I subbed on Friday and sent two kids home sick before 9:00 AM. I thought sure that one of those students was faking, but, of course, allowed her to go see the nurse anyway, who promptly sent her home with a fever. I had my hand on that child's forehead three times. Was it the Swine Flu? To quote another teacher, "Right now, everything's the Swine Flu." Hope I don't get it.







Work continued on the new addition last week. Windows and new door are in and the ceiling is finished. We've moved on to the new siding. Here's a picture taken just moments ago of the guys working on the front. The color is woodland green, a very subtle shade.








On Friday night, Bob and I drove down to Indy to attend the Indiana CPA Society's Annual Banquet with Brent and Lindsey. The theme was "Friday Night Fever," and our favorite part was when the waiters paraded out with the salads, led by some Afro-wigged ladies grooving to disco music. Those crazy accountants. Our Lindsey was recognized for passing the exam this year, as was her friend, Laura. Congratulations girls. The Mad Dog barketh for thee. We spent the night and then Lindsey and I did a little shopping on Saturday at Keystone, where I ripped open my little finger on a straight pin while trying to check the price tag on a wing-back chair at Renovation Hardware, and then was compelled to just abandon our shopping cart and run because of the chaos at Costco. While we having all this fun, Bob puttered around their house, and Brent went to the Purdue game. Darlene joined us Saturday afternoon and we went out to dinner at the Outback. She is on her way to Florida for the winter. Here's a picture of the four of us at the banquet. I know it's fuzzy and that's because I scanned it and then cropped it to eliminate a small fat bulge on my right side. Yes, that's right, I'm that vain.




Book Babes meet this week at Julia's house. I thought you might like to take a look at our 09/10 reading schedule. Here it is, although, I believe that March is subject to change.


September - The Art of Racing in theRain by Garth Stein

October - The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

November - Digging to America by Anne Tyler

December - Christmas Wing-Ding no read

January - South of Broad by Pat Conroy

February - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

March - Being Dead is No Excuse by G. Metcalf & C. Hays

April - The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Schaffer & Barrows

May - Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

June - The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by K. Howe







If you haven't checked the Snowman Cam recently, you might want to start, as I saw a fox do a drive-by-howdy on there last week. Watch for bears.









I'm the first one to admit that the blog is pretty boring this week. I should tell you that our neighbors have been so kind during our kitchen demolition. Cathy fixed supper for us one night, Monday, I think, and then Rick brought supper over on Wednesday night. We confessed to them that we'd hooked the stove back up so we could cook, but we probably should have just remained mum on the subject to see what other tasty goodies might come our way. Thanks, you guys. I did make some popcorn balls on Sunday afternoon. I have to be careful eating them though - don't want to lose any more crowns (see April post). I used this recipe and doubled it.



Popcorn Balls

7 cups popped corn

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup white syrup
dash or two of salt
1/4 cup butter

Bring ingredients to a rolling boil. Cook to softball stage. Remove from heat and pour over popcorn.

Happy 45th Birthday to our Sunbeam toaster! Well, okay, I might be just a bit off - my memory isn't THAT good, but I know it's got to be close, so we're celebrating. This is the toaster we used at the old home place and I inherited it. How we marvelled as we watched the bread automatically descend into the toaster, brown between the orange coils, and then slowly reappear. Pure magic. I know it's old, but I'm not giving up on it and I don't want a new one. Sometimes when I think Bob might be questioning my frugality, you know, like, counting shoes and eyeing all my coats in the closet, well, I just make him a nice piece of perfect toast, and remind him that this toaster and I have been together a lot longer than he and I have. Toast for all my friends!







It was a cold and rainy week - too cold to live in a house without windows. Bob was gone all week, and the only thing that separated me from wild critters and other dangers was paper. As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered if it would be possible for a deer to jump right through that Tyvek House Wrap and come bounding down the hall. And, of course, we could hear the outside sounds so much better, and every time Sage, the crusty old Rottweiler from down the road, barked, Maddie jumped right out of her skin. There was extra barking on her part this week, too. Here's a picture of the addition, as of this afternoon. You can't tell too much, but it's coming along.













Bob helped me make the pumpkin topiaries this week. It's kind of hard to decorate with all that's going on here.





It's also hard to cook anything since the stove is unhooked. I went over to Stormy and Nick's house this afternoon and boiled some eggs to make ham salad. I could have done that at a neighbor's, but when Bob and I were driving home from Fort Wayne Friday night, we noticed a basement light was on in their house, so I thought I could go take care of that and get my eggs boiled too. I put a chuck roast in the crockpot this morning. It turned out well, very tasty. Easy recipe is below but first:





From the Archives: Sugarplums - 1989









Recipe of the Week:

Delicious, Easy Chuck Roast
2-4 lb chuck roast
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Season roast with salt and pepper. Put it in the crockpot. Add the onion and pour soup over all. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours or high for 6. How easy is that?

Acorns in my driveway

Big wind knocked them down.

Make the squirrels step lively

They poke them in the ground.

They stick them in my flower pots

And in my flower bed.

We've got a bumper crop this year

So, watch out for your head.

I wrote this little song after a big storm blew all these acorns down. It's a country song. It's too bad that you can't hear me singing it for you, because trust me, it's a great song and it's got one of those tunes that you just cannot get out of your head.

The 24th annual Apple Festival of Kendallville is history. Bob and I both worked the information booth on Saturday and I helped out at the gates on Sunday - same thing I did last year, except, I also did a shift selling tokens in the ticket booth in the children's area. A damp and dismal Saturday kept the crowds down a bit, but people came out on Sunday, and Miss America was here. She performed twice in Raise a Ruckus on both days. Here's a picture that Rick took of Bob and me after our information booth shift ended Saturday morning. Or rather, it's a picture of Bob and the picture of Miss America. Very funny, Rick. I hope you know you might be jeopardizing your seat at my big new dining room table. And speaking of that dining room, great strides were made this past week, in spite of the rainy days. The walls are up and I believe drywalling will begin tomorrow. Today we got a new roof and a new skylight. I'll post some of those pictures next week.

Stormy and Nick are in Paris with Emmet and Emily - Bonjour Stormy, I know you'll be checking this. Try not to lick the delicious French sauces off your plate while you're over there. I won't have them thinking you're one of those ugly Americans.

Congratulations to our mom, Darlene, who won the Illinois State Senior golf tournament in her division. Go Darlene. We're proud of you.

Not a whole lot going on this week - went to a couple of meetings - helped bundle cornstalks for the festival next weekend. Our big project today, or rather, Bob's big project, was putting the new door on the schoolhouse. And, here it is. Getting it on there just right was a little tricky, so it took much longer than I'd anticipated. Deedra and Doug just happened to be going by, so they stopped in to lend a hand and we had a nice visit. A nice, long visit.

Our next project is to raise fifteen-hundred dollars so that we can get this back corner of the building repaired. We're going to conduct a grassroots letter writing campaign asking friends and supporters of the schoolhouse to make small contributions toward this effort. (in light of TET - Tough Economic Times) If any of you blog readers want to get in on this action by contributing a small amount - contact me and I'll give you the address of our treasurer.

I was in the bank parking lot on Friday, purchasing a round steak from the Meat Mobile, and took this picture. I tip my hat to the people who bought this house and planted all these flowers last year. They've made waiting at the Riley and Route 6 stoplight a pleasure

On Thursday evening, Erica and I went to see Julie and Julia at The Strand Theatre. There were only seven of us in the audience for the movie. The preferred choice seemed to be one of those Halloween movies - I don't know which number. I hadn't been in the Strand for a long time, but we should patronize it more, to help it stay open. The first time we went there, some twenty years ago, I remember being surprised when the movie didn't start on time. I soon learned that it didn't matter what time the movie was supposed to begin, it didn't start running until everyone in line at the concession stand had been served. I expect it was because the Raisinette vendor and the projectionist were one in the same. I thought it was funny and charming - like something they would do in Hooterville.

Recipe of the Week: It seems that Kelli, of the very popular Kelli's Korner blog, likes to lunch at the Crumpet Tea Room in Bentonville Arkansas. She recently posted a picture of her lunch - chicken salad, fruit with a sweet poppy seed dressing, and one of the restaurant's gooey orange rolls. Well, I'm not familiar with this gooey orange roll, but was dying to meet and eat one, so I did a little research and came up with this recipe to try. Bob ate two tonight while watching the Colts/Cardinals game. He said they were "Very delicious, very tasty," and oh, what was the other one - yes, "very wonderful." Hope you like them too.

Orange Rolls

1/4 cup warm water

1 package dry yeast

1 cup milk, scalded

1/4 cup shortening

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 to 5 1/2 cups sifted flour

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

1/4 cup orange juice

Dissolve the yeast in warm water and set aside. Scald milk. Add shortening, sugar and salt and cool to lukewarm. Place in mixing bowl. Stir in about 2 cups of the flour and beat well. Add eggs and mix. Stir in yeast, orange peel, juice and remaining flour. cover and let rest for ten minutes.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased blow, turning over once to grease the surface. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours. Punch down, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Roll each to a 12 by 9 inch rectangle and spread with this filling:

Orange filling

1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1/4 cup melted butter

Spread the filling on the dough and roll up like a jelly roll. Slice and place rolls on lightly greased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Cover and let rise till doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove and frost with:

Orange Icing

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 cup powdered sugar

Makes 24 rolls

And Happy 2nd Anniversary to this Blog.

My Most Requested Cheesecake

This is well-worth the extra effort it takes to put it together. I feature a recipe most every week on my blog. Of note are the carrot cake found in October of 2007, a pavlova in May of 08, and a delicious gateau ganache in August of this year.



Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 pound white chocolate, melted
2 eggs
3 tablespoons Chambord liqueur
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam



Crust
Mix together graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into a 9 inch springform pan and set aside.



Cheesecake Filling:

Mix together cream cheese and sugar. Slowly add the melted white chocolate and mix. Add eggs, one at a time and mix well. Put the jam in a small bowl and microwave just briefly, until it thins somewhat. Add the Chambord Liqueur to the bowl and mix. Then, remove 1/3 cup of the cheesecake filling and add to the small-bowl mixture. Pour the remaining cheesecake filling on top of the crust. Then spoon the raspberry mixture onto the top of the cheesecake. With a knife, swirl the raspberry mixture throughout the cheesecake. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Remove and let the cheesecake cool, then remove the outside ring of the springform pan. Cover the cheesecake and refrigerate it overnight or for several hours. The next day, frost the cake with:



Frosting:


1 & 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese
12 ounces melted white chocolate
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 teaspoon lemon juice



Melt the white chocolate and allow to cool to room temperature. Combine the butter and cream cheese. Slowly add the melted chocolate, mixing while pouring. Add lemon juice and mix. Frost the top and sides of the cheesecake and return it to the fridge to set up. (10 minutes should be fine). Whip or stir the raspberry jam until it thins enough to spread over the top of the cheesecake. You can add a border with the remaining frosting mixture, if you wish.

I know I mentioned our one room schoolhouse door predicament on this blog a long time ago. Well, here's what it looks like. The bottom two panels had rotted through and Bob tacked on a piece of plywood last fall for at least some protection from the elements. We absolutely had to do something about it and could not let it sit like this for another winter. So Bob and I went down to the Wood Shack in Fort Wayne on Saturday and purchased a big oak door - 88 inches in length. Bob cut about three inches off the bottom, sanded it, stained it, and covered it with Spar varnish. At the Wood Shack I also stumbled upon four mahogany Grecian columns, which, I think we could utilize in our new dining room. Hmmmm. Well, probably not all four, but two anyway. Here's Bob sanding the door. And, speaking of the new dining room, I went to Middlebury on Wednesday and ordered my handmade-by-the-Amish dining room table and ten chairs. Yes, ten chairs, and I'm going to save the four from our old kitchen table in case we need more seating. While I was up there I stopped at the flea market in Shipshewana and bought half a bushel of delicious Red Haven Michigan peaches and put them in the freezer for pies. We'll be eating us some peach pie at that dining room table this winter, God willing. This is a twig stand that I also bought at the flea market for fifteen dollars. You could put a pumpkin in there too, if you wanted...and I will.












Thoughts on Football:


I am really fighting hard to resist the urge to get on board the Viking ship. But, it's very difficult.........and I am weak.


More Thoughts on Football:


Terriers Maul Orphans. Yes, the Carbondale Terriers dug a hole on the field and buried those Centralia Orphans, yet again this year, although the record should show that the Orphans are much improved. According to the radio guys, Carbondale Big Dog, Kendall Edwards, drug two of those orphans for five yards. "He really took those Orphans for a ride." The score was 54 to 18.

Recipe of the Week: This is the perfect cookie for TET (tough economic times) made from simple ingredients that we all have in our pantry. (except maybe the cream of tartar)They're also Rob's favorites. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but when measuring flour, one should NEVER EVER plunge one's measuring cup into the canister or sack of flour. I truly think this is the leading cause of sub-par or crappy, if you will, cookies. Also, make sure you use a whisk or fork to combine dry ingredients before adding them to a creamed mixture. This will evenly distribute baking soda, powder, and salt. (yet another reason for crappy cookies).



Snickerdoodles


1 cup shortening
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 & 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt


Cream sugar, shortening, and eggs. In a small bowl combine dry ingredients and then add them to the creamed mixture and mix well. Shape cookies into 1 inch balls and roll in a mixture of: 1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.







And one last thing: I was downstairs talking on the phone this evening - well trying to get volunteers for the Apple Festival, and I looked out the door and saw that we had captured a balloon in one of our trees. That doesn't happen very often.

I went with Bob to the west coast last week. He called on printers in Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Torrence. There's no easy way to get to Reno so we flew from Fort Wayne to Detroit to Los Angeles and up to Reno. The very wonderful Bob let me sit in his first class seat from Detroit to L.A. and again on the return flight home. We actually stayed in Truckee and on Wednesday afternoon went up to Donner Pass and visited the Emigrant Trail Museum. I've always had an interest in the Donner Party. There's is a sad and "distasteful" episode in the saga of the westward movement of the nineteenth century. Here's Bob at the Pioneer Monument and behind me is Donner Pass. The moral of this story is - stay on the path and never ever take the shortcut or you might end up having to eat boiled oxen hides or worse. Also, I should report that I won $15.75 in the slot machine at the Reno airport. I think a good idea might be to put gaming machines in all the airports. Do you realize how much more palatable the wait is when you're gambling and winning money? No more disgruntled passengers slouched and scowling in their seats because of delays. And Michael, Bob says you should just stay out of Dulles airport. Go through Baltimore or Reagan. Or is it some government deal that you have to go through Dulles?




Back in L.A., we went to the taping of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which was a little different from the two other shows I've been to - Oprah and David Letterman. The studio audience is small - 1o8 people. The opening monologue and puppet hi jinx we watched that afternoon actually aired later that night, but the first thing we were treated to was Reba McEntire, who did two numbers, however, she won't be on the show until the 22nd. So, it was kind of choppy, but fun. The warm up guy, Chuck the mediocre comedian, threw miniature candy bars at us. I have no pictures because we weren't allowed to take anything into the studio except identification. Here's Bob at Muscle Beach, where we only watched some guys working out, while eating corndogs. We also stayed at the Beverly Hilton one night (Hilton points). It even had a TV in the bathroom, and it was decorated for Christmas because they were filming a movie called "Christmas in Beverly Hills" there. On Friday night we ate at Bob's favorite restaurant Tony's on the pier at Redondo Beach. We returned home on Saturday and were welcomed back by Rob's news that the dog had severe diarrhea and exploded all over the new carpet downstairs. It was amusing to listen to Rob dramatize the horrific event. I'm positive it was his first messy poo clean up. He had given her more Mighty Dog than she's used to eating. Also, I know she gets upset when we're gone.











Recipe of the Week: There wasn't any cooking this week, only a lot of eating. I did purchase Julia Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and plan to try my hand at some of these recipes. I've shied away from Julia in the past, thinking her recipes would be too difficult for me. Now I think I'm up to it. Hey, I might just start at the beginning and cook my way through the whole book - yeah, and they might want to make a movie out of me doing this "Big Lou and Julia."

This Jack Handey quote of the week is dedicated to Serena and her hissy fit meltdown at the U.S. Open last night. Only in Serena's case we're talking about tennis rackets and not lemons. Serena, tsk.tsk.

"If life deals you lemons, why not just go kill someone with the lemons (maybe by shoving them down his throat)." Jack Handey