Martin Burns

It's been almost a week since he died and our little Broadcasting community is still heartsick.

There are few producers that are loved as much as investigative producer, Martin Burns.

Back when I worked in the news department, there was an investigative unit called the Community Information Project or (CIP). It was headed by a man named Dan Leighton. One of the big exposé's that they worked on during my time in the news room, was the McMartin Preschool case. They were doing that for ABC, right down the street and I remember seeing Danny Leighton talking to someone outside the ABC building. You just knew it was regarding that story...but I digress.

Martin came to the station to work on California Stories...and then Life & Times, our News show that lasted decades. He also did a show that broke off from Life & Times and ended up being aired on PBS called "Searching for God In America". He was quite talented and could shift gears easily, competently working whatever project was given to him. We all loved him. HERE is what Hugh Hewitt, the host of Searching For God In America, had to say about Martin.

One day, he decided to leave, to follow Dan Leighton over to Fox. To say the least, we at KCET were not happy, but I am sure the money was much better on that side of the street. It was the late 90's that this happened.

I haven't seen him since...but on Monday there was a post on our news feed and it said that Martin had died. You can read quite an article about it, HERE. I just knew the short story...but knowing what he did for a living, why did I feel in my gut that foul play might be involved. From what I see in the letters, I am not the only one with my "Spidey Sense" going off...but we will most likely never know if it was an accident, or deliberate.

A truly wonderful man, who I will miss.

Green And Gold Day 2013

It's a national thing, each school around the country gets it together and they wear their school colors.

There will be a photo at Sheldon Hall and if I can manage it, I will be there.

I bought a cool shirt just for the occasion.

More later, especially if I get some photos of the gathering.

Update!

Check out me, all there way up top on the right.

Well I was just going to watch the Undergrads pose for the photo, but when I got one of the cupcakes, I just had to get my photo taken, right? :-)

It was a lot of fun, minus the hot noon sun and (of course) the relentless humidity.

Happy 100th Birthday to Sheldon Hall.

Happy Green and Gold Day, too.

My First Impressions Of My Classes

Well, how did it go?

Human Computer Interaction. The teacher totally rocks!

He's got that Beatles Manchester (Liverpool) accent going on and he has worked all over the globe. As a matter of fact, he is working in Australia concurrently with Oswego. The man is brilliant. 3D modeling, forensic reconstructions for the FBI, drilling for BP in Africa, it's amazing. I am positive I will learn a lot in his class.

Technology and Culture and Integrated Media. These 2 courses are being taught by my teacher from last semester, so I have a good idea of what is expected of me...and that would be a bunch of work. Can't wait to get into it. He is already informing us grad students, that we should already be thinking of our final project for the class that will be following Integrated Media. That would be the one I am hoping I can do online, back in Los Angeles. Ack!

Graduate Multimedia. Again, I totally love the teacher. You can tell this group of instructors was hand picked for this new Graduate Certificate. No slouches here, they are all very involved. The only thing that worries me, is that she expects a lot of work in areas and on equipment I am not familiar with. Apple Computers, Final Cut Pro (seriously, I have avoided this stuff like the plague) :-)

Oh and due to the fact that there are 8 of us this semester, they want to take us all out to breakfast, to get some bonding going, between the students and the teachers. Though that is already going on, to a extent. We are learning who we are and are talking to each other.

Lots of work...but I think it will be worth it.

Riding The Amtrak In Austin Texas

I have had this photo waiting to post for weeks and so since it's there and I have nothing else to say at the moment, here it is.

The Sleeper Car Attendant took this photo of my Husband and I as we looked at the train from the Austin Texas Station.

It was our first real look at the cars that were added to our train set, which I posted about last week. You can read about it, HERE.

In spite of leaving 2 1/2 hours late, we really did enjoy our time riding the rails and I know that someday we will schedule another trip somewhere.

Hubby still has many states in the south to hit and I am still missing Oklahoma. :-)

Two Views Of The Pointe

I went back to work officially yesterday. Today being my first day of class, I will only do a quick check-in in the morning, before the classes begin.

I spent the better part of the weekend printing out the backlog of work I had waiting for me and getting my head back in the Broadcast Operations "Game". It's so easy to forget...trust me. :-)

Adding insult to injury, Link TV begins their Summer Pledge Drive on the 31st. Woo...

Talk about seriously not having my head in the game yet.

I caught these two photos on my last day at work, as I walked to the hospital next door, to get some knives for the breakfast I had brought for the people at work.

Once again I love the cloudy mottled look of the building in the first photo and the unobstructed view of the entire edifice, in the second one.

I miss the place already...well, to a point. :-)

On The Shore Of Lake Ontario

My Water Post For Today.

I think I will end up with a million photos of Lake Ontario, after these 5 months are over...so get used to it.

This was late afternoon, around 6PM and I had just finished my work at the Library and once again, couldn't resist taking a "few" photos.

As you can see, I actually braved the little walkway to get to water level...so the shot is spectacular.

Off in the distance is the lighthouse.

I hope you enjoy.

KCET Via Oswego, New York

Tomorrow's the big day!

I begin to work remotely to KCET, in Los Angeles.

I, of course, will be here in Oswego, NY.

I am definitely a bit apprehensive, especially since I am scheduled to get Internet connected, just hours before I need to use it to work. My default is that I will go to the school and connect from there. Not a fun way to spend the day, but it will work in a pinch.

Wish me luck as I begin the next phase (semester) of my life.

Custom Cars On A Train

I arrived back in Oswego, where Internet is spotty, at best...so you dear readers get what I can give you today. :-)

This is a photo of the custom rail car, that was attached to the end of the Texas Eagle, in San Antonio. I would bet this car was the reason the train didn't leave the station without us.

I saw a photo taken in a custom car, later in the day, on Facebook.

Amtrak posted it and amazingly it was our car that was in the photo. How cool is that?

It blocked our view, when we were moving, but otherwise, it was really great to see. Especially when we got out at station stops.

HERE is a story about the passengers on that train and the photo that explained what was going on.

A Cutie Turns Two

Our incredibly busy day went well.

Breakfast with childhood friends, afternoon snack with my uncle and then dinner.

The best part of dinner, was the fact that we shared our meal with our friends from Phoenix's son, his wife and his almost 2 year old daughter. The last time we saw them, the baby was just a few weeks old. Now she is almost 2. It was a pleasure to watch her interact with her parents and show off her command of language and her eating skills.

She didn't have a melt down or anything. Considering she is so young, that was pretty good.

I had seen a bakery near the Japanese restaurant we went to and I decided to buy her a mini cup cake, as a gift for her. Unfortunately for us, we are missing her party on Saturday.

Her parents wisely waited until just before bath time, to allow her to eat it.

I think it's a win. :-)

Happy Birthday little girl. It was good to see you.

Hanging Around The City And Long Island

The East Coast, Long Island segment of my trip is starting to wrap up.

We saw my Sister on Sunday and Monday, Letterman on Tuesday, my sister and brother on Wednesday and we have plans to see my sister and some childhood friends on Thursday and also an uncle of mine and the son of friends of our family on Thursday (definitely my busiest day of the week).

Hubby is out of here on Friday morning and (with luck) I will head up to Oswego, later that morning. I hope to stop by a cousin of mine, on the way Upstate.

Other friends will have to wait for another time.

I am totally out of time. :-)

Both photos, by the way, were taken at the entrance to Central Park at Columbus Circle. We ate our picnic lunch there, before heading over to Letterman.

We Watched A David Letterman Show Taping

My Husband is a BIG GIGANTIC David Letterman fan! Every weeknight, without fail, my house has to have Dave on...at least the first half hour. Thankfully for me, I go to bed. :-)

Last time we were in New York, David Letterman was on hiatus and so we went to a Broadway play, instead. This time, we found out on his website, that he was taping the week we would be here. So my Husband placed an application in and answered a trivia question about the show. We, not thinking we were going to get tickets, went on with our life.

On our train ride through Texas, we got a phone call and it was his staff, telling us that we had won the lottery and if he answered another question, we could see a taping on Tuesday August 20th. So we were in!

We took the train to New York, wasted more time, during the day, in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater, but ultimately, we were up in the balcony, watching the show being taped.

You can see a piece of what we saw, HERE.

As you can see, Louis C.K. was the first guest. Hugh Evans was the second guest and the musical number was by John Legend.

Paul Schaffer sang Steely Dan's "Do it Again", during one of the breaks and that was the personal highlight of my afternoon. In addition the band also did a Police tune, which made my day.

The set, by the way, is very small and the back area is actually a built city, not painted, as I expected. It was quite beautiful.

All in all, a good, but tiring day.

More Apartment Photos

Just a quick view of the 4 rooms in my new apartment.

The curtains that are all around the apartment, are ones I made for my baby, many decades ago. They are long, but actually work out well right now, because I can fold them over the curtain rod and it lets air into the house.

Sorry that some of them were fuzzy, I was in a hurry to get to my sister on Long Island. :-)

Note my microwave. I also got a coffee pot. :-)

The bathroom is what you would expect. Though it has quite a nice linen closet, to hold towels and supplies.

The couch in the living room becomes my main bed, but if I want a nap during the day, I have the aero bed to lay on in the formal bedroom.

I still have lots to do, but at least it is getting there.

Lake Ontario, High Summer

My Water Post For Today.

I haven't been to see the lake in the summer for many years. The best part about it, is that the temperature outside lets you watch and not freeze. :-)

This view of the lake is right behind the Mary Walker Health Center, which is where students go, if they are sick. I had to turn in paperwork there and decided I couldn't not stop by the lake and so I did.

There are picnic tables all around the campus and people were eating their lunch, right there, as I stepped over to the edge of the shore.

I am so happy to be here (though I am downstate right now) and I hope you enjoy.

A Border Between Them

I am still not set up yet, Internet wise, but I did grab a few minutes to steal this photo from my Facebook page.

This was the closest our train got to the US/Mexican Border. Literally feet away from another Country and obviously, another culture.

What got me was the fact that the people in Mexico live in these tiny hovels, that they consider home. I did get a few shots of the US side and the difference, of course, is striking.

We are so lucky here in the US and we really need to appreciate how much we have.

My Arrival Upstate and then Downstate For A Few Days

Sorry I have been so absent, recently. It has been hard getting Internet service.

To bring you up to date. We took the train across the US and have moved into my apartment in Oswego, NY.

It is almost all set up for my semester. Just a few things need to be done, like the cable guy to come over and connect me up!

I am spending my last weekend before the semester begins, with my family. So tomorrow I will be driving my car, which made it across the Country without us, down to Long Island. I want to leave early and the Hubby wants to leave late. We will see who wins. :-)

I visited more offices in the administration building and set up all sorts of things, to make my transition complete. Including my college ID card. OMG! I have an ID card!

When I get back, I will begin the process of working on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and taking 4 classes on Tuesday and Thursday.

Wish me luck.

33 Years And Days Gone By

Back in my growing up days, my Dad was a bus mechanic in Queens, New York. When he retired from that job, he had worked for his company a total of 41 years. I was amazed and in awe of this feat and never in my wildest dreams did I expect to come close to his record. Well, in August of this year, as I go off to school again, I will reach my 33rd Anniversary at KCET.

33 years at the same place…it seems impossible to me, but I consider it quite a privilege. Along with so many people who I have met along the way, my station has been involved with many cutting edge projects and if I can get my grey matter to cooperate, I would love to tell some of those stories. What I hope this will turn out to be, is the diary of an employee at a PBS Station, 1980 to 2011.

Let’s start before my formal beginning, since I began volunteering for the station in 1979. It was August Pledge and I had just moved to Los Angeles. A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to help at her station’s Pledge Drive. She said that you answer phones and you get free food. What a deal, I thought to myself! So I jumped on board.

The director of Volunteers was a wonderful woman named Dottie Kemps. She had worked for the station for many years and by the time I came into her life, she had the Pledge Drives running like a smooth sailing ship. Everything was handled and accounted for. If you needed more volunteers for a day on the phones, she could call an extensive list of volunteers and get them up on stage, at a moment’s notice. They had a table with snacks and desserts on it, called the Jolly Roger Pub and it was the social area of the soundstage. People would congregate between pledge breaks to chat and nibble on the food. The talent would hang out there, too. It was only years later, that they were segregated into a Green Room. So back then, we would mingle with talent and in some cases, give them hints on how to pitch, or let them know they were doing fine. My first pledge we must have been running a new season of the PBS Show Meeting of the Minds, because Steve Allen and his wife Jayne Meadows were there. I have a distinct memory of sitting on a riser and Steve coming and sitting down next to me, so that he could watch his performance on the TV. It was the weirdest thing, I would look at Steve on the TV and then look at Steve sitting next to me, watching himself. I remember going home that night and recounting the entire pledge experience with my current boyfriend…now husband.

He was a big fan of Steve Allen and on the strength of just that one night, he got himself added to the Pledge drive list and we both became volunteers. As a matter of fact, there was a rumor for years that we had met on the pledge set. Totally not true, but we thought it was funny, when pledge talent, Mario Machado (who recently passed away) announced it on set one night.

Live pledging died in the mid 90’s with the rise of the queen of virtual pledging, Suze Orman and Pledge Drives and the camaraderie and love they inspired, died with it.

Pledge was an incredible 14 or so years of fun, which I will document another day.

Pledge Photos are from March of 1980.

Chicago, Hopefully

If all goes as planned, we intend to spend a day in Chicago, between the completion of our first leg of the journey and our getting onto the Lakeshore Limited, which will bring us to Syracuse and my new home in Oswego.

We also hope to visit with some of my Husband's relatives, while on a 9 hour layover.

Getting close to our destination and hoping I can get onto someone's wifi and post tomorrow.

Somewhere USA

Hopefully, we are somewhere in Texas, as this posts.

Our train changes in San Antonio from the Sunset Limited to the Texas Eagle (or something like that).

Supposedly in a 4 hour reconfigure session. I am not sure if we will sleep through it, or get out and look around.

We hope to be in Chicago tomorrow and then the final leg of the journey, The Lakeshore Limited.

Goodbye To The West Coast

My Water Post For Today. (Yes, there is water out there.)

We are gone, gone, gone, on our journey.

This ended up being the last time I saw the Pacific Ocean, before my journey East.

As I mentioned last week, this weather is totally normal for July on the coast.

Besides the fact that I had all sorts of stuff for a sunny day, it was just wonderful to enjoy the fog and cold.

I look forward to more of this kind of weather, in Oswego, New York.

Posts about our trip will come as we are able, since we are on the train right now.

Enjoy.

Oleanders, Growing Outside Her Door

This is a line from the Steely Dan song, My Old School.

If you are like most people who do not live on the West Coast, you may never have seen oleanders growing.

They are a beautiful flower that comes in two colors. It needs very little water to grow and so it does real well, here in the land of little rain.

When Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the two who make up Steely Dan, wrote this song, they were living out here in Los Angeles. Maybe they just grabbed a name of a flower, without thinking that it is not a normal flower for the city of Annandale, New York (the location of Bard College, their Alma Mater).

Knowing them, they probably did know and wanted to make fun of their school, by mentioning a plant that is not even native to the area. They were not fans of their school and it took decades, before all was forgiven and they had good things to say about the experience.

Well, today is my day to leave and return to My Old School.

We will see if I have good memories.

Oh and click the link below, to hear the song.

MY OLD SCHOOL

I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine
Up to Annandale
It was still September
When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls
In the county jail
I was smoking with the boys upstairs
When I heard about the whole affair
I said oh no
William and Mary won't do

CHORUS:
Well I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school

Oleanders growing outside her door
Soon they're gonna be in bloom
Up in Annandale
I can't stand her Doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen
In a fairy tale
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico
She said oh no
Guadalajara won't do

CHORUS:
Well I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school

California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go
Back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you
Through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico
She said oh no
Guadalajara won't do

CHORUS:
Well I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old school

No Camera On My Lap Top...And Other Things

So, my week at work ended and all went about as good as it could...minus us having a captioning issue on all Huell Howser episodes.

Thankfully for me, my boss took that unexpected task on and got the crew to reingest the shows. The reingest will hopefully refresh the captions and solve the problem, moving forward.

By the way, this was right after I had finished checking all shows we have the rights to air, for outdated previews, tags, offers and podcasts. The shows are checked til the end of December, at which time we will then repeat them...until we decide to move on without Huell.

What a bummer, that a task I had worked hard to finish before leaving California, was back up in the air and taking time from my bosses work day. In good news, I did get a lot of work done, to cover my time on vacation. Remember that I am out for 2 weeks, before returning just before classes begin. August 26th is my start day.

Another thing that turned up on last Sunday was that the laptop that I inherited from my son, has no working camera. WTF I said! Now you tell me?

Well, after spending the better part of the week at the laptop EMT guys, they decided that they could not fix it in time...great.

They did suggest that I get a camera at Walmart and attach it to the laptop. Sigh...

Hopefully the remainder of the packing will be uneventful.

My Last Day In Burbank

Yes, it's Friday and that means this is my last day at work for the next 4 1/2 months.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but I can definitely get behind being on vacation for the next 2 weeks. So that's where I will focus my energy, for now.

Our Amtrak train leaves on Sunday evening, so I still have 2 days to do the final pack up. I feel like I have been packing for weeks...and guess what, I have!

The cat knows something's up and she is not happy about it at all.

But for now, let's say goodbye to Hollywood, at least for a few months.

By the way, this photo was taken back on Tuesday, when I was waiting for the President to pass by my workplace. This hallway with the KCET sign fronts on Alameda Ave.

She's Gone!

My car is now on its way to New York.

I got the message around 3PM that the company who is transporting it, had come and picked it up. I heard from my Husband that it was driven to a location that is easier to load the car up onto the car carrier. Thus, I don't have a photo of my car leaving on the trailer.

By the way, this photo not only shows off the car, it shows off my Oswego Commuter Parking Pass on the windshield. Click the photo to check it out. :-)

Hopefully we will be united once again, on the 15th.

President Obama Comes To Visit Jay Leno

The President came to be on Jay Leno's Tonight Show yesterday.

As usual, whenever the President comes calling, all hell breaks loose and that was the case on Tuesday.

We have all these wonderful windows and it gives us a front and center view of all the comings and goings.

The audience arrived and when that happened, we knew that the guest couldn't be too far behind...so we paid a bit more attention.

Finally at 4PM, there they all were. Several police, 8 minicam trucks with sticks in the air and camera's at ready. People lining Bob Hope Drive hoping for a glimpse of The President. Oh and the drug and weapon sniffing dogs were patroling the area. 3 Fire trucks parked around the area, in case of injury and finally there he was, The President himself, in a motorcade.

There were at least 16 motorcycle cops, Highway Patrol, Secret Service and who knows what else.

I was on the Fifth floor for the arrival, but in a fabulous last minute idea, I ran down to Alameda and only had to wait about 5 minutes for the President to exit the lot.

I must admit it was much more of an E ticket attraction, watching it from ground level. I waved as he passed, not like I could see into the vehicle, but I got a kick out of it.

An interesting afternoon.

Set Lists And Steely Dan

It amazes me what comes along on the Internet. Back in the day, we would post our Steely Dan set lists over on something called The Blue Book. Then along came Twitter and the first night someone would Tweet the set list and it would post over on the Blue, too.

Now days, there is such a thing as Set List FM and look how cool it is!

Set List FM.

What I have learned from checking this out once in a while, is that the really cool songs I would have died to see, are gone. Darn!

Check out your favorite bands set lists, if you are so inclined. Lots of stats, too.

I love evolving technology.

Foggy Day Ventura

My Water Post For Today.

This was another shot taken in the late afternoon, of the Pacific Ocean at Ventura.

It was a warm day and I was totally prepared for sunny weather, but just a mile or two from the water, we came to the fog.

I just found out that we do have a colloquial term for a foggy July day. No sky July is its name. Of course the more popular names are June Gloom and May Gray, which happen many days each year.
We actually had fog this year on August 1st and I found out at that time that the term is Fogust. :-)

Enjoy a foggy afternoon in Ventura Harbor.

And So It Begins...Getting Furniture For The Apartment In Oswego

One more week before I leave.

After thinking about this for a month, I decided to buy this couch/bed from Walmart. Actually, I had been ready to purchase one that was a single bed, but on the day I was ordering, I found a double bed for the exact same price of 79 dollars.

I went back and forth on the two of them and finally decided this one seems to be better for what I have in mind. I will be working on my laptop computer a lot and this seems to have the room to do so. Also, the bed will be wider, which should be more comfy, though low to the ground.

I have things coming with me that could have worked as an end table/ottoman, but I had fallen in love with this and it is only 19 dollars.
So I added it to my purchase.

It should work so well, over on the side of the couch/bed. I may even put a lamp on it.

Oh and I hear the storage area inside the ottoman holds a lot more then most shoppers expected, so that should work out well, too.

Final packing for the car will go on the remainder of this weekend. Wish me luck, organizing all this.

The car needs to be ready by the 7th and we leave on the evening of the 11th...oh and these will arrive to the Walmart in Oswego on the 16th, which is the day after we arrive. Good work Walmart. :-)

So CBS Is Off Time Warner Cable

As of this Friday afternoon, CBS (and KCAL9) are both off the air, here in Los Angeles.

My Husband is semi-outraged. How will he watch Undercover Boss? OMG, the world is going to end. :-)

Me, I don't watch anything on CBS and nothing but news on KCAL9. They aren't too, too bad.

As a Broadcaster, I agree with Time Warner Cable. (I can't believe I said that).

They get their money from people buying their service, which includes our channels. This has always been a free arrangement.

These past few years have seen channel after channel begging for huge amounts of money to run their shows. It's so wrong on so many levels.

We the consumers who don't have line of site to Mt. Wilson, have enough trouble coming up with the money to pay the cable bill. Bilking us for more, is not in my budget. We here in the angel house have basic. We don't even pay extra for...well, extras.

If Time Warner Cable gives in, it opens up the floodgates and we end up paying for them all and that is unthinkable. Why do we get stiffed, when all the over the air viewers pay nothing? What makes us so "special"?

Truly, if I could get rid of cable, I would. One less bill to pay.

How Things Change: An Update On The Couple In Oceanside

Last time I documented my Marine Son's wife, she was playing football, which you can catch up on HERE.

As her football season came to an end (they lost in the second round of the playoffs), my Marine "Son" was processing out of the Marines. So, he is out now and waiting for the school year to begin. He intends to get his engineering degree via the GI Bill. They have an apartment in Oceanside and have moved off the base. He thought they were out of the military, but as with so much in life, what you want is not what you get.

She has decided that since he is now out, she wants to join the Marines and become an MP. It is something she has wanted to do, for years.So as of last Monday, she has been accepted into the Corps. She won't ship for quite a bit yet, but her basic training will be all the way over on the other side of the country, in Paris Island, S.C.

I wondered why she couldn't train in San Diego and so I looked it up. This is what it says in Wikipedia, in regard to why Paris Island is where females train.

"On February 15, 1949, the Marines activated a separate "command" for the sole purpose of training female recruits. Later, this command was designated the 4th Recruit Training Battalion and it now serves as the only battalion in the Corps for training female recruits, and is the only all-female unit in the Department of Defense."

So, to say the least, things are very, very tentative in regard to their life moving forward and (unfortunately) their marriage. Talk about a topsy-turvy situation.

I wish her the best, in this new journey and pray that it is something that she really wants...because it will definitely be hard on her, in both in mind and body. He knows what she will be up against and keeps trying to talk her out of it, but she is determined. More power to her.

On his end, he really needs to pull his sh*t together and figure out what he needs to do, moving forward. Basically not just letting the water pull you along, but coming up with a battle plan for the future and executing it in his best interest. Definitely a job is a first good step in the right direction, but even better would be a job that isn't Walmart or flipping burgers. Good luck to him, because he needs it so much.

Don't Mess With Texas Blueberry Cobbler

Another recipe from the folks from America's Test Kitchen. I saw the recipe on my Yahoo page and I was intrigued by the fact that the cobbler top is placed down at the bottom of the pan and yet it rises to the top. Blueberries are on sale, right this moment and so with my Husband's permission, I bought a big container and made this recipe on Sunday evening. You can see it in it's full "photo" glory, HERE. Oh, you wonder what I thought of it? Well, I think next time I will not mash the blueberries. That was my only complaint. Enjoy.

Don't Mess With Texas Blueberry Cobbler

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: While many think of cobbler as juicy fruit under a biscuit topping, in the Lone Star state it's more like a fruit-packed snack cake. A thick batter is poured into a well-greased, preheated baking dish and topped with a mixture of smashed berries and sugar. As the cobbler bakes, the batter puffs around the fruit, leaving you with pockets intermingled with cake and berries and a chewy, buttery perimeter. We're not picking favorites on styles, but this cobbler is a new winner in our baking repertoire.

Serves 8 to 10

Keep a close eye on the butter as it melts in the oven so that it doesn't scorch. Place the hot baking dish with butter on a wire rack after removing it from the oven. Avoid untreated aluminum pans here. If using frozen blueberries, thaw them first.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces, and 8 tablespoons melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
15 ounces (3 cups) blueberries
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place 4 tablespoons cut-up butter in 13 by 9-inch baking dish and transfer to oven. Heat until butter is melted, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, pulse ¼ cup sugar and lemon zest in food processor until combined, about 5 pulses; set aside. Using potato masher, mash blueberries and 1 tablespoon lemon sugar together in bowl until berries are coarsely mashed.

3. Combine flour, remaining 1¼ cups sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Whisk in milk and 8 tablespoons melted, cooled butter until smooth. Remove baking dish from oven, transfer to wire rack, and pour batter into prepared pan.

4. Dollop mashed blueberry mixture evenly over batter, sprinkle with remaining lemon sugar, and bake until golden brown and edges are crisp, 45 to 50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cobbler cool on wire rack for 30 minutes. Serve warm.