"These are the daylillies of our lives." I grow fonder every year of my daylillies. They make me want to plant more and more of them. Although, I guess, I like all the the flowers. I refuse to plant gladiolas, though, as they tend to remind me of funerals, and you have to dig the bulbs up (right?) and frankly, I don't think they would be worth that effort.

Here's the whole flowerbed in the front of the house near the road. I REALLY need to do some work out here. One problem is that there are tiny oak trees growing in here, courtesy of our squirrel friends, and my husband is hell-bent on nurturing them. I pull them out when I think he won't notice. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about oak tree nurturing, but I have my own ideas about where they should grow and where they should not grow.

I like daylillies, but here are three things I don't like:

1. Being without electricity - which we were from Wednesday night until Friday noon - and then off again for a couple more hours. It seems that us, thirty-two poor schmucks hooked up to this one particularly faulty (voodoo cursed) grid are always the first to lose power, and maybe, (but can't be sure) the last to get power restored. A sub-annoyance in this category would be having to sleep with your windows open, listening to the loud generators that your neighbors all ran out and purchased.

2. Getting old lady shoe catalogs called "FootSmart" in the mail - featuring Orthaheel, Podiatrist-designed for heel pain relief. I just plain don't want them coming here.

3. That loud humming noise at World Cup 2010. It makes me think there's a hornet's nest nearby. It's unnerving and irritating. I simply cannot stand it.

I guess I'm done.

OMG - This coconut cream meringue pie is heavenly and I wish you were all here to share a slice with me. No, really, I wish you were here because I am afraid to be alone in the house with this pie!!

Bob, his mom, (Darlene), Lindsey, Brent, and I all went to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach on Friday, but since one is not allowed to take a camera (0r anything else for that matter) onto the grounds, I have no proof of this trip, except for our Friday grounds passes, so here they are. Lindsey bought us all US Open lanyards. Thanks Lindsey! We had a picture taken of us all at Ghiradelli Square, so maybe she'll post that on her blog. We had a great time at the Open cheering for Phil as he shot five under that day. If you happened to be watching when he putted on the 18th green, you surely saw us all standing right behind the cup. We were on the course for about twelve hours. It was pretty cold and windy and Lindsey ended up paying a pretty penny for a U.S. Open blanket, but it was a great day. Bob and Darlene and I returned home on Saturday, but Lindsey and Brent went on to Napa Valley and Sonoma. Good times.

I'm not going to post much more, as it's 2:30 AM (still on CA time). I've got this recipe to post, and just as a sidenote - Hans apparently has THREE children, not two, as stated last week. Not sure if we can accommodate four groundhogs in the Hickory Hill Hood. I wonder if groundhogs kick their adult offspring out or allow them to live in their basements. I also see them scurry under the Dinehart's sunroom, so maybe some of them will want to move over there. We'll see.

Recipe of the Week: is for old-fashioned coconut cream pie. Who doesn't like a coconut cream pie? Well, Stormy, for one, and all those other misguided people who hate coconut, but if you're not one of those guys, you'll love this pie!

Coconut Cream Meringue Pie

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 cup flaked coconut, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 9-inch pie shell, baked

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

6 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup flaked coconut

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk until smooth. cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of the hot filling into egg yolks; return all to pan, stirring constantly. bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in chopped coconut, butter and vanilla until butter is melted. Pour hot filling into crust.

For meringue, in a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time on high speed until glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Spread evenly over hot filling, sealing edges to crust. Sprinkle with flaked coconut. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.

Son of Hans: Big news in the Hood - Hickory Hill Hans has a family. That's correct, two young 'uns that we saw for the first time on Friday afternoon, frolicking in our garden. Here's a picture of one of the offspring, peeking out from behind the beech tree.....

and here's Hans, himself. Rob and I were just trying to figure out how many years he's been living under our woodpile - at least four or five, maybe more, although we do think he has a vacation home over at the Dinehart's.

Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog cares nothing about Hans or his children, or the birds or squirrels, or even the chipmunks, anymore. She only cares about what I might be up to in the kitchen.

Some weeks back, I promised a recipe for stuffed meatballs. I got it from Stormy, who made them once when her family was all home. They're certainly good meatballs, alright. My only issue with them is that the recipe calls for ground beef, pork, and veal, which makes for a whole lot of meat, and makes them a little pricey. Here 'tis:

Spaghetti with Stuffed Meatballs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 lb each ground pork, veal, and beef

1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/3 lb. mozzarella or provolone, cut in 1/2 inch squares

Olive oil for frying

About 6 cups tomato sauce

2 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained

Grated Parmigiana-Reggiano for serving

In a large bowl, combine milk and bread crumbs. Add meats, 1/3 cup parsley, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix briefly with hands. Form into 2 inch balls. Seal a cheese cube into the center of each ball. In a large skillet, heat 1/2 inch oil until almost smoking. Brown meatballs 1 minute per side. Transfer to paper towel-lined tray.

Discard oil in pan. Pour tomato sauce into pan; bring to simmer over medium heat. Add meatballs, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until cooked through. 3o minutes. Uncover; cook 10 minutes more. Serve over pasta with cheese. Serves 10-12.

'The promised land always lies on the other side of the wilderness." Havelock Ellis