THE BLUE CASTLE BY LM MONTGOMERY

The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery

This is a sweet delightful little story written by the author of Anne of Green Gables.  It has all the elements of a fairy tale.   Valency, a 29 year old spinster is sick of the life she is living with her controlling mother and cousin along with abuse meted out by a large group of her extended family who judge her harshly and treat her like a child.  The only thing that has kept her going is a fantasy that she imagines about a life she lives in a Blue Castle.   She secretly sees a doctor about pains she is having in her chest and he diagnoses her as having a terminal heart condition and tells her that she will probably die within the year.  She decides that whatever life she has left is going to change.  She begins to speak her mind, wear what she wants, control her own space and eventually leaves home when the opportunity arises to work caring for a sick woman.  Her entire family think she has lost her mind and tries everything in their power to continue to control her behavior through whatever means they can think of, but when she finally leaves they have lost all ability and Valency’s personality flowers into a very interesting character, and it is joyfully fun to watch.  I don’t want to give away any more of the delightful story.  Montgomery’s writing is witty, sensitive and her descriptions of the Canadian woods are magical. 

FRESH PEACH PIE

Here is a recommendation for my peach pie from my son Beau who lives in LA.
I am good friends with Dr. Phil's personal family chef, and she made your peach pie for him and his wife and they commented how much they loved it. Anyway, thought you might get a kick out of that. Beau 

This pie is a family favorite and I make it every fall when fresh Utah peaches are available.  They can't be beat.  I posted this in 2008 but have made some changes since then and thought it should be reposted.

  

Whip 8 oz. of cream cheese with 1 C. powdered  sugar until creamy.  Whip 1 C. whipping cream until stiff and fold into the cream cheese with 1 tsp. vanilla.  Smooth into the bottom of your 10 inch pie crust.  If you make a smaller pie you might want to halve the cream cheese mixture.  Chill this until ready to eat.

This is an easy Cookie Pie Crust that is very good with this and other cream pies. 
Melt 1/2 C. butter in a saucepan and cook until is has a deep caramel color.  Remove from the heat and add 1/4 C. sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 C. flour.   Crumble together and press into the pie pan which has been sprayed with Pam. (This is enough for a 10 inch pie pan)  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Cool before adding the cream cheese.

Sauce:  Mash peaches to make 1 1/2 cups.  I cut up the peaches and chop them in a little food processor.  It should be a little chunky.  Put in a saucepan with 3 T. cornstarch and 1 C. sugar.  Bring to a boil and simmer for a minute or two until thick and clear.  Chill

To Assemble:  Cut up enough thinly sliced fresh peaches on top of the cream cheese mixture to fill generously.  Cover with the sauce and chill more or eat now.

If the peaches are juicy it is hard to get nice neat slices of pie but no one cares.  It doesn't need whipped cream. 

NEW YEARS AFTERNOON IN ZION

Painting - 14x18 oil on linen canvas board from a photo taken on New Years Day 2015 after a little snow storm.