Typing the date for this week really made me sit up and take notice. I hadn’t even thought about the month changing this soon and I have a son with a birthday on the first. Now I won’t be embarrassed by forgetting. His main weakness is Dutch Apple Pie - just maybe I can find enough energy somewhere to come up with one. He is supposed to be losing weight, so I will make him promise, in ink, to be very generous in sharing. In case I do not get it done, I will say right here, “Happy Birthday, Jim”. That will save postage money, too.
I hope this coming week is not a duplication of last week, I attended three funerals! A maternal cousin, a lifelong friend and the dad of longtime co-worker all answered the supreme call. May they all rest in peace.
Today was more of a fun day, although it was a busy one for an OLD lady. Following regular Sunday Worship, with a number of family members I enjoyed our annual chicken and ham dinner at the church. A real treat was that I got to see one of my newer great grandsons whom I have seen only a couple of times. He was not particularly impressed with my presence. Immediately following that my daughter took me to Ft. Wayne to the home of a young friend who with her husband and their family have received finalization of the adoption of a special needs two-year-old son, Ezekiel. They were having an open house to celebrate the occasion. I was very pleased with the offer of my daughter to take me without me even having to ask for the favor. There were two other magic moments of the day. First of all the OLD Testament reading at church was about Ezekiel. I thought it was very fitting for my plans for the day. Secondly, I had never met their new son. His new mother was holding him and he reached out for me to take him. A real thrill of the day for me, even though it was only a short time until he realized his mother was much nicer. I think so, too. Mostly because she is the granddaughter of a special friend of mine who has also answered the supreme call and she continues to be very kind to me even though I am much older than she is.
We hurried home to attend an almost over “half birthday” party for my great granddaughter who is six months old already. Enough relatives were still there that it took us over an hour to decide that we should hurry home. Now this brings us to the issue of recipes. I am still full of ham and chicken so there will have to be a short, or maybe long intermission while I find something that inspires me. In moments like this I usually turn to my out of date annual Taste of Home books that I am using for shower gifts for my grandkids when they get married.
Maybe I wasn’t as full of chicken and ham as I thought. At least it didn’t take me long to find a brunch recipe that surprised me because it calls for yogurt. I have tried and I just can’t appreciate the stuff. If you served it to me in your home, I would eat it, but I will not buy it. In this recipe there are enough ingredients that I do appreciate that it will overcome my dislike for the yogurt.
HAM and CHEESE SQUARES
1 ½ cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 carton (6 ounces) plain yogurt
¼ cup crushed saltines (about 6)
¼ cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
6 eggs
Combine ham, yogurt, crushed crackers, cheese, melted butter and caraway seeds. Beat eggs until lemon colored. Fold into ham mixture. Transfer to a greased 8 inch baking dish. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into serving squares.
Here us a new switch for pumpkin pie that will be in time for the seasonal treat of pumpkin pie.
CARAMEL-CRUNCH PUMPKIN PIE
¾ cup packed brown sugar, divided
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 unbaked 9 inch pastry shell
3 3ggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon rum extract
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 ½ cups whipping cream
Additional chopped walnuts, optional
Combine ¼ cup brown sugar, walnuts and butter. Press into bottom of pastry shell. Whisk eggs, pumpkin, rum extract, cinnamon, salt, ginger and remaining brown sugar. Stir in whipping cream. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack. Garnish with whipped topping and additional walnuts.
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