Family Photo Magic 12/12/13

I had a couple of beautiful magic moments to tell you about this week. First of all, my daughter who spends a few magic moments with me every Tuesday, was celebrating her birthday Wednesday last week.   It has also been a pattern for her to spend part of her birthday with her Mom. So we changed the routine and she decided to take half day of vacation so we did not have to keep one eye on the clock all of the time she was here, so she was not late in getting back to work.  We did not always make that happen. When our kids were small they did not have birthday parties nor presents but we made their day special by letting them dictate what our main family meal would be. In being kind about my age she said she would bring something for our lunch,  or we could go up town to the restaurant. When I mentioned that I could cook something if she would tell me what she could eat, this rang bells in her memory and she recalled that when she could dictate what eleven people were going to have for the main meal she always wanted baked potatoes and meat loaf. Since that is a an easy meal, I told her that would be fine so she invited her Aunt Mary to join us. She loves fresh peach pie but cannot taste nor smell. She has submitted a special order that when she gets to heaven, her mother is supposed greet her with a fresh baked peach pie that she can taste!  I didn’t realize that there would be no relief from cooking in heaven, but her request was a magic one for me. It was a great afternoon, and like her ordinary brief visit, it went very fast. I thought it was a good thing that she could not taste, because my meat loaf was below standard, but both of my guests were generous with the ketchup on theirs so maybe they did not notice. At least they were polite enough not to mention it.

Saturday was a very memorable day involving all of my kids and some of the in-laws.  One daughter found a picture taken in about 1980 on Christmas morning.  All nine of the kids were lined up behind the banister on the open stairway of our farm home. She wanted to recreate that picture, but I no longer own that home which I sold to my nephew and his wife. They were thrilled to be part of the adventure and seated us in the kitchen that we remodeled by combining the kitchen and dining room into one room, since neither room was real serviceable for us. It brought back many memories and stories of their childhood in that house complemented by the hot chocolate and coffee that was served by our hosts.  We had some trouble pressing the same adults into the space they occupied when they were much younger, but a lot of pictures were taken and it was a great day. Thanks to you, Mark and Cindy, for letting all of us intrude into your home and busy life. Most of us left there and went to the Christmas open house in Ft. Wayne at the home of my niece and her husband.  It was quite a day.

I was not certain abut a column this week. When I awoke on Sunday morning I was not feeling quite up to par and decided it might  be low sugar. So I ate a piece of toast  with peanut butter and a Fiber One Bar and did not take my sugar pill.  So much for doctoring yourself!  I became ill in church and ended up in the emergency room at the hospital.  After a ride in the ambulance and a few tests, I was feeling better and they sent me home a few hours later.  When asked if I were going to write this, I said I didn’t know. I would probably try it and if it became too much of a struggle I would pass on it.

(Update: After leaving church by the way of EMS and some tests in the emergency room they decided I did have a brain!  It showed some signs of previous damage and my episode was diagnosed as a TIA which does not show up on scans and leaves no evident signs of major strokes.  I had a visit to my family doctor and he said my blood pressure and heart seemed good. That is good news. I am weak but staying alone and have another appointment on the 19^th. So I am being lazy  (what is new?) and drinking lots of fluids.  I work 20 minutes and then rest for two hours!  That should help some, don’t you think?) 

Now I am missing my special Christmas party on Monday evening where I was to be co-hostess.  I called my hostess and she was very understanding. I was to make a Christmas salad and bake Christmas cookies. Would you believe I already had them baked and frosted and in the freezer?  She relieved me of my duty of making the salad, so that gave me the idea of passing the recipe for that on to you. It is Christmassy and easy to make. I have made it for years and possibly gave it to some of you before.

HOLIDAY SALAD

½ cup red hot candies

½ cup boiling water

1 large package of cherry Jello

1 cup hot water

2 cups cold water

2 cups chopped, peeled apples

2 cups chopped celery

1 cup chopped pecans

Dissolve red hot candies in boiling water. Add 1 cup hot water to cherry Jello. Add 2 cups cold water. Add to the red hot mixture and cool until partially set. Add apples, celery and nuts and chill thoroughly.

Did you ever try cranberry tea? I have had a small booklet of Christmas recipes for a long time, but never noticed this recipe. I always make a cranberry salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas but cranberry tea never excited me. Maybe we are all missing a real delicacy.

            

CRANBERRY TEA

4 cups or 1 pound fresh cranberries

30 cloves

2 ½ quarts of water, divided

2 scant cups sugar

1 cup orange juice

Cook cranberries and cloves in 2 quarts of water until cranberries pop. Strain and save juice and discard cranberries and cloves. Dissolve sugar in 2 cups water and add to the  cranberry juice. Stir in orange juice.  Serve hot.

I made it.  We shall see what another week brings.

Advent 12/4/13

Oh, oh, that date rings a familiar sound. Oh, yes, I better do something about that.  Seems like it might be the birthday of #4  daughter’s birthday!  That is by birth order, not ranking according to favoritism!  She usually plans to spend a part of her birthday with her mother, so she will probably stop by.  Maybe I can think of something by then to surprise her.  I could bake a cake but she is on such a strict diet she can’t have most of the ingredients in a cake.  At one time, the best I could come up with was a serving of rice, covered with red kidney beans!!  I helped that out with lots of butter. At that point she could have dairy products. I have a few days before you read this and she comes, so I hope a magic idea comes floating by. One day I made her sugar free instant chocolate pudding with water instead of milk! I cut the liquid down and smothered the pudding  in whipped topping.  I put it in fancy dishes and we both ate it and were surprised at the result.  If you cannot have dairy products, you might be brave and try it.

Hope your holiday was all you had hoped it would be. Mine was phenomenal with about 25 here for the noon meal of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, (from scratch!) dressing, several hot vegetables, more salads and desserts than you can imagine.  The magical thing about the whole meal was that I was informed that if I hosted the party, I did not have to prepare any food!  

Then a special request appeared or maybe it was an order, to prepare the traditional cranberry salad.  That was a cinch since I did it on Wednesday afternoon.  Then we had over twenty that stopped in later in the day after their original holiday plans.  It made a full house, but there was plenty of room to enjoy each other and miss those who were otherwise absent from other commitments or distance.

Now we have to concentrate on the real meaning of Christmas and not have it center on shopping and rushing to get the best deal, and what can I buy for whom. This is the first week of Advent which lasts until the actual Day of Christmas. So spend part of each day in a spiritual way of preparation for the holiday.  I refuse to let Christmas foreshadow Thanksgiving Day, so have not even looked at my Christmas decorations. Each year I do a little less, and have given away a lot of the things that I had stored, but didn’t use any more.  Hope the ones who took some of them enjoy them as much as I did.

I am still over filled with good food, so it is hard to think of anything to pass on to you. My daughter-in-law always brings spaghetti corn to our potluck dinners. It is an unusual combination and a friend of mine showed interest last weekend. Bet you think it took a lot of magic, but I did find the recipe. Hope there are some of you who haven’t seen it, or didn’t  save it when years ago I used it.

                        

SPAGHETTI  CORN

1 can (15 oz.) cream style corn

1 can ( 15oz.) whole kernel corn

1 stick melted butter

1 cup cubed Velveeta cheese

¼ cup celery, diced

1/8 cup onion, diced

1 cup broken raw spaghetti

Melt butter in a round casserole dish. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir and bake for 30 minutes more.   (I think I might like a covering of buttered cracker crumbs.)

Since we usually like to do something different for the Christmas festivities, have you ever made Rolo Pretzel goodies?  What I like best about them is they take such minimal effort and taste as if you spent hours making them. I usually just make them without checking a recipe.  But today in some of the unwanted extra stuff in the Sunday paper I saw a legitimate recipe for them.  Since my hair is so white, I have a genuine excuse for too many packages of Rolo candy in my Goodie Jar. Of course I could blame them on to my little nosey friend who thinks I do not know what I am doing. Guess I will let her off the hook until Christmas. Please notice that I did not promise. It will depend on how bizarre her antics are.

                

ROLO PRETZEL DELIGHT

Mini Twist pretzels (Be sure to use the mini ones)

Rolo caramels with milk chocolate

Pecan halves

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookies sheet with parchment paper or foil. Place one pretzel for each treat desired on prepared sheet. ( I have done over thirty at once.) Top each pretzel with one unwrapped Rolo.  Bake 3 to 5 minutes or until caramel piece begins to soften, but not melted.(Don’t let it get too soft.) Remove from oven, Top each candy with a pecan half. (If you prefer, you can top with another pretzel. I like the pecan half much better.)  Press down on the pecan half to spread the caramel.  Cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet.

Remember to prepare spiritually for the Christmas celebration as thoroughly as you do the shopping and decorations.  

Magic Angels 11/18/13

Either my hair is getting too white or life is demanding too much for a little old lady to handle.  For the first time since way back when I started doing this, I forgot to submit my weekly efforts!

With hosting the family Thanksgiving dinner, grandparents day at Canterbury green in Ft. Wayne this morning, (I had to be ready to go at 7:30 A.M. and I am usually still sound asleep!) a special activity at church tonight, a monthly meeting tomorrow evening, I had put my responsibilities to The Earth on the back burner.  Really I hadn’t even thought about preparing anything. When I returned from Ft. Wayne after lunch at Cracker Barrel in Auburn, my telephone was hopping up and down from an urgent call wondering where my submission was because it is always there when they come to work on Monday morning. I ashamedly offered to submit something as soon as possible, so by now they are probably pacing the floor and nervously watching the minutes on the clock pass by since they told me “just so we know something is coming!”

My great grandson is putting out my trash and recyclable containers, since they are a major problem for little old ladies.  Thank you so much, Tyler. Last Friday about noon I saw an individual pass by my kitchen window and I heard rumblings that I eventually categorized as my garbage container being removed from the street to my garage.  I immediately  thought “Thank you again, Tyler.”

When I went to the back door to yell a thank you to him, I noticed the wings and halo of a different angel slowly walking back to the sidewalk.  I recognized the back view, in spite of a hooded jacket, to be a neighbor girl.  Many thanks to you, Carol.  I heard that one lady in town expressed the thought that whoever planned those containers should have provided a “pusher!”

Since I am already way past my deadline maybe we should just go on to food. Before we do that do remember to give Thanksgiving some serious thought.  The commercial world does not even get past Halloween to jump start Christmas. Don’t let that become a habit in  your own life.  No matter how troubled your life is there are many things that you can be thankful for. Remember to thank God for them  and express thanks to the most important people in your life for just being there.

And now let’s go to recipes that I found in a church recipe book that was a gift to me from an aunt of mine at least 50 years ago.  That is when we had good  home cooking that did not start with a prepared package of something.

            

CORNED BEEF CASSEROLE

1 package (8 oz.) noodles

¼ pound Velveeta cheese, diced

1 cup milk

½ cup chopped onion

1 can (12oz.) corned beef, diced

1 can (11 oz.) cream of chicken soup

1 cup buttered cracker crumbs

Cook noodles in boiling water and drain. Mix

All ingredients together with cooked noodles.

Top with buttered cracker crumbs. Place in

9 x 13 inch dish and bake at 350 degrees for

45 minutes.

Now with a special holiday nearby, we should really have a dessert. This one can be an emergency idea in case you need something to fill out your menu for Thursday. It is also something that I never heard of before, even though my book has been on my counter for so many years.

                        

SNOW FLAKE PIE

1 box lime Jello

1 ½ cups hot water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

8 to 12 ounces whipped topping

1 cup shredded coconut

Dissolve Jello in hot water with the lemon juice. Chill until slightly thickened.  Beat with egg beater.  Fold in one third of the  whipped topping and one half of the coconut. Put in a graham cracker crust. Use remainder of the whipped topping and coconut for on top of the pie.

Remember to count and offer thanks for all of your blessings and it will diminish the agony of your trials.

Apple Wraps and Friendship Tea 11/21/13

The schedule for my week filled abundantly after thinking I had an effortless week to do only what I wanted to and that was going to be a short list.  My family had other plans, so I quickly adjusted to a different set of drums. I do not want to turn down any invitations and induce a pattern of them not asking me because I always say, ”NO”!

On Saturday my niece and her family scheduled a Life Celebration for her husband who answered God’s call two weeks earlier. He had requested no traditional funeral, was retired from the National Guard, and so his family organized a celebration of his life at the National Guard Armory in Warsaw, Indiana. It was a very informal program with a number of his fellow Guardsmen in attendance.  They were introduced and Taps were ably played by his son-in-law. All stood at attention and as usual upon hearing Taps played goose pimples waved their way clear to my toes creating an aura that I never have at any other time. The afternoon was otherwise filled with greeting of family and friends, and an attractive table of snacks provided by friends of the family. A very nice tribute to Don Doan, which my sister, her daughter, myself, two of my daughters and one son were privileged to attend.

On Thursday evening, one of my daughters had planned a family gathering to attend a taping of a TV show Ultimate Appetizers which is a ministry of the Bryan Alliance Church and will be broadcast on the Bryan Cable Channel. I was pleasantly surprised the next day when I got an email from my daughter, Anita, who had organized the evening for us.  She had written a synopsis of the evening which greatly impressed me. I knew she did some creative writing, but I decided she was in competition for my Magic Moments job.  She did such a great job, I am going  to send it on to you so you can appreciate it. Besides that makes it much easier for me!

“At 6:30 P.M. on Thursday evening, November 14, 2013 phones switched to vibrate mode and our minds silently ignored those little hunger pangs in our bellies. And, oh what Magic Moments we had last night at the home of Barb Jermeay near Ney, Ohio.

Twenty kitchen chairs filled with men, women and children with Uncle Steve taking the easy chair in the living room, as he had the perfect view from there. Our 15 family members and two friends sat in anticipation of the cameras switching to the “on” position and wondering if we could really behave ourselves for over an hour while the taping was happening. (I thought we did pretty good!)

The early Christmas decorations surrounded us while the kitchen was warmed by an oven full of tomato bacon cups and mini sausage muffins. The scent of the apple wraps surrounded each of us in anticipation of the goodies to be consumed in a few minutes. The olive stuffed celery made us question who would ever combine pickles, olives, pecans and cream cheese to “stuff” into anything. The fruit salad with citrus yogurt sauce enticed our sweet tooth, while Jim leaned over and asked, “Does brother Dave ever make something like that?”

Barb, Sharon and Chef Bob made us feel as if we were part of their families in their kitchen as we leaned on the edge of our seats to get a better view, laughed, shared our food allergies and critiqued the golden crust of the apple wraps as they were gently lifted from the oven.

While we all wanted to shout out our Christmas traditions, most of us only gently nodded when asked if anyone does a brunch as part of their Christmas. I believe we all looked like a group of first graders anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus, squirming a bit in our chairs in anticipation, but knowing we had to behave or suffer the consequences. (Maybe the world seeing us on the TV screen acting just a bit less in control than we cared to show others.)

The food line was full of smiles and eagerness as we took our samples of each appetizer and then settled in to savor each bite. The warm friendship tea sipped through our lips topping off the evening with feelings of comfort and family.

After our plates were licked clean, Grandma Max was surrounded by her family, and photos sealing the evening were recorded. Coats were gathered from the closet and we filed out through the garage into a crisp fall night. As we assembled into our cars, the evening already becoming a cherished memory, one could not help but gather our coat a little tighter,  walk a little lighter, smile a bit brighter and be thankful for family."

I received permission to use  some of the recipes, so I am giving you favorites of mine although they were all worth trying.

APPLE WRAPS

1 package crescent rolls

1 soft apple, Jonathon suggested

Cheddar cheese slices

1 stick of butter melted

Chopped pecans

Cinnamon and brown sugar

Core and cut apples into 8 slices. Unroll crescents. Melt butter and coat crescents. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. At wide end, place chopped pecans, a cheese wedge and an apple slice. Roll up and place on greased cookie sheet. Spread butter on top and sprinkle with cinnamon and a little brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

          

FRIENDSHIP TEA

1 container (21 oz.) orange breakfast drink

1 cup sugar

½ cup sweetened lemonade drink mix

½ cup unsweetened instant tea

2½  teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place p to 6 months. To prepare tea, add 4 ½ teaspoonfuls in a cup of boiling water. Stir well.

Thanksgiving Day is fast approaching. Give it some serious thought and be grateful for the many magic moments in each of your days.

Serving is Magic 11/13/13

Monday was Veteran’s Day. Hope you all remembered to give thanks to all of our veterans who gave so much for all of us at least in your thoughts and prayers. Better yet if you thanked the ones you know personally. My 102 year old friend was born on 11-11-11.  How unique!  I thought I was special since my year of birth is the same as the day of the month. The most special thing about it is my kids should remember how old I am or at least be able to figure it out because they will remember what year I was born.

Remember how I told you to look for the ever present magic in the ordinary things in your daily life?  I had that really brought home to me Sunday.  On Saturday a daughter and son-in-law came to clean my eave spouts and rake my leaves. It was so windy that raking leaves was a  hopeless task so I conned them into another major project that needed accomplished. Also, I had messed up my TV and did not have a picture. I had done such a good job (guess I pushed too many buttons) that she could not correct the problem. She called the number for Time Warner and after being on hold for over ten minutes she was connected with an operator. This was a bit of magic in itself. By telling what was on the screen the operator told her what to do and in a few minutes they had a picture. My daughter asked if she could ask where she was located. We were amazed at her answer that she was in the Philippines. She said she personally was safe from the storm but thanked her for asking. What a small world we live in.

  

On Sunday afternoon, since I was having a lazy day and expected no company, I decided to spend the afternoon finishing a novel I started the other night when I could not sleep. In the wee hours I read for nearly two hours, so was quite interested in how the characters solved their problems. That is a better excuse than being lazy but not as honest. I thought I noticed some movement from one of my windows. When I went to investigate, my back yard was filled with teenaged angels, raking and carrying the leaves to the curb.  I gave credit to the youth of St. Mary’s church. If I am incorrect the true angels will have to let me  know so I can thank them personally.  All I noticed were the halos, and did not try to recognize any faces!

  

How adventuresome are you this week?  While looking for recipes, I noticed two that would be a different slant on Thanksgiving specialties.  I wanted to try both of them before I passed them on, but decided that If I did that it would be too late for you to try them before subjecting your guests to an untried recipe.  On the other hand, if they did not turn out well you would have had lots of help to eat them. By the time everyone tasted them they would all be consumed!

            

PUMPKIN DESSERT

1 cup sugar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

4 eggs, beaten

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Spice or Carrot cake Mix

2 sticks of butter, melted

¾ cup chopped pecans

Mix sugar, condensed milk, eggs, pumpkin, spices and vanilla. Put in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle cake mix on top of pumpkin mix. Drizzle melted butter on cake mix. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

            

SWEET POTATOES

1 can (18 oz.) sweet potatoes

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 stick butter, melted

½ cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

TOPPING: ½ cup self rising flour

                    1 stick butter cut in pieces

                    1 cup brown sugar

                    1 cup pecan pieces

Beat together sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, melted butter, milk and vanilla. Pour into baking dish. Mix together flour, brown sugar and pecans. Put butter on top of sweet potato mixture, then put flour mixture on top of that.  Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

If you do not have self-rising flour, mix 1 cup of all purpose flour with 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.

"Farkle" Family Magic 11/7/13

We have to remember daily that decisions do have consequences and that we have to live with them later.  After a very busy weekend, last evening I decided that this would be easier to do after a good night’s sleep and in the early morning hours when everything is bright and fresh.  So much for that bright idea.  Here I am up and dressed with the only idea in my mind is that I sure wish I were cozy in bed and still sleeping. Now we will see what I can do about that decision and its consequences.

Both Saturday and Sunday were very special days.  One of my daughters works at the Filling Home in our county. They were having a special day in Napoleon.  I went with two daughters and a granddaughter to their Filling Home Fling.  Just spending the day with them was special in itself, but I came home with a heart full of special feelings.  A number of the individuals who are under their care were there, along with projects they made that were amazing with the talents that it took to produce them. A special one that I know personally and has been in my home several times was so glad to see me and waved at a distance. Then when we approached her table, she held back her sweater to show me a necklace that I had given her for her birthday. Thank you, Sue Ellen for making my day a very magic one. Also thanks to the special people who devote their lives to making magic in the lives of other special people.

Several weeks ago, a daughter called me and suggested that we have a “Farkle” day at my home.  I was way out in left field on that request and before I answered I needed an explanation. It is a very simple but enjoyable game played with dice. So we proceeded with the plans and Sunday was our special day with the whole family invited for a game and snacks day at my home. We had chosen a busy day and had many regrets, but we decided that if there were only six of us here we would have a good time. We ended with about 20, who enjoyed the relaxed day of  enjoying a new game, each other, much laughter, a large pan of chili, chicken sandwiches, apple crisp, crackers and cheese, apple pie, lemon cake, and a number of finger foods.  We had the food on the stove and counter and everyone just helped themselves when they felt the urge to eat, which was often. The day was successful since the plans developed to have a similar day regularly for any who can work the day into their schedule. The last ones left for their homes a little before nine. That is the reason for my procrastination to be up early this morning.   The next time I will do my thing the day before instead of the “morning after”.

Since we are experiencing much cooler weather, it is time to think of comfort food to warm our inner souls.  I picked up a cook book that dates back to my early housekeeping days, that is a long time ago, and found some casserole recipes that sound very appetizing, are simple to make, consist of  every day ingredients and are different than any I have ever made. Hope they challenge you to try them.

            

BEEF CHEESE CASSEROLE

1 pound ground beef

¾ cup chopped onion,

Salt and pepper to taste

16 ounces  tomato sauce

1 cup cottage cheese

1 package (8 oz.) cottage cheese

¼ cup sour cream

1/3  cup chopped green pepper

1/3 cup chopped green onion

8 ounces noodles, cooked and drained. Brown beef and onion. Add salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Simmer slowly while preparing other ingredients.  Combine cottage cheese, cream  cheese, sour cream, onion and green pepper. Place half of the noodles in bottom of three quart casserole. Top with cheese mixture, then remaining noodles. Pour meat mixture over the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

                        

HAM ASPARAGUS CASSEROLE

1 can condensed cream of mushroom sop

1/3 cup light cream

2 cups diced ham

1 cup cooked or canned asparagus

Buttered cracker crumbs

Blend soup with cream. Add ham and asparagus.

Pour into a small baking dish and top with buttered cracker crumbs. Bake in a moderate oven (375) for 20 to 30 minutes.

Lesson for today: Remember that decisions do have consequences!

More Birthday Magic 10/31/13

I messed up last week when I put in the date because I did it at the end of a busy day and did not have all of my faculties in the ON position. I am a slow learner and here I am again at a late hour, but trying to be more alert than last week.  Also, in my defense, I could not believe it when I saw trick or treaters out in full force on Saturday evening.  Know why?  It wasn’t Halloween yet! We still had almost a whole week to be ready to celebrate. No wonder we old folks have trouble keeping up with the funny ideas of the people running things these days!

Part of the frustration was caused by the fact that I was so busy celebrating my birthday I did not notice much else. Sunday evening a daughter and her husband took me out for supper, and on Monday a son treated me to lunch downtown. Because of tentative plans on Thursday, my actual birthday, which another daughter could not attend she called on Monday evening and wondered if I wanted to go to Ft. Wayne with her on Tuesday. I had an appointment that was written in ink, but not carved in stone, so I managed to get that cancelled.  Have you ever dined at Baker Street in Ft. Wayne? It is a real experience. We had a routine order of a sandwich and fries, but it was served with such elegance it made you think you were at a banquet. Add that to a full day, one on one with a grown up, married  descendant and you have about all of the magic that one little old lady can handle. See if you can manage it on your next birthday!

One daughter did not want me to be alone on the actual day, so we decided to crash a regular Thursday evening dinner arrangement with another daughter who is a caretaker for my sister-in-law. That would allow them to help me with my final social event with just the four of us.  Wouldn’t you know that thirty people showed up and we moved to the party room of our local restaurant! Aren’t families wonderful? If God grants me another birthday, He has already been generous, I do not think it can beat this one.

Also on the plus side this week, my niece took my sister and me to visit a cousin who is a resident in a nursing facility and we have not seen her for over a year, on Sunday afternoon.  Her two daughters happened to be there and we had a delightful visit.  We thought we were doing it for her, but I think we were on the receiving end as much as we were ministering to her.

As I look at the clock on the wall, I had better get to food, so I can get to bed as I have a full day planned for tomorrow. One thing is to handle the situation that I had to reschedule last week. Oh well, Life is good.

How venturesome are you when it comes to preparing, and maybe eating new suggestions?  The first recipe I am giving you is way out as far as I am concerned and I have never heard of the combination of three very common everyday foods.  I found it in a fifteen year old cookbook with favorite recipes from “families and friends” of a popular tourist attraction. If you try it, I am not going to, let me know how you could treat round steak in this manner. Some participants from Ft. Wayne to California included their name and address. This one did not, maybe that is scary.

           

APPLE BUTTER BEEF ROLLS

2 pounds round steak, ½ inch thick

6 strips bacon

½ cup water

1 cup apple butter

Pound salt and pepper into steak. Cut into 6 pieces. Spread with apple butter. Roll up and wind bacon around each roll and fasten with a tooth pick. Sear in pan 5 minutes. Add water and cover. Bake one hour at 350 degrees.

The next recipe is more to my liking and I will probably make it. It does have a signature which is encouraging.

     

ORANGE CREAM FRUIT SALAD

1 can (20 oz.) pineapple, drained

1 can (16 oz.) peach slices, drained

1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained

2 medium firm bananas, sliced

1 medium apple, chopped

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix

1 ½  cup milk

¾ cup sour cream

1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

Combine drained fruits, set aside. In a small bowl beat pudding mix, milk and orange juice concentrate for 2 minutes. Add sour cream, mix well.  Spoon over fruit. Toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

May your week be filled with magic moments from unexpected sources.

Happy Birthday Magic Maxine! 10/24/13

10-24-24 is a very familiar date.  Guess why. It is my date of birth!  So that means that today is my birthday!  If you are a fair math student you can figure out which one. Sunday was the first celebration.  My daughter asked me to help celebrate the Tuesday birthday of a challenged friend of hers (who happens to have a favorable relationship with me) to celebrate our birthdays together. An element of surprise for me was the attendance of a grandson and his family who joined us at the restaurant. Hope it was a memorable occasion for you, too, Sue Ellen. Monday, one of my sons is having lunch with me, if he doesn’t forget!  So it looks as if it will be a great week. 

Saturday was a special day when another grandson and his fiancé were married in Kendallville.  A reception was held at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. I felt honored with a special place of honor plus being presented with a beautiful pink rose by the bride. Her grandmothers were equally honored. That makes me half way through my grandkids with a set of silverware. I just finished all of the high school graduates. Don’t have plans to start any great traditions with the greats considering the numbers that you came up with for my birthday.

Glad that the government is back in business, but did they really solve anything or will we be back on the same spot in a few months?  Why can’t we have Congressmen who are there for the good of the country rather than serving their own self interests like pensions, self raises and special laws that pertain only to them and their own re-election?

On a good train of thought, congratulations to the volley ball girls on their success at the tournament on Saturday. We are real proud of you. Best wishes for success on Tuesday night.

A magic moment occurred this morning when I checked my computer and found an email from one of my nieces from Auburn who had sent me a recipe for sweet potatoes.  I usually just boil them longer than necessary then whip them with a whisk. Add butter (well lots of it), salt and a bit of cinnamon. I can consume more of  this than one little old lady should, but I think I deserve to indulge. Plan to try this method soon, as I do enjoy sweet potatoes and they come highly recommended for diabetics. I might dip lightly with the brown sugar or use Splenda Brown Sugar.

            

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES

3 sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

A pinch of ginger

Sea salt to taste

Peel and dice potatoes into bite size cubes. Place in a small baking dish coated with cooking spray. Melt butter in microwave and pour over the potatoes with the oil, brown sugar and spices. Add more sugar or cinnamon if desired. Toss to coat evenly. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 60 minutes. Stir twice during cooking.

Since I have put in a long day after a short night of sleep, I am resorting to my four item cookbook. I like pork chops and this sounds like an easy way to prepare them.

            

OVEN FRIED PORK CHOPS

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg plus 2 tablespoons water, beaten

1 cup cornbread stuffing mix

4 pork chops

Place butter in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Dip pork chops in egg mixture, then stuffing mix to coat. Place chops on top of melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees. Turn and bake 15 minutes longer or until browned.

I wish for you Faith so that you can believe, Patience to accept the truth, and Love to complete your life. Whatever your tribulation when the road you are traveling seems difficult at best, give your problems to the Lord and God will do the rest. 

Family Reunion 10/17/13

I received a spontaneous phone call from my daughter wondering if it would be acceptable to me to plan a chili, grilled cheese sandwich and apple dumpling family party at my home on Sunday. This is a carryover of the celebrations of my husband’s birthday and mine a couple of weeks later. I glanced around my living room noticing an accumulation of junk mail, (where does it all come from) newspapers, things I should discard, but just haven’t acclimated my inner peace feelings to make me really throw them out. My oldest sister always criticized me for my mental calculation of how long it would take me to do something that already should have been accomplished. 

Since I had several days to work with, I gave me daughter an affirmative answer since I had a weak social schedule for the week and could whip the place into company shape. The biggest handicap was that I forgot that the years are piling up and it takes me twice as long to do half as much and requires several appointments with my recliner!  I was making great progress and fairly proud of the results when another daughter called and wondered if it would help me if we moved the party to her home where they have a back yard very adaptable to an outside campfire where they would cook the chili and cheese sandwiches over an open fire. They also added a skillet of baked apples smothered in syrup and raisins.  So here I was left with a cleaner house than usual and no one came to see it, but I can spoil that in about 2 days.

It was a special day with my grandson home on leave from the military, all but two sons were able to attend, with the only drawback being the wind that we did not need which chilled us to the bone in spite of sweatshirts and parka hoods.  But it takes more than that to spoil the magic of a special family day.

The day before was my paternal family reunion at my nephew’s home. There was a small attendance. As I was trying to rationalize the fact that all of the attendants were my Dad’s descendants, (he was one of six siblings) I realized that there are only 10 of thirty two cousins left and we are all getting to be very senior citizens.  Distance and poor health affects some. So we operate on the premise that we just have a good time with the ones that can attend and do not spoil the day because everyone couldn’t make it.  

The highlight of the occasion was a pair of beautiful horses, and their owners, were our guests and they provided rides to anyone who wanted to go in a white buggy owned by my nephew. My sister and I who are on the high half of the eighties (I am ready to fall out) were sitting there when she said, “Max, let’s go for a ride!”  She is 95% confined to a wheel chair and I am not as nimble as I  used to be, but I answered “it’s O.K. with me!”  I don’t know who was the most surprised, us or our kids and nephews. The rest of the story was they assisted her into the buggy, with me following and we had a fantastic ride down the road and then back through the fields of the farm where we lived for years of our childhood.  Then there was the problem of our dismounting.  It was very easily solved by my nephew from Ft. Wayne who said, “Aunt Max, just put your arms around my neck and I will lift you out.”  What a simple solution. Since he managed me successfully, my sister who weighs a lot less was a simple procedure.  It was a great day to file into my memory book of magic moments and days.  Isn’t family one of God’s greatest blessings?

My family rates food pretty highly and both days we had plenty of it. So I had better come up with some recipes. I just opened another church cookbook and found two simple ones on the same page. Would it surprise you that both of them are dessert?  I think I needed two sugar pills when I came home today. Nothing but carrots and celery for tomorrow. The first one has my sister’s name on it. It is an old book but I do not remember her making it.  Maybe she does.

                 

DATE ROLL

1 cup white sugar

1 stick  butter

1 egg

½ half cup chopped nuts

30 dates

2 cups Rice Krispies

Powdered sugar

Mix sugar, butter, egg, nuts and dates together and cook for ten minutes. Cool and add Rice Krispies. Shape into a roll and coat with Powdered sugar. Slice into serving pieces. Rolls should be about 1 inch in diameter.

           

EASY DESSERT

1 carton (12 oz.) whipped topping

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chopped pecans

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1 can strawberry pie filling

1 large can pineapple tidbits, drained

Mix all ingredients together and chill before serving.

May each of you find magic in each day when you aren’t even looking for it!

Magic in the Mundane 10/10/13

I have been fighting procrastinating ideas to put this off until I wake up in the morning ever since I suddenly realized that this evening was the time to create another “magic moment”.  My commonsense prevailed, realizing that when that ugly sound of the alarm ringing started my day all of my good intentions (and ideas) would suddenly vanish as I would pull the covers over my head to drown out the irritating sound of the alarm.

I had a low key week, so I had to search the mundane things of my existence for some magic. Guess what? When we look for it in those kind of situations, we will find it abundantly. I have told you about my special friend at the nursing home in Butler. She is rapidly approaching the age of 102, has a very keen mind, and to note a high of degree of magic, she likes me! She had been a friend of my aunt for years, my daughter worked with her grandson at the Elementary School and visited her with her students. Another grandson works with a daughter at Ingersol Rand in Bryan but I never knew her until my aunt and sisters were residents there for several years.  I like to minister to her by taking cookies and other things she likes, but are not on the regular menus served to the residents. The magic I find in my visits is the amount of appreciation and expressed thanks for what I do that makes me feel like she is ministering to me. 

On Tuesday I was there and she was having a bad day. I gave her my goodies and told her I would not stay and use her energy to visit with me.  I could tell this was not what she wanted and as time passed she was breathing easier and looked more comfortable. She was so generous that she credited my visiting her that made her feel better!  Magic indeed.

On Saturday evening, after coming home fairly early in the afternoon from a birthday party for my great granddaughter and accomplishing absolutely nothing, I had a sudden burst of conscience and decided that I should use the ground beef that I had bought to make a recipe that I had given you the last week in September. While I was industriously browning the meat with the onions and green pepper (this was a gracious gift, along with some green beans, cherry tomatoes, etc. from a friend and business neighbor who realized that this was my first year without a garden since 1947) when my phone rang.  It was my son from Wauseon who had attended the Vietnam War Veteran’s Homecoming Celebration at Parkview Field in Ft. Wayne with his cousin. He was on his way home and would come by if I were going to be home but it would be a short visit. Part of the magic in this scenario was the fact that I was cooking some food instead of two slices of toast and peanut butter.  I padded the casserole with part of a loaf of the pumpkin bread recipe that I gave you recently.  I had promised it to his sister, but she did not pick it up when I offered it so I may have to bake another one. It was a short but surprise visit so created magic in my day.  The rest of the loaf of pumpkin bread disappeared when another son and his wife stopped in  or Sunday evening supper. They had brought the basics of a meal, but I found a few things to pad the menu creating  magical moments with an unexpected visit.

This will be a very short jump to get to recipes.  Since I had a week when I was not feeling the best and am still a bit on the lazy side I found some very simple to prepare, but should be tasty suggestions in a soup and salad recipe book.   The first one would be more in the class of a dessert to me, but it is labeled a salad, so who am I to argue with the author.  Just make it and enjoy it.

                        

PINK PARTY SALAD

1 can cherry pie filling

1 (N0. 2 ) can crushed pineapple, undrained

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 can Eagle Brand Condensed Milk

1 carton (12 oz.) whipped topping

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and spread in a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Chill for several hours.

            

MICROWAVE CHEESY CAULIFLOWER SOUP

1 cup  ½ inch cauliflowerets   (4 oz.)

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup hot water

6 ounces Velveeta cheese, ½ inch cubes

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

¼ cup finely chopped green pepper

Dash of paprika, nutmeg and allspice

1/2 cup half and half

¼ cup dry white wine, optional

Place cauliflower and butter in a 2 quart casserole. Cover tightly and microwave on high about 2 minutes or until crisp tender. Stir in water, cheese, half and half, bouillon granules and  spices. Cover tightly and cook on medium  high for 3 minutes. Stir in wine . Cover tightly and cook 2 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika and green pepper.

Already I feel better that I do not have to set my alarm for an early morning rising.  More magic in the mundane things of my day.

October Magic 10/3/13

As I type in the first time the month of October, it brings to mind that it was always a favorite month to me.  It was the month of so many relative’s birthdays that it pushed to the back of my mind the coming months of snow and bad conditions.  I love the beauty of a fresh snowfall, but I want it just on the lawn, trees, and hills, not the roads, my sidewalk, nor driveway.  So I am hard to please!  I will just concentrate on the magic of the joy of my husband’s birthday l6 days before mine which made him think he was boss because he was the oldest. I have a son born on the first, several  grandchildren, several cousins, and my grandmother’s birthday was also in October. Also, my favorite brother and too many greats to keep track of. There were several wedding  anniversaries in the family, also. So it was a great time of anticipation and celebrations.

With the exception of Tuesday, when I had almost too many things scheduled so close together that I almost had to write down where I was supposed to be and when, but I met them all, it was a week almost as dry as the weather. Guess I will have to consider Tuesday as a little shower in my week. You might think that I got a lot done in my postponed housekeeping, but you are dead wrong.  It was just a week of  sitting in my recliner, working cross word puzzles and doing just what had to be done. Maybe I will run the sweeper this week and dust the next.

Today has been a quiet day, also.  I got caught a couple of Sundays with no food to offer my company, but it paid off in a supper at the local restaurant and a dinner at our church festival.  So today I decided that I would bake an angel food cake. (I like the Hospitality Brand at our local grocery store.)  I had some frozen strawberries I removed from the freezer, added strawberry glaze, and whipped topping. The only problem was that the only company I had was when my cake was just an idea. Now what does one little old lady do with a whole cake?   I was concerned for a while, but now I have had two pieces by myself and it is not time to go to bed. Who knows what will happen by then. One of the bright spots of the week was my connection with two special people in my life who gave me positive comments about my ramblings, so here I am trying for another week.

Guess this will be a good time to go to food. I was glancing at a cook book that I had open at my computer and noticed one for pumpkin bread, which will be compatible with my admiration of the fall month. It is from a church cookbook and those are always family favorites and are worth trying.

DELICIOUS PUMPKIN BREAD

5 eggs

1 ¼ cup vegetable oil

1 can (15 oz.) solid pack pumpkin

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 pkgs. (3 oz.) cook and serve vanilla pudding

l teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin, beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients. Gradually beat into pumpkin mixture. Pour into 2 greased 8 x 4 x2 loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 75 minutes. May be baked in several smaller loaf pans and baked for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

This recipe will be a good fall snack for your family. It was originated by a mother who mixed her kids favorite snack ingredients. So you can substitute any that your kids like better.

      

SWEET AND CRUNCHY SNACK

2 ½ cups Rice Chex

2 ½ cups Honey-Nut Cheerios

1 package (10 oz.) honey flavored bear shaped graham crackers

2 cups miniature pretzels

½ cup butter, melted

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine the cereals. Melt butter, add brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour over mixed cereals and stir to coat. Spread into two ungreased 15 x 10 baking pans. Bake at 275 degrees for 10 minutes. Stir and bake for 10 minutes longer. Store in an airtight container.

Since all of my orders for the form of snowfall have been back ordered, are there any offers from my readers to storm heaven’s gates and get better results than my ignored attempts?

Onion Rolls and Hamburger Casserole 9/26/13

Solomon Farm

My how fast the weeks seem to go by. Here we are with another month nearly gone into the past. Looks as if I forgot to start a number of projects that I  had saved for summer. Oh, well maybe no one will notice, hopefully.  I did have a serious talk with my friend who is constantly trying to run my life. I do not see how she can be so busy with me when I get so many complaints from friends who ask me to please keep her here because she has been at their house too many times. Back to my own problems.  I just told her to keep still about me and my inclination to turn on my furnace.

My oldest brother and I were often on the same page. He always said that everything that he ate no one was going to take away from him, so it was money well spent. We also agreed that as long as we had a nickel we were going to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I looked in my purse and saw a dime shining brightly. As I examined the week’s morning temperatures for the coming week, by the time you read this my furnace will be humming quietly.

I had two magic days last week.  How blessed can one little old lady be?  On Tuesday my daughter who visits me weekly on her lunch hour told me she wanted to take a half day vacation and spend it with me and her Aunt Mary. She wanted to include my sister, but we decided none of us were capable of handling her and her wheel chair, so we just honked when we went by her place. After much deliberation and mind changing we decided to go to Auburn to Cracker Barrel for lunch, then attend a movie at the theater nearby that has 8 movie screens.  Now wouldn’t you think there would be a decent movie with that many choices?  There was only one we would consider and two of us had already seen that one. So we questioned a man just leaving the theater about what he had seen. His answer as he glanced at our white hair was, “The language was pretty bad.”  He would not recommend any of them. Nete went into the theater and came out with tickets she had bought on the recommendation of a young girl who was at the ticket counter. The movie was unbelievably clean in language, no violence, nor immorality.  What did we want?  Not one based on Greek mythology, about which we were all poorly informed, with its otherworldly sea creatures and unimaginable scenes. I could have happily left after 15 minutes hoping it would get better. All I could think as I watched it was, “I am sure glad she is treating us to the movie and it didn’t cost me anything.”  We had a great meal and laughed all the way home about the movie and why we ever stayed to watch it all. Maybe the next time they will have a Disney cartoon that we can enjoy. Other than the choice of movies it was a great afternoon spent with family.

Sunday was my sister-in-law’s birthday and since it was our church festival and we were all busy there we celebrated on Saturday and took her to the Red Lobster Restaurant in Ft. Wayne. That is her favorite place to eat and ten of us, including her brother Tony who came from Toledo had a very pleasant outing. Then we stopped at The Solomon Farm, where my daughter and her husband were cooking food at their Chuck Wagon and innocently suggested that we stop by, since they could not be at our party but not really expecting us to. There are 97 acres donated to the park system by a family and it has to stay in the farm atmosphere.  There were a lot of things going on and we took a ride in a wagon with two beautiful gray horses (if I mentioned their breed, I wouldn’t spell it right, so we will leave it there). They told us each horse weighed 2200 pounds. Maybe your mind can produce your own image. Two little old ladies needed considerable help in getting into the wagon but everyone was very gracious and helpful. it was a great experience.  We can put the day in my Magic category.

My first recipe this week is one that I probably will never make, but if you make it, I am sure I would like to eat some! It is from an old magazine, and maybe it is one you  have already tried. The other one will make a nice entrée for a chilly day’s lunch.

           

ONION CRESCENT ROLLS

1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls

1 ½  cups French fried onions

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

Unroll crescent dough and separate triangles.

Sprinkle each with about 2 tablespoons of onions. Roll up each from the wide end; place on an ungreased foil lined baking sheet. Curve ends down to form crescents. Beat the egg and water. Brush over the dough. Sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

          

HAMBURGER CASSEROLE

1 ½ pounds of lean ground beef

1 pkg. (12 oz.) noodles

1 medium onion

1 medium pepper

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can tomato soup

Velveeta cheese to taste

Brown meat, onions, and pepper. Drain off fat. Cook noodles and drain. Mix noodles, meat and soups. Place half of mixture n greased 2 quart casserole. Sprinkle with grated cheese, then the rest of the meat. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I have received raving remarks about the Toffee Bars recipe. On the same page was a reminder that I had left out the amount of milk in my bread pudding recipe. For any of you who are still wondering, the amount is 2 cups. Maybe someday I will improve, but do not hold your breath.

Sister Magic 9/19/13

Why are old habits and funny ideas that we learn from our childhood and patterns of life and personalities so hard to change?  Here it is, nearly the first of October, it is  a rainy chilly evening and I am fighting the urge to turn on the furnace!  I rationalize the decision with the memories that if I still had to find some corncobs and kindling, go to the basement and start a fire in the wood and coal furnace, I would think I was quite comfortable with no heat. I have used the bathroom heater and indulged in a small space heater sitting beside my lounge chair, but have slapped my fingers twice when I thought I was going to turn on the furnace. We are really spoiled with the modern conveniences at our disposal.  Want to place a bet on how many more days I can resist? The one result of my reticence is that I spend more cozy hours wrapped in my thermal blanket, and my space heater humming merrily near my feet than the schedule of a good housekeeper can honestly approve.  But it is my home and my heat bill, so I can do as I please!  Probably tomorrow I will weaken, when I rationalize that it is just money and God does not supply a money bag when he calls our number.

I and my sister, since I have only one still here on earth you can figure that one out, experienced a really magic and very special afternoon last week.  On Wednesday, I received a rare phone call from our nephew who lives in Warsaw. He is one of three children and the only son of my oldest sister, who passed away in 2001. She had a difficult life and was a single mother who raised her kids many years by herself.  When the kids were quite small she worked at the Higley Printing Company in Butler and her job moved to Florida.  After a few years they moved the company to Warsaw.  We were quite close with her and her children, helping her with all of the things that we could manage. She came back to Edgerton often and stayed at our home. My kids were small and all liked to sleep with Aunt Effie when she visited especially the youngest ones.  She eventually worked at United Telephone Co. in Warsaw and retired from there.  For several years she lived here in Edgerton at The Miller Apartments and then rented an apartment from Angela Kennerk. I do not know just when but she had married kids and grandkids in Warsaw and decided she should move back there and purchased a home. During those years we kept close contact with her but since her death we have grown apart from her extended family.  No bad feelings, we just let distance form a barrier, seeing them only occasionally.  So imagine my excitement when Steve said he had been thinking a lot about us and he wanted to come down and spend an afternoon with us!  Plans did not work out quite as planned and he was two hours late getting started but that did not take any gloss from our day. He wanted to know about taking my sister with us and I said she was confined to her wheel chair and I would not trust myself to take her down the ramp at her home. He reminded me that he has a son at least thirty who has never walked and handling her in her wheel chair would be old stuff to him. We started our excursion at our local restaurant, usually the first thing we think of is food and because he really wanted to treat us to lunch, we agreed because it is a form of charity to allow someone the pleasure of doing something for you.

Margaret "Kork" Sanders

After a long lunch we went to the Farnham Cemetery where his Mother is buried, along with six generations of Jennings relatives. Then we went to Eddy’s cemetery near Hamilton where his father is buried, and a number of my mother’s family.  The whole visit did not hinge on the cemeteries. On a brighter note I made him three dozen cookies of his mother’s favorite oatmeal chocolate chip recipe.  I learned later that he has a problem with sugar but promised to not cheat too much and his son and grandkids would appreciate them. In case  you have one of my cook books the recipe is in it along with a fabulous recipe for peach cobbler that my family loves to make.

The afternoon ended with him taking a picture of each of us in our home and  very warm and special hugs as he departed for Warsaw.  Before I went to bed I was amazed when I checked out my face book account. He had already posted our pictures and expressed the pleasure he experienced with his visit. We need a return engagement any time you can manage a visit to Edgerton.

            

CREAMY BEEF NOODLE COMBO

1 pound ground beef

½ cup chopped onion

1 can (4 oz.) chopped mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup celery, sliced

½ cup bell pepper chopped

¼ cup pimiento, chopped

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups noodles

Cook and stir meat and onion. Drain fat.  Add mushrooms with liquid and remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer stirring occasionally until noodles are tender.

               

TOFFEE BARS

1 ½  butter

1 ½ cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks

3 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla

6 Hershey bars

Mix all ingredients together. Spread in small cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. (About 25 minutes.) Place Hershey bars on top of warm bars and spread. Let cool and slice.

Twenty-three Years of Magic! 9/12/13

Magic Maxine

This week we reach another milestone. Thursday is the 23^rd birthday of Magic Moments!!   That makes 1150 columns.  I do not remember missing a single week.  I have enjoyed all of those years and your positive comments are what kept me trying each week to produce at least one more.  I have told you that when I started, I thought that if I did it for a whole year, I could count it as a successful venture!  Thanks again to all of you.

Last week I participated in a family excursion that turned out to be a great adventure.  Two of my kids called and asked me if I were interested in attending the rodeo at the Fulton County Fair in Wauseon!  My first response was that at my age, I could not navigate the seats in the grandstand without help.  The main factor in wanting my presence was the fact that one of my grandsons was to be one of the bull riders. There were about ten relatives who gathered late afternoon, participated in Fair food, and found our reserved seats in the grandstand.  I was hesitant about going because I need a railing for support to ascend steps and I did not want to hamper anyone else’s enjoyment of the festivities.  I finally gave in to their encouragement and found myself in the midst of people who needed help. My daughter’s father-in-law needs assistance. My daughter-in-law is recovering from a recent knee replacement, a son-in-law is on the edge of leg problems, so I fit in quite well with the group. To qualify for a second ride you have to stay on the bull for a full 8 seconds. When you are watching someone who is important in your life, 8 seconds is an eternity. Ryan’s bull was a nasty one and he was dismounted in 6 seconds  It was a disappointment to him, but to his grandmother it was great when he walked away uninjured. I was glad that I gave in to my family’s urging that I could do it.  The interaction among family for an evening is worth a whole bottle of medicine.

Saturday evening was another joy filled event as we helped another grandson celebrate with an open house at his (new to him) home in Ft. Wayne where he is an elementary teacher.  Many relatives and  friends were his guests at a Taco Bar.   It is so great when family members care about each other.

I am still a firm believer in the fact that you cannot spoil a potato recipe.  These are called Stottsdale Potatoes.   Perhaps from the area that the recipe came.  It will be just as good no matter what we call it.

                        
SCOTTSDALE POTATOES

1 (2 lb. package frozen hash browns, thawed

2 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese

2 cups sour cream

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can chicken soup

½ cup onions, chopped

½ cup butter, melted

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups corn flakes cereal, crushed

½ cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 10 x 7 inch ovenproof glass baking dish. Combine hash browns, cheese, sour cream, soup, onions and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to baking dish. Mix corn flakes 1/2cup melted butter. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

            
SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

1 pound boneless chicken breasts

¾ cup fat free chicken broth

1 can (15 ¼ oz.) pineapple chunks in juice

1 green pepper, cut in thin strips

1 red pepper, cut in thin strips

1 carrot, sliced diagonally

¼ cup vinegar

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon corn starch

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 cups hot cooked rice

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. Heat chicken broth to boiling. Add chicken. Simmer 10 minutes. Add undrained pineapple chunks, green and red peppers, carrot, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Stir corn starch into soy sauce until smooth. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Lower heat, cover, simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over cooked rice.

I like Banquet Sweet and Sour Chicken that is made with chicken tenders.  I am going to substitute them for chicken breasts.

It is difficult to think of anything but pleasant thoughts when eating  a homegrown tomato.

Family Time is Always Magic 9/5/13

As we say goodbye to the summer months, I am wondering what makes the time fly by so quickly.   Each season seems so much shorter than when I was a  kid and we waited forever for Christmas to come by again. Summer vacation seemed to be forever and now here the school bells are ringing clear already.  

Since it is a short week, I think this will be a short visit with you since I am already behind schedule.

A few surprise activities filled my long holiday weekend with many pleasure filled hours.  After church on Sunday, since there was nothing planned on my schedule, I came home from church and was casually reading the Sunday paper (with a short nap between sections) when the phone rang. A son and his wife told me that if I were going to be home they were coming to visit me in about an hour and a half.  This brought me to life and I quickly changed clothes from Church attire to more casual fare. Since I was not expecting anyone, I hurriedly filled a box of extra unnecessary things on my kitchen table and quickly put it out of sight and was casually and patiently awaiting company. To my surprise they presented me with a bouquet of beautiful cut flowers.  It was a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.  At nearly supper time, my son said , ”Are you hungry Mom?”  My answer was “What does that have to do with anything? Let’s go eat.”  So we went to the local restaurant for a quick meal, which was easy for me and no dishes to do.

Monday afternoon 7 family members and a friend went to the movie “The Butler”, which was much different that I imagined it would be but I enjoyed it. The day ended with a birthday party for my son-in-law who was entering the Senior citizen zone. The weekend was very low key family oriented, but the kind of magic that I enjoy most.

Now let’s go quickly to the end of summer recipes for which you will find plenty of fresh garden supplies to try out for your menus. Someone was mentioning scalloped cabbage recently.  Hope this recipe is what they were looking for. I have some left over cabbage in my refrigerator so I will be making some this week.

          

SCALLOPED CABBAGE

5 cups crisp-cooked cabbage, well drained

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

Pepper and salt to taste

1 cup milk

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup buttered crumbs

Put well drained cabbage in a buttered 2 quart casserole. Make a white sauce with the butter, flour seasonings and milk. Add cheese and stir until melted. Pour over cabbage and cover with buttered crumbs. Bake in 325 degree oven for 30 minutes.

    

SOUTHERN YELLOW SQUASH CASSEROLE

4 cups yellow squash , slice into 1/4 inch slices, not peeled.

1 medium onion

1 can creamed chicken soup

1 can creamed celery soup

Cracker crumbs of bread crumbs, buttered

Slice squash into ¼ inch slices. Slice onions into rings and cook gently until onion is transparent and squash is tender. Place in casserole dish and mix with soup.  Sprinkle top with buttered cracker or bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

My nosey friend was busy a week or so ago when I gave you the recipe for bread pudding. I received two phone calls (at least that many people read the recipe) and informed me that I mentioned the milk in the directions, but had none in listed in the ingredients. Now I am certain that I did it right, so she must have messed with my computer and deleted it before I sent it to the paper.  We will have to have a serious talk again!

Finding Magic in the Mundane 8/29/13

Since last week was very empty of exciting events to yell “Magic Moment” at me, I am looking very closely at my week and guess what?  Two of them popped into mind.   It is proof positive that we can find the most magic in the everyday things of our existence.  I am certain that you know that one of my daughters who is employed in Bryan has established Tuesday as a visit Mom day!  She drives 20 minutes on her lunch hour to get here, we spend 20 very precious moments together and then that  gives her 20 minutes to get back to work on time. She has a very special fellow employee who is very gracious and does not take his lunch hour if I follow her to her car trying to crowd two more minutes of special time and conversation out of the visit. 

Last week it looked very possible that she would be getting back a minute or two short.  I fixed that in great style and fortified her with six oatmeal raisin cookies freshly baked that day to give him to take the edge off of the frustration of her tardiness.  Where I found magic in her visit that day was my reaction to her message that she was on a  very strict diet and I should not tempt her with any food unless it was fresh fruit. I had eaten my last fresh peach the evening before, so I told her it would have to be ice water, but if I put it in a fancy glass, we could pretend that it was champagne.  When she arrived, I had her place setting with a lace placemat, a pink cloth napkin, an antique salad plate with pink flowers on it, completed with a crystal goblet holding her ice water.  Her reaction made me enough magic for the whole day.  What could be anymore ordinary that serving a glass of ice water to a guest?

At my house baking cookies is a very ordinary thing. Being quite organized (that is if I can keep that little old lady out of my well orchestrated plans), I always have at least one 5# bag in the pantry cupboard.  She must have been in here and donated it to the Boy scouts as I had less than one cup of flour in my Tupperware container and none in the pantry.  So since I was in the middle of a batch of cookies that meant an emergency trip to the store. I had a coupon for a five dollar discount if I spent enough, so I made a mental note of the things that I needed from that store. Stocking up on flour was a good place to start. Ordinarily I do not purchase that much at a time, so the clerk very graciously asked me if I wanted to take the cart to my car.  My reply was that I have reached the age that walking and carrying  anything takes all of my concentration. When I got near my car, the young gentleman who was directly behind me cheerfully asked me if I needed help. Since he was so kind, I told him since he was willing I was just going to let him put them in my car. I struck down the urge to ask him if he could follow me home and carry them in the house for me. It was a moment of magic that someone whom I had never met was concerned about me, besides that he took the cart back to the store.  Let’s all be more aware of the bits of magic that are around us every day.

For recipes, I noticed an old cook book dated 1964 for all salads.  I do not remember having it and it contains 2000 recipes for salads of every kind imaginable.  It is on my list of things to go. Unless someone shows some interest, it will go to the Free Store on my next trip. If anyone is interested the price will be the same as at the Free Store. I noticed one for fresh blueberries that I think I might try. Blueberries are on my list of things that I will eat, but do not get excited about. I probably should because I think they are good for short term memory and mine is about as short as it can be without completely disappearing.

            

FRESH BLUEBERRY SALAD

2 packages (3oz.) cherry gelatin

3 cups boiling water

1  can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple

¼ cup maraschino cherries, halved

2 cups fresh blueberries

Dissolve gelatin in  boiling water. Cool. Add pineapple and chill until thickened. Fold in cherries and blueberries.

      

DRESSING

1 cup miniature marshmallows

2 cups sour cream

1 teaspoon mayonnaise

½ teaspoon vanilla

Mix ingredients and let stand  several hours or over night. Mix well and serve on blueberry salad.

For those of you who want more than a salad, try this church cookbook recipe for filling hamburger casserole made from all very ordinary ingredients that most of us keep on hand.

     

DOWN TO EARTH HAMBURGER CASSEROLE

1 pound ground beef

3 raw potatoes, quartered or the size you prefer

1 can tomato soup, undiluted

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 cup diced celery

1 can cream of mushroom soup, diluted

1 cup milk

¼ pound butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Carrots may be added, if desired

Put a layer of ground beef in the bottom of pan. Then put a layer of potatoes and a can of tomato soup. Add the sliced onion and diced celery. Last mix the mushroom soup with the milk and pour over the top. Dot with butter and bake in a slow (325) oven for about 1 ½ hours.