Pie.

I got to thinking, I have never made an apple pie on my own.  I have had lovely experiences making pies with my mom and grandma, but it was time to give it a go.  The first order of business was to visit the apple guy at the farmers market.

 

 This farmers market, being located at the mill city ruins, is heavy in pie culture.  I did my best to absorb some.

The apple vendor had plenty of varieties, but my heart was set on the University of Minnesota's new variety Zestar.  It is an early season variety with great crunch.  It is definitely sweeter than the heirloom variety, Wealthy.  Despite various warnings of mixing apple varieties in pies (oh the horror!), I decided mine would have both.

After a visit with my mom for additional pie advice and a copy of my Grams proven pie crust recipe, I was on my own. 

I think I did pretty well!  I had to patch a few tears in the crust and nearly smoked us out of the house, but the pie was worth it.  Flaky crust with semi tart apples laced in cinnamon nutmeg and sugar.  Nothing wrong with that.

Corn.

Yesterday we pulled 600 pounds of corn out of the field.  No small feat considering there were just a few of us.  Because Kristina is studying bugs, there are no pesticides or herbicides applied to this particular field.

We were able to make a donation to Second Harvest Heartland.  It felt nice to be able to take a little time out of my day to help out.

Besides, who doesn't like sweet corn?

Paul and Tori.

It was a lovely weekend.  My brother and his girlfriend Cassie were in town for my step-brother Paul's wedding.  First we stopped at my mom's place.  She drove us around the lake and successfully landed the pontoon!

Then we headed further north for the wedding.  I caught up with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Tori's family were kind enough to have the event at their home.  It was as beautiful as their vows.

Of course after the ceremony and dinner the party started!  I had a fantastic time dancing under the tent.

Congratulations to Paul and Tori.