Today is another beautiful day. I am being lulled by days of sun and blue sky into accepting spring has finally arrived and winter has gone, even brief glimpses are gone. Both my doors are open to the sun, but the storm doors are still on as it does get colder at night, down to the low 50’s, too cold yet for screens. There is a bit of a wind this morning but it is still warmish.
It is just about time to plant the front garden and deck flowers. I like to figure out what I want ahead of time. I know some of the deck boxes already have herbs growing so I’ll check those first. I did see the tops of the oregano plants breaking ground in one box and the mint box will fill this summer. The two old boxes are finished. They are falling apart. I’ve had them for quite a long time. I noticed a spawn was chewing on one box the other day. I suppose better the box than the deck or furniture.
Some phlox is still left in my front garden. My father planted it. Every time he came to visit, he needed something to keep him busy. My mother and I went shopping. My father would mow and trim the front lawn. One time he tackled the wild back yard. He planted flowers in the front garden, ground cover he told me. He came down another time to help me paint. He forgot his ladder. The new paint went only a far as we could reach. That stayed for a long time. It was red. I always made a chocolate cream pie for my father. By the end of the visit, the pie was gone and neither my mother nor I had a piece. We didn’t ask. My mother knew it was special for my father.
My nephew’s favorite cake is Boston Cream Pie. It is the official Commonwealth dessert. (Massachusetts is a commonwealth, not a state). Boston cream pie is a cake, not a pie.
I love lemon meringue pie. It is my favorite and was a Thanksgiving tradition at our house when I was a kid. I didn’t know anyone else who had a lemon meringue pie at Thanksgiving. They had the traditional apple and pumpkin and maybe sweet potato though I think it is too close to being pumpkin to have both. Anyway, we had the apple too. It was my father’s favorite. He was a true New Englander, and he enjoyed his apple pie with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on top.
I had cheesecake on Mother’s Day. That dessert presents its own conundrum. It is made with cheese so that part of its name works, but it is not by any stretch of the imagination a cake. It is a cheese pie. I had cheese pie with caramel sauce on Mother’s Day.
I won’t even discuss crab cakes.
