Gobblers and banana cream pie

I let our young turkeys out today, they've been in a big pen but not loose in the barnyard. They are about 3 1/2 months old now. Everyone was pretty curious about them, even though they see them every night, they were out of place in the barnyard. The big turkey is our adult Tom, Snickerdoodle. Our adult hen, Maggie, left, she went back in her house to protect it from these unwanted intruders.

Beatrice thought it was pretty fun running around with all the turkeys.

Brie thought there was food being handed out and she better come and check it out...

Huh... what's going on here?

Max was also curious about these new birds in his yard...

Snick let everyone know he was boss, but there was no fighting. I believe there is only one male in the whole group of turkeys.

Lambie knew something was going on, so he was listening. He's blind, so he puts his head up high to listen. A couple nights ago when I went out to put them to bed and it was raining, everyone had come into the barn except for Lambie. I was calling him and he'd answer me, but he wasn't coming. So I came around the side of the barn and saw Lambie standing up on a hill in the goat yard. I could see he was standing up and not hurt, so I called again thinking maybe he was confused because he uses sound to direct him and it was raining heavily. But he just cried to me and didn't come. I started walking towards him when I realized what was wrong - he was standing on a huge rock, which was half exposed from the ground... he could feel he wasn't on normal ground anymore and he was scared he would fall... he tried to take a step and then stepped back. When I got to him, I put his nose in my hand (so he feels safe) and he followed me off the rock... once he was down, he ran along behind me to the barn and went in his dry pen to eat his dinner. He's such a sweet boy.

 

Sammy came to check out all the commotion... and get a kiss.

Wed night was beautiful out, but it was a very, very long day for us.

Why was it such a long day? We've been thinking about getting a 5th wheel for a long time... years. Last year we bought 10 acres in Alaska to spend some of our time on, and we have been debating whether or not to build right away, or to get a 5th wheel. A month ago, we stumbled upon the 5th wheel of our dreams, for a price we could afford, which was shocking. We've been working on this deal for a few weeks now, and finally it closed on Wed.

The problem was, this 5th wheel is 40 feet long. Then add our truck to it. Then try to bring it through our mile long lane full of hills, tight corners, trees, beaver floods, cliffs... rocks... and not wreck something.

It wasn't easy. and we ended up walking part way home because the back end slid and was on the side of a drop into one of the marshes. Who decided to wear heels to town that day and not put back up shoes in the truck? I'll never do that again.

We got some help in, and a truck, so we could pull the back end back onto the road, safely, without taking any chances or slipping. It took a  few hours, and a lot of worry on our part, but we got it pulled away from the side and safely in to the house.... The problem is, now we've got a ton of work to do on the road before we can even move the 5th wheel again... we'll need to get heavy machinery in to widen spots, take rocks out, we'll need bigger gates, and fill.

Oh joy.

But it's worth it. This will be our second home when we are in Alaska (also our second home.)

It's got a lot of living space, a washer/dryer/shower, etc... And a big kitchen so I can cook, and we can also entertain in it. The dogs are in heaven since they are used to our little camper. We love our camper for smaller trips - and we've spent 4 months of the past year traveling in it. Our camper has been to Alaska 4 times, and on several other big trips. We spent two months in the camper in Alaska last year and knew we needed something bigger. It's also difficult with the camper because it's on our truck, so every time I needed groceries, we had to pack up the camper and run into town.

Our long term plan will be to build a cabin in Tok, Alaska, where our land is. But for now, this will be our cabin. There is a double fridge in it to stuff with halibut and salmon from our fishing and if we stay into September, we'll be able to stuff blueberries and moose into it as well.

The dogs are really excited about their new camper...

We'll have to move them both this fall, since we can't get our wood loaded onto the porch, but the camper still has to be cleaned up and winterized. We are going to leave the 5th wheel hooked up to the house, so we can keep it from freezing and use it over the winter. We had friends over for dinner last night and they decided to just stay over now that we have room for company!

For our company last night I made chicken and dumplings, and I tried a different recipe for banana cream pie... it's from Food Network magazine. Although I liked it, it's not a recipe I'd go to all the time... but it's worth a try for something different and tasty.

Ashley's Banana cream pie

(I had planned on taking a picture of it cut into, but it was about 10:30 PM when we finally ate the pie on the deck with just candle light!)

For the crust:

10 sugar cones

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar

4 tbs butter, melted

For the filling and meringue

2 cups plus 2 tbs milk

4 large eggs separated

3/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tbs cold unsalted butter

3 ounces semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 bananas, sliced into rounds

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Directions

Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pulse the cones, salt and sugar in a food processor until coarsely ground. Add the melted butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse sand. Press on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes; let cool completely.

Make the filling: Bring 2 cups milk to a bare simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar and the vanilla in a large bowl until smooth and pale. Whisk in the cornstarch. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture, then pour into the saucepan and return to medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens and begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Stir in the butter until melted. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl; set aside to cool, stirring frequently.

Put the remaining 2 tablespoons milk and the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave 1 minute. Stir until the chocolate melts, then let cool slightly.

Spread the chocolate over the bottom and up the sides of the crust. Press the bananas into the chocolate, then pour the custard over the bananas. Cover and chill until set, at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Make the meringue: Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and half of the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and beat until opaque. Add the remaining sugar and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 more minutes.

Swirl the meringue on the pie with the back of a spoon. Bake until golden brown in spots, 5 to 8 minutes. Let sit at room temperature until set, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.

It makes a really nice custard - that was my favorite part. I love meringue as much as anyone, but I did miss all the whipped cream that usually goes with a banana cream pie. So I think next time, I'd use this custard recipe but with a different crust, more bananas and lots of whipped cream.

Time to get back to work cleaning up.