My Sister's Mullein Weed Poultice

My calendar says that August 4th is Sister's Day.  I'd like to honor this special day with the following account. 

When we were growing up we had a neighbor man who seemed older than dirt.  He lived in a big, two-story farm house down the road that was even older than he.  Everyone called him by a nickname of "Happy".  He seemed happy enough I guess.  Anyway, Happy had a grand-fatherly affection for my sister.  I think he thought she was just so cute with her little blond head.  He called her "Babe".  One day Babe twisted her ankle.  It turned purple and swelled up.  When Happy saw her limping around the yard, he headed out to the pasture to pick some mullein weed.  He promptly returned and made a nasty-smelling poultice of mullein weed and mustard.  Mom applied the poultice and although Babe wanted to take it off, she was made to wear it until Happy left that day.  Ha Ha Ha--that's what you get for being the cute little sister!

DAD'S SENSE OF HUMOR--Don't Fetch

Our dad had a fun sense of humor.  Let me present the following scenario as an illustration. 

Setting: Back porch step overlooking yard
Characters:  Dad, a seven year old Grandson, Max (a frisky little stick-fetching terrier, and Blackie (a lazy, but friendly old stray farm dog of unknown heritage)

Dad and the grandson are sitting on the step.  Blackie is sleeping in the yard and Max is fetching a stick being thrown repeatedly by the grandson.  Max is fanatic about his fetching, never failing to return the tossed stick. 
Dad: I bet Blackie can do a trick that Max can't do.
Grandson: (Glancing in Blackie's direction and thinking this is a safe bet) No sir grandpa. 
Dad: Watch this. Hey Blackie! (Blackie rouses momentarily and lifts his head.  Dad tosses a stick) DON'T FETCH!  (Blackie lays his head back down and closes his eyes). 

Dill Pickle Soup

Not long before Jay passed away we were playing cribbage with our friends the Hogans.  Jay was being affected by the large quantities of morphine that he was taking and not everything he said seemed connected to the situation at hand.  Out of the blue he said, "Dill pickle soup".  We all laughed, including him.  I said, "Jay there's no such thing as dill pickle soup".  However, I quickly checked it out on the Internet, and you know what? There is such a thing! 

A couple of weeks after Jay passed away, I was playing cribbage again with the Hogans.  The Food Network was on the TV in the background. The Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives program began featuring a Polish café.  Guess what recipe they were reviewing?  Yep, dill pickle soup!  We burst into laughter again, feeling that we had just been 'visited' by Jay.  

I checked out the recipe that was used in that café and I didn't really like the sound of it.  While I used it as a reference, my own version shown here is substantially different. 

DILL PICKLE SOUP

 

1/3 c. celery minced                              1/2 c. onion chopped   

1/3 c. onion chopped                             2 c. water

1 clove garlic minced                             1 c. dill pickles chopped

2 T. olive oil                                            1/4 c. pickle juice

2 chicken bouillion cubes                       1 can evaporated milk

1 qt. chicken stock                                  1 c. sour cream

2 c. carrots chopped                                salt and pepper

6 c. potatoes cubed                                  dill slices to garnish

Saute celery and 1/3 cup onion in olive oil in a large pot until tender.  Add garlic and saute 2 minutes longer.  Add bouillion, stock, and carrots.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.  Add potatoes, 1/2 c. onion, and water to pot and return to boil then reduce to simmer 10 more minutes.  Add dill pickles, juice and milk.  Simmer until vegetables are done.  Remove from heat and add sour cream.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish bowls of soup with dill slices. 

The dill pickles and sour cream add a nice tang to this recipe.  I think now that I would probably add a litttle bit of fresh thyme at the point where the carrots go in the pot, and maybe a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg at the very end of cooking.  Oh well there is always a next time.  I know this much---I will never be able to look at a dill pickle the same way!

 







Cookbook Tribute to Jay

I haven't created a blog post since Jay passed away in February.  It's rather uncanny, but the last post I published was actually about us picking out our tombstone.  It's time for me to get back in the groove of sharing on 'My Everyday Stuff'.

With the help of the Hospice Program, we were able to keep Jay here at Bittersweet Place throughout his illness and passing.  If ever a funeral service could be considered perfect, then I think this is what Jay had despite the rainy weather. The words spoken truly captured his essence, and the video provided a good pictorial summary of the stages of his life. 

One thing that I have done to honor Jay's memory is publish our recipes and  accompanying notes in cookbook form.  He collected recipes for years and always wanted to publish a cookbook of our "favorites" but just never got around to it. The task not only filled many lonely hours for me, but has been immensely rewarding.  I am pleased with the finished product and have enjoyed sharing a copy with many people.  Included are individuals who contributed recipes over the years-- friends and family members. 

Jay's notes make the book uniquely his, although many of my recipes and words are included also.  While I did edit his work, I did not censor it.  So I think I can safely say you'll never see another cookbook with a recipe for "Orgasms"  (an alcoholic beverage) included, or one with phrases such as, 'a damned fine cook'.  People who have read the book have commented that it sounds as if Jay is speaking to them.  That is exactly what I was hoping could be achieved. 

One of the recipients of the cookbook suggested that we have a potluck with everyone making one of Jay's recipes.  I think this is a fabulous idea.  We decided to wait until cooler weather returns in the fall and October was Jay's favorite month anyway.  So we are going to have a Jay Fest at the local establishment then.  Boy would he feel honored!  For now all I have to say is, "Bon Appetit Jay!".   

Tombstones, Movie Stars and Stuff Like That

A few months ago Jay and I decided to pick out our tombstone.  We headed down to Warsaw, Illinois where the monument business is located, and is also coincidentally the home of my old high school.  The owner (let's call him Perry) was a classmate of my sister.  He confessed that when they were in school he had a very bad crush on teen film star Haley Mills, and that my sister reminded him of Haley.  I'm just guessing, but I'll bet Perry had a crush on my sister too.  This is Haley in film in case you don't remember her. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUnnCXJwoIk 
Here she is back then and now.    

So because of his fondness for her, Perry decided to memorialize Haley by carving her name on a tombstone as an advertisement of the business' craftsmanship.  I find this immensely funny for some reason-- "I like you so much that I think I'll put your name on a grave marker!"  Wait a minute though Perry................Haley is still alive! 


 

 

Okay I bet you are wondering just how much my sister really resembles Haley Mills.  Well here she is then and now, so you can decide for yourself. 

 

 

 

I don't know about you, but I think my sister may be holding up just a little bit better than Haley is, and thankfully she doesn't have her name on a tombstone!  

 

Hey, I just remembered that an old high school friend of mine said I reminded him of Shelly Fabares (pronounced fab-ray), a pretty much now-forgotten star. One of these pictures is of Shelley and one is of myself as a newly-graduated college student--see if you can tell which is which! 

 

 

Here is Shelly on the Donna Reed show singing "Johnny Angel".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIuYd0GzMjs    

 

As you saw in the picture at the top of this post, I do have my name on a tombstone.  Fortunately though, so far there is just one date on it!  We were very, very pleased with the job Harrison Monuments did for us.  Thank you for that Perrry, as well as for providing fodder for this blog post!  



Elderberry Jelly Beginning to End

The elderberries are ripe so I decided to make some jelly.  I did this one other time years ago and a friend's husband said it was the best jelly he'd ever eaten.  It is a laborious task.  Here's the bush growing in my neighbor's pasture. 

With the promise of a jar of jelly he allowed me to pick the berries, despite the fact that he didn't even know what they were!  Most people I have spoken with around here actually think they are poisonous. 

Let me show you what the berries look like. 

As you can see the damned things are minuscule and I need three cups of juice from them to make just one batch of jelly.  I want to make more than that.  I had to get permission from some other people to pick from their bushes too.  Likewise, they didn't even know what they were. 

Okay, finally I'm ready to remove the berries from their stems.  This de-stemming process is a tiresome task, the tediousness of which reminds me of what the school secretary used to do to little kids with head lice.  She perched them on a chair and pulled nearly microscopic nits from their hair with a fine-toothed comb, strand after single strand.  Well maybe this isn't quite that bad, but still..... 

They're pretty aren't they?  Next step is to coax them to give up their juice.  I did this by heating them on the stove then putting the warm berries in a clean cloth and squishing the hell out of them. 

The color that the berries stain your cloth is one of my favorites.  I've always liked this pale fuchsia color---well at least ever since 1974 when I got married the first time and made the bridal party wear it. 

Okay, glad those days are over.  Now back to the jelly.  I used Sure-Jell packets and lots of sugar to make the jelly.  You have to bring the juice and other ingredients to a full rolling boil (that is a tongue-twister for me) that can not be stirred down.  It is important to have a pan big enough for the contents to boil up and stay there.  You'll have to trust me when I say, "a small pan just will not do". 

Now we're ready to jar up the boiling hot jelly and I think this little tool is well worth the investment.  It funnels the liquid into the jars no matter what size you use. 

I wound up with 15 half-pint jars of jelly, some of which will be given away.  However, considering the effort I put into this project quite a few will need to stay on my shelf! 

 And now for the final step..............................

It's the best jelly I've ever tasted too!   Here's the link for the jelly recipe. 

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/surejell-elderberry-jelly-60866.aspx  

Annual Creamed Peas and Potatoes Party!

Well I know it's catfish-spawning time because my peas are ready to pick.  Let me explain the connection.  Dad used to catch catfish by hand in Bear Creek.  They call it 'noodling' today and there is even a reality show on TV about some Hillbilly people who have a contest to see who can bring in the biggest fish by hand.  When we were very young, my sister, brother and I danced along the banks of the creek while dad would dive down and blindly searched for nesting catfish.  Man were we ever excited when he came up sputtering water and wrestling a big wriggling fish--great fun!  Well now, for our mother it was a slightly different story.  She was 'deathly  afraid' of the water (she always said 'deathly afraid' so I'm guessing that means uber-scared).  So instead of jumping for joy at the sight of each capture, she sat at a respectable distance and feverishly shelled peas--nothing like a nice pail of peas to take the edge off the old nerves.  So, I know that if you want to catch a catfish by hand, now is the time to go because the peas are also ready to pick!

Mom always took those sweet, nervously-shelled peas home and cooked them with little potatoes and then creamed the whole pot.  I do the same now for my annual "creamed peas and potatoes" party.  All of the guests help shell the peas. (Side note: If you have ever raised peas, you know that those little raw, immature ones are like a mouth full of candy!)  Our menu for the event has been pretty consistent for a few years now--creamed peas and potatoes, homemade bread, summer salad (Romaine with red onion, strawberries, and poppy-seed dressing), old-fashioned ice-box dessert and the star of the show---------------------smoked turkey.  I bet you all thought I was going to say fried catfish didn't ya?

 Pea-shellers

Mom made this dessert a lot, so that is why it comes up at the pea party. 

Old-Fashioned Ice Box Dessert

1 Graham Cracker Store Bought Pie Crust

8 ounce package cream cheese softened

1 cup milk

4 oz package of lemon pudding

8 oz tub Cool Whip

Beat cream cheese till creamy. Add milk and blend well. Add pudding and beat 1 minute. Fold in half of the Cool Whip. Spread in the pie shell and chill.  Frost with remaining Cool Whip. 

We just love this way to "smoke" a turkey.  Everyone who has ever tried this (despite the bit of effort it requires) goes crazy for it. 

Smoked Turkey
10 to 12 pound turkey

½ cup salt

1 cup Morton tender quick

8 tablespoons liquid wood smoke flavoring

1 gallon water

Mix seasoning in water until dissolved. Place in a large plastic or stainless container; add turkey and additional water until turkey is covered.  Refrigerate in brine 24 hours. Remove & drain. Pat dry. Rub with oil. Place breast down on a rack or broiler pan, cover with foil. Bake at 300 6-7 hours, until done.  Serves 8.