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.
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| 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.
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