apalachee schoolhouse

this old schoolhouse was recently moved and restored out in oconee country.  the roof line is amazing. it’s very prosperous looking for an old schoolhouse, with classrooms upstairs and down. here’s a few pics.

roasted root pie

it was a rainy weekend here in georgia.  i spent the day in the kitchen...making some comfort food.  i had several local roots on hand so i decided to make a roasted veggie pie.  i used carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, and radishes but you could use what you have available.  it ended up to be a perfect meal for a rainy day.

ingredients

a pie crust, pre-made or store bought

4 large cloves garlic

4 cups root veggies...

1/2-3/4 cup veggie stock

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1/2 pound cremini mushrooms

2 large sweet potatoes

2 Tbsp butter, peeled

1/4 cup chopped pecans

salt to taste

directions

the veggies:

-pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

-roughly chop your root veggies

-toss in 1 Tbsp olive oil and spread onto parchment paper, salt to taste

-place the unpeeled garlic cloves on sheet to roast them as well

the sweet potatoes

-peel and dice sweet potatoes

-place in pot with cold water, boil until soft

-drain, put in kitchen aid (or use hand held mixer), add roasted garlic, and butter

-mash potatoes,  cool

-slice the mushrooms

-put the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a pan

-saute the sliced mushrooms in the remaining olive oil for a couple of minutes...salt to taste

-add the stock little by little- you just want the mushrooms to cook and absorb the flavor of the stock

-cool the mushrooms while you prepare the pie crust

-lower the oven temp to 350 degrees

-spread your mushrooms on the bottom of the pie crust

-add the next layer of the root vegetables

-add the final layer of the sweet potatoes

-place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes

-spread the pecans on the top and place in oven for another 5 minutes or until the crust begins to brown

seaborn

this is a poem by one of my favorite southern poets, seaborn jones. he’s a southern surrealist poet,they say, but i just find his poems go direct to the hearts desire to connect to the joy of being alive.

old spillway

out on a country drive,we spotted this old spillway. it was all silvered in the fading light,mysterious and lonely.

a spooky mansion

we were driving through covington, georgia the other day and i saw this spooky looking house from a distance.  we turned up the driveway and i quickly snapped some photographs.  this home had once seen it's day but today it surely could use a helping hand.  it was burned, covered in vines, boarded up, and caving in.   this one has got beauty in it's bones....and hopefully will one day shine.

sweet potato cheesecake

first of all, i apologize for the not-so-great photograph.  this pie didn't last long so i didn't get a chance to get another one.

as i mentioned last week, we have lots of locally grown sweet potatoes.  i have shared sweet potato pie before, but i experimented with adding cream cheese for this one and it was decadent.

click read more for the recipe

ingredients

1 graham cracker crust, homemade or store bought

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes

1 oz package of regular cream cheese.

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

directions

pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

-cook and puree peeled sweet potatoes

-mix all ingredients together

-pour into the pie crust

-bake for 40-50 minutes

-cool

foggy mornings

something about bare trees in the fog really stirs my heart.  it’s like the trees bare souls are bathing in the mystery, soaking it up... and maybe they are!