Autumn AM Arlington

Baby Moses & The Boy Harry

The Mighty Midget

I don’t know how we missed seeing this cute place in Leesburg. It’s right across the street from the “Tuscarora Mill” restaurant where we had lunch a couple of weeks ago. The “Mighty Midget” smokes their BBQ just outside this little structure next to the only seating area: six tables which I imagine get pretty cold in the winter. The MOTH (man of the house) had a half rack of ribs (pretty good) while my daughter and I had a hot dog (excellent and only $2.50) and a pulled pork sandwich (bland but then again I didn’t order it spicy). It was a fun visit but I am not sure we have to go back.

Smile vs. Frown

Isn't he frowning?





But then again...

Cancelled!

The Little Prince Continued

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important...”

Remember how we laughed at this book. Maybe if we had known it was written down the road in Asharoken...

From Newsday:
1942: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Pens “The Little Prince” in Asharoken

In 1942, French novelist, essayist, and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry spent four months in Asharoken, writing and illustrating “The Little Prince.” In the classic tale for both children and adults, a pilot crashes in the Sahara desert and meets a prince from a distant asteroid who is searching for the meaning of life. De Saint-Exupéry and his wife stayed in a 22-room white Victorian mansion on Bevin Place called Bevin House. He worked late into the night, fortified with coffee, soda, and his ritual food, eggs. The “foreign writer,” as his neighbors called him, also studied English with a tutor, Northport High School French teacher, Adele Breaux. Two years later, de Saint-Exupéry was killed while fighting in World War II. His delightful book continues to charm readers of all ages all over the world.

My Little Prince

“’What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well...’”

It has taken me more than forty years to appreciate “The Little Prince.” Reread it if you dare.

The Affectation of the Umlaut

Am I the only one who finds the New Yorker’s use of the “umlaut” an offensive affectation? Okay, okay, those pair of dots are really a “diaeresis” - I can’t show you (is it on my keyboard somewhere?) but when used by the New Yorker, e.g., on double consonants pronounced individually, they are actually little slashes higher above the letter than real umlaut dots would be. Just thought you’d like to know. Don’t want to be uncoöperative but aren’t they silly?

The Spiders Were Busy

The Spider holds a Silver Ball
In unperceived Hands --
And dancing softly to Himself
His Yarn of Pearl -- unwinds...
-Emily Dickinson

And unwinds, and unwinds. The other morning -a misty, moisty morning- I noticed that all our bushes, and everyone else’s bushes, were covered with beautiful spider webs.

Foolproof Apple Pie

The key to this pie recipe is deconstruction, cooking each component separately ensures perfection and eliminates any possibility of sogginess. It also looks great when done.

Pie Crust
Use your favorite recipe for a one-crust pie or use Pillsbury’s refrigerated. Roll out to fit a deep dish pie plate, dock profusely, flute edges, and bake at 400F for about 10 minutes till light brown (no need to blind bake with beans and foil which I believe steams the crust).

Apples
4 - 6 apples (I used Golden Delicious this time but next time I will try Matsus), peeled, cored, and sliced evenly into six wedges
4T butter
2T - 4T sugar
1t cinnamon, preferably Vietnamese
In a nonstick large frying pan, sauté butter with apples till just turning fork tender, add cinnamon and sugar to taste. Most of the liquid from the apples should have evaporated. Cool.

Crumble Topping
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 stick cold butter, diced
Use your fingers to incorporate butter into the sugar, flour, and nuts. Try to make some big crumbles.

You can wait to bake the pie at any time. Just put the cooled apples into the cooled baked pie shell, top with the crumble mixture spreading it all over the top of the pie, bake in a preheated 400F oven for about 20 minutes till the top is nicely browned. Cool a bit before cutting a piece. I would have taken a picture because this is truly a pretty pie but by the time I got my camera out the pie was gone.