A Long Ago Letter

My grandmother May, with her older brother and sister.

This week I had lunch with a cousin who brought me a copy of a faded letter written nearly 100 years ago by our great-great-grandmother, Adelaide. Another cousin had found the original among her mother's possessions. My grandmother (who was born in 1890) received this letter from her own grandmother.

Thursday, June 17, 1915 

My Dear Grandchildren,
I must first tell you about my surprise last night when they came in with the mail to find one for me, a nice picture of dear sweet little Elizabeth and you, May. Be sure to know how pleased I am to be able to enjoy looking at it very often.

"Sweet little Elizabeth" was my dad's oldest sister—the first baby in the family. Doesn't that sound just like the grandmothers now expressing thanks for email and Skype and cell phones? In many ways, we have not changed much in nearly 100 years. It is also a reminder that while we think families are more spread across the map that they used to be, that isn't necessarily so. This letter came from Massachusetts to my grandmother May who was living in South Carolina.

Since the letter is addressed to "My Dear Grandchildren" I wonder if the letter was meant to be shared with my grandmother's sister Florence (who is also mentioned in this letter) as they lived in the same town. That's just like now, when I send an email or text message to both my daughters at once.

She also writes about her house. How hard it is for us to think of hot and cold water and a tub and a bathroom as "modern improvements."

Perhaps I have not written about the changes in the old house. Now there is a new addition on the north of the house with all the nice modern improvements, as hot & cold water, set tubs, bathroom toilet room...

The letter was six pages of just chit-chat—complaints about the post office, anniversary plans, changes around town and such. Pretty much the same kind of conversation I had with my daughter just this morning when she called.

In 100 years will our great-great-grandchildren know anything about our day-to-day lives? There will be no letters saved in a shoebox and then passed down for generations. And we hardly have an actual printed photo anymore. The last time I was with a group of grandmothers for lunch, we were showing off pictures of our grandchildren on our iPads!

We won't be here to know it's going to work out, but it's kind of fun to think about.

Be Still And Know

 

Be still and know that I am God... Psalms 46:10

I like quiet. I am comfortable with quiet. I love the early mornings when things are still and the sun is just coming up and the sky is full of color—when the air is so still that the mist sits on the ground. Even the birds have not started singing yet. I keep my camera on the kitchen counter so that when I see this outside my kitchen door, I can capture this moment of stillness. It only lasts a couple of minutes and then the day goes on as usual.

The movie Tammy Tell Me True (Sandra Dee, 1961) was on television over and over when I was growing up and there is a moment from that movie that I still remember. When her life had gotten complicated and everything was about to fall apart, she closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. The old lady that she was trying to help asked her what on earth she was doing. Tammy answered, "I'm just gathering the stillness around me." That was how she dealt with problems. That one scene has stuck with me for many years. Funny where we learn good life lessons.

But after a few minutes of stillness it's time to face the day. Some days that includes cooking.

Crockpots came into existence when I was working as a home economist. I remember some testing being done at the university to see if foods were indeed safe when cooked at low temps for a long time. They concluded yes. I also seem to remember that we were told one of the bonuses of slow cooking was that you couldn't overcook foods. Well, that's not exactly so. Many people did not love the end result that was often overdone and rubbery. Over the years folks have come up with new recipes that yield a better product and some slow cookers have timers that let you be more precise. So use your slow cooker enough to figure out the times that work for you. (My newer crockpot seems to get hotter than my very old one.)

I made this right before Jessica and I went on vacation. I just found the photos on my camera today. The flavor was delicious. I need to adjust the cooking time when I make it again. I think I left these chicken thighs in the crockpot on LOW for close to 8 hours. I'm thinking about 6 hours would be enough.

SLOW COOKER BALSAMIC CHICKEN 

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons dried minced onion

4 cloves garlic, minced (I used jarred minced garlic)

1 tablespoon extra vigin olive oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

fresh chopped parsley

Combine the first five dry spices in a small bowl and spread over chicken on both sides. Set aside. Pour olive oil and garlic on the bottom of the crockpot. Place chicken pieces on top. Pour balsamic vinegar over the chicken. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours. Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.

As noted, I cooked mine on LOW for 7-8 hours and I think 6 hours would have been about right. Next time I'll try this as written see how it works cooked on HIGH.

Rest And Recovery

It's taking me a while to get back to some semblance of normalcy here at home. Coming back home from our trip meant a mountain of laundry needed to be tended to, along with house things needed to be put back in order. But we did take a couple of days last weekend to head to our lake house to let our fatigued bodies catch up.

It was one time that rain all weekend was perfectly okay. 

It took away the pressure to take the kayaks out.

As much fun as paddling is, it was nice to sit still.

 We sat and read and rested and listened to the rain. 

Thank goodness for our big screened porch.

There was very little cooking that happened last weekend except for the one meal that Daddy-O grilled. Our grill is under a covered area, so he could cook in the rain. Grilled pork chops are a favorite at the lake. (Why do we never make them at home?) And I found some perfect peaches at Piggly Wiggly and decided to grill them, too. We had never done that before. 

I googled recipes (there are many) and finally found one that used what we had on hand. We have a minimalist cupboard at the lake.

Here is my version of the recipe I found online. We will definitely do this again.

GRILLED PEACHES with HONEY BALSAMIC GLAZE

2 or 3 ripe, but firm peaches

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Mix honey and vinegar. Wash peaches thoroughly. Gently pat dry. Cut in half and remove pits. Grill peaches, cut side down on the grill for 3 or 4 minutes, until they develop good grill marks. Turn and brush cut side with honey glaze. Grill for another few minutes until tender. Brush with more honey glaze, if desired. Serve warm.

The only secret to this simple recipe is to choose the right peaches—ripe enough to have good flavor, but they should still be firm. Not hard, but just have a tiny bit of give when gently pressed. We also found a good quality honey on our Piggly Wiggly outing. I will admit that it tastes much better than our usual grocery store honey. It made a good glaze. The original recipe called for feta cheese. We didn't have any, but I'd like to try that another time. 

Back At Home

 

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I've been gone. Jessica and I went on vacation and I just got home last night. Laundry is in progress right this minute. She and I went to visit Little Sister and her family. We wanted to see the area and be there for a 3rd birthday party.

Our hotel was also a museum. One that included green penguins everywhere. The fun part was that they constantly popped up in different places around the hotel. 

We even had one join us for dinner one evening.

We took in the scenic areas and made notes to give Mommy so she will know places they might enjoy visiting later. For once I looked more and photographed less, so there are just a few pictures to share. Wish I had photographed the candy shop we found kind of in the middle of nowhere. Outstanding handmade candies. We wondered who buys them. Surely they ship it.

A chapel in the middle of the woods was worth a short detour.

And then there was the hiking. Understand that I usually measure my walking by how far I have to walk through the parking lot from my car to the store. Whatever made Jessica think I could hike with her? But I did it! The view was worth it. 

I knew I was not good with heights but this outcropping confirmed it. I don't really know what you could see from the edge. I still get queasy just thinking about that ledge. I just enjoyed the view while hugging the trees far back from the edge.

It was that second hike—right after the first hike that I thought was the hard one—that was nearly my undoing. It involved steep inclines, loose rocks under foot, soaring temps and some not-so-good trail markings. I won't go into details, but I'm just happy I'm still here to write this blog.

An easier walk later in the week was at the beautiful botanical garden. My grown child enjoyed the children's garden as much as the little kids there.

There was a wonderful museum to visit.

And an excellent yarn shop. (Only visited one this trip.)

And we found so much good food—a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant, fine dining in an old college dormitory, a kolache bakery we found by accident one afternoon (so good we went back two more times), the ice cream shop on the town square and good meals cooked by Mommy and our son-in-law. Maybe the most fun places to eat were the food trucks across from our hotel. 

But the real reason for our visit was family. Jessica had not visited her sister's new home since they moved. She was treated like a celebrity by Little Sister who only wanted to do what Aunt Jecca did. Like, wearing stripes like Aunt Jecca...

...and doing "planks" like Aunt Jecca. The only problem was that Little Sister wanted ALL of us to do planks with her after this.

The week ended with a party. Since Little Sister had spent most of the summer with us at the farm, having a farm party for her friends was perfect.

Mommy found a fantastic local baker to make a farm cake for the party.

Little Sister and Aunt Jecca had the perfect footwear.

Just a few minutes after this photo, the house was full of small children who asked after every activity, "Cake now?" By three, they all know that you get cake at parties. We were so happy that we could be there to eat cake, too. 

Yes, we did spent time with the other family members—who all successfully dodged the camera. Big Sister and I knitted. She learned how to do the mattress stitch to seam up some mitts she's working on. Our son-in-law cooked chicken masala one night and it was delicious. Mommy baked a blueberry coffee cake for us that was so good. I'll share the recipe as soon as I get it from her. And Daddy-O drove out to be there for the party. He also put together Baby Sister's new "big girl bed" while he was there.

Our last night out there was Little Sister's first night in her new bed. When we stopped by to tell them good-bye early the next morning, we asked how Little Sister did without her crib. Mommy told us she slept in the little bed all night, got up early the next morning and wandered into the kitchen, looked around to see where everyone was and then announced, "I'm going back to bed."

Everyone worried about her freedom to get out of bed. No one thought about that freedom also meant she could go back to bed by herself! She's growing up.

What A Difference

We woke up this morning with only the two of us here. Back to the empty nest again. There was no penguin or teddy bear or curly little head to greet us today. What fun we had with a full house all summer. And we will be quoting Little Sister for months to come.

She is at the age when her vocabulary is growing daily and some of it is just funny as she nearly gets her words right. She now shares some hobbies with me--like her enjoying her "kniddin' " and playing "lukulele." (Okay, so she only carries a ball of yarn around at this point. But I tuned her "lukelele" to an open chord and she did learn to strum it pretty well.) 

Pattern: Flash Mitts

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted

Needles: size 8

Big Sister really does knit and made sure to keep her knitting handy when they packed the car for the long drive home so she could work on the second mitt. She was so excited with the first one that she wants to make a pair for all of her friends for Christmas. Not sure she realizes how much knitting that would be!

Before they left, Daddy-O took Little Sister to pick apples from our tree. The deer get the ones down low, so we are left trying to reach the ones that are too high for the deer to eat. Then Mommy made apple dumplings. This is one of the first recipes she learned to make. It's a great dish for the beginning cook. Or even a non-cook. It's super simple and the results are always good—good enough to fool your family or co-workers into thinking you are a terrific cook! (Mommy really is a very good cook now but volunteering to bring these to family dinners gave her time to learn to cook some other things.)

APPLE DUMPLINGS

1 can (10 count) Grands Golden Layers (or other flaky biscuit that will separate into layers)
2 apples, peeled and cut into wedges (10 wedges from each apple)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
ground cinnamon

Separate each biscuit into two layers. This will give you 20 thin biscuits. Wrap each piece of biscuit around an apple wedge. Place in a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Put water, sugar and butter in a small saucepan. Heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Pour over apple dumpling. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.


These are so good! I like them even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. This recipe has been around forever. There is a variation that uses Mt. Dew for the liquid. But this is so good with water and you avoid all the chemicals in the soda. Even with a dessert, you might as well make it as healthy as you can.

Summer Memories - And A New Recipe

 

When Little Sister and family arrived at the farm the last week of May, the summer stretched out ahead of us. We thought about their visit here in terms of months. Then when Mommy's teaching assignment ended the first part of July, we thought in weeks.

Now there are only days left before they load their car and begin the long drive home. What a summer we've had here. Lots and lots of play. Lots of books. Lots of exploring on the farm. There were good days at the lake. Little Sister's vocabulary now includes words like "baler" and "hay rake." She knows what frogs sound like at night. She's caught lightening bugs. She's watched snakes and rabbits and deer. And I promise there is a hummingbird who flies right up to our window to look when Little Sister waves at him. I think they can communicate.

Little Sister is going home with new boots and overalls. She said she was going to be a farmer. She might be the only child in her preschool who makes a real cow sound instead of saying "moo" when asked what a cow says. 

Big Sister was gone much of the summer visiting other family members, but she got home this week in time for driving lessons in the pasture. We're glad she's back. We missed her. Hard to believe that she's old enough to be getting ready for real driving.

To welcome her sister home, Little Sister baked brownies!

One thing Little Sister has learned here at the farm is to photograph her food for the blog. Last night she asked me to make a picture of her pretend ice cream when I was photographing the pineapple chicken. This is probably not the best thing she's learned this summer!  She has carried a very old Fisher-Price camera (it belonged to Jessica when she was little) around all summer and made many, many "pictures" of everything around the farm.

In the real food category, I'm looking for easy meals this week. There is so much to be squeezed into these last few days that my kitchen time needs to be efficient. But we still want good meals. I re-did a favorite slow cooker recipe yesterday. This Pineapple Chicken was as good as the original Teriyaki Beef with Pineapple. Mommy does not eat meat, so it's good to know this version works, too. 

PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 breasts, about 2 lbs.)

1 red bell pepper, cut in a large dice
15-20 oz. jar teriyaki sauce (I used Archer Farms Teriyaki Grilling Sauce)
20-oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained

Cut chicken into large chunks. (I cut each breast into 3 strips lengthwise, then into large chunks)
Add chicken pieces and peppers to slow cooker. (I used a 3-1/2 qt. size.)
Pour sauce over chicken and stir.
Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours.
Add pineapple tidbits during last 20-30 minutes of cooking time. 

I served it over brown rice and made roasted asparagus to go with it.

We are not sure what Mommy and Daddy will do at home when Little Sister wants to go "drive" the truck. Or the ATV. Or the blue tractor. Or the orange tractor. Or the baby tractor (lawn mower.) Or the Jeep. She's had so much fun sitting in the driver's seat and turning the steering wheel on every vehicle on the farm. 

I told her daddy that he might have to buy a truck just to park in their driveway. When things were not going well here and Little Sister was unhappy, a trip to "drive" the truck always made the tears disappear.  Will Daddy-O ever get everything reset after all of her button pushing and knob turning? I don't know. But he loved every minute. 

Yes, we have made good summer memories.

Recipe Revisited

As much as I love trying new recipes, there can't be new ones every day. Last night I needed something easy, something delicious. I made Hot & Sweet Chicken again, this time using the preserves called for in the original recipe. I was shopping somewhere besides my nearby grocery store and spotted apricot preserves. That pretty much dictated what we were having for dinner. The first time I used pineapple preserves when I couldn't find the apricot at my local store. I can now say that either way is really good. I did cut down the Tabasco a little this time. We liked it this amount better. The "hot" in a recipe is purely personal, so make it suit your family.

And, yes, I know one little chicken thigh is not a serving. I just forgot a photo when I was ready to put dinner on the table. I offered to fix Daddy-O a second helping if he would wait an extra minute for me to photograph it.

He laughed and said that when Little Sister starts preschool this fall, the teachers will wonder why she feels the need to (pretend) photograph her snacks every day. She has watched her Mimi too much!

HOT & SWEET CHICKEN

1 cup apricot or pineapple preserves

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons minced garlic (I used the jar kind)

2 teaspoons Tabasco (I only used 1-1/2 tsp. this time)

1 package boneless, skinless chicken things (6-8 thighs)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine preserves, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic and Tabasco. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until preserves are melted. 

Arrange thighs in a 9x13-inch baking dish. (This time I used one size smaller.) Pour sauce over chicken, turning each piece to coat with sauce. Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until done, spooning sauce over the chicken a time or two while baking.