COMFORT FOOD--By Elmo

Yes, hello, Elmo here and mom and I recently made a favorite dish of ours called pasties. They are meat pies in a crust. We tried something new this time. We made a bunch of these and then instead of baking all of them, we only baked a couple and then put the rest in the freezer.

Here's how they go. First, we get a couple of round steaks from the grocery store and trim off all the fat. Next, dice up the meat into about 1/2" cubes and put in a large bowl. Next, take potatoes and onion and dice them up and add to the meat to make a nice mixture. Mom always has the mixture a little heavier on the meat side. So the portions are about in thirds.

Next mom rolls out the dough and uses either a luncheon plate or a dinner plate, depending on what size she wants the pasties to be, and cuts out a circle. Then she spoons the mixture onto half the circle of dough, leaving a little bit of a an edge around the filling. If you like, you can put a little salt and pepper on the filling. Wet the edge lightly then fold over the dough and using a fork, press the tines into the edge to seal the pastie. Cut a small vent hole in the top and, if you like, you can put in a little bit of butter, and bake them at 350 degrees for about an hour. We made the luncheon size this last time and mom baked them for about 45 minutes and they turned out fine. You have to watch the time because all ovens bake differently. Here's a cooking tip: Time is bake, Temperature is color.

Hope you enjoy!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION--AGAIN! --By Elmo

Well, at long last mom found someone to finish the work on the breakfast room! Hooray! The company she called was the fourth one to actually come out, look at the work that needed to be done and actually show up to do it! How about that? The work is almost, but not quite finished. There is still a little more to do regarding the door..... But, the hardwood floor is finished and the trim is in! Mom can now get ready to prime and paint the room and then all the items can be moved back into the breakfast room.

Mom has been very busy with several projects and didn't have time to do a post here and then there was a problem with getting into blogger besides, so we're sorry for the news blackout from Tabby Abbey. Lot's of things going on and mom has been trying to keep up with everything. She enjoys it all, it's just that with work and all, it's hard for her to keep up!

So while the work was going on here, all the kitties (save Timmy, of course) had to stay in the cat room and I had to sit with mom in the living room. It made for a very long day. Mom and I would go out in the front yard for a stroll every so often so that helped break up the day. Mom got some paperwork done and some writing and phone calls made, so the day wasn't a total loss for her. I told her I would take care of a post to our bloglet when she figured out why we couldn't get in and fixed that problem. So here I am.

Mom has more pictures to take and you'll see me before and after my trip to the groomers and also some of the yard and the plants mom put in and/or moved. We finally got our flag put up, missed the 4th, but it's up. Mom had to find another bracket to hold the flag pole and she finally found one in the garage. So that's done. Mom found a mini statue of Liberty plant trellis and made a nice container planting with her in the middle surrounded by red and white double impatiens. This was placed in the vinca by the living room and we'll have some photos to show you.

Also, the green ladderback chair that was just sitting out front got a revamp too. Mom removed the wrecked, woven seat (what was left of it anyway) and took some of the red and white impatiens and planted them in a large bowl container that just fit in the seat opening. This was placed in the lily of the valley bed under the kitchen window. Mom said she wants to strip the green paint on the chair (what's left of it!) and repaint the chair.

Projects, projects, projects! There's always something to do around Tabby Abbey! Stay tuned!