Some entertaining recipes

I wrote the Recipe Corner for this week's issue of The Citizen. Jean (Carter) had surgery. She submitted four columns so she'd be covered.

Last Wednesday night I attended my book group with a growly tummy. Don and I had run to Pocatello and arrived home in the late afternoon. There was time for me to attend book group or eat, not both. Luckily Don was cooking

Reading is as necessary to me as breathing. Discussing books with a group of other serious readers is something I enjoy.

I recently read an article from families.com online titled “Protect Your Friendships After Marriage.”

This piece of advice should be given to all newlyweds, “When you become Mister and Missus, it should not be at the expense of whom the two of you were before you were married.”

People live longer if they have hobbies. It’s nice to do things together as a couple, but … it’s healthy to have your own hobbies.

Back to the book group. The book we were discussing that evening was “The House at Riverton” by Australian author Kate Morton. For a book that wasn’t very well liked, a lively discussion was held.

I walked into the home where we were holding the meeting to the most tantalizing smell. I thought the discussion would never end. Luckily my chair wasn’t too close to anyone for them to hear my tummy rumbling.

The refreshments were delicious. I asked if I could use the recipe for the Recipe Corner this week. Yes, but she didn't want her name used. I gleaned another recipe that evening also.

The Let’s Talk About It program held at the Larsen-Sant Library has also yielded some amazing refreshments.

GRAHAM-CRACKER BARS

By Cindy Harris

1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
1 1/3 C flaked coconut
1 C chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter in 9x13-inch pan in the oven. When the butter is melted, sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly over butter. Pour milk evenly over crumbs. Top with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down gently and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

DUMP CAKE

 By Beverly Morris

1 can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 can pie filling (any kind)
1 pkg. Yellow cake mix
1/2 C butter
1 C flaked coconut
1 C chopped nuts, any kind

Pour pineapple and pie filling into a 9x13-inch pan. Crumble cake mix over the top of the fruit mixture. Melt butter and drizzle over the top of the cake mix. Sprinkle coconut and chopped nuts over the top. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Check it at 45 minutes so it doesn’t get too brown.

This is also really good in a Dutch oven.

SPARKLING GREEN TEA LEMONADE

2 C very hot water
3 (2 g) bags green tea
3 Tbsp. white sugar
2 C chilled seltzer water
2 tsp. lime juice
1 lime, sliced (optional)

Pour the hot water into a glass pitcher. Submerge the green tea bags in the hot water and allow to steep for 5 minutes; remove and discard the tea bags. Stir the sugar  into the tea until completely dissolved. Chill in refrigerator for 35 minutes.

Pour the seltzer water and lime  juice into the tea. Float the lime slices atop the mixture.

Based on a beverage Thedora Petterborg
served at Let's Talk About It

Now, the rest of the story is either the "misplaced" article was deleted from the email or I'm just confused. I swear I only counted 2 more articles & I KNOW Jean sent 4 articles. The editor said we couldn't use the recipes because they were from copyrighted cookbooks & put the blame on the publisher. When I confronted the publisher he said it was the first he'd heard of it. But he agreed with the editor. I said the recipes for last week's article were not from a copyrighted cookbook. So, we used them.

I did this week's article & am working on recipes for the next 2 weeks based on Jean's articles. I'll just substitute recipes from local people, or at least real people.

**Edited**

Photography

I should be working on the bankruptcy case, I have to go to Pocatello tomorrow, with or without Don. I am scared spitless. So, I'll share Don's writing prompt from the writing group tonight. Why don't I share mine? I don't know, maybe I will sometime.

Photography

I wonder if that would work for a picture? Mmmm, maybe this way, perhaps closer, further away. Nah, but get that out of the picture. Snap, snap, snap.

Oh yah, over there. That works!!! Another one. Squat down for a different angle. What if I put those flowers in the foreground?

Well, I have taken some pictures. Now to see how they look on the computer. Guess some will be no good and I will delete, some I will like & keep, some I will decide to keep or delete later.

That one I will put on my screen saver or use as wallpaper. Now that one looks really good, I never thought so before.

This is the last flower in the tractor tire flower garden out front of our house last fall. We got out of the car one Sunday afternoon after church & here was one little flower left. I said how pretty it was sticking up through the leaves.

Fall 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided I wanted a picture of it. I got my phone out to snap a picture. Don went into photo mode. He took several shots & moved a garden tool that was still in the garden. After several shots he put them on the computer & chose what he wanted to keep.

Tetons, 7/10/08

 

 

 

The photo of the Tetons was taken one summer in July when he & Don-Mike were coming home from Montana down through Yellowstone National Park. They stopped to have a photo shoot. When Don was finished taking pictures Don-Mike asked, "Did you get any of the mountains?"

Photography is something Don likes & is good at.

Tired

I have been so tired lately all I want to do is lay down & sleep. I do fine until I slow down & then exhaustion just overwhelms me. And the headaches, ow. I haven't had headaches like this for a very long time. So, when I complain -- murmur -- everyone tells me it's stress. Well, yes, I've been under a lot of stress lately, but …

Yesterday I went to Logan with Nick. He wanted to go to the Verizon store & order the brand new phone that was just released online yesterday. Today he is pacing, driving me nuts, waiting for the FedEx man to deliver his phone.

Anyway, at the Verizon store we had an incredibly long wait. I finally got a chance to sit down on their little padded bench that only holds 2 people. I looked at the floor longingly & thought I would be happy if I could just curl up on the floor in the fetal position & go to sleep. But even though I fantasized about the possibility, I knew a 60-year-old woman would never be able to get down there, much less curl up in the fetal position. For one thing, I'm too stiff, for another, I'm too fat. And can you imagine the furor it would have caused?


I don't know what this thing about age is. I was 50 for years before Mother finally informed me I was 55, not 50. But my age has suddenly come to the forefront of my mind again. How can I be 60 years old? I still feel like I'm in my 40s, not elderly.

Anyway, back to being tired. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. I never wake up in the middle of the night. I was so tired, I couldn't sleep. I even went to bed before my usual bedtime of midnight. But while I lay there awake, I could hear my C-Pap machine was making a noise it doesn't usually make. I wondered if it was my mask. But I felt all around it & couldn't feel any air coming out. Finally, the exhaustion overtook me & I fell asleep, but not before I had scooted clear over into the crack between the frame & the mattress. Don doesn't like the air blowing on him. I wondered how many nights it had been making this whooshing noise.night

This morning I woke up & the first thing I did was take my mask off & look at it. I still couldn't see anything in the light of day, but last night I had wondered about the clips that hold the cushions onto the mask. In fact, I had pushed the clips on the side, but had forgotten there was a clip at the bottom. I pushed the clip at the bottom & heard a distinct click. Ah-ha. I didn't get all the clips pushed on the last time I cleaned my mask, and now I don't remember what day that was. It could have been last Saturday or 2 weeks ago. I put the mask back on, turned on the machine & no more whooshing.

But, looking for a picture to enhance my blog entry, I discovered Amazon sells CPAP supplies cheap!! Maybe I can afford a new mask at those prices.

While he was at ComputerWise, I took a picture of the mountains to the east.

East mountains of Cache Valley, 3000 N. Main, 5/19/11

Just listen!

What a day this has been, what a  rare mood I'm in, not a wonderful rare mood either. It's almost like I'm manic. I got to work this morning & pages had been revised. And, just like last week, I had released the last pages to be sent to the printer & I got a call for an obit to be placed in THIS week's paper. I retrieved the pages & fit a death notice in. I kept trying to work, but gave up.

I went to Logan with Nick. Yes, he let me go. Usually he doesn't. I was having a bit of road rage, good thing I wasn't driving. I told Nick I need to break my middle finger to keep from letting the Hawaiian Good Luck sign fly so often. I haven't done that for years, flip people off, not break my finger.

When we got home, I went back to work for an hour. Then it was time to go with Nick to his eye doctor appt. He's been having problems with blurry vision. The eye doctor told him to watch his sugar levels. I guess we'd better start checking it. Dr. Beckstead told him to watch the sugar too.

I wanted Nick to go vote with me on the override election for the Preston School District & the commissioners for the Franklin County Fire District. He said to wait until his dad got home. Nick doesn't like to vote. I did. When Don & I went to run errands, we took Don's car. I had the distinct feeling I needed my purse. I thought, "No duh! I'll need my wallet." Not thinking I had no money in it. I got in my car to get my purse, the empty O2 canister & empty pill bottle to take to the pharmacy.

First stop was Oakwood Elementary to vote. Don has trouble getting the key out of the ignition in his car.  I told him to wait in the car & I'd go vote. If he got the key out, he could come. I had the distinct thought that I needed my purse. I thought, "What do I need my purse for. I can go vote without carrying my purse along." I got across the parking lot & stepped on to the sidewalk & the thought came again, "Go get your drivers license." Again, I thought, "I don't need to prove who I am. It'll be Karen (Child) & the other ladies, they know who I am. What do I need my drivers license for?" I got to the door of the gym & the thought came the final time, "Get your license."

As I walked up to the table, the first words out of my mouth was, "Do I need my drivers license?" I didn't even say hi. Yes, they passed a law last year that you need a picture ID to vote. I had forgotten, but that niggling thought had been there all the way from the car. Karen said she even made her husband present his picture ID.

I was SOOOO angry, not at Karen & the other ladies, at myself for not listening. I turned & went back out to the car. I told Don to go ahead. He said he asked if I had voted. I don't remember telling him I had voted, but I was angry. I got my iPod out & started playing Solitaire. He came back out & told me to go vote. I did. Carrying my little purse along. I wasn't the only one, that had forgotten. Out of the five people who walked in with me, 3 had to go out & get their license. Two of the men had their license in their wallets in their hip pocket. So did Don.

When we got to the pharmacy, the key still wouldn't come out of the ignition. So, Don sat in the car while I went in, without my purse. At the grocery store, the key came out with no trouble at all. We walked in & I was carrying my trusty little purse.

Bob Walborn's funeral

Today was Bob Walborn's funeral in the Logan 14th Ward. This is a picture of the hearse from the Allen-Hall Mortuary in Logan at Bob's grave site in the Logan Cemetery.

1941 Cadillac hearse

Bob would have loved this hearse. It was the perfect final ride for him as he loved cars & was a wonderful mechanic.

ROBERT C. "BOB" WALBORN

LOGAN, UTAH: Robert Carl Walborn, 89, of Logan, died Tuesday , May 10, 2011 in Logan. He was born June 3, 1921 in Pequa, Ohio, a son of Carl Kenneth and Sena Myrl Heaton Walborn. He was the oldest of three children.

Robert met his wife, Loretta Spillers when he started school in the fifth grade and she in the third in Maplewood, Ohio. They were married ten years later on Aug. 30, 1941, in Port Jefferson, Ohio. This summer would have marked their 70th wedding anniversary. While he was serving in the United States Army during World War II he came in contact with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he became a member.  In 1951 the family moved west to Preston, Idaho, and lived there for eight years.  On Aug. 8, 1952, the family was sealed in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. They later moved to Logan in 1960.

Robert has worked until age 83 as a backyard mechanic where he loved helping many college students with their cars. He spent 33 years with Logan Manufacturing as a machinist.  He held many callings in the church where his most enjoyable calling was that of a greeter on Sunday mornings. He and Loretta served an 18 month mission in Poplar Bluff, Mo., from 1988-1989.

He is survived by his wife, Loretta; a son, Charles and Edna Walborn, Martinez, Ga.; a son-in-law, Ben and Marie Schiess, River Heights, Utah; a brother, Miles Walborn, Findley, Ohio; 12 grandchildren, Royce and Tana Williams; Richard and Tracie Williams; Robert and Irada Schiess; Suzanne S. and Lynn Gnehm; Carla W. and Kenneth Zielke; Marcos and DeJun Walborn; Sena W. and Lloyd Clark; Dotti W. and Scott McCabe; Rachel W. and Derek Farr; Loretta Lee Walborn; Treva W. and Wayne Gabrish; James and Laurina Walborn; 29 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren and many others who call him “Grandpa Bob.” He was preceded in death by his daughter, Sylvia Schiess, and his sister, Neva June Comer.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 11:00 am in the Logan 14th Ward chapel, 94 W. 600 South.  There will be a viewing on Friday evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Allen-Hall Mortuary and at the church on Saturday from 9:30 - 10:30 am.  Interment will be in the Logan City Cemetery.

Condolences and memories may be shared with the family online at www.allenmortuaries.net

Some notes from the funeral:

Bob served in the South Pacific during WWII. He joined the church there. When he wrote to Loretta telling her he had joined the church, she wrote back & said she wasn't going to be one of his Mormon wives. When Bob came home from the war, he invited the missionaries to teach Loretta & the kids. One of those missionaries was Reed Hawkes from Preston, Idaho. That's how the family ended up here in 1951. Maybe it was 1952 because they lived in Preston for 8 years & then moved to Logan in 1960.

Reed Hawkes & his wife Norma were there today & Reed asked Loretta if he could talk. He wasn't on the program, but Loretta graciously let him. Don caught them in the picture above. He is the tall white-haired man facing the camera. The woman in the pink top is standing in front of him. His wife is the lady in the white blazer. I am standing there with my hands thrust into the pockets of my turquoise jacket. I think I was trying to either get up enough nerve to talk to him or get close enough to talk to Loretta. The lady in black walking toward the hearse is Marie Schiess, Ben's wife. Ben is Sylvia's husband & is standing behind Marie, watching her walk away. I thought it was interesting that Marie sat by Loretta at the graveside holding her hand, while Ben stood behind them.

Bob served as the ward clerk for many years in the Logan 14th Ward, but at the same time he was a greeter. He loved people.


I have known Walborns my entire life. Bob loved to tell about the first time they met me. I was just a toddler, learning to walk & I kept telling my parents I was 'leepy & wanted to go home. I have always thought that was funny. My circadian rhythm wasn't too out of sync when I was little. It is now though.

And tonight, I'm 'leepy & want to go to bed.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

The addition, fall 2010

I know I made an entry on filing bankruptcy on Wednesday, May 11. I saw I had a comment on it last night & clicked on the comment to see what it said & it said Blogger was unavailable. So, today, I went to gmail to put an appt on the calendar & there was the comment in gmail. I clicked on the link to come over here & the entry is GONE!!

That has never happened to me before. I need to make a hard copy like Sheila has done. I put very few pictures in my blog though.

The foreclosure sale was today at 11 a.m. We've been calling Citi Mortgage Company & three different people told us there was nothing we could do. I KNEW they could do something, but they were just as adamant there was nothing that could be done except pay almost $7,000 as a down payment to stop the sale. Don took the day off on Wednesday & we drove to Pocatello & filed chapter 13 bankruptcy "pro se." Which is Latin for "by self."

Yesterday I had a man from Citi call. I had just sent a fax informing them we had filed bankruptcy, so I asked him if he had received the fax. No, he was calling to help stop the sale today. I told him we weren't getting anywhere with the people we had been talking to at Citi Mortgage, we'd been working on this since August 2010. I told him I did not have $7,000 to stop the sale & this was the only way we knew how to do it.

He said the "down payment" wasn't the only way to stop the sale. I said I knew that, but I couldn't get anyone to help. I told him it is an old house, it was built in 1904, we are building on & that was what the mortgage was for. He said we wanted a modification. Was our mortgage payment too high? I laughed & said no we had got behind. We wanted to refinance & put the arrears onto the mortgage. Now we are almost $7,000 behind.

The comment made on my now missing blog entry was from Sheila. She said: I am so sorry to hear about your troubles, I sure hope things work out so you are able to keep your home. Hugs and prayers.

I hope things work out too. I don't know if bankruptcy was the way to go, but it is supposed to buy us time to work on saving the house. And cutting our debts in half will be nice too.