Family Photo Magic 12/12/13

I had a couple of beautiful magic moments to tell you about this week. First of all, my daughter who spends a few magic moments with me every Tuesday, was celebrating her birthday Wednesday last week.   It has also been a pattern for her to spend part of her birthday with her Mom. So we changed the routine and she decided to take half day of vacation so we did not have to keep one eye on the clock all of the time she was here, so she was not late in getting back to work.  We did not always make that happen. When our kids were small they did not have birthday parties nor presents but we made their day special by letting them dictate what our main family meal would be. In being kind about my age she said she would bring something for our lunch,  or we could go up town to the restaurant. When I mentioned that I could cook something if she would tell me what she could eat, this rang bells in her memory and she recalled that when she could dictate what eleven people were going to have for the main meal she always wanted baked potatoes and meat loaf. Since that is a an easy meal, I told her that would be fine so she invited her Aunt Mary to join us. She loves fresh peach pie but cannot taste nor smell. She has submitted a special order that when she gets to heaven, her mother is supposed greet her with a fresh baked peach pie that she can taste!  I didn’t realize that there would be no relief from cooking in heaven, but her request was a magic one for me. It was a great afternoon, and like her ordinary brief visit, it went very fast. I thought it was a good thing that she could not taste, because my meat loaf was below standard, but both of my guests were generous with the ketchup on theirs so maybe they did not notice. At least they were polite enough not to mention it.

Saturday was a very memorable day involving all of my kids and some of the in-laws.  One daughter found a picture taken in about 1980 on Christmas morning.  All nine of the kids were lined up behind the banister on the open stairway of our farm home. She wanted to recreate that picture, but I no longer own that home which I sold to my nephew and his wife. They were thrilled to be part of the adventure and seated us in the kitchen that we remodeled by combining the kitchen and dining room into one room, since neither room was real serviceable for us. It brought back many memories and stories of their childhood in that house complemented by the hot chocolate and coffee that was served by our hosts.  We had some trouble pressing the same adults into the space they occupied when they were much younger, but a lot of pictures were taken and it was a great day. Thanks to you, Mark and Cindy, for letting all of us intrude into your home and busy life. Most of us left there and went to the Christmas open house in Ft. Wayne at the home of my niece and her husband.  It was quite a day.

I was not certain abut a column this week. When I awoke on Sunday morning I was not feeling quite up to par and decided it might  be low sugar. So I ate a piece of toast  with peanut butter and a Fiber One Bar and did not take my sugar pill.  So much for doctoring yourself!  I became ill in church and ended up in the emergency room at the hospital.  After a ride in the ambulance and a few tests, I was feeling better and they sent me home a few hours later.  When asked if I were going to write this, I said I didn’t know. I would probably try it and if it became too much of a struggle I would pass on it.

(Update: After leaving church by the way of EMS and some tests in the emergency room they decided I did have a brain!  It showed some signs of previous damage and my episode was diagnosed as a TIA which does not show up on scans and leaves no evident signs of major strokes.  I had a visit to my family doctor and he said my blood pressure and heart seemed good. That is good news. I am weak but staying alone and have another appointment on the 19^th. So I am being lazy  (what is new?) and drinking lots of fluids.  I work 20 minutes and then rest for two hours!  That should help some, don’t you think?) 

Now I am missing my special Christmas party on Monday evening where I was to be co-hostess.  I called my hostess and she was very understanding. I was to make a Christmas salad and bake Christmas cookies. Would you believe I already had them baked and frosted and in the freezer?  She relieved me of my duty of making the salad, so that gave me the idea of passing the recipe for that on to you. It is Christmassy and easy to make. I have made it for years and possibly gave it to some of you before.

HOLIDAY SALAD

½ cup red hot candies

½ cup boiling water

1 large package of cherry Jello

1 cup hot water

2 cups cold water

2 cups chopped, peeled apples

2 cups chopped celery

1 cup chopped pecans

Dissolve red hot candies in boiling water. Add 1 cup hot water to cherry Jello. Add 2 cups cold water. Add to the red hot mixture and cool until partially set. Add apples, celery and nuts and chill thoroughly.

Did you ever try cranberry tea? I have had a small booklet of Christmas recipes for a long time, but never noticed this recipe. I always make a cranberry salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas but cranberry tea never excited me. Maybe we are all missing a real delicacy.

            

CRANBERRY TEA

4 cups or 1 pound fresh cranberries

30 cloves

2 ½ quarts of water, divided

2 scant cups sugar

1 cup orange juice

Cook cranberries and cloves in 2 quarts of water until cranberries pop. Strain and save juice and discard cranberries and cloves. Dissolve sugar in 2 cups water and add to the  cranberry juice. Stir in orange juice.  Serve hot.

I made it.  We shall see what another week brings.

Advent 12/4/13

Oh, oh, that date rings a familiar sound. Oh, yes, I better do something about that.  Seems like it might be the birthday of #4  daughter’s birthday!  That is by birth order, not ranking according to favoritism!  She usually plans to spend a part of her birthday with her mother, so she will probably stop by.  Maybe I can think of something by then to surprise her.  I could bake a cake but she is on such a strict diet she can’t have most of the ingredients in a cake.  At one time, the best I could come up with was a serving of rice, covered with red kidney beans!!  I helped that out with lots of butter. At that point she could have dairy products. I have a few days before you read this and she comes, so I hope a magic idea comes floating by. One day I made her sugar free instant chocolate pudding with water instead of milk! I cut the liquid down and smothered the pudding  in whipped topping.  I put it in fancy dishes and we both ate it and were surprised at the result.  If you cannot have dairy products, you might be brave and try it.

Hope your holiday was all you had hoped it would be. Mine was phenomenal with about 25 here for the noon meal of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, (from scratch!) dressing, several hot vegetables, more salads and desserts than you can imagine.  The magical thing about the whole meal was that I was informed that if I hosted the party, I did not have to prepare any food!  

Then a special request appeared or maybe it was an order, to prepare the traditional cranberry salad.  That was a cinch since I did it on Wednesday afternoon.  Then we had over twenty that stopped in later in the day after their original holiday plans.  It made a full house, but there was plenty of room to enjoy each other and miss those who were otherwise absent from other commitments or distance.

Now we have to concentrate on the real meaning of Christmas and not have it center on shopping and rushing to get the best deal, and what can I buy for whom. This is the first week of Advent which lasts until the actual Day of Christmas. So spend part of each day in a spiritual way of preparation for the holiday.  I refuse to let Christmas foreshadow Thanksgiving Day, so have not even looked at my Christmas decorations. Each year I do a little less, and have given away a lot of the things that I had stored, but didn’t use any more.  Hope the ones who took some of them enjoy them as much as I did.

I am still over filled with good food, so it is hard to think of anything to pass on to you. My daughter-in-law always brings spaghetti corn to our potluck dinners. It is an unusual combination and a friend of mine showed interest last weekend. Bet you think it took a lot of magic, but I did find the recipe. Hope there are some of you who haven’t seen it, or didn’t  save it when years ago I used it.

                        

SPAGHETTI  CORN

1 can (15 oz.) cream style corn

1 can ( 15oz.) whole kernel corn

1 stick melted butter

1 cup cubed Velveeta cheese

¼ cup celery, diced

1/8 cup onion, diced

1 cup broken raw spaghetti

Melt butter in a round casserole dish. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir and bake for 30 minutes more.   (I think I might like a covering of buttered cracker crumbs.)

Since we usually like to do something different for the Christmas festivities, have you ever made Rolo Pretzel goodies?  What I like best about them is they take such minimal effort and taste as if you spent hours making them. I usually just make them without checking a recipe.  But today in some of the unwanted extra stuff in the Sunday paper I saw a legitimate recipe for them.  Since my hair is so white, I have a genuine excuse for too many packages of Rolo candy in my Goodie Jar. Of course I could blame them on to my little nosey friend who thinks I do not know what I am doing. Guess I will let her off the hook until Christmas. Please notice that I did not promise. It will depend on how bizarre her antics are.

                

ROLO PRETZEL DELIGHT

Mini Twist pretzels (Be sure to use the mini ones)

Rolo caramels with milk chocolate

Pecan halves

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookies sheet with parchment paper or foil. Place one pretzel for each treat desired on prepared sheet. ( I have done over thirty at once.) Top each pretzel with one unwrapped Rolo.  Bake 3 to 5 minutes or until caramel piece begins to soften, but not melted.(Don’t let it get too soft.) Remove from oven, Top each candy with a pecan half. (If you prefer, you can top with another pretzel. I like the pecan half much better.)  Press down on the pecan half to spread the caramel.  Cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet.

Remember to prepare spiritually for the Christmas celebration as thoroughly as you do the shopping and decorations.  

Magic Angels 11/18/13

Either my hair is getting too white or life is demanding too much for a little old lady to handle.  For the first time since way back when I started doing this, I forgot to submit my weekly efforts!

With hosting the family Thanksgiving dinner, grandparents day at Canterbury green in Ft. Wayne this morning, (I had to be ready to go at 7:30 A.M. and I am usually still sound asleep!) a special activity at church tonight, a monthly meeting tomorrow evening, I had put my responsibilities to The Earth on the back burner.  Really I hadn’t even thought about preparing anything. When I returned from Ft. Wayne after lunch at Cracker Barrel in Auburn, my telephone was hopping up and down from an urgent call wondering where my submission was because it is always there when they come to work on Monday morning. I ashamedly offered to submit something as soon as possible, so by now they are probably pacing the floor and nervously watching the minutes on the clock pass by since they told me “just so we know something is coming!”

My great grandson is putting out my trash and recyclable containers, since they are a major problem for little old ladies.  Thank you so much, Tyler. Last Friday about noon I saw an individual pass by my kitchen window and I heard rumblings that I eventually categorized as my garbage container being removed from the street to my garage.  I immediately  thought “Thank you again, Tyler.”

When I went to the back door to yell a thank you to him, I noticed the wings and halo of a different angel slowly walking back to the sidewalk.  I recognized the back view, in spite of a hooded jacket, to be a neighbor girl.  Many thanks to you, Carol.  I heard that one lady in town expressed the thought that whoever planned those containers should have provided a “pusher!”

Since I am already way past my deadline maybe we should just go on to food. Before we do that do remember to give Thanksgiving some serious thought.  The commercial world does not even get past Halloween to jump start Christmas. Don’t let that become a habit in  your own life.  No matter how troubled your life is there are many things that you can be thankful for. Remember to thank God for them  and express thanks to the most important people in your life for just being there.

And now let’s go to recipes that I found in a church recipe book that was a gift to me from an aunt of mine at least 50 years ago.  That is when we had good  home cooking that did not start with a prepared package of something.

            

CORNED BEEF CASSEROLE

1 package (8 oz.) noodles

¼ pound Velveeta cheese, diced

1 cup milk

½ cup chopped onion

1 can (12oz.) corned beef, diced

1 can (11 oz.) cream of chicken soup

1 cup buttered cracker crumbs

Cook noodles in boiling water and drain. Mix

All ingredients together with cooked noodles.

Top with buttered cracker crumbs. Place in

9 x 13 inch dish and bake at 350 degrees for

45 minutes.

Now with a special holiday nearby, we should really have a dessert. This one can be an emergency idea in case you need something to fill out your menu for Thursday. It is also something that I never heard of before, even though my book has been on my counter for so many years.

                        

SNOW FLAKE PIE

1 box lime Jello

1 ½ cups hot water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

8 to 12 ounces whipped topping

1 cup shredded coconut

Dissolve Jello in hot water with the lemon juice. Chill until slightly thickened.  Beat with egg beater.  Fold in one third of the  whipped topping and one half of the coconut. Put in a graham cracker crust. Use remainder of the whipped topping and coconut for on top of the pie.

Remember to count and offer thanks for all of your blessings and it will diminish the agony of your trials.