Yello!

“At once impressive and unremarkable, pie can be complicated and challenging or simple and homey. Whether ordinary or elegant, though, a pie is not something to eat by yourself. It should be made to share, preferably while fresh and warm.” —Lisa Chernasky, author of “The Artful Pie”

We had pie coming out of our ears yesterday as we hosted a pie stop for the Tour de Nebraska bike riders.  A community plea for volunteer pie bakers and pies contributed by our group members netted the thirty pies we needed to satisfy the cravings of the 200 bike riders that passed through our town.  The bicyclists, who had already pedaled 45 miles from their overnight campgrounds, starting arriving by 9:30 am.  The last of the group left our pie stop by 3:00 pm, so the group was really spread out.  In addition to the free will donation basket, the appreciative bikers heaped on the praise as they surveyed the tables covered with many different kinds of delicious-looking pies.  Topped with a scoop of ice cream, they seemed to taste as good as they looked.  I wouldn’t know for sure, since I didn’t even get a slice myself!  After serving pie for nearly six hours, we ran out and had to offer the remaining stragglers ice cream sundaes instead.  It was a fun day and a great opportunity to meet lots of very nice people.  If you want to read more about the Tour de Nebraska, check out their web site at http://www.tourdenebraska.com/about.html.

“Ya mon, no problem.”  …Everyone in Jamaica we talked to!

We recently returned from a quick four days in Jamaica.  The reason for going was to celebrate the wedding of friends Mitch and Susan.  While there we enjoyed the beautiful beach at Negril, ate many new things, and met some very nice people.  Over fifty friends and relatives of the couple traveled to Jamaica for the wedding (which was also witnessed by one very curious Italian tourist!).  We found the people of Jamaica to be very warm and friendly, even though the poverty evident as we traveled to Negril was in stark contrast to the conditions at the Rui Tropical Bay where we stayed.  We came back with a rather large wooden parrot which was the result of some good salesmanship and some intense bargaining with a Jamaican vendor.  We found that the airline will check practically anything as luggage and “bird” showed up at the airport baggage claim in Omaha with “no problem”.  We now have a huge souvenir and some great memories of our trip!