Lil' Ole Pie Maker, Me!

Hi all, Dianne here.  I'll explain more about the pie-making saga later, but first, here's a short trip down full-timing memory lane:

We began our full-timing journey in December, 2008.  Our first non-traditional Christmas Day (2008) was spent strolling around beautiful Savannah, Georgia.

Christmas, 2009 found us in Kerrville, Texas, fresh from our stint working Amazon's 2009 Christmas rush in Coffeyville, Kansas, and on our way to Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort next door here in Mission.  A highlight was viewing the amazing Christmas Lights in Johnson City, near Kerrville.

Christmas, 2010 found us on Malibu Beach in California, spending our first Christmas in a long time with daughter, Robyn.  (Not a bad view, huh?!)

This Christmas was our first spent at our winter home at Retama Village in Mission, Texas.  This is such a special community that we wanted to take part in helping with their special Christmas dinner. Our planning meetings went smoothly, with an organized gal at the helm (Barb B.) and a little -- well, maybe a lot of wine to keep the good ideas flowing.  


One of my favorite parts of Christmases past, other than spending it with family, was the holiday baking.   My friends and family know that I LOVE
pie.  I also enjoy cooking, but don't do as much these days because our eating habits have changed to a healthier diet (which does not include pie).  During our first meeting when assignments were being hashed out, I heard the words come out of my mouth "I want to make all the pies."   Where did that come from?  Must have been the wine! What in the world made me think I could pull off making and baking pies for 90 people??  


Well, the offer was made and accepted, so the challenge for me was to somehow pull it off.  The other committee members I think knew how crazy it was, so they all offered any help that I needed.

The crusts were made the weekend before, rolled out and frozen for the big day.  I used my favorite pie crust recipe, from one of my favorite cookbooks, "Cooking with Dave's Mom" by David Letterman's mom.

Christmas Eve was baking day.  The committee met at the Retama clubhouse at 8:00 a.m.  I had lots of help with peeling and slicing apples and moral support, as I began to freak out when the pecan pies refused to look done.    I finally gave up and pulled them from the oven, then laid awake that night worrying that they would be a runny mess when it came time to serve them.  Luckily, they were fine, and this being Texas (pecan country) it was the most requested of the four varieties.  (Apple crumb, pumpkin, pecan, and Door County Cherry, a special recipe suggested by Barb B.).


17 pies later, the last were pulled from the oven a little after 4:00 p.m., and we all went home to rest up for the next day.

Christmas morning we were back at the clubhouse and it was another busy, busy day.  Dinner was to be served at 3:00.  The committee began the day with mimosas and baked goodies furnished by Barb.  

Barb's husband, Ron, was the meat master, and spent all day in the outdoor kitchen preparing the prime rib and ham.  (The meat was beyond wonderful).

My friend, Sue, prepared the scalloped potatoes and helped prepare the Red Lobster rolls for last-minute baking.

Sue also made Krumkake, a traditional Norwegian light rolled cookie.   I had never heard of them before, and suggested she make a sign so folks would know what they are.  Silly me, being from Indiana, I forget that South Texas is largely populated in the winter from those in North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.  They knew what Krumkake was, and were quite excited to see them!

Roger took my photo behind the dessert bar, with some of my creations.

We paused for a group photo for a job well done.  I'm trying something new and listing links to the recipes we used.  Most of these are mine; the cranberry jello salad was the one we used at the dinner, and lots of people were clamoring for the recipe for that, so I'm including it here.   I uploaded the recipes from my Mastercook files to my computer, then uploaded them from there to Evernote, a web link service.  Merry Christmas!

Door County Cherry Pie
Pecan Pie
Flaky Pie Crust
Perfect Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Retama's Good Cranberry Jello Salad

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were drizzly and cold here (50s), although we were too busy to notice.  It has since warmed up and the sun has returned for some sunny winter days in the 70s.  The pet photos of the day show a very happy Charlie the cat on our Mexican Olive Tree, harking back to his free days in Indiana before we began fulltiming.  

He was an outdoor cat in those days, free to roam the neighborhood, climb trees and pergolas, even the neighbor's roof.  He has to be tied up here, though, which he's not happy about.  Problem is, he is not street smart in the ways of Texas, and does not know what rattlesnakes and coyotes are, or the circling hawks and crested caracaras.  Sorry, Charlie, this is as much outdoor activity as you're going to get here in Texas!  

Bandido was a happy guy, too, 'cause Doggie Santa brought him some yummy treats and squeaky balls.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Hi all, Dianne here.  This will be the first Christmas since 2007 that we will have a "house" to decorate, tiny though it is.  It was fun to dig out the very few Christmas decorations that we'd stored away, and added a few new ones, too.  

This charming Nativity scene was purchased in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico last April before we left the Valley.  I love it because it reminds me of the warm, friendly people who populate this area of deep south Texas, or "Texico" as some folks call it.

A favorite decoration was given to us by our dear friend Nancy R. when Roger's mom passed away; it reminds us both of Nancy and Roger's mom, and it's beautiful besides (the photo doesn't do it justice).  It's very fragile, so it has been packed safely away since 2007 and we're glad to see it again.  

We have our little LED tree in the front window, so that it shows from outside.


Roger got into the spirit, installed hooks, and strung "snowflake" lights outside:

Yesterday, Roger finished up by decorating the patio outside and stringing lights over the pergola:

Retama is such a special community:  Last season they had a fundraiser to purchase new Christmas decorations for the clubhouse.  You might think it was a simple matter of purchasing new lights, etc.  Well, not here!  The work began last March -- Quilts were made, shopping went on all summer, and the end result was magical!  My photos wouldn't do it justice, but here's just a sample, showing the outdoor fountain. 


Roger and I attended the open house to unveil the new decorations, and it was packed.


Better photos of the beautiful decor can be found on the Retama Holiday Blog, a blog put together by the gals who did the lion's share of the decorating, and chronicled their progress.  Check it out!


The neighborhood is also sponsoring the local children's home for Christmas, so today I was able to do a little Christmas shopping for a young boy and little girl.  If that doesn't put you into a Christmas mood, nothing will!  

Despite the greenery and lights, it's still warm and beautiful here in Mission, TX.  We attended our final butterfly walk last Friday morning, and John, one of our guides, found a beautiful Sphinx moth for us to inspect.

Here's a beautiful sunrise I saw one warm morning as I drank coffee and watched the birds on my patio.  You might think it would be difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when it's so sunny and warm most days.  Well, I'm here to tell you that the warm people down here more than make up for a change of seasons.  Y'all can keep the snow and gray skies up north!

The pet photo of the day shows how the action is picking up at our "play dates" at the dog park!  Bandido can be seen in the center top in the background, chasing a brown dog at full speed.  Tomorrow is December 1, and someone at the dog park this morning said that 42 RVs are scheduled to arrive at the adjacent RV park tomorrow!  The same folks come back year after year to spend the winter at Bentsen Palm Village, so if you want to visit, you'll need to make a reservation by early March.  That's a sure sign of a very special place!  

The Getty Museum, The Grove (Mall), and Christmas with Robyn

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Roger here...  Our daughter Robyn was with us for most of our last three days in California.  On Thursday we made plans to spend a few hours at the Getty Museum, but before we could go, we helped Robyn with the last stages of cleaning her apartment in anticipation of the arrival of her new roommate, Amy (sp?), and her mother. 


Dianne took a couple pictures of the flowers in the gated courtyard and her huge lemon tree.  She then stole one of the lemons.  

The Getty Center is an amazing place, like no other museum we have visited, and it's free!  (Except for the $15 parking fee :-(.  After parking we needed to choose our mode of transportation to the top of the hill where the museum sat.  Our choices were a half-hour walk, or a comfy tram.  We chose the tram.  It really was chilly that day.  The views from the top of the hill and all the outdoor areas were amazing.  Our pictures do not do it justice.  We will need to return at another time (on a warm day)                              just to wander through the gardens.  We ate a quick lunch and then on to the exhibits.

I am not an art expert by any stretch of the imagination, but my favorite was the Iris painting by Van Gogh.

Christmas eve morning started with a beautiful sunrise over the water.   After the morning coffee, dog walks, etc., we picked up Robyn and headed to the mall.   I would normally groan at this point, but this mall (The Grove) was really fun.  

It is an outdoor mall that is adjacent to the Los Angeles Farmer's Market.  We started with a Starbucks and then wandered down the streets.  The Christmas displays were fun (glad not to be in the Santa line).  Dianne, with some urging from Robyn, had a great time modeling clothing that she would never wear. 

 Dianne here:  the only shopping I did was at the Three Dog Bakery:


There were even double-decker buses to shuttle shoppers from store to store.  We ended our mall-time by seeing a movie, The Little Fockers.  I love to laugh and this movie fit the bill.

  Robyn spent the night with us at the motor home on Christmas Eve.  Christmas day was a quiet day of watching the ocean and of course eating.  Robyn was busy with a project most of the time, which was great.  It reminded us of the many wonderful years we had with her.  (Dianne here:  It truly was just like when she lived at home; she always had a project of some type.)

The Whippet Picture(s) of the Day are a series of pictures portraying our three sons (including Big Chuck - the cat), enjoying the "presents" that Dianne bought for them at the Three Dog Bakery at the mall.  

(Charlie's was leftover salmon).  We will be off the grid for a few days while we drive to Texas, so if there's a delay in publishing any of your comments, that's why.  See y'all!!  

A Malibu Christmas

Roger here....   Well, we moved from the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to sunny (hah!)  Malibu.  The Malibu Beach RV Park sits on a bluff overlooking the Dan Blocker Beach on the Pacific Coast Highway, a walk away from Cher's house.  Our stay here is our  (Dianne and my) Christmas gifts to each other.  This is a high-end place -- highlighted by the spectacular views.  When you can see them.

We arrived on Sunday, a windy, wet day.  The first of many.   Our site is on a bluff with a direct view of the beach.  Sweet.  The Pacific Coast Highway is directly below us, but because we are on a cliff we cannot see it.  We had the option of backing in or pulling in so that we could see the ocean from the front. 

 Obviously, we pulled in.  It was a pain to run the hookups diagonally under the motor home to the hook-up station, but the view was worth it --  gray though it was.   

The view looked a little more festive after dark, but note the wet drops on the windshield.  They did not disappear for days.  (The Merry Christmas scroll was my Mom's -- good memories).


RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN....  If you followed the news this week, you know that it rained constantly here.  When they closed the Pacific Coast Highway just north of us (still closed) due to a mudslide over the roadway, we were a little concerned about our motor home -- and us.  Remember we are on a vertical bluff directly over the highway.  Being from the flatlands, we really did not understand the mudslide thing.  Now we do.  We took a couple of pics of the dirt bluffs south of us along the Pacific Coast Highway (where it's still open), to show how scary it could be.

Watching the ocean, what we could see of it, was fascinating for us, but after a while the gloomy view forced us to find something else to do.  I read a novel on my Kindle.  Dianne became domestic, preparing to cook some of our daughter, Robyn's, favorite foods for Christmas day.  

(Dianne here:  Robyn has been performing on cruise ships the past two years, so this is the first holiday we've been able to spend with her since Thanksgiving 2007.   We had a fun evening at El Torito's last night, and I wanted to take a photo of her with her ever-present iPhone.  She kept making faces at me at the last minute, and after ten tries, I finally got one.  By that time I was laughing and giggling so hard it was difficult to hold the camera still.

Wednesday morning....   Look!  Is that a bright area under the dark gray clouds?  I think it is.  We have not seen a bright spot in the sky for who knows when.  

Notice the line in the ocean that separates the dark water from the brown water?  The brown water is obviously run-off from a nearby canyon.  Interesting for a former science teacher.  Glad that we and our motor home are not part of the run-off!

When I took the "boys" for their morning walk on Wednesday, it was clear enough to get a couple of shots of our motor home above the pathway.  

The dog-walk area here is probably the most scenic of any we have experienced, even though Chaplin is not always inspired to pee.  He's been known to stubbornly go two days without peeing if the conditions aren't to his liking.  Probably too pretty!?

After our walk, we were finally able to enjoy the view from our picnic table in front of the motor home.

I can see CLEARLY now the rain is gone!  Dianne (not me) took some beautiful sunset pictures.

Soon to come...  Three days with our daughter, Robyn:  the Getty art museum, shopping and a movie, and a quiet Christmas day looking at the beach and eating Dianne's delicious food.  The only way to make it more perfect would be to have our other daughter, Amanda, and our granddaughter, Kaia, with us as well.  Maybe.... some time in the future?


The Whippet Picture of the Day....  Chaplin -- having a nightmare of five days of rain making it difficult for his gentle bladder to pee on command.