One of the things I try to do in life is to find blessings in situations that are considered to be negative. Last week I wrote about my cousin Jimmy, who passed away on February 21st. My son Jonathan, my grandson Elijah, and I traveled to Tennessee for the visitation and funeral. Although our trip was for a sad occasion, it was good to visit with family that I have not seen for several years. During the time we were…..
I can’t let October get away without featuring apple recipes. I have collected them for years and have tried lots of them along the way. Several years ago, a friend of mine called me the “apple lady” because she was fascinated with all the different things I made with them. I used to spend a lot of hours at the orchard picking our favorite varieties. When the season for harvesting apples was over, my freezer would be full of them,…..
During the weeks of late spring and early summer, our theme song could have been, “Who’ll Stop the Rain?” The sun seemed to be in constant hiding, and we had way more precipitation than we needed. While all that was going on, I kept wondering how July and August would be, remembering other wet springs that were followed by long dry spells. Sure enough, our theme song changed from the one previously mentioned to “I Wish It Would Rain.” Last…..
When I spend time reminiscing about former times, I recall long-time friends, former pets, and favorite places. For some reason, this morning I started thinking about old cars. If they could talk, each of them would have lots of stories to tell. The first vehicle I remember was a light green Chevrolet my parents dubbed “Old Huldy.” It may have been a 1949 model, I am not totally sure, but it came from somewhere around that year. The back of…..
During my childhood, Easter was often referred to as “Resurrection Sunday.” Those of us who are Christians understand the reference, but in today’s society, many people do not. Jesus, the Son of God, came into our world as a baby. He was born to a mother who was a virgin; His Father was God Himself. Jesus began His ministry to others around the age of thirty. The Bible records His story in four different Gospels, located in the New Testament;…..
I learned creative cooking from my mother. Or maybe I should say, I often observed my mother cooking creatively. I don’t think it is something that can be taught; one has to have a natural ability to be able to do so. There are some people who should just follow a recipe and be done with it. My high school home economics teacher showed our class how to make homemade pizza. For the crust, she used a boxed hot roll…..
When searching for inspiration to help me write “Cooks’ Corner,” I often check out a list of National (Fill-in-the-Blank) Months. August is National Peach Month, so this week’s column is dedicated to that luscious fruit. There is nothing like biting into a ripe, fuzzy-skinned peach and having juice run down my chin. Sitting here thinking about it is making my mouth water. Past summers were filled with a whole lot more canning and freezing that what I do now, as…..
Although National Ice Cream Day (July 15th) is over, the cool thing is that July is still National Ice Cream month. It was designated as such in 1984 by then-president Ronald Reagan. During the summer, many people enjoy making homemade ice cream. In this day and age, there are many electric-powered devices to aid in the process. However, I remember the old-fashioned hand-crank variety. People usually took turns rotating the handle that spun a metal container around and around in…..
I almost forgot about Father’s Day this year. Maybe it’s not too surprising; my dad, my father-in-law, and my husband are no longer living and so the significance of the day doesn’t stand out like it did formerly. But since I remembered, I have some thoughts on the subject. First of all, I think about my grandfathers. I never knew either of them, as they passed away before I was born. However, their lives had an impact on mine because…..
One of the blessings of summer is fresh berries; blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries are some of my favorites (in that order). I have read quite a bit lately about the health benefits of these berries, and there is not one of them that I don’t enjoy eating by the handful. Of the three, blackberries are probably my favorite because I have so many memories of picking them. All the effort was rewarded with one bite of my mother’s blackberry pie. …..