Thanks Dad....Miss you....

This post is dedicated to my Dad who passed away in January of 2010. I have been racking my brain trying to remember my earliest moments with my Dad. I remember my first tractor ride with him. I don't know how old I was but riding on the big wheel cover of the tractor was great fun or sitting in his lap while he was driving was a big deal for me back then. I think all of us siblings cherished those memories because we all wanted our turn at riding no matter how dangerous it was. (We look back at how we were perched on the wheel and now know it was a foolish and dangerous thing to do.)

I also remember helping out with the dairy. If Stan wasn't around or he had to be at school early, helping to milk the cows would be my chore. Feeding hay, grain and helping out in the milking parlor was hard work for a young girl but when one grows up on a farm, you do what you have to in order to help out making a living for the family. There was one time when I was chasing a cow on the cement floor and that cow had just pooped a warm cow pie onto the floor. I tired to dodge the big cow pie, but somehow slid into the whole thing. My Dad said, "Way to slide into third base!" I had cow pie EVERYWHERE!!! I'm sure we all had a laugh at that because when I got home, I didn't smell too pretty and had to go to school smelling like a dairy....

Then as I got older, my Dad did little things that I will always remember. When I came back to Oregon as a single parent, my Dad made sure I always had a Mother's Day present from my daughter. The first year I was home, he said he was taking my daughter shopping. I had no idea what those two did or where they went, but on Mother's Day, my daughter had a gift waiting for me wrapped in a pretty box. The little things is what makes a Dad special.

My Dad had a few favorite things he would have me make for him. One of those items was a blackberry pie. So here's my recipe for my version of marion berry or blackberry pie.

Pie crust - you can go to the store a purchase a pre-made crust or you can use a crust I use from scratch.

3 cups flour
1/2 cup butter (cold)
1/2 cup shortening (cold)
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons ice water

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mix resembles peas. Add 1 tablespoon at a time into the processor and continue to pulse until the mix comes into a ball. Pull the ball together and wrap into plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour. When you're ready to use the dough, roll it out to fit a 8-9 in pie plate and place on the bottom of the pie plate. Fill the pie with your filling and dot with 2 tablespoons butter. Roll out the top portion of the pie crust and place on top crimping the edges to seal the pie. Use your fingers and brush a fine film of cream on top of the pie. Cut slits into the pie so the steam will be released. Cover the edges of the pie with tin foil or use a pie cover (you can purchase these at your favorite kitchen store). Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes and then bake an additional 30 minutes at 350 degrees. During the last ten minutes, remove the foil or pie cover. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve warm with ice cream.

Berry mixture:

5 cups fresh or frozen berries
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (depening on the sweetness of the berries)
1/2 cup flour (this will thicken the sauce for the berries)

Combine all and pour into the pie crust.

Things that go bump in the night.....what a slumber party

I have been trouble sleeping lately and so on one of "those" sleepless nights, I tried to think of something to write about. Since it was in the middle of the night I was reminded of what occurred about 21 years ago when both our youngest girls were having a slumber party in our house.

The "incident" happened when Mike and I were engaged and for some reason, the youngest daughter was having a slumber party in our now living room. Back then, it was a large unfinished room with a cave like entrance (yes, it was a hippie cave entrance with a rock wall on both sides separating the dining room and the unfinished room.) The rest of the rooms are on the other side of the house and you can't really hear anything once you've gone to bed. Mike slept upstairs in a sound proofed room and there was no one else in the house at the time.

I got a call around 1 a.m. from the youngest daughter who woke me up from a deep sleep. She was frantic, crying, screaming and swore she and her friends could hear sounds in the house. This daughter and her friends were sure someone was in the house and they were afraid to go anywhere in the house for fear the intruder would "get them". The sounds coming from the phone were sounds of pure fright from 6-10 young girls around the age of 10. So I told them to stay on the line while I tried to call Mike who was sleeping soundly upstairs in the sound proofed area. Somehow, the phone got disconnected and he never answered the phone. He continued to sleep through all the drama that was taking place in the unfinished room downstairs.

I then called 911 and notifed them there might be a prowler in a house full of young children and I couldn't waken the dad from his sleep. I then called a trusted neighbor and asked him to go to the house and see if the girls were okay. Now you have to remember this all happened within a span of about 10 minutes. As soon as the neighbor came to the door, he called me back to let me know he was in the house. The time was now 1:10. I got in the car and drove over to our now current home. When I got here, the police were here, the neighbors were here and Mike was just waking up because of all the commotion outside. What drama!!!!

By the time we got everyone's stories straight (no prowler)and got the girls calmed down, neighbors gone, and police gone, it was 2 a.m. The whole house was awake now and everyone was hungry. I decided to make pancakes and apple compote for everyone. So around 2:30 we had an early breakfast where we all sat around the dining room table, ate pancakes and laughed at how foolish we all were. That night, it took the young girls a while to calm down, but food helped. Soon the girls were giggling and sleeping.

So here's my recipe for the apple compote. Its so easy and you'll want to make it whenever you have pancakes.


You will want to use your favorite pancake mix or batter. I use a simple mix, but I always use an egg (even when the recipe doesn't call for it) and milk instead of water. By doing this, you get a much better tasting pancake.

Apple Compote

4 large gala apples - slice them thinly and place them in a skillet
Add 1/4 cup butter
Add 1/2 cup brown sugar

Stir the apples and the syrup that is made by the butter and brown sugar until the mixture thickens and the apples become semi-tender. Serve over pancakes or waffles.

Has God ever shaken your world?

Almost 21 years ago, God decided to shake up my life. I had a great job in management, just had a new house built for me and my daughter was thriving. I was happy with life in general and didn't want anything to rock my life and world.

Many of you know I was a victim of domentic abuse in my first marriage and after that marriage ended, I vowed I'd never trust a man again. So much for that statement!! God decided I needed to learn some new principles by placing a special person in my life.

While playing keyboard on a worship team with another church, I met a man who ran sound and slides for worship. He asked me out on a date with another couple (that's another story for another time), and my life hasn't been the same since. Of course, that's in a good way.

While this man wanted to get closer, I wanted to pull away, but somehow, God helped this man to be patient and this man kept trying. Eventually 21 years ago, he proposed to me and tomorrow we will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.

How does a victim of abuse heal old wounds and baggage and make a marriage work? Well, it's a long process and one that I still work on. I learned through Jesus Christ that I could forgive my ex-husband for the abuse and also learned that I could love a man again fully and completely. My husband has the patience of Job and when "baggage" crops up, he waits patiently until I can work it through. I've learned that marriage can be happy but it takes a lot of work and dedication on both of our parts. I love to cook for my husband and his favorite is Mac and Cheese and hamburgers. So I'm showcasing Fried Mac and Cheese balls.

In gaining a husband, I also gained the many children I had always wanted plus even some grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. God has so blessed me in this relationship and I give Him all the glory. Proverbs says it so well: 3:5&6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

HAPPY 18TH ANNIVERSARY HONEY BUNNY!!!!!

Macaroni & Cheese Balls (FRIED)

Make a bechemel sauce or a white sauce as my mom always called it:

3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter
2 to 2 1/2 cups milk

Melt the butter and add the flour until the flour absoarbs all the flour. Add milk and stir until thickened.

Add 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Add 2 cups Shredded Gouyre Cheese

Add to 2 cups of cooked elbow macaroni and place in an oblong dish. Regrigerate until solid. Shape the hardened mac and cheese into small balls and place these on a cookie sheet. Freeze until these are solid.

To two eggs, add 1 Tablespoon water and beat together. Place this in a bowl. In another dish, place bread crumbs or panko. Roll the balls into the egg wash and then into the panko crumbs. Refreeze the balls unitl solid again. Take these out only when the oil is hot and ready to fry.

Heat 1 quart of oil to frying temp 350-375 degrees and drop the frozen balls into the hot oil. Fry the balls until golden brown. Serve immediately with a cream-mararina sauce.

Cream Sauce
1 jar mararina sauce
1/2 cup sour cream

Mix and serve with the fried mac and cheese balls. This will make about 20 balls. Enjoy.

Saturday rituals on the farm....

As I sit working on the computer and watching my housekeeper clean, I have flash-backs to when I would clean for my mother long ago. I love having a clean, fresh smelling house, but unfortunately, I can't clean like I used to and have a housekeeper who comes in to clean my floors, dust and do an overall deep cleaning once a month. Having the housekeeper is one of the pleasures I enjoy and even though she may be expensive, I appreciate all she does for me.

Growing up, my family knows that once a week on Saturdays, we would clean house. Bathrooms, mopping floors, dusting, and sweeping floors. I remember my mom telling me, "To get the floors really clean, you must get on your hands and knees and scrub." I would get on all fours and with a knife, scrape and clean the floors changing the water at least two to four times. Washing the utility room floor was a different matter because this was like a mud room and the floors would get so dirty especially since dad was a farmer and dairyman. The visual picture still remains in my head as I remember cleaning those floors.

Each person had their own "chores" in cleaning while growing up. I tried to instill in my own children to clean the house once a week and it worked until they became teens. One of my favorite things to do was to pay one of my daughters a quarter every time she cleaned the bathroom (the one area I still don't like to clean). Believe it or not, she would jump at the chance to make a bit of money. I look back at this and just laugh and if you asked her, she would tell you all she could think about was the quarter she would earn. (Side note: When this daughter and I moved into a new house, I needed to clean up some rocks around the house so I paid her 1 cent for every rock she picked up. That's another story to tell at another time, but it was funny too with what happened.)

Okay - So back to my growing up years.....While cleaning, mom would be cooking, baking or getting ready for the weekend meals. Saturday nights would likely include chocolate cake with frosting, Zwiebach, cold cuts and peaches or some type of fruit. Here is her recipe for sour cream chocolate cake. Enjoy....As a side bonus, this cake uses no shortening or butter.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
3 Tablespoons cocoa (unsweetened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sour cream

Combine all indgredients and mix with a beater for 3 minutes. This is a smallish cake and you can use a 13x9 pan or a square 9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Here is a trick to get your cakes out of the pan fool-proof. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. When your cake comes out of the oven, use a knife to loosen around the edges and then flip the cake onto a cooling rack.

Chocolate Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
pinch salt (probably 1/4 teaspoon)
milk

Mix these ingredients together and use the milk to make the frosting to a spreading consistency. Spread on the cooled cake.