58 Years Young

Happy Birthday Mamasita! Your cute Grandkids are flashin' their cheesers for you today. Wow, 58 years young!

Tonight we will be celebrating with homemade cherry pie & ice cream. The pie will be made by moi. We are squeezing in the dessert celebration between dinner and Survivor.
Here she is in Aug. 1971 when she is three days away from having ME! Aren't I cute in there?!

The next photo is from Feb. 1988 on her 40th B.Day. Her crazy Aunt L. sent her a dozen long-stemmed prunes. We got the biggest kick out of that. And, because they weren't flowers and were already dried, we got to enjoy them and laugh about them for a LOOOONNNGG time!

Poppy & Mamasita have been married 36 years. Poppy was in the Navy and they met through his sister and wrote letters back and forth for a few months. When he came home on leave they saw each other for a week and he proposed in a hardware store parking lot. Their marriage has outlasted the hardware store! Look at this cute couple, still in love...

This picture was taken on Christmas Day.

Here is the Cherry Pie recipe. The crust recipe is on the 2/19/06 post titled Grammies' Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

Cherry Pie (another yummy recipe from Grammies)

4-5c. tart cherries fresh or frozen

1 1/3 c. white sugar

4-5 Tbsp. small tapioca pearls

1/4 tsp. almond extract (this is the secret ingredient so don't leave it out!)

Directions:

In large 3 quart sauce pan heat cherries over low heat w/ other ingredients. Heat slowly as not to burn. Once mixture starts to bubble simmer 30-45 min. Cool completely and pour filling into unbaked crust. Top w/ lattice style crust.* Bake @ 400 degrees for 65-70 min. until syrup bubbles out in heavy bubbles. Cover w/ foil during baking so as not to burn crust. Place cookie sheet under pie plate as it will bubble all over your oven.

If cherries are frozen, rinse w/ water and drain well. Too much liquid will make filling too runny.

*Follow these picture directions step-by-step to make a lattice crust!