Category: Did You Know? by Joyce Word

To say this past week was hectic would be a bit of an understatement! For a couple of days, I felt as if I were a dog chasing his tail. The funeral for my brother-in-law was on Thursday, with the rosary service the evening before. Everything was beautiful and very well organized, as my sister and her daughters did a wonderful job, even with a few obstacles being encountered. There was not a whole lot I could other than be there for some moral support.
Friday was our Hospital Auxiliary annual awards banquet, I had plenty of help, and luckily a lot of things were already finished beforehand. Several of us went to the meeting room we were using at a local church and started covering tables and working on centerpieces, and as the old saying goes “many hands make light work”, we had it finished in plenty of time. And, of course, as with anything of this type, we had a couple of glitches that worked out just fine. The food was catered by a nearby restaurant, and as always it was very good.
When is the last time you ate beets? Have you ever eaten beets; did you like them? Most of us never think of whether we like beets or not, right? We just look at them in their cans on the shelf and think, “they’re sure a pretty color, but what would I do with them?” Or, if we see them on a salad bar, we just ignore them because we have never tried them and probably don’t want too! They seem to be either increasing in popularity, or either they’re just being advertised more, as they are one of the featured items in my current issue of Cooks, Illustrated®. Their recipe is for borscht, a soup very common in the Ukraine. It looks interesting; however, it also looks as if it is quite a bit of work!
Since I was raised during the WWII years, with grandparents who had gardens and a Dad who worked in a grocery store, I learned to eat beets. They do taste good if they are fixed correctly, even if they come out of a can. Just straight from the can, they don’t taste very good and when you look at them in the produce aisle at the grocery store or a farmers’ market, you thought is “how on earth would you cook something like that?” So, today, to clear up a little of the mystery about beets, I will tell you a little bit about them.
My information is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
There are many varieties of beets that include the leafy varieties called chard and spinach beet, the beetroot or garden beet and also the sugar beet that is used to make table sugar.
All of the cultivated varieties are in the subspecies Beta vulgaris subp. vulgaris, while Beta vulgaris subp. martima, the common name for the sea beet, is the wild ancestor of these.
The history of the beet goes back to the second millennium BC. It was probably domesticated along the Mediterranean, and later spread to Babylonia by the 8th century BC and from there as far toward the east as China by 850 AD. Evidence shows that the leafy varieties were most widely cultivated for much of its history. However, much later they lost some of their popularity with the introduction of spinach.
Beets became very important commercially in the 19th century in Europe, after the development of the sugar beet in Germany, when it was discovered that sucrose could be extracted from them. This discovery provided an alternative to the tropical sugar cane and to this day, beets remain a widely cultivated commercial crop for producing table sugar.
To cook beets at home after purchasing them from the store or from a farmers’ market, you scrub them well, place them in a pot, cover them with water and cook them until they are done. The peels will slip off just as the peels from peaches and tomatoes come off when they are dipped into boiling water. After they are cooked, they can be eaten as a hot dish with butter, they can be pickled and chilled and eaten cold as a condiment, (and this is the most common way they are eaten in our areas), or they can be shredded raw and eaten as a salad. The pickled beets are a traditional food of the American South and believe it or not, according to the information I have, in Australia and New Zealand, it is common for sliced, pickled beets to be served on a hamburger.
A traditional dish of the Pennsylvania Dutch is to use the left-over pickling liquid and place hard cooked eggs in it and store in the fridge until the eggs turn a deep pink/red color.
While I was in this site, I also looked up “beet recipes” and many were for salads with the addition of feta, blue or goat cheese. Many of them also had lime, orange or lemon juice as an addition, along with arugula, water cress, shallots, apples and the list goes on and on. In checking through cookbooks, I found recipes using beets in cakes and cookies, which seems a really sneaky way to get you family to eat a dish they might tell you they don’t like. As for myself, I have eaten them prepared with a thickened sauce, (Harvard beets), as well as just plain with butter, salt and pepper, but my favorite, if I am going to eat beets, is pickled.
When I lived in Devine, especially when the children were small, my grandma and aunt from La Coste and I would can beets. We cooked the beets, peeled them and cut them into chunks or slices, made up a hot mixture of vinegar, sugar and the liquid from cooking the beets and placed them in quart jars, sealed them shut and I truly don’t remember if we processed them or not, as too many years have gone by. Also, in later years, a friend, who had a big garden, would pick the leaves of the plants when they were small and cook them just as you would cook spinach. They were good served this way.
Pickled Beets
2 or 3 cans sliced beets (can use the cut pieces or quarters if desired)
Equal parts, sugar, vinegar, liquid
Open the cans and drain the liquid from the beets and set aside. Place the beets in a bowl and set aside. Measure out 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of the beet liquid or water, and ¾ to 1 cup vinegar, place in a pot and heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and then pour over the beets in the bowl. Chill thoroughly before serving. This is how my grandma made her pickled beets. Many cooks do not heat the mixture, they just stir until the sugar is dissolved and pour it over the beets, and still others add pickling spices to the mixture; it truly is a matter of personal preference.
Harvard Beets
2 cans sliced beets, drained and liquid set aside
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch
¼ cup vinegar
¼ cup beet liquid
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Combine sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, beet liquid and oil and bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the beets and cook at simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Now, I know I mentioned a cake made with beets, and, I found recipes for sauerkraut cake, poppy seed cake, carrot cake, potato cake, wacky cake, pork cake, watermelon cake and all sorts of other cakes using vegetables and/or fruits but could not find the one using beets. It was called, of all things, “Beatnick Cake”, but without spending several hours going through cookbooks, I can’t find it this morning! Believe it or not, here it is ten or twelve years down the line, and I decided to use this column about beets again, and in the cookbook made by the women of the Moore Library Committee, I found the “Beatnik Cake”! The ladies on the committee were Octavia Jones, Chairman; Alice Terry, Betty Gentry, Wanda Salzman and Ann Wofford.
Beatnik Cake
Laura Petri
1½ cups ground beets
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups sugar
1¼ cups cooking oil
1 7/8 cups flour
¾ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon lard
Cream sugar, egg, and oil. Add beets, cocoa, lard, flour, baking soda, salt and vanilla. Bake in a loaf pan. Ice with favorite icing.
(It does not say whether the beets should be cooked or not. However, since I’ve been seeing recipes using beets recently and they are shredding them raw for salads, that could be the way you would use them. I can’t quite see grinding a cooked beet, the texture is similar to cooked carrots).

It is with a feeling of sadness that I sit down to write my column this week. My beloved brother-in-law passed away this past Saturday. The last several years have been really hard on him, as due to truly poor circulation, he had lost both his legs and was pretty much confined to a motorized wheelchair. He usually had a great outlook on life, knowing how closely he had come to losing his life several times. He found a hobby in making bird houses for all of us, and then he began making miniature ones for us to use in our plants. He also loved using the word-find puzzles and went through one book after another of those. He was able to move around the house on his scooter and could do a certain amount of cooking and wait on himself to a great extent. And, most of all, he kept his binoculars at hand so he could keep an eye on the deer that frequented his yard. He was a dedicated hunter in his younger days and always worked hard at being a good sportsman, and that included going to the coast and fishing, as well as hunting turkeys, and just being outdoors. He spent twenty years in the Army Reserve and retired three or four years ago with a good rank. (He just told me what it was last week, but I don’t remember!) He was a veteran of the Army as well and loved our country, our flag and his church. He never missed going to church on Sunday, unless he was confined to bed and couldn’t attend. These last several years, they have had a vehicle that he could drive his wheelchair into, be fastened down and he and my sister would go, not only to church but occasionally to the grocery store and to Victoria or even to the doctor in San Antonio if necessary. Until recently, she was able to drive them anywhere they wanted to go, but she finally needed neck surgery, so for the past couple of months, they’ve had two caregivers, as well as help from their daughters when necessary. At one time when she had a health problem, I even managed to get him where he needed to be for an appointment or whatever was needed. He will be missed by many, many people! RIP, Bob Jungman, you were a good man and a good friend to all who knew you.
We are almost through our first month of winter, however, most of the time it has still seemed like summer, other than a couple of weeks ago when we had a spate of freezing weather. I was totally glad when it was over! Now, believe it or not, Saturday and Sunday both brought us rain…there was a thunder storm going on when I was ready to retire Saturday evening and it quit during the night, only to come around again this morning when I was dressing for church.
Have you ever given a thought as to how soup got started as such? Was a housewife making stew and she forgot to thicken the broth? Did she add too much water to the stew and make soup instead? There is nothing in any dictionary or encyclopedia that tells anything about the origins of soup. According to the Webster dictionary, soup is, “A liquid food made by simmering vegetables, seasonings and sometimes meat or fish”. A chef who had a hard time getting a joint or a tough old hen tender probably started it.
In stories from older times, you read of people taking a nice pot of broth or soup to a neighbor who was unwell. Chicken soup has long been touted as something to be eaten if you are ill. Believe it or not, it really is supposed to have some curative powers.
Soup was even the basis of a children’s story called “Stone Soup” which was featured on every child’s favorite show of the time, Captain Kangaroo! It was actually a story that taught children about sharing with others.
Following are some of my all time favorites, including Caldo de Res, that you will find in colder weather at many of the restaurants that feature Mexican food.
Caldo de Res
2½ pounds beef shank, sliced 1-inch thick, bone in
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1½ cups beef stock
1 can tomatoes (if you use whole tomatoes, cut or mash them up, or use the diced, canned tomatoes)
4 ears fresh corn
4 medium sized russet potatoes
2 zucchini
6 carrots or 12 to 14 baby carrots
¼ cup chopped cilantro
Water to cover
1 small head cabbage
1 lime, cut into wedges
Sliced jalapeños, for garnish
Cut each piece of beef shank into three or four pieces, being sure to leave some meat on the bone. Sauté the beef chunks with the onions, salt and pepper. When beef is browned, add the beef stock and the tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for about one hour, or until the beef is very tender.
Wash the vegetables, cut each ear of corn into four or five pieces, cut potatoes into quarters and the carrots into equivalent sizes, or if using baby carrots, leave them whole. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, and then cut into 1-inch chunks. Add the vegetables and the cilantro. Add additional water to cover the vegetables and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Cut the cabbage into 8 wedges, leaving the core intact and then place cabbage into the mixture and simmer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
Cheese Soup
¼ cup butter or margarine
½ cup each, finely chopped carrot, celery and onion
½ cup flour
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups each, chicken stock and milk. (Canned chicken broth can be used
1 pound shredded cheese (1 cup cheddar, 1 cup Velveeta and ½ cup American)
Salt and pepper to taste if desired (salt may not be necessary if you used canned broth).
Sauté together the butter or margarine, carrots, celery and onions. Stir in the flour and cornstarch; cook and stir until bubbly. Add the stock and milk. Cook and stir until smooth and thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Potato Soup
3 or 4 large Russet potatoes
Water (I had chicken broth and used that to cook the potatoes, very good)
2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 onion, chopped
¼ cup diced celery
1 to 2 cups milk or half and half or a combination of both
Salt and pepper to your taste
1 cup shredded or diced cheese (optional)
Salt and pepper to your taste
Parsley (optional)
Peel potatoes and cut into small chunks, place in pot and barely cover with water. Cover and cook until tender. While the potatoes are cooking, sauté onions and celery until onions are transparent. Set aside. When potatoes are tender, use your potato masher and lightly mash them leaving some un-mashed. Stir in onions and celery, add milk, and bring just to simmering. Add cheese if used. Heat gently until cheese melts, stir in parsley if used. (I had potato soup at a restaurant several weeks back, when we were in Victoria and it had either chopped up sausage or ham in it. I have tried this at home using diced ham, and it is delicious). (When I made this soup this past weekend, I had diced cheese and some shredded and not much of any of them, so just mixed it up and put in about 1½ or more cups).
The following recipe is called “Grandma’s Chicken Mulligan”. It is as much a stew as it is a soup, and the recipe is aptly named, as my Grandmother and Mother made it regularly in the wintertime when I was growing up. Of course, Grandpa had to go to the hen house and catch a hen, butcher it and clean it before Grandma could make this! It really tastes best when made with a stewing hen, but you can use a broiler/fryer instead if that is what is available to you.
Grandma’s Chicken Mulligan
1 cooking hen (4 to 6 pound) or use large broiler/fryer, or chicken parts if desired
1 to 2 tablespoons salt
1 or 2 onions, chopped
1 pint home canned tomatoes, or a 16-ounce can, whole, broken or cut into pieces
2 teaspoons chili powder
3 or 4 medium size red potatoes, cut into chunks (Grandma always had her own, garden grown red potatoes). Russet potatoes can be used, but they tend to break up and get mushy when cooked in this recipe, so the red are really best.
1 can cream style corn
Thaw hen; cut into serving size pieces. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Add salt and cook until chicken is tender. Remove the chicken, set aside and pick meat from bones if desired. Add the onions, tomatoes, potatoes and chili powder; cook until potatoes are done. Return chicken to pot, add the corn and simmer about 20 minutes. Serve in bowls with crusty rolls or corn bread. (I made this recently and it was a delicious as I remember it being.
Super-easy 5-can Soup
1 pound ground meat
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can shoepeg corn
1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 can mixed vegetables
Brown meat in a large pot with taco seasoning mix; then add all cans of vegetables without draining them. Bring to boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes to blend flavors. You can brown your meat and then transfer everything to a crock pot and keep hot on low temperature if desired.
(Instead of the ground meat, I used 1 qt. vegetable broth, the taco seasoning, 1½ cups frozen mixed vegetables, and 1 cup frozen corn).

The year of our Lord, 2022 is over and we are beginning a new one. It feels strange to write the numbers 2023, doesn’t it? This is my first time to use it as I write my very first column of a new year, and I am thankful that I am still around to do it, each day is a blessing to me.
On Friday, I attended the funeral of a very dear friend. She was buried on what would have been her 83rd birthday, and in the early hours of Friday morning, a new great-grandchild was born to one of her grandsons and his wife! The Lord works in wonderous ways!
My Christmas, even though broken into parts was wonderful. This year, on the day after Christmas, all four of my children were here in my home, along with two grandsons, (one of whom is in the service and had not been stateside for Christmas in 10 years), their spouses and children, as well the mother of one of the spouses, making for a total of 20. The great-grandchildren attending, ranged in age from not quite eleven down to six months, and yes, we got a few pictures, they were all so cute and loveable!
My youngest daughter and her husband came in on Christmas Day, and she helped me get some things done, (she also stayed an extra day and helped me clean up). We were having our favorite meal, Mexican food. My son-in-law brought all the fixings for both beef and chicken enchiladas, and they were delicious. His Chile sauce was wonderful, he used guajillo peppers, as well as a couple of other types and die a great job with all of it. Another daughter brought a gigantic bowl of guacamole, that is different than the usual recipe, (that I had requested), and as always, it was delicious, and we really enjoyed it. She also brought a great dessert, as well as other things. The other daughter brought tamales as well as numerous types of cookies and desserts, a grandson and his wife, brought a big bag stuffed with all sorts of sweets the children would like, my daughter-in-heart came in with a big casserole of Mexican style rice, which almost all disappeared, and both she and my oldest daughter came in with tables and chairs. We were able to seat some of the children in the kitchen and others in the living room and still others of us at the dining room table. It was a full house and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. The grandsons had their children outside playing and shooting the fireworks that one of them brought in the middle of the day….it was so much fun. We had TV trays set up in my bedroom for desserts, and while we didn’t have one for each member of the family, we had lots! We added to our fun by opening our Christmas gifts, and I made out like a little bandit!
This coming Friday, January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany. This word is from Greek and means appearance. It is also called the Feast of Lights, Feast of the Three Kings and Twelfth Night. It concludes the period allotted in the church calendar to the Feast of the Nativity. In the West, Epiphany commemorates the visit of the Three Kings, or Wise Men, to the infant Jesus. It is a major Christian feast commemorating the appearance of Christ. The Nativity itself was celebrated on this day, but, in the fourth century A.D, it was assigned to December 25. What began as a most solemn feast, Twelfth Night became a time of revelry, especially during the sixteenth century in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
It is the Feast of the Three Kings and Twelfth Night of Christmas that we are interested in, for this column!
Officially, the Carnival Season can be short or long, depending on when Lent and Easter fall in a given year’s calendar. The start of Mardi Gras, however, is always Twelfth Night (12 days after Christmas), which commemorates the visit of the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. The Spanish give gifts on Twelfth Night instead of on Christmas. Amongst the French, it is Petit Noel (little Christmas), on January 6th, when balls are held. The ending is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is February 22, this year.
The opening celebrations took place in private homes and culminated in the eating of the Gateau du roi (King’s Cake), that was made of brioche batter. Hidden away somewhere in the cakes was either a small bisque or china doll, or a bean, usually a red bean and sometimes covered in silver or gold leaf. Tradition says that the person who chose the piece of cake with the doll or bean inside, would become king or queen of the ball. He or she was then held responsible for hosting the next ball in the next week. The balls continued until Mardi Gras itself. Among the wealthy, actual gold and diamond jewelry was sometimes substituted for the bean or doll.
The cake is frosted and then sprinkled with colored bands of sugar. Purple represents Justice, Green represents Faith and Gold represents Power.
The doll has come to be used almost exclusively because of the danger of someone biting down on the bean before they realized it was in their piece of cake.
When I first baked the King Cake, I used the dough setting on my bread maker and this seems to work really well. After taking the dough from the bread machine, it is rolled and shaped into a 14-inch circle. The baby (we used the same one several times), is inserted in the bottom of the cake, so no one can tell where it was placed. The circle is then baked, cooled and frosted with a light powdered sugar glaze. After you have the glaze on, you sprinkle purple, green and gold colored sugar in 2-inch-wide stripes onto the frosting. Cakes can now be purchased at a lot of the grocery stores in San Antonio. (HEB handles them here, and I think it has sort of become standard that most larger grocery chains handle them).
The following is the simplest of several recipes for the cake that I found on the Internet. Personally, I prefer just to use the recipe for sweet dough in my bread maker cookbook, adding the nutmeg and lemon rind when the bread maker ‘beeps’ for additions.
Mardi Gras King’s Cake
½ cup water, (105ºF to 115ºF)
2 packages active dry yeast
3½ to 4½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
½ cup lukewarm water
3 eggs
4 egg yolks
½ cup softened butter
1 egg (lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon milk
1 ovenproof figurine
3 cups powdered sugar
¼ lemon juiced and strained
3 teaspoons water (more if necessary)
Green, purple and yellow sugars
Soften yeast in water. Combine flour, sugar, nutmeg, salt and lemon rind in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add yeast mixture, eggs, egg yolks and combine completely. Beat in butter until dough forms a ball. Place on floured board; incorporate more flour if necessary. Knead until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a well-buttered bowl, turning over so all surfaces are covered. Cover with a towel and let rise 1 ½ hours or until doubled in bulk. Dough is doubled when you can gently poke two fingers in the dough and the holes remain. Brush baking sheet with butter and set aside. Punch dough down on lightly floured board. Knead lightly, then roll and pat into a 15-inch cylinder. Place on baking sheet, and form into a circle, pinching edges together. Press figurine into bottom of dough, so that it is hidden. Set aside, covered with a towel to rise 1 to 1½ hours. Before baking, brush top with the egg milk mixture. Bake in a preheated 375ºF until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Beat icing ingredients until smooth and spread over top of cake, letting it drip down sides. Immediately sprinkle sugars in alternating, 2-inch-wide stripes of purple, green and yellow. Have fun!
Hope your New Year is a very good one, with lots of blessings!

The weather this past week has been a doozy. I went from mild and balmy to totally icy in just a couple of days, and Texas isn’t in nearly as bad a shape as many of the northern states. The temperature here at my house was a very cool 17ºF, on Friday morning. None of my pipes were frozen mostly due to all the work that was done a couple of years ago. The only problem I encountered was that I had hot and cold water all over the house except the kitchen, it had only hot water! That worked OK as the RO system was working fine. Finally, around 3:30 in the afternoon when the sun was on that side of the house, the pipe thawed out and I had water again. I went out and checked and the pipes were well wrapped. Needless to say, on Friday night, that faucet stayed on with just a fine trickle of water.
This Christmas started out as being a very quiet one, that didn’t last for long! We are actually celebrating on Monday and what began as a small get-together mushroomed into being about 15 to 18 people! As it turns out, I will probably have all four of my children and their spouses, two or maybe three of my grandsons and their families and several friends of the family. We will be serving Mexican Food, as it’s something fairly simple and goes a long way.
Saturday evening, I will go to church in town with my sister and her husband, and then we will go to her house for supper and exchanging of gifts. It will be just the three of us and it has become our tradition, as we have done it almost every year since I’ve been here! We enjoy it so much. For several years, we went to the little country church for Midnight Mass, but since Covid, all Christmas Eve Masses are in town.
Are you planning a get-together, open house or party for New Year’s Eve? If you are, here are a few recipes for dips and some cheese balls if that is what you care to serve.
Italian Dip
2 blocks cream cheese (8-ounce size)
½ cup sour cream (if desired)
1 package Good Seasons® Italian, Zesty Italian or Garlic dressing mix
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Beat cream cheese until smooth, beat in sour cream (if used), add dressing mix and Parmesan cheese. Stir together until well mixed.
Chalupa Dip
2 cans (16-ounce size) refried beans (your choice, with or without jalapenos)
1 package taco seasoning mix
3 large avocados (or a package of ready made guacamole)
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
1 clove garlic, very finely minced
2 cups sour cream
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup picante sauce (mild medium or hot)
3 to 4 cups finely shredded lettuce
2 small tomatoes, diced and drained well
4 or 5 green onions, sliced thinly, including tops
1 can sliced ripe olives
2 cups shredded Longhorn style cheese or Monterrey Jack cheese
Mix taco seasoning into the refried beans. Spread into a 9×12 clear glass baking dish or onto a large sandwich tray with sides (10 to 12-inch glass cake plate with sides about ½ inch deep). Mix together the avocados with the juice and garlic to make guacamole or spread the package of ready-to-eat guacamole over the beans. Mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise and picante sauce, spread over the avocado mixture. Top with remaining ingredients in order listed. Chill before serving. Serve with tortilla chips
Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese Ball
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup milk
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
8-ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 package cream cheese (8-ounce)
Toasted almonds or pecans, very finely chopped.
Mix together milk, mayonnaise and dressing mix. Set aside. Have cheese at room temperature for at least one hour. Beat cream cheese thoroughly with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in shredded cheese and dressing mixture. Pack into small bowl which you have lined with plastic wrap. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes. Lift out of bowl with plastic wrap and shape into ball. Roll in chopped nuts.
French Dressing Dip
1 package (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup Kraft French Dressing
2 tbs. catsup*
2 tbs. mayonnaise
2 teaspoons very finely chopped or grated onion
Beat the cream cheese until smooth, and then beat in the French dressing, catsup, mayonnaise and onion until well mixed. Chill before using to allow flavors to blend. Serve with chips.
This is a very good basic dip that also makes a great shrimp dip. *For shrimp dip, I added about a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and in place of the catsup, I used an equal amount of the bottled chili sauce and added a couple of teaspoons of prepared horseradish. For shrimp dip, drain and rinse a small can of shrimp, dice finely and stir in with the rest of the ingredients.
Dill Pickle Cheese Ball
1 package (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided use
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ cup finely chopped dill pickle, or ¼ dill pickle relish
1½ teaspoons pickle juice
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon salt
Coating:
4 to 5 slices bacon cooked and crumbled (thin sliced bacon)
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh dill
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth; then add the remaining ingredients until well combined and shape into a ball.
In a shallow bowl or plate, mix the bacon, cheese and fresh dill, and roll the cheese ball in this mixture until well coated. Chill before serving.
(Make ‘mini’ cheese balls, about ¾-inch in diameter; roll in the mixture and use a pretzel stick in each one to serve. (They need to be one-bite size, I made mine the size of a walnut and they were too big and my friends ended up having to spread them on chips).
Here’s wishing all my friends and readers a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. God bless you and be safe if you’re traveling!

By ANTON RIECHER
The Devine City Council held two closed executive sessions during its regular meeting Dec. 13 – one to discuss a possible settlement regarding city efforts to condemn three Devine Municipal Airport hangars and another to review applications for city administrator.
No action was taken following either closed session.
In November the council voted to condemn hangars 8, 8A and 10 by means of eminent domain. The formal motion refers to acquisition for “the Public Use of Designing, Developing, Constructing, Enlarging, Extending and Improving the Devine Municipal Airport.”
More than 27,715 square feet of hangar space is involved in the action.
The council also voted in November to advertise in professional publications for a new city administrator. City Administrator John Vidaurri resigned effective October 22, 2021, leaving city secretary Dora Rodriguez to step into his vacated role on an interim basis.
The city is seeking candidates with five years’ experience as a city manager or administrator who also hold a bachelor’s degree and degrees in public administration, management or business.
In other action, the council asked city attorney Thomas P. Cate to draft an amendment to the city’s alcoholic beverage ordinance based on the discussion among the council members.  The draft motion was made by District 4 council member Josh Ritchey and seconded by District 5 council member Debbie Randall.
Mayor Cory Thompson said the current ordinance restricts alcoholic beverages within a 300-foot radius of schools and church. However, downtown Devine is all but officially dry due to an overlap of these radiuses often surrounding churches that are no longer in use.
“I’m often getting requests from business owners who want to sell alcohol but are located within these zones,” Thompson said.
City staff has been unable to find any official reason why the council chose to enforce a standardized 300 foot radius for these locations back in 1976, he said. Whereas modern minutes record the council’s action in detail, older minutes tend to be brief and uninformative, Thompson said.
Today, the ordinance is often not enforced 100 percent, particularly during events such as the Fall Festival or October Fest. Thompson noted that the Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter is within 100 feet of school property.
“For the most part I would like to see the ordinance go away but there are certain points I’d like to keep,” he said.
In particular, the mayor wants to keep the official closing time at 1 a.m. He also wants to continue requiring application for city permits to serve alcohol.
An addition that Thompson proposed to the ordinance is no glass bottles on public property. Alcohol would be allowed but containers must not be obviously displayed.
“Places like Marble Falls or parks in Travis County alcohol cannot be visible,” Thompson said. “If the beer can is in a coozie no one has a problem. On the other hand, no one wants to see an open ice chest.”
Noting that the ordinance had previously been amended in 1981 and 1990, Thompson said it has always been an “ever evolving document.”
“We can always readdress this,” he said.
In other discussion about ordinances, the council tabled action on fence restrictions under consideration by the planning and zoning commissioners. In particular, Randall expressed concern about fences that obscure traffic by being too tall, too close to the corner or opaque.
Some board fencing makes it impossible to see the cars waiting at stop signs at certain intersections, Randall said. Ritchey said he would like to see any new ordinance focus on safety factory rather than the style of fencing.
“Lots of stuff in their now is not palatable to a lot of folks, including me,” he said.
The council also discussed new code requirements regarding the collection of solid waste. Randall said she was in favor of requiring homeowners to promptly collect their waste containers after trash has been collected. 
She said an impromptu survey via Facebook that she conducted found that most people would support rules to get the containers out of the street and off the curb. However, some folks simply replied “just let people be,” she said.
Thompson said leaving the containers in the street often restricts the flow of traffic on narrow residential streets. Also, maneuvering around the containers can make exiting driveways more hazardous.
The council took no action but asked Cate to draft changes for a future vote.
Misty Thompson of Thompson Houston Real Estate addressed the council about obtaining an extension on master plan approval at the 13.71-acre Cactus Flats subdivision. The council granted a three-year extension.
“We were not aware there was a time limit,” Thompson said. “Approval was only good for three years.”
To date only four houses have been built in the subdivision.
Also regarding subdivision development, the council approved a $103,693 road construction project for Shaver Street between West Davis Avenue and Kempf Street. The council voted 4-0 to approve based on a motion by Ritchey.
The council voted to make a correction in an earlier proclamation in honor of National Wreaths Across America Day on Dec. 17. Among the 3,702 participating locations across the country Devine was represented by the Devine Current Events Club, not the Devine Garden Club.
Business woman Brittany Sullivan-Ott offered the city council a deal during its regular meeting, offering to pay to repaint two sadly faded “Welcome to Devine” signs.
“It’s very faded in my opinion,” she said. “I’m tired of driving by it.”
Repainting the signs will cost $1,500 apiece, she said. Her only stipulation was to add the logo of her two businesses – C&R Grill and Alamo Truck Accessories – to the refurbished signs.
Other than that, Sullivan-Ott asked only for help installing the replacement signs. Both signs are located on Devine ISD property.
The motion by District 4 council member Josh Ritchey, approved 4-0 by the council, puts a four year limit on the new signs. Once expired Sullivan-Ott can replace them again or turn the honor over to some new willing entrepreneur.

This week wasn’t particularly busy for me…I didn’t get a lot of personal stuff done, but I attended/helped with a funeral, and a friend came by and helped me get some yard decoration up and running. Several years ago, my daughter gave me one of the “Star Shower” light displays, and we set that up and it’s looking great…great enough, in fact that I decided that two of the families on my Christmas gift list would be getting one as a gift. I managed to get to Cuero Saturday and shopped at HEB and WalMart and got quite a bit done, and then Sunday I went the other direction to a Walmart and got a little more finished. Monday, I will head to the bank and get cash for gift cards for a few more on my list. Meanwhile, I got to talk to one of my daughters and we settled what I would be doing on Christmas Day! She and her husband will be here with me. Since we no longer have Midnight Mass at our little country church, I will be able to go to early Mass and we will have the whole day together. It has been quite a while since we’ve been able to do this, and I am really looking forward to our visit.

Continue reading “Ten Days…. not much time left”

This, my first column of the last month of this year, is actually going to be in the paper on the 81st anniversary of one of the worst days of infamy our country has known, and like the day of airplanes being flown into the twin towers, it will never be forgotten. This day, of course is December 7, 1941, when Japanese bombers began strafing Pearl Harbor and destroying so many of our war ships and the base where these planes were stationed. It also took an almost uncountable number of lives. The battleship Arizona is one of the most awesome places that I have ever visited. When I went to Hawaii several years ago, each time we went off or onto the Island we passed that museum. We did a tour of it one afternoon and I still get chills when I think of the horror of what went on at that time.
It is time to start thinking about making cookies for Christmas. If you have the time, it is really fun to make cookies with your children and grandchildren! The simplest way to do that, I have found is to make up the dough one day and then have them over the next to cut out and bake cookies. Most of these recipes can be rolled into balls the size of unshelled walnuts before putting them on the cookie sheets; they then will come out pretty much all the same size. When I want to make cookies, I usually will make up three or four batches of dough on one evening and then bake cookies the next evening. This seems to work really well, at least for me. In fact, you can then bake as many or as few as you want, you don’t have to bake up the entire batch of each dough, and then, you have fresh baked cookies when you have company coming over for coffee!
My son and daughters remember very well when my grandmother would come over and “spend” with us a few days, especially at Christmas. She would help me make ‘anise’ cookies and we would always have a very good time!
Applesauce Spice Cookies
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3½ cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup thick, unsweetened applesauce
1 or more cups of mixed candied fruit
¼ cup flour
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Cream shortening and sugar together. Beat egg, add to creamed mixture and blend well. Sift flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together and add alternately with the applesauce to creamed mixture, with flour being added first and last. Dredge the candied fruit in the ¼ cup flour and stir into the dough. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto well greased cookie sheets. Bake 375ºF for 12 to 15 minutes.
This recipe goes by many names, including Ranger Cookies and a couple of other ones as well. They are always delicious, and this recipe is from my Mother’s aunt. It is written out just as she had it in a small cookbook that a group put together for one of our family reunions.
Good Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups crisp rice cereal (i.e. Rice Crispies)
1 cup coconut
Preheat oven to325ºF. Cream shortening and sugar very well, add eggs, salt and vanilla. Beat well until blended. Add flour sifted with soda and baking powder. Fold in oatmeal Rice Crispies and coconut. Make a ball about the size of a large marble. Place on greased cookie sheet and flatten with glass dipped in sugar*. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. *Lightly spray glass with nonstick spray or rub a light coat of cooking oil on it, then dip in sugar, flatten a couple of cookies, dip in sugar, repeat until all cookies on baking sheet are flattened.
Delicious Oatmeal Cookies
¾ cup butter or margarine
½ cup granulated sugar
1½ cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2½ cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup pecans
1 cup coconut (optional)
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Cream butter and sugars thoroughly; add eggs and vanilla. Sift together the dry ingredients and stir in until well mixed. Add the oatmeal, pecans and coconut (if used). Drop dough by spoonfuls on lightly greased or sprayed baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool thoroughly, store in tightly covered container.
Snickerdoodles
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Mix together and set aside
2 cups shortening (I use 1 cup shortening and 1 cup margarine)
.3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
5½ cups flour
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Thoroughly cream together the shortening, sugar and eggs. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Mix into the shortening mixture. Mix well and chill dough overnight. Shape into walnut sized balls; roll each one in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350ºF until lightly browned, but still soft. They will puff up and then flatten out.
The following sugar cookie recipe is really great as it does not have to be refrigerated before cutting and baking. To decorate, use the cookie paint recipe and paint the cut out cookies before baking. If desired, sprinkle colored sugar to match the paint.
Sugar Cookies
1 1/3 cups shortening
2½ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Thoroughly cream together shortening, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla. Add combined dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Roll out 1/8 to ¼-inch thick on lightly floured* board and cut with cookie cutters into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, sprinkle with granulated sugar (if you did not previously paint them,) and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cookie Paint
Evaporated milk
Liquid or paste food coloring
Plastic egg carton
Small, inexpensive craft paint brushes
Decorative sugars, nonpareils, etc.
Pour about 1 to 1½ tablespoons of the milk into each of several of the cups in the egg carton. Add a few drops of coloring or paste to each on until desired color is reached. Paint unbaked cookies, decorate as desired and bake in preheated oven. Remove from sheets and cool thoroughly.
Molasses Crinkles
3/4 cups soft shortening or margarine (our grandmothers used lard for this recipe)
1 cups brown sugar
1 eggs
1/4 cup molasses (Grandma’s brand, Steens brand, unsulphured)
2¼ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ to 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Cream together the shortening, sugar, eggs and molasses. Mix dry ingredients and stir into shortening mixture. Stir together until well mixed. Chill overnight. Shape into balls the size of small walnuts. Dip tops in sugar. Place sugared side up on lightly greased baking sheet. Dip your finger into some water and press down lightly on each cookie. Bake at 375ºF until cookies are just set. Remove from pan immediately. They will be puffed up and then will flatten out. The pressing down with the wet finger will give them a crinkled top.

Last week, I gave you a couple of pumpkin recipes to begin thinking about desserts for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie was not one of them, as there is a wonderful recipe for that on the can of pumpkin you buy to make your pie. My thought is, “if that recipe has been around for years and been being made, there’s no point in changing it”, so this week, I’ll give you another recipe or two for desserts, including a different pie, as well as a side dish for Thanksgiving, that I’ve used for years.
There have been several different publications that I have seen recently that have recipes for sweet potatoes, and it gave me the idea for this article!
In your area, as well as in mine, we use the terms ‘yam’ and ‘sweet potato’ interchangeably. Did you know that this is incorrect?
After checking out two different encyclopedias, I found that both of them said the same thing. In the United States, certain varieties of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are incorrectly called yams! (A true yam is a starchy root that grows in the Caribbean. It is rough and scaly and not even related to the sweet potato!).
The yam belongs to the genus Dioscorea of the family Dioscoreaceas (called the yam family). There are over 600 known species of true yams. Four of these species are native to the United States.
The sweet potato is among the most important of the tropical root crops. They are baked, boiled, or fried, some are used for soup and some are dried and ground into meal. They are high in Beta-Carotene and vitamins E and C. (Just 2/3 cup of sweet potatoes gives you 100% of the USRDA for Vitamin E). They are also a good source of fiber when eaten with the skin on. They also offer other essential nutrients such as: potassium, iron and Vitamin B6.
The sweet potato is a perennial belonging to the morning-glory family and is chiefly cultivated for its edible roots. The flowers resemble those of the morning-glory and the tuberous roots are usually several inches long. The flesh of the sweet potato may be white, yellow or orange. (I was always told that the darker orange colored potatoes were yams and the lighter ones were sweet potatoes, ho hum, so much for that legend). In the United States, the leading producers of sweet potatoes are Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Years ago, when Sam and I lived in Victoria, there was usually a farmer or two selling fresh sweet potatoes alongside the road between Victoria and Yoakum, yes, we usually stopped and got a few to bring to grandma, as she didn’t always have them.
The sweet potato was introduced into Spain from the West Indies in 1526 and gradually made its way to other parts of Europe. it is generally believed to have first been grown in the United States around 1648. Actually, history tells us that the Native Americans were already growing them when Columbus arrived in 1492. The ship’s log indicated that he took some “Sweet Potatoes” back to Europe with him.
Sweet potatoes require a long, warm growing season. In back issues of our paper, while doing research in old papers, most generally in the 1936-37 era, I have found many references to someone coming by the office and bringing ‘this Editor’ (KK’s grandfather), a sack of locally grown sweet potatoes. Since they grow well in sandy loam, there is really no reason for them not to grow in the Devine area; however, I have not heard of them being raised commercially in recent times.
There are probably as many recipes for cooking sweet potatoes, as there are cooks to cook them. They lend themselves to many recipes. Some folks have never eaten them any way except candied with marshmallows on top at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My very favorite way to eat them is to bake them, split them open, put butter, salt and pepper on them and eat away!
To bake: prick the skin with a fork and bake at 400ºF for 40 to 50 minutes, or until tender. (Be sure to prick thoroughly to keep the potato from exploding while baking, you will have a big mess if you don’t).
A couple of weeks ago, my grandson and his family came for the weekend. My granddaughter-in-law brought me a sweet potato pie. This was a real treat, as even though I had heard of them for years, I had not (to my knowledge) eaten one, nor had I made one. After sharing it with my sister and her husband, she sort of felt that she liked it better than pumpkin pie, so of course, I had to find a recipe and try it. The pie turned out great, and having too much filling for the pie, I just baked that small amount of filling in a pie pan, and it was delicious.
Sweet Potato Pie
1 ¾ cups, baked sweet potato (about 3 medium size), cooled and peeled
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups whole milk
3 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 unbaked 9-inch, deep dish pie crust
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Mash cooled and peeled sweet potatoes (I just used a fork, but you can use your potato masher (bean masher), if you prefer
Mix other ingredients in order listed, add potatoes, stir to blend well, and pour into a 9-inch, deep-dish unbaked pie crust. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, covering with foil if the edges begin to brown too quickly. Watch during the last 10 minutes of baking to check firmness of pie. (I sprayed a 12-inch square of foil with non-stick spray and covered mine the last 20 minutes or so of baking.) I also turned the oven to 400º at the same time. My oven is an old propane stove, and it holds the heat way more than some of the newer stoves do.
Sweet Potatoes with Apples
2 to 3 pounds fresh sweet potatoes
4 or 5 large cooking apples
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar, or to taste
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
Peel the sweet potatoes and slice into 3/4-inch-thick rounds. Peel the apples and cut into 1/2-inch crosswise slices and remove cores. (If you have an apple corer, the cores can be removed before slicing). Place a layer of sweet potato slices in large pot or baking dish, sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar and a small amount of the melted butter or margarine, top with a layer of apples. Repeat layers, finishing with a layer of apples. Add 1/4 cup or less water to the pan and place over medium heat. Bring water to a boil, cover and cook without stirring until apples and potatoes are tender. This dish may also be baked in a 350ºF oven until tender. (I have also used canned sweet potatoes, layering them with the apples and cooking until the apples were tender). Serve hot. (This dish is a must at my family’s’ Thanksgiving dinner).
Quick Homemade Apple Crisp
5 cups peeled, sliced baking apples (Granny Smith, Rome Beauty or any tart apple)
3 tablespoons sugar
TOPPING:
¾ quick cooking oatmeal (not instant)
½ cup brown sugar (packed)
¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter
¼ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix apples and sugar and place in a 2-quart baking dish. For topping: in a medium bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; add pecans if used and mix to combine; sprinkle over apples in baking dish and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden.

We are well into the month of November, and it seems that the countdown to the holiday season is here. I’ve been to Victoria lately and a couple of small, nearby towns and already the Christmas décor is either already on display or it’s being put on display. This is way too early for me, as my shopping involved the need of items to finish out Halloween! Luckily, I was able to find what I wanted/needed and there wasn’t a problem.
Now, for our next holiday…Friday, November 11, is Veteran’s Day. This is the day we honor the veterans of all the wars. It is a day not only honoring those who lost their lives, but also honoring the living veterans. When I went online to find out information about Veteran’s Day, there were over 52,000,000 sites to choose from and I just chose a couple of them.
Veteran’s Day had its beginnings at the end of World War I, which was known as the war to end all wars. It officially ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the German officials signed the Armistice, which was a temporary suspension of hostilities by the agreement of Germany and the Allies.
In actual fact, the war officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. It has been known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world.
According to Wikipedia the commemoration of Armistice Day was recognized in the United States by a proclamation from President Woodrow Wilson in 1919, with the words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”
An Act approved May 13, 1938, made November 11th of each year a legal holiday. This was a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be celebrated and known as “Armistice Day”. It was primarily set aside to honor veterans of World War I, however, in 1954, after World War II, and after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans”, in its place.
Veteran’s Day almost fell prey to a change of date, being moved to the fourth Monday of October by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968. This is the law that moved Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day and Columbus Day. Due to protests by veteran’s groups, it was moved back to November 11th in 1978. It is a federal and state holiday in most states.
Don’t forget to fly your flag proudly on November 11th!
It’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving! As you know, we only have two more weeks before it is upon us, and I know you don’t really want to hear this, but it’s barely six weeks until Christmas.
Since dessert is always an important part of any Thanksgiving celebration, we are going to start early with recipes for desserts! These recipes all use pumpkin and may give you a little different take on what to have instead of (or as well as) pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin Bars
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin (1 can, 10-oz size)
Mix above together and set aside.
In separate bowl, combine the following:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon EACH cloves, nutmeg and ginger
Sift together and add to first mixture, mixing well. Pour into 9×12 pan and bake at 350ºF until done. These bars are delicious just as they are, but for a real treat, frost them with a cream cheese frosting when cool.
Praline Pumpkin Cake
1 package yellow cake mix (without added pudding)
½ cup oil
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin
¼ cup water
3 eggs
Praline Mixture (recipe follows)
Frosting
Chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Combine cake mix, oil, sugar, spices, pumpkin and water. Beat well to blend. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Pour half of mixture into greased and floured Bundt pan. Top with following Praline Mixture, then fill pan with remaining batter. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until cake tests done with toothpick. Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes; remove to plate to finish cooling. When cool, frost and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Praline Mixture
½ cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup softened butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
Blend ingredients together until crumbly and use as directed.