pie

I love pie. I LOVE PIE! It's one of my many favorite (I guess it's not a favorite if there are many) things about fall/Thanksgiving. Apple pie, cherry pie, coconut cream pie, lemon meringue pie, peanut butter pie.... YUM. I try to pretend that it's healthy, you know... with the fruit?

Anyway, my department at work hosted a slice of pie sale for the employees and the residents at our nursing home.

You never can tell how these things are going to turn out, because we had to have employees volunteer to bring in homemade pies that we were going to sell.

OUR EMPLOYEES ARE THE BEST, because every single person who signed up to bring a pie brought one, and not a single resident had to pay for a slice of pie, as the employees bought them for the residents! This may not seem like a big deal, but baking a pie from scratch is time consuming, and making or buying a pie is expensive, not to mention buying slices to eat and give away!!!

(this was just about HALF of the pies!)



WE RAISED ABOUT $150 FOR OUR RESIDENT CHRISTMAS FUND!!!!!! Each Christmas, employees sign up to buy a present for a resident. We are reimbursed up to $20 per gift. If you think about how many people there are in a nursing home... that's a lot of cash! Our slice of pie sale just bought Christmas presents for about seven people!

Anyway, I brought a lemon cream cheese pie and a pumpkin cream pie. I'll share the recipe! I don't like pumpkin very much, but I actually really enjoyed this particular pie...

Taken verbatim from: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 1-1/2 package Graham Crackers (about 15 Cookie Sheets)
• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 stick Butter, Melted
• FOR THE FILLING:
• 1 box (3 Oz. Box) Vanilla Pudding (Cook And Serve Variety)
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• Pinch Of Cinnamon
• Pinch Of Nutmeg
• Pinch Of Ground Cloves
• 2 Tablespoons Whiskey (optional)
• 1/2 cup (plus 3 Tablespoons) Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2 cup (additional) Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• Extra Graham Cracker Crumbs, For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Grind graham crackers in a food processor (or, if you don't have a food processor, place them in a large ziploc and pound 'em with a rolling pin.) Add powdered sugar and melted butter and process until totally combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan until nice and firm. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until warm and "set." Remove from oven and allow crust to cool completely.

In a medium saucepan, mix dry pudding mix with half-and-half and cream. Add spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly and thick. Remove from heat and stir in whiskey, if using. Add pumpkin and stir to combine. Place lid on pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough, place pot in the fridge to cool completely.

When mixture is cool, remove from the fridge. In a mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and brown sugar. Beat until very light and fluffy. Fold in pumpkin cream mixture until combined. Pour into cooled crust.

Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve with graham crackers crumbled on top.

(All of my pie sold!!)

This was super easy to make and really quite delicious. Enjoy! And thank you, employees, for making proud of where I work. :) :)

soap box

Disclaimer: this is my blog, and only my opinions are being expressed
Other Disclaimer: nobody's perfect

Okay, so here's the thing. I've been at a social work conference this week, and it's been wonderful. I'm learning so much, and it's right up my alley with my background in psychology and my passion for the elderly.

To start this soap box thingamajig (wow that wasn't even underlined as a misspelling...), there's a quote by someone about age does not determine the level of disappointment experienced when ice cream falls from the cone. I've quoted it on a blog post before, but it's so awesome. It's on my fridge, but I don't remember it verbatim. Oh wait... I'm on the internet! Hold on a minute.

Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone.

Jim Fiebig

There we go. The internet is so smart. 

Moving along, this conference has been teaching the person-centered approach to the long-term care side of things, as it involves social workers. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO IMPLEMENT THE ENTIRE TIME THAT I'VE BEEN WORKING IN LONG-TERM CARE. It's about time that people caught on!!!!! OLD PEOPLE ARE STILL PEOPLE!!!!!!!!! Gaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Can you tell I feel strongly about this subject?! I won't get into detail (right now) about the specific things that I've been thinking about, but here are a few bullet points:

- If you aren't passionate about your job, leave it. Someone else will come along that will be passionate.

- If you have to have a job, and this is all that you can do, act like you need the dang job!

- If you don't even like the population you're working with... surely there's something else out there.

- If you abuse an elder in ANY way, I will punch you. I won't regret it, either.

I've been recently debating what my future educational endeavors will involve. I've been thinking about recreational therapy and social work, in particular. I haven't gotten any training on recreational therapy, but I have had experience/training with social work, and I MAY have just decided on social work, now that the conference is almost over. 

I care too much about people to not have some say in their care. I need to be heard, but I need the proper training in order to become an "expert" (ha) in the field. I can do a lot of good; I know that! Social work may be the medium for which I can accomplish that good. Hmmm. 

Okay, well if you aren't super stoked about long-term care and what that involves, this was probably super boring, but I had to get this out before I exploded. 

Argh. I'm filtering. I have so much more to say, but... I won't. Just love on the oldies! Please! Oh, and be ethical about it. 

Now I'm rambling and being vague. 

Point of the soap box: I love learning about things I care about! I love old people! I will shun you if you're a jerk!

Hehe ;)