (in my head) I should respond. What do I say?

Me: (out loud) Well, I guess you're not alone anymore.

Hot Young Surfer Dude: Cool, see you around!

Well, shut my mouth! What just happened? Me, at a loss for words. I tell you, I can count on one hand the number of times that has happened.

I finished with the sock business and headed back out onto the sand to get the girls. Hmm, I thought, that guy assumed I was the one riding that board. Maybe the idea of me surfing isn't so ridiculous after all?

Just Peachy Pocket Pies

The problem with organic and homegrown fruits is the lack of preservatives.

Wait! What!

Don't panic, what I'm getting at here is that organic and homegrown fruits don't last as long on the shelf as the ones we buy at the store that haven't been irradiated, sprayed, and otherwise forced into a state of suspended animation. The job of a fruit is to deliver its seed to reproduce the plant. In order to do that it must decay. It's part of the plants life cycle. Who wants to mess with that?

So now you have all of this fruit that is going bad faster than you can say muskmelon. The problem is what to do with it. You can can it, freeze it, dehydrate it, or you can do what you usually do: leave it in the refrigerator till it is completely rotten and then throw it away. What fun is all that? Why not make Pocket Pies. They could fit in your pocket, but I wouldn't recommend keeping them there.

Peach Pocket Pies

Here's how you do it:

preheat oven to 425

 Ingredients:

5 cups of  fresh peaches

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of salt

pie crust or pastry dough

1. Peel and dice peaches into 1/4 in. size pieces. I know this is a pain in the ass, but the skin is furry and no fun to eat (I bet Dilley will have something to say about eating furry things) and you need little pieces in a pocket pie. So, just suck it up and staarrrttt peeling.

 

2. In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients. You can add more sugar if you like, but homegrown peaches are pretty damn sweet already.

 

3. Add the butter. Using a fork, cut in the butter. Basically, this means that you mash the butter and dry ingredients together until it looks like the crumbs on one of those gross crumb cakes made by Hostess. It will start out looking like this:

Eventually, all of the butter is mixed in and it looks like small crumbles.





4. Toss the crumbles in with the peaches. I will look kind of lumpy and gooey wet.

 

5. Roll out your pie crust and use your pocket pie mold to cut the crust into the desired shape. I used a heart shaped pie mold from Williams Sonoma, but you can use any round thing as a guide. If you use a round crust, your pie will be a half circle. And, as you remember from those very useful math classes you took, the width of your pie will be half of the diameter of your circle.

 

6. Place a spoonful of your filling in the center of the  crust. Be careful not to put too much. If you do, you will not be able to seal your pocket pie and all of its yummy-ness will ooze out all over your baking sheet. Here is what my pies looked like:

 





 





 7. Seal in the edges with an eggwash (whip an egg and about a tablespoon of water) to seal. You can brush the top of the pie with the wash and sprinkle with decorative sugar if you like.

 

8. Put on a greased baking sheep or line your sheet with parchment paper like I do.  Bake for about 15 minutes until the pie is golden  and the filling is bubbly.

 

Evidence That I Am A Hillbilly

The other night I was watching a "Sharkweek" show where a bunch of cajuns were trying to catch some mythically huge shark. I said to my family, "This show is offensive to fat people and hill billies." My daughter replies, "You are not THAT much of a hillbilly." My husband has to add "You only have ONE toilet in the backyard."

I do have a toilet in my backyard. I am trying to motivate my husband to upcycle it into an automatic dog waterer. I think this idea is hilarious. The reality is that much of my adult life I have been trying to avoid my father's hillbilly tendencies. I say upcycling but it is really just finding new uses for "good junk" like my father did.

Here is the real evidence that under the salon hairstyles and designer clothes, I am a hillbilly.
Exhibit A:

Yes, that is duck- tape holding the ice maker for my fancy triple door stainless steel refrigerator.