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| 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.
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