Labor Day 2015

Big doings at Many Branches this Labor Day week end. We have much to celebrate and many people joining us for this week end which is always special because of all the September birthdays. We are having a giant potluck this time with two meals, one around the time everyone arrives and one before they leave at the end of the day. David and JD are flying in for a few days.  David's birthday gives us an excuse to make sure he is with us.  Sadly, Johnna can't come, but we will catch her in January for the beach holiday. September puts everyone in gear for continuous celebrations.  School starts and Labor Day arrives, autumn is on the heels of summer and Halloween pops up. It's also time for the winter candles to go in each window. Early in November the lights go up on the summer porch and Christmas is quietly invited in. Then Thanksgiving arrives and this year we are having it in New Orleans with Beth's welcoming family.  Then Christmas scampers in and that finds many Lechlers in Colorado Springs for a skiing Christmas. At the end of December we pick up Joe and Glenda and head south for a month at the beach with many visitors breaking up the slow easy days.

Note: This September schedule must include over night guests for every OSU home game until the end of the football season.
Andy has had season tickets for years and now we share them with family members.                   

We'll be seeing this during the celebration Labor Day week end.

J -E -L -L -O

                                                 

I've been up to my hips in tomatoes for the last two weeks so when Cook's Corner arrived today I was happy to see a jello recipe.  Yes, jello.  How long has it been since you have prepared a jello dish?  For me it has been years.  The one today is one I have not seen and I am fixing it today. The family will be shocked to see jello, I can tell you that.

We are having a big potluck Labor Day celebration this year.  We do have a lot to celebrate including my husband's 80th birthday.  Now don't feel sorry that he is 80 he is the healthiest most alert (student) man I know.  In a few weeks he is taking a course in physics and one in political science at OSU.  He is on foot and agreeable to all forms of fun and activities. His is not the only September birthday, so there will be plenty to laud that week end. Thoughts of food will be on my mind in the next few weeks as we plan to greet September with aplomb.

Note: I made this and it is a delicious jello recipe.  However, when I make it again I will not use berry blue jello.  It just does not look appealing.  I will use lemon next time with the dark berries...I used blackberries and blueberries.

Blueberry salad

2 packages (3 ounces each) blackberry gelatin (I didn't even know they made blackberry gelatin.) They didn't.  I had to use berry blue.
2 cups boiling water
1 cup cold water
2 cans blueberries, drained
1 large can pineapple drained ( use a 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple)

Topping
2 small packages cream cheese
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Stir in cold water, blueberries and pineapple.  Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish and refrigerate until set. (Use which ever dish or pan you normally make jello in.)
For the topping, cream all ingredients together.  Mix well and spread over top of gelatin. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.

Cook's Corner also had a lovely cheese bread recipe.

1 3/4 cups scalded milk
3 cups shredded Velveeta cheese, divided
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
 5  1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
Combine scalded milk, 2 cups shredded cheese, sugar, salt, and butter.  Stir until cheese melts. Cool. Sprinkle dry yeast over 1/4 cup warm water.  Let stand 3 minutes.  Gradually add 5 cups flour and 1 remaining cup shredded processed cheese (Velveeta).  Mix well.  Turn onto well-floured board and knead until smooth.
Place dough ball in a large buttered bowl and brush with melted butter. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled about 1 1/2 hours.  Punch down and divide dough ball into 2 or 3 equal parts.  Let rest 19 minutes.  Shape into 2 or 3 loaves. Place in greased loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled.
Bake at 356 degrees for 35 minutes.  Tent tops with foil if top crust gets too brown.  Brush tops with melted butter. This bread is so good toasted.

Afternoon tea~ so civilized

One of the best things about my many trips to England was the afternoon tea (and the antiques of course.)  It was all so right.  This week is afternoon tea week in the UK.  In honor of the week the blogger Marie hosted many wonderful recipes on her blog The English Kitchen.  She posts every day and is very faithful about it.  She has, in fact, two daily blogs the other one being And Then We All Had Tea. The latter has more personal reflections.
Note: This must be the UK time because I tuned in and did not see this show.
Another good thing: The British Bake off starts tomorrow on BBC our public television at 8:00 p.m.


 

Ah! It's time to scream, shout and cancel all your plans for August! Yes, that's right. The new series of the Bake Off has been confirmed forWednesday 5th August at 8pm. 

Mary Berry's scones 

Walking fair food~

Pinterest has such great ideas.  I never thought of tacos in a bag, but there it was.  Such a neat idea using an individual sized Frito pack or Doritos bag.  Cut the top off leaving the Fritos in the bottom of the bag, add your meat sauce, then your green onions, lettuce, diced tomato, and hot sauce--just as you would build it if you were putting it in a shell.  Add a plastic spoon and when it is over, dump the bag and spoon and Bob's your uncle. They say they use this idea for camping as well.

Then there is the cinnamon bun on a stick:

                     

The bacon on a stick was a huge hit!

Go to Pinterest Fair food and you will be in for a treat.  There are mini pies on a stick as well, but I could not pinch that picture to save myself, so go have a look and enjoy.

waaaaa, I WANT A LOBSTER ROLL NOW. So beautiful!

                        

Fair food (recipes)

The Ohio State Fair is in full gear and Cook's Corner has the first round of blue ribbon recipes today and boy do they sound tempting.  The person in charge of the Cook's Corner is also asking for our November cookie recipes which result in an entire cookie section of the paper each year.  I am thinking of offering Grandmother Pearl's raisin cookie recipe.  They are large and plump and luscious.  Last year I submitted a cookie recipe and it was printed, so we will see what happens.  If you can get the Dispatch on November 20th, it is worth your while if you like to bake for the holidays.  I am not baking this year because we are spending Thanksgiving in New Orleans and a skiing Christmas in Colorado Springs. (I won't be skiing I assure you.)

1st place winner in the honey division:

Big island macadamia coconut pie

1 cup raw honey
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons soft butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts, toasted
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 unbaked pie pastry for single-crust pie

Heat oven to 325.  In a large bowl, mix honey and eggs together; beat for 2 minutes.  Mix in butter until well-blended.  Stir in vanilla and cinnamon, then stir in nuts and coconut.
Fit pie crust into 8-inch pie pan.  Pour nut mixture into the crust.  Bake 45 minutes or until center of pie is set.  Cool on wire rack before serving.

I'll post this and then read the rest of them to see if you might be interested.  Glenda and Joe are here and we have had the best luck with Andy's tomatoes and so another big pot of tomato based garden produce is burbling on the stove.  (Yesterday the entire pot disappeared before bed time We always enjoy the company of Joe and Glenda.

 Andy is, in fact, taking his final exam today at OSU  and planning his next set of courses which will include physics and another political science course. (He will be 80 years old in September.)

Freezer

 Joe and Glenda are on their way here to spend a few days to visit and play cards and have a cocktail or three.  We are always glad to see them and look forward to lunch under the pergola.  We will have BLTs and home made fruit cobbler, fresh tomatoes from Andy's garden with mozzarella cheese and a breakfast pie.  Tonight we will gather at the grill for steaks.  Company always encourages cooking to my way of thinking.

Freezer slaw

2 pounds cabbage
1 large green pepper
3 large carrots
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. celery seed
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water

Shred cabbage, green pepper and carrots.  Add onions.
Sprinkle salt; let stand for 1 hour.  Drain.
Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil; 3 minutes.  Cool. Ladle liquid over cabbage mixture; let stand 5 minutes. Stir well.
Pack slaw into plastic freezer jars or freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Seal. Label and freeze.

Peach freezer jam

3 cups of crushed peaches about 2 pounds or 8 medium
6  1/2 cups sugar
2 pouches (3 ounces each) Ball Real Fruit Liquid Pectin
1/2 cup lemon juice

To prepare: Peel and pit.  Cut into slices. Crush slices one layer at a time using a potato masher.  For best results, use fully ripe peaches.
Combine prepared fruit with sugar in a large bowl, mixing thoroughly.  Let stand 10 minutes.
Add entire contents of both pectin pouches and lemon juice.  Stir for 3 minutes.
Ladle freezer jam into clean freezer jars leaving 1/2-inch head space.  Apply caps and let jam stand in refrigerator until set but no longer than 24 hours.  Serve immediately, refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to one year.

 Blueberry pie filling

12 cups blueberries
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/4 cup lemon juice.

Wash and drain blueberries.  combine sugar and corn starch.  stir in blueberries, let stand until juices begin to flow about 30 minutes. Add lemon peel and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken.  Ladle pie filling into plastic freezer jars or plastic freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Cool at room temperatures, not to exceed 2 hours.  Seal, label and freeze.

'Like' enough already~

I love words but like  I enjoy conversation without certain words.  I lose the trail of thought as I like count the number of times the word like is like used in a sentence...like it is too much.  I want to like wish the word like away to its once meaningful mind picture. Just as I wanted awesome to be thrown into the word bone yard like I would like the word like to join it. Over use and sing song Valley Girl sentences drive me insane, like it is time to grow up.  I have also heard like used as a punctuation mark, a pause to see how one reacts to an idea or sentence, and even as a tentative question as the voice rises near the end of a declarative sentence. (Many times I hear it like all in one sentence.) Like use your like adult vocabulary and people will like take you more seriously. Americans are not the only people riding the over used word train.  The British over use the word brilliant.  I cannot for the life of me see how it is applicable in some contexts, but use it they do and for years it has been the cool adjective of choice. (Cool is another old and over used word.) Notice  I am not even like going to the 'f' word which is like so offensive and totally out of hand  and tiresome. The shock value has passed; move on. Oh, how about the superfluous 'for'?  For free.. it isn't for free, it is simply free or free of charge. That one didn't bother me until my neighbor pointed out that flaw. I have held my tongue for a long time on this subject, but today I pulled out my soap box and like climbed aboard.

She Sheds

"She Sheds,"  a woman's answer to The Man Cave. I have a she cave just off our master bedroom.  We have been back and forth on what to call this new room--well new about 2000.  Now we know.  These lady retreats once were called Morning Rooms; a place where a lady would retreat after breakfast to write her letters and take care of paper work.  A place to read and reflect away from the hoopla of the family. My cave would be a great nursery or a massive California closet fit for the real housewives of Orange County. (That's for the next owners of this house to decide...when they pry it out of my cold dead hands.)  For now and for as long as I live, this will be my room.  It has a small washer and dryer, a small refrigerator, a counter for a coffee maker and toaster oven and a chaise lounge for when I have the vapors, an easy chair for watching TV or reading, several pieces of favorite antique tables and stands and a computer.  Mine is not rustic as the pictures below, it fits well tucked in its space in this home.

These are adorable, don't you think?
 

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