6/28/12

What a magic day!  I am still basking in the pleasant memories.  On Wednesday, my five daughters spent the day with me as a Mom-Daughter-Sister day. It took some planning to get everyone free on a week day but it did come to pass.  Did you ever hear of the Quiet Corner Tea Room near Churubusco, Indiana?  It is a small, secluded, tree surrounded  tea room owned by a man and his wife, started about 12 years ago after a storm damaged their workshop.  From an idea when they were repairing the damage the Quiet Corner was made a reality.

Two of my daughters had visited the Tea Room and from there they planned our second Mom-Daughter Day.  Four of them gathered at my home and we drove to Waterloo to the home of the fifth one.  An added bonus of the day was our tour of their garden that is the  pride and joy of Judy’s husband, Bob.  I have never seen such a productive and well cared for garden, especially this year. It makes me want to buy a brown blanket to match my grass and cover my small excuse for a garden. I thought about a sheet. But the white would draw attention to the fact that something was there. Bob, thanks for your patience in answering questions and letting us see the results of your hard work. (We all received a nice bag of lettuce on our return home.)

We arrived at our destination to find a corner reserved especially for us.  A very pleasant lady at a nearby table asked if she could take our picture  when one daughter left her place to take a picture of the rest of us.  She later stopped by and asked me if she dared to ask how old I am, since she was looking at my daughters and knew I had to be over 49!  The Tea room has a very limited but adequate menu. Since it was a tea room, I decided I should have tea and ordered a small pot of peach tea, chicken salad sandwich on homemade rye bread, cottage cheese and peaches.  When my pot of tea came, it had a hand sewn,flowered, heavy flannel jacket with openings on each side for the handle and spout.  If it had been smaller and my mother had not brought me up so well, I might have put it in my purse!! The owner asked us a few questions and knew an Edgerton resident, then he took us to their bigger dining room and called our attention to a newspaper that announced Lincoln’s assassination and let us view a movie he had made of his dog and sent it to America’s Funniest Home Movies.

When we went outside we saw a white patio table surrounded by nature’s outdoor woodsy environment.  Since we had each been given a gift of an antique cup and saucer from two of my daughters, it was suggested that since the table had only two chairs that we pose for a picture of me and each daughter drinking our tea. (Any of you who have Facebook and are friends with any of my family know the rest of the story.)  It was a very pleasant experience, but the highlight was the pleasure of spending the whole day with all of my daughters.  Why don’t you plan something similar with your sisters and mother?

As I was scanning a 10 year old Quick Cooking annual book I marked about six recipes that I would like to use.  Now I have to eliminate four of them.   Since I am lazy myself today, I will use that as a determining factor and give you a simple one to start with.  I eat oatmeal and cinnamon almost every morning which helps keep my cholesterol and sugar numbers in the satisfactory range,  When I am not in the mood for oatmeal, I try to include cinnamon. Here is an idea for a cinnamon spread that can be used on toast or bagels. I am also impressed with cinnamon and raisin bagels.
                      
CINNAMON SPREAD
¼ cup butter, room temperature
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Bagels, split
Combine the butter, brown sugar and spices.
Toast bagels and top with spread.

I had to choose between a dessert and a main breakfast entrée.  Guess what, the dessert won out 3 to 1 !!
                          
COCONUT CREAM DESSERT
2 ½  cups crushed butter flavored crackers, about 68 crackers
½ cup plus two tablespoons butter, melted
½ gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
½ cup milk
2 packages (3.4 oz., each) instant coconut cream pudding mix
1 carton ( 8 oz.) whipped topping
1/3 cup flaked coconut
Combine crushed crackers and butter. Press into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Combine ice cream, milk and pudding mixes. Spread over the crust.  Top with whipped topping and coconut. Cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving.

I can barely believe that we have used up another month of this year.  Before long will have to think about Christmas. I just got all of my Christmas stuff stored away!