This Is a Lemon Pie. This Is Not a Lemon Pie.

It slices! It dices! It makes your life worth living! You, yes you, can make this handy-dandy lemon pie. But right now, folks, not only can you make this pie, your 8-year-old can make this lemon deliciousness!

Alright, that's my life's worth of sounding like an infomercial.

But you really do have to try this pie.

It's from the marvelous "Mitford Cookbook," a collection of recipes that sprang from Jan Karon's marvelous Mitford series. If you haven't read the books, read them. If you haven't made the pie, make it.

Ready?

Here we go:

Puny's Lemon Pie
1 8-oz. package of soft cream cheese
1 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
1 6-oz. can of thawed frozen lemonade
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1 graham cracker crust
1 c. whipping (or heavy) cream
2 T. confectioner's sugar

~Avoid getting pulled over for having expired tags on way to grocery store
~Then combine cream cheese, condensed milk, and stir til smooth.
~Add lemonade & lemon juice, mix well.
~Spoon lemon filling into prepared crust
~Chill until set, about 4 hours
~Whip cream with confectioner's sugar until stiff peaks form
~Serve pie with whipped cream on top
~Enjoy!
* If you wish, substitute basic meringue for whipped cream

This is the fabled pie, sitting comfortably in my fridge.


This is not a pie. This is the giant remote control that John brought home one day.
Pros: it's so big the dogs don't try to eat it.
Cons: it's so big I have to use both hands to operate it.

This is not a pie, either. It's what made my brother scream one night in the kitchen when he came over to watch the fascinating film-noir-in-high-school flick, "Brick."

Of course, we had to pause it when the screaming began. "What's wrong?" I was worried.

"LOOK. AT. THIS! LOOK AT THIS!I JUST GOT A HUGE CHUNK OF PURE PEANUT BUTTER FLAVOR IN MY CAP'N CRUNCH! I THOUGHT IT WAS CRAP AT FIRST. BUT IT'S PEANUT BUTTER FLAVOR!"Further inspection revealed that it was, in fact, peanut butter flavor chunked up by accident in a box of Cap'n Crunch, and not, as he thought, crap.

This is not a pie. It is a marvelous red lamp I bought at a garage sale for $5, or $2.50, I don't remember. But it had no shade, so it sat, sat, sat, lonely and unused.

Until I bought a shade.

I did not, however, buy this shade.

I bought the shade underneath, a cheap whitish affair.

Then I covered it in some of my favorite fabric.

You see, that pattern used to be part of a sheet set.

A wonderful, glorious sheet set that I bought on clearance at Target.

But then I got married, and the delightful twin sheets would no longer fit on the nuptial bed.

Blast! I thought, what will come of my lovely sheets I got on clearance at Target?

This. This and the lining of a purse, and cheerful, bright shelf lining on my new craft shelves in the old computer room/new guest room that we got ready for my new in-laws who are visiting for the first time this weekend.

The moral of the story is, don't despair if you think you've lost the use of one of your favorite items. Do, however, check online to see how to cover a lampshade before assuming that sewing the fabric on is the best bet, because although it works pragmatically, it took me one and a half Harry Potter movies to get it done, and my finger still bears some marks from trying to get the needle through the lampshade.

Still, not a bad use for some favorite ol' fabric.