Work Hard, Pray Hard, and Play Hard 6/27/13

I just had a depressing thought.  Here we have used up half of our new year.  What have you accomplished that you planned to do with your new year?  I am just going to look at my very short list and mumble “I do not think I understood your question!”  I hereby write in ink that I will try to do better the next six months. Then I try to push out of my mind the list of things that I really was going to accomplish once I retired, but most of them I forgot to start. For instance I was going to really make a project of assembling my photographs in an impressive manner.  I did get started at that a month ago when we put a shoe box for each family on my dining room table, then tossed each snapshot into the box that we felt would appreciate it the most. It was a start, but then I found another box or two carefully placed out of sight that I forgot about. Oh, well, maybe next year. 

Last Saturday morning was a very uplifting experience for me.  Since I had a granddaughter, a great granddaughter, two daughters and a son that were included in the group of  over thirty high school kids and a number of adults going to Louisville, Kentucky to spend the week at a work camp  working for individuals or families who cannot physically accomplish the needed projects and cannot financially afford to hire the work done, I went to the church parking lot to send them off on their mission.  The work camp experience is very valuable in the maturing of character and the feeling of being blessed with the circumstances that they come from. It was gratifying to me to be part of the outer circle of participants as they joined in prayer, asking for God’s protection and blessings for a profitable week.    Their motto was they were going to   “WORK HARD, PRAY HARD, AND PLAY HARD”.    Sounds like a good combination to me. In my own small way I contributed to the effort by furnishing  at least 12 dozen homemade cookies. My sister-in-law helped also, with some family favorites of molasses cookies.  My family always says no one can make those like Aunt Mary does. We owe the adults that were responsible for organizing the details and providing vehicles, trailers and drivers a special vote of thanks. Also the ones who accepted the responsibility of chaperones and helping with the details of the week.  May it be a magic filled week for both the recipients of their labor and the self satisfaction found in doing for others.

Since I do not have my mind completely removed from cookies, I will use a recipe that impressed me that I noticed in a magazine at my hair salon.  So I swiped, with the owner’s permission, the Woman’s Day magazine that published the recipe.  I was going to make some of them for the work camp, but I did not have all of the ingredients on hand. It is different than any cookies that I have ever tried. Hope you try them. The recipe says it makes over 3 dozen, but I find I must make larger cookies because I usually come up short. No, I do not eat any of the batter!  I use a medium size scoop and then press them down partially with a fork dipped in water. That way they are all the same size.

         

BANANA OAT COOKIES

1 ½  cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon soda

½  teaspoon cinnamon

 ½  teaspoon salt

I ripe medium banana

1 large egg

2 tablespoons canola oil

¼ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼  cups old fashioned oats

¼ cup dried cranberries

½ cup pecan pieces

Combine the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt. In a bowl mash the ripe banana, Add the egg, oil, sugars, applesauce and vanilla. Gradually add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in the oats, cranberries, and nuts. Drop by tablespoon  onto cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool for five minutes before removing from sheets.

I will finish with a short and simple recipe for tomato soup.  I recently gave you a recipe that called for basil.  Since I do not use many herbs, I suggested any other seasoning.  A special friend of mine responded with ”Max, why do you not use basil?”  It was a family favorite at her house. So she knows that I heard her, I am using another basil recipe and I will use basil when I make it.

     

BASIL TOMATO SOUP

2 cans (28 oz. each) crushed tomatoes

1 can (14 ½  oz.) chicken broth

18 to 20 fresh basil leaves, minced (I might use dried because that is what I have on hand).

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup whipping cream

½ cup butter

Bring tomatoes and broth to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for10 minutes. Add basil and sugar. Reduce heat to low, stir in cream and butter. Cook until butter is melted. 

In case you are not interested in tomato soup, I just noticed a new recipe for Chocolate Ice Cream Pie!  Now who wouldn’t like that? Will try to remember which book I saw it n for next week.

Rhubarb Magic 6/20/13

Last week a magic moment came from a very unexpected source. The phone rang and since it takes me a bit longer to get out of my easy chair and walk across the room than it used to, I hurriedly grasped the phone without looking at the caller I.D.  Guess what!   It was a high school classmate who is residing in an assisted living residence in another county. Now here is where the magic comes in.  You can about guess his age since I told you he was a classmate of mine. He also reads Magic Moments every week. To deepen the plot, he had read my recipe for Soda Cracker Pie thoroughly enough to notice an error in my ingredients! Rather than being embarrassed at having a reader point out an inefficiency on my part, I was flattered that an “older” male was really reading the whole thing that carefully!   In case you glanced over it hurriedly, I had stated that it needed 1 teaspoon of vanilla, followed by one teaspoon of sugar. The directions said to add sugar “one tablespoon at a time”!  Right here I will admit that it should have read 1 cup of sugar!  Many cooks would have noticed that it was not right and it should have been one cup, but that does not excuse my poor proof reading. I try to check the ingredients as I type them. This should point out that the typist should never proof read her own work. We tend to read what we were thinking instead of what we are seeing. This just reinforces my former statement that we can find magic in unusual events in our daily lives. Keep on reading and calling, Ralph. I will try to keep the reason for your calls to be just to chat.

Another magic filled evening was on Saturday when my daughter who has been teaching in the East Side Elementary School in Butler for forty years has decided to retire. She and her family entertained family, friends and neighbors to a supper at their home with a meal partially cooked by her husband as he does many Chuck Wagon meals for many occasions.  Judy, their daughter and his mother prepared other items such as salads, vegetable plates, etc. from items raised in his fantastic garden. The finishing touches were supplied by pies, congratulation cakes and homemade ice cream.  The evening climaxed with the many guests expressing good wishes and renewing friendships from the past among the diversified guests. I was flattered with a quotation from me that was made into a poster that she kept in her school room. When I was volunteering at the Edgerton Elementary school, mostly for Mrs. Glore for 16 years, I told the second grade students that if you learned to read well and understood what you read and had a good understanding of math, the world was yours. That made you capable of learning anything that you wanted to learn. She called me one day and said, “Mom, how did you say that? I want to use it!”Imagine my surprise and pleasure of seeing her poster from her classroom on the wall of her garage with her other trophies of a successful teaching career. Many good wishes are sent your way for an enjoyable and magic filled retirement, Judy.

This brings back memories from her college days when she graduated from St. Frances in Ft. Wayne.  Some of the students already had jobs and she was disturbed by the fact that she had not been placed yet and owed less than $3000.00!  She did this on her own with very little assistance from us. Not because we would not but because we could not, other than a car and gas for a summer job, etc. What a comparison to today’s cost of an education. In a very short time she had a position with the East Side school and taught there her entire career.

Do you have a supply of fresh rhubarb and need a different way to prepare it?  Maybe this suggestion will help you combine two seasonal ingredients, especially if you are lucky enough to have some homegrown strawberries.

     

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB COBBLER

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups fresh rhubarb

1 ½ cups sliced fresh strawberries

TOPPING:

          1 cup all purpose flour

         1 tablespoon sugar

          1 ½  teaspoons baking powder

          ¼ teaspoon salt

          ¼ cup cold butter cubed

          1 egg, lightly beaten

           ¼  cup milk

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add rhubarb and strawberries. Toss to coat. Let stand five minutes. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Pour into a greased 8 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until forms coarse crumbs. Combine egg and milk; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Drop by tablespoon onto fruit. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

                   

PEACHY RHUBARB PIE

1 can (8 ½ oz.) sliced peaches

2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

1 cup sugar

¼ cup flaked coconut

3 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

1 teaspoon vanilla

Favorite pastry for 2 crust 9 inch pie

1 tablespoon butter

Drain peaches, reserving syrup. Chop the peaches. Place peaches and syrup in a bowl. Add the rhubarb, sugar, coconut, tapioca and vanilla. Let stand  for 15 minutes. Line a 9 inch pie plate with bottom crust. Fill with rhubarb mixture. Dot with butter. Make a lattice crust on top of fruit. Trim, seal and flute edges. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown and bubbly.

Hope all of you fathers enjoyed a fabulous weekend filled with many magic moments and appreciation from your families.

Magic coffee - clear when you make it. 6/13/13

I have been very diligent in avoiding mentioning any dumb things that I do.  Bet you thought that I had changed my ways. Never.  I just hoped that you would either forget the last ones or that enough time had elapsed that you would think that I had improved. Anyway the last brain dead occurrence at my house was recently one noon when I was expecting company at lunch time. I decided to make a fresh pot of coffee.  Nothing wrong with that.  My guest wanted ice water, so I went to pour me a cup of coffee. Imagine my chagrin when the liquid was completely clear. Thinking that I had not poured the water into the proper place I quickly poured it in and started the process over.  My next attempts were puzzling as the same thing was happening. On closer examining the whole situation, I just blamed it onto that busy, nosey old lady that messes up my life. Yes, she still stops in quite regularly.  This time she never put any coffee into the filter! I took over and eventually got my cup of freshly brewed coffee.  

We won’t mention the time I spent hours looking for my misplaced upper partial.  Without it, I look like an overzealous jack-o-lantern. My theory of never give up was successful. Now I am much more diligent in putting it in the specially purchased container in the bathroom.

Last week was empty of social obligations, but Sunday was a very pleasant trip to Ft. Wayne to help celebrate the 50^th birthday of a niece. It is alarming how old some of these kids are getting. Some that seem to have just finished their education are retiring!  Guess that puts me on the OLD list.

These troublesome thoughts bring me around to food, the everlasting mood comforter. How about a couple of new desserts?  The first one is from an assortment of recipes that I had in my  “save box”.  Not certain of its origin nor age but it sounds challenging to me. 

            

SODA CRACKER PIE

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 C sugar

14 soda crackers, finely crushed

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup chopped pecans

2 cans (16 oz.)  sliced peaches, well drained

1 carton (8 oz.)  whipped topping

In a large bowl, let egg whites stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Add vanilla and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form.  Add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating on high till very stiff peaks form. Fold in finely crushed crackers, baking powder and pecans. Spread into a nine inch pie pan. Bake in 325 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Cool. Arrange peach slices over meringue.

Spread whipped topping over peaches.  Cover and chill overnight.

            

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL FONDUE

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 jar (12 oz.) caramel ice cream topping

3 squares ( 1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate

Assorted fresh fruit and/or pretzels.

In a sauce pan, combine the milk, chocolate and caramel topping. Cook over low heat until chocolate is melted. Serve with your choice of assorted fruits.

Remember to look for magic in the ordinary happenings of your day. Help make magic in someone’s life just by being kind to someone who needs a smile.

Early Morning Magic 6/6/13

Would you believe that it is the wee hours of a new day and here I am, wide awake, proving false my mental image of me sleeping through the night after a fantastic weekend? I had very good intentions of finalizing my thoughts, then completing this after I arrived home past 8:30 and had a few minutes in my easy chair.  I got as far as picking out a few recipes, then my well made plans disappeared.

Saturday started out with my usual early appointment, followed by a monthly luncheon engagement with some classmates and friends. A great grandson graduated from the sixth grade of our parochial school in the evening. Following the graduation we were guests of him and his parents for a reception in his honor.  Congratulations, Tyler, on a milestone of accomplishment in your young life.  

Sunday was even busier. With her grandparents, I attended the baptism of a great granddaughter in Ft. Wayne. Following a reception at her home we continued on to Decatur for a high school graduation of my youngest grandchild. That finishes 32 graduations and that many sets of luggage. I am not going to start that tradition with the “greats”! Congratulations to Whitney and Aubrie on important achievements in their lives.  Hope this explains why this little old lady ran out of steam.  I knew I would sleep through the night and start out refreshed. My old habits are hard to break and after an initial few hours of sleep, here I am again trying to accomplish something constructive instead of churning in my bed.

Family gatherings are very important to me and it was a special time renewing acquaintances of the past, meeting friends of my kids, and grandkids from Cleveland,  Maryland and North Carolina. It is unreal, but all of my kids are approximately within one hour of me, but these grandkids forgot to take their parent’s example and are scattering country wide. It was a great weekend and so glad that I  got to be a part of it. Both days were filled with more food than we really needed, but we could not disappoint the hostesses and not participate, could we? I have good intentions of eating salads for at least two days.

Once again, I resorted to a 10 year old cookbook.  I found several  recipes that interested me.  As usual the most interesting were desserts, but I finally decided on one that is very seasonal right now. Since life does not came in just desserts, I will include one from down on the farm of sausage and cabbage.

June has always been the month of homegrown strawberries.  So this would be the time to try this one that is a bit different from any I have ever tried. It can be prepared the day before you want to serve it.

                

CREAMY STRAWBERRY DESSERT

1 ½ cups crushed vanilla wafers (about 40 wafers)

½ cup, each, white and brown sugar

½ cup butter, melted

2 packages, (3 oz. each) strawberry Jello

1 cup boiling water

1 package (16 oz.) frozen, sweetened strawberries

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1 carton (12 oz) whipped topping

Combine wafer crumbs, both sugars and melted butter. Press into a 9 x 13 inch dish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Add strawberries and milk. Refrigerate until partially set. Fold whipped topping into strawberry mixture. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. To use fresh strawberries, I would dice and sweeten them according to family preferences and then add to the cooled Jello.

              

SAUSAGE CABBAGE SKILLET

I pound kielbasa or summer sausage, cut into ¼ inch slices

1 small head cabbage, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

I medium onion, chopped

2 potatoes, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 garlic clove, minced, optional

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage, add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

In case you drove by my house before ten o’clock on Monday morning, I hope you did so quietly, because I am certain that I was still sleeping.

Magic Breakfast Recipes 5/30/13

Congratulations and best wishes are extended to each member of Edgerton High School’s class of 2013.  May each of you reach all of your dreams and goals for the future.

As I scanned the pictures of each graduate in last week’s Earth, I realized that I must be approaching old age.  There were so few of the graduates that I knew. All of the ones that were in Mrs. Glore’s second grade class room when I volunteered for many years as a helper have graduated, the community population has changed and I have lost contact with that generation.  My how fast the years go by.

I had an interesting new experience last week.  I hesitantly agreed to assist with selling St. Mary’s new cook book at the Chief grocery store in Bryan.  I am very willing to move the merchandise, but am not aggressive enough  to  make someone decide that they want what I have to sell. It turned out to be a very pleasant few hours.  I got reacquainted with a parishioner who was with me and saw several friends that I had not seen in a long time. Oh, yes, we did sell a few books. My grateful thanks to several people who really wanted one and a couple who did some Christmas shopping, one even wanting us to autograph the book.  It was a magic change from my usual routine. I might do it again.

Do ever think you are tired of cooking and eating the same old oatmeal or dry cereal for breakfast? While trying to diminish a number of things that I thought I should keep, I found two recipes that look as if they were clipped from the same magazine. I do not know which one nor how many years ago. Something tells me that as soon as I pass them on to you they can go by the wayside. How can one little old lady accumulate so much stuff that will look like junk to her kids?

          

PEPPERONI CHEESE BAKE

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup diced pepperoni

5 eggs

¾ cup milk

¼ teaspoon basil

Layer the cheese and pepperoni in a 9” pie plate. Whisk eggs, milk and basil, pour over cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  I never use basil.  I would use any other favorite herb or seasoning.

         

BREAKFAST PIZZA

2 cans (7 ½ oz. each) refrigerated biscuits

1 pound bulk pork sausage

2 cans (4 oz.) mushroom pieces, drained

1 large onion, diced

4 ½ teaspoons butter

12 eggs

3 cups(12 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

Separate into 20 biscuits. Cover bottom of greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan with biscuits. Crumble sausage into a skillet, cook over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain, set aside. In the same skillet, sauté mushrooms and onion in butter for 3 minutes; add to the sausage. In a bowl, whisk the eggs. Coat skillet with spray. Add eggs and cook over medium heat until eggs are set. Spread mixture over biscuits. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 t0 12 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and biscuits are golden brown. This serves 6 to 8, but can easily be cut in half.

Either one of these breakfast suggestions would be a magic way to start out a new day.