Im sure it will be great but I need to know so can we see please

Donna's Blueberry Cobbler

1/2 C Sugar
1 TBSP Cornstarch
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
4 C Blueberries
1 tsp Lemon Juice
3 TBSP Shortening
1 C Flour
1 TBSP Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 C Milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix first 3 ingredients together in saucepan. Add berries and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Pour into ungreased 2 quart casserole or 8x8 baking dish.

Cut shortening into flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl with a fork or a pastry blender until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk. Drop dough by spoon onto fruit... should be at least 6 spoonfuls.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.

Peach Cobbler: Substitute 4 cups of sliced, peeled peaches for blueberries. Increase cinnamon to 1 tsp.

Donna's note: This is just as good out of season... using frozen fruit from the freezer. Instead of baking the fruit, I just mix the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl...leaving the fruit frozen... before putting it into the baking dish and dropping the dough on top. Bake 30 minutes, cover with foil to prevent the top from browning too much and bake for 30 minutes more. Uncover and bake another 15 to allow the top to finish browning.

That was wonderful!! Very cute the way they "just happened" to end up sitting next to each other...keep up the good work!

Mione -- please be sure to pass on my thanks to Donna for her recipe. It looks yummy and peaches are in season! And so are blueberries. Maybe I'll be daring and make a blueberry/peach cobbler!

kav

Lovely post and the recipe looks yummy!

They had chatted easily enough as they went down the walk and onto the driveway. But now that they were in the car and Tara was headed up the block… well… thing had fallen into one of those long drawn out pauses. She pulled in behind his car and put her car in park, turning to face him. “We should talk.” She said quietly.

Bobby undid his seatbelt and turned to face her. “We should?” He asked, deciding to act like he didn’t know about what. To be completely honest, he was surprised that he made it through dinner. His body had been on alert every time their fingers had touched while they passed food. And each time she moved, he caught a whiff of her vanilla musk perfume… the scent of which had been driving him slowly mad with his want and desire to have her for his own for ages now. His mind however was surprisingly calm… and clear… and he realized that it was now or never… he had to make sure she knew how he truly felt before he left this car.

Tara nodded solemnly. “We need to talk.” She clarified, puzzled by how peaceful she still felt being this close and this alone with him. The limeade certainly had worked it’s magic on her. “I told you not to tease me about a few things last night and you said you weren’t teasing.” She said. “There’s really no good way to put this.” She bit her lip as she looked at him. “But… I need to know how you really, truly… feel about me.” She stared at him, half afraid that she’d misread everything and that he was going to laugh and tell her that he was sorry but that she was a really nice girl and all, but he couldn’t possibly love her… not when he was in love with Lucy or that Darcy had come back and agreed to settle down with him and have babies… Or… She slapped herself mentally upside the head and demanded that she focus. So she did, her eyes locked on Bobby’s lips as though she could read lips as well as Sue.

“Wow.” The word slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. He caught her puzzled glance. “You just read my mind.” He said. “I was just thinking that I needed to tell you that before I got out of your car.” He reached for her hand, taking it in his, his fingers gently performing a gentle massage on her hand, making the tension go away from her fingers. He intertwined their fingers together and rested them on the middle console. “There’s no easier way for me to tell you how I really, truly feel about you.” He started, a pang of regret stabbing through him when he saw the look in her eyes waver. “No luv… don’t look that way… it’s a good feeling this time.” He told her softly, remembering how he’d blown it after the concert. He reached out his other hand and cupped her cheek. “Tara, I love you.” He was as startled as she was that those were the words he said… but he thought about them for another moment before nodding. “That’s right. I love you.” He said, a little bolder this time. “I can’t live another day without you close to me… closer to me. You are perfect for me… I do go to the grocery store and wait for the right moment to try and run into you. But you usually don’t even see me.” He said, his brow furrowing. “Until last night… when I made you run into me. I needed you to know that I was there… because… because I love you.” He fell silent, unsure of how she would take his words… she was still staring at him.

She exhaled slowly, her eyes never leaving his as she turned her face ever so slightly and kissed the palm of his hand lightly. “I love you too.” She whispered. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. “There’s an incredibly long and sometimes boring story that goes along with that statement.” She smiled. “And I really want to share it with you… but I don’t think that sitting here in my car to tell you it is such a great idea. If you want to come over…?” She asked.

Bobby smiled. “You want to tell it to me tonight, right?” He asked. “Because I can’t wait to hear it.”

“Of course tonight.” She smiled. “It’s Friday night, right?”

“It is…” He said, puzzled.

“Which means tomorrow’s Saturday and it’s ok if it takes the rest of the night to tell you the story because we don’t have to work.”

Bobby smiled. “Righto, Tara luv.” he chuckled. “Now… if you don’t mind… I’m just going to steal one of these… for the drive to your place…” He murmured, leaning over towards her, tugging on her hand to bring her over towards him.

It was Tara’s turn to smile as she closed the rest of the distance between them and their lips met. She could swear it was the Fourth of July outside, with all the fireworks exploding on the back of her eyelids. The interior of her car was practically buzzing with their pent up energy and desire. Her lips parted as he probed them with his tongue, demanding entrance to her mouth and she willingly agreed. It was several minutes later before they finally, reluctantly, pulled away from each other, desperate for air. “I can’t wait to get home.” She murmured faintly, her lips tingling with the taste of him.

His green eyes locked with hers, still glowing emerald with the haze of desire. “Me either.” He murmured back, pressing a quick kiss to her lips again before getting out of her car. He leaned back in and looked at her. “I’ll meet you at your place.” He smiled at her when she could only nod. “I love you Tara.”

“I love you too, Bobby.” She said softly back. “And I’ll see you at home.” She smiled at him as he closed the door and hurried to get into his car. She pulled out from behind him, and left once he’d started his car anxious to get home and straighten up a bit from her earlier tantrum.

Lovely post. So wondeful that they talked and are going to talk more. Can't wait to hear Tara's story...

aww so sweet so tender - I want a bobby

cath

I'm with you Cath!

Good boy! Here's a for you!

Oh, that was delicious. I love how Bobby just blurted it out! And Tara was brave to ask and then the and now a bedtime story! It can't bet better than this!

kav

Well, the dinner went very well!! And, the limeade seems to have been a success!! After all, it did calm them both enough for them to declare their love for one another!! I can't wait for their talk at home!!!

I have copied Donna's Blueberry Cobbler recipe, Mione, and I can't wait to make it!! I love peaches too!!!

Joy

7/24 Post - Ok, I’m back home and have driven to KS to dad’s and now am attempting to catch up on all my reading. I’m down 4 pages here and when I read this post I’m confused. I don’t understand Tara’s family tree I’m going to read on and see if I can get it or if anyone else is as confused as I am. (My excuse - I’m very naïve…maybe that has something to do with my confusion.) Okay, after rereading it a couple of times, I think I understand now. (Think is the operative word here.)

7/26 Post –The dinner is scrumptious sounding, my mouth is watering for some good ole down home fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits. (I’m on a diet…

and, lest I forget, some limeade with a sweet lavender smell! And then That sentence just sent me

Off to read some more!

Lynn

7/28 Post – Dinner was lovely and the prospects are promising as Bobby walks with Tara to her car! Now, I hope they are going to talk? And maybe seal their talking with a kiss?

7/29 – The Blueberry Cobbler sounds scrumpious. My dad loves Blueberries. In fact, I just bought a pint yesterday and I thick I’ll make it for him and the rest of the family when they come up tomorrow. If not, one day next week. Oh, Kav’s suggestion of combining peaches and blueberries sounds scrumpious too! I love peach and plum jam, so peach and blueberries should be delicious also.

7/30 Post – Oh, you gave me what I wanted...they told each other!

I loved the confidence and determination they both had, yet also the softness in their manner, until the kiss. :wow:

It was perfect, Mione!

Oh, my! I went looking for the next page and discovered I’m caught up already. I wanted more…I wanted their talk and Tara’s story. I wanted to stay up all night with them….well, you know what I want, so where are you?

Lynn

Finally caught up - this is fantastic, Mione!

Too many wonderful moments to quote them all, and I'm with frwdgranny - please, please post soon - I want to eavesdrop on the all night talk!

Oh dear! Looks like Tara and I managed to confuse people. OOPS! That wasn't the intent... anyway... She already told the story to Donna... We'll just have to see what she says to Bobby...
***********************************************************************

Tara had made it home and had enough time to straighten up her house before Bobby arrived. She rolled her eyes at herself when she realized that it was highly unlikely that he would see the interior of her bedroom… tonight.

She smiled when she heard his knock on the door and pulled her tank top down a bit before checking that her messy ponytail wasn’t going to fall down. She could hear her mother in her head…’Well…take the time to fix it then, silly girl. I swear, you are hopeless…’ Tara sighed before she opened the door and smiled up at him. “Hi.”

“Hi gorgeous.”

Her cheeks pinked and she motioned him in, shutting the door behind him. “Have a seat.” She invited, indicating the couch… where the book lay on the coffee table. She’d tossed it there rather unceremoniously when she got home. Bobby sat down and waited for her to join him. “Can I get you anything? Coffee… iced tea…?” She offered, nervously biting her lip before she tacked a ‘Me?’ onto the end of the sentence.

Bobby shook his head and patted the couch next to him. “Why don’t you come sit down and tell me this story you’ve promised me.” He suggested. Tara smiled nervously and sat down next to him, surprised when he reached for her… cupping her cheeks and kissing her gently, his tongue teasing her lips as he attempted to deepen the kiss. A soft moan escaped her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and willingly gave herself over to his kiss. When they finally came up for air, he looked at her sheepishly. “Sorry… the drive over here seemed like it took forever.”

Tara smiled. “I understand.” She said softly. “Now… the story that I promised you…” She sighed.

“Whatever it is, luv…” he said. “I promise… it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I love you and it’s for real.” he whispered in her ear as he shifted her so that she was in his arms, his arms wrapping tightly around her.

She smiled and intertwined their fingers. “It all started a long, long… extremely long time ago…”

Neither of them paid attention to the time as she spoke. She told him about the generations and generations of Williams women… their loves and heartbreaks… their losses and gains… their passions and the way that each one had been strong in turn, even though each one had carried the legacy forward without a thought about trying to break the cycle. One mother… one daughter… one family name.

When she finally had told him all there was to tell… she sat quietly in his arms, just listening to the quiet. “Bobby?” she asked quietly, afraid that he’d either fallen asleep or had changed his mind after all.

Bobby exhaled slowly and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. “Yes, Tara luv?”

“Still feel the same way?”

He chuckled softly, she sounded so anxious. “Yes luv.” He said seriously. “I think you’d better resign yourself to the fact that your branch of the family tree will say Tara Manning.”

The silence in the room was almost deafening, before she shifted in his arms and looked at him. “You’re kidding.” She said. He had to be joking… they hadn’t really gone on a date yet… He continued to look back at her, a serious look on his face. “You’re … NOT… kidding…?”

“No Tara luv.” He said. “I’m not kidding.” He studied her. “How do you feel about that?”

She thought about it for a moment before smiling. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot, actually.” She kissed him. “And we can have more than one baby, right?” She asked anxiously, her eyes locked with his.

“As many babies as you want, luv.” He grinned at her. “As many as you want.”

sweet post, loved the off the cuff proposal and the promise of lots of children

cath

The proprosal was as much a surprise to me as it was to Tara! Bobby's obviously a man who doesn't waste the perfect opportunity -- not when it involves his heart. Perfect proposal! And Tara's going to change her family's legacy for the better...maybe she'll end up with all boys and really send it for a loop!

kav

Woohoo! Good on ya, Bobby! *eclipsse's appalling attempt at an aussie accent ends,much to the relief of everyone*

What a wonderful way to propose - and so Bobby!



I could just hear him saying this - wonderful

To the entire post, can I just say: WHOO-HOO!

I'm in a puddle on the floor from and

so I'll just say

to Kav and Eclipsse! And Also to Linny "WHOO-HOO! "


Lynn

aww that was so sweet and so like them

You know I didn't think Bobby would complain about the baby thing. lol

Epilogue:

“What are you doing, Luv?” Bobby asked as he poured them both a cup of coffee and set one down in front of her.

Tara smiled and looked up at him. She tapped the book in front of her on the table. “Just looking at how strangely things can turn out.” She shifted the book. “Fourteen years ago, we went to Mojo Gogo and you kissed me. Thirteen years ago, we said I love you and got married in a month.”

Bobby chuckled and took a sip of coffee. “The only people not surprised by that were D and Donna. Well… besides us. Lucy went nearly crazy telling you what we couldn’t do that quickly.”

Tara giggled. “You know… I totally forgot to get on her case about that when she decided that a two week engagement ws good enough for her and JP.”

“What are you really thinking about this morning?” He asked, knowing full well what she was moping about. He reached for her hand when she didn’t answer. ‘You’re sad today because our baby has gone off to school.” He observed.

Tara’s eyes filled with tears. “She’s so little, Bobby.” She said before the tears fell.

He came around the table, still holding her hand and pulled her off her chair and into his arms, walking them to the couch… still the same couch that she had told him the story on. He sat down, pulling her into his arms the way he had that night. “She’s no littler then the others were.” He reminded her.

“Oh no you don’t.” She said, her eyes snapping at him. “This conversation is exactly how we came to have one going to school this year.” She reminded him, her tears turning to laughter. He laughed with her as they remembered how their family came into being.

They were married in August and had been delighted when they learned that they were expecting at Christmas time.

Jarrod Robert Manning was born the following June 1st, on time and a very healthy 8lb 11 oz, 19 inches long. At 12, he had already passed Tara in height and had inherited his father’s charm and personality. He was a dead ringer for Bobby, right down to the green eyes and dimples.

Tara had been slightly dismayed, but still overjoyed to tell Bobby that his Christmas present that year, was again that he was going to be a daddy.

Daniel Jackson Manning joined their happy family on the following June 15th, two weeks after his big brother’s first birthday. He was… to Bobby’s extreme annoyance… annoyingly punctual, arriving at 8 AM on the nose on his due date, a healthy 7 lb 6 oz, and a stunning 21 inches long. Danny…at 11... Was almost as tall as Tara and could spend hours on end in front of a computer, he had already told Tara and Bobby that he wanted to become a cyber agent and follow them into the FBI.

It was their third Christmas together and the third Christmas in a row… that a very tired… very happy Tara… shared annual news with her excited husband. “News flash though, Crash.” She said. “We are SO NOT making love in September… EVER again.” She told him adamantly, upset that she was once again adding to their family. She was actually happy to get their babies here and done with, and had decided that three was enough and really hoped for a girl this time.

Zachary Steven Manning was born on June 30th, 3 weeks late and a very chubby 9 lb 12 oz, 18 inches long. Zack was the calmest, most easy going baby of the three… she almost forgot that she had him, he didn’t cry usually. At 10, he was an adventurous boy, always trying to follow in his older brother’s foot steps.

After Zack was born, Tara changed a few things around… but just in case… she maintained her ban on them making love in September out of sheer panic.

She kissed Bobby’s cheek. “You’re NOT going to get me to forget this time.” She warned him. “I’m on to you now, Agent Manning. Five years ago, when Zack went off to school… You decided I was inconsolable and that you needed to distract me.”

“Well it worked!” He defended himself. “You almost forgot that we had to go to work that day.”

Tara rolled her eyes. “It’s not working this time, Bobby.”

She hadn’t told him at Christmas… because she didn’t find out until almost February.

Karlee Tulliah Manning had graced them with her presence on May 15th, Mother’s day. She was two and a half weeks early, and a dainty 6lb 5 oz, 15 inches long at birth. She had a fuzzy head of blonde hair and from the moment she opened those baby blue-green eyes and looked at them, she’d had Bobby and her older brother’s wrapped around those tiny little fingers. And now she was 5... An adorable look a-like for her mother and most likely that was the reason Bobby was so smitten with her.

“We need to go to work.” She said, kissing him again. “I have to take the afternoon off to make the ‘first day of school’ cookies.”

“I love ‘first day of school’ cookies.” Bobby said.

“I know.” She smiled as they got off the couch and headed in to get ready for work. “I know she can’t read the whole thing yet, but it’s a very special day for Karlee.” She said. “Family tradition says that you get to learn about the book on your very first day of school.” She smiled. “I remember when Mom shared it with me, it was so fascinating.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” He asked, getting dressed and knowing how she had struggled with the book and it’s knowledge.

“Yes.” She smiled. “She needs to know her history. But mostly she needs to know the book contains the most wonderful recipe for love. It’s meant for her… she just has to discover what she needs to bring to it and the more time she has to figure that out, the better.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m pretty pleased with your recipe for love.” He whispered in her ear.

“Me too, Bobby.” She said, turning her head to kiss him. “Me too.”

***********************************************************************

First Day of School Cookies

1 C Corn Syrup
1 C granulated sugar
1 3/4 C peanut butter
4 C Special K cereal
1 pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
1 pkg butterscotch chips

In double boiler on stove, combine syrup and sugar. Bring to a boil. Add peanut butter. Mix well and remove from heat. Add cereal and mix well. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

In microwave, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together for 1 minute on HIGH. Stir together and microwave in 15 second intervals until completely smooth. (Tara's note: In the interest of keeping the children's sugar level from sky rocketing out of control on the first day of school... I will generally only use 1/2 a package of each kind of chip. Together they make a very sweet, very rich topping for the cookie. And cutting it in half just means that it is a thinner layer on top, but the kids don't even know the difference!)

Pour evenly over cereal mixture in baking dish. Refrigerate immediately for at least an hour. Cut into bars and store in refrigerator.

***********************************************************************

WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!! They got married and had four beautiful children! I love it! Tht story was awesome!!!!!!!

That was just great! Super-enjoyable!

great and excuse my ignorance but what is Karo syrup

What a wonderful ending - I loved Tara's 'first day' blues... and Bobbys cure for them

and...

That was just lovely!

Oh Julie, that was one of the most beautiful epilogues I've ever read! I love the description of each child. I had three babies in three years, so I felt a kinship with Tara and her September ban!

Perfection! The whole story was so creative, with the right amount of angst, characterizations, humor and, of course, fuzzies! It was just plain fabulous. You, too, are a masterful writer.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful talent.

Lynn

beautiful ending to a great story

cath

Karo Syrup... is Corn Syrup. It's actually a brand of Corn Syrup... so... no need to worry if you can't find that brand.

Beautiful story!!!! I loved it!!!!!

I LOVED THIS STORY!!!!!! Such a happy ending. Excellent writting job.

ok thanks just handnt heard of it (not heard of corn syrup either) probably cos Im in the uk

Only four children? I was expecting six, at least. But, you know, it's better than just one girl and the fact that they only had one girl out of the bunch is pretty special. They broke the cycle and if Tara's not careful, Bobby might be willing to break it again.

or should it be How could she resist Bobby for an entire month?! Loved that they have four children..so far, personally I think they need to even up the odds. I see two more Septembers in their future and two more little girls joining their family in subsequent Mays...or she could just be efficient and have twins and be done with it!

kav

Mione, what a cute ending!! I love that they had three boys before they had a girl!! I agree with Kav, I think they ought to try for two more girls so everything's even!!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

Joy

That was a great story! I loved the epilogue too, Tara and Bobby certainly broke the cycle!

Take care,

Sairs

Awwww... I loved this story. I am so not surprised that they had four kids.



Hope ~