No hunting this morning after all. There was thunder and lightening and rain like the second flood. But the Lord said a fire not a flood next time. We got 3 to 4 inches in all.
Dick and Brenda are visiting from Madison. Dick is Dick's son, his oldest one. He has decided that when one is over 70 one deserves to be taken out for dinner. Dick (the Dad, my husband) figures he has four dinners owed to him. Hee Hee.
Have a nice Sunday.
Mary
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Friday, May 07, 2004
I believe that I had mentioned in an earlier posting that I have been writing a bi weekly food column for a little paper called the Pike Rive Community News. A friend of mine started this little local paper in the Amburg Area. It consisted of news, nice little columns, comics and a crossword puzzle. Unfortunately, Janet Kaat was unable to get it profitable in the time she had and the next issue will be the last. I was having a lot of fun doing the column and had been looking for such an opportunity. But Janet invested in it an it was a GOOD paper.
Just for fun, I will attach my latest column so you can see what it was like. I hope to do a book of them some day and this was my practice. Hope I can find a new practice place and hope Janet can continue in some way. As it said it was good and fun.
JUST DESSERTS
By
Mary J. Kunert
My Mother made fantastic desserts. She had nine of us so she looked for easy, delicious and economical ways to feed us. We ALWAYS had dessert with our main meal. We also ALWAYS had bread and butter on the table with every meal.
From her I also learned that it is nice to put good looking dishes on the table. One of the easiest “fancy” desserts she prepared was nothing more than pudding, whipped cream and graham crackers. Even the most amateurish of cooks can put this together and it will look great.
FRENCH PASTRY
1 Package Instant Chocolate Pudding – Regular or fat or sugar free
5 Whole Graham Crackers
1 Large Container of Cool Whip or Whipped Cream
Mix the pudding according to the recipe on the package. Break the crackers in half. Place two halves side by side about two inches apart. Spread about a tablespoon of pudding on each half. Layer another cracker and the pudding until they are all used up in two stacks. Cover each stack generously with the Cool Whip. Let set for a couple of hours so the crackers absorb some moisture. When serving, cut each stack in half and serve with the cut side down. It is nice to swirl a bit of chocolate syrup on the plate and over the pastry for effect.
Easier, but not so elegant, you can purchase a graham cracker pie crust or make one using the following:
24 Graham Crackers
6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
¼ Cup Sugar
Crush the graham crackers to make 1 ½ cups. Pour into a 9” pies tin. Add the melted butter and press evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Cool to room temperature.
Then pour either instant or cooked pudding (prepared for pie not pudding) into the crust. Spread whipped cream over the top or serve with a dollop (I love that word.) on top.
Chocolate Grahams make a wonderful chocolate crust. You can use cinnamon or oatmeal flavors for an exciting taste, or add some cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg to the plain grahams.
Last year, I found measuring spoons for a pinch, a smidgen and a dash. I bought several and used them for package decorations for all the “cooks” in the family last Christmas. What fun!
I have another dessert that I found on the Internet that is easy and Oh so Good and full of chocolate and whipped cream. This one is not so healthy because it is full of sugar and fat. It is best made with real whipped cream and chocolate chips - not exactly diet foods. But it is easy and really tastes good. It is called
STRANGE CHOCOLATE PIE
1 1/3 cups sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 dash salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup margarine -- melted
5 ounces evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup butterscotch morsels
1 9 inch pie crust -- unbaked
Whipped cream - Lots
1. Sprinkle butterscotch and chocolate chips over bottom of unbaked pie
shell.
2. Combine sugar, cocoa and salt; set aside.
3. In mixing bowl, combine eggs, melted margarine, milk and vanilla
extract. Beat well with a wire whisk. Add sugar mixture and beat again to
combine.
4. Pour over chips in pie shell and bake in preheated 350-degree oven
for 45-50 minutes.
Serve chilled with whipped cream.
Again, calories and fat can be cut by using Cool Whip, low fat evaporated milk but to really get the taste use the real thing.
Desserts don’t have to look pretty to taste good, but it is nice to make a good presentation. The cook does not have to be an expert or have a lot of time to prepare the above.
I will in a future column share a recipe for the ugliest looking best tasting cupcakes in the world. And they don’t even need frosting.
By the way, it is Dick's 74th birthday today, May 7th. If you can, send a card to him at ekunert@charter.net.
Love
Mary
Just for fun, I will attach my latest column so you can see what it was like. I hope to do a book of them some day and this was my practice. Hope I can find a new practice place and hope Janet can continue in some way. As it said it was good and fun.
JUST DESSERTS
By
Mary J. Kunert
My Mother made fantastic desserts. She had nine of us so she looked for easy, delicious and economical ways to feed us. We ALWAYS had dessert with our main meal. We also ALWAYS had bread and butter on the table with every meal.
From her I also learned that it is nice to put good looking dishes on the table. One of the easiest “fancy” desserts she prepared was nothing more than pudding, whipped cream and graham crackers. Even the most amateurish of cooks can put this together and it will look great.
FRENCH PASTRY
1 Package Instant Chocolate Pudding – Regular or fat or sugar free
5 Whole Graham Crackers
1 Large Container of Cool Whip or Whipped Cream
Mix the pudding according to the recipe on the package. Break the crackers in half. Place two halves side by side about two inches apart. Spread about a tablespoon of pudding on each half. Layer another cracker and the pudding until they are all used up in two stacks. Cover each stack generously with the Cool Whip. Let set for a couple of hours so the crackers absorb some moisture. When serving, cut each stack in half and serve with the cut side down. It is nice to swirl a bit of chocolate syrup on the plate and over the pastry for effect.
Easier, but not so elegant, you can purchase a graham cracker pie crust or make one using the following:
24 Graham Crackers
6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
¼ Cup Sugar
Crush the graham crackers to make 1 ½ cups. Pour into a 9” pies tin. Add the melted butter and press evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Cool to room temperature.
Then pour either instant or cooked pudding (prepared for pie not pudding) into the crust. Spread whipped cream over the top or serve with a dollop (I love that word.) on top.
Chocolate Grahams make a wonderful chocolate crust. You can use cinnamon or oatmeal flavors for an exciting taste, or add some cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg to the plain grahams.
Last year, I found measuring spoons for a pinch, a smidgen and a dash. I bought several and used them for package decorations for all the “cooks” in the family last Christmas. What fun!
I have another dessert that I found on the Internet that is easy and Oh so Good and full of chocolate and whipped cream. This one is not so healthy because it is full of sugar and fat. It is best made with real whipped cream and chocolate chips - not exactly diet foods. But it is easy and really tastes good. It is called
STRANGE CHOCOLATE PIE
1 1/3 cups sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 dash salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup margarine -- melted
5 ounces evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup butterscotch morsels
1 9 inch pie crust -- unbaked
Whipped cream - Lots
1. Sprinkle butterscotch and chocolate chips over bottom of unbaked pie
shell.
2. Combine sugar, cocoa and salt; set aside.
3. In mixing bowl, combine eggs, melted margarine, milk and vanilla
extract. Beat well with a wire whisk. Add sugar mixture and beat again to
combine.
4. Pour over chips in pie shell and bake in preheated 350-degree oven
for 45-50 minutes.
Serve chilled with whipped cream.
Again, calories and fat can be cut by using Cool Whip, low fat evaporated milk but to really get the taste use the real thing.
Desserts don’t have to look pretty to taste good, but it is nice to make a good presentation. The cook does not have to be an expert or have a lot of time to prepare the above.
I will in a future column share a recipe for the ugliest looking best tasting cupcakes in the world. And they don’t even need frosting.
By the way, it is Dick's 74th birthday today, May 7th. If you can, send a card to him at ekunert@charter.net.
Love
Mary
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Guess what, a new Harry Potter movie premieres on June 4. I can hardly wait.
Went turkey hunting again this morning. No luck. I saw a deer this morning and a LOT of turkeys but they were all our of range or didn't have a beard. I was conversing with a hen for quite a while as a matter of fact. We left the fields at about 9:30AM because it started to thunder and lightening. Not a good time to be out in an open field holding metal.
Choir tonight. We LOVE our new director. She seems pleased to be working with a larger choir and is willing to teach us more music theory and all that stuff. I sometimes think of cantoring but it would have to be all ALTO stuff and very simple. I'd probably be scared too. Well, sufficient unto the day. I am quite busy enough right now.
Be happy
Mary
Went turkey hunting again this morning. No luck. I saw a deer this morning and a LOT of turkeys but they were all our of range or didn't have a beard. I was conversing with a hen for quite a while as a matter of fact. We left the fields at about 9:30AM because it started to thunder and lightening. Not a good time to be out in an open field holding metal.
Choir tonight. We LOVE our new director. She seems pleased to be working with a larger choir and is willing to teach us more music theory and all that stuff. I sometimes think of cantoring but it would have to be all ALTO stuff and very simple. I'd probably be scared too. Well, sufficient unto the day. I am quite busy enough right now.
Be happy
Mary
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
I went turkey hunting today. Really. I did. I went with my brother Randy and my brother in law Kenny. The turkey license is only good through Saturday. Randy got his today, so we are all going out again tomorrow. Randy will call for us and Ken and I will sit in the "hot spots". At least we hope they will be hot spots. I would love to get one and be able to hang the tail fan above the fireplace.
I am a bit tired and am going to shower and go to bed a bit early so I can get up at 4AM again.
From Cadfael again:
"There was no profit in lying awake fretting for what would, in any case, have to be faced on awakening, and he had long ago sloughed off the unprofitable. It took too much out of a man, of what would be needed hereafter." Ellis Peters
In other words put your worries in the hands of God when you go to bed and face it fresh in the morning. Much easier said than done but I did it at least once. Aren't you proud of me?
Mary
I am a bit tired and am going to shower and go to bed a bit early so I can get up at 4AM again.
From Cadfael again:
"There was no profit in lying awake fretting for what would, in any case, have to be faced on awakening, and he had long ago sloughed off the unprofitable. It took too much out of a man, of what would be needed hereafter." Ellis Peters
In other words put your worries in the hands of God when you go to bed and face it fresh in the morning. Much easier said than done but I did it at least once. Aren't you proud of me?
Mary
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
When Bart and Barb and I were in Ireland, Barb and I found a teeny tiny Barbie doll sized shirt on the street in Athlone. We picked it up and I brought it home with me and washed it and gave it to Mother.
Barbara and I had decided that it must belong to the Little People.
Chelsea, our dog, is afraid of Mother's kitchen. Mother and I wonder if perhaps there are Little People inhabiting the kitchen that she senses. She absolutely refuses to set foot on the kitchen floor. Once she sped into Mom's spare bedroom and realized that she was trapped. I actually had to drag her back to the livingroom. She spent a day with Mother when I was in Ireland and all of the Kunerts went to Madison to see Dick and Brenda. She had a good time but stayed in the living and dining rooms.
Mother put the little shirt out for the Little People but nobody took it so either there are none or they didn't like the shirt.
Mary
Barbara and I had decided that it must belong to the Little People.
Chelsea, our dog, is afraid of Mother's kitchen. Mother and I wonder if perhaps there are Little People inhabiting the kitchen that she senses. She absolutely refuses to set foot on the kitchen floor. Once she sped into Mom's spare bedroom and realized that she was trapped. I actually had to drag her back to the livingroom. She spent a day with Mother when I was in Ireland and all of the Kunerts went to Madison to see Dick and Brenda. She had a good time but stayed in the living and dining rooms.
Mother put the little shirt out for the Little People but nobody took it so either there are none or they didn't like the shirt.
Mary
Monday, May 03, 2004
What a day. I had lunch with nine of the gals that I graduated from high school with. Such a wonderful group of women and I am so glad we get together off and on. We try to especially if someone is "home for the summer" as some travel to warmer climates in winter. Today, Kathy Kinney (who left town in the 6th grade) joined us. We didn't recognize each other of course but quickly reacquainted. Kathy has a picture she is going to send me of her and me dressed up in white as "angels" who led the first communicants up for the sacrament when we were probably about four years old. I think I was chosen because of my cousin Colleen and she because of her brother who were receiving that year. Our friend Carol Van Dixhorn Kaat, has retired since our reunion last summer. She has had her knee operated on and she looks WONDERFUL. It is good for the heart to see people relaxed and healthy.
Randy, Kenny and I walked the fields in which we will be hunting turkeys. Wednesday morning, I will be out there before 5:00AM so that we are in place before the turkeys wake up. We saw two today over in a green patch. I am really excited. Last year I saw one - just before dawn. I couldn't see what it was and in this spring season, one has to know that it is a Tom or a Jake. Don't I sound like I am really good at this? A Tom is an adult male and a Jake is a "teenager". They have to have a beard anyway.
Shopping tomorrow. That is my only planned event for tomorrow so after today, it will be a vacation.
Have a great day.
Love
Mary
Randy, Kenny and I walked the fields in which we will be hunting turkeys. Wednesday morning, I will be out there before 5:00AM so that we are in place before the turkeys wake up. We saw two today over in a green patch. I am really excited. Last year I saw one - just before dawn. I couldn't see what it was and in this spring season, one has to know that it is a Tom or a Jake. Don't I sound like I am really good at this? A Tom is an adult male and a Jake is a "teenager". They have to have a beard anyway.
Shopping tomorrow. That is my only planned event for tomorrow so after today, it will be a vacation.
Have a great day.
Love
Mary
Sunday, May 02, 2004
Shot two rounds of trap at Rhine this afternoon. I AM improving with my new gun. It was suggested, and I followed the suggestion, that I purchase and install a Morgan pad, which is contoured and adjustable. My score went from three to nine on the first round and then to thirteen on the second. Bill Olson, a friend who teaches high school trap, went with me on the second round and was a great deal of help. This is the first year that I am actually getting any on the spot instructions. The first time I went out to shoot they just told me which direction to point. I think after a couple of times they just figured I knew how and was just bad. This year I may be able to improve steadily as I have a gun that actually fits.
Did I tell you that I play the Penny Whistle or Tin Whistle as it is sometimes called? Of course, I only play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and easy stuff from the "Tin Whistle for Dummies" books and I make cats cry, but I do play it. Seriously, Waylon used to come to wherever I was playing and cry. I don't know if it was my playing or just the tone of the whistle itself. Roxie fusses at me if I start whistling. I think the sound must hurt her ears.
Have a nice week.
Mary
Did I tell you that I play the Penny Whistle or Tin Whistle as it is sometimes called? Of course, I only play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and easy stuff from the "Tin Whistle for Dummies" books and I make cats cry, but I do play it. Seriously, Waylon used to come to wherever I was playing and cry. I don't know if it was my playing or just the tone of the whistle itself. Roxie fusses at me if I start whistling. I think the sound must hurt her ears.
Have a nice week.
Mary
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