Eggnog Custard Pie

I love egg custard pie and this is a great holiday version of a classic custard pie. The first time I made the pie, I used a refrigerated pie crust and the results were good. I made it again for Christmas and used a prepared graham cracker crust and thought the crust was very complimentary to the eggnog custard pie. If you like egg custard pie, you will definitely like this recipe.

Ingredients

Crust:

Use either a refrigerated pie crust, make your own, or  use a graham cracker crust. Softened refrigerated pie crust as directed on package. If using homemade crust or graham cracker crust, pre preparation is not necessary.

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups eggnog

4eggs
Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:

• (If using  a pie crust, heat oven to 425°F. Place pie crust in 9-inch pie pan as directed on package for one-crust filled pie. Do not prick crust. Bake at 425°F. for 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F).
• Heat over to 350°F
• In large bowl, combine sugar, eggnog and eggs; blend well. Pour into crust of choice. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
• Bake at 350°F. for 30 to 40 minutes or until almost set. (Center of filling will be soft.) Cover edge of crust with strips of foil after 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool 2 hours or until completely cooled. Store in refrigerator.

Closed for the Winter

The beehives are closed for the winter. Honeybees head to the hive when temperatures drop into the 50s.

A hive wrap is added to help protect the bees from the winter elements. The bees have one main job in the winter — to take care of the queen bee to ensure survival of the hive.

The honeybees have gathered in a central area of the hive to form a “winter cluster.” On warmer days, the bees will leave the cluster briefly for a “cleansing” flight outside the hive.

Dancing at Disney

As a members of the Snappy Tappers, I was thrilled to perform "One", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", "Shine on Your Shoes", and "42nd Street" with Sharon’s School of Dance at the Downtown Disney Waterside Stage in Disney World. What a wonderful experience to be able to dance at Disney World.

"Shine on Your Shoes"

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"

Hemingway Home and Museum

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is home to approximately 40-50 polydactyl (six-toed) cats.  Polydactyly is a congenital physical anomaly that causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. 

Hemingway was a cat lover and admired them for their spirit and independence.  The Hemingway cats as they are know as are free to roam the home and museum. They can be found sleeping anywhere around the grounds or house as the cat above stretched out on the couch in the living room.

Sometimes it looks as if they are wearing mittens because they appear to have a thumb on their paw.

Hemingway was given his first cat six-toed cat, Snowball,  from a sea captain who visited him in Key West. This fluffy white cat carried the polydactyl gene in DNA that has been passed down.

The cats are still given whimsical names of movie stars or characters or famous people just as Hemingway did such as Marilyn Monroe or Bubba.

The Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory

I enjoyed my visit to the The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory strolling thru the magical world of butterflies in October.  How delightful to find that a Rusty-tipped Page, a tropical habitat butterfly, had landed on my hat. The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory houses an impressive collection of butterflies, birds, flowers,  waterfalls, and trees.

Here's some other photos of these amazing butterflies and flowers.

Key West - Sunset Cruise

A sunset cruise is the end of another perfect day in Key West watching the sun slowly disappear beyond the horizon.  I loved seeing the fabulous views of the Key West area from the boat on the sunset cruise. A Key West sunset is incredibly beautiful yet fleeting offering the promise of another beginning of a wonderful day in paradise. 

Key West - Blue Heaven

I just had to try the KEY LIME PIE at Blue Heaven on my trip to Key West in October. The pie was topped with meringue on a graham cracker crust with freshly squeezed lime juice. Talk about yummy and heavenly!

Just look at that mile-high Meringue! Who could ask for anything more?

Harvesting First Honey

It takes honeybee workers ten million foraging trips to gather enough nectar to make one pound of honey. The bees have been very busy in the new hive.

This is the first run of honey harvested from new hive.  The nectar flow wasn't enough for the older hive of bees to make honey. They uncapped the honey they had made to eat not leaving any honey for  us to harvest.