Recipe ......day # 13

Oops! I missed the normal Wednesday Recipe again. Maybe there is something about that #13 thing. Well I'm not normally superstitious about these things, so I will proceed with the Recipe after this brief disclaimer. We were very busy on Wednesday with a trip to the airport. Kari will be participating in the wedding of one of her best friends who lives in Sweden. I'm sure she will take the opportunity for some vacation activities with her friends and family as well. Here we are at the airport just before boarding the flight to Sweden.

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When the rest of us left the airport we went back into Houston for a visit to the Farmer's Market on Airline Drive, to eat lunch at The Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Houston, and to take a brief shopping trip before our return home. Some of the produce items we bought at the farmer's market included fresh green beans, new potatoes, and onions. I cooked the green beans, thus we get the following recipe:

Farmer's Market Green Beans

2 -3 "handfuls" of fresh green beans, snip ends and peel strings if any

8 - 10 new red potatoes, whole or cut in half

1/2 onion, sliced or coarsely chopped

4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced or minced

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

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Prepare first 3 ingredients as described or as you prefer and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients with the onions in a large pot and heat on medium high on your cook top. Cook these ingredients until the bacon is done and the onions are translucent (5 - 10 minutes). Add the remaining ingredients to the pot with enough water to completely cover the ingredients in the pot. Raise the heat as needed to bring the water to a boil and continue to boil until the beans are done and the potatoes are soft (20 - 40 minutes).

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This recipe is original and was not copied from any particular cook book. I did refer to several different cook books for suggested recipes and cooking ideas for fresh green beans. These are the books which I have previously cited for some of the recipes I have already shared with you in this blog. Feel free to follow this recipe or change it as you desire according to your own tastes or preferences. You may copy, edit, and share this recipe with you family and friends as you desire. Please enjoy your Farmer's Market Green Beans and reply or comment with any changes or additions you might suggest to the recipe.

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Hello Dolly

Oops! Wrong Dolly.

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Tropical Storm Dolly has been upgraded to Hurricane Dolly. At this point the storm seems to be coming ashore well south of our location. We will continue to monitor the situation and remain vigilant to any changing conditions. Pam and I have weathered a number of these storms and we always try to prepare in advance with supplies of food, water, batteries, and other emergency items. Our most notable hurricane experiences were with Alicia in 1983 and Rita in 2005. We rode out Hurricane Alicia in our home and the eye of the storm passed directly over our house in the early morning hours of August 18. With visions of that event in our mind we decided to evacuate on Wednesday, September 21 for Hurricane Rita. The hurricane itself was pretty much a "non-event" but, the evacuation became the most grueling and tiring experience I can remember. What would have been a 3 or 4 hour drive in normal circumstances turned into a 28 hour driving ordeal with a caravan of 4 cars full of our valuables and each member of the family, including 2 friends of the family and their dog as well as our own 3 dogs, 6 cats, 2 chinchillas, and 2 cockatiels. Our only stops were for gas until we reached our destination. We are still thankful to my brother and his family and to Pam's brother and his family for putting us up in their homes for the few days we stayed away before returning home.

Summer Time Blues

No, I'm not referring to the "Summertime Blues" (1958), a 12-bar blues standard song by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart about the trials and tribulations of teenage life in America. (Song and artist information is from Wikipedia.)


I'm referring to the beautiful blue water in the swimming pool.

Janna has been inviting all of us over to her apartment to swim in the pool.

Kira has been going for 'Water Babbies' lessons at a local swimming pool. Do we have a potential olympic swimmer?

Recipe Wednesday #12

This week I found a recipe in one of those advertising inserts from the Sunday newspaper. It was one of those inserts with all the grocery and other coupons and other advertising for most national name brand products. This recipe looked like a quick and easy recipe and something which might be good to prepare and cook out on the grill for great weekend or family event. It was found in the insert with an ad and a Manufacturer's Coupon for Owens Fresh Roll Sausage. You may follow the link for more information about the Owens company, their products, and more of their recipes. Here follows a recipe for:

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Owens Backyard Burgers

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1 lb. Owens Original Roll Sausage

1 lb. ground beef

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

8 hamburger buns

Lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced onion (suggested toppings)

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In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients. Form into 8 patties. Over medium heat on grill, cook burgers on each side until done (no longer pink), about 10-15 minutes. Serve with buns and favorite toppings.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

Yields: 8 burgers

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I hope you have an opportinity to try this or any of my other recipes and have a pleasant eating experience with your family and friends. Enjoy!

ISP - Internet Service Provider (or Problem?)

Ah, this technical age. Ain't it Wonderful? We have all been led down this merry path about how wonderful this New Technological Age is today. Why with cell phones, computers, the internet; what else could you want or need? All these new gadgets are supposed to bring us closer together, save us time, and expand our opportunities to learn from and interact with each other. Hey, all this is fine and good, as long as it is all working. Last week I was having a variety of problems with my computer and the internet. The computer kept "crashing" by shutting down and rebooting with that little message that I could restart in "safe mode" and find and fix this problem. Easier said than done. No I don't have an IT or programming degree. I must muddle through the process the best I can with the Help screens provided along with the computer and the software and most of them are now internet based. They want to go off onto the internet for connection to some server where all that information is conveniontly stored for instant access. Yeh right, as long as your internet connection is working properly! That is when I began to notice that the internet didn't seem to be working properly. Now I am not only trying to figure out the problem with the computer, but I have to check my wireless router and the cable modem as well. I know what happens when you call the Internet Service Provider, they go through this whole set of questions about whether you have rebooted your computer, if you have reset your wireless router, and if you have checked your power supply to your modem. Heaven forbid that I insinuate the problem may be at their end. Well I go through the "safe mode" scenario and restore a previous setting for the computer and all seems well. Next I unplug the wireless router, and then the modem. I wait a few mintes and plug them back in according to previous instructions given when I went through this process in the past. Still no go! I repeat this process again and while I have everything unplugged I go back and check my computer. I also turned on another computer which I sometimes use which has a direct wired connection to the router. After reconnecting all the cables and power supplies I get the computer connection to the wireless router established and all seems well. Whoa, not too fast. There is still no internet connection. Now it's time to call the ISP. Well you probably now how this works. You listen to one of those recorded messages, you make your selections and after a number of overlapping menus you finally get told "your call will be answered by the service technicians in the order in which it is received". I always get ideas of banks of telephone switchboards with a number of operators sitting and waiting to switch your call to the proper technician to handle your own particular problem. When I was a kid my mother worked as a telephone operator for Bell Telephone and later for a large retail store, Montgomery Wards, and after that she worked for a large insurance and service provider in Texas. I remember seeing pictures of her sitting at one of those switchboards with a half dozen or so other operators answering and switching calls to their proper destination. I know it doesn't work that way any more, but I still get that picture in my mind when I call a large company with some problem, a complaint, or even to just get some information about their products or services. Well anyway I finally spoke with someone who seemed knowledgable, pleasant and most helpful. I explained my problem and the steps I had taken to solve it. He politely explained that a number of other people in my area have been having similar problems because of a recent series of thunderstoms we had been having. Before returning the modem for replacement he suggested that I do as I had done previously except that I wait approximately 30 mintes before replugging power supplies to each part of my system. I thought 'sure, like the modem and the router can tell the difference between 2 or 3 minutes and 30 minutes'. I am skeptical but I try it as he has suggested. Success! The internet is restored and the computer seems to be working for now. Now I can finally do that Blog which I wanted to get posted for this weekend. Now, what was I going to write about? I can't remember! One of the principals I have worked with called this "Old Timers Disease" but that is another topic for another day. I find that sometimes I have to get away from something for a while and then I will remember what I was doing before I started working on that other ISProblem.

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P. S. I can't find that picture of my mother at the switchboard. If I can find it I will post it for all to see. Perhaps my brother has that picture in his photo album. He regularly posts old family photos. See his Blog, Horst Household Happeninmgs.

Recipe Wednesday #11

The Unknown Recipe

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While looking for a recipe this week, I came across a handwritten recipe on a sheet of paper taken from a tablet or pad of paper. At the bottom of the recipe there was a brief note written "For Pam". I did not recognize the writing and it did not seem to be a recipe familiar to me. I asked my wife, Pam, to whom the recipe seemed to have been directed. She was not familiar with the recipe and she did not recognize the handwriting either. We are not sure where the recipe came from or who may have given it to Pam. So this week we will have the The Unkown Recipe "For Pam":

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Corn Casserole

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1 Tbs Sugar

1 Can cream style corn

1 Can whole Kernel corn, drained

1 Can Rotel, chopped & drained

1 1/4 cup cracker crumbs

1 egg

1/4 C to 1/2 C chopped onion

1/2 C chopped green pepper

1 small can evaporated milk

1 large cheese whiz or 1 lb. velveeta, cubed

1 stick butter melted

Mix well, pour into greased baking dish. Bake forty minutes at 350 degrees. (Knife inserted should come out clean.) If not done, turn off oven and leave casserole in for awhile.

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For Pam

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Well, there it is, The Unknown Recipe "For Pam", Corn Casserole. I hope that you have an opportunity to try this recipe and that you find it pleasing for yourself and your family.

Independence Day!

Waiting for our neighborhood 4th of July Parade.

Start of the Parade.

Houston Mayor, Bill White.

The end of the parade.

Have a Great 4th of July!

Recipe Wednesday #10

While looking for a recipe this week I found a sheet printed from a computer printer which was a recipe printed from a website. The recipe is printed on the page below a brief story explaining the circumstances behind the recipe, very similar to what I do here on this blog. Instead of simply giving you a recipe, I try to give you the story behind the recipe. Rather than simply reprint the recipe directly into my blog post I thought it might be interesting to simply add a link and let you follow the links to get the recipe. (As I was typing the website into my browser I'm thinking how similar this is to one of my brothers new blog sites, Links 2 Oblivion. I believe the title makes it self evident about what the site is about so I won't explain that here. You may follow that link to learn more about Web Oblivion!) Now, back to the recipe story. . . I was completely surprised when the web page came up in my browser window. What I saw was the entry page into an Adults Only website. I quickly checked back to the the recipe page and I checked the web address I had typed into my browser. I even opened a different browser to see what would happen with the site in another browser. Oh yes, the same results. I looked again at the page I had with the printed recipe. I had typed the web site into my browser correctly but, the date was printed at the bottom of the page. It was somewhat difficult to read since the printer settings had cut it off partially because it was printing near the margin. I could just make out what appears to be the date, 10/30/00. That made this original site almost 8 years old. Knowing that things may change quickly on the internet, I figured that someone else must have acquired that URL Address. Boy, what a shock for moms with their kids who may be innocently searching for a cookie recipe! Not to be undone by this shocking glitch, I tried a different approch to see if I could find this recipe at a link for you to follow. Success! As I reread the introductory paragraph on the recipe page I noted that the recipe stemmed from an Urban Legend. (Again, I won't go into that story here. Maybe my brother will do that in his new blog.) I tried a search using the words "urban legend cookies" and I found what I was looking for:

Urban Legend Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Please follow the link above for the recipe and the story. I believe you and your family will enjoy the cookies from the recipe, as well as the story about them. Incidentally, the recipe sheet I have simply titles them as "Legendary Cookies" and a brief story about the urban legend. Enjoy!

Picture Frenzy

My wife, Pam, recently went into a picture taking frenzy. Several years ago I gave her a digital camera for Christmas. Of course there was a liberal dose of Christmas pictures that year. Then as special occasions came up we would have a new set of birthday pictures and an occasional picture for Mother's Day, Father's Day, a set of vacation pictures, or whatever the occasion might be. Then the camera seemed to go dormant for a while. It came out ocassionaly and was shoved into my hands to snap a few pictures. Recently I got my own digital camera as well as a one of those inexpensive HD video cameras. Pam's camera seemed to have disappeared for a while. Then, with the Grandaughter, Kira, growing and changing so fast the camera has recently been resurrected from the closet. Here follows some of Pam's recent photographic endeavors:

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Here is a really good picture of Kira taken recently.

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Next is a picture of Kira with . . . ?

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Kira with . . . ?














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Wait a minute! What happened to the grandbaby? These are pictures of clouds.












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I'm looking through pictures from Pam's camera and all of the sudden I come across a whole set of pictures of clouds. It seems Pam has a particular fascination with clouds. One recent afternoon, just before sunset Pam went out and saw these clouds. She came back in for her camera and went out taking pictures of every cloud in sight. She tells me these are Mammatus Clouds and are usually seen after a severe thunderstorm has passed. Earlier that day we had experienced a set of passing thunderstorms, which is a usual weather occurence for this part of Texas at this time of year. For more information on Mammatus Clouds you may follow the links to the Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Recipe Wednesday #9

Well let’s try to get back into a routine. This is Wednesday and I did miss a recipe day last week. More about how busy I’ve been and why I missed last week’s recipe at a later time. Let’s get right to the recipe.
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This week I have taken the recipe from Creative Cooking, you may remember that was the cookbook inspired by and dedicated to my sister, Michal. (Refer to my previous Recipe with the Creative Cooking link. [Mouse Hint (no not the mice in your attic): When you put your cursor over the link, right click and choose "Open in New Window" or "New Tab" and you will not have to keep using the 'Back Arrow' in your Browser.] The recipe this week is another one of her recipes and is entitled Five Can Stew. I don’t remember if she ever made this when I was visiting with her. She did not do a lot of cooking when I was around. I do remember her cooking once and inviting me over for a special recipe she wanted to try. As I recall that recipe was Swedish Meatballs. I can’t seem to find that particular recipe and there is an interesting story that goes along with that recipe but, that will have to be at a later time. For now, the Five Can Stew seemed to be a proper substitute. Please try this recipe and enjoy Five Can Stew with your family and friends.
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Five Can Stew
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2 lb. ground meat
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (No. 303*) can mixed vegetables
1 (No. 303) can tomatoes
2 (No. 303) can whole new potatoes, diced
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce (such as Hunt’s new tomato sauce special with tomato bits, onion, celery, and green peppers)
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Brown Meat and onion. Drain excess grease. Add vegetables, tomatoes, diced new potatoes and tomato sauce including all juices from cans. Bring to boil; simmer 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves 4-6 generously.
Easy and the perfect solution to what to fix quickly after work for super.

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*Please note: A No. 303 can is a measurement of 2 cups or 16 oz.

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Disclaimer: Please remember that I type these things in just as they are printed from the original source in order to retain the original flavor (more than obvious reference to recipes and food) of the recipe as printed. Please note super at the end of the recipe. I guess this is supposed to be supper. I guess it could be a reference to a super supper or perhaps a super husband for whom you are preparing this supper. When I type these recipes the ‘spell checker’ and ‘grammar checker’ go wild. Recipes seem to be filled with phrases, incomplete sentences, and run-on sentences. I guess I need a ‘Recipe’ setting in the word processor which will allow these kinds of phrases which appear to be numerous in older recipes. At any rate, I hope you will try this recipe from my sister Michal. I’m sure she would hope that it will bring you and your friends and family a bit of enjoyment and fellowship at your next meal whether it is super or supper!

Oops! You can't do that.

One of my own items on the Summer "To Do List" for this summer is to organize and clean up some of the photos and videos on my computer. I was looking through some of the earliest videos taken and I found some interesting mistakes which have been made. Here I'll share one of those earlier problems which I didn't give much thought to at the time. A couple of years ago I gave one of those small digital video cameras to Pam for Christmas. You know how Christmas goes. You open the package and want to start using it immediately. No one has time to read instructions or look at the sugggestions for use. We really never did that as I remember and we have been using that camera occasionally to get short, quick videos at various special family events. What follows is one of those early videos we took at the Birthday Party for Quianna at her second birthday. She is the daughter of my niece, Meridith, and her husband, Victor. Take a look at this video:

Did you notice the problem with this video? I'm sure you noticed it needs to be rotated for the image to be upright. I knew that rotation of photo images was possible in several of the photo programs I currently use. Oops! It never occured to me that I would not be able to rotate video images, or at least if it is possible, I have not yet found the program which will do this. I would appreciate any comment which might help me with this problem.

More Than a Day, More Than a Dollar!

Well the Father's Day Off ended up being a little more than a day. Hey, it's summer, what can I say? I will soon fill in for the missing Recipe and Family news items. I have been extremely busy with a few of those "Honey Do" projects helping Pam around the house and in the yard. Janna and I have been busy with some "summer training" for school and for some personal interests which we are trying to develop. I've also been online attempting to plan a brief summer vacation and to do research into some of our "developing interests". Sometimes when online I may get sidetracked and spend more time with the interesting and funny things found online. I'm not sure what category the following web site would fall into. You can decide for yourself. The following website is one designed by a young man attempting to use the internet to become a millionaire. I think he may have done it! Take a look for yourself at what is reportedly a Million Dollar Website!

$ $ $ Million Dollar Website $ $ $

Father's Day Off!

To all you dads out there, Happy Father's Day!

Enjoy your day.

Recipe Wednesday #8

This is Wednesday and it's on schedule for this recipe. This is a recipe which I found in a small, brown ring binder with 4x6 inch pages. Some recipes are handwritten and some are newspaper or magazine cut-outs of recipes which have been pasted onto the pages. This notebook of recipes is another one of those items found when we cleaned up the house after my mother-in-law passed away. The recipe this week is obviously a yellowed newspaper clipping. I have no idea where or when it was originally printed. Please try the recipe. I'm sure your family will enjoy:

Lemon Chess Pie

6 eggs

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons butter

juice of 2 lemons

pinch of salt

Put eggs in blender and let whirl for a few rounds. Add 1 cup of sugar and turn blender on and off. Add 2 cup sugar and to the same. Add melted butter, salt and juice and whizz it a bit more. Pour into an unbaked 8 inch pie shell and bake in a 350 oven for 35 minutes.

Please note! The word choice and all spelling is exactly as printed on the original clipping. I'm not sure about the technical or official cooking definitions for "whirl" and "whizz". I'm not real sure but, I think you should "do" something with the sugar not "to" the sugar. I guess this newspaper article was probably done without a spelling or grammar checker. Maybe the Food Editor was having a bad day. At any rate, I hope you will enjoy the Lemon Chess Pie!

Recipe Wednesday #7 - Oops, It's already Friday!

I guess this will have to be 'Recipe Friday #1' or maybe 'Late Recipe Wednesday #1' or perhaps it should just be 'Recipe Wednesday #7 - Oops, It's already Friday!'

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I apologize for the late Recipe posting. I was extremely busy with close out procedures and other duties at my place of work. Some of you may know that I work in the field of education. For those who do not know, I work at a large public high school as a counselor and some of my duties include such things as preparing student schedules for next school year as well as grade and credit verifications for all grade level of my high school students, especially for those senior students who are graduating from school. This does include the unhappy task of helping those students with the upset of failing grades and incomplete credits. These students will either not promoting in grade level or will not graduate. They must plan for summer school or some other means of recovering the grade and credits required. As you can imagine the end of the school year can be one of the busiest times of our year. For another perspective and for a look at a different level of education and how busy the school year can be for educators you might be interested in my brothers Blog post "It's Always a Learning Experience" or "The End of an Era-Sort Of". These give his "perception of the world" as another educator. He is a kindergarten teacher at his current school assignment in Central Texas.

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Well, whatever the reason for the tardiness (more than obvious reference to the classroom and education) and whichever title you prefer, here is the Recipe for today:

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Aunt Dora's Pulled Mints

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2 cups sugar, 1/2 stick butter, 1 cup water, 1/8 tsp. oil of peppermint.

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If color is used, add at the first and cook in coloring. Combine ingredients. Put on stove and boil to 264 degrees F (hard ball). Pour out on marble. Cool 2 or 3 minutes. Make a fingerprint in the center of the candy and put in it 1/8 tsp. of peppermint. Fold all edges over. Pull until stiff, with little ridges. Stretch out on the edges of marble, away from the hot-spot. Cut with scissors. Leave on marble and cover with wax paper for the night. Store in airtight box. Might need to put a little butter on hands for pulling.

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Now, for the story behind this recipe. No, I don't have an Aunt Dora and neither does my wife! I was looking through one of our family recipe books for this weeks recipe. I found a piece of paper with a recipe printed on each side of it. This is not a hand written recipe. It was printed for public distribution by some individual or group. There is no other identification or reference to anyone or anything other than the two recipes. Neither my wife nor I are familiar with the recipe or the paper and where it might have come from. The cook book in which I found the paper is entitled "The Family Cookbook". I have not used this book for any recipe yet. The paper looks like it might have been cut or torn from another part of some kind of circular or advertisement. I simply thought the recipe looked good and it seemed like it might be easy to try. Please enjoy "Aunt Dora's Pulled Mints".

Grandparents - 2, or Two Grandparents

Pam and I are doing that Grandparents thing again (see my previous Blog from March 9, 2008). We have the granddaughter, Kira, for the day since mom and dad are both at work. Although it is work tending to a young child (I'm not sure we can say she is a baby now - she is growing up so fast) it is one of those things you don't mind and one might say it is even enjoyable. This is the 'Second' Blog entry for this topic - thus the title 'Grandparents - 2' but, Pam and I usually do this together as 'Two Grandparents'. I never really thought much about what these kinds of days might be like before I actally became a Grandparent. Yes, there have been some trying and even painful times going through through that 'Parenting' process. Yet, it has all been memorable and the Grandparenting thing seems to be making it all worthwhile. My brother recently entered his Blog on "Re-Looking at Re-Cycling" and it occured to me that Grandparenting is 'kind'a like' Re-Cycling Parenting.

I will occasionally Re-visit this topic of Grandparenting to share some of my thoughts and experiences on the topic.

Now for the real reason for this particular blog post - an opportunity to share with you the joy of Grandparenting:

Nap Time, No Not Yet!

Recipe Wednesday #6

This week I’m going to give a recipe for another one of my all time favorites, a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Rather than give the simple and quick version of this all time favorite, I decided to look at some of my recipe books and see what kind of recipes might be suggested for the plain and simple Grilled Cheese Sandwich. This recipe is taken from the following source: The Modern Family Cook Book, by Meta Given. The copyright date is 1953 and it was previously published in 1942. The recipe is for ‘Cheese Toasties’ on page 175. I believe we got this book from my wife’s mother after she passed away. As you can see by the date it is no longer so “modern” but I’m sure it was for my mother-in-law when she first got the cook book. I found the recipe to be an interesting variation on one of my own personal favorites, the grilled cheese. Here follows the recipe for “Cheese Toasties” which you may share with your family and friends for a delightful summer snack.

Cheese Toasties

½ pound American cheese, grated
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 to 4 tablespoons milk
Dash salt
6 hamburger buns
Butter

Mix grated cheese with mustard, milk and salt. Split buns in half, toast or not as desired, and spread cut surfaces with butter and cheese mixture. Place under the broiler and toast until cheese is puffy and golden brown. Serve hot. 5 or 6 servings.

Memorial Day

In memory of those who serve this country, especially those who gave their life in the protection of our Freedom.

Photo slideshow thanks to Picasa Web Albums

D. B. Cooper, Mystery I D

Who is this 'D. B. Cooper'? Where did he disappear to? Will he ever be found again? Does anyone know what happened to him? Not long ago I addressed a current "murder mystery" in one of my blog posts. Today I'll focus on a 'Mystery From Past History' (Nov. 24, 1971) which includes an airline hijacking, extortion, $200,000 in ransom, and a missing person who has yet to be found. This crime remains unsolved as of todays date. Will it ever be solved?

Please watch the following video of the CBS Evening News from November 25, 1971. This is only the beginning of the Mystery of D. B. Cooper, aka Dan Cooper (please note that Walter Cronkite initially refers to the hijacker as D. A. Cooper):





For more information you may link to:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec07/dbcooper123107.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17840873


Ian Punnet, the weekend host for Coast to Coast AM, is advertising a show addressing this topic for Saturday night May 24, 2008. He indicates he will have new information concerning this 'Mystery from Past History. You may link to their website through Coast to Coast AM.

Recipe Wednesday #5

This week I would like to share one of my favorite recipes with you. This recipe is found in one of my recipe books. The recipe book is America's Best Recipes: A 1994 Hometown Collection, published by Oxmoor House, Inc. Book Division of Southern Progress Corporation.

These recipes are submitted by different clubs, groups, and organization from across the country. This recipe is found in a section of the book entitled 'Quick and Easy Recipes' on page 13. I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Here is one of my favorite recipes for:

Breakfast

1 pound mild bulk pork sausage

1 (8-ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese
4 large eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper


Brown sausage in a skillet, stirring until it crumbles; drain. Place crescent roll dough in bottom of a greased 13- x 9- x 2-inch baking dish; press perforations and pinch seams to seal. Sprinkle reserved sausage and cheese over dough. Combine eggs and remaining ingredients; pour over mixture in dish. Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 8 servings.

Roaring Springs Recipes & Memories

Roaring Springs Volunteer Organization

Roaring Springs, Texas

Generations

This weekend I was listening to Coast to Coast AM with Ian Punnett, the weekend host, interviewing Neil Howe. While most of the interview concerned the book, The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by William Strauss and Neil Howe, one topic of discussion which arose was the topic of 'Generations'. At first I listened only in passing, as I had never really paid much attention to the topic of 'Generations'. Sure I had heard of the 'Boomers', 'Gen-X'ers, and more recently 'The Millennials'. I had never really paid much attention to the whole topic and it had never really caught my interest. I knew that it generally dealt with the history of the culture and events which were popularly associated with the groups of people who were born, raised, and came of age during an extended period of time in history. As a former History teacher this sounded fascinating and it aroused my interest. As I listened to some of the explanation about the different 'Generations' and the contrasts and comparisons between the different groups of people the whole topic began to become more intriguing. I determined I should do a little research, see if I could get more information, and try to ascertain if there was indeed anything to this 'Generations' thing. I found the topic to be very broad and there is a vast amount of information available. I also determined that there was more information than I could cover in one writing. I will try to break it down into a few interesting topics and give some explanation and insight into what I have learned about the topic of 'Generations'.

I will first focus on identifying three 'Generations' or distinct groups of people during the last century of U. S. History:

1. The Silent Generation: Members of this group were born between World War I and World War II and they were too young to have served during WW II, although many of them may have had fathers who served in WW I.
2. The Baby Boomers: This group is constituted of members who were born shortly after World War II. This period of time in U. S. History is distinguished by a general increase in the overall birthrate. This population explosion was also taking place in many countries around the world and there was generally a world wide "Baby Boom".
3. Generation X: This group consists of those who were born between about 1964 and 1981. Most members of this generation are the children of either the 'Baby Boomers' or the 'Silent Generation' and they came of age with such things as MTV, Cable TV, and Video Games.

One fact became immediately evident about the whole topic of 'Generations'. There is a variety of sub-groups within many of the groups and there is a bit of variation about the topics most influential and considered most important in determining the characteristics of each group. Sometimes popular culture and social trends seem most important while at other times politics and economic trends become more important in determining the specific period in history and the predominate characteristics of a particular 'Generation'. I will continue with this topic in a series of future Blog Posts and I will try to make some observations about some of our current affairs as affected by these 'Generations'.

Recipe Wednesday #4

Sometimes I find simple, easy recipes on the package or box for some food item I have bought at the local grocery store. The following recipe sounds like it would be very good and seems to be a simple as could be. This recipe was found on the side panel of a box of 'Kroger' brand 'Boil-in-Bag Rice'. With a little variation in ingredients and amounts the recipe could be easily changed to fit your own personal or family tastes or needs. I have not tried this recipe but I plan to soon make a:

"Quick Chicken Dinner"

1 bag Boil-in-Bag Rice

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 can (14 1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes

1 medium green pepper, cut into strips

1 cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Prepare rice while chicken is cooking. Sprinkle chicken with thyme, salt, and pepper.
In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil. Stir in all ingredients except rice. Simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, until chicken is done. Serve chicken mixture over hot cooked rice. Serves 4. Refrigerate any leftovers.

See below:

Recipe Sunday! Or is it Mothers Day Sunday?

Recipe Sunday? Wait a minute, I think I have something wrong here. Recipe day in this Blog is supposed to be Wednesday. Well this will be a variation on that weekly Blog Post to commemorate my sister, Michal, and Mothers Day Sunday. As previously mentioned Michal passed away after a brief battle with cancer. This was also after she gave birth to her first and only child, Meredith. As I explained earlier I am getting some of my recipes from the cookbook, "Creative Cooking" published for a young women's group from her church, West University Baptist Church. Instead of a recipe I have chosen to take an excerpt from a page entitled

"FOOD FOR THOUGHT"

"(Some of Michal's favorite scriptures)"

"You are the world's seasoning, to make it tolerable. If you lose your flavor, what will happen to the world? And you yourselves will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the world's light - a city set on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father."

Matthew 5:13-16

Please note the obvious reference to flavoring or seasoning - that is the recipe connection. What I noted was the positive message and thoughts of praise. That was my sister, Michal. Positive and thoughtful for all of those around her, even in her most trying of times.

You may see a picture of my sister, Michal, on my Second Recipe Wednesday.

Here is a picture of my daughters, Janna and Kari, with Michal's daughter, Meredith.

Here we have my wife, Pam, and my daughters, Kari and Janna.

Happy Mothers Day! (Pam, Kari, Meredith, and Michal)

and also to Britt, Thomas' mother (Kari's mother-in-law)

Recipe Wednesday #3

We need to get a main course meal for the weekly recipe.

The recipe this week came from a cook book we got from my wife's parents house after her mother passed away. The copyright date for this cook book is 1953. The recipe itself was not one of the recipes from the book. Instead, it was a recipe clipping from a newspaper or magazine which I found in the book with some other handwritten recipes and other papers. The date on one of these papers was May 11, 1965. I believe the following recipe was a clipping from the late fifties or early sixties which may have been found and cut out to be kept in the cook book for later use. I don't know if this recipe has ever been used by my wife or her mother. Pam did not remember the recipe either. Please try this recipe and see if it is right for you and your family. Enjoy!

Swiss Steak – Hunt Style

1 ½ lbs. round, chuck, or rump; Flour
1 medium sized onion, sliced; 3 tbsp. chopped green pepper
3 tbsp. fat; 1 can Hunt’s Tomato Sauce
1 cup water; 1 ½ tsp. salt; ¼ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Pour flour into steak and pound it in with edge of plate. Cook onion and green pepper in fat until tender. Brown meat on both sides in fat. Add delicious, spicy hunt’s Tomato Sauce, water, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Cover and simmer about 1 ½ hours or until meat is tender. Your family will rave . . . and you will save!

The following is a scan of that original newspaper or magazine clipping:

Murder Mystery Update!

Apparently there are others who are interested in the story of the "Smiley Faced Serial Killers". Charlie recently left his comment to my previous Murder Mystery Blog post and he directed me to his Sope-Bocks Blog. He has included some intersting details in his post which I did not include in my original post. Please see his post for even more information on this tragic mystery.

Sope-Bocks

Now and Then

How about some 'Now' and 'Then' photos. I'm going to try showing you some recent photos and then comparing them to some past photos. Well, well, well, this could be interesting!

Janna and Kari (with Kira) 'Now':

and

'Then' (notice what they had with them then):

Thomas, Kari, Kira, & don't forget Bruce 'Now':

and

'Then': (No, Bruce is not in this picture.)

Mom and Dad 'Now' (well, not exactly now but at least more recent than the next photo):

and

'Then':

Recipe Wednesday

As I mentioned last Wednesday, I will endeavor to bring you a new recipe every Wednesday on the HORST ONLINE Blog. This week I will again take the recipe from the 'Creative Cooking' cookbook published by the West University Baptist Young Women in 1978. This week I will use one of the recipes submitted by my sister, Michal Cook. She was a member of West University Baptist Church and part of the W. U. B. Young Women group. My sister passed away in March of 1977 after a brief battle with cancer and this cook book was dedicated to her. The dedication began with:


"This book is dedicated to Michal Cook, whose Christian spirit and faith under severe trial deeply affected our lives for our eternal good."


Please try, and enjoy the following recipe from Michal. This sounds like another good recipe for some summertime enjoyment.






CREAM OF CUCUMBER SOUP


Michal Cook


In the container of a blender combine:


2 c. peeled cucumbers, coarsely chopped
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. light cream
¼ c. chopped chives
¼ c. chopped celery leaves
3 sprigs of parsley
3 Tbsp. soft butter
2 Tbsp. flour



Cover the container and blend the mixture until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Serve either hot or cold. If served hot garnish with a very small amount of dill weed. If served cold, garnish with finely chopped cucumbers and a bit of grated lemon rind.

Murder Mystery

This is a very serious story of a sinister and upsetting topic with a set of bizarre and apparently still unknown facts. I will attempt here to summarize some of what is known and make you aware of the apparent mystery surrounding a number of deaths in numerous states across the country. My interest here is to let others know about these cases and to help spread awareness of the mystery surrounding these seemingly unrelated deaths. I will attempt to give a number of links to various sources related to the story and allow you to follow up on as many as you wish. You may then draw your own conclusions about the possibilities and hopefully help to spread the awareness of this story to others who may not have heard about this Murder Mystery.

Warning, this topic may be too upsetting for some and you may want to link off to another site at this time.

One of my favorite places to get away from it all!

I recently heard a news story on that late night radio talk show, Coast to Coast A.M. hosted by Ian Punnett who was filling in for the regular host George Noory. The topic of the story was the ‘Smiley Faced Serial Killers'. Investigative Reporter, Kristi Piehl, was interviewed and questioned by the radio talk show host. They discussed the cases of numerous unexplained deaths of young men who were last seen at a party are bar who then turned up missing. After some time their body turns up in a nearby body of water usually along the bank of some riverfront. Since the deaths were being investigated by a number of different local law enforcement agencies across the country, it was a number of years before anyone made a connection between the numerous cases. In all cases the deaths was initially ruled as an accidental drowning and usually explained away as tragic, but simply an accidental death blamed on the alcohol since the young men apparently had just left a party or bar. Finally, in one case the law enforcement agency involved went back and changed the ruling of death for Chris Jenkins in Minneapolis from undetermined drowning to homicide. Chris Jenkins went missing Oct. 31, 2002 and his body was later found in the Mississippi River in Feb. of 2003. This is when two retired New York City policemen began to make a connection to a previous case they first investigated more that 11 years ago. The initial case was investigated by then NYPD Sgt. Kevin Gannon who made a promise to the parents of Patrick McNiel that he would not let the case rest until he found the killer or killers. This seemingly intelligent and well fit young man was last seen leaving a NYC bar in 1997. His body was found 50 days later and 11 miles downriver from where he went missing. The parents “knew it wasn’t suicide” and then Sgt Gannon had a ‘feeling’ that there was more to the story than could be explained away as ‘accidental death by drowning’. Now retired Kevin Gannon has teamed up with a former colleague Anthony Duarte also from the NYPD and they have devoted their time and personal resources not only to the further investigation of the initial crime,the recent case of University of Minnesota college student Chris Jenkins, and also to dozens of other deaths from across the country over the last decade. All of these deaths which were blamed on a drunken accident now appear to be connected by a set of mysterious and bizarre similarities. The most striking similarity is the clue which has been found at a number of the sites not where the body was found along the waterfront but where investigators have tracked back to where they believe the body to have entered the water. Initially the only crime scene investigated was the site of where the body was found. Gannon and Duarte took a larger view and reasoned that bodies may have drifted and been found in a different location from the initial crime scene. Many of these initial crime scenes have been revealed to have contained similar ‘tags’ or graffiti, the most notable being a Smiley Face. Thus we have the mystery of the ‘Smiley Faced Serial Killers’.

You may use the following links if you wish to learn more about this apparent Murder Mystery:

Coast to Coast AM

Investigative Reporter, Kristi Piehl

Smiley Faced Serial Killers

Recipe Wednesday

New Feature!

Recipe Wednesday: I was looking through an old recipe book and I got the idea for a regular feature for my HORST ONLINE Blog. Every Wednesday I will endeavor to share a recipe from one of my numerous recipe sources with my Blog readers. The first recipe I share with you comes from 'Creative Cooking' a recipe booklet published by the West University Baptist Young Women. This was a social group at the Church my sister, Michal, attended when she first moved to Houston and after she was married. I will share several recipes by family and friends from this book and I will have more information about the recipe book in later blog posts. Let's get started with the recipe for now. The following recipe was submitted to the book by my mother, Bobbie Horst. I don't really ever remember her making this recipe, but I did find it in the recipe book. It sounds like it might be a good recipe for summer. Here we go with:

PICKLE SCRAMBLE
Bobbie Horst

1 (16 oz. ) bottle whole dill pickles
1 (16 oz. ) bottle whole sweet pickles
1 (16 oz. ) bottle whole sour pickles
1 cup brown sugar

Reserving juice from each jar, slice all pickles into strips. combine juice from each jar and add sugar. Stir well. Mix pickles together and add pickle liquid and sugar. Let stand in a large jar (or return mixed pickles to indivudual jars) for 12 hours or more. The longer their their flavors mix together, the better and crisper they are. For those who like pickles, this is a super recipe.



Please note: I have not personally tried this recipe as I just recently found it in the book. I do hope to try it soon. As already mentioned I don't remember my mother making Pickle Scramble for our family. If any of you Horst family members remember this recipe please leave me a comment to let me know. You are all invited to try it out and enjoy! Please come back for more recipes in future posts.

That Teacher Thing!

My brother recently wrote to an issue in one of his blog posts. Something about the Good, the Bad – no make that the Good, the Stupid (see his blog post for Sunday, April 6, 2008 by clicking on the link). The post dealt with some recent news stories he had seen or heard concerning educational type issues and the good or bad (stupid) results which follow. I’ve noticed that my brother and I frequently do similar things and this is one of those things. I tend to focus on education related news items and pay close attention to those stories. In fact, I had heard both of those same stories in the news and had some of the same thoughts as my brother concerning the issues related in those stories. I recently read a Letter to the Editor on the Editorial Page of the Houston Chronicle. This letter dealt with a tendency among many in this country to place the blame for the failures in education on teachers rather than on any personal, family, or social issues which might be involved. Please read that letter ‘Tired of being Scapegoat’ for the entire story. In her letter to the editor the writer refers to ‘Back to School’ a previous editorial about the No Child Left Behind Act. I agree with the writer of ‘Tired of being Scapegoat” wholeheartedly!

Now I’ll get to the point of this whole story. I’m trying to figure out if this is a family thing or a teacher thing. I believe this is one of those ‘teacher things’ since I taught school for a number of years before becoming a school counselor. My brother is also a teacher and has also been a principal and administrator in some of the districts in which he has worked. My sister was also an elementary school teacher and had worked at both private and public schools. Well now wait a minute. Now this is starting to sound like a family thing! How did we all end up being teachers? Neither my mother nor my father were teachers. I do remember though that they were both frequently at school for various reasons. My mother was in P.T.A. and I believe she may have been P.T.A. president a time or two. My father always came to school any time there was an event like the Fall Carnival or May Fate Dance. That was where each class in each grade level learned some sort of dance like a May Pole dance or Square dance. Each grade in turn went out onto the playground to perform their dance for on looking parents. Wow, what an event! Maybe that is why I hate to dance but, that is another whole topic.

For more information about my brother and his family as well as pictures of my sister you may visit his Blog at Horst Household Happenings. He has a Picture Monday thing where he posts old pictures from our childhood. Some of them or pretty interesting and they are a quant reflection on past times. They show what it was like for us growing up in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Now there is the History teacher in me. Maybe it is a 'teacher thing' after all!

Egg Hunt

Here is one for the books: An Easter Egg Hunt in a wading pool.

Since Kira is so young Kari was concerned about having the Egg Hunt outside. As it turns out she and her dad, Thomas, were both a little 'under the weather' so the Egg Hunt inside turned out quite alright. Check out the following family photos for the Easter Egg Hunt in a wading pool.

Relatively speaking it all went real well with all of the Houston family together for Easter.

Egg Hunt in a wading pool. Wasn't that an ingenious idea!

Janna watches on for all the festivities. Grandparents are in their usual place behind the camera.

Innocuous Suggestions!

I recently suggested to my brother in one of his Blog Posts that I liked the color 'Blue' in his Blog. See his Blog by linking here with 'Going Green', Thursday, March 27, 2008 or with the Horst Household Happennings to the right in Favorite Places and go to his post for that date. I indicated I would give him a few references which would explain my preference for Blue. Well, here goes . . .

Blue Hawaii: The first of three Elvis Presley movies filmed in Hawaii.

Blue Light Special: A discount store uses this phrase to signify their in store specials or sales.

Blue Jay: Popular bird in North America noted by its bright blue coloring and notable song pattern.

Bluebonnets: The Texas State Flower - I'll let the picture speak for itself!









Blues Jazz: Popular jazz music style also known as 'the blues'. My preference is New Age or Modern Jazz, but I do occasionaly listen to blues jazz.

Blue Ribbon: This refers to some high quality or highly rated item.

True Blue: To be loyal or faithful. This also seems to be popular as a song or album title. A number of companies also use this in a variety of slogans or promotions for their company or for their products or services.

Blue Moon: This refers to a rare occurrence or event.


Blue Angels, Blue Velvet, Blue Bayou, Blue Ridge Parkway, Blue Sky, Blue Water, Blue Man Group, Blue Oyster Cult, Jet Blue, Blue Ray, American Express Blue, Kelley Blue Book, Blue Jeans, Blue Crabs, Blue Cross-Blue Shield . . . . . . . . . . . .


Gee! When I suggested I liked Blue, I thought it was a rather innocuous suggestion. When I started the research for this Blog I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. I thought I would simply "Google" a few phrases and be done with it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I,ll be more careful before I make another of those innocuous suggestions!

Please note that I have not included any links (except to his original Blog Post which got this whole thing started) in the Blog Post above. I did not want to deny you the opportunity to try it out. You may link with 'Google' (this and his link are the only links) and type in any of the above phrases and see what you get. Try it and you will see what I mean!
. . . . .

Brazos Bend State Park

Day Trip

Day Trips!

Day Trips! Pam and I like to take day trips in and around Houston. We love to visit a number of places, but one of our favorite places is Brazos Bend State Park. I would like to invite you to share with us on one of our trips to Brazos Bend. Please come with us on a Day Trip! This trip was one we took in July of 2004. Here are a selection of photos from that trip.

Alligators at Brazos Bend

Remember you can also visit through the link to the right in Favorite Places on the blog page or you may use this link Brazos Bend S.P.

Bittern at Brazos Bend

Thanks for visiting. Come back soon!

Blog Tag!

I was recently tagged (Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2008) by my brother on his Blog! (See Waco in the column of Favorite Places to the right).

Blog Tag? What is this all about? I give you 5 -7 unknown or little known but interesting facts about myself? Who wants to see that stuff? Why does anyone want to know somthing like that about me? If it is unknown or little known how could it be interesting? Where am I going with this? I don't know.

I guess I should get into the spirit of this thing. Apparently it goes something like this: I give you some of those unknowns about myself and then I tag another blogger to continue with the game. Well this should be relatively interesting and maybe even fun.

1. I like to listen to a popular late night radio talk show Coast-to-Coast AM.



2. My favorite music band/group is Chicago.



3. I like to read Science Fiction and Fantasy, non-fiction (history, political science, and science), and biographies and autobiographies.



4. My wife and I like to visit natural areas to picnic, hike, ride bikes, and view birds and other wildlife. See the Favorite Places links on my blog.



5. I like to watch a variety of movies. I like all sorts of action and adventure, science fiction and fantasy, popular and current drama, but my favorite movies are old soap opera classics from the 1950's and 60's. These movies were about those taboos and social mores of the times. One of my favorites is A Summer Place (1959) starring Richard Egan and Dorothy McGuire. Speaking of movies . . . . .



6. I had a secret crush on Hayley Mills when I was a kid. Remember Pollyanna (1960)? Note: Richard Egan was in that movie also.



7. I once shook hands with Roy Rogers! He was the headliner at the Rodeo at the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo once when I was a kid. As he rode by on his horse Trigger, he shook hands with many of the kids who came down to the rail and leaned out. I was one of those kids! I'm not sure, but that may be my hand sticking out at the left edge of the picture. Sorry, but it looks like the photographer was more interested in Roy Rogers than me. But thats O.K. So was I back then when I was a kid. Wasn't life grand as a kid?
   
   
   
   
   
   Now for the fun part of this. I now take delight in tagging 2 of my favorite people

Janna and Kari .

Tag You are it! Now tell us a few unknown or little known but interesting things about yourself in your Blog and then Tag someone else.

New Blogger!

Forgive the repeat of an old Blog. I'm still relatively new at this. I simply cut and pasted this old blog in order to get this thing started. Enjoy!

P.S. I'll soon try to follow up on that previous challenge from my brother. I'm currently very busy with current students, especially graduating seniors and new incoming freshman students.

Oh, also - more on the relativity thing later. Keep watch!

Grandparents!

Grandparents!

What is this grand parenting all about? Being grandparents means a beautiful baby and the loving parents, baby beds and mobiles, diapers and baby powder, pacifiers and rattles, baby food and baby bibs, toys and play pens, and babysitting. Ah, there we go! That is the crux of the whole matter. Grandparents mean instant and guaranteed baby sitter. No matter what or when the call, grandparents just can’t pass up the opportunity to take care of that beautiful baby. Why I even know a lady who frequently takes the opportunity to fly to Texas all the way from Sweden to have the opportunity to babysit. What is this grand parenting thing all about? Does it bring back fond memories of days long past. Is it a way to relive some of those memorable moments from our own children? Yes, I think it is all of these things and much more.
Grand parenting gives every parent the opportunity to exact revenge for those previous teenage years! When we have the grand baby we have opportunities to spoil that baby mercilessly. Toys? Yeah, whatever you want. Candy? Yeah, it’s good for you. Can I play now? Sure go ahead. Play time is always a learning opportunity. I knew a grandparent who had a sign that said “When mom says ‘no’ ask grandma. I like to tell stories on mom. Thing she used to do as a kid and she now seems to be embarrassed that I remember these things.
Oh such fun, isn’t it great being a grandparents?