Much Magic 5/29/14

What a fantastic magic moment filled week! Not sure I can work them all in, but I will try to give them the credit due. That is almost as frustrating as the weeks I have to look under the rug to come up with an idea. So, I will start with the first one to appear on my horizon. I have a computer friend whom I have never met who lives in Oslo, Norway.  We have a strange connection. Her grandfather was engaged to my aunt when I was in grade school.  They were class mates and he came back from the East Coast for class reunions.  Siri Anne came with her grandfather to one. During my aunt’s illness, life in a nursing home for some time, they lost contact.  My aunt had sent her one of my columns I had written about the death of one of my brothers. She used this to contact me through The Earth, and we have been email friends ever since. I send her my column and I got a response from her last week that made my day! My cabbage and noodle recipe which I had not presented in a favorable light  sounded good to her, because cabbage is cheap and has a wonderful taste.  She was impressed with the fact that I was using it as a “penance” process.  She does a remarkable job corresponding with me because English is not her “first” language. My niece in Pennsylvania also thought the recipe had favorable possibilities.  I was going to try it this weekend but cabbage was 79 cents a pound and I was afraid that I might not like it and it would end up in my disposal. Let’s wait until the gardens have an oversupply of it.

My weekend was so filled with magical moments that included the graduation party of my first great granddaughter. Doesn’t seem possible that we are going to have to send her out into this big world already. Seems as if it were only recently that we were welcoming her into our family! So congratulations to you, Hannah, and to the rest of your classmates for all of your accomplishments and prayers for a great future for each and every one of you.

Another great experience was attending the wedding of my granddaughter and her best friend, in a very soul touching ceremony in Decatur. I am very proud of you as a couple and part of our family, Brittany and Danny. May a prosperous life and good memories of a fantastic day fill the years ahead.

Sunday was filled with church liturgy in the morning, graduation services in the afternoon, followed by another graduation party. Good food and contact with a lot of people that I do not ordinarily see. A magic moment was when one lady whom I have not seen for years and I was slow in recognizing said, “Oh I knew you when I first came.  You have not changed a bit”!   Should I believe her?  I think I will.

After all of the food at graduation parties, it is difficult to come up with something to interest you. Something that I had almost forgotten about and tried last week for myself was one that is about the second one in my cook book. But since that is over twenty years ago, I am certain that a lot of you are not familiar with it. It is quite simple and used only ordinary things that you probably have in your kitchen. That is why I tried it.  You can vary the ingredients to suit your taste and your family’s preferences. Here is how I did it. My sister gave me the idea which came from her daughter-in-law.

                        

STUFF

! pound ground beef

3 potatoes, sliced, about 2 cups

3 large carrots, sliced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

½ to 1 soup  can of water

Velveeta cheese

I used a heavy Club Aluminum Dutch oven. Press ground beef in the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of potatoes, then a layer of carrots. Add water to soup, then cover vegetables.  Do not stir.  Place on burner with medium heat, cover and cook until vegetables are tender. Cover with slices of cheese. Heat until cheese melts.  The next time I make it I think I will add a bit of onion. I limit my salt intake so I think you  will want to add some according to your taste. Here is an idea that caught my attention in the extra “stuff” in the Sunday paper.  Has good possibilities, but I never purchase Grape Nuts, so will have to add it to my grocery list before I try it.

           

GRAPE-NUTS PUDDING

6 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups whole milk

Grape-Nuts cereal

Butter a 2 quart baking dish. Slightly cover bottom of dish with Grape-Nuts. Whisk eggs, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Add milk. Pour over cereal. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until mostly set but jiggly in middle. Serve with whipped cream.

Turkey Jumble 5/22/14

Doesn’t seem possible that May is nearly gone, but I just noticed that this year there are five Thursdays in May. Guess I will be able to adjust before I have to turn the page of the calendar over.

This past week was a confirmation of the thought that the most precious magic moments are often found in the ordinary happenings of an ordinary day.  My Mother’s day celebrations carried over into last week. One daughter who was unable to be here on that day had said she would try to make it “some day”.  She kept her word and came one afternoon laden down with a bouquet of lilacs from her yard. I have always loved lilacs, perhaps because my parents always had a lilac bush and the fragrance is so uplifting.  I had a lilac bush in my back yard when I moved here and enjoyed it immensely, but it was suffering from old age and finally gave up the struggle. She also had a bouquet of white and red roses, from her homestead, in memory of our wedding anniversary. My wedding flowers were white and red roses. To complete her armful, she had fresh asparagus from their garden.  It sure has canned and even so called “fresh” from the grocery store beat.  But more precious than the things she brought were the one on one hours that we enjoyed during an otherwise ordinary afternoon.

Another daughter, who was here with part of her family on Sunday, called and said she wanted to treat my sister-in-law and me to a special evening and suggested that we meet her at her work place in Bryan and we would attend the showing of  Heaven Is For Real at the local theater. So we arrived at the appointed hour with our bag for free popcorn in hand for the five o’clock showing.  We almost had the theater to ourselves. It is a very enjoyable movie, but quite different than what I had imagined.  The little boy who had a major role was a phenomenal actor and the whole movie motivated deep spiritual thinking. Following the movie we enjoyed a meal at a local restaurant with an equal amount of pleasure from the conversation and just being with family.  Indeed two very special days with many magic moments.

I thought that my little friend had abandoned me because things have been quite orderly around here except she never put my car away on Saturday evening. Imagine my surprise on Sunday morning when I was ready to leave for church and  I saw it in the driveway with all windows steamed over. Now I came to my computer to do this and she apparently had my recipes again.  So back to my church cook books.

           

TURKEY JUMBLE

1 pound ground turkey

1 pound macaroni

6 green onions

16 ounces frozen mixed vegetables

1 tablespoon cooking oil

 ½ cup chopped celery

½ cup green pepper, (optional)

3 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Salt and pepper to taste or other seasonings 

Boil and drain macaroni. Pour over mixed vegetables. Set aside. Stir fry ground turkey, onions, celery, until meat is thoroughly cooked. Add and stir fry mixed vegetables until heated through and lightly browned. Cover ingredients with grated cheese. Cover pan and heat on low until cheese is melted.

The next recipe is one that I did not believe, but it is in the same cookbook twice! It reminds me of something we might have had during the depression days and had to manage on what we had to fill up a large family. Or maybe during fast days or just when there was no meat available.  I may try it, but it will be when I think I need to do some penance and maybe will be surprised that it is not so bad after all.

         

CABBAGE and NOODLES

I head of cabbage, shredded

1 bag ( 16 oz.) noodles

1 large onion

1 stick butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in skillet. Saute onion until transparent. Add shredded cabbage and cool until wilted. Cook noodles and add to skillet. Heat through, about 20 minutes.

Mother's Day Magic 5/15/14

It’s nearing my bedtime at the end of a busy, special day.  There is the temptation to just call it a day, but when I do that I spend a sleepless night, with my mind trying to formulate a plan for my thoughts on Monday morning. So here goes a forced attempt to fill my obligations to my commitment for a weekly chat with you. Don’t call me before nine tomorrow because I will not hear the phone.

Hope your Mother’s Day was all that you hoped it would be with a surprise or two tucked into your day. So many of my family have several places they should and want to be, so the last one to be heard from just checked in with a phone call from Texas.  My very pleasant surprise was a first visit from one of my new great-grandchildren and the second time I had seen him.  The first was a brief visit from me while he was still in the hospital after his birth. He didn’t seem to recognize me nor be too impressed with his visit but I was a very happy grandma.  Glad that he brought his parents and grandparents along with him.

To add to and complicate the day was the special recognition of the members of St. Mary’s Church that are graduating from high school in a few weeks. All of my grandkids have graduated and I am starting on a long list of greats who will be reaching this special achievement in their lives.  I was blessed to have a great-granddaughter among the graduates and was invited to be seated with her immediate family for the special liturgy.  Following that they and their families were guests of the Altar Society and the Knights of Columbus.  Following the festivities, I gave my special graduate some private advice and ensuing threats if not taken.  It is best that they are not printed here, but I bet she will remember them!  Good luck, Hannah, and may your dreams of the future come true.

Since it was a special day and I thought I might have company, I hid a few things. It looks as if I really moved the recipe I had saved for this week.  So I did locate my trusty 4 item and simple directions book. I didn’t know there are so many ways to make a hamburger, but both of these are quite easy and can be prepared in a quick manner.

               

SALISBURY STEAK

1 pound lean ground beef

1 egg

1 medium onion, chopped

1 beef bouillon cube dissolved in ½ cup water

Mix beef, egg and onion. Shape into patties and brown over high heat. Drain off any fat. Pour in bouillon and simmer uncovered until desired doneness.

                        

BEEF PATTIES

1 pound ground chuck

1 cup mashed potatoes

2 tablespoons onion, minced

2 tablespoons butter

Mix beef, potatoes, onions and form into 4 to 6 patties. Brown In butter until desired doneness.

Oh, yes, here is a recipe I came across from a niece of mine which her mother gave to me years ago.  I thought it was like one I had been making and just put it in with my extra recipes. I was downsizing some of the “stuff” in my cabinet and noticed that it was different from one I had with the same title. This reinforced my thinking that the person who does not read is no better off than the person who CAN’T read. Since they are all short I will include that one also, since right now I know where it is!

            

DALENE’S  CHERRY DELIGHT

1 stick butter

½ cup flour

½ cup sugar

1 cup coconut

1 cup crushed soda crackers

1 can cherry pie filling

Combine butter, flour, sugar, coconut and crackers. Place ¾ of mixture in bottom of a 9 inch square pan. Add can of cherry pie filling. Top with remainder of mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Remember to be nice to your mother, even though it is not her special day. Give her the credit due for making you the fantastic person that you are!

Just Good Cookin' 5/8/14

What a beautiful day Sunday has been.  Maybe this is a sign of more improved weather forecasts that should be coming. Only one problem I can notice, the weeds are responding as well as the green grass.

While I have it on my mind, I should start with fantastic good wishes for all of you mothers on your day next weekend.  When my kids were very young, my doctor asked me if I could pick a favorite age, what would it be.  I answered that all phases of life have special merits and I did not want to miss any of them. I think I am of a certified age to make the statement that being a mother is the best blessing that God has given us. Besides being the best, it is one of the longest privileges (lifetime) that can be ours.  If you average all of the heartaches, disappointments, worries, difficult days and prayers with the joys, pride, unexpected challenges with positive results and great memories, being a mother still is the greatest creator of the best “magic moments”.

It is now too late to encourage you to do so, but I hope you all exercised your privilege and duty to vote in the Primary Election. Besides voting, be an informed voter not a prejudiced one!

I had two magic moments this past week!  How could I be so lucky? My friend who volunteered to pick me up for our monthly Home Extension meetings in Indiana had other obligations and could not attend.  I do not drive after night to things that far from Edgerton, so the president of our club volunteered to go way, way out of her way to come after me. That deemed necessary the return trip which multiplied the sacrifice for her.  Since we have so many members who are generous, they must have had good mothers, one who would be going less out of her way volunteered to bring me home! Magic moments indeed.

I hope I am not the only older lady who has things and puts them where she knows where they are only to never see them again. I do remember that I had them!  While searching for an item that I knew I had and needed, I was desperately looking in all odd places which included all of the shelves and dishes in the china closet.  Glory be, tucked in behind a favorite dish was a small envelope that miraculously held a generous gift certificate for our local grocery store that was a Christmas gift from a grandson and his wife.  It was Christmas all over again.  Thanks again, Matt and Wendy.

Looks as if it is time to go to food.  I picked out recipes from a cook book that was a gift to me in 1995, “JUST GOOD COOKIN”, so both of them should be family tested.

                        

SWEET AND SOUR PORK

2 ½ cups pork, lean and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 ½ cups diced green peppers

3 tablespoons corn starch

1/3 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon garlic salt

Pepper to taste

1 ¾  cups water

½ cup raisins

1/3 cup sugar

¼ cup soy sauce

I cup raw rice

Brown meat in oil. Add garlic salt, pepper and water. Cover and simmer about 40 minutes or until pork is tender. Mix sugar and cornstarch, vinegar, water, soy sauce, green peppers and raisins.  Cook, uncovered until thickened, stirring just enough to keep from sticking. Cook rice according to package instructions. Serve 2/3 cup sauce over ½ cup rice.

                        

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

½ cup flour

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

½ stick butter

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix mashed sweet potatoes, flour, sugar, salt, eggs, butter, and pecans. Add milk and vanilla. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and garnish with pecan halves, if desired.

Remember to remember your mother in a special way this weekend.

1st of May Magic 5/1/14

Even though the sun was shining most of the day and the temperature reading registered by the local bank was moderate, even the date reaching into May was unable to convince me that Spring has finally arrived. As I left the house for church in my spring jacket, it was too late to decide to go back in the house for a coat or a warmer jacket.  I thought maybe I could shiver fast enough to make up for the cutting edge of the wind.  Maybe I am just a slow learner!

Thanks to all of you who attended the breakfast at St. Mary’s after church services to help cover expenses for the over thirty young people who will be attending Catholic Heart Work Camp this summer. The campers and their chaperones assisted with the preparing and serving of the food and cleanup.  The week  is a great learning experience for our youth who work hard doing manual labor, without pay, for people who cannot afford to improve their lot in life. They pray hard, improving their spiritual life with evening vespers, and play hard by interacting with fellow youth in relaxed time. All who attend like to return year after year.

The most exciting thing that happened to me last week was an aborted plan to visit my sister. When I opened my car door in the garage, the usual lights illuminated on the dashboard and all was well until I turned the ignition key. More lights began to dance and quiver and make an unusual racket. I am almost as auto illiterate as I am computer illiterate, but I knew very quickly that additional efforts would be fruitless. So I just came back into the house and called my trusty mechanic. In a short time, I saw my car leave my driveway, so I knew that help was already on the way. A couple of hours later, I noticed it come back into the drive way and enter my garage.  By the time I got my tired old body around where I could investigate, I saw a red car pick up someone and away they went.  I could not stand the suspense, so I (as quickly as someone my age can) went to the garage and sure enough there was my car, with the keys on the front seat and the bill for a new battery beside them.  Many thanks to local mechanics who quickly respond to helpless little old ladies, and trust them to remember to pay the bill.  So glad for their assistance and my guardian angel who helped my battery last until it was safely at home in my garage before giving up its last breath instead of when I was out and about.

I am going to live dangerously for recipes this week. I am going to give you a couple of my emergency meals!!  On Sunday I was cooking Western Style Ribs  in my slow cooker thinking that I might have some company later in the day.  I use a can of mushroom soup, a can of water and lots of sliced onions. I was finishing my bag of smaller yellow onions that I like because when I cut a large one, I invariably let the rest of it spoil. I knew I had a new bag of them that I had purchased when they were on sale. When I decided to use another onion or so in my ribs, I discovered that I had purchased them longer ago than I remembered. There were sprouts growing out of the mesh bag and the roots on a lot of them were sprouted. Here my childhood upbringing kicked into gear and I remembered my Dad saying that  a woman can throw out more with a teaspoon than a man can bring in with a scoop shovel! So, whatever can I do with those onions, so protect my thrifty buying?  Here is the recipe that I came forth with.  My daughter was here as they were coming from the oven and had two helpings. Her husband refused any because he was planning something else for his supper. I told him I could eat scalloped onions here and still eat what he was having at home. I won’t be too hard on him since my son who was here had said, ”Mom, those look good enough that if you had not told me they were onions, I would have tried them!”

          

MAX’S SCALLOPED ONIONS

8 to 10 medium onions, sliced

1 can celery soup

1 soup can of water

1 tablespoon butter

1 inch chunk of Velveeta cheese, cubed

½ stack buttered, crushed cracker crumbs

Peel and slice onions and place in casserole dish. Combine soup, water, cheese and butter in two cup measuring cup. Heat in microwave 2 minutes on high. Pour over onions. Sprinkle top with buttered cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

                 

WESTERN STYLE RIBS

I make the Western style ribs do two different things. Cook them until they are overdone in a slow cooker and the bones fall out. Remove fat and cut up meat into bite sized pieces. Mix half a cup of ketchup and a half cup of your favorite barbecues sauce. Blend well with meat and serve on toasted buns.

With the gravy like broth that is left, add vegetables of your choice or a lazy way is to use a package of frozen stew vegetables, and cook until very well done.

With rain forecast for most of the week, do you think I might start to “empty” my spare bedroom that looks like Fibber McGee’s closet?  Maybe you should not place any lunch money on that since I didn’t even look in there last winter when all it did was snow and snow and snow!

Easter Family Magic 4/24/14

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?

Wedding Magic 4/17/14

Last weekend was so full of magic moments I hardly know where to begin. So I guess the best place to start is the beginning. My youngest grandson graduated from an Indiana college, but was getting his Master’s Degree in counseling at The University of North Carolina. It just so happened that a sweet young gal from Tennessee had the same plans. Something clicked well and they decided that they wanted to get married there since they both have employment there in their chosen field.  That made a little problem for those of us so far away, but we handled it graciously by using the airlines and pooling automobile expenses.  I was extremely fortunate by having a daughter and son-in-law willing to put up with traveling with an old, old, lady. It was a challenge, but so glad that I decided to accept the challenge to be part of the festivities. Besides the parents of the groom, four more of my kids and their spouses, a granddaughter who was the groom’s godmother and her daughter also were guests.  We arrived at different times, but spent a great deal of time in the lobby of the hotel with other guests after the rehearsal and again after the wedding reception.

A real rare experience, aside from the wedding, was the results of my daughter “Googling” fish fries at nearby churches.  Once again we pooled rides to the church that was serving fish from noon until 7:00. It was past 6:30 when we arrived and a man outside told us it was perfectly O.K. for us to go in. We were surprised by the fact that we found ourselves in the minority as it was a totally Black parish. They were so gracious to us and we learned that they had a famous choir of about 40 members who sang at their 11:00 o’clock Mass. It was so well attended that they did not have room in the church and held that one in the social room, where the fish fry was being served.  They wanted us to come back for their service on Sunday, but we wanted to be on our way home by the time the liturgy started.  Two of the men were so interesting to listen to and interested in us that we looked around and just like in Edgerton, the Sanders family was the last to leave.

Added to the specialness of the reception, was the so called crashing of the party by a Sanders nephew and  his wife who live about an hour and a half away. Really they had permission from the bride to stop in at the reception. I had not seen them for a long time so it was a special interlude.  Also a Jennings nephew and his wife who live in the area were guests. Glad to see you, Mark and Donna, Gary and Joann.

The whole weekend was great and I hated to see it come to an end but all good things do that. All weddings are so special and we wish the best and years of happiness to Ian and Sara. We came all the way home on Sunday scrapping our plans to stay overnight with my grandson in St. Mary’s.  We were an hour and a half from home and decided that it would be so nice to get up on Monday morning and be in our own beds.  That proved to be true but I was one exhausted old lady.  I found myself doing absolutely nothing but necessities all day on Monday. I did not get finished doing nothing so I continued the same program for Tuesday.

Now let’s see if we can find something good to eat.  The first book I grasped has a recipe from one of my favorite aunts. She gave me the cook book but I never noticed this recipe of hers.  I think you will like it. Remember this would be before the days of mixes and cool whip.

            

APPRICOT-PINEAPPLE SALAD

1 large can apricots, drained

1 can crushed pineapple

2 packages orange jello

2 cups hot water

1 cup apricot juice

¾ cup miniature marshmallows

         

TOPPING

I cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 egg

1 cup pineapple and apricot juice, combined

2 tablespoons butter

Dream whip according to directions (Use 8 oz. Cool Whip)

Combine drained and chilled fruit. Dissolve jello in hot water and add apricot juice. Chill. Fold in fruit. Pour into oblong dish.  For topping cook sugar, flour, egg, and juice. Stir in butter. Spread on top of fruit mixture. Garnish with grated cheese if desired.

STRAWBERRY DESSERT

1 package strawberry Jello

I cup hot water

1 cup pineapple juice

2/3 cup crushed pineapple

2/3 cup chopped nuts

8 to 12 oz. whipped topping

Graham cracker crumbs and butter

Dissolve Jello in hot water. Add pineapple juice. Chill until slightly thickened. Line bottom of square dish with crushed graham crackers and melted butter. Fold pineapple  and nuts into whipped topping. Spoon over crumbs. Top with more crumbs and chill.