He Wants PIE, Damn It!

"Saffire" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My grandfather (91) had a stroke about 3 weeks ago and he is going
downhill pretty fast. It's hard to see such a strong and vital man
declining so rapidly :-( He has always been a HUGE inspiration in our
lives -- the one man who has ALWAYS been there for us, no matter what.
He took all his kids, grandkids and even great-grandkids all skiing and
camping right up into his 70s. He always bought American. He always
did the right thing. He and my grandmother were married for 69 years
until she died in 2002. Since then, he's had TWO girlfriends (and the
first one is still trying to get him back -- he's quite a catch :-).
He's had 3-4 hip operations and was recuperating from the last one when
he had the stroke. He insisted on using his walker whenever possible
because his motto has always been "Use it or LOSE it", and he's lived up
to that! Fortunately, we have a large extended family, so he has lots
of visitors and people to spell each other to help care for him.

The stroke has affected his swallowing, so he can only have thickened
liquids and mushy food in tiny spoonfuls, and he chokes some even on
that, resulting in pneumonia from food getting into his lungs. His
right side and his short term memory is affected, too.

My son and I visited him yesterday. We were trying to feed him a really
unappetizing dinner and it was quite a chore to get him to eat much. He
was hungry and WANTED food, but didn't like what he was getting.
Throughout the visit he kept asking for apple pie or if there was
anything better than what we were giving him. We DID manage to get him
some appleSAUCE, which he liked for a little while. He's diabetic, but
they were giving him mashed potatoes, strawberry-banana milkshake and
some kind of custard (not to mention insulin). It occurred to me this
morning that maybe I could make him some of Myra's low-carb cheesecake
(sans crust). He could have something pie-like, and it would be sugar
free and mushy and I would know what all the ingredients are (my son was
toying with the idea of getting a sugar-free piece of pie from a
restaurant, and I had warned him about sugar alcohols and their effect
on digestive systems). If Grandpa likes it, I could leave some at my
mom's place, which is only a couple of blocks from the hospital.

I hope this works out and he likes it. As my son said, it really sucks
when you're at a point in life where you're in your last days and you
should really be SAVORING whatever food you can get, only to have to be
limited to crappy hospital food, and pureed, at that.

--
Saffire
205/137/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

That's a wonderful idea, Thaffy! I know that you will make it work for your
grandfather! He's quite a lucky guy!

Saffire said:

He's diabetic, but
they were giving him mashed potatoes, strawberry-banana milkshake and
some kind of custard (not to mention insulin). It occurred to me this
morning that maybe I could make him some of Myra's low-carb cheesecake
(sans crust).

One can make a very nice baked cup custard made of eggs, milk/cream,
vanilla, a dash of salt, and Splenda. I do it all the time.

2 eggs plus an extra yolk or two, beaten
2 cups milk and/or cream mixture
1/4 cup Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend and pour into individual custard cups which are placed in an
ovenproof dish with a rack or dishtowel under them. Add hot water
around the custard cups and bake in a 300-325 F oven for 30 minutes or
more (until a cold knife comes out cleam). Cool and chill.

I have also made this with some unsweetened chocolate melted into the
milk/cream and almond extract. Also with unsweetened coconut. Both of
those tend to separate into layers a bit, but they taste purely yummy.
Your granddad might have trouble with the coconut, but if he likes
chocolate, he might go for the first variation.

Personally, instead of 1/4 cup Splenda I use a little real sugar and the
rest Splenda, but there's no reason why all Splenda wouldn't be fine.

It's not pie, dammit, but it's nice food. ;-)

Priscilla

Priscilla H. Ballou wrote:
:: Saffire wrote:
:::
::: He's diabetic, but
::: they were giving him mashed potatoes, strawberry-banana milkshake
::: and some kind of custard (not to mention insulin). It occurred to
::: me this morning that maybe I could make him some of Myra's low-carb
::: cheesecake (sans crust).
::
:: One can make a very nice baked cup custard made of eggs, milk/cream,
:: vanilla, a dash of salt, and Splenda. I do it all the time.
::
:: 2 eggs plus an extra yolk or two, beaten
:: 2 cups milk and/or cream mixture
:: 1/4 cup Splenda
:: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
::
:: Blend and pour into individual custard cups which are placed in an
:: ovenproof dish with a rack or dishtowel under them. Add hot water
:: around the custard cups and bake in a 300-325 F oven for 30 minutes
:: or more (until a cold knife comes out cleam). Cool and chill.
::
:: I have also made this with some unsweetened chocolate melted into the
:: milk/cream and almond extract. Also with unsweetened coconut. Both
:: of those tend to separate into layers a bit, but they taste purely
:: yummy. Your granddad might have trouble with the coconut, but if he
:: likes chocolate, he might go for the first variation.
::
:: Personally, instead of 1/4 cup Splenda I use a little real sugar and
:: the rest Splenda, but there's no reason why all Splenda wouldn't be
:: fine.

Can this be made without custard cups? What if you just put it in a pan?

I bet Granddad will enjoy this.

Thaffy?? Oh you two are getting intimate now arent you? Your new
boyfriend has given you a cute petname Saffy?? LOL <wink>
Laureen
410/300/180

Jim Bard said:

"Saffire" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My grandfather (91) had a stroke about 3 weeks ago and he is going
downhill pretty fast. It's hard to see such a strong and vital man
declining so rapidly :-( He has always been a HUGE inspiration in our
lives -- the one man who has ALWAYS been there for us, no matter what.
He took all his kids, grandkids and even great-grandkids all skiing and
camping right up into his 70s. He always bought American. He always
did the right thing. He and my grandmother were married for 69 years
until she died in 2002. Since then, he's had TWO girlfriends (and the
first one is still trying to get him back -- he's quite a catch :-).
He's had 3-4 hip operations and was recuperating from the last one when
he had the stroke. He insisted on using his walker whenever possible
because his motto has always been "Use it or LOSE it", and he's lived up
to that! Fortunately, we have a large extended family, so he has lots
of visitors and people to spell each other to help care for him.

The stroke has affected his swallowing, so he can only have thickened
liquids and mushy food in tiny spoonfuls, and he chokes some even on
that, resulting in pneumonia from food getting into his lungs. His
right side and his short term memory is affected, too.

My son and I visited him yesterday. We were trying to feed him a really
unappetizing dinner and it was quite a chore to get him to eat much. He
was hungry and WANTED food, but didn't like what he was getting.
Throughout the visit he kept asking for apple pie or if there was
anything better than what we were giving him. We DID manage to get him
some appleSAUCE, which he liked for a little while. He's diabetic, but
they were giving him mashed potatoes, strawberry-banana milkshake and
some kind of custard (not to mention insulin). It occurred to me this
morning that maybe I could make him some of Myra's low-carb cheesecake
(sans crust). He could have something pie-like, and it would be sugar
free and mushy and I would know what all the ingredients are (my son was
toying with the idea of getting a sugar-free piece of pie from a
restaurant, and I had warned him about sugar alcohols and their effect
on digestive systems). If Grandpa likes it, I could leave some at my
mom's place, which is only a couple of blocks from the hospital.

I hope this works out and he likes it. As my son said, it really sucks
when you're at a point in life where you're in your last days and you
should really be SAVORING whatever food you can get, only to have to be
limited to crappy hospital food, and pureed, at that.

--
Saffire
205/137/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

That's a wonderful idea, Thaffy! I know that you will make it work for your
grandfather! He's quite a lucky guy!

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Thaffy?? Oh you two are getting intimate now arent you? Your new
boyfriend has given you a cute petname Saffy?? LOL <wink>

Well, JIM has given me a cute petname ;-)

--
Saffire
205/137/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

Quoting Roger Zoul:

Quoted message said:

Can this be made without custard cups? What if you just put it in a pan?

This is one of my favorite desserts. You can put berries on top, use
one of the flavored syrups or extracts as sub for the vanilla, etc.
The recipe I use is similar to Priscilla's.

I'd guess that it wouldn't set up in the middle properly and/or would
burn along the edges. Custard cups are easy enough to pick up,
though. Even grocery stores carry them.

Also, note the use of a water bath ("add hot water around the custard
cups"😉. I usually set my filled custard cups in a glass baking dish,
then add the water around them. As far as I know this is considered
an important step of making custard, but I'm not sure what happens
when you don't.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Saffire said:

My grandfather (91) had a stroke about 3 weeks ago and he is going
downhill pretty fast. It's hard to see such a strong and vital man
declining so rapidly :-( He has always been a HUGE inspiration in our
lives -- the one man who has ALWAYS been there for us, no matter what.
He took all his kids, grandkids and even great-grandkids all skiing and
camping right up into his 70s. He always bought American. He always
did the right thing. He and my grandmother were married for 69 years
until she died in 2002. Since then, he's had TWO girlfriends (and the
first one is still trying to get him back -- he's quite a catch :-).
He's had 3-4 hip operations and was recuperating from the last one when
he had the stroke. He insisted on using his walker whenever possible
because his motto has always been "Use it or LOSE it", and he's lived up
to that! Fortunately, we have a large extended family, so he has lots
of visitors and people to spell each other to help care for him.

The stroke has affected his swallowing, so he can only have thickened
liquids and mushy food in tiny spoonfuls, and he chokes some even on
that, resulting in pneumonia from food getting into his lungs. His
right side and his short term memory is affected, too.

My son and I visited him yesterday. We were trying to feed him a really
unappetizing dinner and it was quite a chore to get him to eat much. He
was hungry and WANTED food, but didn't like what he was getting.
Throughout the visit he kept asking for apple pie or if there was
anything better than what we were giving him. We DID manage to get him
some appleSAUCE, which he liked for a little while. He's diabetic, but
they were giving him mashed potatoes, strawberry-banana milkshake and
some kind of custard (not to mention insulin). It occurred to me this
morning that maybe I could make him some of Myra's low-carb cheesecake
(sans crust). He could have something pie-like, and it would be sugar
free and mushy and I would know what all the ingredients are (my son was
toying with the idea of getting a sugar-free piece of pie from a
restaurant, and I had warned him about sugar alcohols and their effect
on digestive systems). If Grandpa likes it, I could leave some at my
mom's place, which is only a couple of blocks from the hospital.

I hope this works out and he likes it. As my son said, it really sucks
when you're at a point in life where you're in your last days and you
should really be SAVORING whatever food you can get, only to have to be
limited to crappy hospital food, and pureed, at that.

If he is dying, I'd give him any damn thing he wants that you could get
down him easily... <sigh>

I feel for you! I really do......

Blessings!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

"Saffire" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My grandfather (91) had a stroke about 3 weeks ago and he is going
downhill pretty fast. It's hard to see such a strong and vital man
declining so rapidly :-(

That's sad. Sympathies!

Chocolate mousse might be easy to eat? How about quiche? ice cream? Do you
have shepherd's pie? - ground beef cooked into a savoury mix, then topped
with mashed potatoes? Fauxtatoes?

Nicky.

--
A1c 10.5/4.5/<6 Weight 95/77/72Kg
1g Metformin, 100ug Thyroxine
T2 DX 05/2004

"Saffire" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The stroke has affected his swallowing, so he can only have thickened
liquids and mushy food in tiny spoonfuls, and he chokes some even on
that, resulting in pneumonia from food getting into his lungs. His
right side and his short term memory is affected, too.

My son and I visited him yesterday. We were trying to feed him a really
unappetizing dinner and it was quite a chore to get him to eat much. He
was hungry and WANTED food, but didn't like what he was getting.
Throughout the visit he kept asking for apple pie or if there was
anything better than what we were giving him. We DID manage to get him
some appleSAUCE, which he liked for a little while. He's diabetic, but

DH gets a hankering and puts sliced apple with cinnamon, splenda, and a
little butter in a covered dish and nukes it for a few minutes. Maybe your
gf could get down a little shredded apple, cooked and mashed with the
flavorings, it does taste kind of like apple pie filling, I think it needs a
little nutmeg, myself.

--
No Husband Has Ever Been Shot While Doing The Dishes

Quoted message said:

Chocolate mousse might be easy to eat? How about quiche? ice cream? Do you
have shepherd's pie? - ground beef cooked into a savoury mix, then topped
with mashed potatoes? Fauxtatoes?

Nicky.

I'm going to reply to Nicky's as a reply to Saffire :o)

If he is on a puree diet then shepherds pie will not work but finely mashed
potatoes or coulieflower will, you may have to water the potatoes down with
milk if to thick. Quiche will be way to thick for a puree diet. Ask the
staff about the ice cream being you have to think-it his liquids I wouldn't
assume. If they are keeping an I's&O's record (in's and out's) Please help
the staff out by keeping track of how much of the liquid (that you bring in
for him )he is drinking/eating (ice cream & jello did count as liquid were I
worked so you may want to ask) count liquids as OZ or CC (1oz = 30cc) also
let them know what and how much the serving of food is and how much of it he
ate.

I know he's diabetic but Pastas puree very well, If needed you can thick-it
water with no change in taste.
how about Egg nog (it may be a good was to give him protein)? you might have
to thicken it depending on how think his liquids are supposed to be.

If you want to do some reading on dysphagia I did a search (dysphagia diet)
I hope this copy and paste works

http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&cof=AWFID%3A0ac4d84796436141%3BBGC%3A%23FFFFFF%3BT%3A%23000000%3BLC%3A%230000CC%3BVLC%3A%230000CC%3BALC%3A%230000CC%3BGALT%3A%23008000%3BGFNT%3A%23000000%3BGIMP%3A%23000000%3BDIV%3A%230000CC%3BLBGC%3A%23FFFFFF%3BAH%3Acenter%3B&q=dysphagia+diet

I hope he gets better I'll be thinking of him, you and your family
Angie

Saffire said:

Thanks for the recipe! The hospital is already giving him custard,
which he didn't seem to care for. I don't blame him -- I've never liked
custard, myself, for some reason. Don't know why, but I just can't
stand the stuff.

Does he like pumpkin pie? You can use the recipe on the back of
Libby's canned pumpkin, subbing Splenda for sugar, and bake in
a casserole dish instead of a pie crust.

--
jamie ([email hidden])

"There's a seeker born every minute."

Saffire,

I'll keep your grandfather in my thoughts and hope that he does
recovery swiftly and completely!

If he can tolerate eating my cheesecake, try flavoring it with
cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc. - basically apple pie flavoring. That
might help a bit. If you can find apple extract, add a couple of
teaspoons of that, too.

Or, you could get some applesauce and flavor it with pie seasonings.

Or, you could put applesauce *on* the cheesecake.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

((hugs))

Myra

Hey, Thaffy....

I guess a lot of people haven't noticed that I've been calling you that for
a long time. Not ALL the time, but yeah, for a long time!

I reread your original post in this thread. Your grandaddy is just like
mine was. Strong. Independent. Doesn't/didnt care about anyone else's
rules. Ready to go do what needs to be done in a heartbeat.

You reflected him in the thread subject: He Wants PIE, Damn It!

Thaffy, as one human being who loves you as another human being and who sees
things a lot as you do, would you do me a favor? My grandaddy is dead now,
yours isn't.

Give him PIE, Damn It! He will die loving you even if he dies choking on
the pie.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

If he is dying, I'd give him any damn thing he wants that you could get
down him easily... <sigh>

I feel for you! I really do......

Thank you. My mom said not to give him any of the candy since he chokes
on food. I pointed out that the pureed turkey was MUCH more difficult
for him to swallow. I was going to see him today, but they are moving
him back to the Masonic home, so he'll be pretty tired, so the visit is
postponed to tomorrow. The cheesecake turned out to be too dense to
consider giving to him, but now we have cheesecake cupcakes, and my
(diabetic) mom is looking forward to trying those and the chocolate
candy :-)

--
Saffire
205/137/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I know this is a hard time for your family--The loss of grandparents and
parents is one of those Rites of Passage we all have to go thru.....but
that doesnt make it any easier, does it?

Nope.

Quoted message said:

He told me that he had seen dozens of families, wives, husbands, moms,
whatever, going days without sleep, not even leavng the patient's side
long enough to get food or coffee, because they wanted to "be there when
he/she passes". Then eventually, they have to go out of the room to eat
or grab a nap....and as soon as they leave the room, the patient dies.
They've been WAITING to be left alone to die "in peace" and do not want
their passing to be seen by their loved-ones.

Thank you for sharing this with us -- it must be incredibly painful for
you to dwell on your son's death -- I'm so sorry for your loss
{{{{{{{{{ LASS CHANCE }}}}}}}}}}

--
Saffire
205/137/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

In article <K49qe.88070$yV4.48404@okepread03>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Hey, Thaffy....

I guess a lot of people haven't noticed that I've been calling you that for
a long time. Not ALL the time, but yeah, for a long time!

I reread your original post in this thread. Your grandaddy is just like
mine was. Strong. Independent. Doesn't/didnt care about anyone else's
rules. Ready to go do what needs to be done in a heartbeat.

You reflected him in the thread subject: He Wants PIE, Damn It!

Thaffy, as one human being who loves you as another human being and who sees
things a lot as you do, would you do me a favor? My grandaddy is dead now,
yours isn't.

Give him PIE, Damn It! He will die loving you even if he dies choking on
the pie.

That sounds like Grandpa, all right :-) Thanks for your empathy, Jim --
you're a good man.

--
Saffire
205/137/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

"Saffire" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <K49qe.88070$yV4.48404@okepread03>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Hey, Thaffy....

I guess a lot of people haven't noticed that I've been calling you that
for
a long time. Not ALL the time, but yeah, for a long time!

I reread your original post in this thread. Your grandaddy is just like
mine was. Strong. Independent. Doesn't/didnt care about anyone else's
rules. Ready to go do what needs to be done in a heartbeat.

You reflected him in the thread subject: He Wants PIE, Damn It!

Thaffy, as one human being who loves you as another human being and who
sees
things a lot as you do, would you do me a favor? My grandaddy is dead
now,
yours isn't.

Give him PIE, Damn It! He will die loving you even if he dies choking on
the pie.

That sounds like Grandpa, all right :-) Thanks for your empathy, Jim --
you're a good man.

we're both in the same path My granpa knew he was dying, and wasn't patient
with anyone around him. He wanted to be left alone.

He appreciated, I know, what the rest of us were trying to do, but he was
the dying guy, and none of the rest of us had any idea what that was about.
So we nade our plans while we understood that he would be willing to die in
the venue we selected.

Same thing is going to happen when we are dying. We'll have family memberx
trying to make it beautiful and sweet, and you know what? Screw them, they
ain't the dying ones. If I did find someone later in life with whom I could
share my life, then yes. I need to see you right now, and as the last
person I will ever see, and then I won't fear death.

I will not leave this world or this heart with a sad thought in it. I can't
promise that the world will change for you, but I can promose that each of
the disciples will be in your heart, and so am I!