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.
In south Texas, we will have lots more weekends with good warm weather (hot, actually), however, in other places, the weather is already cooling off and the leaves are beginning to turn. September 21 is officially the first day of autumn; do you really think that our weather will get cooler that quickly? Don’t hold your breath, waiting for it to happen! We will still be having days of 85ºF to 90ºF well into November, and we won’t be surprised if we can wear shorts at Christmas.
Now, I know I’ve said this unlimited times, but, if you go on any type of outing and take food along, be sure to keep hot foods hot, and cold foods cold. Did you know that you could use your ice chest to keep foods hot? Pour a gallon or so of hot water into the ice chest, close the lid for a few minutes, then drain the water out. I always put several sections of newspaper in the bottom before setting hot casseroles or pots in to keep from damaging the ice chest. I have not tried this with anything other than the cooler type, not the foam; however, they would probably work just as well.
Jo’s Baked Beans
3 cans (15½-oz) size
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
3 or 4 strips thin-sliced bacon
Mix beans, soup mix, brown sugar and mustard together in a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with bacon slices. Bake at 350ºF 30 to 45 minutes or until bacon is cooked and crisp.
The first time I ate this was at a family night at the nursing home when I was working there, it’s delicious.
Layered Spinach Salad
1 package fresh spinach
1 medium-size head of lettuce
8 green onions, sliced, including tops
1 box (10-oz) frozen peas
1 can chopped water chestnuts (optional)
Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup salad dressing
1 cup sour cream
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
8 slices, cooked crumbled bacon
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (not the kind in the green box)
Wash spinach and lettuce; drain well. Place spinach in large bowl. Shred lettuce and place on top of spinach, top this with frozen peas and water chestnuts (if used). Mix dressing ingredients together and spread over top of salad, all the way to edges of bowl to seal it. Just before serving, top with shredded Parmesan cheese and bacon.
Dump Cake
1 can apple or cherry pie filling (20-oz)
1 can crushed pineapple (15½-oz)
1 box yellow cake mix (the smaller size that’s available now is fine)
1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans
½ cup coconut (optional)
Spread pie filling in 9×12 pan, top with crushed pineapple. Place the cake mix in a large mixing bowl, add a stick of softened butter to the cake mix, and using your pastry blender or a fork, cut the butter into the cake mix, (just as you would cut in shortening for pie crust), it should resemble coarse crumbs. Spread this on top of the pineapple, top with some chopped pecans and coconut if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold with whipped topping or ice cream.