Amish Oatmeal Pie Recipe

OATMEAL PIE RECIPE
Have you ever heard of Amish Oatmeal Pie?  Evidently, during the Civil War, pecans were in short supply in the South, making them very expensive. People would substitute oatmeal for the pecans, resulting in this delicious oatmeal pie that tastes similar to a pecan pie. I’ve only had pecan pie a handful of times in my life and I actually prefer this oatmeal pie over pecan pie. This recipe, however, doesn’t come from a Southern cookbook, but from my Amish cookbook. I’m sure both know how to make a good pie!

This sweet pie bakes up soft and gooey. Every bite brought a different food to mind. A bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar. A cinnamon roll. Oatmeal Cookies.  Pecan pie. Oatmeal is one of those versatile ingredients that is in so many comfort foods of ours. And this pie is one of my new favorites.
Amish Oatmeal Pie Recipe -
HOW TO MAKE OATMEAL PIE
You’ll start with an unbaked pie shell. You’ll find our favorite recipe here, but if you’d like a shortcut, use store-bought pie dough. 
Next comes the filling. This is one of the easiest pie fillings you’ll come across: 3 beaten eggs, 2 tablespoons softened butter, 2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, 2/3 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2/3 cup white sugar, and 1 cup of Domino® Pourable Light Brown Sugar. The brown sugar is what gives this pie an unbelievable taste.

Mix all of the ingredients and pour them into the unbaked 9-inch pie shell. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 45-50 minutes. The center of the pie should look fully cooked and not seem “jiggly”.The pie will come out soft, but not so soft that it can’t be cut into slices. As you can see from the picture, there will be just a little bit of syrup that oozes out…perfect for spooning over a scoop of ice cream. And the ice cream is a must!

Uncluttering

The last two days I have been decluttering. Decluttering is a wonderful experience. It lifts a weight off your shoulders you can't believe unless you get down to doing it.  Yesterday and today I worked on the small room that serves as Butch's office in our closet and a catch-all for everything that we don't know what to do with. I have two large bags full of stuff to take to give to somebody else. I am taking it uptown to the new place that has recycled stuff. It's where the Ben Franklin store used to be. After getting rid of a whole bunch of excess, I sat down at the computer and happened to land upon Howard and Linda Payne’s journal. We met Howard and Linda in Michigan at the Thunder Bay RV Resort in Hillman Michigan. They are a very interesting couple who took to full-timing in their 40s and found ways to make a living. I am putting a link to their latest journal entry in the blog today and it's worth checking out, especially the video. It's about decluttering your life. It fell right into what I was doing the last few days and the elated feeling it gave me.  We also enjoyed the uncluttered life of full-time RVing. It is so easy to accumulate but you just can't do it when you live in an RV. We have always purged every fall getting ready to go south because we would have a ‘table sale’ in Allen hall in Magnolia Park. We would only do it one month out of the year because garage selling is not our favorite thing to do.  This year is different because we will be in a different park and we don't know the routine. So we'll play it safe and dispose of our excess before we leave Iowa. Yeah!!

http://www.rv-dreams.typepad.com/

In case this link doesn't work I'm going to put a direct link to the YouTube video about uncluttering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=rFvia-EPUhc

Mice Hate Peppermint*

Mice hate peppermint

I read an RV newsletter entry where they were talking about Electronic Pest Repellent. They were wanting to know if it worked. I, on the other hand, have been using peppermint. My walking partner has a spray that she uses around her garage to keep mice away. She has used it for years and it contains peppermint. I had recently run across an article about using homemade peppermint spray to repel mice and spiders and other insects. I bought a big bottle of pure peppermint oil from Amazon and made this recipe.
Peppermint Mice Repellent 
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon pure peppermint oil
4 or 5 drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid
 Put these things into a spray bottle. Shake slightly and spray away. One other benefit of this spray is that with fruit flies and gnats you can spray them on your kitchen counter and it will not be toxic. You can spray them in mid-air and they drop like a rock. I'm going to keep up the battle of spraying with peppermint oil and hope like heck the answer is true, that mice do not like peppermint.

Voice to typing makes me wordier

I put together a recipe the other day called Crock-Pot spaghetti.  The outcome was a little bit overdone on the spaghetti part. I had a recipe for this years ago and looked for it but couldn't find it. The one I used was not the old one. But what I've discovered is I can modify it and make it work. With all the sauce ingredients pre-cooked or even crockpot cooked except for the spaghetti, you can add 2 cups of water to the crockpot, add the broken up spaghetti and cook it for one hour and it should be fine. I will try this in the future.
Yesterday Butch and I went to Ogden for the football game. Great-nephew Devon is working with the media/tech section of the school. He is one of the people running video and he's also part of the football team's manager crew. So while the game is taking place he is one busy boy. It was definitely football weather last night. The game score was a route. 54 to nothing. Ogden lost. I found out today that they were playing a team rated either third or fourth in the entire state. It looked that uneven. My sister Jayne, Devon's grandmother, would be very proud of him. I am very proud of him. He has been through a lot in his young life and is still a fine young man.

Our thoughts are turning South. It is a short three weeks before we'll be on the road. There is a Par 3 Golf Course connected to the park that we will be in this next season. I am taking a few clubs in case I want to give golf another try. The jury is still out.
A cold front went through yesterday and this morning's temperature was 43 degrees.  That fact is enough to bring on a severe bout of hitch itch. It is supposed to warm up again into the 60s.
 That should be warm enough to make loading the motorhome quite pleasant.
The story of Floyd and Eva Foot.
When we first started going to the park they had to be in their seventies probably late 70s. I remember that Floyd was having trouble with his hip and could not ride a bicycle. He loved riding the bicycle. They lived in Iowa half of the year and when he returned to Iowa he decided to see a doctor about getting his hip fixed. The doctors came to the conclusion that he was too old for the surgery. This was Floyd's estimation. So he returned to Texas and found a doctor there to do the surgery that he wanted. It was successful. At ninety years of age, he was still riding his bicycle. Floyd lived to be well over a hundred. his wife Eva was a very active lady. She took up tidying up Allen Hall after events up till the time she left the park. The most surprising thing about Eva was that she was a pool champion. She was winning the women's tournament at Pool when she was in her 90s. I asked Eva once what she did to remain healthy. She told me she takes a shot of apple cider vinegar every day.

Our son Jason and his wife Laura have recently started the keto diet with great success and they have a metabolism boosting drink that they drink every evening and I decided to give it a try because it contains apple cider vinegar. I have been drinking this every evening now for over a month and although subtle I can tell the difference. I recently had a fasting blood draw and my blood sugar was 106. I have not had one that low for quite a few years. I would not qualify the way I have been eating as a diet. The drink can take a little getting used to but once you do get used to it it's not that bad. I even enjoy it now. I think Eva was onto something.

Here is the recipe if you’re interested.
Metabolising Booster drink
1 teaspoon No Salt brand substitute (It is a source of potassium. They sell it at Fareway)
1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt 
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice 
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I use the cheap stuff but the recipe calls for the kind with Mother)
8 ounces of water. (I use sparkling mineral water because I like it.)
Enjoy!!

Using the Trail?

I biked out to the big bridge today on the bike trail.
When I returned to town I decided to go by Mickey's but she wasn't home. So I came home.
I always have a gazillion things I could do. I never lack for imagination.
It is the gumption that may be lacking. I noticed I had an email from son Gary, titled 'Been on your trail '. I knew immediately what he was referring to and answered him right away. Here is our exchange:

From Gary-Was shocked to see this paragraph when reading about the suspect who stabbed to death the Iowa State golfer from Spain.

Two other witnesses told police that Richards asked them for a ride to Jefferson, Iowa, and had given them a knife, according to the complaint. While driving to Jefferson, Richards told the men he needed to return to the homeless encampment because he forgot his tent, according to the complaint.

My answer to him-Yeah, it kind of rocked my world. Ironically, I have just returned from a bike ride, alone, on the trail. I have been reasoning with myself ever since it happened on why I should not be afraid. And then to have two very similar stabbings targeting women in isolated areas doesn't help. But why should it change my way of life? Another instance of male intimidation of women. Maddening to me! Your Dad would not let it stop him from riding the trail if he wanted to and it didn't hurt his man parts.  Did you read how they caught him so quickly? The police were searching the trail next to the golf course. One of the homeless people approached them and asked, "What did he do to her?" So they had name and info almost immediately. This stupid-ass kid was REALLY stupid but obviously quite dangerous. I will continue to ride the trail. After all, he will be in prison now.

Here are pictures I took on the trail and a couple after I returned home.

Northern Flicker

RRVT Bridge

Raccoon River

Colleen gave me the geraniums she had decorated graves with on Memorial day. They were a little worse for wear when I recieved them but have recovered nicely.

"The Pig"

Written yesterday-posted today

Now that I have found this nifty Voice typing tool it has changed the way I do the blog.

Before I would type it directly on the blog entry and then publish it but now I will type it in a
Google document using this voice-to-text tool and then copy and paste it into an entry.  
I then have all my entries in two places, the blog itself and in Google Drive. I like this idea!
Should probably have done it this way for a long time. It is the perfect backup for the blog.
Way back in the early days of doing the blog I would make an extra copy because of losing
it a few times just from accidental deletes.
That doesn't happen so much anymore but it's still nice to have two copies of it.
Paper is cheap on the internet.
Every now and then I think about when I'm actually gone as in deceased and realize
it is probably true that nobody's ever going to look at that blog again.
I have had a great time adding to it all these 16 years. I've done the blog since 2002.
I have kept a journal periodically throughout my life but never for as long as this one.
 Blogger.com and the internet have made it so easy to do journaling.
I have always thought that everyone ought to do it.
It would so be so easy to catch up on people's lives if they had a journal, even if they used it for just mundane things. I know how it goes though.
I used to keep up with everybody's blog if they had one but as I get older I get busier.
It seems I have less free time. Why I have not yet figured out.
If you are one of my friends who has a Blog, I still check in occasionally. I promise!

There is a learning curve to this tool. However, the more I use it the easier it gets.
That is true of most things.

Humerus

Best Voice to Text

The Voice typing in documents on Google Drive works 100% better than talk to text on
Microsoft  Dictation. I can even say Peculiar Missouri!

Type with your voice
You can type and edit by speaking in Google Docs or in Google Slides speaker notes.

Note: This feature is only available in Chrome browsers.

Step 1: Turn on your microphone
To use voice typing or voice commands, your computer microphone needs to be on and working.

Devices and microphones vary, so check your computer manual for instructions. Microphone
settings are typically in the System Preferences on a Mac, or the Control Panel on a PC.

Step 2: Use voice typing

1. Start voice typing in a document
2. Check that your microphone works.
3. Open a document in Google Docs with a Chrome browser.
4. Click Tools and then Voice typing. A microphone box appears.
When you're ready to speak, click the microphone.
Speak clearly, at a normal volume and pace.
When you're done, click the microphone again.

I must thank my Great-nephew Devon Hiller for this tip. I think I might have known about it but didn't remember it. It works so much better than Microsoft Dictation. I think Devon may be my go-to guy in the future for techie stuff. He plans to make that his field of expertise and he is getting a great start.

On to other things.

 I should be getting rid of this heart monitor in about an hour and I am ready. Done deal now!

I just notified Discover Card of our trip plans. It is hard to believe that in 3 weeks we will be on the road. It can give me a panicky feeling knowing it's only 3 weeks out.  Lots to do between now and then. But Hey! It's not like we haven't done it all before. New destination makes it slightly different but only slightly. Having Keri and Leo use our house for their "townhouse" last winter simplified our leaving but now it is back to full winterization of our tiny house.

Heart Monitor

Last Spring my heart doctor, Dr. C, wanted me to wear a monitor for 24 hours. He had put me on a new med and he wanted me to take it for a while before the monitoring. So today is the day. I went for a walk and then walked to the clinic for the installation. Got an A1C while I was there so I could kill two birds. No, I do not consider myself diabetic. I have had only one elevated A1C in 20 years but that one, the very first one labeled me pre-diabetic. You know how hard it is to get rid of labels!
The A-Fib is a bit harder to shake. I used to be able to tell when it was happening but not so much anymore thus the monitor.

This morning did my heart good. Beautiful day!

*Trip South info 2018*

We have our winter trip itinerary planned. Our first night will be in Peculiar, Missouri.
 And that will be on October 12th and 13th. Staying at the Peculiar RV Park Place. $33 a night because we are Lifetime Good Sam members. If I had known what I was doing back in 2000 when we were planning our retirement years I would have saved our money. It cost around $300 for a lifetime membership and at $2 savings per use, I am not at all sure we have recouped our money. I expected a much bigger payback when I purchased it. Life lesson.

We will be there until Sunday morning when we will be going to Quapaw Oklahoma and the Downstream Casino. Free stay if we go in and show them our player's card. It is only a 149-mile trip that day but it makes our stops work without having a 500-mile day in there somewhere. We like to take it easy on ourselves. Staying overnight and then proceeding to the Winstar Casino at Thackerville Oklahoma on that Monday night. Our last stay here was $20 and I think it was because we had a players card.  Did not reserve and we were lucky to get a spot. That is happening more and more often. Our route from Thackerville is taking I-35S to Gainesville TX and Hwy 51 to Decatur TX picking up 380 to Jacksboro TX. We do not go all the way to Jacksboro as we turn south instead of north on Hwy 281 south to I-20W, then to hwy 16 south following it all the way to Llano TX and the River Way RV park. It is a Passport America park so it will be $17 a night because we are Passport America members. Staying 16th and 17th leaving on the 18th, a Thursday. We will be leaving Llano Texas and going to Alamo Texas unless the plans change.
Plans could change because we do not have to be in Trophy Gardens until the 20th. That too could change with a phone call.
When we leave Llano we plan to go south on hwy 16 to Fredericksburg and then on hwy 87 to Comfort TX and I-20 E, joining up with hwy 1604 southbound to I-37, followed by hwy 281 south to Alamo TX. I have checked all my directions...twice.

All that above is for my future reference.
Now if you have read all that CONGRATULATIONS! And as a reward, I will tell you that I tried to use the dictation on the first part of this and when I said Peculiar it translated to several different phrases without getting it correct. The last one was the funniest and when I quit using it. Peculiar translated to "we can kill ya".
Oh, and my asterisk trick does work. I did a search after the fact and it found every post with an asterisk.

*RV Journaling

I sure wish I had been more diligent about the info below. I have used the blog to find info because I know I wrote about it. The only problem is the searching for it. I have thought of one way to make it better. If a blog entry contains info I think I may need to reference later I have decided to put an asterisk in the title. Time will tell. Will I remember to asterisk? Will I remember that I did asterisk? Time will tell.😀

RV journal writing
A journal is not a diary with your innermost thoughts. It’s a chronological list of what happened in your life. Not everything, of course, just the things and events that you think you might possibly want to know a year from now.

Here is a partial list of the kind of things and events that you should consider recording. What went wrong with your rig. What you did to fix the problem with your rig. What date you installed that new refrigerator. When you replaced that tire that blew out and how much you paid for it. (Of course, if you keep a maintenance log for your RV, you don’t need to put this information in your journal. There’s no need to list things in two places.) When you bought that new keyboard and how much you paid for it. The names of the camp hosts where you stayed when you were in AZ. The names of people and the names of their dogs you met at different campgrounds. Nothing impresses people and makes them feel like you really remember them than knowing their dog’s name.

Basically, jot down anything you think you might possibly want to know a year from now. Three to five minutes a day is all it will take, and you will be surprised how much you will use and appreciate this information. From — RVing: Less Hassle—More Joy: Secrets of Having More Fun with Your RV—Even on a Limited Budget.

*13 year old Iowa Kid builds his own house

Someone shares my fascination with tiny homes.

https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/13-year-builds-1500-tiny-house-familys-backyard/story?id=50132212

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=332&v=dJ-9i88O6MI

Can you relate?

So many can relate to this on so many levels.

Two Ripe Bananas

I rescued/repurposed two ripe bananas this morning. I used the recipe I posted the other day. I have a hard time throwing overripe bananas away when these muffins are so easy to put together and good for you too.

Milkweed Vine

This morning I pulled a vine out of our evergreen in the front of the house and these pods were attached. So I had to find out what they were and they are a milkweed vine. Didn't know there was such a thing but I do now. You can find out more here:
http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/climbing-milkweed-vine-honeyvine/

Failed

I failed to get all my list done. I didn't get to my outdoor plans. Some days are like that. Today I went with Mickey to Fort Dodge and Menards so I didn't fulfill my today's list either. Some days are like that.
Virginia and I walked this morning despite the mosquitoes. They are saying West Nile is on the rise here in Iowa and early morning is the worst time of day to be outdoors. I know what you are thinking. That is when I am out there. I have been spraying up before I go. Virginia will be gone next week so I may switch to biking. I can outrun them on a bike.
I took some pictures this morning.
Here they are: At the Fairgrounds in the Early Morning

Baby Beggar

My to-do list

My to-do list

1. Cook a Turkey-
Jason brought me a turkey from their freezer that needed to be cooked. Sometimes being retired has extra benefits. Basically, I have the time. It is in the oven

2. Divvy up the hamburger I purchased yesterday at Costco. It is in a 10-pound tube and that is way too much to deal with in one hunk. LEAVE HERE WITH A LAUGH
Q: What do you call a cow with no legs?
A: Ground beef
3. Use up the two too ripe banana's I have by making Greek Yogurt Muffins. Oops! Requires a trip to store for Greek yogurt first. This one may slip into tomorrow's to-do list.

Greek yogurt muffins

Ingredients

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

2 cups rolled oats

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare muffin pan by spraying with cooking spray or lining with cupcake liners. (You may want to spray cupcake liners with spray so they don’t stick to the liners).

2. Put all ingredients except blueberries into a blender or food processor and process on high until oats are broken down and it becomes a smooth and creamy batter.

3. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins.

Push 5 or 6 blueberries into each filled muffin cavity and bake for 15-20 minutes until tops are set and a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins set 5-10 minutes before removing and placing on a cooling rack. Makes 12.

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container or baggie.

http://www.iowalivingmagazines.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Greene-Co-July-2015.pdf

4. Cut the tops off the iris out front. If I do this in the Fall it makes cleanup so much easier in the Spring.

5. Read the clue for tonight's trivia. Each week we can go to and read up on the info about one of the questions. First- https://www.facebook.com/woodystrivia and that leads you to  https://woodystrivia.com/ We do not have the specific question but the answer will be in there somewhere.

5. Post this website so people can see all the neat RV ideas. Many can be used in other places too.

http://rvcoutdoors.com/37-rv-hacks-that-will-make-you-a-happy-camper/

Attention crocheters!!

I would be greatly tempted to buy a couple of these if you were tempted to crochet a couple. Need one for each side.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bicycle-skirt-guard

Most unusual

OK, Yesterday I told you about a cat on a fence post. Today I have another strange story. Virginia and I planned on walking this morning. And As I neared the gazebo at the end of the trail, I noticed someone sleeping in the gazebo. He had a sleeping bag, a bicycle, and a trailer that looks like a full-time RV thing. Small trailer. One you would pull behind a bicycle. It had lots of stickers on it from the places he has been. It was a well-used vehicle. I was rather surprised to see someone laying there. But even more surprised was I to see a cat snuggled up to this person also sleeping. I thought how strange to be traveling with a cat.
So I met up with Virginia And we continued on our walk. I look ahead on the trail and I see an animal and I cannot quite discern what it is. We came to the conclusion it was a fox and it was far enough ahead that I could not get a good picture with my phone. As we got closer you could see there was a fox and there were 2 of them. Quite a surprise! Earlier in the summer Virginia had seen a baby fox near the culvert where these 2 were standing this morning. So we think that this family has been there all summer. They skedaddled when they saw us and headed into a field south of the fairgrounds.. Those were the only living things we saw on the trail this morning. All of them unusual.
Back to the cat. When I turned around and came back home I noticed that the cat was missing but the person was still sound asleep. So I'm not so sure this is a person traveling with a cat. I'm thinking maybe it's a neighborhood cat that found this warm spot to sleep. Even more strange. I think I will take my camera for tomorrows walk.

Also this morning I was reminded of a feature in Windows 10 that many people do not know they have or like me, they forgot they have it. I used the program to dictate this entry.
Here is more info about it.

How to Use Dictation in Windows 10 

Did you know that beginning with the Windows 10 Version 1709 (April 2018 Update) it’s easier than ever to use your voice to take a note, write your thoughts or it’s now easier than ever to take a note, write an email or even write a story or an essay, just by using your device’s microphone and your voice?

To use the new and improved dictation feature in Windows 10 Version 1709 (April 2018 Update) and newer versions of Windows 10, press and hold down the Windows Key and tap the H key, then place your cursor in (almost) any text field and start talking. It works with almost any app including MS Word, WordPad, and Gmail.

Here’s an example of Windows 10 Dictation being used with MS Word. See?

Above: You can see Windows Dictation is “Listening…” and in Word, you can see what I’ve dictated. You can add punctuation by saying comma, period, etc.  And you’ll find that the more you use Windows Dictation, the better it does at understanding your voice.

When you’re done dictating just say “Stop dictating”.

Car fixed and Party time!

Butch took the car to Stew Hanson Hyundai in DesMoines to get a warranty job done on the car. As luck would have it they were still missing a part so they sent him home with a loaner car. A 2018 Hyundai Elantra. Don't want to trade for one of those. Actually, as long as we are towing we don't want to trade for anything. I think that was on Thursday. As I look back there were all kinds of things I wanted to remember to tell you.
So we'll see how it goes. With the rainy week it was hard to get a walk in but we managed a few days. I think it was Wednesday when Virginia and I walked and on the way home I saw a guy or gal sleeping on a couch outside a church near the trailhead. I didn't notice him or her until I was walking home. I took a picture with my phone. With my camera, it would have been much better but here it is.
This was at 7:30 AM

One of the cartoon clips this week that held a special meaning for me.

Friday we went down to Jack and Jan Tallmans so Butch could mow and then we could party. We had so much fun playing cribbage with the Tallmans and Marv and Judy Smith that we all wanted to repeat it. It was just as much fun.
Backing up a bit on Tuesday night the McQuillens had us over for a deck party. It was supposed to happen on Labor Day but it rained out so we tried Tuesday night but it rained again. We had to move the deck party inside and it worked out. We had a really good time despite the downpour. The party commenced at 4:30 and didn't break up until after 8:00. That is always a sign of a good time.

Butch went to Des Moines on Saturday morning to pick up our car and return the loaner. Saturday evening we went to Paton to eat supper at 209 Main in Paton. The food was quite good as it usually is. Butch had Broasted Chicken Breast and I had Chicken Alfredo. It was very tasty.
On the way up to 209 Main, Butch and I saw a cat sitting on a fence post. This was 2-3 miles out in the country. It was sitting there watching the traffic go by, The nearest house was quite a distance.
We remarked that neither of us had seen that before.
Today we hosted a biscuit and sausage gravy breakfast for 16 members of our Deja Vu group. We ran it for any time after 8:00 am. It really worked well with people trickling in and leaving when ready. Much easier than trying to seat everyone at the same time in our tiny home.

 Flower of WWII

Texaco

Butch worked here during his high school years and perhaps one of our married years.

I waited for Butch to get up before posting this to perhaps add a few facts. Seems both of us are not completely clear on this time period.