My recipe BLOG

Well, the past two weeks' report is in, and only one person is reading this BLOG. Well, maybe more are reading it, but only one person per day is reading it. So, I'm asking, is it worth it to do this on-line "cook book" for you folks who read this BLOG.

I learned last night of an author from South Philly who just published a book (Gravy Wars by Lorraine Renalli) and I really am looking forward to getting a copy of the book because she includes so much of the South Philly Italian humor in the book.

You're probably asking, what's with this South Philly thing I keep bringing up. Well, frankly it's because I have fond memories of my many, many visits to South Philly and the family members who lived there. I went there from the time I was a small child, holding onto my mom's hand, and listening to her converse with the folks down there in Italian, not understanding a word of what she was saying. I often wondered what "secrets" she shared with her friends. They all seemed so old to me.

And I remember that when I was about 14 and was permitted to go to Philadelphia by myself, without a parent tagging along (or was I tagging along with a parent?) and then switching from the bridge el to the Broad street el to get down to my family in South Philly. Can you imagine an unaccompanied14-year-old girl getting on a subway in Philadelphia in this day and age? I was never afraid, and never worried for my safety, and apparently neither did my parents. Times were so different then.

So, if you want to get a flavor for what we ate back when I was growing up, and find out what and how I learned to cook, you must read this new BLOG -- Runnemede Remembered Recipes (click on the title to link to the new BLOG). Comments appreciated!

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Post Valentine's Day

I don't get it. When I lived in Runnemede my husband never forgot to get me a beautiful gift for Valentine's Day. And he didn't have any money back then, either. Over the years the gifts have dwindled to once every four or five years -- the past three years we have been on a cruise, so I got to pick my own jewelry gift.

This year, and I'm not complaining because Alan really can't get to a store to buy something and he doesn't have the hang of on-line buying, except for his books -- he did figure that out -- he almost didn't even tell me Happy Valentine's Day.

Anyway, after we left Runnemede, he would still get me something, even if it was chocolates -- which he ate, because I can't eat chocolate. It was the thought that counted, right?

Well, this year tops them all. And I have to say the whole Valentine's thing didn't bother me at all, because at this point in my life, I prefer to be the giver -- that's what gives me pleasure, but...

Last night around 11 p.m. Alan came into the bedroom to "visit". I'd been in bed all day because of back problems -- and he said to me: "Did I tell you 'Happy Valentine's Day'?" I said, "No." And then I laughed. As always he started talking at the END of a movie I was watching -- I was watching the one on the Hallmark channel. He asked what I was laughing about, and I told him that once again I missed the end of a movie. He said, "Well, Happy Valentine's Day."

That was it. He went back out to the recliner, where he's been having to sleep because of his own back problems, and I went back to the book I had started earlier in the day. And that was the end of Valentine's Day 2009, one that will remain in my mind for about two days, and then will be gone. But it is now memorialized on a BLOG!

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Valentine Cards

Today (it's 12:10 a.m.) is Valentine's Day. Not my favorite holiday.



If you want to know why, go to The Fat Lady Singeth. That's a real Runnemede Remembered story and it's about Valentine cards, or the lack thereof.



Now on to this day and year.



Yesterday I did what I have been trying to do each year for the past several, and that is send out valentines to all the grandchildren. That means a trip to Hallmark. I was worried about that trip because when I go into a store, I tend to, well, "trip." However, I did okay, and I spent a huge amount of money to get Valentine cards for the grands and my husband. Wow! What happened to the 10 cent card? Back in my Runnemede years, Mr. Pitt sold nice Valentine cards for a dime! He owned the drugstore on the corner of the Pike and First Avenue.



I realize that cards have increased in price, and bargains can be found, but I really like Hallmark cards. So, I bit the bullet and got the cards, wrote them out, and got them in the mail today. They should all be delivered tomorrow, Valentine's Day. Hope you grandchildren like them.



Memom sends her love to you all (pop-pop is included in that love, by the way).



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Mt Calvary Union Church

The church in which I grew up and learned so much about the Lord, Jesus Christ, was called Mt.Calvary Union Church. I went through a history (of Runnemede) book which I have, but there was nothing in that book that said what the reasoning behind the name was. The church was built in 1910 and was built because the nearest church was in Glendora -- the Methodist Church.

I have never written about the inside of the sanctuary of the church, but it is beautiful in the sense that it definitely portrays the early 1900s in materials and fixtures.

I've spoken about the vestibule (small entry room) before, but as you pass through the two swinging doors that lead to the main part of the church you see that the church is very small by today's standards. However, small doesn't necessarily mean "not good" or "not visited by people who believe in Christ the Lord as Savior of the world", etc.

I do have pictures of the inside of the church, but I'm not certain they would show up in the BLOG because they were sent to me in a very small view.

Needless to say, the inside of the church has an oak floor. I'm almost certain that sometime in the late 40s, early 50s, the wood floor was covered with linoleum -- after all it was what everyone was doing back then, because wood floors could give you splinters. Dumb reason.

Anyway, around the inside of the church there is a wainscoting -- it's tin. It's been painted many, many times, but it's in good shape. The ceiling is also decorated tin, painted only a couple of times. The ceiling peaks in the middle of the center aisle. On each side of the main room are stained glass windows which tell who donated them and in whose memory and the year of the donation. A mini-history of the early church. The names were all prominent in Runnemede (according to the history book) in the early 1900s, including the mayor, town council people, and the fire chief.

The pulpit area is raised two steps and is fronted with a kneeling rail. The pulpit area is still wood covered with an area carpet. This area also has two chairs -- one to the right, the other to the left of the speaker's pulpit, which is a big wooden thing with several shelves under the sloped top. Behind the actual speaker's pulpit there is a large wooden arm chair -- I always thought of it as a throne because it had a high back, was ornately carved, and had a big dark red pillow on it (that was to sit on).

Behind the whole pulpit area is a dark red velvet curtain which hides large doors that can be folded back to open the whole church up into one large room, or to extend the pulpit for plays (which we did a couple of times when I was a child).

The light fixtures are pewter, simple, but have that patina that only older pewter can have. I always liked those lights.

I was married in this tiny church in 1966. The church is going through some cosmetic changes now, but I would hope that in making those changes the integrity of the early 1900s wouldn't be destroyed or removed.

mtf

NOTICE -- MUST READ

I started a new BLOG today entitled: Runnemede Remembered Recipes. These are recipes I learned from my mother or which I developed later in my cooking life. I hope to put up a new recipe every day. And, I hope you enjoy this BLOG. There will be a little bit of history with each recipe, as I remember it from my learning days in my mom's home.

The link is: http://www.runnemederememberedrecipes.blogspot.com/. Be sure to bookmark it!

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Go to "The Fat Lady Singeth"

For today's update on the snow and what it was like in Runnemede on a similar day, go to today's posting at http://www.thefatladysingeth.blogspot.com/

My goof-up. Sorry. I intended for that BLOG to be on Runnemede remembered, but my eyes flipped and I put it in the wrong spot.

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Yesterday

Well, yesterday's snow out here in N. KY is melting nicely, even though the outside temperature is only 10 degrees. I should say that the places that are in the sun are melting nicely. Since our home fronts to the northwest we get only about 10 minutes of sun late in the afternoon and so we don't have much melting, but across the street, the homes face southeast and they are getting lots of warm sun melt.

Our sun porch is warm as toast (it faces southeast) and right now the temperature out there is 80 degrees. Isn't that amazing -- the outdoor temperature is 10 degrees, but inside the sun porch it's 80 degrees, and no there is no heat source other than the sun out there.

We're enjoying the day and the snow (how it looks) and remembering how we would go out in the snow as children and make snow angels. Oh, how I wish I could do that now. Well, I could get down to make the snow angel, but we'd need to have a crane to get me back to an upright position, so making snow angels is no longer an activity in which I can participate except in my dreams.

I know why children love snow so much. And I love to just watch the few children that live in our community out playing in the snow, throwing snowballs, making a fort -- 18 inches of snow makes a neat fort. I love watching them get in those circle things and sliding down the hill. We used to use handle-less garbage can lids, if we didn't have a sled.

So, while I can't participate any more in the winter activities, I can remember how much fun they were and really, really enjoy watching children have fun!

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