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.

Making Magical Memories 8/22/13

Another magic family day came our way on Sunday. Too many years ago for an old lady to remember, my kids and their cousins who grew up as neighbors, schoolmates and friends established an annual golf outing.  The ones who like to golf did so in a group while those who were not infatuated with the game gathered at the host’s home for a cookout later in the day. Since time changes things, families scattered and are busy with the next generation, there have been a few years that it went by the wayside. The custom was resurrected this year by my niece and her husband, who live in Ft. Wayne, and we were all invited to their home.  Golfing has moved from the primary purpose of the gathering to just spending time with each other.  Only four indulged in their favorite sport but many of us gathered for the food.  The main attraction of the afternoon was a Corn Hole tournament which was enjoyed by all. Even I participated.  Do not laugh, I did make one point, but was not on a winning team. Prizes were presented consisting of corn products.  Thanks Phil and Holly for a very pleasant gathering of friends first and relatives second.

Like I have mentioned before, magic can be found in the very ordinary things in an ordinary day. Last Friday late in the evening I received a very special phone call. The daughter of a member of my Home Extension Club who was a member a few years ago then moved to a different county called and wanted to visit me. I was very pleased since she is less than half of my age and younger than all of my kids. Why would someone that age develop an attachment to an elderly person like me?  My dad always told us to “not look a gift horse in the mouth” so I readily told her she could come the next morning since she was visiting her parents for the weekend.  She calls me Grandma Max and signs her messages “your adopted granddaughter”.  How flattering to me!! She arrived right on the dot of the time I gave her and we spent 2 ½ hours of very special sharing of experiences, inner feelings and laughter.  Thanks for a very special, magic filled visit, Kathy.

I was going to go directly to food, but I remembered that last week I promised to let you in on a secret that you do not dare to tell my kids.  They think I am perfectly capable of managing my own affairs and handling the little things required of living alone. I made a hurried but necessary trip to the store. When I came home I found that I had, as usual, picked up more things than I had planned on purchasing. Determined that I was not going to make two trips from the garage with my purchases, I had a lazy man’s load and not enough hands to carry all of my purchases and unlock the back door. What else could I do but set the gallon of milk on the back step to free my right hand.  So far so good.  About four hours later I remembered that I did not remember putting my milk in the refrigerator and must have left it in the car.  Imagine my amazement when I went outside. There it sat very majestically on the back step where I had placed it.  First I tried to blame it on my nosey, busy friend, but I hadn’t seen her anywhere. To ease my guilty conscience, I did confide in someone and they consoled my with the fact that It would possibly be O.K. since it had never been opened.  That seemed to be true, since it is nearly gone and is still edible.  Will I ever learn?? Probably not.

To go from stupidity to food is a giant step for mankind, but let’s try it. We will start with the dessert that I picked out from our new church cookbook. I made it often for my family and could not understand why we never had it when we were growing up because we had an abundance of bread, milk, and eggs. When my husband asked why I never made it, I used the excuse that my mother never did! This is my daughter’s recipe and is similar to the one I used.

                                    

BREAD PUDDING

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ¼ cup sugar, divided, ½ cup and ¾ cup

5 slices bread torn into pieces

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup raisins, optional

2 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup butter

½ cup boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine eggs, cinnamon, ½ cup sugar, bread, salt, raisins and milk. Place in a 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. To make sauce, combine ¾ cup sugar, flour, butter, boiling water and vanilla. Cook until thick. After baking pour sauce over pudding, using a knife to loosen the sides of the pudding from the sides to allow sauce down sides.

Need a quick, different, simple salad? Try this one.

            

CHERRY COKE SALAD

1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple

½ cup water

2 packages (3 ounces each) cherry gelatin

1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filing

¾ cup cola

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Set pineapple aside. Bring juice and water to a boil. Add gelatin, stir until dissolved. Stir in cola and pie filling. Refrigerate until slightly thickened. Fold in reserved pineapple. Refrigerate until firm.  

How about topping it with whipped topping?

Magic Moments Cookbooks for Sale!

If you are interested in purchasing a Magic Moments cookbook, please email Magic Moments at the email address featured to the right of this blog post.

The cookbooks are $7.00 (includes shipping). They will be mailed directly from Maxine once payment is received.

Cookbook for sale!!! 8/15/13

One of the most depressing factors of this task is noticing how fast each of the months are passing by.  I hate to think of heavy coats, mittens, boots and snow shovels, not to mention increased heating bills. Now here I go, forgetting about one of my rules of a happy life.  Do not spoil today by fretting about the things that are less than ideal, but thrive on the good things that come your way.  So let’s just go to the job at hand.

By now you have probably guessed that I am unorganized as to where I planned to go with this. Time is short and I have to produce this evening because I have tomorrow so packed with things I “gotta do” that make waiting until morning for an inspiration is out of the question.

Today was a very nice pleasant family experience.  My son and daughter-in-law who live in Kendallville invited both of their extended families to their home for a combination shower for their youngest son and his fiancé who are planning an October wedding.  Their oldest son, who lives in South Bend, has accepted a position at a very large parish in North Carolina. He and his family are leaving to move there next week. All of my kids live fairly close by according to today’s rule of thumb, but these grandkids have different ideas! Following a gathering of the ladies inside for the shower while the men were grilling burgers and brats outside, we all enjoyed an outdoors sharing of an abundance of food.  Even though we will be sad thinking of the distance, our hearts are filled with prayers for success in both ventures. Also, we are filled with pride in the success of their endeavors in searching for great futures. 

An added pleasure was that I got to see some of my youngest great grandkids who live an inconvenient distance away so I see them only occasionally.  One was only a few months old that I had not seen at all, one sat on my lap for a good 10 seconds before he decided that his mother looked better to him than I did.

I am  also unprepared for recipes to pass on to you.   While pacing the floor praying for a revelation, I noticed our new Parish Cookbook laying quietly on the dining room table. Someday I will find a place I want to keep it and rid my table of at least one unnecessary item. My usual pattern is to scan my oldest books for something I think will interest you.  Today, after changing my mind at least four times, I decided on two submitted by two ladies whom I know quite well and are excellent cooks. If you want to know who they are and if you do not already have a cookbook the remainder of our supply will be on sale at our Fall Festival next month.

Speaking of cook books, I have a few, well maybe quite a few reprints of my cook book. This was my dilemma.  I needed a few but to get a few would cost me as much as a lot of them. Consequently, I did not tell my kids what I spent some of their inheritance on. This is the way I have it figured.  If I sell only a few, each kid will have to take only ten of them if they find the remainder of them under my bed when I decide to go to my heavenly home. Mr. Tinker told me that when he had five hundred of them on his desk it got scary. Then I purchased one hundred.  Through the years, being very cautious and sticking to that conservative amount, the ones I now have now, and may have to eat, bring the total to 1000.  I have seen on Facebook people begging for 1000 likes. Maybe I will be fortunate enough to have God grant me enough years to move this last printing, so my kids will not wish they had taken my money away from me.

Now before I forget which recipes I decided to use we better get that accomplished.

            

HAM and SWISS CASSEROLE

1 pkg. (8 oz) egg noodles, cooked and drained

2 cups cooked ham, chopped

16 ounces shredded cheese

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream

1 can cream of celery soup

½ cup green peppers, chopped

½ cup green onion, chopped

Combine soup, sour cream, green pepper and onions. Set aside. In a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish, layer ½ of the noodles, ham and cheese. Spread ½  of the soup over the layers. Repeat the layers/ Bake uncovered for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Just changed my mind again.  I decided on one that I do not know the cook that well but I sit beside her in church quite often and her husband looks healthy enough. It looks like my kind of recipe. Not too many ingredients and fewer directions. I will save the dessert recipe that I had chosen for another time.

            

MEXICAN CASSEROLE

1 pound of ground beef

½ onion, diced

1 quart whole tomatoes

1 can chili beans or kidney beans, drained

½ cup uncooked rice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Salt and chili powder to taste

shredded cheddar cheese on top

Brown beef and onion. Mix all together and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

If you think I have stopped doing stupid stuff, tune in next week for a detailed description of my recent lack of common sense.

Mother Daughter Magic 8/8/13

Taste of Home Blueberry Crisp

How could so simple a day bring so much magic? During a phone call from my daughter, we spontaneously planned a day together. She has retired from teaching after 40 years at the Elementary school at Butler and this was to be the first day of school for the new school year. She had been advised to be very busy that day. What a blessing that she chose to spend it with me. Originally we were going to meet somewhere in Indiana to accomplish two items we had on our agenda.  She was to let me know what time and where.  Our first time schedule was not before 1:00 p.m.  That would give me plenty of time to be ready with my face washed and hair combed!   The morning of our agenda she called me at 9:00 a.m. to tell me she would be here at 10:00 and would just pick me up and then bring me back home which would make the day simpler plus giving us more visiting time.  

It was a magic day indeed. We started with a visit to my sister who is confined to her wheel chair, then on to Auburn for a leisurely lunch at Cracker Barrel, then calling hours for a friend who was one of my farmers when I was working at the elevator. She had also taught 4 of his children in the primary grades. We visited our special friend at Laurels of DeKalb and finally had to backtrack to CVS when I remembered that I had to pick up medicine at the pharmacy.  Guess I thought the day was going to be medicine enough.  What a special treat to spend a whole day, one on one with a grown child. In case you want to do something special for your mother, especially if she lives alone, a day like this ranks higher than a purchased gift wrapped package.

A few weeks ago our niece stopped to see my sister while I was visiting her.  She had brought a quantity of hamburger cabbage soup for us to sample and several one serving containers  for her freezer to be a help since she is living by herself. Our local restaurant serves a similar soup which I order every time I am there and it is on the menu. Hers was very good but still different.  She told me how she made it and with my cooking expertise I knew I could make it by just remembering the items she used. Wrong.  Mine was edible but not as good as hers. So I sent an email to her begging for a more definite recipe. Following is her detailed formula of how she makes it.  It still leaves you some freedom of family preferences. If you are going to freeze this in freezer bags, be sure to chill it before packaging. Her voice of experience warns that if not cooled before packaging the bags can open creating a scene you would rather not witness. For myself, I use whipped topping containers.

        

CABBAGE HAMBURGER SOUP

2 pounds ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

6 celery ribs

2 medium onions

2 cans (28 oz.) tomatoes (Your choice of diced, stewed and seasonings)

1 medium head of cabbage, chopped

Brown beef in a Dutch oven pan. Drain fat. Put meat back in pan and add tomatoes. Chop onion. Split celery ribs and slice. Chop cabbage and add all to heated tomato mixture. Season with your choices of salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc.  Cook on low heat until vegetables are at your preferred tenderness.

If you are not into cabbage soup, maybe a blueberry dessert found in one of my old Taste of Home cookbooks will be more exciting to your taste buds.

             

BLUEBERRY CRISP

2 packages (12 oz. each) frozen blueberries, thawed

2 tablespoons plus ½ cup flour, divided

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons cold butter

TOPPING:  I cup (8 oz.) plain yogurt

                     ½ teaspoon vanilla

                     2 teaspoons sugar

(My choice would be vanilla ice cream !!) Yogurt, NO ! Place blueberries in an 8 inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray, sprinkled with 2 tablespoons of the flour. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and remaining flour. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over berries. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve with prepared topping.

I had a really clever thought to bring this to a close, but I didn’t write it down!  Who knows what it might have been.

Community Magic 8/1/13

Orange Cinnamon French Toast

I wrote this last week in the middle of the night. That is my excuse for dating it wrong. Really I had a very small yearly calendar by my computer and misread the actual date for the coming week.  I took care of that problem and have replaced it with a life size calendar!  Hope it gets me safely through the rest of the year.

Another eagerly awaited celebration has now gone by the wayside.  Hope you local readers participated in the annual festivities that we once knew as the Homecoming.  Now known as The Festival Of Flags, it is much different but that is the way with many facets of our lives.  I always attend the Thursday evening festivities and watch the parade.  Many congratulations are to be passed to a number of our local celebrities. Each is important in itself, so I will mention them in the order that they occurred.  A well deserving honor was given to our special citizen as an Ambassador of Edgerton, Stevie Kimpel.  This was followed by the announcing of our Citizen of the Year. This honor went to Don Buchs, who quietly in his humble fashion goes about town being kind to many of his friends and neighbors.  I was once a recipient of his kindness and generosity.  I was enjoying lunch at the Bulldog café with my sister, only to find that he had paid for our lunch. We both secretly rationalized that we were the main reason for his kindness, but were smart enough to not ask any questions.  Edgerton is blessed to have both of you as residents and friends.

Also, many thanks need to be given to our community choir and its director, Kevin Riehle.  It takes a special person to devote time from an already busy schedule to make this a successful venture. I am certain that the choir members enjoy singing, but it also takes dedication and much time to develop the fantastic results.  There is much talent there, but it probably takes a little magic to shape the different voices and personalities into a community production.  Our heartfelt thanks go to each of you for a pleasant evening.

Another very important celebration on Saturday was the ninetieth birthday of Wilma Hornbeck, held in Williams Center.  My sister expressed her desire to attend the celebration but is confined to a wheel chair. She is too much of a challenge for me to transport, since I quite often need help myself. So we cried a few small tears and her daughter agreed to furnish us transportation.  Wilma was a childhood friend of ours and a distant relative.  Her dad and our dad were first cousins. We were also connected with the same youth group from our churches. Back in the early 1940’s, I would occasionally go to her family home and spend the night. I also have a picture of  us together, taken  in probably 1942 in bathing suits!  What a change that many years makes! Our blood connection was distant enough that she did not have to claim us as relatives, but the good times we had as kids made us want to help her celebrate her reaching this great milestone. Best wishes to you ,Wilma for a great year.

To help get us from this to food is a great leap. After the parade my daughter asked me if I wanted to go to the park and get a sandwich.  That sounded much better than going home and making a peanut butter sandwich or crackers and cheese.  We were on a short time schedule and our preferred choice was a sausage sandwich. They were not ready to serve them for another hour, so we settled on a fried bologna one. We were quite a ways from the parking lot and my neighbor was there on a John Deere cart that I won’t name because I would call it something that is not politically correct. She graciously, realizing that I am not a youngster any more, asked me if I needed a ride to the car.  So this was an unexpected, added experience to the weekend celebration.

Now back to food. During the weekend another ego building experience was several readers, one an “older” man, who relayed to me the enjoyment they get from my ramblings and recipes. A positive response from readers is what keeps me going.  Those of you who don’t appreciate it , just go to page 4 and 5 !

            

ORANGE CINNAMON FRENCH TOAST

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon cinnamon

3 eggs

½ cup orange juice

6 slices bread

Combine butter honey and cinnamon. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Spread to coat bottom of pan. Beat eggs, orange juice and salt if desired. Dip bread into egg mixture and place in prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown. Invert onto a serving platter. Serve with extra honey and butter if desired.

            

BEEF TENDERLOIN STROGANOFF

1 ½ pounds beef tenderloin, cut in thin strips

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1 ½ cups beef broth

¼ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ teaspoon paprika

Salt to taste

Hot cooked noodles

Toss beef in flour. Brown beef in butter and oil. Gradually stir in broth. In a bowl combine sour cream, tomato paste, paprika and salt. Bring beef mixture to a boil. Reduce heat. Slowly stir in sour cream mixture. Do not boil. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve over noodles. Serves 4.