If and, and, Rhubarb

     If

If I were Will Rodgers, I would read the newspapers and write something humorous.  If I were Erma Bombeck, I would generate laughter. Mother
always wanted me to be like Erma.
   If I were an intellectual I would explain nationalism, populism and anarchy.  I would tell my friends why the electoral college is as important today as it was when the constitution was written.
   If I were an activist I would solve the health care system problem.  Everyone would agree on what is best for patients, doctors, hospitals and gasp-insurance companies.
   If I were a philanthropist I would have a special day to throw $100 bills as I drove along in my Cadillac.  (I’m for American made.)
  If I were a child I would play Hide and Seek instead of tiring my thumbs with electronics.  I would fly a kite, go sled riding (not enough snow for that.)
   If I were a politician I would strive to be a statesman.
   But I am just an old woman praying for the humorists, the intellectuals, the activists, the politicians, the philanthropist and the children. 

   Then there are recipes.  Spring with fresh rhubarb is just around the corner.  (My rhubarb and strawberries came from the deepfreeze).  Enjoy.

        Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp
2 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups strawberries
¾ cup packed B.; sugar
½ cup flour
½ cup rolled oats
¾ t. cinnamon
¾ t. nutmeg
1/3 cup melted butter
Grease 8 by 8 baking pan.  Add rhubarb and strawberries.  Combine remaining ingredients and spread on top of fruit.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. 

Just the right amount of rhubarb tang!

Easter, food, the house

   How many days till Easter?  Easter when the house should be clean, the weather beautiful, the food plentiful and the children  coming home. 
   Don’t we wish.  Let’s take this in stages.  If the children are coming home, there is much to be done.  Start with the dining room table; mine seats 8 -10 comfortably.  I have had more white linen tablecloths than I knew what to do with; have given some of them away and still have two nice ones. 
   I wanted bright runners down the middle of the white linens.  At a recent luncheon I got my idea.  The tables at that luncheon were covered with bright plastic cloths.  Folded they would make perfect runners.  Problem solved. 

   If your linens have spots and are stuck away in a back cupboard, you have time to get them out and restore them.  Here is how.
   Biz is an oxygen bleach of years past.  I think it is still possible to find it in the stores.  My half a box has been on the shelf for years.
   Soak linens in a solution of water and Biz.  Then fold each linen in a strip of dry cotton sheet and then put it in a big plastic bag.  (I recall when if I ran out of ironing time, I put the dampened clothes in a big plastic bag and put that in the deepfreeze. When I ironed again the frozen clothes softened for a little while and ironed beautifully.) The trick would be in finding that large plastic bag.
   These directions call for the bag to be refrigerated for 3 days or so; remove the still wet linens and iron.  They will look starched and perfect.
  For my center piece I will arrange a Longaberger basket  with small pots of live herbs; parsley, chives, basil.  These are available in the supermarket as live, potted herbs.  Wonderful favors to hand out to the girls after the meal is over. 
   Now the menu.  Each family has its own holiday favorites.  We must have noodles and  home-made dinner rolls. Once we made our noodles, but those days are gone.   This year I’m doing ham loaves. At a recent Reminisce Luncheon at Union Co. Public Library attendees were served individual ham loaves.  Delicious! The recipe came from a cookbook by Jean McCormick.  Here it is.
                                     Ham Loaf
5 lbs ham loaf mix
1 (No. 2) can crushed pineapple
6 Tbsp. Brown sugar
2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. dry mustard
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  Mix well and make into desired size loaves.  Bake 1 ½ hours at 350.  Serves 25.            Basting Sauce to be applied while loaves are cooking
1 ½ cup brown sugar              2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard                   2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. cornstarch                     1 ½ cups water.
  Cook until thick, then baste the loaves. 
 For desert I am going to serve lemon bars and angel food cake with 7 minute frosting.
                                   Lemon Bars
2 cups flour                                          4 Tbsp. flour
½ cup P. sugar                                      6 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
½ cup melted butter                              1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs                                                    Extra P. sugar
2 cups sugar
  Combine 2 cups flour, ½ cup P. sugar,and butter. Press into a 9by13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until slightly golden.  Beat eggs and gradually add sugar.  Beat well.  Add   remaining flour, lemon juice and baking powder.  Pour over baked crust and return to oven for 25 minutes until golden.  When cool dust with P. sugar.  Cut into squares.

  
       If only getting the house clean was so easy.                                               











 

Birthdays and Fun

   Times have changed. (As if you didn’t know.) Yesterday’s birthday for a 4 year old meant a  special cake with candles. Recently I was happy to participate in my great grandson, Fletcher’s, 4th birthday celebration and it was a WOW. 
   Pizzas from Papa John’s, fruit and veggie snacks, bottled water, and cupcakes designed to make a birthday cake. 

 The designation was the school where momma teaches.  The school was a learning experience for me.  The big attraction was the gymnasium where the children attending the birthday party were able to entertain themselves by jumping on trampolines, tumbling and for the young ones, little slides I had never seen the like of. Of course, there were balloons, but no games.  The walls of the gym were lined with trophies; trophies for cheerleading.  My exposure to the school was limited to the gym and the cafeteria.  However art work  and posters on the walls indicated there is some serious stuff going on. 

   A few weeks later they came to see me.  E bundled them up and with the help of J, drove  across the state for a night-over.  They brought more food, toys and stuff than you can imagine.  E thought of everything, well just about everything.  Meals without catsup?  I was not prepared.  It was a dilemma. J came to the rescue with a Styrofoam box from a fast food place with left-over plastic silverware, napkins and, and catsup packets!  At last food was edible. 

   Times may change, but some things remain the same.  Loving families who want the best for their children

Trip to Indy-Family, Fun an Food

   For me, a trip to Indy is like a trip to another world.  A world of city life, theater, movies and someone else’s food.  It is a different lifestyle,  young people off to class, boyfriends and crazy work schedules.  I loved it.

   My outings to Indy in the winter  seem to bring on ice.  Ice so bad one must drive the pick-up to get to the mailbox.  But not bad enough to close schools.  Off this senior went; driving the best car in the garage to get to class.  I took an anxiety pill, but it was just a normal day for her parents.
   Since the subdivision was icy, thankfully B drove us downtown to the Murat Theater for the performance of Shen Yun.

   Years ago Bob White of the Oxford Press reviewed theater productions, I wish he  could have seen and written about this one.  It was very special.  The music, the costumes, the dance and the technology combined to provide a look into Chinese culture and history.
   Five Shen Yun companies travel the world simultaneously performing and telling their stories.  From the Shen Yun program book I quote the following.
         A Lost Treasure
   Nowhere else can you see the authentic Chinese culture that Shen Yun presents.  Sadly, this culture has been almost completely destroyed in China under communist rule.
   China’s ancient civilization was, in fact, deeply spiritual.  Traditional Chinese culture is based on the idea of harmony among Heaven, Earth and humankind.  But the Chinese Communist Party’s doctrine teaches just the opposite; officially atheist, it sees this culture as a threat to its power.  For decades it has tried to destroy this ancient heritage.  It nearly succeeded.
   Yet in 2006 a group of artists in New York formed Shen Yun and have brought this culture back from the brink of extinction.  Even today, Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in China-but the company is now sharing this heritage with millions; people fly from China especially to see Shen Yun.
    They will be performing in Cincinnati in May.
   Indy was not all Chinese dance.  Young people like food.  E and I made the familiar Texas Sheet Cake.  Our take on it was with different pans.  A round cake to sit on the glass cake stand.  This old stand-by is so easy and can be adjusted if you exchange the ¼ cup cocoa for ¼ peanut butter. The chocolate icing would be great on the peanut butter cake or peanut butter icing might be good on the chocolate cake.  We went with the standard chocolate on chocolate. 

                                                                   Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 stick butter
½ cup Crisco
¼ cup cocoa
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 lightly beaten eggs
   Combine flour and sugar and set aside.  In heavy pan bring butter, Crisco, water and cocoa to a boil.  Remove from heat, add flour mixture.  Combine remaining ingredients except nuts and add to flour mixture.  Stir well. Pour into a greased rimmed cookie sheet.  Bake 20 minutes at 350. Prepare icing while cake is baking.
1 stick butter
   
6 Tbsp. milk
¼ cup cocoa
1 pound P. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Chopped nuts if desired
  Remove cake from oven, wait only 5 minutes then pour icing on cake. Add
Nuts on top.  Everyone loves this and it is easy.
 
  There is more to Indy than theater and food; there is the Indianapolis Public Library.   The original structure was built on ground donated by James Whitcomb Riley.  The latest addition combined with the original, covers a city block, opened in 2007 at a cost of $150 million.  It showcases a 6 story atrium of curved glass and steel. 
   Let us appreciate our libraries.  Sidney Sheldon, author and poet had this to say: Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination.  They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and contribute to improve our quality of life. Works by Indiana authors, James Whitcomb Riley, Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Wooten Family and Booth Tarkington are on exhibit. 

Happy Valentine's Day

                           Valentine’s Day

   This one’s for you.  Valentine, that is.  Forget the roses and the candy, all we need are kind and loving words.   Such as:
“Consider not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver”
                           Ellye Howell Glover(1907) taken from With Love and Affection by Pat Ross
   It is always best to give of your own production or discovery.  For instance these treasures saved from other Valentine’s Day.

     From an old book of poetry entitled “The New Home Book of Best Loved Poems” edited by Richard Charlton MacKenzie comes this jewel.
   If You’re Ever Going To Love Me
If you’re ever going to love me love me now, while I can know
All the sweet and tender feelings  which from real affection flow.
Love me now, while I am living; do not wait till I am gone
And then chisel it in marble-warm love words on ice-cold stone.
If you’ve dear sweet thoughts about me, why not whisper them to me?
Don’t you know ‘twould make me happy and as glad as glad could be?
   This is just a part of this piece written anonymously.

   Another gem from this same volume is  “Will You Love Me When I’m Old”
I would ask of you, my darling,
      A question soft and low,
That gives me many a heartache
  As the moments come and go.

Your love I know is truthful,
  But the truest love grows cold;
It is this that I would ask you:
  Will you love me when I’m old?

Life’s morn will soon be waning,
  And its evening bells be tolled,
But my heart shall know no sadness,
 If you’ll love me when I’m old.

From Pat Ross' book, With Love And Affection

Down the stream of life together
  We are sailing side by side,
Hoping some bright day to anchor
  Safe beyond the surging tide.
Today our sky is cloudless,
  But the night may clouds unfold;
But, though storms may gather round us,
  Will you love me when I’m old?

When my hair shall shade the snowdrift,
  And mine eyes shall dimmer grow,
I would lean upon some loved one,
Through the valley as I go.
I would claim of you a promise,
  Worth to me a world of gold;
It is only this, my darling,
  That you’ll love me when I’m old.
                            Anonymous


 Oh, go ahead and enjoy your chocolate

People, Cornbread and FriedApples

                 People, Cornbread and Fried Apples
   Mary came for supper last evening.  City folk have dinner in the evening
But I was raised in the country where the big meal, dinner, was at noon.
   Without any advanced preparation I decided I needed a friend for supper.
I had hoped to have her over during the holidays but that didn’t happen.
And January is almost over.

   Supper would have to be simple.  She loves cornbread, I could do that.
My go-to bean ingredient was down to a can aof kidney beans, but--.  The head of cabbage in the frig needed to be used; there was a little meat to be had and there were apples in the deepfreeze.  It was a go.
   I forgot about the house; I knew the bed wasn’t ;made, but she wouldn’t be taking a nap. 
   Our conversation was light; she is always cheery.  We talked about the weather and flowers.  Would a bale of straw protect the dahlias, or would
They be lost?
   She declared she wasn’t going to can vegetables anymore.  She has more in the cellar than she can use.  I wished I could still plant peas and lettuce, but now that strawberries have taken over there is no space.
   She regretted that she won’t be wintering in Florida  with her granddaughter.  Her broken wrist took its time in healing.
  We were both thankful for what we’ve got; loving families who check on us; who see we don’t run out of bananas.

 Don’t buy that box of cornbread mix, making your own is so easy.  Here is my recipe.

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Combine previous ingredients with a sifter or a whisk.
1 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup oil
Combine and add to flour mixture.  Stir briefly, bake at 400 in a greased
9 inch square pan; I like pyrex, but a cast iron skillet would be great.  Bake for about 18 minutes, or until it is a little golden on the top.

  Have you had those delicious fried apaples at Cracker Barrel?  So easy to make.
  In a cast iron skillet, or at least one with a heavy bottom, melt some butter.
The amount of butter depends on how many apples you have.  I used
2 cups sliced apples, ½ stick of butter.  Cook the apples on low to medium heat for about 6 minutes.  Add 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
   In a cup of water add 1 heaping teaspoon of cornstarch, stir and add to the apples.  Cook until apples thicken and cornstarch is cooked. That’s it.
   Supper was that easy; cornbread and beans, coleslaw, a little meat and fried apples.
   Don’t forget: It’s what you do with what you’ve got.

January--Chicken-N-Dumplins'

           January--Chicken ‘N Dumplins

   January may be ice and snow, but it’s also chicken ‘n dumplins.  Chicken, one of the favorite foods of the nation, can be prepared in so many ways.  Once it was just Sunday dinner, and we were glad to have that.  Every woman could fry a chicken, now hardly anyone does. KFC  does it so easy and tasty.  Chicken wings are one of the most popular party dishes for the young crowd. 
   For easy, delicious, and inexpensive, you can’t beat chicken, gravy and some kind of dough.
   If time is an important factor in your meal preparation, the super market rotisserie chicken is a help.  Take as much chicken off the bone as you can, put the bones in a pot, add chopped celery and chopped onion and simmer . After an hour or so, strain and cool-chicken stock.  Chop onions, celery, potatoes and carrots and add to the stock, cook until almost tender.  Add the chicken meat, and you are half way there.
   Dumplings come in many forms, all wonderful.  Here is a basic recipe.
                                            Dumplings
4 Tblsp. Shortening
1 tsp. salt
Pinch of sugar                  1 1/2cups flour   ¼ tsp. baking soda
½ cup buttermilk              1 egg beaten
Combine dry ingredients,  with a fork, cut in shortening.  Combine egg
And buttermilk, add to dry ingredients.  Mix well, form into 2 balls and
Chill. 
    For drop dumplings, drop  small tablespoonfuls into boiling chicken and vegies, cover with a lid.  Keep heat on low.  Don’t take lid off for l5 minutes; test dumplings with a toothpick for doneness, may need to cook a little longer (Size of dumplings).  That’s it.

If you have made 2 balls of dough and used only one, roll second ball out thin.  Cut into 1 inch square pieces, freeze individually.  The next time you cook chicken drop these into the boiling stew, cover with lid, cook for 15 minutes.  This is called slick dumplings.  This is what you get at Cracker Barrel that is so delicious.
        If you prefer to cook your chicken you can start with as little as 2 or 3 chicken thighs. Add 1 or 2 bay leaves to chicken.  When chicken is done, debone, add chopped vegies, cook until vegies are almost tender. Add dumpling mixture and follow top recipe. 
   There is another chicken and dumpling recipe.  My Grandma McDonald
always did it this way.  She stewed the chicken, added no vegies, made a gravy; combine flour and milk, (amount changes with amount of chicken cooked).  Add flour and milk, (no lumps) to chicken broth. Now you have chicken and gravy. 
   Then you make little biscuits.  They must be cut little to absorb the gravy.  I have the inner piece of a donut cutter that I use.  You can use Bisquick (just add milk) or any biscuit recipe.  Canned biscuits cut into pieces would work.  Bake the biscuits in the oven, then add to the chicken and gravy. 
   The thing you must watch for is: if you make chicken and gravy, then add the dough, lid and simmer for 15 minutes, the chicken may stick to the bottom of the pan.  The first recipe without gravy, was nice and brothy and did not stick to the bottom of the pan when dumplings were cooking.

   Then there is the case of chicken pot pie.  I was blown over with KFC flaky potpie.  But have not been able to duplicate it.  January has a ways to go, and I am working on it.
   In the good ’ole days we raised our chickens, dressed them, and sometimes froze our own.  Probably some  taste has been lost in our progress.  Buy the best chicken you can find, it will be worth it.   
   If you want something different, try Chicken Wings.
                             Chicken Wings
1 bag frozen chicken wings
1 pound light brown sugar
5 ounces teriyaki sauce
Little minced garlic
Combine and spread over wings. Bake at 400 until done.  Delicious!

    Correction: In December blog the Pistachio Crinkle Cookie Recipe
was incomplete.  “Where’s the Flour?”  Add 1 ½ cups flour to recipe and
it should be fine.  Sorry about that mistake.