The Rythmn of the Rails

There's something about trains. Little boys especially are obsessed with them thanks the bizarrely popular show about Thomas The Tank Engine coupled with the importance of the wonderful wooden train sets now so ubiquitous in toy collections. I was never a little boy, I never had a Brio train set and as a child I had never hear of Thomas and yet from my early childhood till now trains have been a  romantic notion.

We had a day trip recently, while Nana and Grandpa Alan were visiting to take in the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat in combination. I do recommend the outing if you get the chance. It is a bit expensive so it was a special splurge gift from the visiting grandfolks. If you are trying to trim costs, feel free to cut the riverboat section. It was nice to be out on the cool river on a blazing hot day (100 degrees at our house further south) but the actual boat itself didn't offer much in the way of a unique experience. I think you get the same feeling from any boating experience. The train is where its at.

When I was a little girl I remember being pretty impressed and swoony about the freight train that ran behind my grandparents house. Even though I didn't grow up anywhere near a rail I never found the sound of the train going by annoying or disturbing, it was all about romance. As an adult I found out that my maternal grandpa was a genuine boxcar jumping hobo for a while in his youth, riding the rails to California to seek his fortune. After that I always thought of him when I saw train tracks curving off into the distance. I still do.

The rides on the Essex Steam Train vibe exactly how you want a nostalgic souvenir train voyage to feel. They keep it short but long enough to feel real, they use original cars with original seats and decoration (albeit updated with modern lights and such) and the giant engine is painted black and belches smoke exactly like a painting. The boys were open-mouthed walking past it to board.

One of the things I love about train travel in general is the way you feel genteel and historic while partaking. Even Manhattan's modern trains run on rails and rock you rhythmically, and the conductor still walks through the cars taking tickets just the way that Laura Ingalls and Heidi describes. There's little something about rail travel that is so unchanged, so elementally the same as in "the olden days" that it seems completely possible that we could really be in Anna Karenina or The Orient Express.We ought to all carry valises and watch for our trunks at the station!

I love the surreal view out the window of an airplane at the Cloudland above it all but the running visual commentary out the window of a train is an integral part of the trip to wherever you're going. Trains take you past waterfalls and deep into canyons, smoothly through quaint town centers and along the sides of mountains. I don't think I'd ever nap well on a train or get any reading done....too much to see. And lots of it untouched by car travel or billboard advertisements.

When Nana and Grandpa Alan went home they left the boys a large box full of new wooden tracks and cars for their train set, so much so that a new giant box had to be purchased to house them all. I am not a toy collecting queen but I don't mind this one. Link those cars up boys and squint down the squiggle of tracks you're arranging on the living room rug....I'm all for dreaming in that direction!

wooden toy train bridge (Photo credit: uccemebug)

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Ren Faire

Best donut holes of my life. Amazingly tender and melty.

 The local Renaissance Faire is gearing up for a final spring weekend before they close up shop until autumn. I'm sharing our recent experience just in case anyone feels inspired to go take a wander through the grounds and see a joust face to face. I had never personally been to a Ren Faire although they are just the sort of places "my sort" of people tend to hang out, the people who like old fashioned things, who like costumes and acting, the sort who love fairs, the sort who make things, the sort who are kind of in love with romance and literature and all things dreamy. Yeah...my people.

 In fact, the reason why we went at all is because an acquaintance mentioned in passing that he thought I ought to know that there was a Renaissance Faire happening nearby this weekend....he told me that it "seemed like my sort of thing." There's a piece of me that bristles somehow at the accusation, but I have to admit he's completely right. It was exactly my sort of thing. 

 I loved all the handmade items for sale, the beautiful ideas, the impressive craftsmanship and the wonderfully hard to find types of objects that only the old fashioned folk would even think of selling or buying. Ah, specialization!

 The boys were wild fans of the live jousting match that we watched, never thought of a Ren Faire as the perfect boy activity before, but I sure will now! And thus inspired, Dee went charging across a field after a poor, surprised grounds maintenance woman, sending about a dozen onlookers into titters. I can't believe I caught a picture. Love his ardent fervor.

 The big boys both got to shoot at very Robin Hood-esque targets with an old fashioned bow and arrow and the kind target practice booth man also gave them a free demo of crossbow shooting which Ru thought was positively dreamy. He's kind of mildly obsessed with medieval weaponry (especially crossbows) thanks to this book which he got for Christmas and has been devouring ever since. Nothing like an unintended living history lesson.

 Lots of wonderful music at the fest too. Fiddle, uke, guitar, and peppy vocals in large doses. Makes me remember how much I love traditional folk music of all kinds and how much I really need to get serious about attending the local contra dances. Why in heavens name have I waited so long?

Oh, wacky Ren Faire people....you're so cool.

Ren Faire....I think I love ya.....

Old Fashioned Pie

I made a blueberry pie recently, after we got home with a lug full of fresh berries from our u-pick excursion. Yum! And then I froze it because we had ice cream we were trying to eat up and we were also about to take off for parts further West to visit family.

Now that we're back home and then fierce heat has abated for a day to drench us with torrential showers, I decided it was time to QUICK bake that pie! It is browning in the oven as we speak and starting to smell as delicious as only homemade pastry can. I am a pie addict. Is it showing?

Someone asked, after I posted about my pie making before I put it in the chill to keep while we traveled, if I would be kind enough to post my blueberry pie recipe. And I will!

While I'm at it folks, I have a source you all need to know about. I made pies from all sorts of places: family recipes, Joy of Cooking, magazine clippings and all kinds of baking and dessert cookbooks, hoping to find just the right pie recipe with various varieties of fruit. And then one day I was browsing my way through a little family owned shop that sold farm fresh, local milk and butter and I happened on a little bookshelf with cookbooks for sale...and in the mix was a liberal sprinkling of these funny almost pamphlety little old fashioned recipe books, obviously newly printed but of clearly ancient sourcing by a company called Bear Wallow Books. I bought the one on pies. Today, I'm sharing with you their pie dough recipe (which I always use now) and the recipe for blueberry pie but, there's gobs more in the book. I love it because every single pie I make from the little booklet turns out beautifully and also because any kind of pie I want to make, they've got: strawberry rhubarb, sweet potato, elderberry, gooseberry, grape...etc. etc. None of the stand-by favorites has been forgotten. These are the pies of our grandmothers made from berry and fruit gathered in the orchard or the roadside ditch. I sure am thrilled that I found this obscure little company and hoping that I never, ever lose my pie book because its gold and I've never seen them anywhere else!

Go check out Bear Wallow Books and see the other enticing options that they sell, or snap up your own pie book.

Now that the pie is out of the oven, I'll give you a peek at its rich, golden brown finish and then leave you with directions to replicate this fabulous blueberry smell in your own house.

Blueberry Pie

1 9 inch pie shell (I used two as I like a double crust for blueberry)
3 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries
1 cup of sugar
1 T lemon juice
2 T cornstarch
1 T butter
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cinnamon

In a mixing bowl combine berries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. Toss the berries lightly to coat and let stand 20 minutes. Pour into pie shell. Dot with butter and sprinkle with dash of nutmeg and cinnamon (and then if you're me, cover with the top crust, and crimp the edge to seal). Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce to 325 and bake for 30 minutes longer.


 Basic Flour Pie Crust

2 cups of flour
3/4 t of salt
1/2 c of shortening (I use lard or butter)
1/3 c of cold water

Sift flour and salt into mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or two knives scissors style. Shape dough into two balls (and here I chill the dough for about 20-30 minutes too). Roll out to size and place in pie pan.


Happy baking!