Wow, when I heard the teaser for this on the news, I thought it was me, cause I got a little testy with Ann - sheez! There's been times when I felt like bringing a stick or a flyswatter to chambers, you know, give 'em a good switching, they make me so mad sometimes.

There's been many times I felt like bringing a pie, cause I had one that turned out really well and I wanted to share, but I bet I wouldn't make it halfway up the aisle before they all hit the floor.

SQUASH PIE (read the book, Squash Pie, by Glenn Rounds, at the library. I got this recipe out of my grandma's Grange Desserts Cook Book)

Get whatever kind of 9 inch pie shell you want, leave it unbaked.

peel, cut up and par boil (5 min) some squash, whatever kind. I got enough crook neck right now to feed a army. Run it under cold water to cool it and put it in the blender. you need 1 cup of pulp for this recipe but you can use the extra for a substitute in banana bread too. Or make another pie later cause you gonna love this.

Heat two cups of milk until it foams up ("scalding") and turn it off. Then mix two/thirds cup of sugar with whatever spices you want, like pumpkin pie, cinnamon, etc. Then stir in a egg and beat it for a minute. Then stir in your squash and beat it for a minute. Then, real slow, a little at a time, stir in your hot milk. Don't burn yourself, nothing like a milk burn. Kinda beat it real careful.

When that's smooth, pour it in your crust and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. It should be firm on top and when you stick a knife in it should hold the little slot firm. You should let it cool before you eat it. I know - go run around the house 10 times, it makes the dogs happy.

What I love about this pie is, it keeps the squash out of the composter, and, you can tell yourself it's good for you. And it's cheaper than pumpkin pie pulp. People over 40 should use non-fat milk, those big-butts.

Fire in the hole.

Mmmm pie.

I'm packing a concealed hangover today. And I don't have a permit. Pie good, beer bad.

Lon

Guessssss what! We found Daniel Boones' grandson's grave!

Yep. Alphonso Boone. In O-ville! Well, above O-ville, in a place called Long Bar. Used to be a gold camp. Now it's just a little tiny graveyard surrounded by chain link, buried waaaaay up in the woods. There's Campbells buried there but I don't think it's the Campbellville cemetary, I think that's over near Cohasset.

We googled Alphonso Boone, very interesting. He lived in Independence MO, where "he engaged in outfitting caravans and trading.." He was there in 41 when Bidwell came through, probably met him even. Then in about 1848, he came out to Oregon with his 6 kids after the wife died and homesteaded a bunch of acres. In his pocket he carried his grandfather's famous surveying tools (cool!). Then, in 49, they came to California to join in the Gold Rush, and Alphonso got "a fever" in 1850 and died. The kids, mostly grown by this time, all went back to Oregon, where they owned "Boones' Ferry", which operated until 1954 on the Willamette River.

I thought that was damned sad, just dying out in the middle of nowhere, but no more sad than any story from my family's little history book. No more sad than a million stories of the settling of this great state of ours.

We were taken there on bikes, I did not see a road nearby, but maybe somebody else knows how to get there in a car. Luckily we had studied Daniel Boone just last year in school or my kids wouldn't have given a fig about it. When I was a kid, he was bigger than Lew Alcindor.

Yeah, hangover bad. Get some canned menudo, it's better than nothing. Although, they serve a pretty good bowl of menudo over at that restaurant on west 9th street, used to be Los Amigos, can't remember what it's called now.

Well now I will stand before the Captain and see if I will pass. I hate the characters, I always think I see certain letters, but the Captain says otherwise. I wish he would just ask me a simple question, like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWS8Mg-JWSg

7:47 and it's already bikini time. yeeee-haw! It's been so hot I can't keep my glasses from sliding off my nose.

Well, I found out something exciting. You can substitute banana pulp for the squash in your squash pie, and you get, banana cream pie! Gosh, I'm getting to be such a good cook these days, I gotta knock it off. We had to take old Myrt (that's what I call my butt, it's gotten so big it demands a name...) for a ride in the park last night. We fired up the old Schwinn Twin and made the circuit from One Mile to Cedar Grove, hoping to burn off that first piece of pie so I could have another one. I took some quarters so I could go to Safeway for a little container of whip cream - oh, somebody stop me! Andy won't stop me cause he's German and they like a woman with 40 acres out back.

Near the bridge we encountered the Paynes. They said 'hi', we said 'hi'. It was a "small town" moment. We didn't encounter too many people, cause it's July, when the lemmings head for the cliff. Stay the hell away from camp grounds in July.

Oh, here comes the Garbage Man, up my little alley. Reminds me of some folks I met when I was a skate betty, hanging around outside the Crest Theater in Sacto. The gold pants chick asked me if I had a light, and I said, 'no, sorry, I don't smoke." and she said, "cool...": it was a also "small town" moment. I just live for those moments, snuggled in between the hours of unfriendliness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVLpaiH2hbQ