Darling Blackberry Pie

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." -Emily Dickinson



But I just have to share this pie recipe! I usually make this pie using raspberries -fresh berries to celebrate the first raspberries of the season, or frozen (2-10 ounce containers defrosted and drained well) for out of season celebrations like Valentine's Day. I acquired the recipe from one of my husband's coworkers years ago. She gave me a xeroxed copy from a cookbook by Renny Darling and that's why I call this Darling Pie rather than Cream Cheese Pie with Raspberries and Chocolate. It was my son's idea to use blackberries here -and what a great idea!

Darling Pie

Adapted from The Joy of Eating French Food by Renny Darling

In Pyrex pie dish in preheating (to 350 degrees) oven, melt 1/3 -1/2 c. butter
In food processor reduce one packet of graham crackers to crumbs
Add 2-3 T. sugar and 1/2 c. pecans and process a bit more then add to melted butter. Mix and press into bottom and sides of pie dish to form a crust. Bake for 9+ minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on 1/2 c. chocolate chips. Do not be tempted to heap on more chips according to the 'more is always better' rule for chocolate. In this case it will make cutting the pie very difficult -if not down right impossible. Return dish to oven for one minute to melt the chocolate, then remove from oven and spread with the back of a spoon to form a thin layer of chocolate on the baked crust. Chill/Cool completely until chocolate hardens.

Whip 1 c. whipping cream and set aside.

Beat until light and fluffy:
8 oz. package Neufchatel Cheese
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
Beat in whipped cream on lowest setting just until mixed. Pour into chilled crust. I make a bit of a 'pond' shape in the center for the berry layer to fit into.

Fold together:
2-4 c. fresh picked ripe blackberries
1/2 c. melted blackberry jam
Spread over cream cheese mixture and chill for several hours.

Happy Mother's Day to Ewes!!!

Our grass is SO LUSH now. Today, it rained off and on, and it was still cool enough I wanted a coat for going outside. Nevertheless, I insist that summer is here. Why? Because the barn swallows returned today. Just as their leaving marks the beginning of winter for me, their return marks the beginning of summer. They return, the same as my mother who winters in Mexico does, sometime between May Day and Mothers Day. The sound of the barn swallows flitting in and out of the open barn windows is the background hum of our summers here and their return brings great joy and happiness to my heart.



After keeping our two newest lambs inside and separated for over a week, they joined the rest of the flock today. I worry about the wee little things -the bigger lambs are a bit rough and pushy, the pastures are so big, they don't know about electric fences yet......I'd prefer to keep all young things (incidentally, tonight is senior prom night for my youngest) totally safe and protected forever, but you can't keep little lambs (or teenage girls) locked up forever. Before putting them out with the rest of the flock, I brought my other two ewes in and they all had the sheep equivalent of a mini spa treatment: they got their hooves trimmed and...well, with all the good spring grass and the nice wool on my ewes, they needed what shepherd's call crutching or crotching...I sheared their butts. Happy Mother's Day to Ewes!!!