Apple Pie and Gingerbread
Parts of this past week were pretty busy, as my meetings that happen on the first Monday of the month were this week. This coming week is proving to be a busy one for me as various appointments are creeping up on me! We have still had no rain and it’s nearly as dry here as it is in Devine, and that’s pretty dry. I really have to water some of my plants every day. One thing that I did discover, was that my bougainvillea really kicked into action sprouting “blooms” when I put it out in full sunshine, that partial stuff just wasn’t doing the trick. It’s a beautiful color that looks like a combination of yellow and something, it’s not bronze, but it’s a really different color!
One of the most delicious smells to have in your kitchen is the fragrance of cinnamon as it bakes into something luscious and tasty. Some of the things to bake that come to mind are such as an Apple Crisp, Apple Pie, baked apples and of course let’s not forget good, old-fashioned Gingerbread. During the holidays last year, my daughter had stopped at a Brookshire Brothers store and came to the house with some really delicious oatmeal cookie. It was called Orange, cranberry, oatmeal cookies. There are dried cranberries rather than raisins in them and you can taste a faint flavor of orange, and maybe a hint of cinnamon. Yummy to the last bite. Any type of oatmeal cookie usually has a teaspoon or so of cinnamon amongst the ingredients, snickerdoodles are rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar before baking and molasses cookies are full of wonderful smelling spices.
Category: Did You Know? by Joyce Word
Great Recipes
Did You Know?
Quince, a fruit My week was one of those that is semi-busy. My weekend with my daughters here was wonderful, we got a lot done, including defrosting my chest type freezer, hanging curtains, vacuuming, etc., etc. My house was pretty spotless when they left, and there wasn’t a dish in the sink, nor a bed that had not been changed and made over, and all towels were clean and in the linen closet! Girls, your work was truly appreciated. I worked two days in the gift shop, as someone was out Not too busy and I always enjoy working a different day, and seeing different people. Since we had a shipment of merchandise in, I was able to help price and get it displayed, and everything is nice and neat with new fall merchandise and lots of things for October, Breast Cancer Awareness month. When I left Devine and headed home, I had to stop for gas in Pleasanton, and since I knew company was coming, a trip to the HEB grocery store was pretty close to the top of my list. When I got to the fruits and vegetables, one of the first things I noticed was a display of what I thought was Golden Delicious apples, instead, I was looking at a fruit by the name of “Quince”. I had heard of these in the past by never seen them, also, since I read quite a bit, I’ve seen them mentioned in different books, but knew nothing about them. Time for an article! People often ask me where I get my ideas…this was one of those times.
“Graham crackers”
The one thing I really noticed during my trip to Devine, is that rain is needed in that area just as it is here. The only “green” that I saw was irrigated fields, everything else was sere and brown.
This past week has been busy to the max! I was in Devine part of the week, and had bunco, appointments and the usual things. Since I hadn’t seen some of the “greats”, we met at Castroville Regional Park for lunch Friday and had lunch together; salads were the order of the day for the grown-up and bean and cheese tacos for the smaller crowd. We had a wonderful time and the children were able to burn off excess energy running around and using the swings and slides. When I left there, I headed in the general direction of home with a stop off in Pleasanton at the HEB store since I already knew that some of the family would be there for the weekend, in fact, my one daughter and I both got to the house at almost the same time! The other two daughters arrived later in the day, and, yes, we had a wonderfully relaxing weekend. They are all such hard workers and my house is clean, beds changed, laundry done, etc, etc.
The following article is from a newspaper, possible from Chicago, (according to the movies listed on the back and the names of the theatres showing them), that was in a box of “stuff” given to me some time ago. I never had time to go through it and now have finally gotten to do so. There is no date anywhere on/in the article but judging from the condition of the paper, it could be from the ’50 or ‘60s. It struck me as interesting, as I had often wondered where ‘graham crackers’ and graham flour came from. It is being copied exactly as it appeared in that paper, headlines and all!
Autumn/Fall is here
According to everything I hear, it is officially fall, however, you would not be able to prove it by the weather! The nights are fairly cool, but the daytime temperatures are still in the high 90s most days. Today, Sunday was a beautiful day. I got to visit a bit with one of my nephews, as he was on his way back home a quick trip to the coast. We enjoyed Mass and then went out for breakfast. This afternoon and early evening, I visited with a friend and we played canasta. I hadn’t played two-handed in a very long time, and actually managed to win a game.
This week will find me back in Devine for my monthly bunco session and I am looking forward to it, as usual. I truly enjoy being with and seeing some of my children and grandchildren as well as six or seven of my great grands. It’s always amazing how much they grow in just a month without seeing them. They all have such awesome personalities. This coming weekend will be a fun one for me as my daughters are coming in for time with one another and with me. We haven’t been able to do this in quite a while as we’ve all been sort of going in different directions!
We all know that lots of peanuts are raised in the Devine area, but have you ever given peanut butter a thought? It made its debut at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. The original patent was given to Dr. John Harvey Kellog, who initially developed peanut butter as a meat alternative for his patients. However, George Washington Carver is considered by many to be the father of the peanut butter industry. He began his peanut research in 1903 suggested to farmers that they rotate their cotton crops and cultivate peanuts.
Turmeric
This past week was b-u-s-y! Any time you have to be somewhere at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. four days out of five is in that class. Monday wasn’t bad, I didn’t need to be anywhere until 12:30 and that was Pokeno, which is always fun, even though we now only have nine members and several of our substitutes couldn’t play. Tuesday was meeting day and work shop day with the Hospital Auxiliary, Wednesday found me working in the gift shop, Thursday I had an appointment in Victoria and Friday I had another appointment, but at least it was practically local, and, yes, I was late as I thought the appointment was at 10:00 and it was actually at 9:30. So far, this coming week I don’t have that many things to do.
Today, we’re going to talk about an unusual spice, called ‘Turmeric’. It has anti-inflammatory properties and can be used in cooking as well as being brewed into a tea.
Okra is the only thing left in gardens
My week was pretty quiet. My visit to Devine was awesome and I had a great time, visiting not only with my son and his wife, but also with some of those precious great-grandchildren, as well as playing bunco! I was hostess and served hamburgers, with sopapilla cheesecake for dessert.
Labor Day weekend has been fun so far. Here in our area, it’s time for the fall church picnics and my sister and I went to Shiner, TX to the big annual picnic they sponsor. Like most other picnics in this area, “Picnic Stew”, is pretty much the main dish. However, Shiner not only serves their picnic stew, but they also serve fried chicken (super delicious), and sausage, along with green beans, (no mushroom soup, here), seasoned potatoes and sauerkraut, as well as dessert. My chocolate cake was delicious also!
There is music all day long with the famous Shiner Hobo Band having the stage over lunch time along with dancing if desired! And bingo was a very popular spot to be inside the hall! Nope, neither of us won, but it was fun.
Now, let’s talk a little bit about okra. It seems to me this is a vegetable that is either well liked or hated! There has been several face book posts about okra recently, some of them touting the health benefits of eating it.
Last holiday of summer
Last holiday of summer
My weekend was pretty quiet. My sister ad I spent part of Friday in Cuero, checking out a little boutique that we had gift certificates to. It was nice and had plenty of sizes for everyone. Looking at their stock, I came to the conclusion that cute little dresses were back in style. They are perfect for the 20 to 30 age brackets, but not for this granny! The hem lines are mostly just above the knees, and they are floaty and perfect for this time of the year.
This coming Monday is Labor Day. This is the only holiday that has always been on Monday, so therefore it has not fallen to the changes that some of our other holidays have. It is still celebrated on the first Monday of September, just as it has been for many years.
The Knights of Labor in New York City first celebrated Labor Day in 1882 and 1884. Labor Day is now a legal holiday throughout the United States and Canada. It is just about midway between July 4th and Thanksgiving, which is why the first Monday of September, was chosen as this holiday.
Labor Day has always signaled the official end of summer fun. In the past, school always began the Tuesday following Labor Day. This no longer holds true in most school districts, with some having begun classes a couple of weeks ago, with teachers having to go in for workshops and such a week earlier. Many families plan their last get-together of the summer, their last trip to the lake or coast, or their last camp out for Labor Day weekend.
Buying pluots
Just recently, I’ve been noticing a fruit in the produce section that intrigued me. It looks a lot like a light colored (not dark purple), plum with freckles and the name is similar. The tag on the display tells me it is a pluot, but what is that? Pluots are members of the stone fruit family, just as peaches and apricots are. They were developed as a hybrid fruit in the late 1980s and are actually 75% plum and 25% apricot. They have a smooth skin and a shape and texture that is like a plum. The flavor is intense and delicious and they don’t have a bitter aftertaste that plums sometimes have. They are totally and deliciously sweet.
There are several varieties of pluots, including Dapple Dandy, Dinosaur Egg, Flavor Grenade and also Flavorglo. When you are purchasing pluots, look for a fruit that is firm to the touch with just a little give, smells fragrant, and has no blemishes. They are available in a variety of colors, and you should choose the most intense colored fruit of any variety, as they will be the tastiest. If the fruit feels hard to your touch, don’t select it as it won’t ripen well.
School Time!
As is usual, with the first week of the month, my week was a busy one with various meetings and appointments. When we had our Hospital Auxiliary meeting, we changed the time of our hours, so now my Wednesdays working will change from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and be 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The early part of this past week, they mowed the hay fields and spent the day Friday running the balers, in the fields close to my house. Sunday morning, when I looked out the window after church, most of the bales had been hauled off.
This week will begin with an appointment in Victoria for me and my sister decided that she needed a break and will take me. We have a gift certificate to a boutique in Cuero that we are anxious to use, so coming home there will be a side trip to that boutique. Mostly though, we’ll check out the mall and a couple of stores in Victoria, and of course, we get to eat out!
Dumbing us down!
Super busy week and weekend! My awesome stay in Devine ended last Thursday morning, when we left from my grandsons’ home to bring me back home! That afternoon, grocery shopping and a nap were the order of the day, Friday, I baked cakes for the church picnic and Saturday, I spent a large portion of the day helping make the cream cheese and poppy seed rolls that are a main fundraiser. It was fun and everything turned out really good. Sunday was picnic day and was a really busy day. However, I was finished working and after lunch watched the auction for a bit and came back to the house, hard work but also a fun time. This column is truly a “Did you know…column, as I’ve noticed several things over the past several weeks/months and even years, that you may or may not have noticed. For instance: we all know that for years, bacon is no longer sold by the pound (16-ozs) but comes in packages that contain 12-ozs, and yes, it is still the same price or higher than the 16-oz packages were.