I almost did not blog at all this week because, I've got nothin' - That's right, no peculiar fungus to report, no musings, reflections, or theories - nuttin.' Oh, we did have an upsetting critter incident in the hood this afternoon. Our neighbors across the road came over and told us that a young deer had jumped the fence into their yard and broken both legs. They called the sheriff's department and were waiting on somebody to come, but, they were very distressed about it. I didn't go over and look, but Bob did. A deputy came and took care of the situation, and the carcass is in their front yard at the edge of the road. I guess somebody will come and pick it up??? I'm also told that Kathi Lee Gifford will be coming to Kendallville in a couple of weeks because East Noble High School is putting on a musical that she wrote, called Key Pin It Real. I worked for Sally at the park department this week, and will be working for her until Thanksgiving. Bob and I were given charge of our granddog, Roxanne from Thursday until Monday, because Candace's family (accompanied by Rob) went to a wedding in Florida. Roxanne is a lap dog. If you're sitting, she'd like to be sitting too, please, on you, if that's alright. Here she is helping Bob with his expense report.



Bob and I did have a discussion about best cartoon characters. He has always liked Foghorn Leghorn, Baloo the Bear, on Jungle Book, and Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. We both really liked Yogi Bear, although, I think my fondness for Yogi might have something to do with his pic-a-nic baskets. And, tell me if I've got this wrong, now, but I'm almost certain it is universally known that the best cartoon episode of all time is..........



KILL DA WABBIT







From the Archives: I'm posting this picture of Lori, Lindsey, and me, taken before the start of the Indianapolis 500 mini marathon a couple of years ago, because if I want to do it again in May, I have to hurry up and register or there won't be any spots left. Thirteen miles. Do I really want to do it? In the picture, I am the only one of us who is wearing the shirt they gave us for the race. I was told that wearing the official shirt is a very dorky thing to do - apparently you're supposed to wear shirts from OTHER races you have competed in (as they are wearing). So, I guess, if I wear this shirt at the 2009 race, I will be cool. So much to worry about.

Recipe of the Week: I got a request from Lindsey this weekend for some recipes. This is one of them. It's rather out of season, as you prepare these on the grill, but, you can fix them in the oven as well.

Blue Cheese Grilled Potatoes
1/2 cup butter
1 (4 ounce) package crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
4 medium baking potatoes, cut in half lengthwise
4 small onion, sliced 1/4 inch (about 24 slices))
4 (14 X 12 inch) pieces heavy duty aluminum foil


Prepare grill; heat until coals are ash white. Meanwhile, in a small bowl stir together butter, blue cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Spread one fourth of butter mixture on cut sides of both halves of each potato. Top one half of each potato with six onion slices. Put each potato back together. Wrap each in aluminum foil; tightly seal top and sides. Place on grill. Grill, turning potatoes every 15 minutes, until they are fork tender. (50 to 60 minutes)

Oven Directions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare potatoes the same way. Wrap in foil. Place potatoes in a 13 X 9 inch baking pan for 55 to 65 minutes, turning them once, about half way through baking.

"If you see an animal and you can't tell if it's a skunk or a cat, here's a good saying to help: 'Black-and-white, stinks all right. Tabby-colored, likes a fella,"' Jack Handey

We had to memorize this poem in the sixth grade. It's one of my favorites and I usually think about it every fall:

Something Told the Wild Geese
by Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go,

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered, "snow."

Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned, "frost."

All the sagging orchards

Steamed with amber spices,

But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese

It was time to fly,
Summer sun was on their wings,

Winter in their cry.

And here's another reason not to hang around.

Maddie Salutes: This is a new feature on the blog that might appear again from time to time. When anybody does anything of note or import, Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog, will honor you by barking her fool head off in a most congratulatory way. And this week, Maddie gives out a five bark salute to Emmet, in Cleveland, because the front page that he designed for the election day edition of the Plain Dealer was talked about on both CNN and MSNBC. Congratulations Emmet! You're knocking us out down here! And to you from Maddie:

Woof, Woof.....Woof, Woof, Woof!

The rest of you should get busy and try to come up with something that impresses Maddie.

I was putting together a playlist of songs for Thanksgiving Dinner this week. One of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns is We Gather Together. It always makes me think of Thanksgiving Day on Captain Kangaroo, when, at the end of the show, Mr. Green Jeans (or maybe it was the Captain, I'm not sure) would carry out a beautiful turkey to serve to everybody at the Treasure House, and that song would play, and then we would be whisked right off to the opening of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which bored me silly after seeing four high school marching bands and the Underdog balloon.

Oh, how I loved the Captain, and Mr. Green Jeans, and Bunny Rabbit - it was so cute the way he would whack his little head on the counter, demanding carrots. And Mr Moose, with his ping pong balls, was hilarious. Yes, I loved them, but not Grandfather Clock, because he was just creepy and Dancing Bear? What a farce! That bear was only shuffling his feet. I read that the Banana Man was an old vaudevillian, whose costume couldn't be cleaned. It smelled terrible and when he was on the show, nobody wanted to be anywhere near the set.

From the Archives: 1961 - Brian, me, Jeff, and Shorty Pants

A baby shower cake that I made this weekend

And finally, the Recipe of the Week: I made these for Rob this weekend.

Scotcheroos
1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

Bring sugar and syrup to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter. Add rice krispies. Press into a butter 9 X 13 pan. Melt the chips and spread over the top.

"Instead of putting a quarter under a kid's pillow, how about a pinecone? That way, he learns that 'wishing' isn't going to save our national forests." Jack Handey

Well, another Halloween has come and gone, and I made it through the entire season without eating one piece of candy corn or one Brach's mellowcreme pumpkin. Bob was in Wisconsin and had planned to return Wednesday evening. He did not drag his sorry carcass home until almost one o'clock this morning (Sunday). He does have three weeks of vacation that he says he's going to take before the end of the year. We'll see if that really pans out. The weather on Trick or Treat night was wonderful, and we had more visitors than we've had in recent years. They were pretty taken with my book of treats. When you open it a witch's voice says "Have some candy!" or "Yummy!" or "Choose carefully!" Some of them were also amazed by my barking dog.

"Your dog just keeps barking," remarked one fairy princess.

"Don't I know it, Princess. Don't I know it."


Reflections on the Orphans and other Illinois team mascots: Well, another high school football season has also come and gone, and the Centralia Orphans were, again, winless, going 0 for 9. I think this makes them 0 and 39 or 0 and 40 - something like that. Maybe they might want to think about changing their name? It is quite a co-inky-dink that my sister and I were just having a discussion about where and how the Centralia team came by such a lame-o/loser name, and this week she ran across an article in a recent issue of Illinois Country Living magazine that pertained to this very topic.
It seems that the name, Orphans, came from a coach the team had in the early 1940's named Arthur Trout. Either: A. The team was playing in the state championship and their uniforms and equipment came up missing and they had to beg and borrow assorted uniforms from other teams and looked like a bunch of orphans out on the floor. Or B. Coach Trout was very frugal and made the team wear a variety of mismatched, leftover uniforms from the past and they looked like a bunch of orphans out on the floor. or C. Coach Trout was a big fan of D.W. Griffith's epic film about the French Revolution, Orphans of the Storm. He used the silent picture to motivate his team, and they looked like a bunch of brave and fearless orphans in a storm out on the floor. Nobody seems to know for sure.

The article mentions some other noteworthy high school mascots like our own beloved Effingham Flaming Hearts, and our neighbors, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes, and it gives a shout out to the Hoopeston Cornjerkers and the Cobden Appleknockers. My niece, Megan, used to teach at a school whose mascot is the Pretzels. She commented that she didn't get what was intimidating about a pretzel, but then, President Bush almost choked to death on one, and she decided that, perhaps, pretzels were more formidable than she had realized. Well, Megan, you weren't the only pretzels at the snackbar. Apparently New Berlin High School also adopted that name. It seems that back in the 1930's, at a district basketball game, the score was so lopsided that the New Berlin players on the bench started throwing pretzels at each other and a newspaper reporter dubbed them the Pretzel Throwers. This was later shortened to just plain old Pretzels, but still, they were worthy opponents. Flying pretzels? You could put an eye out with one of those things.












Get out the vote Peeps!










From the Archives: 1957 - A single strand of pearls looks good with anything, anywhere, - even standing on the kitchen counter in only a pair of sturdy cotton panties.









Recipe of the Week: I catered a breakfast on Friday, and served the standard, glazed fruit, Hashbrowns-Helen, cake-mix cinnamon rolls, and Wake-up breakfast casserole. It occurred to me that I had shared all of these recipes on the blog except for the casserole recipe. Lindsey took this to work a few weeks ago, and people are still asking her for the recipe, so here it is for all of you. It comes from the Thorpe House Bed and Breakfast in Metamora, Indiana



Wake-Up Casserole

2 cups seasoned croutons
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 4-ounce can mushroom pieces, drained
1 - 1/2 pounds bulk country fresh sausage, crumbled
1/2 cup shopped onion
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Topping
1 - 10 3/4 ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk

Place croutons in greased 9 X 13 pan. Top with cheese and mushrooms. Brown sausage and onion. Drain and spread over cheese. Beat eggs with 2 cups of milk and seasoning; pour over sausage. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, mix soup with 1/2 cup milk and spread on top. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour. Serves 8 to 10.

"Children need encouragement. So, if a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way, he develops a good lucky feeling." Jack Handey

"Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered, am I. Umm-hmm That's me, alright. I do not understand why I am made to suffer such indignities. Please put this dopey hat back on the wooden squirrel out in the front yard, where it belongs. This is the most humiliating hat I've ever been forced to wear.....no, wait a minute.... I'm remembering a rhubarb crown made out of construction paper. It might have been worse."(see May post).

Where did all these ghosts come from, I wonder . It's not like there's been any conscious effort to collect them over the years. I guess they just appeared. We had a pretty good week. The pie baking class on Tuesday went well and the Book Babes met on Wednesday night at Julia's house. Next month's book will be The Book Thief, which comes very highly recommended. Also, yesterday, on Make a Difference Day, we held our annual Common Grace Love Walk. It was cold and windy. After a three-mile walk around the Albion park, we joined hands around the courthouse and then sang some hymns. I haven't heard how much money we raised, but I'm hopeful that it was a substantial amount.

***Political tip of the Week: If you are seeking election to one of the the top executive posts in our nation, please do not use the word hollerin' when you are making a speech or talking to the media, because when you use the word, hollerin', I start thinking you might not be any smarter than I am, and that really scares me.

I went to church by myself this morning and when I came out, there on the hood of my Jeep was a can of beer. It was Bud Light, and it was in a red can holder, shaped like a shotgun shell, with the Ducks Unlimited logo on it, so it most likely came from MY HOUSE, alright. But, how did it get there? When I got home, I asked Bob about it, and yes, when he was working on the door of Rob's Blazer, the night before, he had a beer and he forgot and left it on the roof of the Jeep. This means that I drove to church with that up there, and then some fellow worshipper saw it, and moved it to the hood. So my Jeep was sitting out in front of the church on Sunday morning with a beer on it. Nice.

Nick and Stormy were here this weekend! We dined with them at the St. James on Thursday night. Then, on Friday night they came to our house for dinner, along with Shane and Krissy. Here are our Friday night guests. We served a beef tenderloin roast and shared a great evening together. Stormy had to drive back to Wilkes Barre on Sunday, but Nick stayed on to tend to some business, so he was our Sunday night guest for a pork tenderloin roast. He brought along a bottle of Chilean Savignon Blanc to go with the pork. Here's a picture of our lone Sunday night guest and his Chilean wine.

From the Archives:

Our pumpkins, in 1992, as the Statue of Liberty and a purple dragon

Our pumpkins, last year, as adults who can speak civilly to one another

Recipe of the Week:

We had that leftover tenderloin on Saturday so we made beef stroganoff. This dish turns out well when you use round steak, but, it turns out really really well when you use beef tenderloin

Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 pounds round steak

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1- 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shopped onion

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 can Campbell's beef broth

Dash of pepper

Noodles

Cut round steak into think strips; dust with flour and dash of pepper. In a large skilled, brown meat in butter. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic; brown lightly. Stir in beef brother. Cover. Cook about 1 hour or until meat is tender. Stir occasionally. Gradually stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes. Serve over 3 cups cooked noodles.

"I think the mistake a lot of us make is thinking the state-appointed psychiatrist is "our friend.'" Jack Handey

I had to report for jury duty for federal court on Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have minded, but I had promised Sally, months ago, that I would fill in for her at the park department while she was on vacation this week, so I really didn't want to be chosen. Fortunately, I wasn't called to the stand, because the judge was really scrutinizing the questionnaires we had returned, and I, trying to get out of being called, had filled the page with whiny reasons and lame excuses as to why I would not be a suitable juror. I didn't really want to face him - thought he might make a federal case out of it. Ha-ha.

So, I got to fulfill my obligation to Sally at the park department where I learned this:

"You are never more than six feet away from a spider at any given moment."

Earlier in the week, I noticed a lot of squirrel activity in my newly-expanded flower bed at the edge of the woods. I wondered if those pesky scamps were digging up the daffodil bulbs I planted last week, so, Saturday morning I walked back to check the situation out, and I came across this......................................very funky fungi.......I know.

So, you see, dear readers, just when you think you got nothin' for the blog, you stumble across something as interesting as this.

From the Archives: Us, at Emmet and Emily's wedding reception in Cleveland, almost three years ago.

Recipe of the Week: One of the pies I'll be making for this week's class is this rich caramel apple pie. The recipe came from Midwest Living. Hope you like it:

Caramel Apple Pie

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

6 cups, peeled and coarsely chopped Jonathan apples

1/2 cup caramel apple dip

2 teaspoons milk

Topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

Line pie pan with crust. For filling, mix sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and cinnamon. Add the apples and toss to coat. Place on crust. Combine 2 tablespoons of the caramel apple dip and 2 Teaspoons milk and drizzle over apples.

In a mixing bowl, combine the 1 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over filling. Cover edges of pie with foil to prevent over-browning. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Remove foil toward the end of the baking time. Cool for ten minutes. Pour remaining caramel over the top of the pie.

"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid-gold baby? I guess we'll never know." Jack Handey

Out with the geraniums and in with the spiders. It was really warm here today, but we all know it won't last long. Halloween is a comin'. Today, after going to early church, we made the pumpkin topiaries and put the witch hat on the squirrel ( see last October post). I cut back the rest of the perennials and planted some spring bulbs and daylilies. I also made a quick trip to Fort Wayne to find the October Book Babe selection, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, then I drove home and washed the Jeep, or rather, I started washing the Jeep and Rob intervened......Wonder what he wants.

Bittersweet and gourds

CARE PACKAGE FROM STORMY IN WILKES BARRE

Bob wondered what I was squealing about. Here's what she sent:

If a man's an empty kettle
He should be on his mettle
And yet, I'm torn apart
Just because I'm presumin'
That I could be kind of human
If I only had a heart.

Stormy found the tin man in a hardware store in Pittston, Pennsylvania and thought I just had to have it. She also sent:

A t-shirt from her new law firm

A store directory for the King of Prussia Mall

Halloween Peeps

Pirate Plates

Stormy and Nick will be coming in two weeks to put storm windows on the house. Can't wait to see them.



I've been working hard, trying to get my last two classes finished, so that I'll have a minor in English, but I've also been easing back into subbing. I taught two days last week, and on Thursday, this one young gentleman stuck his hand right in my face and was rolling something around between his fingers:
"Know what this is?" he asked
"No, what is it?"
"Ear wax."
"Oh, of course, I should have been able to guess that. I just wasn't thinking."




Roxanne keeps the squirrels off of Bob while he naps in the hammock.











Recipe of the Week: I had never had this dish before moving to this area, where I found it to be standard fare at our church dinners. Add some green beans and bread and you've got a great supper, plus enough leftover for lunch the next day, which is something to strive for in these difficult economic times.

Methodist Chicken Casserole
1 chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk
1 box chicken Stove Top Stuffing

Cook the chicken in your crockpot or bake it in the oven. Bone the chicken and put the meat in the bottom of a greased 9 X 13 glass baking dish. Spread the mushroom soup over the chicken. Prepare the Stove Top according to package directions and spread over mixture. Pour milk over the top. Cover with foil and bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Take foil off about halfway through baking.

"If I was the head of a country that lost a war, and I had to sign a peace treaty, just as I was signing, I'd glance over the treaty and then, suddenly act surprised. 'Wait a minute! I thought WE won!'" Jack Handey

I'm blogging later than usual tonight, following a very busy weekend of visiting children and Apple Festival activities. Bob and I worked a little in the information booth on Saturday, and I worked all day Sunday at the front gate, a job I'd never done before in the 14 years I've been on the committee. The high school boys' tennis team and their moms and dads were the money takers and they did a great job. The only excitement we had was somebody driving over two of the bushel baskets we were keeping our brochures in, oh, and we did get pretty excited when this couple from Wells County, I GUESS, changed their minds about coming into the festival and just started turning around and trying to go back out the front gate against three lanes of incoming traffic, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??????? The police chief told me the guy didn't seem to have a clue that he was doing something wrong or unusual. That's right, it's just all about you.




On Friday afternoon I did a field trip with 35 first graders at the One Room Schoolhouse. I'm not sure first graders can fully appreciate the 1885 classroom, as they've hardly had time to get fully acclimated to the 2008 classroom. When they were leaving, one little girl asked me where my real class had gone while they were visiting.... see what I mean. But, they did seem to enjoy the experience, whatever they made of it in their minds. They were very excited. At the end of the session, I told them that if they enjoyed their visit today, they could sign up for our summer camp and do some fun things like cook applesauce over a fire and make lemonade and ice cream. At that, they all jumped out of their seats and cheered. I turned to the teachers and said "It looks like I've whipped them into a frenzy over the prospect of possibly making applesauce next year. Sorry."



Lindsey and Brent brought Bonnie, the Dog who Will Not Be Ignored, along for their weekend visit. Rob and Candace brought Roxy, over so the two of them could meet, and on Friday night we had puppy follies in our family room. Here's a picture of the two cute critters. Sometimes Maddie would join in, and sometimes she just guarded her tail.

Lindsey holds both pups.

You remember those nuts I featured a couple of posts ago? I'm going back out to see if they're still there or if squirrels have carried them off. I think we may be eating them this winter.

Recipe of the Week: Tomorrow night I'm catering a supper for twenty-five people. They'll be having chicken salad sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, barbecued pork, soup, and carrot cake. Here's the recipe for the soup they'll be, hopefully, enjoying. It came from the Vera Bradley cookbook. I would recommend cutting back on the salt, maybe just 1 teaspoon. Also, I used a combination of half and half and milk.

Potato Cheese Soup

4 cups chopped peeled potatoes

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 3/4 - 2 cups milk

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon minced garlic

Parsley to taste
Combine the potatoes, water and salt in a saucepan. Cook for 20 minutes or until tender; do not drain. Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the onion. Saute for 10 minutes or until translucent.

Puree the undrained potatoes and onion in a food processor or blender. Pour into a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until heated through. Add enough milk to make the desired consistency. Stir in the cheese, butter, pepper, garlic, and parsley. Cook until heated through. You may add one ten-ounce package of frozen peas for a new twist.

"The tired and thirsty prospector threw himself down at the edge of the watering hole and started to drink. But then, he looked around and saw skulls and bones everywhere. 'Uh--oh, he thought. This watering hole is reserved for skeletons."

Jack Handey