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?
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