190 Birthday Cards and Counting 11/6/14

What do I mean by "magic moment"? How about a magic week? Would you believe that I am still getting birthday cards? Each one is as special as the first one I received. I kind of lost track of the actual number these past few days, but I am near if not exceeding 190!!! Just as amazing was the count of guests  at my birthday open house. We came up with a count of 242! When analyzing anything as spectacular as “my day”, there were a number that I was sure would be there but weren’t. Then the ones who amazed me by their attendance balanced out the day into one perfect one. But wait, there was one disappointment. I did not get to visit with many of you as I would have liked to. If that is true for you, stop in. I will clean off a chair, wash a cup and we will have coffee and talk till our heart’s content. If you doubt the number of cards, I have them all in one box. Stop in and count them yourself.  You may come up with more than I did. Next week I am going to take one whole day, reread them and cherish each one all over again.

Last Tuesday evening was my monthly meeting of my Home Extension Club. We were going to a special restaurant in Auburn and I very innocently went in where there were about 15 members waiting patiently for us to arrive. Almost immediately I felt someone behind me. The president had placed a crown on my head. They presented me with a bouquet of fall flowers, three balloons, a notepad and paid for my evening meal! What a special group of friends! Maybe being the oldest member has its advantages.

More important than all my partying, is our moral obligation and privilege of going to the polls to express our belief of who is most capable of managing our government. I hope you were an informed voter and all of you took advantage of the privilege and duty. I had some trouble trying to vote intelligently in some cases where there were damaging ads about an opponent and the next ad was his opponent being just as negative about him. Do we have to spend so many millions of dollars with this kind of campaigning when it is so unproductive and the money could have been spent much more wisely in a productive manner?

I will get off my soap box and turn to food where I am more nearly an expert. That gives me lots of room to improve. I shouldn’t tell you about an entre served at the excellent restaurant last week. I think it was (or could be) called Hawaiian chicken. It had cubes of chicken, pineapple chunks, I think a sweet/sour sauce and was delicious. A friend ahead of me took a generous portion. I was afraid to trust her judgment and took a much smaller serving. Darn! I decided that I can make that without a recipe! Wrong.  First of all I used 6 chicken legs that I browned to perfection, steamed it for an hour or so, deboned it and cut up the pieces.  Next when I went to add the pineapple chunks, the only resemblance I could find in my well stocked pantry was a can of crushed pineapple. I put in a small amount of brown sugar and thickened it with corn starch. It was edible and quite tasty, but it looked like only a third cousin of the dish I was trying to duplicate. I ate some of it but it was a disappointment. Returning to my inborn training that you do not throw out anything that is good food, I decided to cook some rice the next day. I heated my prize project and served it over the rice.  Not too bad, but do not think it will win any original cooking awards.

Now let’s go to some tried and true lab-tested ideas. Since I am so full of company food, we had a small impromptu gathering at my house tonight of a few relatives with snacks, real mashed potatoes and yummy beef and noodles made from the leftover baked steak from my party.  (I did not cook it.) So I am not even interested in desserts tonight, but I think you will like these two meat dishes that are very easy to make.

            

CLUB CHICKEN

I cup finely crushed Club or Town House crackers

1 package Italian salad dressing mix

3 pounds frying chicken

3 or four tablespoons melted butter

Combine crushed crackers and salad dressing mix in a large plastic bag. Shake 2 pieces of chicken at a time in the crumb mixture. Place chicken skin side up, in a casserole dish.  Drizzle with the melted butter. Bake for I hour at 375 degrees.

            

BEAN BOATS

2 cans (15 oz.) chili with beans

4 French rolls

¼ cup melted butter

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut tops off each French roll. Hollow out each roll saving bread pieces. Brush inside and outside of rolls with butter. Mix I cup of the bread pieces with chili and fill loaves. Replace tops of rolls and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake on cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Removes tops and sprinkle with cheese. Replace tops and serve  hot.

Hope all of you were at the polls Tuesday!

Happy 90th Birthday Magic Maxine! 10/30/14

Maxine with chidren and spouses

Wow!!  What a magical celebration! Many thanks to all of my kids (and their spouses) for the many hours of planning and work involved in making my 90^th birthday so memorable. Also, thanks to those of you who took time to attend the open house.  No matter how much planning, work and expense you put into it, a party will not be a success if you have no people with which to share.  I am very humbled by the number of people who came, their kind words and the few tears that were shed. My only regret was that I was not able to spend more time with each of you.

The day started with worshipping together at 8:30, followed by a sit down dinner for nearly 90 close relatives in the church hall. Here I was eulogized by three daughters and one son which caused a few tears to drip on my shoulders. Following a delicious but simple dinner a sharp command by a daughter that they had less than a half hour to be ready for the open house. Without any complications a bit of magic took place and the hall turned into a party room! 

Things started happening on Thursday when I heard a rap on my front door. The UPS man was leaving and there was good sized package on the porch. I had not ordered anything and hurriedly tore open the box.  Imagine my bewilderment when I saw a huge bouquet of Stargazer Lilies with a lovely vase included. Now I was more bewildered.  Inside was a note that they were from my computer only connection with a now friend in Oslo, Norway! They are now opening into something spectacular. I had never seen any before and they are indeed lovely.  Thank you, Siri Anne.

Maxine with Stargazer lillies

After we (I should say “they”)  had everything packed up and removed, my son asked if it were okay if some of them came to my house. I readily agreed and about a dozen relatives came and they ordered pizza. So my party ended about 9:30 and I immediately fell into bed. What a celebration. Thanks to all of you who helped make it so fantastic.

I had a favorable comment from a reader about last week’s Apple crumb pie. Since I have no recipes selected and the same book is opened at my computer, I will select another one from it. Hope you and I are lucky with this week’s selection. I have heard of people freezing the makings for an apple pie, but I have never tried it.  Let's all do a few. Will save time when you decided to quickly produce one.

            

APPLE PIE FILLING

6 apples peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ to 1 cup sugar

Mix and place in a zip lock freezer bag. Place in freezer until ready to use.

            

CHUCK WAGON BEANS

2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained

2 pounds bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 onions, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup catsup

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon mustard

½ cup brown sugar

1 can pork and beans

1 can lima beans

1 can butter beans

I can kidney beans

Put in crock pot, stir together and  summer.

My thanks to Diane Beverly and Lavern Goebel for the recipes and to all of you who made my celebration so unforgettable.

Kenny's kids and spouses

Grandkids of Russell Jennings

Some grands and greats

Max and Kork

Judy's family

Kork and family

Magic, Magic, Magic 10/23/14

Magic! Magic! Magic! Last week was full of magic! Some of it began with the magic of the weekend before when we had our family reunion. All but one present were descendants of my parents. We were the guests of Steve and Barb at their country home. Besides oodles of great food we were mesmerized by the presence of a beautiful team of horses who pulled a white, two-seated carriage that belongs to Steve for numerous rides down the country roads where we grew up. Last year my sister and I went on a ride, but this year we had no offers to get us in and then get us out when we got back, so we just enjoyed the delight of those who went for a ride. A little down the scale from that were hay rides on a wagon behind a tractor. The day ended with a bonfire. It was a great experience for all of us.

My next treatment of great magic starts way, way back. I have no real recollection of the year. A casual friend of mine became a widow. Her husband and son were two of “my farmers” from working at the elevator. Her son asked me to reach out to his mother during the difficult days following his death. Since it was so long ago some details are a bit sketchy but I will tell it as my memory dictates. A friend once told me I should write a book about my life. I was going to title it  “LIFE AS I REMEMBER IT”! That way no one would contradict me. Now back to my original story. I think we went out to lunch a time or so, then she asked me if I would go with her on a bus trip. I readily agreed and we went to Renfro Valley, Kentucky. Possibly a year ago, a friend of hers got the Edgerton Earth and then gave it to a friend to read.  They both know my daughter, Becky. This friend down the line wanted to meet me from reading Magic Moments! Plans became concrete and last Tuesday was the day.

Becky and I were to be at Rita’s for lunch at 11:30 to meet the two friends whom I had never met. Hazel was on the bus trip but I could not recall a person to go with the name. I was a bit insecure as we entered the restaurant, because I could not imagine why anyone would have a desire to meet ME. After all I am only a farm girl with mud on my shoes, who raised a fantastic bunch of kids in a farm home and likes to write.  What if I did not measure up to their expectations.  We decided to go a few minutes early to be welcoming committee.  Guess what.  They were both seated, waiting patiently on us.  After polite introductions, my admirer reached under the table and brought out four beautiful long stemmed roses, each tied with a lovely ribbon.  She handed them to me and said, “Pick one and give it to Becky and say something nice about her. Then she did the same to the one next to her.  It was a very unique and meaningful gesture and broke the ice of unfamiliarity. After hours of stories and laughter, we looked around and all of the lunch crowd had come and gone.  The waitress was running the carpet sweeper around us.  Of course, we had made no mess. I glanced at my watch and would not believe that it was two o’clock!

My new friend was so excited to be eating with a celebrity.  I felt as if I were the one who was with a celebrity since both she and her husband were elementary school teachers. I am certain that they both affected many lives. Thanks to my new friends, Hazel and Kay and to my original friend Dorothy for hours of magic and great enjoyment. Hazel had a picture of me with Dorothy from the trip that really dates it. Not one gray hair shows up on my head!

Now it is time for recipes. A year or so ago my church published a cook book. I was glancing through it and I noticed a couple apple recipes that are real timely.  The first one is from my sister who gave it to me for anyone who is watching their sugar intake.  So I had better give her credit because she will recognize it.

       

SUGAR FREE BAKED APPLES

5 apples

3 tablespoons minute tapioca

½ cup Splenda

2 cups water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Chopped English walnuts

Peel and slice  or quarter apples. Combine water, Splenda, cinnamon and tapioca. Pour over apples. Microwave on high for 10 to 20 minutes until apples are tender. Remove microwave and add nuts.  I add this to my oatmeal after it is cooked.

Donna Lingvai submitted a recipe that fascinated me. Will try it with some of my apples.

          

APPLE DAPPLE CRUMB PIE

5 apples peeled and sliced

1 cup flour

¼ cup white sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup butter, cut in slices

Lightly grease bottom of pie pan. Cover bottom with apple slices. Mix together flour, sugars, and butter. Sprinkle over apples. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

(I would like ice cream  on this.)