The weeks keep rolling by faster and faster. The only explanation I ever heard of time seeming to pass so quickly is that each year any space of time represents a smaller percentage of our lifetime. Makes sense to me. When I was in elementary school the summer vacation was forever and Christmas took forever to come back again. Now before I get the tree down and all of the decorations put safely out of sight it is time to get them out again. Summer vacation for the school kids seems like it just started and it is time to readjust our schedules for school events. If I stop to calculate the portion of my lifetime that makes up summer vacation it is indeed getting smaller and smaller.
Sunday was a very special day for a number of us who consider family a very vital part of our existence. It was the anniversary of the death of my husband’s brother. Mass was celebrated in his honor and as many of us that could work it into our schedules attended the 8:30 liturgy. Following that a few more came for the weekly ritual of coffee and rolls in the church basement. Long after the usual appointed time for the “lights out” we were allowed to perform that weekly duty ourselves. At each change of location for the celebration we lost a few people. Since nothing helps a celebration as much as food, eight of us found our way to Rita’s for a brunch meal as the guests of Aunt Mary. (After that announcement, I changed my order from a cheese sandwich to Surf and Turf !!) A few hours later, with a few more dropping out, the party finalized at Mary’s home with the enticement of her home made rhubarb pie for dessert. By that time I think the attendance was down to about five. I was one of the early dropouts, partially since pie is a forbidden fruit on my diet and I felt a nap coming on. Like my family, God is calling names one by one and there are so few of the original list still here that makes family that much more important. Special guests were Tony from Maumee, Renate from both Chicago and Southern Pines, North Carolina, Jim from Wauseon and Judy from Waterloo. All of the others were local.
I had the idea of passing on this bit of interesting treatment of fresh berries, I had it on my mental list of things to include. By the time I was putting it on paper, my mental list was beyond the wide blue yonder. It is still early enough in the season for you to adapt it to your preparation of strawberries, raspberries, etc. The suggestion is to wash them in a solution of water and vinegar which will prevent them from molding and will last in the refrigerator longer. The proportion to use is suggested ten parts water to one part vinegar. I cut that down to a box of strawberries and came up with ¼ cup of vinegar to 2 ½ cups of water. I was a good math student a number of years ago and think that is correct. If you think it is necessary recalculate it yourself to be certain. One thing I like to do with strawberries is dice them as fine as you prefer then cover them with prepared glaze. This will make them keep for several more days. Then I like to add banana slices and whipped topping for a quick dessert or just the bananas and add to my morning ritual of oatmeal and cinnamon. Mighty good on ice cream, too.
Years ago, almost too many when I was a teen ager, a friend of my mother made Ranger Cookies which I thought were really special. Over the years I lost track of the recipe. One day when I was visiting my sister near Butler, she had a cookbook from the Extension Homemakers Club that my mother attended. I quickly wrote down the recipe and a few others from people that I knew, or wished to try. Wouldn’t you know that old lady that messes up my filing system misplaced them. Recently as I am donating to posterity some of the things that I have gathered over the years, I noticed that slip of paper. I was delighted and immediately made a batch of Ranger cookies. I was equally pleased with the results which were better than I remembered. Hope you like them too.
RANGER COOKIES
1 cup shortening (I use Buttered Flavored Crisco In all cookies.)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
I teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups corn flakes
1 cup each coconut, chocolate bits, nuts if desired
Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs. Add other ingredients in order given. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Flatten with fork dipped in water. Bake at 350 12 to 15 minutes. Do not over bake. This is a very stiff cookie mixture. (I combined shortening, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Then combined flour, soda, baking powder, soda oatmeal, coconut and cornflakes. After adding this to the mixture, add the chocolate and nuts. You can add 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk to make the batter easier to handle. I used a medium sized scoop to measure batter, made it into a ball, then flattened it.)
PEANUT DESSERT
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 cups milk
2 eggs, well beaten
4 tablespoons flour
Butter size of a walnut
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 bananas
2 cups chopped peanuts
Combine ingredients. Bring to boil until thickened. Chop peanuts and slice bananas. Put in 8 x 8 inch dish in layers alternately with cooked pudding, peanuts and bananas. Chill.
This was my youngest sister’s recipe, saying as to who liked it. “I do !! “ (A good memory of the past creating another magic moment.)
No comments:
Post a Comment