Hello & Good Morning!

[Jo McDonald]

How fun that must have been!!!
 

[Warph]

Jo.... are you going to make Rudy a chocolate pie for Christmas?

[Diane Amberg]

Of course she is. She's a very nice person!

[Rudy Taylor]

It's for my birthday, not Christmas.

Headin' to Jo' kitchen table Wednesday night.

Mmmmm.

[Diane Amberg]

Photos please? I can't wait to see Rudy with chocolate pie on his chin.

[Jo McDonald]

HA HA HA HA      Yep ---- I am going to make Rudy a Chocolate pie and will make my hubby of 62 1/2 years a two crust strawberry pie.

 Fred ( some times known as Scrooge McDuck ) does not like chocolate pie --- so that only means more for Rudy.  He asked me
this evening " Will you make me a strawberry pie"?  You betcha, honey, I will.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

[Teresa]

I'm sorry but I will miss the festivities .. Kjell and i have to make one more last trip into the city.. Have to go to Gander Mountain.. and he has to pick up some video equipment that has been specially ordered and is in.. Think we will also hit the new movie Avatar... and probably eat somewhere special.
In Norway they always do something special on "Little Christmas Eve"... ( The day before Christmas eve)  so we have kept up the tradition each year since he has been here.

Be glad Rudy.. cause Kjell is a Chocolate -aholic.. and you would get one piece or 2 less pie if he were there. 

[Rudy Taylor]

I can't wait!

[Jo McDonald]

Last night was sooooooooooo much fun.  We were laughing, talking, eating pie and drinking coffee....what a wonderful time we had.

Now, I probably - no actually - need to reword the above sentence.  I did most of the talking.  Fred had strawberry-rhubarb pie, the rest of us had chocolate.
We enjoyed having the Taylor's at our home.  They are both super nice...so maybe we can get together again sometime.  I hope so.
Diane, I took only one picture of Rudy - and the reason for that was  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I wanted to make sure I got my pie.    

   I wish you all could meet them....They are fun!
 Jo

[Rudy Taylor]

Words cannot express how we enjoyed one hour at the kitchen table of Jo and Fred McDonald.

Even though I've communicated through the forum with Jo, and she writes the Howard news for Prairie Star, we had only met in person one time ... and that was last fall.

When Kathy and I rang their doorbell, it was like we were going home for Christmas. First we sat down in their comfortable living room and visited. I had all kinds of questions about who was kin to whom  (I nodded like I understood, but when she got to Teresa's family I just threw in the towel and shrugged). Then we told about our own kids and we exchanged pleasant thoughts about how blessed we all are. Then Jo noticed that I was staring at the most beautiful chocolate pie I'd ever seen, and it was just waiting for me to attack it.

Now let me tell you all something: I've got to be careful when I brag on other women's pies because I'm married to a pretty special cook myself. But even Kathy took one look and said, "Jo is a pie baker --- I can tell just from looking at it."

Oh, my gosh!

Jo cut a huge piece for me and she did it with such confidence, which impressed Kathy. You know how cutting a chocolate pie goes --- you just pray that it holds together until it arrives on the plate. Well this one was the perfect texture and it tasted heavenly. Jo even told us that she poured the sugar into a food processor to make sure it was smooth enough. The crust was sinfully wonderful and the meringue was suspiciously sturdy. Surely she puts marshmallow cream in it!  But my wife says no.  "Jo just knows how to do it right," Kathy says.

When we got ready to leave, Jo insisted that we take the remainder of that pie home, plus two huge pieces of a strawberry/rhubarb pie, too.

If I never make it to Heaven, I'll still have spent one evening in the paradise of Jo and Fred McDonald's home.

How blessed we are to know them.

Merry Christmas, all!