Laid Back Saturday

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Yesterday, Sara and John's son, Sam, arrived. While young (17), he works hard to make sure everyone's happy. I like having the young man around. Last night, Andrew's brother, Zach, also arrived to High Brewster. It's always nice having Zach with us, and Andrew was especially happy to see his older brother.

Early this afternoon, Andrew, Zach, Sam, Chris and Lizzie went back to the beach. I decided Oliver and I had enough fun in the sand, so we stayed behind with Sara and Colleen. John went for a long (13.5 mile) run, and Paul did more metal detecting. Sara is very handy in the kitchen and makes delicious meals and treats, so when she mentioned baking pies for all, I jumped at the chance to help. Colleen took my little babe (photos below of their "adventures" together!) so I could peel and chop apples for apple pie.

While I worked on the apples, Sara started heating cherries for cherry pie. I have to say, I was so excited for cherry pie (it's my favorite). I've never made cherry pie from scratch, and, actually, I've never seen anyone make it from scratch. I was eager to learn. She put the pitted cherries (which were frozen since they're not quite in season yet) in a large saucepan over high heat and cooked them until they released their juices and started to look tender. Sara put the cherries in a bowl but kept the juice in the pan. She reduced it to about half. At that point, she added the juice from the bowl of cherries (as they continued to release their juices) to the sauce pan with the reduction. She added some sugar, cinnamon and tapioca to the juice, and she tossed the cherries with some vanilla. Once the juice reduction started to thicken and look syrupy, she took it off the heat and poured it over the cherries. That was the pie filling! Yum! I'm looking forward to making my first cherry pie after I get home later this week.

Also, if anyone is interested in the cherry pie recipe Sara uses, it can be found at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Old-Fashioned-Cherry-Vanilla-Pie-14181

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Photos

Peeled Granny Smiths
Here are the apples I peeled for apple pie!

Cherry Pie Fillings!
The bowl to the left holds the cooked cherries, while the saucepan on the right is holding the reduced cherry juice.

Cherry Pie!
Here's the final product. So tasty!

Grandma Colleen Babysits Oliver
They looked so peaceful napping together near the lake. I had to take a photo!

Shattuck Men Later That Evening
Paul, Zach, Andrew, and Oliver, smiling over the cherry pie.

John and Sara
Paul's cousin, Sara, and her husband, John, were kind enough to host the family reunion at their large & historical home in Cape Cod.

Comments

[Mom]

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All of your posts are wonderful. How many wonderful in-laws can one girl have. I truly love the picture of Colleen and Oliver napping.