ITS AS GOOD AS THE MEMORY!

 Do you ever long for a special meal, or soup, or cake, or cookie from someone who is no longer with you?  Something that a special person prepared without even knowing the effect that food item had on you, and maybe not realizing the effect they had on you, themselves?  Maybe you didn't realize their effect on your either - until they were gone!

I was a very lucky person growing up.  I had so many special aunts who in their own way helped shape the person I am today.   Each one gave me something special - some skill, some advise, some wonderful memory that I can relate to only them.  

It might have been a story of my ancestry, or a lesson in crochet, a warning about the perils of youth...  A lesson in gardening, a passage from the Bible - a shared family recipe....

One of my Aunts, made the most amazing Apple Kuchen.  From the time I was just a little snot, I remember her in her kitchen on the farm, encased in her generous hand-made apron, rolling out dough on her kitchen counter.  Her home always smelled of baking, and warm milk, with a tiny hint of fresh hay added to the mix.

She said Kuchen, with the German way of pronouncing a K.  Like the K was caught deep in her throat and she had to get it to her tongue first before she could spit it out.  No one said Kuchen like her... at least no one, I knew.

And the taste!  My Golly, the taste!  Her warm Apple Kuchen right out of the oven had no description at all - just pure taste followed by complete satisfaction.

Being a kid, I wolfed it down in less than two bites, but even so - even now, I remember the flavour.

So I started trying every Kuchen recipe I could find.  None of her family had her recipe, because she never used one.  Of course she didn't - that's why it was so darn perfect!

None of the recipes I tried were anything like her KKKuchen.... ( that's not a typo)!

Until last week...

I was back on the hunt again, and found a recipe that turned out to be really good, actually - it is almost the same, but not quite as wonderful as My Aunt Anna's Apple Kuchen recipe.

I have actually figured out the missing ingredient in every recipe I have tried -  it's her - she is what is missing.  Her and her generous home-made apron, her kitchen that smells like baking, warm milk with a hint of fresh hay, and her pronunciation of Kuchen.

As it turns out the recipe could not be any simpler than it is.

So just in case you have had this very same dilemma - I'm going to share the recipe I found, with you.

Enjoy!

Apple Kuchen

1 cup flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 Cup butter

Mix with pastry blinder and press into a  8x8 square pan

..............

4 cups apples peeled and sliced

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together and place on top of crust in pan.

.........

Topping:

1/2 flour

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together and sprinkle on top of apple layer.

Baker at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.  Refrigerate leftovers ( if you have any)

A COLLAR FOR CHRISTMAS!

 This post is extremely personal to me.  That's because it is about my husband, Gary.  

It was not an easy decision to make this post, because Gary is a very private person who doesn't like to be in the spotlight - in fact if truth were told, I had to really work on him to convince him that his story was special enough to even be told!

If you met Gary for the first time, you would say he's a quiet fellow, friendly, a nice guy.  All those would be true.  His gentle soul was what first made me love him, all those years ago.

But he is also fiercely loyal to those he loves, and he also has a generous amount of stubborn determination, when life demands call on him to use it.

Gary was born in Chicago in 1956, he is 64 yrs old, and we have been married for 36 years.  

In 1977, when Gary was 21 years old, he had a tragic accident, that should have ended his life - He fell 32 feet from a Ferris Wheel at a small amusement park in Justice Illinois.  

The accident was remembered in a column in the Chicago Tribune called "What Ever Happened to..." in 2009.

Have a read:

Gary recovered his injuries, but what he didn't share with the press in the Update above was his recollections of the fall itself.  Only those close to Gary know what he felt as he plunged the 32 feet to the ground.  

He recalls having no fear in the seconds it took for the bar of the cage he sat in to swing out, and for him to reach the small arcade roof, which he crashed through, essentially breaking his fall before he hit the cement pavement.  What he did feel was a presence, as if someone was with him, cradling him as he fell... a feeling that has stayed with him all his life.

Fast forward thirty years or so.  Gary's vision which has been poor due to severe myopia is deteriorating rapidly.  After being assessed by several specialists, Gary is told that he is going blind and there is no cure.  He can no longer drive, or work, and is now confined to our home.  He has begun falling down stairs and having accidents around the home due to his inability to see.

Instead of becoming a victim of his circumstance, Gary walks to a nearby Lutheran church, where he once was employed as an organist.  He meets with the Pastor, who has known Gary for a long time.  He explains his need to feel useful, and his desire to do something, even though his options are extremely limited. 

The pastor points Gary to a organization called Lutheran Volunteer Ministries, where volunteers are trained to visit shut-ins in hospitals and care homes to bring spiritual care and comfort to the people they visit.  Soon Gary is Volunteering at Misericordia Hospital and participating in personal visitation as well as group spiritual care gatherings.  His vision continues to deteriorate, and in desperation he visits his local optometrist who refers Gary to one more specialist for consultation on his blindness.

After several visits to the new specialist, Gary is slated for surgery ( removal of massive cataracts) and within months, he can once again drive and work and function in the normal world.

Gary is offered the position of co-ordinator of Lutheran Volunteer Ministries, which he accepts and he throws himself into his new vocation with all he has.  He begins study in Theology and progresses from

Lay-Minister
to a Deacon.  He begins performing  monthly church services in Personal Care homes, and then progresses to church services to congregations in a church setting.  

Gary continued his studies and now he has received Ordination from the Independent Lutheran Synod as a Pastor.

At 64 years of age, Gary has achieved his life- long dream, and I am so proud because I know first hand how difficult this journey has been.

If ever a life has been powered by the hand of God -  Gary's surely has.

- - -

I was going to get him a new wallet for Christmas ( he needs it), but instead I am shopping for a special shirt and a special collar. 

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

Pastor Graumann.

IT IS A WONDERFUL WORLD!

With all that is going on, and has been going on in our world this year, it is very easy to get caught up in the negative sentiment that seems to be prevalent everywhere you go, and pretty much with most of the people you meet or associate with.

I suppose it is our own choice as to whether we join that sentiment, or not.  I choose the not version of this conversation.

That's why for a very long time, I have been searching and finding like-minded people on social media.  

That statement might immediately turn you away from this blog post.  So be it!  That also is your choice!

Last fall I happened across a You-tuber from Northumberland England called Kate.  Her Youtube channel is called The Last Homely House.  When I started watching her channel it was The Last Homely House East of the Sea.  Why wouldn't you check out someone who had a channel name like that?  It was her channel name that first drew me to check out her channel.

Kate is almost exactly the same age as I - right down to the month - and I often think we could be twins in our thinking, our love of gardening, animals, and crafting. 

Her channel is not over the top - it's just Kate being Kate - doing what she loves and taking you along through her ordinary day - even when it's just cleaning out her craft room drawers.

When the Pandemic hit and lockdowns were occurring all over the world, Kate created a virtual "LIME GREEN SOFA" in her home, for all her beloved subscribers and viewers.  It was a place we all could gather together to sew or knit, visit, have tea, snacks and conversation.  In other words - she invited her viewers to connect to her and to one another through her channel.

Her idea sky-rocketed!  People from all over the world, including myself started participating with the idea of the "Lime Green Sofa".  Her comment section became a place to have a conversation with other like-minded people, and so Kate took the idea one step further and introduced the lime green sofa to Facebook on her group The Last Homely House East of the Sea.

The Lime Green Sofa Facebook group has only been up for a few weeks, but it too has just exploded.  I have no idea how many members are there already, but the group continues to grow daily.

One woman!  One woman sitting in the comfort of her sewing room where her computer sits off to one side, has connected thousands of like-minded people!

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that she has accomplished more in her short time on Youtube, than any celebrity or politician has in their entire lifetime.

Well done Kate...and Norma, and Eileen....

Who are they, you ask?  

Not telling - find out for yourself!

I have found new friendships, some even close to my own home.  Think of it - a woman half the world away has introduced me to someone in my own area. 

Let that sink in awhile - 

The World IS a Wonderful place - because of people like our Dear Kate.  

Kate  - Thank You from the bottom of my heart.  You have made a difference - and in my mind - that counts for so much more than most of us can hope to accomplish in our lifetime!