Has anyone seen any unused magic hanging around? I am in much need for a whole day of it! We have my house about 65% back to normal. But the finishing touches seem to be the most difficult, getting the dishes back in the china cupboards, putting nails back in for the tiebacks on the curtains, most of all parting with the things that I really do not need but have a bit of nostalgia clinging to them and do not really want to trash them. The day our local carpet specialist engineered the carpeting of my living and dining room I found myself trying to accomplish a few things in my kitchen maneuvering around my sofa, lounge chair, entertainment center and TV in the middle of my kitchen! But I survived and now I am impressed with the finished results and realize how badly all of this really needed to be done.
It is amazing when you think that you are just a small pebble on a very large beach how many people noticed that something was going on at my home with all of people here carrying things out of my house, etc. Some assumed that I was moving out of town! Nope, you can’t get rid of me that easily.
Yesterday turned out to be a great day after I had assumed it would be very low key. After returning from our fall brunch at church and sadly realizing that I must have not won any prizes since I had not received any phone calls announcing that I was a big winner, I settled in for a lonely day. But I received a call from my daughter that she was coming to help put dishes back in the china closet, but she would be on a limited schedule. We did more visiting than working but got that project started and created a magic couple of hours. Before long a son, his wife, daughter, son-in-law and my newest great grandchild whom I had never seen arrived for a visit. Luke Michael Digan, two months old was not really overly impressed with his great grandmother, but we will give him a little more time to accomplish that.
Since it was late afternoon, my son who likes to cook, inventoried the refrigerator for possibilities for a meal. I had bought 2 pounds of fresh sausage at the brunch, my daughter had brought me a bag of their freshly dug red potatoes. Before I knew what was happening he had made a delicious concoction of vegetables that I would not have thought of. He must have inherited the ability to make something out of what you have from his mother and grandmother! If you are a innovative cook, you could duplicate it from general directions. He chopped the sausage and browned it, and removed the meat from the heavy Dutch oven. He had boiled the quartered red potatoes in a separate pan. Then he put the potatoes in the Dutch oven, added the meat, a can of cooked carrots, a can of creamed style corn, and a generous chunk of butter. I would probably have used some onion, but he is not an onion fan. With some garlic toast and mandarin oranges for dessert, we had a very tasty meal with no previous planning.
Spontaneous occasions are often the most enjoyable. They even did all of the dishes!
I had a 2005 magazine I was hoarding and decided to glance through it before I put it in the recycle pile and found a couple of interesting recipes. The first one is for my new friend Elsie, an exchange student from Africa, who is living with my daughter and son-in-law. She thinks the nice soft chewy cookies that I make are “biscuits”! A cookie has to be crunchy. So here Elsie is a recipe that will fill your “cookie” definition.
BUTTER PECAN COOKIES
¾ cup butter
1 package (3.4 oz.) instant butterscotch pudding mix
1 ¼ cups flour
½ cup chopped pecans
Cream butter and pudding mix. Gradually beat in flour. Fold in pecans. Roll into 1 ½ inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten to ½ inch with a greased drinking glass. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until light brown. Great served with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Maybe even a glass of cold milk!
If you like Rueben sandwiches, here is a quick spinoff.
RUEBEN CRESCENTS
1 tube (8 oz.) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup sauerkraut, rinsed, well drained and chopped
1 tablespoon Thousand Island salad dressing
4 slices Swiss cheese, cut into 1/2inch strips
8 slices deli corned beef
Separate crescent dough into 8 triangles. Combine kraut and salad dressing. Place two cheese slices across the short side of each triangle. Fold corned beef slices in half. Place over cheese. Top with sauerkraut mixture. Roll up each from she short side. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes.
The magic day ended with an invitation to go out for a belated birthday celebration which I had to decline, but I am demanding a rain check!
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