Of Food and Fractures

Happiness is...............................

The guest room is getting a good work out this year. Michael came from Colorado to do some work in Miami and then came up to see TV first hand. We joined friends for an evening at one of the clubs. Weather is HOT, HOT, HOT ! But it rained most of the day so a brief cool down allowed us to be outside.
My side of the family is English, from Cornwall to be exact. My grandmother made Cornish pasties that were similar in size and appearance to this. She used potatoes, onion and cubes of beef and probably some other veggies in them. I didn't like them because of all the onions and the chewy meat. But these were traditional and used by the miners in their lunch pails. She used to tell me how they put their initials in the crust to identify them.
There is a place in Michigan, called Pasty Central , that makes pasties for sale and I have sent them to Mother and also to Michael. But they are different than mine.

Also, I knew that Jon and Marybeth would be a match because HER grandmother made pasties too.
My mother adapted the old English style and changed it to hamburger and few onions and made them larger. And of course , she made her own pie crust. I loved them. They were outstanding, hot or cold.

Michael and I were the only ones in this family that would eat them. When he left home, he bastardized the recipe even more and made his own quite unorthodox looking version and called it "dough stuff'. My grandmother would be torn between being thrilled that we continue the tradition but horrified at our versions. Here is my version, just out of the oven and already sampled. I use pie crust, 80% hamburger (anything more lean makes it too dry), lots of sweet onions , potatoes, salt and pepper and an egg wash. I know they aren't pretty but they taste really good. I made them early in the morning and Mike said that he smelled them when he woke and knew right away what I had made. He took two of them home with him.
Remember this picture ???
Yesterday, the MRI results for Alex came back and he has severe stress fractures
in BOTH tibias. He will wear these boots on his legs for 8 weeks. This too is a result of lacrosse. The coaches had them run 2 miles after practice in their cleats. He complained of pain but it was attributed to shin splints and there was no let up in their brutality. Alex, being Alex, was determined to keep up and do the best he could do. His goal and future plans include playing lacrosse for a big name school.

Well, being his grandmother, I've been thinking that maybe he needs a new goal. He has been playing golf for a number of years and with a little coaching, I think he has the drive and determination and the ability to turn into a first class golfer. He has been asked to join the school golf team next year. And because he needs to keep busy, he can spend his days chipping and putting until the boots come off .
He started young and impressed us with his swing from the very beginning.

And besides, how many RICH lacrosse players can you name ??????