An Arizona Recipe for Spring

Yummy fresh strawberry pie!

 Here I am in Phoenix helping my friend Annie to recover from a knee replacement.  The weather is perfect with temperatures in the high 70's and 80's with lots of sunshine!  Today it is actually going to get up into the 90's but I am loving it.  The strawberries are in season down here now and so we have been enjoying them along with fresh asparagus.  Annie gave me a very easy and quick recipe for the strawberries that is so good we have had it twice and I may even make it again.   Here it is for all the northerners who can look forward to it in a couple months when strawberries are in season up there.

 STRAWBERRY CREAM PIE

 

This is how the pie looked just before we "dug in".

 Ingredients:

1  8oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/4 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash of nutmeg

1 Cup strawberries, mashed

2 Cups Cool Whip, thawed

1 purchased chocolate cookie crumb pie crust (can use graham cracker crust too)

Mashed up fresh strawberries.

Cream cheese ready to be "softened " in the mixer.

 Procedure;

  Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg.  Mix until well blended.  Mix strawberries into cream cheese mixture.  Fold in cool whip.  Spoon into crust.  Chill several hours or overnight.  Garnish with additional strawberries if desired.

The "store boughten" cookie crust.

 In the interests of actually posting this instead of waiting for a good strawberry memory, I'll just post the recipe and pictures.

Another piece of yummy pie just waiting to be eaten!

The Plane Crash

This is another memory from the 1970's that someone mentioned on the "You know you have spent time in North Park, CO if....." sight. 

Sub Sandwiches and Other Fund Raisers I Have Attempted

I think I am missing the cabin.....

 I was browsing Facebook the other day and saw a post on "You know you spent time in North Park, CO if........" about the Sub Sandwiches we used to make and sell for FHA fund raising at Homecoming time.  Some of my former students were reminiscing about how good they were compared to Subway and I had to laugh.  They were OK but better than Subway?  I think it is just a case of fond memories of the fun times we had making and selling those sandwiches.

  I think we bought the bread in Laramie from either that bakery on 2nd street or from Albertson's bakery.  Whoever it was it was good bread and they gave us a good deal.  One of the parents picked up the bread from the bakery and brought it up for us.  I bought all the ingredients that went into the sandwiches from Corkles Little Market  and then members of the club and my classes would make the sandwiches on Friday of Homecoming week.  Of course everyone was also building floats and decorating halls so it was a fun, busy time.  We sold the sandwiches as whole, half or by the inch.  A lot of kids came in and bought them to eat while decorating so we probably had most of our sales on Friday afternoon. 

Missing the cabin in winter.  Also Izzy and hot tubbing!

We didn't completely assemble the sandwiches for Saturday because the fresh stuff would wilt and make the sandwiches soggy.  I really think we made most of the Saturday sandwiches on Saturday morning before the parade but maybe we made up the meat, cheese and mayo part of them the afternoon before and put them in the refrigerator overnight and then added tomatoes, onions, lettuce and whatever else in the morning.  The FHA members that weren't in the parade would go up and down Main Street selling sandwiches or parts of them for people to eat before or during the games.  I still think it is a good fund raiser for Walden since we don't have a Subway or Quiznos or whatever sandwich-type shop.

Missing sitting out in front of the porch drinking morning coffee with Carla.

 This reminds me of another big fundraiser involving FCCLA at West Wendover High School.  We sold enchiladas to raise money to go to State Conference and it was so successful we did it to raise money for Nationals that same spring.  We sold almost 100 dozen enchiladas each time we did it!  We cooked dozens of chickens to shred and and browned pounds and pounds of ground beef. 
We shredded our own cheese and made the enchilada sauce from scratch and it was the best, if I do say so myself!  We had a long assembly line to put the enchiladas together.  Two girls softened corn tortillas for the corn ones and we had a couple kids dipping flour ones for the flour tortilla enchiladas.

 The week before all the members of FCCLA went around taking orders and so we knew exactly what to make but we learned that we had to make more for the late comers.  Some kids earned all the money they needed to go to state and nationals! It was a huge undertaking and we even froze some to make later if people wanted that.  A lot of work, a big mess but a lot of fun too!

Missing our wild, neighborhood friends!

Several fund raisers we attempted throughout the years that I was adviser to FHA/FCCLA  included soft pretzels that were really fun to make and brought in a lot of money for Consumer Ed classes, pizzas we made and sold fresh or frozen in my Creative Cooking classes, and cinnamon rolls in Consumer Ed class.  Up in Owyhee we made Fry Bread and Indian Tacos but the biggest fund raisers up there were the Candy-o-Grams we sold for each holiday!  Such fun memories I have of those times and I'm thinking for the kids who were involved too!

I am also missing all my friends and former students from NPHS, OHS, and WWHS but haven't scanned pictures on to my computer of everyone, so sorry no pics of you all, yet......

I'm Back With Some Great Book Selections!

Eating ice cream in Fredricksburg, TX on New Years Day.

After a 2 month rest, here I am with some fresh ideas and a few pictures. For some reason I just couldn't get motivated to sit down and write even though there is always plenty for me to say!

The girls show off their butterfly pillows they learned to make in my "home school sewing class".

One reason I haven't been working on my blog is because I have been reading some very engrossing books that I feel the need to mention. The first is Tom Clancy's latest book "Locked On".  Bob got it for Christmas and we both read it while we were in Texas with Micah's family.

A very good read especially if you are a Clancy Fan.

This is the back story on John Clarke one of the characters in Clancy's John Ryan books.  Full of action, blood and guts but I liked it.

 It was so good I checked out one of Clancy's older books called "Without Remorse".  They have been trying to make a movie of this book since 2008 but still haven't got it done. These plus several other books Kim wanted me to read, kept me interested so that I didn't have time to write in my blog. Of course we had other things to do there as well.

Bob, Micah, and Kim enjoy the warm afternoon in Fredricksburg, TX on New Years day.

I figured I would have more time when we got up to windy, frigid Casper and I couldn't fit my Christmas book from Paul (11/22/63? Not sure of the date now) into my luggage when we flew up to Wyoming. When I got there, we had a lot of things we wanted to do and I had kind of gotten out of the habit of writing in my blog.

A Taste of some of the things going on in February in Casper, Wyoming!

Carla's and my pottery decorating attempts done at Pottery By You.

We had about 9 deer come visit the house.  These were right under the window in the yard.  Some even climbed several of the front porch steps!

 A coffee or hot chocolate pot Carla and I decorated.

We did a lot of dog sitting with Izzy and I had to sweep up loads of white hair all month as she was shedding her winter coat!

A travertine formation in Thermopolis, WY.  It is formed from minerals in the hot springs.  The water is bubbling up through a pipe and it is pouring over the sides.  The whole thing is a mineral formation that just keeps growing! We spent a weekend there "taking the baths" and sight seeing.

 Then Carla gave me a gift card for Audible.com and I had 3 free to me books to choose for my listening pleasure! I had several books my friends on Facebook had been recommending. It was a tough choice but I finally picked "The Hunger Games".

The Hunger Games trilogy.  You won't be able to quit after reading just one!

 Wow! It was a great choice. Both Carla and I read (listened to) the whole trilogy in 4 days! It is a riveting story for adults as well as teenagers.

Katniss takes aim!

 I can hardly wait for the movie to come out. I hear it is coming in March so maybe I won't have to wait too long. I hope they do a really good job with it.

Some of the Tributes from the movie.  I think there is a contest going on to win an arena Tribute jacket.

 The set designers, costumers and hair designers must have had a great time doing this movie! I am still having dreams with this book in the background!

I kind of liked that the books were audible. The whole story seemed very intimate. (I used ear phones to listen). I felt like I was right in the middle of the action, but maybe I would have felt that way reading it too. One thing I didn't like about only listening was that I couldn't see how the names were spelled so I couldn't remember them as well. Weird, how visual can you get! I guess I will read a review or summary of the book on Amazon so I can see how those names were spelled and I’ll remember them better.

Haymitch and Katniss.  Woody Harrelson is playing Haymitch in the movie.

Well that wasn't so tough to get back in the groove so maybe I will get going on this blog again! We are leaving for Phoenix in a couple days and I do have several adventures to talk about, some recipes and memories, too.

Washington Trip Part 3--Christmas Fund Events

Marianne's Christmas cactus in full bloom in the kitchen

For many years Marianne and the family have been involved in the Skagit Valley Christmas Fund.  Marianne is on the board of directors so spends a lot of time on this project.  She has recruited me to help the last 2 years and it is a fun job.  This group gathers donations of toys, money and other items for children and young people for Christmas presents.  They advertise for families in need to sign up for help and have them call to register.

A view of part of the gifts that have been sorted.

   Meanwhile as the toys come into this big warehouse building at the fairgrounds the toys have to be sorted into age and gender appropriate sections.  Many of the toys come from Toys for Tots but also from many other generous donators.  When families call to register they are assigned a day and time to come pick up their gifts.  Then on a Saturday before Christmas there is a big Christmas party for the families.  As you can see there is a lot of work to be done and it involves a lot of volunteers!  Last year this fund served over 2000 families and over 5000 children!

Dolls for the little girls.

Last year I helped sort toys and was amazed at all the things that were donated but the people in charge were worried about how few things they had compared to years before.  This year I again got to help sort for an afternoon and there was even less but as you can see in the pictures, there is still a lot.

Gifts for teens.  Notice all the Snuggies!

  Part of the trouble is the poor economy in this part of Washington.  Less donations and more families in need equals smaller gift packages each year.   Meanwhile while I was sorting gifts there was a group of people taking phone registrations for families in English and Spanish.

Another view of the many gifts that have been donated.

Last year we came home before the real work started but we were there this year! Darcy, Brendin, Marianne and I all spent two evenings helping to bag the gifts for the families.  This is a very structured assembly line undertaking.  Labels are printed with the family number (no names allowed) and the gender and age of each child.  These are stuck on a big black garbage bag and then someone takes around the bag and places one toy or gift for each child in the bag.  They also had a large stash of caps, mittens, and scarves that ladies groups knit all year.

A table of games for the family

  The gift gatherers are allowed to place one item from this stash per child in the bag.  (these ran out about half way through the first night we were there.) and then one item from the stocking stuffer area per kid.

The gifts are bagged and ready to distribute.

   I was on the garbage bag prep line.  We shook out the garbage bags and placed the labels on them and then handed them to the bag fillers.  This process takes 3  two hour evenings plus one afternoon!  We worked the last 2 nights.  It is really hard not to throw in a couple extra things like they used to be able to do but it has to be strict so they don't run out of gifts.

  The first night I worked it was High School volunteer night.  It was very interesting because the FCCLA from Mount Vernon HS were there and I got to visit with some of the girls.  Darcy's Jr. ROTC also volunteered that night.  It was a lot of work but I met and got to visit with a few really cool kids and on the second night some great volunteers as we shook out the bags.  It was good exercise too.

Brendin celebrates another night of completed bagging.

A week or so later it was time to distribute the gifts to the families.  This is another very structured process.  Each family has a time to come in.  This goes on for 4 hours on two different nights.  We were signed up for the second night so I figured all the bags would be gone.  Brendin was assigned to assist with parking cars, Darcy stayed home because he had an early morning competition the next morning, Marianne worked on a computer and I got to help handing out the books.

The book area is getting filled up on sorting day!

 Each family received their bag of gifts and a voucher to buy groceries and then they got to choose one book per child before leaving.  The book area was set up with tables full of books for age groups.  There were lots of books--mostly from Scholastic Books(boxes of the same book in some cases).  I was supposed to monitor how many books they were taking and just keep the tables replenished.  For some kids it was like going to the library and they were collecting a whole pile of books and for others we tried to make them take one book!  We had a table with books in Spanish too but it didn't have as big a variety as the other tables and the infants table only had paperback books which many parents felt their child would just rip up but that was the only choice they had.  We worked 4 hours straight.  One husband and wife that were helping in the book place were all dressed up and had brought a large basket with suckers and candy canes to give each child as they left.  They worked for two hours each day.  They told me they had done this every year for many years.  At the end of this night there were still probably 50 or so bags left.  I guess some families arrange for late pick up during that last week before Christmas and collect them from the office.

Bob and I had to leave before the final event, the Christmas party.  They have cookies and punch, music and I think Santa is there too.  Anyway the whole thing is a huge undertaking with a lot of donations and volunteer work!  I believe there were even more families and children this year than last!

A Recipe from Marianne for the Cold Season Plus Darcy's Annual Military Inspection

Darcy and Bob after the Inspection

Ready to be inspected. Darcy is under the arrow.

Today I am going to post a really good recipe when it is cold and blustery.  It is a really good one for when you have a bad cold too.  Almost as good as Mom's Chicken Noodle soup.  Pat asked to have it one night when he and I were both sick with colds and it tasted soooo good, I had to have the recipe.  Here it is:

Marianne's Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients

2 quarts Chicken Stock or water & Better than Bullion

½ cup White Wine

¼ cup Rice Vinegar

¼ cup Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Chinese Chili Garlic Sauce

3 Chicken breasts, cubed

1 heaping tablespoon grated Ginger

1 cup Shallots, sliced; or Onion, chopped

Green Onions, sliced for garnish

Directions:

Throw everything in a pot except green onions and cook until chicken is done and onions are soft.    Add  green onions last few minutes.

Armed drill demonstration.  Darcy is in there somewhere!

 Sorry, no pictures of soup but here are some of Darcy's Jr ROTC Annual Military Inspection.

Washington Trip Part 2--the Christmas Tree Farm

Marianne checks out some of the trees for sale.

Every year starting right after Thanksgiving, Pat and Darcy spend their weekends up north of Burlington about 45 minutes in Deming, WA at the River's Edge Christmas Tree Farm.  They help the customers choose their tree, help them cut it down if they need it, carry it to the wagon and haul it up to their cars and then assist them in tying it down to their car.  Darcy has a side business of selling holly that he cuts from the tree in their yard in Burlington.

  Cutting Holly For Christmas

Last year I wrote about the holly so this year I will be writing about the tree farm.

A lovely setting for the farm.  You can see the trees off in the distance.

The Farm is owned by Larry and Bea Walton who are good friends of the Ailles family.  The farm is located along the Nooksack River and is quite beautiful with views of  Baker mountain near by and tall trees and woods plus the actual different pine trees growing for purchase for Christmas trees.

River's Edge Christmas Tree Farm

  Marianne, Bob, and I drove up one Saturday to visit the farm.  It was a sunny cool afternoon and business was brisk.  Marianne and I walked around the some of the property.  They used to have blues concerts

A tree that was marked by a customer.  They come cut it whenever they can come.  Some are even chosen the summer before.

 on this property in summer.  It has a nice big clearing in the woods and lots of space for camping.  The river is a short walk from the clearing and there is good fishing as well as some pretty scenery along this stretch of the river.  It is very peaceful in the clearing.  Larry has been thinking about making the area into a place for outdoor weddings and that would be a perfect sight to do it.

We walked down to the river and watched some fisherman and boats go by and then walked along the different plots of trees from very young, little ones to some very tall ones that were not chosen and have grown too big for houses.  We  visited with some of the customers and looked at the mountains in the background.  It is a lovely spot in very northern Washington, almost to the Canadian border.

The house and store are in the background.  Woods and mountains surround the area.

Larry and Bea are gracious hosts and seem to know how to take care of their customers.  Many people make it an all day outing and bring picnics with them to eat out in the Christmas trees!  It was nice to get out into the brisk sunshine and take a walk.  What a great time we had.

On the way home we stopped at another special place.  It is not too far from the farm, maybe 2 or 3 miles away.  It's called Everybody's Store and is well known in Northwestern Washington.  It is a little country store that carries a large variety of cheeses domestic and imported and a delicious selection of sausages as well.  They have all sorts of kinds of exotic groceries to buy.  We have made special trips up to this store just to get their sausages and their extra sharp cheddar cheese!  We always come away with 3 or 4 other types of cheese when we stop there.

Close to the woods and river.

It was a fun trip.