Moving on Monday!

So, today's supposed to be the last of the summer-like weather. A cold front moving in tonight will bring rain and drop the temperature 20 degrees F. (back to where they should be this time of the year.

With that in mind, I quickly changed clothes and went outside. I drained the reflecting pool after taking out the water lily. Then I covered it with a board wrapped in plastic and put rocks on top of that. Next, I went way in back and pulled out the two tomato plants, put them on the compost heap and cleaned up the fallen tomatoes. Walking back to the house, I picked up as many fallen branches as I could.

Back inside, it was now 6:30 PM and I am hungry. I was going to make this dish over the weekend, but never got to it, but tonight I'm making a Pastie (pronounced "Pass-tee").

Made originally as a meal for the miners of Cornwall, England, Pasties date back about 800 years. Wives would bake meat and vegetables in a crust and wrap it in many layers of linens or newspapers for their husband's lunch. It provided a warm and filling meal in the cold, damp mines. Pasties arrived in Michigan over 150 years ago with immigrants who came to work in the iron and copper mines in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The Pastie provided a hot and nutritious meal that had good holding capacity and could be eaten anywhere. This full-bodied flavor soon became a favorite with locals and visitors alike. A trip to Northern Michigan is not complete without a Pastie.

Now, I was first introduced to them by Mrs. Gauthier, who lived across the road when I was growing up. The family had come from the Upper Peninsula, which is where she learned to make them. Her's were huge, golden pies, filled with potatoes, onions, cubed round steak and another vegetable I can't remember. However, the recipe I found came from Cornwall and there is no other vegetable mentioned.

So, first I made the dough and rolled it out to two 10 inch circles (well, I say "circles" but, because I so infrequently bake, I'm not so good at rolling "circles" and they looked more like "amoebas"). Then I thin sliced two potatoes and a medium onion and layered them half way across the circle, leaving about an inch of dough showing at the edges. I added salt, pepper and dried parsley on top of them. Next, I took half a round steak, cut it into cubes and piled it on top. I pulled the other half of the dough over top, crimped the edges and cut three slits in the top.

They went on a greased cookie sheet and into a 400 degree F. oven for 45 minutes. Then, I turned the oven down to 325 degrees F., poured a teaspoon of water in each slit and put them back in for 15 minutes more.

Okay, so they weren't pretty, not by a long shot, but the one I ate was good (Oh, it was good!) but they didn't taste like Mrs. Gauthier's. And, I can't help but think it was that missing vegetable. I know it WASN"T carrots (even though the ones you get up north have carrots in them now). It was something odd, either parsnips or rutabagas. If anybody knows, let me know, please.

So, I cleaned up the mess (not too bad except for the flour), loaded the dishwasher and went to watch TV. How are the cats doing? Well, Caley is walking around the house a lot more freely. But, whenever she and Scruffy come across each other, there is a lot of hissing and ungodly high-pitched growling from both of them, then they back off, stiff-legged. Poor Scruffy has been sleeping in the living room instead of on my bed (Caley's staked that out as hers). So, last night, I did sit in the living room with him on my lap and petted him for a good 20 minutes talking to him, so he won't feel too neglected.

Oh, I posted the poem I finished this week (the one that started with a phrase). It's called Old Timer's Lament. Went to sleep at 10:00 PM.