Toll House Pie Recipe

I have had a couple people ask for the pie recipe I used when Bob was here. 

TOLL HOUSE PIE

 

2 eggs

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. finely packed brown sugar

1 c. butter, melted and cooled

1 (6 oz.) pkg. (1 c.) Nestle's Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

If using frozen pie shell, use only deep dish style and thaw completely. Place on cookie sheet; bake 10 minutes longer.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Add flour and both sugars. Beat until well blended, and blend in melted butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Makes 1 pie.

Beth's Modifications:

I added 1 teaspoon vanilla before I put in the flour and sugars.  

Used freshly ground on the finest setting of red wheat.

Reduced white sugar to 1/8 C and used 2/3 C sucanat (unrefined sugar) in place of the brown sugar.

Used Aldi brand semi-sweet chocolate chips and pecans

Chapters Two and Three

Chapter Two

The Boys Hold the Secret

It was hard for the young boys to keep the attic a secret.  But they did keep it a secret.  So every other day they would go in the attic and lock the door.  Taking a good book or practicing fencing was fun.  But best of all it was fun to know that most adults could not have this much.  The boys loved to hang out there.  They knew they might loose the secrete and just say it.  The boys met one day in the attic "we can not take a bit of these things down from here" said eddy.  "We might loose the secrete if we do."  "Okay" the other boys said.  "We have the money for the shed.  But lets not make it a building.  Lets make it underground.  With a hatch door with dirt and grass on the top" Ben said.  "Okay" they all said.  The next few days the boys only went out when it looked like they were going out to ride bikes.  The boys chose it in the thorn bush.  If they built it in the middle of the thorn bush then they could do it with ought being seen.  But if there mom or dad called them they would loose there secret.  So they held another meeting in the attic.  "Because we have so much money we could by some walky talky.  Then when mom calls us we will tell her to call us on the walky talky" said John.  They agreed.  Many weeks later there pit was made.  There pit was made secrete to.  Soon they got the walky talkies.  They gave a walky talky to there mom and dad and they kept one.  Then the boys went about there business moving the chests.  But it was not easy.  They could not just move them right through the house or their older four siblings would see them.  There older four brothers and sisters names were: Jim, Jed, Steve and Esther.  With rope and a pulley they would lower the chests and weapons from the attic.  In a long while of days of sneaking away and messing with the treasure things they had it all done.  They knew that they were very, very hapy kids to own such things.  Because it is very, very unlikely for a little kid to have this much.

Chapter Three

The Four Boys Show the Treasure

Ben woke up one morning and decided he would stay in bed a while longer.  When he got tired of sitting in bed he went down stairs for breakfast.  Bob, John and Ed were waiting for him.  When they finished there breakfast they found that all the older boys were gone.  So the younger four 

boys went toward the attic.  With all the things away from the attic.  Ed said "the older boys are playing in the attic."  They other three boys ran up to see.  But all the good things were in there pit.  "That is our library" said Ben.  "Oh" said Jed.  "It is and we have all the other things in our pit" said John.  "We will come check it out" said Steve.  So they went outside.  Then Bob flipped the hatch door.  Six of the boys went down.  When the older three boys saw the tresure they were astoneshed.  Ben took all the chests with jewels and gold.  He put them in the back of Jims pickup truck.  Jim drove Bob, Ben, John and Ed

Baruch and His New Car Bag

Sunshine on Saturday

After sleeping in extremely late this morning (Jacob slept in too, he
had woken up in the night with a headache) I woke up to the Saturday
morning ritual. Drew faithful prepares pancakes on Saturdays. What
a huge blessing! He headed to the office rather late for a
Saturday. Abi and Baruch went along. Drew's Mom and Dad met him at
his office around 11 AM and worked on their taxes. Mary and Jacob
helped me clean the house in between reading their new stash of
library books. Then we headed out to run a few errands before
heading over to Drew's office. There is a really nice playground on
campus and our plan was to run off some energy there. We arrived
just as the others were leaving. Drew headed back up to knock out
some more work while the children burned some energy in between
running to the van to visit with Grandma and Pa. The sun was shining
beautifully! I really enjoyed having Bill and Mary hang out here for
the day. Abi read to Grandma for a long time. Her reading ability
took off last week. Pa gave Cob a few drawing lessons (which I
learned from too). We have been having some plumbing issues with the
kitchen sink. Drew worked on that in the afternoon. Then we had a
wonderful chicken casserole which Drew's Mom brought and served.
Everybody LOVED it and we devoured all but a serving, Thanks Mom! I
also really appreciated all the clothing you brought. I thank the
Lord for providing for us through you. During supper Jacob began to
fade. He wound up on the couch with a 101 fever. I feel so terrible
to have exposed Grandma and Pa to whatever that is all about.
Prayerfully they will be spared. After supper Drew and his Dad
looked at the table and discussed possible ways of making it
sturdier. Then little boys and I played puzzles while Abi and Mary
went outdoors and rode their bikes and Pa played cards with Cob. The
day went way too fast!

Grandma and Pa Visit

Pa and Drew discuss table options

Plumbing Trouble

Poor Drew! He had quite a time getting the right sized parts. Then
once he did have the correct parts he had a hard time finding them
when he needed them. Every time he went to grab a part he found
someone (Baruch or Abram) had moved it! But alas by the evening I
could use the sink once again. I am so thankful for Drew being so
handy.

Chapter One The Attic

One of Jacob's favorite past times is typing stories on the computer.  Here is chapter one (of three) of the unedited story he worked on yesterday.

Chapter One

The Attic

A long time ago, long long ago a man lived in a old house.  He had collected tons of things: Jewelry, a library, money, knives, swords and guns.  He was a very rich man.  He had maps of the world and maps of his house.  He had a spy glass and many other things.  When the old man died another family moved into the house.  They had no idea of such things.  They just went around about there business watching television and eating and sleeping.  Then they moved and another family moved into the old old house.  But the family didn't like the house.  So one night the father said "this is a terrible house.  It has no value.  it is old and ready to be wrecked."  The father had no idea what things were in the attic.  So a huge moving truck came and every thing was put in it.  Then the family drove away.  Oh if they would have found the treasures.  The family would never have had to work again!  But they did not find the attic.  So again it was sold.  But they did not like it.  The pattern repeated.  Again and again.  Soon the old house was in need of repair.  But then it was sold to a poor family.  But there four younger boys wanted to explore the new house.  They had heard stories of pirates searching for treasure.  So they played pirate.  One day everything changed.  The four boys names were: Ben, Bob, John and Ed.  Bob said "look this is like a hidden door.  It doesn't look like its been used for years."  "You are right" the other boys agreed."  They pried the door.  It opened.  The boys went up the steep steps. 

 "Wow amazing!" The boys said.  The boys found chests.  They stuffed all the money and jewelry, pistols, rifles and knives into twenty-one boxes.  They stuffed all the things into one corner.  Then they discovered the treasure maps and the library.  

They wondered who had owned it.  Then they found a diary and found that the man's name was Steven.  Before anyone came up to the attic the boys found wood and tools.  They built a little shed right up in the attic.  Then the boys found all the junk things and made a garage sale.  Then they played in the attic.  Then they went down.  The boys hid the books in their rooms.  They wanted to make a barn.  So they took the money from the garage sale.  They made a box to put the money in.  Soon they had enough to make a shed plus some extra.  They took some of the maps and the extra money and went outside.  The breeze was cool the boys wanted to ride there bike.  So they went to the garage and went  to a garage sale.

Chapter Two
The Boys Hold the Secret

It was hard for the young boys to keep the attic a secret. But they did keep it a secret. So every other day they would go in the attic and lock the door. Taking a good book or practicing fencing was fun. But best of all it was fun to know that most adults could not have this much. The boys loved to hang out there. They knew they might loose the secrete and just say it. The boys met one day in the attic “we can not take a bit of these things down from here” said eddy. “We might loose the secrete if we do.” “Okay” the other boys said. “We have the money for the shed. But lets not make it a building. Lets make it underground. With a hatch door with dirt and grass on the top” Ben said. “Okay” they all said. The next few days the boys only went out when it looked like they were going out to ride bikes. The boys chose it in the thorn bush. If they built it in the middle of the thorn bush then they could do it with ought being seen. But if there mom or dad called them they would loose there secret. So they held another meeting in the attic. “Because we have so much money we could by some walky talky. Then when mom calls us we will tell her to call us on the walky talky” said John. They agreed. Many weeks later there pit was made. There pit was made secrete to. Soon they got the walky talkies. They gave a walky talky to there mom and dad and they kept one. Then the boys went about there business moving the chests. But it was not easy. They could not just move them right through the house or their older four siblings would see them. There older four brothers and sisters names were: Jim, Jed, Steve and Esther. With rope and a pulley they would lower the chests and weapons from the attic. In a long while of days of sneaking away and messing with the treasure things they had it all done. They knew that they were very, very hapy kids to own such things. Because it is very, very unlikely for a little kid to have this much.

Chapter Three
The Four Boys Show the Treasure

Ben woke up one morning and decided he would stay in bed a while longer. When he got tired of sitting in bed he went down stairs for breakfast. Bob, John and Ed were waiting for him. When they finished there breakfast they found that all the older boys were gone. So the younger four
boys went toward the attic. With all the things away from the attic. Ed said “the older boys are playing in the attic.” They other three boys ran up to see. But all the good things were in there pit. “That is our library” said Ben. “Oh” said Jed. “It is and we have all the other things in our pit” said John. “We will come check it out” said Steve. So they went outside. Then Bob flipped the hatch door. Six of the boys went down. When the older three boys saw the tresure they were astoneshed. Ben took all the chests with jewels and gold. He put them in the back of Jims pickup truck. Jim drove Bob, Ben, John and Ed

Rewards on Friday

Baruch and I set up a few tracks!

I am not sure how long ago I instituted rewards on Friday. It has
been a wonderful motivational (possibly manipulative on my part at
times) tool! If the children work hard Mon. through Thursday with a
minimum amount of complaining, fighting and arguing. . . BONUS REWARD
TIME. One of their favorite rewards is a trip to the library. That
was our reward yesterday. Abigail informed me on the way to the
library that she wanted to be a book worm (a very positive thing to
be in our home) just like Mary and Jacob! When we returned from the
library the peace in the house deafened me! The silence as each
child enjoyed book worming allowed Baruch and I the opportunity
laying out a few tracks.

Enjoying Monday and Tuesday!

It is 53ºF! Drew stayed true to his word got the bikes down and the
children are THRILLED! While they were out riding their bikes two
dogs came romping by. They are now leashed to our fence with a call
into the Humane Society should the owners be looking for them.
Yesterday we had the privilege of visitors. Everyone enjoyed holding
our friends little girl Violet and playing with three year old Cora!
Mary changed several stinky diapers, fed and and rocked Violet a
ton! I really wanted to get some pictures of Cora too but never got
that done so here are a few of Violet.

Abigail

Today Abigail asked "When I get married will my husband go to work?"
Mom - "Probably "
Abigail - "Good, then I can be in charge a little bit."

Rejoicing on Resurrection Day

We celebrated our Lord's Resurrection with a fellowship breakfast. It was encouraging to see Brad and Sarah and to get to talk to the other saints. What a joy to know the Lord who came to this earth with the sole purpose of dying for our sins. Victory over sin as God raised him from the dead! We had a quiet (as quiet as a house with 5 engaged children gets) day. I served parmesan chicken with rice and fruit salad for lunch. We all went for a walk. The neighbor had given each child a chocolate bunny so they enjoyed eating those after our egg hunt. Mary Elisabeth was pretty funny saying "First we celebrate Resurrection Day, now we are celebrating the pagan holiday of Easter with an egg hunt and Easter bunnies." Oh one other Mary Elisabeth quote. When we were at Red Robin the other week and she wondered why no one else was laughing at the Robin or thought it was neat. Drew said many of the people had seen it so often it wasn't fun anymore and they all probably watch television which means it takes more to entertain them than a giant stuffed bird. He praised them for laughing and enjoying the Robin. . . When we got home Mary said "Mom are you sure there isn't something wrong with us that we laughed so much at the Robin?" That Mary is one precious girl!

A Trip to the Museum

We had a great trip to the Family Museum in Bettendorf yesterday.
They had just the right amount of hands on activities to keep the
children entertained. There was a synthetic hollowed out tree to
crawl around in, a "garden" made out of vinyl with cardboard produce,
an apple tree with removable stuffed apples, a play house area for
the 4 and under age with a vertical maze to crawl through ending with
an exit slide. One section was called From Here to There. This had
all kinds of activities regarding motion. A hovercraft model you
could sit in, a working lock and damn Drew and I agreed Dad would
have LOVED, a little pond you controlled the wind on with a sailboat
in it. . . Another section called Rhythm In Motion had dress up
clothes and a stage, whistles controlled by giant piano keys, another
set of whistle type tube made a note when hit with a flip flop.
There were two open rooms, I'm not sure how they worked but they took
a siloutte of the person in the room an projected on a huge screen.
The cool thing was the silhoutte had a growing rainbow around it.
Very hard to describe but very interesting and beautiful. There was
also an outdoor park and an energy section. This was Drew's favorite
as it taught us all what it cost to run a light. There was a bicycle
hooked to a light bulb, hair dryer and blender. You sat down on a
bicycle and had to peddal it to generate enough electricity for each
item. I could not make the hair dryer (which we use as a mitten
warmer)! It was a great lesson!

Will have to finish this later

Museum Pictures

Drew our driver and guide

I Packed a Picnic Lunch

Mary and Abi

First Day of Spring!

Here is the weather report for our first day of Spring :-)

CITIES OF...DUBUQUE...MAQUOKETA... GALENA... FREEPORT...MOUNT CARROLL 345 AM CDT FRI MAR 21 2008
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING.

RAIN...OR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW... WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW EARLY THIS MORNING. THE SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES AND COULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY SOME THUNDER LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. ISOLATED HEAVIER AMOUNTS MAY OCCUR IN NORTHWEST ILLINOIS.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS 6 TO 8 INCHES OR MORE OF SNOW... COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLY... SLEET...AND/OR FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY AND TAKE YOUR WINTER SURVIVAL KIT.

"January, February, March Eighteenth"

I had a wonderful day today. I woke up and started making my bed
when Jacob came in panicked asking me to get back in bed because I
was going to get breakfast in bed. Back in bed I went and rested for
a few minutes before the singing began! The eggs and pancakes were
delicious. It cracked me up to see Baruch look longingly at my
breakfast. Then I noticed he wasn't the only one looking that way.
Between the 6 of us we cleaned the plate in no time at all. Then
came the gifts. Abigail gave me a cup full of treasures (two acorns,
a nickel, a scrap of blue yarn, a pearl necklace, and a prized
rock). Jacob got me a double pack deck of cards which was so
thoughtful as I am constantly asking Mary (the only one with a full
deck, pun intended) if we can use her cards. Mary made me some
lovely crocheted wash clothes and Drew got me a portable DVD player
which he had really gotten me for Valentines Day and my Birthday and I think Mother's Day too, so
it wasn't a huge surprise but I gladly opened it again :-). I told
the kids what I really wanted for my Birthday was to have a day with
no fighting:-). After breakfast and Bible time school went
relatively smooth. After quiet time, while Baruch and Abram were
napping we had Chocolate Bliss Cheesecake, which I made yesterday.
Then finished school and bagged papers. When Drew got home he took
us all out to Red Robin for supper. We had been planning this for a
while. I joined their e-club and received a free entree. Last week
the kids asked me who I was inviting to come over for my Birthday. I
told them I couldn't decide but really it boiled down to. . . it's
expensive enough to take the family out for supper. The Lord
provided Marilyn to help celebrate! We had just ordered when she
walked by our table as she was being seated so we invited her to join
us. Abram was so fun at the resturaunt. The 6+ televisions were
playing a baseball game and he kept pointing and laughing and say
"man run" "man fast" . . . Too precious. Jacob enjoyed the
bottomless supply of french fries. He would have stayed another hour
and eaten them I think. All the kids got the biggest kick out of the
Red Robin mascot that stopped by our table. Jacob laughed and
laughed at it. Hope he didn't give it a complex but we don't get out
much. I am so thankful they truly enjoy such things. When we got
home I opened my birthday package from Aunt Dawnie which was a huge
box full of gifts for EVERYONE! Thank you Aunt Dawnie what a nice
ending to a fantastic Birthday. AND. . . I really did get what I
asked for, everyone was kind to one another (for the most part) today!

A gift from Aunt Dawnie

Birthday Supper at Red Robin

Jacob, Red Robin, Abi

Birthday Supper at Red Robin

Mary and Abigail

Birthday Supper at Red Robin

Abigail, Drew and Abram

Birthday Supper at Red Robin

Marilyn

Abram Loves the Counter!

Abram loves to mess! He LOVES to mess on the counter. SO. . . he
asks if he can help and says "counter counter counter" (only it
doesn't sound quite that clear). I enjoy having him by my side, I
just have to remember to move the butter, and water jug before
lifting him up. :-)

Hiking

After church we enjoyed a fellowship dinner to welcome Tiffany home!
We swung by the Bargain Nook and picked up a few items. Then we took
a hike with some friends up to a look out of the Mississippi. Here
we are at the top. L to R Jason, Jacob, Andrew, Priscilla, Baruch,
Abigail, Mary and Abram.

Bob comes to Visit

Drew really enjoyed a visit from his former coworker, Bob Saturday
night. We all really enjoyed having him here! We had lasagna for
supper and Toll House pie for dessert. Drew and Bob got in a good
deal of talking before we ate. After supper he showed us a few card
tricks. Then we played some games together.

Remote Control

Jacob has been saving for some time to purchase a remote control
car. Saturday Drew took him shopping and here it is!

Tower Building

Mary made this awesome lincoln log tower. Then she and Abigail added
nicknacks on the levels until its demise.

Mary

Mary
Originally uploaded by thetribetalk.

While I was sick I taught Mary the granny square. She also fashioned
booties, a hat and scarf for Abi's doll without a pattern!