Nita's Holiday Story

Recipes aren’t worth a dime a dozen after the holidays.  We’ve had enough.
In fact, it would be nice if the food fairy dropped off dinner for a few days.
That’s not going to happen.  What I need is a diversion, a story, a story to share.
    My live Christmas tree still looks good, but I know its days are numbered.
It is a Frazier Fir and one of the nicest I have ever had.  We have done the circuit.  Raised our own, bought fresh ones, then to artificial ones and now back to a real tree..   Not to mention the wild cedar trees that stood in a bucket of sand  at Christmas for the first years of our marriage.  Those were the days, good ones too.  But to get to our story. 
                                 The Most Beautiful Tree I Have Ever Seen

   Spring is a symbol of new life.  So it is with our story.
One spring as swallows nested under the back porch eaves, Papa and Mama had a baby son.  They named him Olaf.
   To celebrate the birth, Papa planted spruce seedlings in the meadow.  They were not very big, the baby or the trees.  But thanks to love, care and the summer sun, they all grew strong.
   When the winter winds blew and Christmas drew near, stockings were hung by the fireplace and filled with treats for the child.  But there was no Christmas tree.  Papa and the toddler visited the meadow and he told the boy that they would have a holiday tree of their own one day.
   After a few years Papa and Olaf went to the meadow and saw the growing trees.  Papa announced,  “This will be the first year of our own Christmas tree!”
   Olaf beamed and said, “This little tree can stand on a small table at the  window. It is just right!”  So they cut the tree and pulled it across the snow to the house. Bart and Cedric ran along behind.  They were happy to be a part of the adventure.
   Mama was pleased.  She said, “Let’s make paper snowflakes to decorate the tree.”  Soon it stood proudly at the window, giving the room a special fragrance. 
  In January Mama carried the dry tree outside.  Chickadees found shelter in its thinning branches when the cold winds blew.
   Each year they chose a spruce tree for their special Christmas tree.  One year Olaf said, “This tree has many branches and it is tall!”  Papa cut the tree and put it on a sled to take it to the house.  The dogs bounced along beside the sled. 
   Mama exclaimed, “Lands! This is the most beautiful tree  I have ever seen.”  It was decorated and enjoyed by the family. Later Mama carried the tree outside.  Rabbits found shelter near the trunk.
  In a few years the trees were taller than Olaf or Papa.   In the field the branches of the trees brushed against each other. Olaf stretched his neck to see the tops that seemed to touch the sky.  He had grown taller, also.
  When they had chosen a tree, Papa cut it, put it on a wagon and the horses pulled it to the house.
   But when they tried to get it through the door it wouldn’t go.  “Push!” cried Papa.  Olaf pushed and Papa pulled.  But it wouldn’t go.
   “This tree is too big, it’s stuck,” cried Mama.
   Finally Papa cut off some of the lower branches.  Then they easily pulled the tree into the room.  “The branches will be for a wreath and decorations for the dinner table,” said Mama in delight.
   Olaf shouted, “The top of the tree touches the ceiling and the side branches brush the piano.”  Once again the family decorated the spruce with snowflakes and paper chains, adding a little tin star on the top.  “This is the most beautiful tree I have ever seen!”
   The next winter when the snow blew Papa and Olaf visited the field and looked at all of the tall trees.  “These trees are too big for the house, but they are just right for the animals.  They will be a home for the birds and pinecones will provide seeds for the rabbits.”
   Olaf said, “Let’s plant more little trees.”
   In the spring they did just that and each year there after.  When the cold winds blew, Papa and Olaf visited the field, now swaying with evergreens, and chose a tree that was just right.
   Many Christmas celebrations followed.  Once again a Papa took a child to the field to find the perfect tree.  Pulling it home to stand by the window the
child exclaimed,  “Grandpa! Grandpa! This is the most beautiful tree I have ever seen.”  Papa, Mama, Grandma, and Grandpa thought so too!


A little fiction for the season. 

 

Christmas, Candy Recipes, Family

Dear Brian, Thank you for showing an interest in your Grandma Stout’s candy recipes.  You are right on, she was  a superb candy-maker.   Chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, panocha (B. sugar fudge), divinity, peanut brittle,
English toffee, she did them all. 
   I suspect that in her early days Christmas and making candy were closely related. Gifts were not easy to come by, and she loved to make candy. 
Candy could be made ahead, stored in tins, and became gifts for friends and family. 
She must have gotten good at it early on.  In her prime years she made as much as 50 pounds of candy for the autumn church bazaar. 
   On the other hand (there is always an other hand), I lived next door to Grandma’s store.  Candy canes, chocolate drops and hard tack were included in the Christmas “treats” passed out to customers on Christmas Eve. 
   Candy making was not part of our holidays.  We baked cookies, made popcorn balls and indulged in our “treats.”
   So that is my excuse for never becoming a candy maker.  Why would I when my mother-in-law was so good at it and she shared?
   I thought we had lost her candy recipes, but last summer while rifling through recipes I found them.  I had expected hand written copies, instead they were printed on heavy paper, old and worn.    I remembered she had once belonged to a home economics club. There were check marks on some recipes, very neat, . I knew these were the ones she used. 
   In sharing recipes on the blog I try to do them, so I will be familiar with them.
It doesn’t always happen, but I try. 
   And that is how we discover an ignorant at candy making aunt willing to give Ma’s old fashioned candy recipes a try.  I never saw her in the process, just the fruit (or candy) of her labor.  Mistake 1 (there will be more). 
   First, the recipe, just as it was printed many years ago. 

.  Chocolate Fudge and Variations
1 T. butter (also enough to grease sides of  a 2 or 3 qt. saucepan)
2 oz. chocolate, cut up
3/4cups coffee cream
Place chocolate and cream in saucepan, cook on low heat about 10 minutes, until chocolate is melted stirring with a rubber spatula.  Add 2 cups granulated sugar and stir about 2 minutes to dissolve.  Increase heat to medium and stir about 2 minutes.  Put lid on to wash sugar grains down for 5 minutes.  Remove lid, stir with clean rubber spatula and place candy thermometer in syrup. Continue gentle cooking without stirring to 236 degrees (soft ball stage), about 10 minutes (it took me longer)Remove from heat.
Place pan on wire rack, add 1 teaspoon vanilla and butter.   Let cool on rack until bottom of pan is barely warm to the hand.  Will take about an hour.(Took me longer)
Add ¾ cup broken nut meats, stir about 8 minutes or until candy loses its gloss (this is where I really got lost).  Becomes creamy and starts to stiffen.  Pour into 8 inch buttered pan and cut with sharp knife while still warm.  If the mixture becomes too stiff, (it did, fast) :”let it down“ by ;adding a teaspoon of hot water, milk, or cream at a time to give a desirable consistency.   (I did that).
   Variations:
Rocky Road:  Add miniature marshmallow just before turning into pan.
Panocha: Omit chocolate. Substitute 1 cup brown sugar, .firmly packed and 1 ½ cups granulate sugar for listed ingredients. 
White Fudge Roll: Omit chocolate. Use ½ cup chopped candied cherries and ½ cup chopped nuts.  Knead and shape.
Peanut Butter Fudge:  Omit chocolate and nuts.  Just before beating, add 3 T. creamy peanut butter.

Oh, how I would like to taste her English Toffee or Peanut Butter Fudge.

If you master this recipe, I’ll send more. Live and learn, you know.   Good luck.
   Have a happy holiday with the new granddaughter. 

A safe and blessed holiday to everyone.

Birthday Party Family, Fun

        ‘How many birthday parties have you had over your lifetime?
The children of today have one every year, but when I was a child---.
You’ve heard that story.
  I guess Dame Fortune saved all the good spirit and wishes for this year.
For this party was once in a lifetime.  Sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews , children, grandchildren and great grandchildren traveled from all over to help me celebrate.   What fun!  It was one of the best days of my life.
  There is always something to complain about, but when there is something to be joyful for, do it.
   Having your children working together, the planning, the decorating, the sharing of pictures, the food ; that is remarkable.
   When your family calls you Queen For A Day, smile and say cheese.
For there will be photographers.
   In Indiana weather is always a concern for travelers.  Mother Nature put on an early show for them, but thankfully, all was well.
   The travelers took in the side shows,: their old stompin’ grounds, Jungle Jim’s, Whitetail Acres Christmas Tree Farm to see the authentic Alaskan reindeer .
   My family is generous to a fault.  How Dad loved sharing whatever he grew in the garden, blackberries, or muskmelons.  To my party.  siblings brought lemons, (grown from their own tree),; oranges and tomatoes, peach marmalade,  and, and grouper, (enough for a wonderful fish fry,)   Red and gold poinsettias brighten my house, reminders of their caring.  They filled my utility room with my drink of choice, (Starbucks frappucchino  (the blue cap-lite).  What more could anyone want.?
   There were birthday cards, warm and touching, ;to be read over and over.
Thank you.
   But enough talk, where are the pictures?
 

Ruth Lyons, The Spirit of Christmas, Recipe

   Anyone  over fifty years old, living in the Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky area,
remembers Ruth Lyons.  “She wrote Christmas songs and was the big fund raiser for children in the hospitals, especially at Christmas.”
  That was Lyons, born in 1905 in Cincinnati.  Her Presbyterian home was always aware of the importance of books and music. Her father, a travel agent by day, taught music at night at the university.    By the age of 12 she had written and produced her own musical.
   She attended the University of Cincinnati but quit because of family finances.  Then she studied at the Cincinnati College of Music, and worked part time selling sheet music.
   Her radio career began as a part-time pianist .
   She made her  announcing debut when she helped with  the details of the great flood of  1937.  Her demeanor was calm as she asked for donations of food and clothing for victims.  Her grandmother’s example of helping others and being an advocate prepared Lyons for this new role.  $56,000 was raised for flood relief through her effort.
   At WKRC she hosted a weekly radio show called, “Your Sunday Matinee.” Being an amateur song writer she wrote new songs for each broadcast.  Bandleader, Paul Whiteman was a guest on her show and wanted to buy some of her compositions with the stipulations that the music would be published under his name.  She told him no.
   In 1942 enticed by a $10 raise she moved to Crosley Broadcasting Co, owner of both WSAI and WLW .  The radio producers had a history of written scripts but Lyons preferred spontaneous conversation.  Seeing her success with sponsors, they went along with her.  At WLW she co-hosted a show with Frazier Thomas.  When he left she was in charge of the show, with music and entertainment targeting female listeners.  The show was the 50 Club, with 50 women lunching and being her audience.
   It was an easy step, (not really) to move to the TV debut of the show in 1949.  After seeing herself on TV she realized she needed to slim down, which she did.  With that she set her own rules as a program producer.
   She became a favorite with sponsors when she talked about their products.
.  Lyons had some control over what products she promoted, only selling what she was familiar with. 
   NBC contracted with Crosley to carry a half-hour of the 50 Club for 3 years.  She did not like the structured advertising and the contract was canceled after a year.
   In 1956 the show was renamed the 50/50 Club,, expanding the audience to 100 people.  It was seen in the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Columbus and Dayton markets.  There was a 3 year waiting period for  tickets to the live and spontaneous show. That’s popularity!
   Her show was the top rated daytime television program in the U.S. from 1952 to 1964.  Lyons and her program were profiled in national magazines such as McCall’s, Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan.
  Her guests included Bob Hope, Arthur Godfrey and Peter Nero.  Popular local nightclubs, The Beverly Hills Supper Club and The Lookout House hosted numerous headliners, all eager to appear with Lyons on the 50/50 Club.  She required they perform live for the show.  Her trademark was a  bouquet of flowers which hid her microphone.
   Her husband Herman and her daughter Candace were often part of her repartee.
   In the 1960’s she suffered a stroke and 20 year old Candy was diagnosed with breast cancer.  The daughter died in 1966.  Lyons never recovered from her death and turned the show over to Bob Braun in 1967.  In 1969 she published her memoir, “Remember With Me”.
  The Ruth Lyons Christmas Fund began in 1939 and  provided  hospitals with toys, decorations and needed hospital equipment.  After a visit to a hospital at holiday time she had seen how children needed cheering up.
   She began fund raising each year on her birthday, October 4.  She wrote Christmas songs which were performed on the program and recorded to benefit the fund.  “Let’s Light The Christmas Tree” was a favorite.  The name of the fund was changed to The Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund in 1996.  It has raised tens of millions of dollars.
   David Letterman, who watched The 50/50 Club with his mother while home from school on his lunch break credits her with teaching him about live television talk show.
   A television documentary in 2012, “Ruth Lyons, First Lady of Television” won several Emmy awards.
   Throughout her entire broadcasting career she never read from scripts or commercial copy.
   She began her career earning $25 weekly; in the 1950’s her annual income exceeded $100,000.
  This information came from Wikipedia.
  She shared music, radio , T.V, money for toys for children  and, and, recipes.  Her Crumb Cake recipe remains a favorite in my cookbook.

                                    Ruth Lyons Crumb Cake

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 stick softened margarine
Blend together. With fingers or fork.   Remove 1 cup of crumbs and set aside.

In separate bowl, combine
1 cup sour milk (add 1 teaspoon vinegar to 1 cup milk)
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
Add to flour mixture, stir with spoon
Pour into a greased  9 by 13 inch pan.
Combine ½ cup chopped nuts with reserved crumbs
Spread crumbs on top of cake.
Bake at 325 for 25 minutes.

Apples,Recipes

   Remember when we were young and dunked for apples at Halloween parties?  Parents filled a wash tub half full of water,  threw in a couple dozen of apples (they floated) and supplied a towel for drying up after you tried to grab an apple with your teeth.  Those were the days!
   Apples have always been important in our culture.  “An Apple For the Teacher; “An Apple A Day Keeps the Dr.  Away.”  Johnny Appleseed helped things along. 
   Oldtimer, A. Houston Goudiss in his vintage treatise on apples had this to say.
   “Under-ripe apples contain a considerable percentage of starch which is not easily converted in the stomach.  Insist on ripe apples.  Cooked under-ripe apples are all right.  Heat converts the starch.”
   “Apples are good for the liver.  They act in stimulating intestinal activity and help in elimination of poisons.”
   My grandparents were strong on applesauce, sweet potatoes and rolled oats.  It helped them live a good life into their 90’s
   There are so many varieties of apples, how do you know which are best for cooking and which are best for eating out of hand.?

 1.   Honeycrisp, the current favorite is juicy and remains crisp until mid-winter.  It is good eaten raw and holds its shape when baked. 
 2 Experienced pie bakers choose a couple of kinds to blend the tart and the sweet and hold their shape in baking. 
 3. Gala has exceptional long storage life.  It is best eaten out of hand or in a salad.
 4 Golden Delicious can be crisp or mealy according to where it is grown.  It is best grown in Appalachian zones and allowed to ripen fully on the tree.  Flavor is excellent, good for eating raw and baking.
5.  Granny Smith is good all-round.  Excellent for cooking, salads and eating out of hand.
 6. Crispin is also good all around and is a good keeper.
 7 Jonathon is good for baking and applesauce, but a poor keeper. (my frozen sliced Jonathons keep great) 
 7 McIntosh is a good sauce apple, short storage life, though.
8 Red Delicious, a previous favorite is good for eating, not for cooking.
 9 Fuji has a tough skin, a long storage life, good raw and for baking and sauce.
 10.  Idared stores well and is good all around.
If you go to the orchard, be aware that apples ripen at different times.  Some are better early and other later. 
  Of course the best sauce apple is the summer Transparent and Lodi.  Nothing better than tart applesauce. 
   Apple salad, (Waldorf Salad) is a delicious way to enjoy apples. 
If you are going to use apples with the skin on, be sure to wash them with soap and water, rinse before using. 
                                   Apple Salad
Combine diced apples, (some peeled, some unpeeled), chopped celery,
chopped walnuts and a few small marshmallows.   Apples should be dipped in lemon juice to preserve color.  Combine with vanilla yogurt.  So good and easy.

   The easiest way to prepare apples is stew them, peeled or unpeeled, cook until tender, add cinnamon.  The right apples, you don’t even have to add sugar. 
     For something special, try apple dumplings.  There are as many recipes for this as there are apple varieties. Some people prefer a pie crust cover, others want a biscuit covering.  The sauces for the topping are special, too.
   Here is an old-time Apple Dumpling Recipe.
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold butter
Enough milk to make a soft dough.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Work in cold butter with your fingers or a pastry blender.   Add just enough milk to make a soft dough..
Turn out of lightly floured  surface.  Knead just a bit. Then roll out to a thin sheet. Cut in 4 squares.  In center of each square of dough place apples, (whole, sliced, or halved, also peeled and cored) Add sugar and cinnamon to the apples.  Bring dough to center, moisten and join sides in center.  Place in oiled baking pan. Combine 2/3 cup boiling water, 1/3 cup sugar, and 2 Tablespoons butter.  Pour over dumplings.  Bake at 370, basting the liquid onto the dumplings,  for 40 minutes. 
                              Sauces for Dumplings
Hard Sauce;  ½ cup soft butter
                      1 ¼ cup P. sugar
                       1 teaspoon  vanilla
DAP, white sauce, 2 cups milk
                               1 cup sugar
                                1 egg
                                2 Tablespoons cornstarch
        1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat milk.  Combine sugar and cornstarch, stir a bit of hot milk into sugar, then add to milk and cook 1 minute.  Lightly beat egg and temper a bit of hot milk into egg.  Then add to milk mixture and cook till thickens. Take off stove and add vanilla. 
Old German Sauce, 2 cups milk,
                                 ½ cup sugar
                                 4 eggs
                                  1 teaspoon vanilla.
Prepare as in previous recipe. 

Fun on the Farm

   Eighteen yeas ago when the hog market hit rock bottom Susann and Phil Wendel , hog farmers,  wondered what to do.  Susann came up with the idea of planting mums, 2000 mums.  It was a success.  The next year they added  a corn maze.  That brought more people to their state line farm. 

  Each year they had new ideas,  a hay ride to a pumpkin patch,  tours for school children with pumpkins to take home.  Gourds and Indian  corn are good sellers. They did that.   

  When children visit a farm there must be animals; chickens, ponies, donkeys, sheep and pigs.  They could do that.  They did better than that. Their farm has peafowl, llamas, alpacas and goats. 
   Then they realized that the large farrowing house that had sat vacant for a few years could be repurposed.  Ag retail sales.  They had a jump on things with the mum sales and the corn maze, so they took the next step.

   It has been a  process of steps for this couple,  give them 5 stars.  . 
   I have never seen a better combination of agriculture, education, fun and sales.  Children of all ages will fall in love with this farm.  A bin to climb into shelled corn and play with buckets and scoops and tractors. 
Pick the potatoes out of the vegetable garden. (Real potatoes).
  Watch Molly the puppet tell how to plant pumpkin seeds.

Pet the pony (I think rides are available).  Pick your own pumpkin and ride the wagon to the patch.   What fun.  And there is lots more.  If I tell you everything you won’t be surprised. 
   It is more than just a children’s venue, it is for everyone who wants a day in the country.  Everyone  who wants to buy mums, or autumn decorations.   The 6 acre corn maze has a different theme each year.  “To The Moon And Back”

is this year’s theme. 
   Eight weeks each autumn you can enjoy the Wendel Farm and its activities.  Entertainment has changed, once  you could  just watch something.  Now children want to be doing and that is what makes this farm special.

   There is much to do and learn.
 

    The color of autumn

Adventure, Soup

   There are adventures in travel, adventures in money, and adventures
in baking.  Have you ever watched the Great British Baking Show? Those
contestants are crazy adventurers.  Very entertaining. 
   They can make mango ice cream, put it on top of a sponge cake, cover it with Italian meringue  (I have no idea what that is), use a blowtorch and have Baked Alaska. 
 Which takes me back 50 years.  When I was young, with 2 small children, and belonged to a card club.  I prepared a Baked Alaska for my refreshment
for the group.  Don’t ask me how I did it.  It is the only one I ever made. 
No practicing, just made it and served it.  Aw, me! I was an adventurous baker. 
   It wasn’t the first time I had been foolish (or the last).  When I was a teenager, mother asked me to bake the dessert for a family pitch-in. 
A picture in a magazine, I suppose, enticed me to make cream puffs. 
   Butter, flour, water and eggs cooked to a glossy mess, then baked in little circles. Cut part, filled with a pudding of sorts, then topped with powdered sugar.
  My family thought they were wonderful.  In fact they were repeated with varying degrees of success.  They ate them without complaining.  I don’t recall doing éclairs, with the chocolate icing on top but I may have. 
   Which reminds me of a story.  Years ago I worked as an activity person in a retirement home.  It meant chatting with the residents who needed some attention.  There was this tiny, grey-haired,  woman who liked to tell stories. 
I think her name was Pearl. When  she was a pre- school child and had been left alone in the house while her mother helped her father in the field, it was well before T.V. to comfort her, she became bored.
   Not knowing what else to do she decided she would bake a cake, .  She always watched as her mother  measured the sugar and flour and mixed them with a spoon.  Then the eggs and the lard, nothing to it. 
   The wood cook stove was a challenge,  Did mother add more sticks to the fire before putting the cake in the oven?
   Eventually the cake came out of the oven.  Forget icing. 
When her parents came in from their labors at noon, what did they see?
Mother couldn’t believe that Pearl had baked a cake by herself. 
   The memory of that adventure delighted Pearl for years. 
   Just as my adventure with Baked Alaska years ago. 
  Older and wiser, now I cook soup.  Enough for days, with some for the freezer.  . Soup can be an adventure.  Let’s see, where is that cookbook?
                                        Cabbage Soup

I have been adventuress, that’s the fun of it.

½ large mild onion, chopped
½ cup chopped celery
Some diced garlic (if you have any)
2 quarts beef broth
15 Oz. can of diced tomatoes (or equal amount of tomato juice)
1 quart of shredded cabbage
Chopped fresh herbs for topping, (I used parsley and chives)
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon vinegar
Olive oil

In a heavy pot pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
Add the celery, onion , Cook on low until onion begins to
brown. (Brown, not burn). Add diced garlic and cook 1 minute.   Add remaining ingredients and simmer
until desired consistency.  Dish up and top with fresh herbs.
The original recipe additionally calls for raisins, dill, marjoram and thyme

Food For Thought
“Three things in human life are important.  The first is to be kind.
The second is to be kind.  And the third is to be kind.”
                  Henry James, American writer

Children, Dahlias

     The joys of September

   Children are the joys of life in every month.  How about these children?

Gone Fishin'

Giddi- Up, Swan

Dahlias are a joy of September.  So glad we got acquainted.  But I still have so much to learn about them.  Storing the tubers over during the winter is the big obstacle.  Last year’s crop did not survive, so I bought new ones.

Mary's dahlia

Learning can be so expensive. New information about storing them is: remove loose soil from tubers when you dig them; turn them upside down (to drain moisture from stems) and let them air dry for 2 weeks; store in a large plastic bag at 40 to 45 degrees (That’s the catch, where do I find that for the winter?)
   Getting them ready to plant in the spring is a whole other story.
But they are worth it.  They are the prince and princess of the autumn garden. . 
   Little Creek Valley has a vendor’s stand at the Oxford Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning.They had beautiful dahlias.  .  If you can’t wait to grow your own you can enjoy the blooms  of others.  .  All their flowers were gorgeous.
   If you fancy mums, they were to be found in their splendor at the market, also. 

Stir Fry, Emeril and August

   The months slip by fast, the  evenings and mornings are already cool in Indiana.  So enjoy  the vegetable bounty now, even though you don’t know what to do with one more squash and two more tomatoes.
   I am thankful for friends and family; my refrigerator   has plenty of the season’s goodness.
   When you have had your fill of lettuce salad with tomatoes and maybe zucchini; you’ve had enough bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, here are a few ideas that will help you use up your vegetables.



   Gazpacho, a cold soup, similar to salsa, is one of my favorites.  I gave you
That recipe last year.  I love it, and now is the time to prepare it.
    Fried green
tomatoes are delicious and easy.  . The trick is to peel the tomatoes, Slice about 1/3 inch thick.  Then dip in equal parts flour and yellow cornmeal with seasoning, rest or rack.  Heat oil, about ¼ inch deep in heavy pan to about 350 degrees. Dip tomatoes a second time in flour mixture, then in hot oil.  In about a minute, turn the tomatoes and cook for about another minute.  Perfect 
   For an easy meal, try stir-fry.
                                                       August Stir-Fry

Cook 1/2 cup dry rice and set aside
 
   Remember Emeril Lagasse, the television chef who was so popular some years ago?  He made cooking look easy and fun.  He must have been a good influence to many .  When he was going to cook a dish he had all those glass bowls filled with ingredients.  Someone in the kitchen had prepared them, all ;he had to do was put them together, throw in his special “Essence” and say  BAM.   He was an inspiration, and what listener didn’t learn a little something from him?
    Back to the stir fry. “It’s  a what you do with what you’ve got”  recipe. 1 small zucchini  or ½ large one, peeled and cut in strips
Medium onion, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled, cored, squeezed to remove seeds and water, then chopped
Small piece of meat. I used a pork cutlet; sliced very thin
A chunk of red or green pepper, chopped
½ cup fresh herbs chopped, (I had parsley and basil)

A little minced garlic, if you like, I didn’t have any
I had some small Brussels sprout, I parboiled them. Carrots, cauliflower or broccoli would do.
   When this is all prepped (Think of Emeril) prepare large heavy skillet, ;cast iron would be good, but there are others, with about ¼ cup vegetable oil, you may add more later if you feel it is needed.
When skillet and oil are hot (sizzles when drop of food is added) quickly brown the strips of meat. Stir as it browns. Remove meat and set aside leaving oil in pan. Turn down heat to medium, add onion and garlic if using. Add salt and pepper and cook briefly.  Remove vegetables and set aside. If needed add more oil to skillet.  With heat on medium add remaining vegetables , cook for about 5 minutes. Return meat and onions to skillet.. Taste to see if it needs salt and pepper. Cook just until everything is hot.  Plate the rice, top with cooked vegetables, top with chopped parsley and basil.  Enjoy.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie, Guests, Old Movies

     My guests called and said they were enjoying the miles long or something yard sale in Tennessee.  They wouldn’t be arriving today but tomorrow. 
    There was nothing to do but watch Turner Classic Movies. I recognized the leading lady as Myrna Loy, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember the lead male actor’s name. 
   My dad didn’t go in for romantic comedy when he  took mother and us  children to the movies.  He liked Gary Cooper and Gene Autry.  But I couldn’t place that fellow.  Was his name Douglas, or something.   It was a completely absurd movie, but that happens now-a-days, too.  I continued watching.  Myrna was so thin, did she eat anything?  I liked her hair style, just like what was popular in the 40’s.. Yes, I know what was popular in the 40’s. 
   Was it Bryon Douglas?, That was it.   Not an actor to remember.  But he was funny, in a subtle way.
   I relaxed, no more thinking of what I was preparing for dinner, laughed a little. 

  Then the movie was over and the credits rolled on.  Yes, Myrna Loy, but Melvin  Douglas?  Yes, Melvin Douglas   I can’t recall a movie I ever saw him in.  He’s no Cary Grant. 
   The afternoon was gone, the peanut butter-chocolate pie I had prepared for guests will hold until tomorrow and I had a few laughs.  It is a good day.

                                          Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie
Crust
3 Tbsp.  sugar
7 Tbsp. butter melted
10 sheets of graham crackers
Crush g. crackers and combine with sugar and butter.  Press in 9 inch pie
Pan and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350.  Cool.
Filling
2 Tbsp. butter
½ cup ;heavy whipping cream, divided
3 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbs. B. sugar
Combine in pan 1//3 cup B. sugar, 1/4 cup cream, 2 Tbsp. butter. Stir and cook until sugar is dissolved and butter melted. Cool.
  In a bowl combine cooked mixture with ½ cup peanut butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Blend well, Cool.
Whip 1/4 cup cream and 2 Tbsp. B. sugar. Gently fold cream  into peanut butter mixture.  . Pour mixture into cooled crust.  Chill.
Chocolate Ganache Topping
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
½ cup heavy whipping cream. 
Microwave for 30 seconds in heavy bowl.  Stir. Microwave 30 seconds, remove and stir until combined. 
When ganache is at room temp and pie is well set, spread chocolate on top of pie.  May top with a few g. cracker crumbs

Quilt Gardens,Indiana

   Short outings can be a lot of fun.  That is what Linda Rosenberger and girl friends found out last summer when they took a trip to northern Indiana Amish country.  The focus of the trip was to see the quilt gardens.  They were delighted with what they saw.

  So much so, in fact , that Linda wanted to grow her own quilt garden.  This spring she pursued that endeavor by checking with the fellows at ColorWorks Greenhouse east of Brookville.  They were accommodating; Her 10 x 10 ft. square plot  became  a challenge;, the right plants, the right colors and of course, Mother’s Nature’s participation. 
   With the help of a computer they were able to determine how many plants and what kind of plants were most suitable for the project.  Linda worked with the fellows at Colorworks.   Planted in May, it took several weeks for the plot to fill out but the results indicate it was worth the effort.  Thirteen flats of assorted begonias, marigolds, ageratum  and petunias were needed.

  Upkeep means,. pinching back, very little watering and weeding.  Preen and mulch were used at planting time.     Linda is pleased at the success of her quilt garden, especially since this is her first attempt.  Perhaps she will inspire others to have a go at it.
    The quilt gardens of northern Indiana are an annual event. More information about them can be found on the internet by going to Indiana Quilt Gardens, or Elkhart County Quilt Gardens.  This year eighteen gardens and 21 hand painted, quilt themed, super sized murals can be visited on tours of the area around, Goshen, Elkhart and Middlebury.
   I have enjoyed the area several times, there is much to see, especially if you are interested in food. 

Picture taken from a drone

Pickles

   When my neighbor brought me cucumbers, I thought, pickles! Wonderful!  When I
was a child, summer meant crocks of pickles in the kitchen.  Mother loved growing
cucumbers and making pickles.  That was the snack of the day for my cousin and me.  The recipes must have been complicated; days of changing the water and adding vinegar in the crocks
of pickles until they were finally just right.
   Although I no longer have a vegetable garden I am delighted to be on the receiving end of
other people's harvest.  This is an easy recipe for

Refrigerator Pickles

                                                                Refrigerator Pickles
6 cups sliced cukes
1 1/2 cups sliced onions
2 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon celery seed
   Combine sugar, ;vinegar, salt and celery seed, bring to a boil.  Cool and pour over vegetables.  Will keep well in covered jars in refrigerator.

   If you are looking for that old time goodness, and have lots of cucumbers here is a recipe for
                                                              Sweet Pickles

14 medium cucumbers
8 cups sugar
4 cups vinegar
2 Tbsp. pickling spices
5 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon alum
1/2 teaspoon turmeric 
   Cover cucumbers with boiling water, let stand over-night. Drain and discard
water.  Cover again with boiling water to which alum has been added.  The next
day drain and discard water.  Cover again with boiling water, let stand over-night.
drain and discard water.  Cut cucumbers in thick rings.  Bring sugar, salt, vinegar and pickling spices to boil  Add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric. Let set for 2 days in syrup, on third day, heat and fill jars.
   Delicious and worth the effort.

   In her later days, mother came up with an easy-peasy recipe for pickles.
                                                  Sweet from Dill Pickles


   Purchase whole or sliced dill pickles in quart or gallon jar.  Recipe will make 1/2 gallon.
Pour off dill juice, cut pickles if desired. Cover with boiling water.  Let stand over-night.  Pour off water and dry on paper towels. Return pickles to jars.  Cover with pickling syrup as follows.

1 cup vinegar
4 cups sugar
1 tsp. pickling spices
Stir to dissolve sugar and bring to boil.  Place a table knife down the side of the jar to prevent breaking the jar as you pour hot syrup over pickles.  Seal the jars.  Let stand 2-3 days before serving.  Keep in refrigerator.(When I did these recently I cut back the sugar to 3 cups, then there wasn't enough syrup to cover the pickles.  Had to make a little more)

  When you are resting from your pickle making, and need something new to think on here are a
few quotations from a little book,"The Gardener's Guide to Life", compiled and Edited by Criswell Freeman.
   "Just living is not enough,"said the butterfly.  "One must have freedom, sunshine and a little flower."  Hans Christian Anderson.
   All my hurts my garden spade can heal.  Ralph Waldo Emerson.
   This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalms 118:24
     There is no great achievement that is not the result of patient working and waiting.  J.G. ;Holland.
   If a a tree dies, plant another in its place. Linnaeus.
   Man is a tool-using animal.  Without tools he is nothing.  With tools he is all.  Thomas Carlyle.
   We think birds are valuable and keep three birdbaths on our front and side lawns.  The birds no doubt destroy many of the harmful insects.  Edwin Way Teale.

Fun, People and Cookies

   June is surely a party month.  Weddings, graduations, birthdays.  Father’s Day.  Any excuse to have people and food, what fun! 
   Our excuse was my granddaughter’s graduation from high school. E is a beautiful star; appearance, personality and talent.  I have been printing note cards from her paintings since she was six.  She will be attending Herron Art School, IUPPI in Indianapolis this fall. 

The Big Day

One of her paintings made into a card

   It makes us pause, where did our years go? How long ago it was that we were handed our black diplomas.  How will her dreams compare with her reality?
  For now, we will find joy in the dreams of our children and pray for their wellbeing.  At E‘s party.  we shared stories with family and friends; played with the little ones and enjoyed the food. 
   I was struck by a beautiful tray of cookies supplied by family friend, K.
The almond flavored gems were delicious and I wanted the recipe. 
   And there by lies a story. 
K’s Mom was a student at a University in Ohio long ago, where she was a member of a Sorority.  She met her husband there and they went on to have four children.  Life wasn’t easy, as so often happens, but K’s Mom knew how to make lemons into lemon aid.  At the age of 50, she found herself divorced and job hunting.   She had been employed most of her adult life, except when her children were little, but at this stage of life she was looking for a new start.  Remembering the fun and rewards of sorority life, she was encouraged to try being a house “Mom” at a sorority.  That is how she became  a House Mom at a Sorority at an Indiana college.  Fifty girls to plan for, to console and to encourage.  There were dances, parties, and naturally, cookies to be baked.  K’s Mom didn’t leave all that for the kitchen staff.  She pitched right in when needed and baked those cookies.

   .
   That is where this recipe comes from, and why I will call them “Sorority Sugar Cookies.”  They are thin, delicate and pretty to look at. 
.  No doubt she had fun on her job as House Mom and her cookies were a great success with all her girls. 
  K’s Mom  was not only a baker and a charmer, but a mother.  She passed along her knowledge and ambition to her children. 
   Her daughter K earned her doctorate and another daughter became an accomplished nurse.  Many people have benefited from their dedication to their work to help others.
   K, now retired, recalls with admiration the work of her mother.  She has her mother’s special   cookie recipe that she shares with friends.  K, much like her mother, knows the value of encouragement and is quick to praise the work of young people.
   This sugar cookie recipe is time consuming, but worth it, tasting like a delicious wedding cake.  It is to be saved for special occasions, like a graduation party  or a sorority dance.

                               Sorority Sugar Cookies
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, soft but not runny
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Combine and mix well P. sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract and egg.
Add dry ingredients that have been sifted together. 
Beat, but do not over beat.
Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.
Oven temperature 340. (Ovens vary, may need higher temp.)
On lightly floured parchment paper roll out a portion. Roll ¼ inch thick. Keeping rolling pin dusted with flour, cut cookies leaving space between.
Remove dough between cookies, slide parchment paper onto cookie sheet and bake 7-8 minutes or until edges are beginning to brown. Do not over bake.  Cool.
Cookies may be decorated with colored sugar before baking or with a glaze.
                        Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
3-7 teaspoons milk
1/3 cup almond slices (toasted or plain)-sprinkle a few on top of each glazed cookie.

Travel and The Gardens

     Pink and turquoise plastic birds decorate the grounds of Newfield. Not only that, there is plastic every where.  Plastic snails in the halls of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. No! Yes!
 These displays are "Cracking Art" and were produced in Italy.  A select few museums are incorporating them with other art.
   Plastic developed from petroleum is molded into birds, snails, bears, wolves and an elephant. 

   There is an environmental connection between each of the creatures and art; all on display at Newfields

   Indianapolis Museum of Art is one part of  152 acre Newfields, which includes the Lily House Estate and Gardens, Greenhouse, and the Virginia Fairbanks Art and Nature Park (along White River)   There is an interesting history lesson found in learning
the development of Newfields.
   The walk from the museum to the greenhouse is extensive, but worth it.
Along the way we saw volunteer gardeners (Master Gardeners) replanting beds with cannas, coleus and begonias.  I was struck by the vegetable garden, resplendent with rhubarb, asparagus, cabbage ready to harvest and potatoes two feet high.
   One vegetable bed was surrounded by a wattle fence to ward off the rabbits.  A wattle fence is a construction of intertwined sapling poles.
How they kept rabbits from the garden that was not similarly enclosed I have no idea.
  We saw unfamiliar plants; acanthus and bottlebrush buckeye which covered a large bank.  (We asked the volunteers)

   The greenhouse was a bevy of tropicals; orchids, bromeliads, succulents and others I did not recognize.
   Visiting the Art and Nature Park would have to wait for another trip.
   My gardening trip did not end on that high note.
   From Indy we traveled to Rockville, (Parke County Covered Bridge Festival). E and I toured the  friends' private garden. It has been an attraction for friends for years.  No wonder.  It must have taken years to develop this remarkable place.

   A goldfish pool with water lilies; a gazebo and all sorts of plants.

It is a garden to admire but  not try to duplicate.  A smart person knows when to enjoy the work of others ;and to be satisfied with what he has.
  It’s all right to continue weeding, don’t rest on your laurels.
  The Cracking Art will be on display at the museum and grounds until August.