Pass the shell

If you were in attendance and very observant at the Klopfenstein Reunion at Paul Klopfenstein's you may have noticed Mary Medlen pass me something!  

On Spring Break in 1994, Ada and I knowing that retirement was soon a reality, spent the week on the beautiful island of Antigua where Mary was a teacher at a college.  Antiguan is a beautiful island in the Caribbean.  The island is beautiful beyond belief!   Rhoda joined us for part of the week that held many wonderful memories. ( Remember girls, Jerry about drowns learning to scuba dive....we have to push Mary's car up the hill). 

On the last morning there, Ada I and took a walk on one of the many wonderful white sandy beaches.   The beaches are  covered with millions of shells that wash up from the ocean.  As I was walking, I reached down and pick one up.  There was nothing special about this shell, but over time it has become very special!!   Before we left Mary for the last time, I showed her the shell and said I would keep it in my pocket with my change and every time I looked at it, I would think of her and pray for her!!   Then the next time our paths cross, I would give it to her and she should do the same, when she sees it in her change purse, she should say a prayer for me!!  

So, for 20 years now the shell has gone back and forth several times, while each of us prayers for the other!   Since, the shell is in my possession ,  and it is the 20th anniversary,  I thought I would share our secret  with the rest of the family.

At the reunion this past summer, the shell was in Mary's possession, I was wondering if she had forgot.   While we were going through the food line, I sat at the table.  As Mary and Joey walked by our table, Mary very discreetly laid the shell by my plate!!  Now I have it until we meet again.

You are asking yourself, what happens to it at the END?   Who ever is in possession of the shell is to hang on to it until we meet on a "street of gold" where we will hug and pass it for the  last time to the other one!  

A picture of the shell is below next to a quarter to put the size in perspective. 

A very special relationship between a Uncle and special Niece!    Love you Mary!!

Hard to Please!

I've been going through a couple of tubs of Mom's "stuff." She kept everything! There are cards and letters and all kinds of interesting things, but also lots to pitch.

In reference to Ann's cookbook post, and the reference to chocolate...bitter, or semi-sweet...I found many Advisory Board reports from one of the assisted living residences where Mom resided. Some of the comments were quite comical. And it shows that when it comes to food and cooking, you can't please everyone!

*Residents want fried potatoes sliced thin and fried to a golden brown, not diced potatoes.
*Some residents want onions in their fried potatoes, some do not.
*Residents do not want the words "assorted chips" used when the only options are potato chips or cheese puffs. Instead, use "chips or puffs."
*A resident wishes 2 good menu choices weren't offered at the same meal. Sometimes it is too hard to choose which one to order.
*A resident had a question about the coffee cups: Why are the coffee cups on the corner of the table?
*A resident said there was too much lettuce on a salad.
*A resident likes the side salad on a plate, not in a bowl.
*On Sept. 1, a resident asked for water with 1/2 a lemon squeezed in it and when it was served, it was not lemony enough.
*One resident commented that his ice is melted before he sits at the table; another resident responded that she does not like ice in her water.
*A resident stated that all salad dressings are sour.
*The meat, especially the beef, is wonderful.
*The cubed beef in the beef stew is tough and rubbery every time.
*There are requests for bigger biscuits but some residents like the smaller biscuits.
*Residents requested that a ham bone be placed in the ham n beans when preparing it.
*Promised stewed tomatoes once a week, haven't gotten stewed tomatoes once.
*On Thursday July 3, spaghetti was OK.
*Mondays Mac and Cheese did not have enough cheese.
*The salmon patties have been too thick. They should not be over 1/2 inch thick. They are supposed to be patties, not balls.
*BUT THE QUALITY OF THE CHEESEBURGERS IS EXCELLENT!

I have a couple of pictures to share once I get the scanner working on my new printer. So far it copies and prints from my computer, but won't scan and the wireless from my laptop isn't working to print. Hope I can get the bugs out soon!

Visit to KC

                                Timon, Anna, Jonas, Alice, Jesse, Milan

Perry and I returned home from KC this afternoon after a few days with the Emch's.  The weather was perfect, and we had a great time.  Max is their new dog who just happened to show up about a month ago.  They couldn't find his previous owner so they decided to keep him. He is a very friendly dog, and the children love him.  ---Carol

Klopfenstein Family Cookbook

I have a little time tonight so will attempt to keep the flow of blog posts going.

This weekend I got out the Klopfenstein Family Favorites cookbook to look up the banana bread recipe (middle of page 85) that has been used here many times.  There are several recipes that are "go-to" in this book for me.  Ham Balls on p. 50 has "Good- 5/97" written on it.  Molly's Marinated Artichokes and Mushrooms (p. 21) got taken to Christmas celebrations last year.  Charity's Davy Crockett Bars recipe (p. 104) is one of the first things Andrew learned to bake, and he made them many times as a young boy.  That page is quite worn.  And this Christmas I plan to attempt the caramels recipe again after last year's epic fail.  

I've never been involved in a cookbook project; however, have done enough writing of various kinds to see that it would be an enormous investment of time and effort.  Thank you, Ada, again, for all you did for this.  It is a family history as well as a window into others' personalities.  When it first came out, there was a problem with some of the pages, and you sent out a reprint.  (Another epic job.)  Mary Lee was quite young at the time, but I gave her the original one and told her it was her copy of the Klopfenstein cookbook.  She was so proud of it, that she had her own copy!

With a little time this evening, I re-read some of the introductions and dividing pages.  Reading about Aunt Minerva brought back memories of her.  As an adult, I did not know her well.  Most of my memories as a child and even a teenager, of the older generation of Klopfensteins such as Aunt Minerva and Aunt Mary, were not mature enough to realize and appreciate what gems they were.  Looking back, I can recall their great personalities and smiles - which must be a Klop trait since many of our generations have the same qualities.   

Picture is a little blurry - apologies!!

Now the recipes from Sophia Meiss Klopfenstein, which Ada challenged people to try.  I'm not up for dandelion wine.  :-)  And the chocolate cake - what is meant by "grated chocolate"?  Bitter?  Semi-sweet?  Whether the recipes get used or not, it was fun to read them.

Thank you for indulging a little trip of memories!!  Would appreciate hearing some of your favorite recipes from the cookbook in the comments section.  I could use some new ideas.

Now - it's someone else's turn to keep the flow of posts coming!!

Just a new post!!

It is a cloudy, cool day in Central Illinois and so Ada and I took a drive just to ward off being bored,  to Starve Rock State park.   It must have been the thing to do, because we were there along with 10,000 other people.    All of us stood, admired, and took pictures of the gorgeous colors on the trees.   There were truly some beautiful trees.   If I still can do this, there will be a picture of Ada leaning against one of the trees with the Illinois River in the background.   I never have much luck posting multiple pictures, but I am also going to include a picture of Drake and Jason.   Kelsie was in Illinois for a wedding of a class mate from U-High and spent some time in Chicago on her way.  Drake, Jason, and Janice met her for lunch in Chicago.   I thought this was a good picture of the boys,  so I  included it!

Texas Visit pt. 2

Judy commented about Mom and Dad's adventurous spirit in a comment on the previous post.

We thought you needed to see that this Texas visit was a real "hair raising" trip for Dad!

 

 

The temperatures were quite chilly yesterday while we were out and about. Dad didn't bring a cap as the forecast before he left for Texas was to be in the 80s and 90s. Renae bought him this "cap" to keep his head warm.

Texas Visit

Mom and Dad can certainly not be accused of letting too much grass grow under their feet. After getting home late Monday afternoon from Illinois, on Thursday they flew to Dallas. We've enjoyed our time together very much. Today we visited the Dwight Eisenhower birthplace in Denison, TX.  We didn't realize that his birthday is Oct. 14, and the homeplace had several special events scheduled including a WWII battle reenactment. We were not overly impressed with the reenactment although we did enjoy the home quite a bit.

After flying home on Monday, Mom and Dad plan to vacation at their home in Anderson for awhile.

Here are a few pictures from today:

Mom noticed immediately the discrepancy with this vehicle. Can you find it?

The four of us in front of the home. The other tourist who was so kind to take our picture but now we have her finger tip in our picture! Eisenhower was born in the room to the right of the front door.

Ralph and Catherine

This pic may have been up on the blog sometime in the past, but isn't it a great picture and worth repeating right now!

Much love to all, Ann