On to my other project. I actually finished making all the slip covers – eight of them – for the lawn chairs this past weekend. We have a lot of different lawn chairs (the zero gravity ones are the most comfortable) – but the covers are for the regular lawn chairs. You know the metal fold-up kind with the woven, vinyl webbing – but, they are starting to look a little tired. I bought cushions for the seats last year – but that made the backs of the chairs look bad . . . so I knew something had to be done to make them look better. It was a little difficult to find fabric that would – at best – sort of match the 2 sides (floral and plaid). So I opted for stripes. With our limited local shopping – that was the best I could do. Major Sigh…..

It probably took me as long to make the pattern and sew the first cover as it did to stitch the remaining seven. That first cover took a little trial and error to get in the groove. But, once I got started, it was just like an assembly line. I’m pleased with the way they turned out and…. best of all they are washable. Kept the pattern in case I want to stitch up some new ones if I find fabric I like better or if I decide to make some covers for the metal chairs.

These could have been made a little simpler so that they just slipped on like a pillow case – no frills – but I wanted them to have at least a little flair. To do this I cut the fabric so they would have a pleat on either side when the two side bows that hold them on were tied. Made the ties out of the same fabric and embroidered the ends so they wouldn’t unravel in the wash. The fabric which is a light weight canvas had a tendency to ravel – badly. After I’d finished them all, I made a major decision to go back and overcast all the inside seams. I knew if I didn’t, my luck would be that they would come apart the first time I washed them.

One more thing I did that was more trouble was to make the back of the cover a little shorter than the front so that it stops at the arm rests. Had I made the back as long as the front, it would have had a loose flap of fabric hanging down. Would not have liked that look. While these certainly wouldn’t win any awards – they serve the purpose and I saved quite a bit of $$$ by doing it myself.

And – finally got a couple of pictures of the deck with the icicle lights on. Much more difficult to get a good night picture than I would have thought – even with the night photo setting turned on. At any rate – you’ll get the idea. It is very pretty out on the deck, but it’s been so hot – even after dark – that we’ve not spent much time out there.

We took a drive down some East Texas country roads until we found a nursery (recommended by Cousin Joe) that sold fruit trees suited to this area. The old gentleman running it had all kinds of trees – pear, plum, peach and apple. I didn’t know you could grow apples here in Texas. He took us out into the ‘patch’ where he had them growing. Coming from the city, I’m used to buying my trees, plants, etc. from the nurseries there in pots – big pots! Not here. These trees appeared to be growing right in the ground. Hmmmmm…surely they MUST be in pots in the ground, I just couldn’t see the pots….right? Nope. When we picked our trees he yanked them right up – roots and all! I was stunned. There was a little dirt hanging on to the roots – but he make quick work of that and washed it right off!! OK, so now we’ve got pear trees with no limbs and naked roots. They look like walking sticks that need to be trimmed. The whole time I’m wondering…’can these things survive?!’ The old gentleman running the shop – seemed confident they would – so we brought them home. On getting home (power is back on – yeah!!) we immediately set out to plant our two stick pear trees. It is supposed to start raining and getting really, really cold, and I’m not letting those roots be exposed to any more air than necessary. We put them in the orchard area and planted them according to Mr. Russel’s directions. So right now my pear trees are planted per instructions, getting soaked in the rain and likely to freeze tonight. I have high hopes for them though. When they start producing they’ll have crisp pears (don’t like those mushy ones) and be good for eating or cooking.

This link is for a good half-sugar free recipe for a pear crisp. Pears are also good when used in pies with apples, plums and peaches.

And if, you’re looking for an alternative pear recipe, we like upside-down pear cake. Using a store bought cake mix makes it easy. My version is to use only half of the cake mix (per box directions), 2-3 sliced pears, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.

Mix up half (or less) of the cake mix (my secret to a better boxed cake is to add an extra egg, add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon vanilla and use real butter instead of oil).

In a round baking dish or flan pan, place 1 tablespoon of thin butter slices on the bottom. Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar over the butter, shake a little cinnamon over the brown sugar and then lay the pear slices on top in a circle.

Pour the cake batter over the top and bake at 325-330 degrees until done. Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes and then turn cake out onto a flat plate and enjoy!

I first bought a package of chocolate ‘CandiQuick’ candy coating and a package of foil muffin cups at the store. I planned to fill my chocolate cups  with cherry flavored ice cream – but now that I’m writing this I just had a thought – wouldn’t vanilla ice cream with raspberry Chambord Liquer poured over it be wonderful with a couple of fresh raspberries on top…and maybe a mint leaf on the plate?

This was my first attempt so I only melted half of the chocolate in the microwave (fortunately) following – I thought – the package directions.

Word of caution: you should know that the chocolate does NOT get liquefied when heated – it only gets soft.   But since I didn’t know that – I continued to ‘nuke’ the chocolate – basically cooking it until it was beyond stirring.  It looked like a bad batch of fudge. Tossed that out and started over. This time I microwaved the remaining chocolate for the 45 seconds recommended – and stopped. It was thick but pliable enough to get into the foil muffin cups.

The foil cups I bought came with paper liners which I tossed – figured the foil wouldn’t stick – the paper might.   Spooned enough melted chocolate into the cups to cover the bottom and sides  using a spoon . . . but I’m thinking a brush might work just as well or better.   It was a little hard to keep an even level of chocolate – particularly in the bottoms.  Placed the chocolated muffin cups  in a low dish and chilled in the refrigerator until hard. This didn’t take long and once they were firm, I carefully peeled off the outer foil wrapper. I was somewhat surprised that this was as easy as it was. The chocolate cups  kept their shape and  didn’t crack or break.  Filled them up with the cherry ice cream and served.

This is something you could easily make ahead and keep in the freezer to serve the next day. If I have another go at this, think I’ll try melting the chocolate in either the oven or a double-boiler – for some reason seems to me it would be easier on the chocolate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

• 1 9-inch pie shell (unbaked – homemade or store bought.  Shortbread pie crust is really good with this pie.)
• 3 Large eggs (beaten)
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 1/2 Cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 Cup dark corn syrup
• 2 Tablespoons REAL butter (melted)
• 3 Tablespoons Bourbon ( or maybe a smidgen more )
• 1/4 Teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup fresh pecans chopped (you can use whole ones if you like)

Prepare the crust in a pie pan but do not bake.

Filling Preparation:

• Beat eggs in a large bowl. (By hand or use electric mixer)
• Add the brown sugar into the beaten eggs ( Make sure all of the sugar dissolves and there are no lumps)
• Stir in remaining ingredients: corn syrups, butter, salt, Bourbon and pecans
• Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the center is set.

About half way through check the crust edges to see if they are not getting too brown. If so, use some aluminum foil or a pie edge cover to protect the crust.

A good rule of thumb for doneness is to watch for the top to ‘bubble and crack’. When I see this I take the pie out. You do not want to over bake.

Cool before serving and refrigerate any leftover pie.

In our opinion this pie is just like a pot of stew – always better the next day . . . . if we can wait!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 Pint of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla (or a good vanilla ice cream of your choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon of Rum Flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon of Nutmeg
• 1/2 package of Sweet-n-Low (individual size)
• 12 drops of yellow food coloring

Scoop all of the ice cream into a large stainless steel bowl. Then add in all the ingredients. Mix with a large spoon until creamy. The nutmeg and food coloring should be evenly blended, and you should have a consistent color throughout.

Spoon the ice cream back into the original ice cream container and place in the freezer. Let it harden for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

PS – You can make this a ‘no-sugar-added’ ice cream by using a ‘Diet’ ice cream. I have not tried this recipe with ‘sugarfree’ ice cream – but would be interested to know if it turns out as tasty.