Fine Arts, Good Food, Long Lives, Lasting Marriages, GOD IS GOOD 8/23/12

This past week has been a rather quiet one with a good number of days with very few social obligations.  Now wouldn’t you think that would be a great opportunity to get some deep but ignored cleaning done?  I had great plans, even wrote down a few, but do you know what happened?  I forgot to start them!  Oh, well this is another week, maybe I will activate those plans. (Please note that I slipped a “maybe” into that statement. That is enough to make me more relaxed.)

Last Monday was a great day for me.  Due to  a desire from a casual friend of mine who wanted to see a musical stage play in Shipshewana, Indiana, a group of seven friends made her suggestion a reality. I left home at 3:00 P.M. to join a car pool near Auburn.  We arrived at our destination to indulge in a family style dinner at the Blue Gate Restaurant, featuring chicken and ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, green beans, freshly home baked bread, topped off with our choice of pie.  I chose a new experience of vanilla cream pudding over crushed red raspberries with whipped topping. To be great pie for me, it has to have above average crust.  It met all of this criteria.  It was a real treat that slipped down by itself after over eating of the fabulous home cooked meal.  I kept watching and I saw no calories nor sugar, so I enjoyed every bite.

We made a hasty exit from the dining hall upstairs to the Blue Gate Theater where we were mesmerized by the performance of The Confession, a story of an Amish family who had raised their adopted daughter without her ever knowing of her origin. The cast included all professional actors and trained musicians which made the next nearly three hours go by rapidly. Many thanks to several of my friends who made it possible for me to be a part of such an evening. It was a rather expensive evening, but I decided it would cost each of my kids only $5.75!  It rained harder than I have seen it rain all summer most of the way home, which made it later than I had thought I would be and it was past midnight when I quietly slipped into the house, turning only the minimum of lights on and crawled into bed hoping no neighbors saw this little old lady in such circumstances. There is another play scheduled with an  Amish background for September through November. Do not be surprised if we go back again.  I will have to fudge my time sheet for extra funds, but I think I can make it if I stay out of the grocery stores.

My week ended with a very full schedule for Sunday.  I had declined one invitation for a celebration for two special friends who  have been married for over 65 years, and were celebrating both of their advanced birthdays. I have known them since I was a sophomore in high school and was disappointed that I had already accepted an invitation for a baby shower for a first child of one of my granddaughters.  I could not possibly honor both invitations since one was in Kendallville. When my daughter picked me up for the shower she said she intended to get me back to Edgerton in time to get to the birthday party!  We made it at the last moment and were graciously received by Bob and Marcella Koerner and their family. May they have many good memories of the day. We hurried from there to the church basement for a 40th wedding anniversary celebration. Again we were the last guests to arrive but, were glad we made the extra effort to help them celebrate. Congratulations to you, Larry and Viv Welch.

We ate at only two of the parties, but I came home with no intentions of having anymore food. It was even difficult to think of any food that I thought you might be interested in.  It will surprise you that for a change I ignored all of the desserts that usually attract my first thoughts. I have eaten, and made occasionally, poppy seed chicken but this is a bit different as this uses diced chicken instead of whole pieces. It makes a large amount so maybe you can divide it in half or maybe freeze some of it before you bake it.   It suggests chicken breasts, but I am going to use a mixture of both white and dark meat, because that is what I like best.  The salad recipe is one that I have never tried but has possibilities.  The title fascinated me, too.
                                  
POPPY SEED CHICKEN
About 7 to 8 pounds of chicken, cooked and diced
1 ½  cups sour cream
2 tablespoons poppy seed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
½ cup chicken broth
1 ½ sleeves butter flavored crackers, crushed
1 stick butter
Place cooked and diced or shredded chicken in a 9 x 13 pan. Mix chicken soup, sour cream, poppy seed and broth. Pour this mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle crushed crackers on top. Drizzle butter over all. ( I usually just mix the butter and crackers.  The recipe called for “2 cream cheese” but did not mention it when giving directions.)  Maybe some little old white haired lady turned in this recipe!  I am going to try it with at least 1 (8 ounce) package and then make a final decision.

Why don’t you live dangerously?
                      
HILLBILLY PINEAPPLE SLAW
I head shredded cabbage
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 small onion, shredded
½ cup mayonnaise, more if needed
Salt and pepper if desired
1 package mini marshmallows (Use your own discretion as to size.)
Combine cabbage and onion. Stir in pineapple. Add mayonnaise. Stir in marshmallows. Enjoy.

Healthy, Happy, Better Educated School Kids 8/16/12

 Whole grain, apple and ham breakfast casserole

Oh, dear.  Can you believe that the last month of summer is half gone?  That means that school is starting already. It seems that the main thing I accomplished this summer is trying to keep cool, complaining about the extreme heat and the corresponding extreme electric bill from the air conditioner running constantly, and begging for the high percentage of forecast showers to please send a few drops to our town.  We are extremely grateful for the recent relief in both areas, plus lower temperatures and enough rain to revive the lawns from the ugly brown that they had all acquired to a semblance of green.

With school starting this week, have you noticed the articles in the press and magazines about the importance of a healthy breakfast for our kids before leaving home for a day of learning? This takes me back to my childhood, we won’t mention how many years.  We did not just crawl out of bed and run out the door to school.  My brothers had to go to the barn and milk cows, feed all of the animals and be back in the house for breakfast, cleaned up and ready for an 8:00 a.m. school bus. Skipping breakfast was not an option.  Sometimes it was fried potatoes and eggs, but more often it was a healthy cereal made from cracked wheat that we prepared in an antique coffee grinder. It was often prepared like cream of wheat.

That brings back another memory at the time of our little brother’s birth. We were all born at home  and at that time new mothers were bedfast for nearly three weeks and we had hired help with the household duties. An older lady whom we as kids did not know filled this need in our home.  She could not cook for sour apples!  She made a travesty of our usually welcome hot breakfast.  My dad with an authority sounding voice said to all six of us, “Just keep your mouth shut and eat it.”  Guess what, that is just what we did, but were overjoyed when her three weeks were over and our mother took over the cooking. We also had a cereal made from this same ground wheat that we made into a cake like breakfast food that we all enjoyed. I brought the idea to my own family and all but one daughter liked it. One daughter still makes it and brings some to our annual family camping weekend.  Her older sister still cringes at the thought.

As I look back, with no fast foods available and no cash available, we ate very healthy from products available from our farm life.  Maybe that has something to do with our longevity since 6 out of 7 of us lived beyond our eightieth birthdays.

As usual I have veered from the original idea of the importance of eating a healthy breakfast for school kids.  Reports have been published about the improved ability to learn when a healthy breakfast is supplied to school kids.  This does not mean a bowl of sugar coated cereal accompanied by a glass of too sugar laden so called fruit juice. I saved a recipe from the Journal Gazette just to try for myself, but it should fill the criteria of a healthy breakfast and can be prepared the night before and baked in the morning.

Here is to healthier breakfasts and smarter kids.  Maybe I should change that to “more readily  prepared to absorb learning”. (I say kids today are not smarter than we were, they are just exposed to more facts!)           
      
WHOLE-GRAIN, APPLE and HAM BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
4 ounces of deli-sliced ham, sliced
3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
6 slices whole grain bread, cubed
8 egg whites
½ cup fat free half-and-half
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
In a medium sized casserole dish, toss together the ham, apples, bread cubes and cheese.  Beat together the egg whites and half and half.  (I think I would use the whole egg.) Pour the egg mixture over the bread and meat. Use a fork to gently press the bread to absorb the liquid. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the casserole. Cover the dish with foil and refrigerate until morning.  Bake at 375 degrees, covered for 20 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.

The next one, I think I gave it to you once before, I bake often for myself. My daughter served it at a brunch several years ago and I think you will like it, too.  I have the recipe taped to the inside of my cupboard door where my nosey little old friend does not see it and hide it from me.

OATMEAL BAKE
3 cups quick oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup peeled,  sliced apples
½ cup diced fresh peaches
½ cup blue berries, optional
1 cup English walnuts, coarsely chopped
Combine oats, brown sugar, (I use ½ cup Splenda brown sugar) baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Combine beaten eggs milk and melted butter. Add to dry ingredients. Stir in fruit and nuts.  I omitted the peaches and blueberries. I do not care for blueberries and did not have any peaches, so I used two cups of chopped apples. Place in an 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, Do not over bake.
I like it best when I zap it in the microwave for a few seconds before adding milk. It works well to add the blueberries at this point.

May this help to create a healthier, happier and better educated group of future leaders in our community, state and nation.

Friends, aren't they great? 8/9/12

Friends, aren’t they great?  Several of mine filled my life with magic last week.  Really, now, how could a garage sale be so exciting?  You have probably heard of the power garage sales have over me in particular, with my sister being close behind.  I noticed an ad for one last week, but hadn’t made a decision about it when my sister called and mentioned something they had that she would like to see.  Friday morning found us merrily on our way, but neither of us had memorized the house number. We passed by twice and decided we would just go to Dollar General and then go home. As she was taking me home she asked quietly, “Should we drive down that street again?” I told her we might as well since we were using her gas!  On our second attempt, we located the garage at the back of a house between two closely located houses. We were very pleasantly surprised and equally joyfully received by two almost lifetime friends who were back home from Florida visiting family.  We shopped very little, bought nothing but stayed a good 45 minutes just chatting. She is a shirt tail relative, her grandfather was my dad’s first cousin.  That makes us distant enough that she does not have to claim me. Her husband was my “go to guy” when I had a technical problem beyond my comprehension that a hardware owner could solve without thinking. Since she told me she faithfully reads Magic Moments each week, I hope she is surprised to see our special time mentioned in this week’s paper. Thanks, Verg and John for a very pleasant time.

One evening I received a phone call from a friend who said she had left a bag on my back step.  I had been at home, but the catastrophic bolt of lightning in our neighborhood destroyed my wireless doorbell at my back door. I can seldom hear any one knock.  I was in for the evening and would not have gone outside again but she had brought some ready to eat peaches from her parent’s home. If I wanted anymore, I could just go down behind the house and pick what I could reach from the ground. Tree ripened Red Haven peaches! You can bet that the next morning I walked to the post office with a canvas grocery bag on my shoulder and then went to the peach tree. I thought I was being modest in the amount I took but by the time I got home with them, I wished I had taken a few less, or at least smart enough to drive my car. I froze several containers and baked three pies, which will provide a story for me for another week’s column. Each time I use them I will again relive the joy supplied from the generosity and kindness from friends. Thanks to Shirley and Darwin.  A daughter’s friend had more peaches than she wanted to can, so she shared with my daughter who shared a few with me. So, you can never tell how many people can benefit from your small act of kindness to others.

Now I have a connection to using these peach stories. Do any of you remember the peach cobbler recipe I gave  you last year?  I received public admonishment for putting a recipe that good in the paper! Several mentioned how good it was. (I had never made it!)  Last week someone mentioned me running it again.  I thought that was a good idea since it is Red Haven time. (They can’t be beaten in my estimation, and I had just seen a copy of the recipe the week before.) Now for the rest of the story. Would you believe that I cannot find my copy? The only explanation I can perceive is that “Nosey Rosey” was here again messing up my organized things! I do not know what book I found it in originally and searching through my computer folder was unproductive and endless. Yesterday we had a surprise dinner at The Barn for the 25th Anniversary of a son and his wife.  As we were leaving the restaurant, I saw a friend who had talked to me about the cobbler recipe at the Festival of Flags.  I ashamedly asked her if she had a copy of the recipe. Above and beyond the call of duty, a few minutes after I returned home my front door bell rang and there she was with a copy. Friends, aren’t they great?  Major thanks to another Shirley.

PEACH COBBLER IN A PINCH
5 large or 4 small peaches, peeled and sliced
½ cup butter, melted
5 slices white bread,  crusts removed
2 tablespoons  flour
1 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
Place peaches in an 8 x 8 greased glass baking dish. Cut each  slice of bread into 5 strips. Arrange over the peaches. Mix sugar, butter, flour and egg and pour evenly over layer.   Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm or at room temperature. I will be having some for my lunch today!

I always told my kids and grandkids they have to have something healthy in their stomachs for the desserts to sit on.  So I will add a recipe for a simple casserole to prepare while you have the oven heated for the cobbler.

TATER TOT CASSEROLE
1 ½ pounds ground beef, cooked and drained
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom sop
1 package (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables
1 can (4 oz.) mushroom pieces
1 can cream of celery soup
1 package (2 lb.) Tater Tots
Spread cooked ground beef in bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle soup mixture over beef, next mushroom pieces, then mixed vegetables. Spread both soups overall. Place Tater Tots in rows on top of vegetables.  Bake at 325 for 1 ½ hours, or until vegetables are done.

Remember to do something unexpected for a friend. You never know how much joy or uplift it can mean in their life.

8/2/12

Another milestone in the schedule of our town has just been past.  This year’s Festival of Flags is now just a memory. Hope you were able  to participate in at least some of the festivities.  I do not cover as many activities  as I used to when it was only a block away and I could see some of the action from my front door.   Age and  convenience play a big part of the change in my participation.  I did attend the Thursday evening program and was very pleased with the performances.

Our congratulations  and appreciation for his commitment to Edgerton are heartily sent to our new Citizen of the Year, Dave Casebere.   The posthumous presentation to Bill Siebenaler’s family was well deserved and very appropriate. The community choir presented a fine performance under the direction of Kevin Riehle in a tribute to his dad who started the choir years ago.  It is amazing to me how a group of townspeople who just love to sing under the direction of someone who loves music can be so professionally sounding.  Good job, all of you who used your  God given talents for our listening pleasure.

The acknowledgement of each branch of the service was also very memorable.   Thanks to all of those present and the others in our lives who served.  Since the parade was near my back door, I had a front row seat and enjoyed every entry. Thanks to all of you who spent the time and effort it takes to make floats.  They are my favorite entries.  Thanks also go to the neighboring school bands as well as our own Edgerton band because you cannot have a real parade without bands.  My biggest regret and unfulfilled intention was that I did not get to the K of C fish tent! I am looking forward to next year’s celebration.

Thanks are in order for the few showers that we were fortunate to receive and the drop in 100 degree temperature.  I was so sure God was going to bless us with another shower when It got  so dark the other evening. Only a  few sprinkles came our way, but we will hope we are in line for the lighter promise of showers for this week.

I had a recipe in mind, (I even knew where it was.) but when I was looking for another one an idea crossed my mind and I hope I will remember what that one was for next week.  There was a section of recipes for kids in my cook book. So here are a couple you can use when you are entertaining grandkids.  They will be much more popular than a broccoli casserole or spinach salad!
          
WIENER CASSEROLE
¼ cup butter
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced celery
6 wieners, sliced
1 egg,  beaten
1 can (12 oz.) cream style corn
1 can (10 oz.) tomato soup
½ cup buttered bread or cracker crumbs
Saute onions, celery and wieners in butter. Mix beaten egg with corn. Put wiener mixture in 1 ¼ quart casserole.  Cover with corn mixture and add tomato soup on top. Cover with butter crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes six servings.

HOMEMADE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES
I carton of your favorite ice cream
1 box of graham crackers
Snap graham crackers in half. Slice ice cream into slabs a little smaller than the cracker. Put each slab of ice cream between two crackers. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and put in freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Think I will make a few for myself with “no sugar added ice cream”.  Guess I am still a kid at heart. Maybe the wiener casserole would be a way to use up the ones I have in my freezer since a hot dog sandwich is not really appealing to me.