April 2008 – David Dowling

How to Spend Your Time

Reflection

A friend of mine recently became passionate about art. Before this time, he was spending most of his days online, essentially meandering around, wasting time. Over the last month or two though, he’s redirected his energy and has created dozens of paintings, things of beauty that can bring joy to other people.

What are you and I doing with our time? Are we wasting it, or using it to be productive and add value to the lives of others? I know I need to improve in this area. I want my time to be spent less frivolously, more wisely.

Best Pie Ever

Personal

I’m originally from Georgia. My brother had a girlfriend in high school whose family really knew how to cook. A lot of Southerners do, which I’ve since learned is not the case everywhere. She made the most incredible pie, called “Buttermilk Pie”. My mom asked her mom for the recipe, and got the old “It’s a family recipe” reply. That’s another common thing in the South — families often aren’t willing to part with their secret recipes.

I’ve never discovered their exact recipe for Buttermilk Pie, but I’ve found one that’s close enough for me. On top of that, I’m not hoarding it. Here it is:

Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients:

2-1/4 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups white sugar
3 ounces butter, melted
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
3/4 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar and butter. Mix in the buttermilk, vanilla and flour. Pour filling into pie crust.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Don’t let its simplicity fool you. I make two pies in shallow pans out of this recipe, and I could easily eat them both myself. It’s that good 🙂

Old Fogeys

Reflection

Who invented computers? What about the internet? Cars? Planes? Refrigerators? Air conditioning?

Old people. Yeah, the old fogeys we laugh at because they aren’t hip to our music and lingo are the same ones who made the way for all the technology we see around us. They provided the foundation for every accomplishment your generation will realize.

Show them some respect, and get to know them. You and I could learn an awful lot from them.

You’ve got ancestors!

Personal

Whoa! I was talking to my dad about our family history this past weekend, and as a result I was finally able to connect my great grandfather with Frampton Dowling, who was probably the first of my ancestors to emigrate from Ireland. Pretty exciting stuff! The crazy part is that I’ve had the documentation for this connection in my files for several years and never noticed it! =S

As a database developer, this has of course inspired me to create my own genealogy software for Mac and Windows, on which task I embarked over the weekend. If you’re into genealogy and have ideas for cool and/or “must-have” features, feel free to leave a comment!

To all those Dowlings out there, if you think you might be a descendent of Frampton Dowling, be sure to check out a book called A Dowling Family of the South, by R.A. Dowling. The book is out of print, but reprints are available at a modest rate from Higginson Book Company in Salem, Massachusetts.