A little sweetness is in order, I do believe, to lift me out of the depths.
I came across this magical recipe to use the last of my beautiful prickly pears (a.k.a. 'tunas').

(You can view the original post from Wildness HERE - I highly recommend visiting this amazing blog for some unusual recipes and the beautifully written intros to the posts.)

I made a couple changes to the recipe - not for any "improvement", as I've not made the recipe previously; the modifications I made were due to my lack of planning and ingredients - haha - it was AMAZING, so, so good!

Here it is, sweet and healing to my soul, Prickly Pear Pie (with my intentional - and otherwise - modifications in italics):

(It's not a traditional pie.  It's more like a filled 'dutch baby'. )

Filling:
3.5 cups prickly pear pulp (I had about 3 cups)
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup agave nectar)
1 cup water

Mix together in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Simmer until sugar is dissolved. (I boiled for 10-15 minutes...) Set aside.

Pie:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place 1/4 pound butter in a 13" x 9" baking dish.  Put it in the oven while it is heating.  You want the butter to be sizzling, but do not let it brown.

While the butter is melting, mix together:
In a blender, mix 6 eggs, 1 cup of milk (I used hemp milk), 1/4 cup orange juice (As I had no orange juice, I subbed 1/4 cup lemon soda... yeah, still worked), 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp salt.  Blend till frothy.

Remove butter from oven and immediately pour batter into the butter.  Do not stir.  Quickly pour prickly pear filling onto batter.  Do not stir.

Place back into the hot oven for 20 minutes or until puffed and brown.

Serve immediately.

I will not repeat the details here, though I know they will stick with me for a long time. If you knew her, you probably know the details already (and if you don't, be wiser than I was and don't go searching). If you didn't know her, it would be no worse than a movie, anyway.

I knew her. I also knew her son, her killer. We were in the same class for some years, including when we had her for our teacher. 

In the event of a death of an acquaintance - someone close enough to have many memories of, but there is no longer contact with - that person finds their way into my life more than they did before their death. I recall many things that I hadn't thought about her, and him, for years. I was sewing some costumes and remembered how she had taught us how to sew. I remember getting in trouble in her class. That time was another rough patch for me, with the split of my family. I remember him as a little boy. I remember answering the question he couldn't, the final question in the Geography Bee, the one that decided who got to go on to Nationals. 

The circumstances around the death have raised more questions than answers. Questions I probably don't want to know the answers to. 

I am so excited to give you this sneak peek at the most recent addition to my Creature Couture line: the Sphinx Moth! 

Using photographic prints on fabric, I am now able to better recreate the magnificent complexity of our insect companions in the costumes. This technique also lends itself well to the printing of flowers and plant life for beautiful flower-fairy inspired garb. 

The costume pictured here is a commissioned piece, part of a set, for a family portrait. These are examples of the types of costumes that can be created for your own unique photo shoot. I am happy to create something magical just for you, or you can rent a costume for use during our shoot (or to wear to your grand event...). Visit my Creature Couture page for details.

Additional info and pricing to follow soon. (Plus photos from the family shoot for which these costumes were custom designed - Mama + Papa moth, child yucca flower, baby yucca seed pod!!!)