Cherry Pie

Is there anything more summery and delicious than cherry pie? Mom's birthday is in June so we made her a cherry pie complete with lattice top.  I really love Martha Stewart, so I adapted her recipe here...Sweet Cherry Pie.  I buy lots of cherries when they are in season (when I was a kid we had a cherry tree, so I developed my obsession early on) and then pit them and freeze them for winter cobblers too.  You MUST have a good pitter to make this task easier.  I have a great sturdy aluminum one by Westmark Kernex that I love.  You have to pit the cherries in a deep sink, because there is definitely dark red spray that goes everywhere and my fingers are red for a day afterwards, but it is sooooo worth it.  The pitter is so easy, my 5 year old can operate it and the 3 year old takes the stems off.  It's a family event!  Oh, and don't even get me started on how easy it is to dehydrate them and so much cheaper than store bought!!

Metal Head

Who needs toys when you have metal bowls. Do you think he was going for the army man look or construction worker?

The Girls Bathing

Now, you may already know this, but it was news to me...chickens take baths. It's shocking, but true. Of course, chickens are not ducks and they don't go swimming, so their version of a bath is a little dirtier than ours. They take dirt baths. Much like pigs and cows roll in the mud and dirt, the chickens will dig out a shallow hole and then flip and flit and fling dirt all over themselves (and anything nearby). They all work together to have this lovely spa time. It's the craziest thing to watch - dirt flying, chickens rolling!