Passing Down Heritage

My sis and I were reminiscing the other day about the places we lived in our childhoods.

One was on a "dead end" street. We were the last house and our house had a freeway exit ramp in our front yard. Just a cyclone fence with a few vines separated us from cars that whizzed by morning, noon and night. I drove by the house the other day, it now has a high, sound proof barrier between it and the highway.

OK, then, our neighborhood was a safe place. We knew all the neighbors down the street. Next door were the S*****. They were on the same side of our cul-de-sac with an older couple next. Now started the houses on both sides. As you walked along, the left house had a family that had 10 children. You pick an age, they had it. Across the street from them was were "The Sherriff" lived. Nobody, not nobody, messed with his yard, trees, etc. You might go to jail (in our child's minds). Next to their home was my introduction to an outdoor pool. It was probably 10 feet across, but it was huge in my mind. A loving couple opened it up to all the neighborhood kids, too. I could go on about the neighbors, but...

Now, on the heritage part. My mother, bless her soul, was deathly afraid of water. That is swimming water. I don't know why, but she ingrained in me that I needed to be afraid also. Perhaps she was thrown into a body of water as a child with the old saying "sink or swim". Anyway, she did not like it. Read more about this on The Ditch post.

As a matter of fact, she heard that you could get a cramp if you went into water too soon after eating, so we were not allowed to "run through the sprinkler" (our form of cooling off in the summer) until we had waited a while.

So, as I recognized this fear in myself, I resolved that I would NOT pass this along to my children. As far as I know, they are all very comfortable in any water and swim wonderfully.

Are there things in our lives that we pass along without thinking about the impact they will have on others around us? Does your lack of submissiveness in your marriage shows your daughter "you don't have to be under his thumb". (contrary to scripture) Does my shyness translate to "uncaring".  Does my distrust of an individual make it harder for my children to trust?

Positive side, do your children see you pray about a situation and then see the peace it brings? Do they see the love you have for the Lord? Do you let them into the places of your heart that you have given over to the Lord?

A few years after we moved from the "freeway house" about 1960's.

These are things I wish I had thought out more as I was raising my family. Just something to think about.

8th Grade Graduation and a Trip Down Memory Lane

One of my grandsons graduated from 8th Grade this year.

At a "Remembrance Ceremony" he sang the National Anthem

I 'thought' I was recording it, when I noticed this little red button...

anyway, it is partly there.

Which brings me to the part down the memory lane. You may want to skip this, it is just memories that came to mind when I thought of 8th grade.

Many years ago, 48...

I graduated from 8th grade.

At a little country school, we had about 20 students in the 8th grade. We shared a room with the 7th graders also. Our 2 teachers traded off on subjects. I remember our 'man' teacher the most. He had a sense of humor that would 'now-a-days' be considered so politically incorrect. He had "names" for most of the classmates. One of the girls, who was absent more than at school he named "The Visitor", another young man who was growing faster than his parents could keep him in pants enough to cover his ankles he named "The Flood Inspector" and so on. I can't remember the name he gave one young man who was in pure size and demeanor a bully, but he surprised us all.

Jimmy Tufts was larger than the teacher. His glare probably hid his frustration of being in a poor home with who knows what that went on there. At the night of the graduation, he appeared in a suit coat (!) and sang with a voice that had us all dropping our jaws. A kind teacher had seen the potential and coached him in singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" (from Oklahoma). We were astounded. If this bully could be transformed into a singing canary, what could our future hold? It has been a life lesson for me. Not all that we see on the outside is what is going on inside.

There I am. And, sadly, 

I don't even remember the young man in the other class photo. Old age is coming on strongly.

P.S. to the grandchildren -- yes, that is how I wore my hair!

Enchiladas, my style

OK, we were having lunch together on Sunday afternoon.

I needed to make a main dish and my husband suggested enchiladas.

I have several "recipes" that live in my head,

one from his mother,

one from a dear friend who actually made her own tortillas for them,

and then there is the one that uses chicken and green sauce,

not to forget the one that uses different red sauce...

anyway, you get the idea.

Just chose one and go for it.

I decided that canned enchilada sauce was in order for this time.

I have made my own and it is fairly simple

browning flour in oil, adding chili powder (making a rue)

and then water to the consistency you want.

Or the green one with tomitillos, etc.

I was lazy that day and used Las Palmas red sauce.

(I actually pulled this from the trash to take the picture)
plan ahead, that's me...

I browned about 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, drained it

added in some chopped onion

(notice how laid-back I am with amounts?)

some granulated garlic (because I couldn't remember where I put the real stuff)

and then a small can of chopped green chilies.

I put this all into a bowl and washed out my favorite skillet to heat up the sauce in.

Grated Monterey Jack cheese in a bowl,

olives in another...

In another smaller skillet I put oil on to heat.

This whole procedure makes a huge mess every time and this was no exception.

First, I fry the corn tortilla until it gets a little firmer, flip it over and repeat.

I transfer it into the warm sauce and put another corn tortilla in the oil to start its cooking.

After dowsing the corn tortilla in the sauce, it goes onto a plate to get the rest of the stuff.

A small spoonful of meat, a couple of olives, a pinch of cheese...

fold it over and put it in a greased casserole.

I usually stack them double.

Cheese on top and they only need to be heated.

To add a little color, I will put some chopped green onion on the top when I heat them up.

Well, all of this makes a mess with sauce flying around, landing on the counter,

on me, the floor sometimes. So afterwards, a good cleaning of the stove is in order.

Two people (if they work together well) will make short work of this,

but you won't find me making a measly six or so when I do these,

no, I made up 36, put some in the freezer, some in the refrigerator

and ate a few for lunch.

To make this more interesting...

I got a call that a spaghetti dinner was all planned,

so just bring salad, drink and dessert!
P.S. thank you for those who provided the main dish, it was delicious.

Well, the start of a meal is ready for another time.

Homemade Apple Pie

Now, a couple of disclaimers right off...

We like our apples cooked, nary a crunchy one in the batch.

It was like the "Holy Grail" to find a pie that was cooked enough. So, if you are of the school that likes to see the slices, light and fluffy, this recipe is not for you.

Secondly, this post is heavy with pictures, it will bore you to death, or will spur you on to make a pie, whatever.

So, now to get on with it.

We have 11 apples trees - you can read about it here.

The apples that I am working with are somewhat small, so a pie takes more than 5 or 6of these little guys.

I love this little peeler, it has seen many years of use and is still going strong. I would recommend it in a heartbeat. Besides peeling, it slices the apples and cores them. All I do is cut the whole, peeled apple once across and toss it into a pot. Why a pot? you ask... because my apples are still some green and, like I said before, we like them cooked.

So, here are a few with more coming.

Here I am adding about a cup of white sugar and then,

say, 1/2 cup brown sugar

some cinnamon - perhaps a tsp, maybe more.

Measures are approximate because I have done this so many times, I tend to go by feel.

A couple good dashes of nutmeg

And about 1/2 cup of flour

Mix it up good and proper and put it on to simmer while you make the crust

I have found that a pastry cloth with a cover for the rolling pin to work great. I also buy my pie crust mix in the bulk section of the store. All I need to add is water. You do what works best for you. Here is about 3 cups of mix and I use perhaps 4 to 5 Tablespoons of water.

Your water should be cold. Here I have added an ice cube down in there to keep it cold.

 The pie crust mix is crumbly without the added water. You add the cold, cold water, a tablespoon at a time until it starts clumping together. Don't stir, just bring the fork around the bowl from the bottom to the top and it will all get mixed in.

 Can you see it getting more moist?

When it gets to the point that it sticks to the fork, then I stop adding water. I told you that I do this by feel...

 Now, that it is all fluffy, punch it down and divide it into half.

 Form it into a ball, don't by shy, you are in control here.

If you haven't gotten out your pie plate, now would be a good time. I have found that spraying it with non-stick spray works good for me.

Here is the pastry cloth, ready to go with some flour sprinkled on it too.

Take your half of dough and flatten it with your hand and then start rolling, working from the center to the outsides. I like to use the cloth because I can rotate the cloth around and make my pie dough somewhat round.

When you think you have it large enough, take your plate and put it down on the crust and measure. It should be larger than the pie plate by about 2 inches.

Okay, now move the plate, put your rolling pin on top of the crust near the center and flip the dough over it with the cloth, like this.

Now, move the plate near and lift the dough over the plate, centering it.

As you can see, it doesn't have dough all the way on one side, not to worry, it will all work out.

Don't forget that you should stir the apples on the stove every once in a while, answer the telemarker calls and let the dog out (no, kids we don't have a dog...)

If your apples have turned a warm cinnamony color, then pour them into your pie shell.

Here, I decided that I wanted more apples, so I peeled some more, added a little more sugar and cinnamon.

An important thing that I didn't realize was that every pie needs butter, margarine or some kind of "fat". Not that it doesn't already have enough to make you fat... Anyway, like when your mother showed you how to make gravy, you need fat, butter, etc, then flour to thicken the juices. In the same way, when you add the butter, it interacts with the flour and thickens the juices so that they make a lovely sweet gravy to go around your apples. Just think of it as a scientific fact and do it.

Roll out the other half of dough and flip it over the top of the rolling pin like before

Lift it over your pie

And cover the top

Roll the dough up like a little "levee" around the sides. I know, some of you don't live where there are levees. They are to keep the river in its banks during the rainy, flooding season. Just make a little mountain range all around the edge, combining the layers of the top crust and the bottom crust into one unit. There will be extra hanging off all over, its OK

Now take a knife and trim the pie crust to the edge of the pie plate. The extra will fall off, If you are like me, you may have to sample the crust to make sure you are preparing quality stuff.

Turn it around for your convenience, no sense in getting a crik in your neck trying to see the back side.

Now, with your little levee, pinch it between your thumb and first finger and give it a twist

Move over to the groove you just make and do it again, all the way around the edge until you meet where you started, Now, that wasn't that hard, was it? If all else fails, mash it with a fork, you just want to get the two crusts to stick together.

You have a lovely pie ready for the oven, but wait! you need to bake it on something. I don't think I have ever baked a pie without it running over, so, I use a cookie sheet and then I got smart (so I didn't have to scrub the cookie sheet) and use foil over it, so I can throw the foil away (sure enough, you will see later that it did run over some)

Cut some slits in the top to let out steam

Now what to do with the left-over crust trimmings. Well, you can make yourself sick by eating it, or...

Roll it out again and cut out a design. Here is a rough apple with a few leaves.

I laid them out on top of the pie for decoration

Start the pie at 400' and cook it for 15 minutes - then turn the oven down to 350' and cook for additional 45 to 50 minutes or until when you insert a sharp knife or cake tester, you don't feel a 'crunch' as it goes through the apples.

Finished pie, juices running out the edges

It was good

Linking to:

JAQS Studio: Made By Me

French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday