True Love~ Grandma's Sour Cream Raisin Pie

Love can make you act crazy, do foolish things and sometimes love makes your heart grow so big that you can't do enough for your sweetie. When I think of true love, my Grandparents are at the top of the list. Their marriage spanned the Depression, WWII and the test of time. They breezed through the hard times because they leaned on each other. When one would be down, the other helped them up. There was financial stress during the Depression, uncertainty during the war, and later sickness and loss. But all along the way they doted on each other, bff's and partners in life. Partners in everything. Grandpa farmed, Grandma kept the books. Grandpa gardened, Grandma canned. Grandma cooked and Grandpa ate!

Just for him she would make his favorites. Never a meal without hot bread with homemade jams and jellies. On Sundays two meats on the table, for choice Grandma would say! Desserts were his weakness and even though she never ate a slice, Sour Cream Raisin Pie was made often to satisfy his sweet tooth. Old fashioned love, the kind that is lasting and true can be yours... this is how you make it!

Grandma's Sour Cream Raisin Pie
2 cups sour cream
4 egg yolks (save whites for meringue)
1 cup sugar
4 heaping teaspoons flour
1½ cups raisins
Stir sour cream and egg yolks in a saucepan. Add sugar, flour, and raisins and mix. Cook over medium heat until raisins are plump and mixture is glossy. Pour into a 10-inch baked piecrust.

For the meringue
4 to 8 egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
4 to 5 tablespoons sugar
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until frothy. Add sugar slowly until peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, spread meringue over warm pie filling. Spread over pie edge to ensure firm seal. Swirl top of meringue with spatula to create peaks. Bake at 350ºF until peaks are golden brown.

Blah, blah, blah

My sister in law is fighting a battle of wills with her cable company. Have you ever had to do that and no matter who you speak to in customer service, you don't get anywhere?  Round and round she goes like she's on a merry-go-round, but I can tell you she's not having any fun. Something is wrong when it's company policy to treat people badly. Just trying to get an address and phone number of their corporate offices has proved a struggle. That should be a flag when they don't want this to go any further than the local offices. The Internet has changed everything about how we deal with our problems. We can go online and in seconds find out everything we need to know about a company. We can find out their performance and we can see if there are other complaints from disgruntled customers. There's always going to be customers that no matter what the circumstances a company can never please them. But when you see page after page of formal complaints posted, you quickly realize maybe this company doesn't really care.

For years my sister in law has had the same cable company. For years she has paid her bill and they would remind her in correspondence that she was a valued customer. Last week she realized she really wasn't valued at all. She now knows just where she stands with them and that she just needs to hush and go sit down. I don't think she's gonna do that.

Did he just wave at me?

 Wednesday's snowstorm was record breaking amounts for NW Arkansas ranging from 18- 27 inches, all coming in just a few hours. The weatherman had some new "ciphering equipment" that he couldn't wait to try out, measuring the amount of snowfall per hour. We went from an inch an hour to two, then for a while it was four inches per hour! That's when you couldn't see anything outside, just shy of a whiteout. Roads closed, airports closed and for my husband who was here simply because he couldn't make it to work...he just did his best to shovel us out. We ended up with 20" at our house and when it was over, it was time to try out the new SUV!

Highway 12 is curvy and mountainous, making it impossible after snow or ice. The good news, we have a "back way" home. Cloverdale Road is part asphalt/part dirt road, but it's our way to and from town until they get the main roads clear.

The locals who live out our way know the shortcut as well as we do, some even live along this country road. We were enjoying the scenery and driving at a speed safe for the conditions when a pickup gets up on our bumper and wants us to get out of his way. I couldn't believe anyone would want to pass on the one lane that had just been graded, but he did. We got over as far as we could and he waved at us as he flew by, not a neighborly wave though! Jerry returned the favor and he quickly was out of sight, out of mind.

The rest of the drive was totally enjoyable. The beautiful snow made everything look like a Christmas card!

As we got near town the road improved only slightly.

The roads had been graded and sanded but there were few brave souls out. We decided we'd get a bite to eat while we were in town.

We kept our eyes peeled for a place open. The parking lots were piled high with snow, a really good sign that they were closed!

Then we remembered a new place that's just went in where the old Hi D Ho operated for years.  Once a hangout for junior high and high school kids, Rogers was sad when Hi D Ho closed it's doors for the last time.

The new Lucy's Diner fills a void for a restaurant that is open 24 hours and day, serves breakfast anytime, has great burgers and homemade french fries but also serves a great selection of "blue plate" meals. The menu showed  beef roast or meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, pork chops and fried chicken. The long list of sides were favorites like mashed potatoes and gravy, brown beans and cornbread, fried okra, green beans with bacon and your choice of freshly made pies, cakes and cobblers. It was warm inside and as bad as the weather was outside, there was a good crowd! We chose the cheeseburger basket, the true worth of a cafe can be judged quickly by a good burger! It was delicious, wish I'd taken a picture...but trust me on this, it was yummy! 

We headed home just as the sun was setting. Tonights low is supposed to be -5, we are insane to have left our warm house to go out, but it sure was fun!

I know you get tired of hearing me say I love small town America, but I do. I hope the guy that passed us on Cloverdale Road got home safely and someday we'll see him again I'm sure. We have a nice policeman who occasionally sets along the lake waiting for those impatient types!