5/31/12

As I check my calendar to get the right date, I notice that there are five Tuesdays, five Wednesdays and five Thursdays in May this year.  I think that is some sort of a record, but I won’t attempt to
throw out any record data.  I am struggling with a change in plans which was going to allow me to sleep on the idea of just waiting until Monday morning to do this.  I just received a late invitation to fill up my day tomorrow starting at 8:00 A.M!  So that means back to the computer at a late hour.

I have started a nice habit of  covering many miles away from home.  I think many of you know that my sister has a set of triplet great grandkids in Kentucky born two months premature in January. There are two boys and a girl. My sister had not seen them and her daughter and son-in-law were taking her down to see them and be a guest at their baptism on Sunday, and visit for a few days. There were obligations in Edgerton, especially a high school graduation, so they were going down and back the same day.  They graciously asked me and my sister-in-law if we wanted to go along.  I had said a definite “Yes” even before the invitations was completely uttered. We left home at 8:30 a.m. and arrived back home at 9:30 p.m. It was a hurried trip but was a fantastic experience, witnessing another of God’s great miracles.  I would rank it above the wonderment of my airplane rides!!

Another Magic Moment of the trip was my first experience of witnessing the windmills that create electricity in the Payne—Van Wert area.  That is much different than reading about them.  If you agree with the idea or not, it is something out of the ordinary to witness.  They come in the same category with me as my electric iron.  When I plug in my iron, I do not understand why it gets hot, but that certainly does not keep me from using the iron! Maybe we will have to wait to see what history has to say about this phenomenon.

I forgot to mention something quite simple but I had not experienced it in my 87 years of living.  While visiting in North Carolina, My friend showed me how she cleans strawberries! Use a firm drinking straw and push it up through the strawberry  which will remove the berry leaves and takes out the center of the berry.  I was so enamored with the idea that I bought some straws at my local grocery, only to find that they were a bit fragile.  On my trip to Kentucky, we stopped for a quick bite to eat going and coming home at a Wendy’s and Burger King.  They were exactly what I thought I needed, so I put my straw in my purse instead of putting it in the garbage container. She also says she washes them in water with a wee bit of dishwashing soap, then rinses them thoroughly.

This is another sneaky way to get to recipes, but I cleaned  my berries this way and now I am going to tell you what I did with them for my dessert.
                                  
STRAWBERRY  DESSERT
1 carton of strawberries, cleaned and diced
2 bananas, diced
1 cup strawberry glaze, I use sugar free
½ carton (8 oz.) whipped topping
¼ cup chopped pecans
Prepare fruit and mix with other ingredients. Serve immediately.  If you are making it for only one person, do not make the whole recipe. Just use your intuition on quantities.  This is the way I like it, but it does not keep well over night and tends to get watery.

Do you remember the light brownies that I told you about that I needed to do an autopsy on before I gave you the recipe?  Well, I got the results back from the laboratory and the biggest criticism was that they were over baked.  I am not certain whether I did not set my timer correctly or that I used a glass baking dish and should have turned down the temperature. Then another problem turned up.  My nosey friend was stirring in my things again and I could not find the clipping with the recipe on it!  It turned up today from somewhere, so I am including it this week. I can’t trust her to not mess things up again.  I think you will really like them, just watch them closely and do not over bake. They came highly recommended from two generations of a family.
                        
LIGHT BROWNIES
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped English walnuts
Cream butter and sugar. Let cool for a few minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into egg mixture. Stir in chips and nuts.  Batter will be quite stiff.  Pour batter into 9 x 13 greased baking pan. If desired sprinkle top with more nuts and chocolate bits. Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted has moist crumbs.  Let cool and cut into squares.

Best wishes are extended to all graduates of Edgerton High School. May your futures be as successful as you strive to make them.