Tag Archives: Boysenberry Pie

Tips For You Hodgepodge

If it’s Wednesday it must be Hodgepodge. Click over to Jo’s blog, From This Side of the Pond to join in.

1. Do you have a word for the year (WOTY)? If so, and you’d like to share, please share. How do you decide on a word? If you don’t have a word are you still on the hunt for one for 2024? 

I did not pick a WOTY for the year but I did pick a phrase.

Love Jesus More in Twenty Twenty Four

2. January 23rd is National Pie Day…will you celebrate? Do you like pie? What’s your favorite? 

We don’t celebrate except for in November before Thanksgiving our church has a pie and praise night. We enjoy pie but don’t have it often. My favorite pies were the fresh Strawberry or fresh Peach pies from Marie Callender’s. Growing up in Southern California it was a special treat to have boysenberry pie from Knott’s Berry Farm.

I just remembered Chicken Pot Pie and the all the great savory pies in Great Britain, yum!

The photo at the top of this post is of a Pear Custard Pie. Click here for the recipe.

3. Tipping. What are your thoughts, expectations, as to who, when where? Do you appreciate a store/restaurant giving a ‘suggested amount’? Have you ever left an extravagant tip? 

We do tip and we try not to skimp. When service is over the top exceptional we tip even better. We have left large tips for some of our favorite waiters/waitresses but extravagant is in the eye of the beholder. Before we moved away from the Seattle area, Seattle instituted a set tip and service fee in their prices. That change was confusing and we stopped tipping in Seattle. These days we avoid driving into Seattle to dine.

Since we are talking about restaurants and trends I’m not a fan of using my phone or a table top device to order food. I like the personal touch of the waitstaff coming to the table to take our order. I haven’t mastered the whole take a photo of the thingie that looks like a weird puzzle piece (QR Code) so you can connect with your phone. (yes, I’m old)

4. Share with us one household ‘tip’ that works for you. 

We got a tip from a dishwasher salesman that it is good to run the tap till the water is good and hot and then start your dishwasher cycle.

5. Influencers on social media are people who’ve built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a particular subject. Do you follow any influencers online? Have you made a purchase or tried something new because of that ‘influence’? If there’s one you particularly enjoy tell us who they are and why you enjoy them. 

The type of influencers we follow online are well known and knowledgeable teachers of the Bible who have proven they believe and teach the inerrancy of the Bible for all areas of life. We regard them as the best influencers out there.

Grace to You, John MacArthur, Ligonier, R.C. Sproul, Master’s Seminary, Tim Challies, Sinclair Ferguson, Keith and Kristyn Getty,  just to name a few.

We have purchased books, commentaries and music influenced by these folks. Keith and Kristyn Getty’s music is exceptional.

There are many ‘false teachers’ that we avoid like the plague.

The other type of following we do are the ‘how to people’, like ‘how to replace the hot water thermostat’, or ‘how to smoke a brisket’, or ‘how to clean your oven racks’.

On the lighter side of things this granny is fun to watch…

https://www.youtube.com/@memesrecipessc  Meme is a hoot to watch and I love her closing line! She is a cooking in the kitchen influencer.

I also like the jewelry this young gal is creating for sale; Nicole Joy Jewelry Design

https://www.instagram.com/nicolejoyjewelrydesign/?hl=en

https://06e86a-2.myshopify.com/

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

These two get to enjoy the snow with joy and then their mom adds more fun with these frozen colored water balloons to decorate their snow castle.

It’s still winter out there!

Update on our Water Heater, the parts arrived early and we should have hot water before this post is published on Wednesday. PTL! And yes, we do have hot water thanks to Greg!

Happy Hodgepodge, I’m looking forward to reading your tips.

My Birthday Hodgpodge

It’s just about time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Joyce From This Side of the Pond asks the questions and we answer them. Here are the questions for Volume 344!

1. Best place you’ve been lately?

The best place I’ve been lately is under the same roof with our little grand watching all her new skills and quirks and expressions. We just returned home after spending four days with her and her dear parents.

2. What’s something you should say yes to today? Or this week? Or even this year?

Yes to letting things go and not regretting that I let them go.

3. Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in any way, shape, or form? If so tell us how. In Western cultures the color green is typically associated with jealousy, nature, good luck, and growth. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘green’?

Some years I do set a St. Patrick’s Day table and most years we enjoy some corned beef and cabbage.

The first thing that came to my mind on the subject of green was my kitchen. Our home has many shades of green in it and on it’s exterior, too. We happen to live in the Evergreen state and Seattle is the Emerald city we are happily surrounded by all kinds of green year round.

4. What’s a product or service you love so much you’d happily be their spokesperson? Tell us what makes you such a fan.

I can highly recommend Grace to You and their daily broadcasts and sermon archives. The faithfulness of John MacArthur in teaching the truth of the Bible verse by verse makes me a fan. Dependable, consistent, accurate handling of the Word of God is the best resource to have for life.

While we were at Dan and Jamie’s they pulled out their super duper butter mill to spread on hamburger buns before grilling the buns. We were really impressed with the ease of spreading butter using one of these mills. Here’s what they look like. If you use real butter I would highly recommend one of these gadgets.

5. March 14th is Pi Day. How are your math skills? What’s the last thing you did that required math of any kind? And most importantly do you like pie? What’s your favorite kind? With ice cream, whipped cream, or please hold the cream?

March 14th happens to be my birthday and this year I’m turning 67. How did that happen? I do have some math skills and I had to use those skills to figure out how old I was turning this year.

Berry pies are my favorite kind of pie or fresh strawberry and fresh peach.  Al a mode or as my pop would say “pie alamo” is good for the berry pies and the fresh pies require nothing on top for me.

I do NOT like Cherry pie. The texture of the cherries in cherry pie do not appeal to my palate. When I was young one of my aunts served cherry pie and I took a bite and did not like it. She made me eat the whole piece anyway even though it made me gag. Ever since then I’ve turned my nose up and refuse to eat cherry pie. For that reason and many others I did not like this aunt. Just typing this makes me realize I need to talk to God about my ill feelings toward her and forgive her in my heart since she died several years ago.

Boysenberry pie was probably the first kind of pie I had growing up from Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California. My mother did not bake pies when I was young or even into my teen years.

This is a photo that I love of my parents from Knott’s Berry Farm taken sometime in the 1950’s.  Knott’s Berry Farm was one of the very few places we ever ate out as a family. We enjoyed their popular fried chicken dinner with their famous boysenberry pie for dessert. A very special treat for all of us.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Thanking God for another year in the books and for what this new year holds for our family. Lots of changes are coming and I pray that things will move along smoothly.  Asking God to provide the right home and the strength to make this big move. Also asking God to lead and guide our youngest and her hubby as he completes his degree in June and he looks for a job somewhere in these United States which will mean a move and a new place to live for them, too. Moving is the theme for the majority of our immediate family in 2018.

An update on my dear old pop. He is spending more of his day in bed these days. His eyesight has deteriorated enough that he can no longer read his Bible or do his jigsaw puzzles. He has got to be so bored! Hopefully he will have his major heavenly move this year, Lord willing.