A fun-filled weekend


Well, has Thanksgiving slipped up on you and left you wondering where the month has gone? Well, it has on me also, but mostly due to circumstances beyond my control. Luckily for me, my son and his family always host Thanksgiving for our family. They are wonderful hosts and they are very flexible as to how many people there are. We have been just a small group some years and very large ones the next…it varies. We have even been honored in the past by the attendance of Air Force Trainees who were able to be with us.
This year, we will be mourning the loss of not only a cousin, who had a massive heart attack at age 67, but also his Mother, our beloved Aunt Nee. We were never used to having her with us as her son and family usually had her with them or they were all at her home. She lived to the wonderful age of 95, and passed on the 12th. One of the things almost all of her great nieces and great nephews remembered her by were her wonderful anise cookies. She and my Grandma would come over to my home and we would have a cookie-baking day, not only of the anise cookies, but several other kinds as well. Those days are sadly missed, as she will be also. RIP my wonderful Aunt, we loved you so much, and you brought so much happiness to our lives.
So far, this month, I have been in the Devine/Moore/Castroville/LaCoste area a total of nine or ten days for the visitations and funerals. (Now you know why it has sneaked up on me!) All the services were very impressive and heart-warming. My condolences go out to all the friends and family members involved, may God Bless and keep you, and help you through these holidays and the ones to come.
In addition to all of this, I was preparing for the annual Craft Show that the Auxiliary is involved in. I managed to get my stuff done, everything of mine priced, prices on things that were at our work shop and all of it packed before I had to leave last Thursday. The sale was fairly successful and we are pleased with the amount we made.
My daughters come in for the show each year, so this year they decided to have their own booth. Friday evening, after we got home from the services, we had a great time doing finishing touches to the articles they were going to sell in their booth. It was so wonderful having them here with me for the show and we finished the day tired out, but happy!
Two of them traveled back home Saturday evening, but the other, with her husband stayed with me, and we attended the remaining festivities that were happening that day. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and the beginning of the holidays for me.
It’s almost too late to be giving you any recipes, but if you get your paper on Wednesday, maybe they will help you a little bit. They are favorites of my family. In fact, the reason the Jell-O® salad is called “Aunt Joyce’s Green Jell-O® Salad” is because that is what some of my nieces and nephews named it after eating it at other family celebrations when they were young, and we have all enjoyed it almost yearly ever since.
Green Bean Casserole
2 cans (15/16-oz size), cut green beans, drained (may use French style)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¾ cup milk
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 can (2.8-oz size) French fried onions
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Combine beans, soup milk and black pepper, stir to mix well, add ½ of can of onions, pour into a 1½-quart casserole and bake uncovered for 30 minutes, remove from oven and top with remaining onions and bake another 5 minutes.
The following recipe is from my oldest granddaughter, it is truly delicious and not too hard to make!
Paula’s Cinnamon Pie
(Read all instructions before making)
Cream together:
½ c. (1stick) butter or margarine
1 ½ c. sugar
Add and beat in until well mixed:
6 egg yolks
3 T. flour
4 tablespoons cinnamon (yes, this is the correct amount)
2 c. milk
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake for about 40 minutes or until firm.
6 egg whites
10 tablespoons sugar
Beat the 6 egg whites until peaks form. Gradually add 10 T. sugar and beat until stiff.
Spread on pie and brown under the broiler.
Aunt Joyce’s Green Jell-O Salad
1 large or 2 small boxes lime gelatin
1 large can crushed pineapple in juice
1 carton (8-oz) small curd cottage cheese
1 carton whipped topping (thawed)
Pour pineapple into pot; add gelatin, cook and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and chill for about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the cottage cheese. Place whipped topping into serving bowl and gently fold gelatin mixture into whipped topping. (This seems to work better than trying to fold the topping into the Jell-o mixture, don’t know why, but works better for me!) Some people add miniature marshmallows and pecans to the mixture also.
And last but by no means least, is one of my family’s’ favorite holiday desserts.
Death by Chocolate
1 box (9×13 size) Fudge Brownie Mix, baked according to directions on package
1 large box instant chocolate fudge pudding mix, made according to package directions
1 package toffee brickle pieces or 6 Skor or Heath bars broken into pieces
(Break the candy bars into small pieces by hitting on the counter top or tapping the unopened packages with the handle of a knife or the side of your meat mallet. Set aside).
Into a large bowl, break ½ of the brownies into small pieces, top with ½ of the pudding, ½ of the candy and ½ of the cool whip. Repeat layers using the remaining ingredients. (For a quick and easy version, buy several packages of Little Debbie® or store brand individually wrapped brownies and break them up instead of baking your own brownies. Works well, we’ve done it many times!
(When one of my grandsons was in grade school, they were supposed to bring something to school to ‘cook’ for the class. He had the packages of brownies; the milk was in a quart jar in the school refrigerator, as was the whipped topping. He poured the pudding mix into the milk, shook it up for a couple of minutes until it was mixed, then assembled the dessert. The students all loved it!!