1st of May Magic 5/1/14

Even though the sun was shining most of the day and the temperature reading registered by the local bank was moderate, even the date reaching into May was unable to convince me that Spring has finally arrived. As I left the house for church in my spring jacket, it was too late to decide to go back in the house for a coat or a warmer jacket.  I thought maybe I could shiver fast enough to make up for the cutting edge of the wind.  Maybe I am just a slow learner!

Thanks to all of you who attended the breakfast at St. Mary’s after church services to help cover expenses for the over thirty young people who will be attending Catholic Heart Work Camp this summer. The campers and their chaperones assisted with the preparing and serving of the food and cleanup.  The week  is a great learning experience for our youth who work hard doing manual labor, without pay, for people who cannot afford to improve their lot in life. They pray hard, improving their spiritual life with evening vespers, and play hard by interacting with fellow youth in relaxed time. All who attend like to return year after year.

The most exciting thing that happened to me last week was an aborted plan to visit my sister. When I opened my car door in the garage, the usual lights illuminated on the dashboard and all was well until I turned the ignition key. More lights began to dance and quiver and make an unusual racket. I am almost as auto illiterate as I am computer illiterate, but I knew very quickly that additional efforts would be fruitless. So I just came back into the house and called my trusty mechanic. In a short time, I saw my car leave my driveway, so I knew that help was already on the way. A couple of hours later, I noticed it come back into the drive way and enter my garage.  By the time I got my tired old body around where I could investigate, I saw a red car pick up someone and away they went.  I could not stand the suspense, so I (as quickly as someone my age can) went to the garage and sure enough there was my car, with the keys on the front seat and the bill for a new battery beside them.  Many thanks to local mechanics who quickly respond to helpless little old ladies, and trust them to remember to pay the bill.  So glad for their assistance and my guardian angel who helped my battery last until it was safely at home in my garage before giving up its last breath instead of when I was out and about.

I am going to live dangerously for recipes this week. I am going to give you a couple of my emergency meals!!  On Sunday I was cooking Western Style Ribs  in my slow cooker thinking that I might have some company later in the day.  I use a can of mushroom soup, a can of water and lots of sliced onions. I was finishing my bag of smaller yellow onions that I like because when I cut a large one, I invariably let the rest of it spoil. I knew I had a new bag of them that I had purchased when they were on sale. When I decided to use another onion or so in my ribs, I discovered that I had purchased them longer ago than I remembered. There were sprouts growing out of the mesh bag and the roots on a lot of them were sprouted. Here my childhood upbringing kicked into gear and I remembered my Dad saying that  a woman can throw out more with a teaspoon than a man can bring in with a scoop shovel! So, whatever can I do with those onions, so protect my thrifty buying?  Here is the recipe that I came forth with.  My daughter was here as they were coming from the oven and had two helpings. Her husband refused any because he was planning something else for his supper. I told him I could eat scalloped onions here and still eat what he was having at home. I won’t be too hard on him since my son who was here had said, ”Mom, those look good enough that if you had not told me they were onions, I would have tried them!”

          

MAX’S SCALLOPED ONIONS

8 to 10 medium onions, sliced

1 can celery soup

1 soup can of water

1 tablespoon butter

1 inch chunk of Velveeta cheese, cubed

½ stack buttered, crushed cracker crumbs

Peel and slice onions and place in casserole dish. Combine soup, water, cheese and butter in two cup measuring cup. Heat in microwave 2 minutes on high. Pour over onions. Sprinkle top with buttered cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

                 

WESTERN STYLE RIBS

I make the Western style ribs do two different things. Cook them until they are overdone in a slow cooker and the bones fall out. Remove fat and cut up meat into bite sized pieces. Mix half a cup of ketchup and a half cup of your favorite barbecues sauce. Blend well with meat and serve on toasted buns.

With the gravy like broth that is left, add vegetables of your choice or a lazy way is to use a package of frozen stew vegetables, and cook until very well done.

With rain forecast for most of the week, do you think I might start to “empty” my spare bedroom that looks like Fibber McGee’s closet?  Maybe you should not place any lunch money on that since I didn’t even look in there last winter when all it did was snow and snow and snow!

Easter Family Magic 4/24/14

Can we believe that Spring is really here? The temperature for this week seems to be shouting for attention, the month of April is almost gone and Easter is past. Seems as if the weather forecasters should be on the same page. That last snow storm really put me in a bind. I went away for the evening. When my special friend who picks me up and brings me home for our monthly meeting in Indiana, noticed a difference in the raindrops that had begun to appear on the windshield. When I opened my door to get out of the car, I noticed several snowflakes on my coat sleeve. It really couldn’t be, besides it was well into April. We both noticed that even though I had put my nosey little friend in charge of putting my car away it was still setting majestically in the driveway.

We had a brief exchange of opinions and decided that it couldn’t amount to much and I should just leave it there. Wrong! I had a nine o’clock appointment on Tuesday morning. When I got up and looked out to see several  inches of snow everywhere including every window, the top of my car, and the trunk I was both amazed and a bit angry with myself. Worse yet, it was undercoated with ice which I could not penetrate with the small utensils I had at my disposal. My mother did not raise stupid kids, maybe one that is not too bright, but I decided to start the car and let it run for 20 minutes. Ah ha, it worked and I could clear all of the windows. I looked in the garage and it was 40 degrees on the thermometer in there,  so I drove the car into the garage. When I went back out the snow and ice had agreed to be swept off. Now here my intelligence faltered a bit because I just swept it off on to the garage floor and merrily went on my way to keep my appointment. About an hour later when I came home, my son-in-law was here diligently sweeping out the water the melted snow had amassed in my garage!  Oh, well, that is what family is for isn’t it, to rescue us little old ladies from the results of our poor judgment? Thanks, Steve.

My judgment was a bit out of touch last week since I forgot to wish you all a Happy and Holy Easter. So, the best I can do now is to hope that your holiday was a joy filled one with family. Easter Sunday liturgy is one of my favorite ones, the music is so joyful and the church is so beautiful in contrast to the solemnity of Holy Week and especially Good Friday. The church was filled to capacity and overflowing. If you were visiting we enjoyed having you. If you felt moved to be there just because it was Easter, welcome back and we will look for you next week, too. If you should have been there and weren’t, wouldn’t now be an excellent time to make some changes?

My holiday created some magic moments.  My daughter asked me if I could and would host this year’s celebration. I answered that they were welcome to come here, but I could not do as much as I usually have done in the past. This brought the response that if I would host the gathering, I did not need to cook anything!  Now who can turn down and offer like that? We had a smaller crowd than usual, only a total of 38, but you could not tell it by the amount of food that appeared.  It was a great day, even though we missed those who had other commitments, and appreciated those who covered two parties. 

Some magic moments were appreciated on late Saturday afternoon when a daughter and great granddaughter stopped in to see if I needed any help. Three sets of hands can accomplish much more than one, especially mine, and several things got polished that I would have not had the time nor energy to get done. I need too many time outs to rest to accomplish a great deal. Another specialty of the day was my newest great grandchild made her first visit to Grandma Max’s. I am sure she enjoyed it but put in a few complaints when things were not exactly to her liking. Glad that you could make it, Madalynn.

Right now I am not hungry enough to be really interested in food, but I will try to come up with a few ideas because I know that feeling will be gone by tomorrow afternoon. I should have asked for some recipes of some great tasting food we had today.

                        

MANDARIN CHICKEN SALAD

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups shredded lettuce

2cups cubed, cooked chicken

1 can (15 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained

1 rib celery, thinly sliced

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 cups chow mein noodles

½ cup  salted peanuts, toasted

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the sugar vinegar, oil and salt. Shake well. In a serving bowl, combine lettuce, chicken, oranges, celery and onions. Stir in chow mein noodles and peanuts. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately. 3 servings.

NO FUSS HAM PATTTIES

1 egg, slightly beaten

¼ cup milk

3 tablespoons pickle relish

8 tablespoons dry bread crumbs, divided

1 ½ teaspoons ground mustard

10 ounces ground fully cooked ham

3 tablespoons butter

Combine, egg, milk, pickle relish, 6 tablespoons dry bread crumbs and mustard. Crumble ham over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties. Sprinkle each side with remaining crumbs. Cook patties in butter over medium heat for 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned.

Be back in May, where oh where did April go?

Wedding Magic 4/17/14

Last weekend was so full of magic moments I hardly know where to begin. So I guess the best place to start is the beginning. My youngest grandson graduated from an Indiana college, but was getting his Master’s Degree in counseling at The University of North Carolina. It just so happened that a sweet young gal from Tennessee had the same plans. Something clicked well and they decided that they wanted to get married there since they both have employment there in their chosen field.  That made a little problem for those of us so far away, but we handled it graciously by using the airlines and pooling automobile expenses.  I was extremely fortunate by having a daughter and son-in-law willing to put up with traveling with an old, old, lady. It was a challenge, but so glad that I decided to accept the challenge to be part of the festivities. Besides the parents of the groom, four more of my kids and their spouses, a granddaughter who was the groom’s godmother and her daughter also were guests.  We arrived at different times, but spent a great deal of time in the lobby of the hotel with other guests after the rehearsal and again after the wedding reception.

A real rare experience, aside from the wedding, was the results of my daughter “Googling” fish fries at nearby churches.  Once again we pooled rides to the church that was serving fish from noon until 7:00. It was past 6:30 when we arrived and a man outside told us it was perfectly O.K. for us to go in. We were surprised by the fact that we found ourselves in the minority as it was a totally Black parish. They were so gracious to us and we learned that they had a famous choir of about 40 members who sang at their 11:00 o’clock Mass. It was so well attended that they did not have room in the church and held that one in the social room, where the fish fry was being served.  They wanted us to come back for their service on Sunday, but we wanted to be on our way home by the time the liturgy started.  Two of the men were so interesting to listen to and interested in us that we looked around and just like in Edgerton, the Sanders family was the last to leave.

Added to the specialness of the reception, was the so called crashing of the party by a Sanders nephew and  his wife who live about an hour and a half away. Really they had permission from the bride to stop in at the reception. I had not seen them for a long time so it was a special interlude.  Also a Jennings nephew and his wife who live in the area were guests. Glad to see you, Mark and Donna, Gary and Joann.

The whole weekend was great and I hated to see it come to an end but all good things do that. All weddings are so special and we wish the best and years of happiness to Ian and Sara. We came all the way home on Sunday scrapping our plans to stay overnight with my grandson in St. Mary’s.  We were an hour and a half from home and decided that it would be so nice to get up on Monday morning and be in our own beds.  That proved to be true but I was one exhausted old lady.  I found myself doing absolutely nothing but necessities all day on Monday. I did not get finished doing nothing so I continued the same program for Tuesday.

Now let’s see if we can find something good to eat.  The first book I grasped has a recipe from one of my favorite aunts. She gave me the cook book but I never noticed this recipe of hers.  I think you will like it. Remember this would be before the days of mixes and cool whip.

            

APPRICOT-PINEAPPLE SALAD

1 large can apricots, drained

1 can crushed pineapple

2 packages orange jello

2 cups hot water

1 cup apricot juice

¾ cup miniature marshmallows

         

TOPPING

I cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 egg

1 cup pineapple and apricot juice, combined

2 tablespoons butter

Dream whip according to directions (Use 8 oz. Cool Whip)

Combine drained and chilled fruit. Dissolve jello in hot water and add apricot juice. Chill. Fold in fruit. Pour into oblong dish.  For topping cook sugar, flour, egg, and juice. Stir in butter. Spread on top of fruit mixture. Garnish with grated cheese if desired.

STRAWBERRY DESSERT

1 package strawberry Jello

I cup hot water

1 cup pineapple juice

2/3 cup crushed pineapple

2/3 cup chopped nuts

8 to 12 oz. whipped topping

Graham cracker crumbs and butter

Dissolve Jello in hot water. Add pineapple juice. Chill until slightly thickened. Line bottom of square dish with crushed graham crackers and melted butter. Fold pineapple  and nuts into whipped topping. Spoon over crumbs. Top with more crumbs and chill.

Great Greats Magic! 4/10/14

Due to a change in travel plans, I cannot wait until past my deadline to report in.  So I will have to do a hurried attempt this afternoon to secure my place in The Earth. Instead of a report of a short vacation and important wedding, I will dwell on some great magic that has recently occurred in my life.

Recently, I was blessed with two more great grandkids! Sometimes coincidence strikes when it is unexpected and both caused some excitement in their arrival. Delivery problems unexpectedly arose and both were delivered by emergency C-sections. First to arrive was Alistair Jordan Smith to Jamie and Marcus, weighing in above-the-average birthweight - 10 pounds and 11 ounces!  Following a few days later was Madalynn Brooke Warstler to Morgan and Steve. She was a more moderate size but caused some concern for both herself and her new mother. Thankfully, both are now at home ready to take their place in this big great world.  That makes four new ones in a few months.  Miss Natalie Therese Sanders who lives near Houston, Texas was a very welcome addition to Andy and Jen’s two other daughter’s.  (I have yet to meet her except on Facebook.)  Bradley Christopher Johnston came to help his dad overcome the imbalance of feminine presence with two big sisters to the household of Amanda and Jason. Don’t have an accurate count in my head, but am approaching the 40 mark of greats!

Better get my mind on food, since I thought I had more time to focus on this and have no ideas ready. How about using my four ingredient recipe book? Since that will take less time.  Some of you will be looking for Lenten ideas. Here is a fish recipe that I have never used and gives you a range of preferences.

                   

EASY CHEESE FISH FILLETS

1 pound fish fillets of your choice

1 onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup grated cheese of your choice

Place fish fillets in a single layer in a baking casserole. Spread with mayonnaise and sprinkle with cheese. Top with onions. Cover and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes, until browned.

Are you brave enough to try an uncooked dessert? This interested me, so why not try it.

CREAMY PEACH DELIGHT

2 cans (16 oz.) peach halves

4 tablespoons cream cheese

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Fill center of peach halves with 1 tablespoon cream cheese and place halves together. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll peaches in sugar mixture  Chill until ready to serve.

Hope my hurried attempt for this week is not too left of center. For those of you who do not care for these suggestions, Maybe you will be interested in a suggestion that I just read today but have never heard about. Try it to see if it works. Run your slices of bacon under cold water before cooking and it will reduce the shrinkage!

I hear my method of transportation arriving for my hours long trip to my grandson’s wedding. I had intended to use this time to “spot mop” the kitchen so no one comes in and has my house condemned while I am gone.

Dress Shopping and Other Adventures 4/3/14

Can’t believe that we have used up another whole month already. Hope you got past the first day without doing anything too foolish.  Last week was a real blast for me. I extended myself to the limit.  On Tuesday I had a son and his grandson for lunch to celebrate his birthday.  Do not ask my great grandson how he likes my cooking, please!! I am sure he left feeling quite empty. I treated him like I did my own kids. I put a good meal on the table, if you do not like it, sorry, just wait until the next meal and try again. 

On Wednesday, my daughter brought a co-worker with her for her 20 minute lunch. I couldn’t fix anything that they had to chew so they could be out of here on time, but ended with their choice of apple or peach pie and ice cream. 

Thursday another daughter took me along to Ft. Wayne on a shopping trip so I could buy a dress to wear to a grandson‘s wedding this next weekend. Everything that I picked out as a possibility looked worse on me than it did on the hanger and that was not good.  After miles (I thought) of walking and trying on scads of dresses, finally, with Becky scrounging the store while I was in the fitting room, we came up with two I would consider and one that I maybe could be talked into.  The best part of the story was after the sale price and the discounts it was real bargain. After I got it home away from all of the other monstrosities, I am quite happy with it. After extra walking and energy expended, I told her I had reached my limit and sat in the car at the last stop she wanted to make. Besides all that and the Mother daughter party at church and the K of C Steak Fry on Saturday where they invite widows of former members, it was a real magic filled, if exhausting, week!

After fixing lunch for company, and a son stopping in for left-overs, I made a dessert salad for the Mother-Daughter party. It was appreciated by several daughters that were present and I promised to print it again this week. It was a magic moment that they read the column, besides liking my contribution to the meal.

            

ORANGE PINEAPPLE TORTE

20 graham crackers

½ cup butter

3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese

14 ounces marshmallow cream

12 ounces whipped topping

1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple

2 large cans mandarin oranges

1 ½ cup flaked coconut

Crush graham crackers and mix with melted butter.

Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Mix softened cream cheese, marshmallow cream and whipped topping. Drain fruit and fold into the mixture. Spread over crust . Top with coconut. Garnish with extra orange slices.  Chill at least 4 hours.  

I have this recipe marked “Good Stuff”.

(This is a large recipe. I use only two packages of cream cheese. It might be a good idea to experiment with only a half recipe for the first trial. It made a 9 x 13 dish and another smaller one.)

I was searching through a recipe file where I put some "I may want to try" recipes and thought this seems a different type of cookie that might interest you. The picture is enticing and it has a few of my favorite things in it.

            

CHOCOLATE CHIP TREASURE COOKIES

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated)

½ cup (I stick) butter, softened

1 1/3  cups flaked coconut

1 package (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder. Beat sweetened condensed milk and butter until smooth. Add crumb mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake 9 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Impromptu Magic 3/27/14

Saturday an unexpected turn of events turned out to be a very pleasant, magical one.  For the first time in about three months, I was like a teenager who had just gotten his driver’s license, when I drove myself to the beauty shop. This was from health issues and too much snow and ice!! So being on a longer leash I went from the beauty salon to the post office, to Kaiser’s, then a “short cut” to Dollar General before arriving at my home.  I ignored the dishes in the sink, and a few other noticeable shortcomings of perfect housekeeping.  I settled myself in my new chair with the daily paper which had two cross word puzzles that needed to be solved.  I was interrupted with the phone ringing.  One of my daughters was in Bryan with two of her grandkids, a close friend and her daughter.  They were going to Auburn to shop for jewelry at a store with which I have been very happy.  They wanted some directions about the store and since they would be coming through Edgerton could they stop here for lunch?

This can throw a curve to a little old lady that lives by herself and eats whatever and whenever the spirit moves her.  I said “Gee, that will take some thinking!”  To this she quickly suggested how about grilled cheese and tomato soup? Since I do keep a well stocked pantry cupboard, I knew I had everything to fill that order.  When I asked how much time I had she replied that they were in Bryan and however long it took them to drive here!

At this point I put into action my experience of a lifetime of dealing with the present trials with the circumstances and products that are available. While at the store I had purchased two packages of lovely strawberries and some instant chocolate pudding.  I quickly fixed the pudding, sliced the strawberries, covered them with glaze and filled crystal goblets with both covered with whipped topping, thinking I would let them chose which they preferred.  A good hint is that if you are not offering much put it in a pretty dish and it will be appreciated more. I had the bread out of the freezer, the soup on the stove, the cheese out of the refrigerator and the electric skillet plugged in when they arrived!  Two of them finished making the sandwiches, the two young girls set the table. (They demanded paper plates and plastic bowls and cups because they would not have time to do dishes.) Would you believe that everyone wanted both berries and pudding? It turned out to be a delightful experience, much better than a lot of long planned parties.   

Nete’s friend, Shelly whose daughter Emily is getting married in September, told me that her mother lives in Iowa and she somehow reads my column. When she comes here for the wedding she wants to meet me!!  Guess we will have to have another impromptu meal.

Let’s just stay on the food agenda.  Last week I tried the corn and broccoli sautéed in butter, threatening to take it to my sister if it was not good. The recipe called for mushrooms and I could not find any in my pantry, so I just ate it without any. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I liked it, so I kept most of it and took my intended broccoli soup to her with only a small sample of the vegetables.  The asparagus and carrots were on the acceptable list, too. (I ate them hot.)

While looking for a recipe for strawberry glaze for on the balance of my strawberries, I found one in a cookbook that my dad’s sister gave us for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. While scanning through it I noticed an interesting dessert submitted by my dad’s sister.  Hope it interests some of you.

          

COCKTAIL DELIGHT

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

½  teaspoon soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 well beaten egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

I cup brown sugar

½ cup chopped walnuts, more if desired.

1 can (No. 2) fruit cocktail, partially drained

Sift together sugar, flour, soda and salt. Add beaten egg, vanilla and fruit.  Mix well. Put in buttered 8 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping.

Want a simple, quick idea for a meal?  I have never tried this one, but it is in a favorite recipe book I received from my mother’s cousin who is past 100 years old and is a resident of a nursing home in Angola.

          

CHICKEN BUNDLES

1 can crescent rolls

1 ½ oz. cream cheese

1 tablespoon milk

½ teaspoon butter

1 cup diced, cooked chicken

1 teaspoon onion, fresh or dried

Divide rolls into squares and press the perforated edges together. Mix all other ingredients together. Divide evenly on the squares. Bring the dough to the top around the filling and seal. Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes. This would be a good way to use left over chicken.

If you see any signs of spring, please share the good news.