June 22nd, 2010
by Dena
Our family likes is crazy about desserts. I’ve seen a fight over fried pies and a stampede for a caramel pie. When my parents were both diagnosed with diabetes, they thought they could no longer enjoy desserts (though Mom is still bent on having some every now and then). Thankfully, I have found several recipes that were a hit with everyone, and Father’s Day was a big hit in the dessert ballgame.
I made a sugar free strawberry pie.
It is one of the easiest pies I’ve ever made. The ingredients:
- 1 can of diet sprite or diet 7-up
- 1 box of sugarfree strawberry jello
- 1 T of cornstarch
- 1/4 C water
- 1 pint of strawberries, sliced
- 1 graham cracker crust
Mix the jello and sprite together in a sauce pan over medium heat. Mix the cornstarch and water together and add to the saucepan. You cook until it is mixed well and almost to a boil. I cooked it about 10 minutes. Let it cool a while and add the strawberries. Pour into a graham cracker crust and chill. Top with any whipped topping you like.
I really don’t like jello. Just a personal preference. I might have some texture issues (sensory problems weren’t diagnosed when I was a child and hated the tags on my clothes or my socks to bunch up but don’t worry mom and dad) However, to me the Jell-O wasn’t even very noticeable.
We love strawberries. When my niece, Amber, was little she just went nuts over strawberries. I remember the nuttiest was a tantrum at a Baskin Robbins. Fun Times! Soon after that I got her a virgin strawberry daquiri and she drank it in a few gulps. Anyway, she always loved that drink and anything strawberry. This weekend she loved the pie as well. If a hardcore strawberry lover like Amber approves, then it passes the test.
Dad liked it too and forbid us to keep eating it. He said he was the diabetic. Oh well. The odds our in our favor to become one too.
Out of the frying pan | 
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June 20th, 2010
by Dena
Even thought it is a few years old, I had to use this picture. He chose this by Robert Frost for his graduation page in the yearbook. It has always been one of my favorites.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Check out the other teens this week at I Heart Faces.
IHeartFaces | 4 Comments »
June 20th, 2010
by Dena
One of my pet peeves about celebrating Father’s Day is that the thought is implied that any man who is a father deserves a gift and card. I’ve worked in public education for more than a few years and can tell that it is often a sad state of affairs in the father department. I could rant for more than anyone wants to hear about the atrocities that Joy and I both encounter on a daily basis as far as parents are concerned, but instead will move on to our Father’s Day celebration of 2010.
My husband was kind enough to volunteer a fish fry!
He did all the hard work.
Joy worked hard on a relish tray. It made a lovely centerpiece!
Everyone else brought side dishes and it was really the perfect meal! We had a great time visiting and sharing gifts with Dad.
My niece, Whittney, won the prize of the year when she gave Dad a framed picture of them together when she was about 2 and riding on the tractor with him. It made the rest of ours seem so commercial!
Then, we had desserts. More on that tomorrow, but a hint for now….
Out of the frying pan, Well Seasoned | Comments Off
June 17th, 2010
by LanaJoy
Dena and I were talking a while back about the serious lack of real lunch ladies in the world today. When we were kids at a teeny tiny school, the women who served lunch were a bunch of sweet matronly older women, and the food was GOOD. I remember my mother looking at the menu every week to see what was going to be coming up so that she could see if they were having chicken and dumplings or chicken and dressing. These women used what I can only guess were their real recipes that they used in their own kitchens, and from the homemade rolls to the meatloaf, it was good. Really good. And they knew many of the kids by name, and if they knew a kid wasn’t getting much food at home, they made sure that kid got a little extra. It was those little things that made the lunch ladies endearing and sweet characters.
Somewhere in the years since we graduated and moved on to the world of adulthood, school cafeterias became a business. They became about turning a profit instead of feeding kids good food that doesn’t come in the form of a nugget. Now I am not saying that I don’t realize a school district can’t just bleed money in order to keep kids fed, but I also wonder if there isn’t another way to feed kids other than the process pre-packaged things that they eat now. The lunch ladies are sometimes not even connected to the school in any way and work for a company contracted out to serve the frozen pizza and chicken nuggets that pass for meals on a daily basis in most schools.
As a nod to the women who made us enjoy school a little more and who provided us with a little comfort food to get us through the day, here is a recipe from a very sweet woman who spent years serving the children in our cafeteria.
Chicken and Dressing
- 1 lg chicken, boiled and deboned
- 1 lg pan of cornbread, crumbled
- 2/3 full of the same pan of white bread, crumbled. (all bread is better if it is 2 or 3 days old)
- 8 ribs of celery, diced
- 2 lg onions, diced
- 6 eggs
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 c. milk
- 1 T. sage
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- salt to taste
Cover the celery and onions with water and boil until done. Beat the eggs, soup, milk, sage, and black pepper together in a bowl. Add diced chicken last. Mix the cornbread and whitebread together in a large bowl. Then wet it with the broth until really wet. The add egg mixture and salt. Add celery and onion mixture and some of the water. Pour into a well greased pan and bake at 400º for about an hour or until set and browned.
*This recipe is from Shirley Eddy and is found in a cookbook from the Genoa Athletic Booster Club. The cookbook is dedicated to her for 27 years of “carefully and lovingly preparing hot meals for our kids”.
Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
June 14th, 2010
by Dena
Who doesn’t love babies? When I hear of someone having a baby I immediately want to grab my camera and go there. I just adore babies.
Therefore, I had a hard time thinking of my favorite baby picture. I’ve already posted some on here, in one form or another. Today, I went with an oldie but goody.
There is more baby goodness on I Heart Faces right now.
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