In the World With Peg Cole

Remembering Janet

2026-10-01T10:29:01.203-05:00

My sister, Janet, passed away on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. She was the ultimate big sister, always caring, always responsible.

Although she lived three states away, Janet routinely made time to come see Mom and Mom's sister, Aunt Louise in Texas.

She would come over to my house across the street for a brief respite during her visit. We'd debrief over a glass of wine and maybe watch a favorite movie, like Overboard, the original one.

Janet was a devout Christian, a mom, a sister, a daughter, a wife, a teacher, a seamstress, a quilter, a photographer, a baker, a great cook. She loved Key West and her beloved high school there where she joined the drama team and performed in plays.

1939 Bantam Roadster

She drove the family's 1939 Bantam Roadster to school. It was rumored to have belonged to Mrs. Ernest Hemmingway and was stored for decades, undriven, in a garage before our dad restored it and painted it her school colors. Back then it was red and white.

Janet was a stage 4 breast cancer survivor who'd been given a 6 month life expectancy in 1999. Thankfully, the Lord had better plans for her and she lived 27 more years.

1999

1999 was a tough year for her. She flew here to Dallas and then we flew together to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for a second opinion. We ran out of gas on the way to the airport, yet, still made our flight in time. Despite the circumstances and the poor prognosis, that trip was a special time shared with my sister.

2013 March, Janet and her husband came to visit our mother in Texas.

2015 Mom's 90th

She joined the celebration of Mom's 90th birthday in 2015.My brother had a picture book made of the event to help Mom remember her family members' names.

Later, at a much earlier age than our mother, Janet would rely on a picture book her daughter made to help remember family names and faces.

Janet with her VW bug in the mid 1960s.

She had to grow up early to help care for her younger brother and her little sister. During my mother's convalescence after a burn injury, she commanded the household in my Dad's absence while he was away on sea duty. She cooked our meals, washed and ironed clothes, performed and assigned chores to her younger siblings and kept the house running ship shape.

Janet had a whimsical side, full of humor and joy. She loved animals, particularly her twin cats, Simon and Schuster. When Aunt Louise was no longer able to care for her cat, Sugar, Janet transported him to South Carolina and cared for him the rest of his life.

There's so much more to say but words aren't enough. I miss you, sister.

1950

1980

1956

1988

2001

2003

2014

2012

2024

It Starts Off with the Small Things

2026-09-06T07:27:37.857-05:00

It starts off with small things, like the coat.

Mom looked over at the rack where we'd hung our coats a few minutes earlier.

"Oh, that's a pretty coat," she said.

"Mom, that's your coat."

"Oh, really? I didn't know I had that."

Later came confusion over the prescription medicine she'd been taking for years for a thyroid condition.

My phone rang. That's the way it usually happened.

"Could you go and refill my prescriptions?" she asked. She'd long since given up driving. That was a blessing.

"Mom, I brought your refills over a couple of days ago."

"Well, I couldn't find them, so I took some of Louise's pills." Her sister's prescription had changed months before and was now twice the dose of her own pills.

When the grease fire happened, it was something she didn't call to tell me about.

She and her sister still lived across the street from me. We talked every day but I only went over there a few days a week to cook a meal and check on them.

Mom had been cooking some ground beef and had gotten distracted. The flames from the pan shot up as high as the range hood, singing some of the paint. When I saw the black streaks, I was aghast.

"What happened here?" I asked, trying not to sound alarmed.

"Oh, we had a little accident but we got it put out." My heart sank. It could have been really bad with both of them having limited mobility, one in a wheel chair and one using a walker.

The day Mom called and said Louise had taken a tumble in her closet was the day of reckoning. I dashed over there to see if she was hurt. I tested Mom's memory when I called 911, asking her for the address at her house. She couldn't remember. I had written it on the whiteboard that hung next to her chair.

That was the day I knew it was time for them to move to assisted living, one of the hardest decisions I've ever made.

Nothing was ever the same after that. They both lived another three years with chef prepared meals, structured activities, entertainment from volunteers, ice cream on demand, church services right down the hall and 24 hour nursing care just outside their room.

It wasn't ideal but it was necessary. Mom never stopped wanting to go home to "her little house."

How to Make Change Without a Calculator

2026-07-27T08:43:34.222-05:00

Cashiers often groan when a customer wants to use cash rather than a credit card. These tips will keep you on top of the change game.

As kids, we learned how to count cash playing Monopoly. I loved being the banker, although that job usually went to one of my parents. Having a stack of money was fun even if it was only play money. If you didn't grow up using pretend or real cash, it might seem a challenge to run a cash register.

First Organize the Cash Drawer

One basic for cashiers and bank tellers is to organize the cash drawer. Working at banks from an early age, we were trained to put the bills all facing the same direction and face up. We were also taught to unfold the dog-eared edges of each bill before counting them out. This simple practice can help to eliminate errors when giving back change.

Yesterday at the bank, I wasn't surprised to receive a wad of bills back from the teller with the bills every which way but organized. The first thing I did before counting my money was to turn all the bills to face in the same direction with all the faces up.

We were taught to count the money onto the counter in plain sight of the customer and not count it from one hand into our other hand. Then we were told to pick up the bills and count it out again into the customer's hand, coins first.

This double counting eliminated many potential errors and out-of-balance cash register drawers from the days of my first job as a dime store clerk to the years of handling hundreds of thousands of dollars of real cash at a commercial bank.

Counting bills is easy if you grew up chanting, "Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty. . ." like I did. If you didn't share that experience, try practicing with your kids. They'll love the sing song version of learning to count by fives. My five-year old often put coins together and asked me to change them for "green."

Counting by tens was fun too. Count them out loud: ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety. Counting by twenties is next: twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, one hundred. Doing this, or teaching your kids this, will aid in learning math skills.

How many twenties make one hundred? Count it out. There's five twenties in one hundred dollars; so five times twenty equals one hundred. It's about multiplication as well as addition. Experience adds to the ease and comfort of correctly counting back money.

Can I give you the small change?

What happens when the customer wants to give you some odd change after the sale has been rung? Here's an example.

The total sale is for $13.57 cents. The customer gives you a twenty dollar bill. After you ring the cash in, they say, "Can I give you the seven cents?" Your cash register has already told you to give the customer back six dollars and forty-three cents. ($6.43).

The easy way to figure out the change due is to start off with the even numbers. Take away (subtract) the seven cents ($.07) from the original amount due. $13.57 less .07 equals $13.50.

Place the seven cents on the ledge of the register drawer and count out the change from $13.50. Pulling one quarter from the drawer, count it into your hand and say to yourself, "Thirteen-fifty (and 25 cents) is $13.75. With another quarter it's $14.00. Pull a one dollar bill out and count to yourself. "And one dollar makes $15.00."

Pull a five dollar bill out and mentally say, "And five makes twenty dollars." Five, ten, fifteen, twenty. That's when that chant can be helpful.

Then, count the change back to the customer repeating the revised amount of the sale after the pennies. "That's thirteen-fifty, (hand them the first quarter), thirteen seventy-five. Now the second quarter and say, "And fourteen."

Place the one dollar bill on top of the change and say, "And one makes fifteen." Then add the five to the stack and say, "And five makes twenty."

Smile, thank them for the purchase and wish them a pleasant day.

Can I Give You the Odd Change? Example 2

Suppose the total sale is twenty-three dollars and eighty-nine cents ($23.89). They've already given you a one hundred dollar bill and you entered it into the register when the customer hands you the four dollars and four pennies.

"I have too many ones," the customer explains, digging around in her change purse. "I don't want more ones."

There's no need to freak out. First, place the four dollars and four pennies on the ledge above the cash drawer.

Subtract the four cents from the total amount they owe. $23.89 less four cents is $23.85.
Take a nickel out of your register and say to yourself, "$23.85 and five cents is $23.90." Pull out a dime and say "that makes $24.00."
They've already given you the four, one dollar bills and the hundred dollar bill ($104.04) which you've also placed in sight on the ledge of your register.
Subtract the four dollars from the new amount due ($24.00 minus $4.00 = $20.00)

The rest is easy. Pull out twenties as you count to yourself. . .twenty, forty, sixty, eighty and one-hundred. You've counted it out into your hand, now count it back to the customer.

"Ma'am, that's $23.89 less four oh four. That would be $23.85, plus five cents is $23.90, plus a dime is $24.00, less the four is $20.00." Place the fifteen cents in their hand and count out the twenties one at a time like so, "twenty dollars, (as you put each twenty down) forty, sixty, eighty and one-hundred."

To Recap

Sales amount = $23.89. The customer gave you $104.04.

Deduct the pennies they paid from the original sale.

$23.89

-0.04

$23.85

Leaves $23.85 due from the customer.

Use the four one-dollar bills for the $3.85 which gives them 15 cents change.

$4.00

-3.85

$0.15

The customer now owes only $20.00. ($100 - $20 = $80.00 change)

The customer gets back $80.15

There was a day when cash was king. Although many people use credit and debit cards today, some people will always carry cash. And remember, like it says on the money, "This note is legal tender for all debts both private and public." So until they outlaw cash, keep your chin up and count out the change. Count your blessings. It could be worse. You could have a job shoveling fish guts.

Delicious Baked Lasagna

2026-07-23T07:25:57.087-05:00

The Secret's in the Sauce

The basis of a good lasagna casserole is the Marinara sauce. It's important to let the sauce simmer long enough to develop a good flavor while finding the proper balance of spices, type of sausage, meat and other ingredients. The sauce can be used for spaghetti, manicotti, ziti, rotini, rigatoni or even on French bread.

If you watched The Godfather, you saw Clemenza cooking spaghetti for twenty guys. His secret ingredient was a little sugar and a splash of wine while it simmered.

Prepare Ahead of Time, Bake Later

Making lasagna at home can take a little time, but the end result is worth the effort. Usually, I make lasagna to serve on Christmas Eve or on the day before Thanksgiving, since that's when most guests visit our house. The casserole can be made ahead of time, refrigerated, and baked on the day it's to be served, making it the ideal meal for a family gathering.

It can also be frozen for later use; however, I would recommend using a metal baking pan rather than a glass pan when freezing the casserole. It's possible to line the pan completely with aluminum foil so that the foil package can be taken out of the pan to conserve freezer space and free up the use of your baking pan.

Marinara Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon onion, minced, fresh or dried
• 4 cans tomato sauce, 16 ounce
• 1 can tomato paste, 12 ounce
• 1 pound ground sirloin, or ground chuck
• 1 pound mild Italian sausage, ground or links cut up
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions for Making the Sauce

Start with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot.
Add the garlic and minced onions and cook until they become transparent.
Add the ground beef and cook until it's brown. Spoon the cooked beef onto a separate dish and drain off any excess grease.
Using the same pan, cook the mild Italian sausage until browned and drain off excess fat.
Return the cooked ground beef to the pan.
Add the four cans of tomato sauce.
Add the tomato paste.
Add one or two teaspoons of granulated sugar along with the remaining spices.
Cover the mixture and simmer over low heat stirring occasionally for one hour or longer.

While this is simmering, prepare the other ingredients that will be layered in a casserole dish.

Ingredients for the Three Cheese Mixture

1/2 pound (8-ounce) whole milk mozzarella or use pre-shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, scrambled
1 (15-ounce) carton of ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley (optional)

Instructions for Making the Cheese Mixture

Stir together the ingredients for the three-cheese mixture while the sauce is simmering.
1. Shred the block mozzarella cheese or use ready-prepared shredded cheese.
2. Scramble two eggs in a medium sized bowl.
3. Add the ricotta cheese.
4. Stir in the Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
5. Add the parsley if desired.
6. Cover the mixture with cellophane wrap and refrigerate it while you cook the lasagna noodles.

. Fill a large pan with water.
2. Bring to a boil and add 1 teaspoon salt.
3. Add the noodles slowly to keep the water boiling.
4. Cook the noodles until tender, following the package directions.
5. To make handling the cooked noodles easier, cook them 3 minutes less than the instructions say.
6. Drain the pan and arrange the noodles on a lightly greased cookie sheet for ease in layering.
If you prefer, you can use ready-to-bake lasagna noodles that don't require boiling before use.

Instructions for Preparing the Casserole

Start by spooning a thin layer of sauce into an oven-proof casserole dish. Make sure there's enough sauce to cover the bottom of the dish.
Place a layer of noodles across the top of the sauce slightly overlapping the edges.
Next, spoon a layer of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Smooth the cheese to evenly cover the noodles.
Repeat from step one by putting sauce on top of the noodles and continue to layer the noodles, cheese, and sauce ending with a layer of sauce.

Instructions for Baking the Casserole

1. Cover the casserole with a layer of aluminum foil with small holes poked in the top to allow steam to escape.
2. Place the casserole on a foil-lined cookie sheet to keep the oven clean in case it spills over.
3. Bake the casserole in a 350 degree (f) oven for around 45 to 55 minutes until it starts to bubble all the way through.
4. Remove the casserole from the oven.
5. After baking, remove the dish from the oven and allow the lasagna to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting to serve. Use a serrated knife and a spatula to dish out individual servings.
This dish can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for cooking later.

Before baking, cover the lasagna tightly with a cellophane wrap and refrigerate overnight. Cooking time is slightly longer if the lasagna has been refrigerated.

Leftovers are great warmed up the next day.

Quick Meals in Less Than 20 Minutes

Making a large batch of sauce takes care of several pasta-based meals. Freeze any remaining sauce in family-sized portions, usually about two cups per container. After the sauce cools, ladle it into the containers, remove the excess air and store them in the freezer until needed.

A homemade meal can be prepared as quickly as you can boil the water and cook any type of pasta you like such as spaghetti, rotini, elbows, or shells. Turn the frozen sauce out into a microwave-safe dish and cover the dish with wax paper.

While the pasta is boiling, microwave the sauce one minute at a time, stirring between times until it reaches the temperature desired. Served with a side vegetable or salad and garlic bread and you have an easy, delicious meal.

Broccoli Ham Quiche - Great for Any Meal

2026-07-05T07:31:49.448-05:00

Making a quiche is simple even for novice bakers. In a matter of minutes, you can put together this hearty meal that turns out great whether you use a ready made pie crust or make one from scratch.

Most people believe that quiche is a French creation but the dish actually originated in Germany. The word quiche (pronounced keesch) comes from the word kuchen which means cake. According to the French Training Site, quiche is "a delicious egg pie with a nice buttery crust."

The beauty of this dish is that you can alter the ingredients to suit your personal tastes and dietary needs. Quiche can be enjoyed as an appetizer or as an entree for a meal. It can be made with different types of cheese using either whole milk, reduced fat milk or cream. Adding meat is optional. They're really delicious when made with cooked shrimp, chopped turkey, leftover chicken, spicy sausage or served plain made with only eggs and cheese.

Ingredients for a Homemade Crust:

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of solid shortening or butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 - 3 Tablespoons of water

Making a pie crust is the first step. A fresh crust has only four minimal ingredients: flour, butter, salt and water.

For a one crust pie combine one cup of sifted flour and one quarter teaspoon salt with one third cup of butter or shortening in a medium sized bowl.

Using two knives in a crisscross fashion cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture looks like cornmeal. Add the cold water a little at a time to form a dough ball.

Refrigerating the dough for a few minutes makes it easier to roll out.

On a floured surface, carefully roll out the dough until it is large enough to cover the bottom and sides of a nine inch pie pan.

A clean, dry, well-floured surface works best.

If the dough starts to stick, sprinkle a little more flour on both the surface and the rolling pin.

Transferring the rolled out dough to a pie pan can be tricky.

Start by rolling up one side and fold it over on itself. If it tries to stick to the surface, run a spatula underneath to free the edge. A little sprinkle of flour helps to loosen the edges.

Move the crust and position it in the ovenproof pie dish and begin to unroll it. Center the dough so that all edges have a bit of an overlap.

Trim off the excess from around the edge with a knife or kitchen shears. Fold under the excess and you're ready to flute the rim of the crust.

The fluted edge of the pie crust edge is formed by using two fingers of one hand and pushing a finger from the other hand between those two fingers, pressing gently to form a ridge between the first two fingers.

One cup of shredded cheese.

Almost all types of cheese will work in a quiche. For this pie, I used a ready-made shredded blend of four kinds: Monterey Jack, cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero natural cheeses.

One cup of milk

This time I was out of milk so I used evaporated milk. You can use half and half or 2% milk or skim if you're counting calories.

Broccoli Florets

I trimmed these really small so they would submerge in the liquid as I didn't pre-cook them.

3 Large eggs - lightly scrambled
1 - 2 cups of cubed ham chunks

You can substitute diced deli ham, leftover baked ham, cooked sausage, shrimp, shredded pork roast, etc. or leave out the meat entirely if you wish. Just add a bit more cheese.

1 tsp. dry mustard (optional) and salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Assembling the Pie:

Arrange the trimmed broccoli florets around with the stems down if possible for an attractive finish.
Distribute the ham chunks over the bottom of the crust
Cover with a layer of cheese.

Scramble the eggs, add the flour and seasonings and mix it all together. Add the cup of milk and pour the mix over the ingredients in the crust.

Taking care not to overfill the dish, pour in the liquid until the bottom edge of the fluting on the crust is reached. Carefully transfer the filled pie crust to a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil.

Place the cookie sheet and pie dish into a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour. Jiggling the cookie sheet will let you know if the center is set and ready to take out of the oven.

Allow the baked quiche to cool for at least ten minutes during which the top will settle down a bit. Cutting too soon will result in the slices being too loose and mushy.

The leftovers can be refrigerated and warmed up for another meal.

Wrapping the outer crust with a strip of aluminum foil keeps the crust from getting burned during the long cooking time. I make a long two-inch wide strip of aluminum foil and wrap it around the edge of the pie crust before filling it.

This pie is ready to slice and serve with your favorite side dish like salad or fruit. It stands alone as a meal for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or late-night snack or can be used in smaller portions as an appetizer.

Here's hoping you'll give this recipe a try. Let me know how you liked your own version of ingredients. Thanks for stopping in to take a look.

Easy Breadsticks from Canned Biscuits

2026-01-07T09:52:00.003-06:00

Winter days call for steamy bowls of hot soup or chili. Top those hearty dishes with breadsticks made from canned biscuits. Easy to do. Goes from the oven to the table in minutes.

Canned biscuits were a staple for a family meal when I was a child. They came packaged in cardboard with a blue wrapper and were economical for a family with three children.

The label peeled off to reveal a solid black line on the inner cardboard. We would draw straws to see who would give it a good whack on the edge of the countertop. The can would pop open and compressed dough would spill from the tube.

We'd separate the little orbs and arrange them on a cookie sheet. Into the oven they'd go, and after a few minutes, we'd have ready-made biscuits to go with our meal. Not as good as from scratch, but much quicker. We saved them for the end of our meal, topped off with syrup or honey.

To make the breadsticks pictured here, roll each raw biscuit between your palms like a rope of clay. Then, twist them slightly and stretch them across the baking sheet. Pressing the ends of the dough to the pan helps to hold them in place while they bake.

These bake in just a few minutes, turning canned biscuits into delicious breadsticks.

The aroma of baking bread is an enticing smell that brings family members or guests into your kitchen. When they spot these fluffy breadsticks rising in the oven, they'll rush to the dinner table. Tell the kids to set the table—these breadsticks will be golden-brown in moments.

What goes better with a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup or tomato soup than a couple of soft, warm breadsticks? With a little help from the refrigerated biscuit makers, you'll have these magic wands of dough stretched out on a tray and ready to pop in the oven in a little time. It really doesn't matter which brand you choose, whether it's the store brand or the most expensive kind, they turn out fine.

Once you've baked these, you'll see how simple it is to make them. And almost like magic, they disappear just as quickly.

Separate the biscuits into individual pieces and roll each piece between your palms until they form an elongated shape.

For variety, sprinkle the raw biscuits with different seasonings before baking. For soup or chili, a light coating of flaked parsley or onion salt makes them tasty. Or brush a bit of melted butter over each and then sprinkle them with sesame seeds.

To make these for breakfast, sprinkle the unbaked elongated shapes with cinnamon and granulated sugar and add a variety of chopped nuts on top. The nuts can be rolled into the dough while they're being shaped.

How to Prepare the Biscuits for Baking

Preheat the oven to the recommended temperature on the package. Peel off the outside wrapper and pop open the can.
Separate the biscuits and shape them into an elongated form by rolling them between your palms.
They can also be rolled out on a lightly floured surface like a pastry board or a countertop.
Secure the ends of the rope by pressing firmly down after placing the dough strips crosswise on a non-greased cookie sheet.
Sprinkle a light dusting of garlic salt or onion salt, then, brush on a light coating of melted butter.
Optional: Top them off with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, Italian seasoning, or parsley flakes.

Use a spatula or kitchen tongs to move the baked breadsticks to a napkin-lined serving basket or bowl. Serve with a prepared vegetable or pasta dish. These go great with homemade chili or spaghetti.

The breadsticks in the video below are another way to prepare fresh breadsticks. Those are made with ready-made self-rising rolls, which have been thawed before they're rolled out and twisted into shape. The chef demonstrates an interesting method of twisting the dough to form pretzel-like shapes with little work. A little more time is needed for this type of dough to rise again after being formed into the desired shape before baking.

Spice up your everyday meals with a little help from the refrigerated biscuits or self-rising rolls in the dairy case. Or if you have the time, make a batch from scratch.

You'll love the home-baked aroma that fills your kitchen every time you make them.

A Small Christmas Miracle

2025-12-24T12:13:00.004-06:00

A few months ago, I looked down at my hand, and in horror, saw that my wedding band was missing a diamond. The band was a gift from my wonderful husband, an upgrade from the tiny diamond band we'd purchased on time payments 25 years earlier.

My heart sank as I reviewed the places I'd been, wondering where the diamond could have fallen out. I knew that my chances of finding it were slim to none. It was just a speck, less than a quarter of a carat, but to me, it represented the continuity of our shared lives together, soon to be 37 years as husband and wife.

I tearfully told my husband, showing him the gap in the band where the diamond was once secured. Of course, he was gracious about it, trying to reassure me that it was no big deal. But to me, it was.

We took the ring to the jewelry store where it was purchased. They had a lifetime guarantee that loose and missing stones would be replaced for the duration, but there was a catch. The patron had to go to the jewelry store every six months to check on the integrity of the settings.

Having owned the ring for 11 years, that would had meant 22 visits to a store across town, about a 40 minute drive from our house out in the country. I hadn't fulfilled that requirement.

Yes, they could fix the ring. The sales associate assured me they could find a diamond of similar quality and their repair would only cost a few hundred dollars. Ouch. We reluctantly left the ring in their expert hands. A few weeks later I picked it up. It looked as good as new.

Months passed. I was in the kitchen yesterday, cleaning under the kitchen trash can which we keep on a step-stool to discourage our over-sized dogs from raiding the trash. Underneath, I saw something sparkle in the grout of the tile floor. The day before, I'd received a Christmas card from an old friend who loves all things that glitter. I dismissed the sparkle as some of that errant glitter from her card.

I picked up the tiny object. I ran to get my jeweler's loupe and examined the sparkling piece of what had looked like debris. It was my missing diamond!

What are the chances that it would ever turn up? It might have fallen out in the grocery store, or while showering or walking the gravel driveway. Maybe while I was pulling weeds. But, to my amazement, I had found the lost diamond.

The repair had already been made and paid for. The feeling of personal loss had diminished.

I had no idea the missing stone would turn up on my kitchen tile floor. I probably swept the floor a jillion times since the stone was lost. Despite having swept, mopped, Swiffer-cleaned dog hair and coffee spills many times over the past few months, right there in plain sight was my missing diamond. A one in a million chance it would ever show up.

It was an amazing Christmas gift I never expected to get. A true Christmas miracle.

Gift Ideas for Seniors and Nursing Home Residents 2

2025-12-17T08:29:00.009-06:00

Finding the perfect gift for a senior or loved one confined to a nursing home can be hard.

Peg served as a caregiver to family members for over a decade. Here are some useful tips and things she learned in the process.

What nursing home residents want more than anything else is a visit from you. Your visit makes them feel special and valued.

If you live far away or your schedule keeps you from visiting, a useful gift is the next best thing.

What do they want? You could ask them, but their answer is usually, "I don't need anything."

In that case, here are some tried and true gift ideas they'll love.

Residents like board games to stimulate their minds and help them remember things.

Dominos, Scrabble, crossword puzzles, coloring books, card games and jigsaw puzzles are popular with seniors.

A wreath or colorful door decoration helps residents find their room in a hallway of doors that look exactly alike.

For mom's 90th birthday, all her children and grandchildren came from around the world to celebrate.

The pictures from that dinner made a great photo book. Everyone's names were printed below their pictures to help with remembering everyone. Photos help ease the loneliness of isolation.

Space in a resident's room is limited. Countertops are often filled with medical equipment, cosmetics, books, and other things, leaving little room for framed photos or other keepsakes.

Using wall space to display photos of loved ones, pennants from favorite teams and other familiar items can help stimulate memories.

When the days become a blur as time passes, residents enjoy having a visible way to help them keep up with the day and date.

This changeable calendar comes with removable wood planks with writing on both sides. There are additional planks for special events like holidays and birthdays.

This could be a self-made project for a student or crafty person to make or it can be purchased online.

Finding suitable clothing can be difficult. When Aunt Louise entered the home, she was wearing pull-on tops with elastic pants. Once she became wheelchair-bound, she couldn't stand up without holding onto the handrail. Pants made life difficult.

We found dresses with a modest neckline that slips on over the head. She likes her dresses to have side pockets. They need to be machine washable and hold up to frequent washings.

A lightweight jacket with a zipper makes a great gift that can be worn year around. This machine washable jacket is a favorite that Aunt Louise wears often. Temperature can be adjusted in a private room, but the common rooms and hallways can be uncomfortably cold for seniors. While everyone else may be wearing shorts, Grandma is usually wearing a jacket.

Drawer space is limited in most facilities. The built-in dresser only had five drawers for clothing and personal items. The nightstand had two small drawers for personal items.

A set of plastic drawers for the bathroom gives extra room for personal wipes, hand towels, toothpaste, denture cups, shampoo and cosmetics.

If you play an instrument or like to sing, the residents will always gather to listen. Songs from their favorite era engage them and encourage participation.

You can also volunteer to read stories to the residents individually or in a group.

Seniors benefit from daily exercise to boost morale, increase muscle mass and improve circulation. This video shows how the residents keep the seniors actively engaged in using their hand and eye coordination as well as their upper bodies.

Here's a clip of Aunt Louise playing balloon volleyball.

Time and distance permitting, it's nice to drop in and share a meal with your senior. Stop by their favorite fast-food place and pick up take-out to enjoy with them in the lunchroom.

A visit during meal time and your company is one of the best investments you can make. For the small price, your presence will let them know they are loved and cherished.

Wishing you the best as you keep your loved ones close.

Italian Cream Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

2025-12-03T07:48:00.000-06:00

Enjoy the rich flavor of pecans and coconut in this moist cake topped with real homemade cream cheese icing. This step by step recipe with photos shows you how to make this yourself.

The smell of burning leaves always reminds me of my pecan-picking days in Georgia and my grandmother, Big Mom. She paid us kids a nickel for every paper grocery bag of pecans we picked off the ground of their grove.

The work tired us out, burning off youthful energy Big Mom called "Rambunctious". And, it helped her gather the crop which she shelled and wrapped up in foil-wrapped portions for gifts.

She also made baked goods, served after dinner at the dining room table. This recipe makes me think of her cakes and the days of the pecan harvest.

The recipe calls for chopped pecans, flaked coconut, 5 eggs, sugar, butter, vegetable shortening, all-purpose flour and baking soda. The coconut and pecans grow more flavorful when the cake sits overnight.

For buttermilk, I substitute regular milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice. Two percent milk works as well and cuts off more calories. Two cups of sugar can be reduced to 1 1/2 cups using sugar substitute.

How to Grease and Flour the Cake Pans

You'll need three eight or nine inch cake pans for this three layer cake.

Use a paper towel to spread about a tablespoon of solid vegetable shortening around the bottom and sides of the cake pan.
Lightly wipe off any excess shortening.
Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of flour into the pan and shake it around to all parts including the sides.
Tap the bottom of the pan to remove any excess flour and set the pans aside while preparing the cake batter.

Cook Time - Oven at 350°

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 30 min

Ready in: 1 hour

Yields: Cake serves 16 slices

Ingredients

5 Fresh eggs, separated
2 cups sugar, granulated
1/2 cup butter, unsalted
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, Crisco
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup regular milk or 2% milk, instead of buttermilk
1 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups flour, All purpose
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecan pieces
1 cups shredded coconut
Substitutions 12 packs of Splenda if desired, to replace half a cup of sugar

Instructions

Separate the eggs, placing the whites into a chilled mixing bowl. Reserve the egg yolks to use later.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
Add 1 TBSP lemon juice to the cup of milk and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cut the butter into pieces and beat with the electric mixer until it's light and fluffy.
Add the Crisco or vegetable shortening and blend together with the creamed butter.
Add the sugar and blend it in thoroughly.
Add the egg yolks a little at a time, beating on medium speed for about a minute between additions.
Sift the flour and baking soda together. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, alternating with the liquid milk mixture.
Using a spatula, fold in the pecan pieces, the coconut and the egg whites until mixed.
Pour into 3 greased and floured cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Only two of the pans fit in my oven without touching one another. So, I baked the first two layers, then baked the third one by itself for 28 minutes. When the cake comes out of the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes.

How to Get the Cake Out of the Pans

Tear off a sheet of waxed paper slightly wider than a dinner plate.
Place the waxed paper on top of one layer of the cake.
Turn the dinner plate upside down and place it on top of the waxed paper.
Holding the sides of the cake pan and plate with pot holders, turn the pan and plate over.
Lightly drop the plate right side up on the counter.
Thump gently on the bottom of the cake pan to loosen the cake.
Remove the pan carefully.
Place another cooling rack upside down on the bottom of the cake that's upside down. We're going to turn this right side up.
Flip the entire stack over (cake rack, cake, waxed paper and plate) like a sandwich to set the cake upright.
Remove the plate and the waxed paper from the top of the cake immediately. Work quickly, to keep the waxed paper from sticking to the cake top.

Repeat this process for the other layers, allowing each to cool upright on a cake rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

1/2 Cup Butter
8 ounce package of Cream Cheese
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Cups of Confectioner's Sugar
1-2 Tbsp. Milk

Cream Cheese Frosting Instructions

Cut 1/2 cup butter (one stick) into tablespoon sized pieces.

Using a hand mixer, cream the butter until it's light and fluffy.

Add one 8 oz. package of Philadelphia cream cheese (softened) and blend together with the butter.

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Add 4 cups of confectioner's sugar a little at a time until the frosting reaches a good consistency for spreading.

If the mixture seems too stiff, add a few drops of milk and blend it in. If it seems too loose, add a little more powdered sugar.

Refrigerate any leftover cake if the temperature is warm indoors. The cake grows more moist on the second and third day.

I like to cut individual slices and place in covered containers for an easy serving to enjoy with a nice bag lunch.

Pros and Cons of Emu Farming

2025-11-15T09:14:00.003-06:00

The business of raising emu wasn't quite what we'd hoped for in our quest for financial independence. We learned some important lessons about emu farming, though.

Getting Started

A couple of our friends were interested in raising ostrich. They invited us to join them at a seminar on raising big birds. After learning the basics about emu farming, we decided to invest in this fast-growing business.

Our house was still under construction out in North Texas. We both worked full-time office jobs. Weekends we tried to make progress on finishing construction on our house. With our limited experience, we added a new adventure, buying some birds and get started on our future.

This was the late nineties. The industry was booming with breeder pairs selling for $40,000 to $50,000 for mated pairs. Birds with a track record of egg production were in high demand with prices rising.

The end market was anticipated as a healthy source of red meat along with eggs, feathers, emu skin products like purses and belts and other uses from the versatile birds. It all sounded quite promising, but there were some drawbacks.

We were not farmers nor had we ever raised livestock. Hoping to learn more, we joined the Emu Association and met other farmers willing to mentor us.

Emu are soft feathered, flightless birds, second largest to the ostrich. Their origins date back to 1696 when spotted in Australia by Dutch merchants.

We visited an emu ranch that had paired breeders laying 11 to 20 eggs per season. We studied tracking methods for egg production, learn about incubators, hatching time, and how to assign bird identification numbers.

With the cost of a breeder pair out of our financial reach, we decided to buy six hatchlings. While we worked on building our pens, the breeders housed our young stock until they were nearly six months old.

How Much Space Does an Emu Require?

Emu require sufficient space to run as they are quite active birds. A minimum of thirty by one hundred-foot (30 x 100') pen is recommended per pair. The fencing needs to be six-feet tall so they can't jump over the top. They are energetic jumpers. They also need shade for their feed pens, around eight foot-square for the food shelter, although, they don't stay inside the shelters at night.

Building the Pens - Farm Work Is 24/7

We bought an auger to drill holes to set the fence posts in the ground around 18 inches deep, filling the base with pebbles, then, leveling the poles and setting them in quick-set concrete. We rented a trench-digger and dug two-hundred feet of water lines from the main line to the new pens to get water to the drinking troughs. Then, we started building the feed shelters. We soon discovered what farmers have known for years; farming is hard work.

Thankfully, we were used to hard work. After working our day jobs, we'd come home and drill holes in the clay-based soil to set fence poles and build the sheds. After that, we brought in truckloads of sandy loam and shoveled the dirt around the pens. Our office-worker muscles grew strong with the effort.

"The largest individuals can reach up to 150 to 190 cm (59 to 75 in) in height. Measured from the bill to the tail, emu range in length from 139 to 164 cm (55 to 65 in), with males averaging 148.5 cm (58.5 in) and females averaging 156.8 cm (61.7 in)."

Little is wasted of the harvested bird with 95% of the end product being put to use.

Emu skin is used in making leather products like boots, belts, wallets, and handbags.
Feathers are used in the automotive paint process for dusting.
The meat is lean and a healthy replacement for red meat, high in iron and protein and low in cholesterol.
Medical uses include parts of the bird-like veins for arterial replacement and corneas for surgical replacement.
Emu oil is used to treat arthritis, burns and stretch marks, eczema, and leg cramps.

Finally, the day arrived when we brought the birds to their new home. One thing became clear almost immediately. They need to eat every day whether it's Christmas or the Fourth of July, whether there's a winter blizzard howling and a layer of ice covers their water troughs or if it's blistering hot.

Every day, without fail they need food in their feed pens, clean water in their troughs, and a watchful eye to make sure they're healthy and safe.

Disaster in the Pens

One day shortly after I got to work, my neighbor called.

"The birds are fighting," he told me. Emus become aggressive during mating season as they compete for a partner. Hicks and Popeye were fighting over Olive Oyl. Once a bird is down, the rest of the birds jump in, kicking and plucking the injured bird. Hicks was badly injured and the neighbor was trying to keep the other birds off him. Without intervention, the birds would continue to attack a downed bird.

I had an hour's drive home over my boss's objections. When I arrived, Hicks was on the ground bleeding with the feathers plucked completely bare on one side of his torso. For the first time, Hicks let me guide him as he slowly made his way to the isolation pen. The vet gave me instructions on how to treat the wound.

That day changed my thoughts on staying in the emu business.

This taxing and constant job began to affect my animal sensibilities as the thought of harvesting the birds became a reality. I had become attached to the birds with their individual personalities and quirks. They had become pets.

The cost of veterinary bills, the rising cost of their food, and the energy we were expending was nothing compared to the ominous idea of the harvesting. Getting fond of the birds and giving them names is not a good thing when they're destined to become food. Raised in a city with supermarkets, we had no true concept of where animal products came from and how they ended up on the grocer's shelf. Dealing with this was just not for us.

The market for breeder pairs was beginning to decline. There were more breeders and a surplus of birds which lowered the price. Potential sales of red meat faltered without a viable marketplace. The price of breeder pairs plummeted to an all-time low.

When we'd finally had enough of the losses, we sold our birds at a fraction of what we originally paid and wrote off our expenses as a lesson in what not to do.

Our experience with emu - on YouTube.

Splash of Colors, The Self-Destruction of Braniff International - Book Review

2025-11-09T09:01:00.004-06:00

John J. Nance, a former Braniff pilot and author of the documentary Splash of Colors, details a compelling story about the failure of a long-standing, multi-billion dollar airline that once held a position as the eighth largest carrier of the time.

Take trip back in time to 1928 when Braniff's first president, Tom Braniff, established this mail carrier. The 5-passenger single-engine prop aircraft flying out of Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Wichita Falls would become a major passenger carrier with international routes and a fleet of jets.

The story reveals the tremendous effects unions have on business with demands that drove higher salaries for pilots, ground crews and in-flight personnel. This, added to the pressure of funds already stretched to the maximum, would eventually seal Braniff International's fate and crash the business into bankruptcy.

Harding Lawrence, President from 1965 through December 31, 1980, with the rapid expansion of the company found himself fraught with under-qualified executives of junior and senior rank." Referred to as "empty suits" he blamed his "calcified, uncommunicative senior officers in operational, sales and service areas". . . whom he believed "were at least two levels above their maximum level of competence." He attempted to infuse "new, more qualified executive management talent" into the company using headhunters and personnel agencies.

The inner workings of corporate America are exemplified in this story which serves as both an example and a warning of what can happen when power and greed take the reins. The story also details the importance of hiring and training qualified corporate management candidates who have the aptitude and skill level required.

At a time when air travel remained glamorous, Braniff excelled at providing extraordinary meals and flight service in the air. Extravagant paint schemes, designer uniforms, two-for one fares, non-profitable routes, overhead and service contracts in foreign countries, interest on collateral loans, and lack of communication, all played a role in the demise of the airline.

The multi-million dollar expansion of its worldwide headquarters added to the burden of debt and steep overhead. Combined with the number of successors in the role of President and CEO with guaranteed hiring packages and golden parachute deals, the soaring cost thwarted any return to profitability.

Nance writes a compelling account of conversations in board rooms, at interviews, and in management circles which lend the intimacy of practically being in the room. He explains the pitfalls of corporate decisions leading to diminished job enthusiasm and details how fierce competition for recognition led to disregard for employee initiative.

He shares insight into the deadly Jericho memorandums that dramatically tainted employee morale and inspired internal uprisings. He addresses the silos and isolated nature of organizational communication along with the size of the airline and its operation which had increased over 30 percent in a few short months as being key to failure.

He explains the effect of the deregulation of the airlines which brought fierce competition for the same routes spreading the passenger count between different carriers. Planes operating below capacity resulted in lowered profitability. During the same time, fuel costs rose exponentially with fares failing to keep up with the costs of operation. The bottom line suffered the red ink of diminishing revenue paired with inflationary costs of operation.

The book details the inner workings of a corporate board of directors and their role in debt restructuring of capital equipment, the expansion of Braniff into new unproven routes, the purchase of multi-million dollar jets, employee demands for competitive salaries and other factors like dirty tricks played by competitors and reservation agencies.

Traveling deep beyond the newspaper headlines into the realms of corporate sabotage, fierce competition with other airlines, dirty tricks and politics, of multi-million dollar deals gone sour, the story takes the reader on a voyage into the minds and workings of the people who both loved and hated the airline. This true story, in four-hundred plus pages travels into oxygen-thin altitudes, shares white knuckle take-offs and landings, and conveys the devastation that thousands of workers felt when learning their jobs and income vanished overnight.

Despite continued efforts of its dedicated employees and workaholic leaders, the company eventually spiraled out of control into a fatal tailspin in May 1982 after multiple attempts at restructuring failed.

The Braniff tradition of loyalty and family camaraderie continues with former employees posting on its many online social groups with memories, photos and experiences they had while working for this peerless and incomparable airline.

About the Author

Vietnam and Desert Storm Veteran, Dallas born John J. Nance is the author of multiple fiction and non-fiction books with 19 on the New York Times best seller's list. He is a professional speaker, licensed attorney, former pilot and a familiar face on ABC World News and Good Morning America.

This first edition copy of the book, published in 1984, was purchased on eBay with hard-back copies also available on Amazon through third-party vendors.

My personal experience as a Braniff employee: My Former Life as a Flight Attendant

The Pub: A Murd*r Mystery © by Peggy Cole Chapter 2

2025-10-28T08:11:00.008-05:00

Joe begins to question why she left a steady job at the bank after her new manager pulls sneaky moves with staff assignments.

Joe sat in the tiny office surrounded in a tangle of adding machine tapes. She jumped when someone banged on the door. It was George, the head chef, clicking a pair of tongs.

"Someone's got a boyfriend. Someone's got a boyfriend," he crooned. One hand was hidden behind his bulk which filled the door frame.

He liked ducking into Joe's air-conditioned office to get out of the steaming heat of the kitchen. Right after she'd been hired, she'd learned to steer clear of him. He had an ugly habit of pinching female staff members with his ever-present tongs. That first week, passing his station at the grill, he'd gotten behind her and picked her up bodily, then, pointed her toward the upper cabinets.

"Grab those napkins for me, would ya'?" Snickering, he peeked under her mini-skirt as he held her up. Joe's face flushed while the kitchen staff looked on, saying nothing.

This time he had a legitimate reason for the interruption. He tipped forward daintily like a ballerina, leaned in and set a flower arrangement on her desk. George had on a sneaky smirk when he reached across and snatched the card out of the bouquet. Joe pulled a ruler from under the mountain of paperwork and smacked his hand hard. He dropped the card and winced.

She opened the envelope and read the note. Immediately she picked up the phone and started dialing when her manager's face appeared behind the chef.

"You, OUT!" Jason pointed at the suddenly somber chef, then pointed to the kitchen. There was an awkward dance as George backed out and Joe's manager barged in. The chef shot Joe one more silly grin as the door slammed in his face.

"So, how about it?" Jason asked with a wink. She hung up the phone and turned her attention to her work. He slid smoothly onto the bench across the table. A cold silence filled the room. Unfazed, he stared at the top of her head and began whistling off key.

Jason had been hired to replace Bob, the manager who had hired Joe. Rumors of embezzlement and cooked books had put Joe under scrutiny during the investigation that followed. Thankfully, her friendship with the owner had saved her job.

"I'm sure you had nothing to do with the missing cash, Joe," the owner told her. His fondness for the bookkeeper was no secret. The investigation dragged on.

Dick liked being seen with pretty women who were willing to chauffeur him around in his Maserati. He told her they were checking out the competition when he invited her to join him for dinner at comparable restaurants along the coast. Joe ended up driving back most evenings when he drank too much.

The silent partner from Chicago wasn't nearly as friendly. In fact, he hadn't made up his mind about the bookkeeper and her part in the financial turmoil that followed Bob's abrupt departure.

Joe was busy ordering the week's liquor supply when he showed up unannounced shortly after Bob left. She looked up to see him standing, briefcase in hand, at the open door.

The last time she'd seen Ervin had been when she interviewed for the job. She was glad he left the day-to-day operational decisions to Dick. According to Ervin, all that was about to change. He could be heard around the restaurant blustering about his plans.

"I'm here to get to the bottom of this. This accounting mess will be resolved. Be assured, heads will roll." Employees tried to steer clear of the not-so-silent partner.

Jason spent nearly two weeks during the investigation, back in Jamaica, closing out his affairs before moving to the States and into the condominium that came with his new position. He returned in time to join the staff's as they celebrated the silent partner's departure for Chicago.

The new food and beverage tracking system Ervin had put in place caused confusion and much grumbling from the staff. On the bookkeeping end, Joe was flooded with indecipherable food tickets as staff resisted the new system.

Once Ervin left, Jason changed things back to the old food and beverage codes. That made him an immediate hero of everyone except Joe. She had to deal with the aftermath of returning to the old system. New hires had been trained one way. Now, they had to learn the old method of handling food orders. Registers failed to balance for weeks.

Despite Joe's misgivings about Jason, he could dish out the charm when he wanted to. It was useful for drawing people to him, happy for a round of drinks, the telling of bawdy jokes and a fond slap on the back. But, it didn't take long for him to alienate most of the female staff with his racy innuendos and off-color remarks that annoyed his bookkeeper.

A chopping noise and the aroma of prime rib cooking came in with him as he stepped inside.

"Joey!" He'd only started calling her that after he discovered the name annoyed her. He smirked at her expression when he made his grand entrance.

The phone rang and she picked it up, eager for any kind of diversion.

"Good morning, The Pub. How may I help you?" She turned away from his stare.

"Hey, baby!" It was a familiar sleepy voice. She shuffled through the piles on her desk and opened a random file.

"Yes, I have that file right here," she paused, flipping through some invoices. "Certainly. I can send you an itemized statement."

The door slammed as Jason stormed out.

"But Baby," the voice said. "Don't you recognize my voice? It's meeee!" The caller drew the word out in a whine.

"Of course I do. 'He' was in here."

"Oh. I get it. Meet me for lunch?"

"Noon in the lobby," she said and hung up.

Jason returned holding a page he'd ripped from the bulletin board. He tossed it on the desk where it landed in front of her. The staff schedule had deep lines through the page where he'd crossed off a few names. Chip, the assistant manager was one of those names.

"What's this?" Joe asked.

"You've been promoted."

"But, what about Chip?"

"Oh, that's your first assignment. You get to tell him he's fired."

"What if I don't want the job?"

He grinned and pointed. "There's the door."

Mrs. Smith's Pie Crust Recipe

2025-10-24T11:28:00.002-05:00

This favorite recipe for 2 pie crusts was taught in my Home Economics class way back when.

Mrs. Smith, my high school home economics teacher, shared a recipe that's come in handy many times over the years. Little did she know that decades later, I'd be posting her tried-and-true recipe for egg pastry for other home cooks to try.

Whether you're an experienced baker or trying this for the first time, you can master this easy, tasty recipe with great results.

Check the price of fresh or frozen pies at the grocery store and it just makes sense to make them yourself. You'll have the satisfaction of saving money and impressing your family with a homemade treat.

Equipment You'll Need:

Large mixing bowl
Sifter (optional)
Two knives and a fork
Dry measuring cups
A Liquid measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Rolling pin
Deep dish pie pan eight or nine inches

Ingredients: (This makes 2 Pie Crusts)

3 cups of All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 cup Crisco solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter, unsalted
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vinegar
1/2 cup of ice water
1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour for dusting the pastry board

Instructions:

Gather your ingredients so you know you have everything you need.
Measure out 3 cups of flour then sift the measured quantity over the mixing bowl. Add the salt and blend the mix together with a whisk.
Add 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening to the flour mixture. Blend the shortening into the flour using two knives in a crosswise fashion.
Cut the butter into smaller pieces and repeat the cutting-in process until the flour mixture looks like cornmeal.
Beat the egg slightly and add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 1/2 cup of ice-cold water.
Pour the egg liquid into the flour mix, blending lightly with a fork, stirring just until the dough holds together in a loose ball.
Divide the dough into two portions. Wrap one half in cellophane and refrigerate if making a one crust pie.
Roll out the other dough ball on a floured surface until it's about 1/4 inch thick and one inch larger than the edge of the pie dish
Transfer the dough to the pie dish using a spatula to fold the edges inward, then lift the dough to the pie dish and carefully unfold

Cutting in the shortening

Cutting the butter into smaller squares first makes it easier to blend into the flour mixture. Continue to use the knives to cut crosswise until the butter is blended and the mixture looks like corn meal. The butter could be put into the freezer until firm and shredded into the mix to make the blending easier.

Slightly beat one egg in a liquid measuring cup. Add one teaspoon of vinegar and the iced water.

Stir this mixture only until a soft ball forms and the flour holds together. Too much mixing can cause the dough to be tough.

Divide the dough in half. While working on the first half, put the other half into cellophane and refrigerate.

Roll each portion out to 1/4 inch to an 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

The second half of the dough may be refrigerated for use in the next 2–3 days. Allow it to come nearly to room temperature before rolling it out after refrigerating.

Moving the pie crust into the pie dish

Fold the dough over onto itself and again. Use a spatula to lift the dough into the pan.

Unfold gently and fit the edges into the shape of the pan.

Follow this YouTube video of me cutting the edges, folding them under and shaping a fluted crust.

Finishing the pie crust

Roll out the dough to about an inch larger than the outside edge of the pie dish.
Use a spatula to fold the dough over on itself. Fold the dough over again before trying to move it.
Transfer the pie crust to the pie dish using the spatula and gently unfold it.
Trim the outside of the crust leaving about 1/2 inch of dough beyond the edge of the dish.
Fold under the excess dough to form a ridge around the outside edge.
To flute the pie crust, use two fingers of one hand and push between the two fingers with your other thumb or index finger. Press gently to form ridges along the entire outer edge (see video above).

Protect the edges from over-browning by using a two inch strip of aluminum foil around the edge. Pour the filling into the crust and bake according to directions for a one-crust pie.

How to make the aluminum foil strip for the crust.

Tear off one long strip of aluminum foil and cut it into three equal strips lengthwise.
Fold the short edges together to join two long pieces, then add a third piece. Seal the seams by folding the edges over a couple of times and crimp the edges to hold the seam.
Wrap the long strip of foil around the outer edge of the prepared pie crust.
Seal the final edge of the foil together around the pie pan after cutting off any excess length of the foil.
Bend the foil to form a protective rim in order to keep the pie crust edges from turning too brown.
Fill with your favorite fruit or mixture and bake according to directions for the type of pie.

This is Aunt Jessie's Chocolate Cream Pie (Recipe on this blog)

Baking a crust for a pudding or cream type pie:

To make a baked crust for pudding type pies, prick the sides and bottom of the crust with a fork, then bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

For pumpkin or custard pies that need to be baked, do not prick the crust. Add the ingredients and bake according to the recipe directions.

Making a pie crust from scratch takes a little bit of patience and some practice, but it really can be fun and rewarding.

Pumpkin Pie From Real Pumpkins

2025-10-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

If you're wanting to use those October porch decorations, try out this recipe for fresh-cooked pumpkin. Here's how to cut them, cook them, and turn them into a pie.

Fall is here turning hot summer days into cool weather perfect for baking. How about baking those pumpkins wasting away on your porch as the temperatures drop?

For the tastiest pies, select a medium-sized sweet and adorable pumpkin. It's better not to use the really huge jack-o'-lanterns.

A four-pound pumpkin is a perfect size for making about 1 1/2 cups of cooked pulp.

For baking: If you prefer to bake the pumpkin, cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and pulp. Cut the halves into quarters. After it's baked, the cooked pulp can be spooned from the skin.
For boiling: If you like the on-the-stove method, continue cutting the quarters into 1-inch cubes.

Baking Method

Use a turkey roasting pan or disposable aluminum pan to bake the quartered pumpkin.
Add a little water to the bottom of the pan.
Cover with a lid or foil.
Bake at 375°F for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until a fork can be easily inserted into the fruit.
Spoon out the cooked pumpkin separating it from the skin.

Boiling Method

Begin by washing the outside skin to remove dirt, debris, and contaminants.
Using a sharp knife, cut around the stem and remove it.
Now, cut the pumpkin in half from the stem to the base.
Use a spoon or other utensil to scrape out the seeds and pulp.
Separate the seeds and soak them in water to remove the pulp.
Use a strainer to drain the seeds and spread them out on paper towels to dry.
Save the stringy pulp for the compost bin.
Cut the halved pumpkin into quarters, and then into smaller sections.
Turn each slice on its side to cut it into smaller pieces.
Slice off the peeling and the remaining pulp from each piece.
Place the cubed fruit into a large stew pot with a lid.
Cover the cubes with water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Cover the pot and cook the cubes on medium heat for 35 to 40 minutes until tender when pierced with a fork.

Cooked pumpkin can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer up to 6 months.

Now that the pumpkin is cooked and cooled, you're ready to begin making pies.

Gather all the ingredients into one area to be sure you have everything you need.
You can always use a prepared refrigerated or frozen crust to make things simpler.
If you decide to make a crust from scratch, you'll need a clean, dry flour-dusted surface to roll it; a rolling pin, a flat elongated bottle (like a wine bottle), or a smooth-surfaced glass to use for flattening the dough.

Prep Time - 1 hour 45 minutes

Cook Time - 50 minutes

Ingredients for the Crust

1 1/4 cups Flour, all-purpose

6 Tablespoons Vegetable shortening (Crisco in the can or sticks)

1/4 teaspoon Salt

4 Tablespoons Cold water

Ingredients for the Filling

1 1/2 cups Cooked Pumpkin

3/4 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ginger

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

2 Eggs

1 can Evaporated Milk (12 oz)

Mix the filling dry ingredients in a small bowl.
Add dry mix to the cooled pumpkin and combine with a hand mixer, potato masher, or an emulsion blender.
Stir in the eggs and evaporated milk to the mixture.

Assembling the Pie

Cut three strips of aluminum foil 2 inches wide. Join the strips together at the short ends to form one long strip. Fold the strip in half lengthwise. Wrap the outer crust with the strip of foil to prevent over-browning of the crust.
Place the foil-wrapped pie crust onto a cookie sheet to catch any spills.
Pour the pumpkin mix into the prepared, unbaked crust.
Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 375°F and continue baking for about 40 to 50 minutes.

Wrap the unbaked crust with the joined strip of aluminum foil pieces, connecting the ends together.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie crust.

Allow the pie to cool for 1 - 2 hours at room temperature before slicing.

YouTube video of me preparing a pie crust.

Old Time Remedy for Upset Stomach

2025-10-07T08:02:00.002-05:00

Things were simpler when I was growing up. Whenever a member of our family had a stomach ache, we depended on a remedy out of our medicine cabinet.

Back then there were fewer choices for medical remedies. If we had an upset stomach or diarrhea, Mom would treat us with an over-the-counter product from the general store.

There are countless products now, claiming to relieve minor indigestion with catchy jingles about heartburn, stomach ache, and diarrhea. But I still turn to the old family favorite when it's needed. Whether it's the carbonation or the actual formula, this product still works for me when I'm feeling queasy.

Our family medicine cabinet held only a few items like aspirin, Vick's VapoRub, Noxema, Mercurochrome and Merthiolate, a child's worst nightmare. For minor burns and insect bites, we had Unguentine or Bactine. But the most frequently used product for minor stomach aches was a brown elixir purchased from the local pharmacist. We would head to the corner store to fetch a refill if our supply ran low.

Mom would send my brother and I to the corner store on our bicycles where we'd park in the bike racks and head to the pharmacy at the back.

We'd waiting patiently at the glass wall while the druggist clanked out a prescription label on an old manual typewriter. The pharmacy was raised above the rest of the store which allowed a glimpse of his white coat when he moved around. Racks of glass bottles and blank labels littered his work counter.

The store had a variety of household items from bread and canned goods to toys and fishing gear. There was also a rack of comic books like Super Man, Donald Duck, Tom and Jerry or Tweedy and Sylvester that sold for ten cents.

The store was the neighborhood hangout with its soda fountain where they served the best hamburgers around. That was where we ate before fast food places made their way to Key West.

We'd sit on the vinyl stools and sip our five-cent Cokes from a real glass while our fifty-cent hamburgers sizzled on a flat grill. Many summer days were spent sitting near orange and grape drink dispensers, basking in the aroma of hot dogs grilling on the rotisserie.

From our place on the stools, we listened for the pharmacist to call our names to fetch the white bag with the precious remedy; a concentrated solution of Coke syrup in a small bottle.

We’d pay the cashier while eyeballing the nickel candy bars and penny bubble gum, then, hop back on our bikes clutching the package like a bag of gold.

Postal services were available and we mailed parcels wrapped in brown paper cut from grocery store bags. Packages had to be tied securely with cotton string. Regular postage stamps were four cents, with air mail stamps costing seven cents. Letters could be dropped off at the mail slot next to the pharmacy.

We kept our antics in the store to a minimum, knowing better than to cause trouble. If our parents got a call from the druggist that would mean big trouble when we got home.

Once we got home with the remedy, Mom would send us to fetch a tablespoon from the silverware drawer. Armed with the bottle of coke syrup, she would climb the stairs to the bedroom of the ailing family member.

If Dad was the one with the stomach ache, we would sneak up the stairs behind her and wait quietly on the landing while she gave him a dose. If one of the children was ill, the rest of us would march boldly behind her into the bedroom of the afflicted. We'd surround the bed and watch as she opened the glass bottle and poured out a measure of the sticky syrup. The patient, sitting in bed, lips puckered, would swallow the brown liquid, leaving us to lick our lips vicariously at the sickeningly sweet taste.

Coca-Cola was originally intended as a patent medicine. Invented by John Pemberton in the late nineteenth century, it became a popular carbonated soft drink. Two of its original ingredients were kola nuts and coca leaves. The Coca-Cola Company, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, produces concentrate of the revised formula, which is sold to licensed bottlers and distributors in over 200 countries throughout the world.

The current formula still remains a trade secret.

Walker Bag and Organizer - Gift for the Mobility Impaired

2025-10-04T08:08:00.001-05:00

Looking for a handmade gift for a friend or beloved senior? If you've used a walker you know how hard it is to carry things around.

This gift makes it easy to carry lightweight items like pens, nail clippers, cough drops, tissues, photos, eyeglasses, or the TV remote.

This project will take a few hours depending on your experience with sewing. Most of the stitches are straight lines and there aren't too many pattern pieces to cut out.

Start by asking your loved one their preferences for flowers, plaids, stripes, solids or animal prints. The fabric store is a good place to get ideas.

What You'll Need:

Simplicity Pattern 2300 - Try to catch a sale at the fabric store. Mine was 99 cents.
A good pair of sewing scissors for cutting through the thicknesses of this polyester-filled broadcloth.
A flat surface and good lighting. Try to set up a dedicated area for sewing that doesn't require everything to be put away after use.
Practically any sewing machine will do. No zig-zag stitching is required.
A good fabric marking pencil helps for marking the spots to be matched up. Or, a number two pencil or eyebrow pencil will work.
A measuring tape helps keep the pattern even on the fabric
Straight pins are essential.
Notions needed are thread, double-fold bias tape, and sew-on Velcro for the straps.

The pattern will tell you how much fabric you'll need. This pattern calls for double-sided, quilted fabric. Be sure to buy enough to match designs if you choose a fabric with stripes or a pattern.

Remember thread, Velcro tape, and double-fold bias tape in a color that matches your fabric. If you find the fabric and pattern on sale you'll save a bundle.

Begin by ironing the pattern pieces flat using a warm setting on the iron to get out the creases and folds in the paper. It really makes things easier.

Determine the pattern pieces that you'll need and put the extras in the envelope. Cut apart pieces that are printed on the same sheet. That helps in laying the pattern on the fabric.

Turning the straps after stitching takes a little patience and a keen eye. There are optional devices to speed this task along like a heavy-duty needle or a strap turner.

For Mom's walker, an extra strap was needed on either side of the center support Instead of just one strap in the center.

After the straps are turned right side out, Velcro is added and the straps are attached to the main body of the bag. Pictured above are the top straps and the side strap that holds the organizer to the leg of the walker.

Notice how the pattern of the fabric is matched to the pattern on the bag bodice.

The most trouble I had was the lack of directions for the side straps. It took a little improvising to cover the raw edges on the strap for the leg of the walker.

Notice along the side seam where the strap extends outward from the main body. The instructions say to encase the raw edges with the bias tape. That was hard since the strap is in the way.

I cut an extra strip of double fold bias tape about two inches long to affix to the unfinished edge left after attaching the strap to the main body of the organizer.

Attaching a short piece of bias tape along the edge of the pocket insert will cover the unfinished edge.

This organizer gets a lot of interest from the residents at the nursing home and I've been asked if I would make one for them.

The cost to make the entire project is around forty dollars depending on the fabric chosen, the notions, and the cost of the pattern. It's a worthy project to bring happiness to the receiver and the giver.

Secrets of Making Boiled Eggs

2025-09-24T09:40:00.003-05:00

Boiling an egg may seem like a simple task but in reality, it takes some basic knowledge for them to come out perfectly every time.

Making a perfectly cooked boiled egg is simple if you follow a few guidelines. The most important thing to remember is to not boil the eggs for too long. They turn tough and rubbery and get a green tinge around the yolk.

Mrs. Smith, my home economics teacher said "Hard-boiled eggs should really be called soft-cooked eggs, because there's no reason to boil them."

The water needs to boil, but once it reaches a boiling point, it's important to remove the pan from the heat. Set the pan aside, cover it with a lid, and set a timer for 10 minutes. That's about it.

Eggs are among the most versatile foods. They're in cakes, pies, salads, sauces, meatloaves, baked goods, pancakes, and sandwiches, as a main dish or a side. One favorite ways to serve them is hard-boiled.

How to:

Start by adding two to three inches of water to a saucepan.
Add the desired number of eggs to the tepid water allowing enough water to cover the eggs completely.
Bring the water to a boil using medium heat. Raising the temperature too quickly will cause the eggs to bounce and crack.
Once the water begins to boil, turn off the heat.
Cover the pan with a lid and set a timer for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, run cool water over the eggs and using a slotted spoon, place them in a bowl with cold water. Add ice to speed the cooling process.
To peel the eggs, tap the large end on a hard surface like the countertop or the sink.
Continue tapping the egg until the shell is cracked all around and on both ends.
Roll the cracked shell between your palms gently and remove the shell, starting with the large end.

To cool the eggs quickly, place the hot eggs into a small bowl and add some water and a few ice cubes. Immediately submerging the eggs in cold water helps separate the membrane from the shell to make peeling them easier.

Lightly tap the cooled egg on a firm surface like the inside edge of the kitchen sink. Once you've cracked the shell all the way around, roll the egg gently between your palms. Begin peeling the egg at the large end.

A warm, soft-cooked egg right out of the shell is delicious with a little salt and pepper. Or leave them in the ice water to get nice and cold, then serve them any way you like.

Easy Deviled Eggs

Start by cutting the boiled eggs in half.
Bend the eggs slightly away from the yolk and pop the cooked center out into a small bowl.
Blend the yolks by mashing them with a fork.
Add salt, pepper, mayonnaise, a dab of mustard, and a tablespoon of pickle relish.
Combine the ingredients well.
Refill the egg cups using two small spoons, one to scoop up a small amount of the mixture and the other one to scoot it off the spoon into the egg white.
Sprinkle with a dash of paprika, if desired.

Blend the ingredients together and refill the shells using two small spoons.

Sprinkle with a dash of paprika and you're ready to serve them on your beautiful vintage deviled egg plate!

Easy Egg Salad

Keep a few boiled eggs in the refrigerator to make into egg salad sandwiches. Just peel them, cut them into small pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add a small amount of mayonnaise and a bit of sweet pickle relish.

Sandwiches made with egg salad on toasted whole wheat or rye make a quick lunch meal. They used to be on the menu at the lunch counter in the dime stores. Paired with a vanilla or chocolate milkshake, it will fill you up.

A Generous Slice of Navy Life in the 1940s, 50s and 60s

2025-09-18T09:59:00.004-05:00

On December 7, 1941, the United States suffered a devastating attack on U.S. Military forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. A wave of patriotism swelled enlistment in the armed forces as young people sought to do their patriotic duty.

The Greatest Generation

February 8, 1942, Byron Moore and two high school classmates, E.C. Powell and Bobby Futch took the bus from Valdosta, Georgia to a military recruiting station in Macon where they enlisted.

At 17 years,10 months old, Byron was underweight according to Navy regulations. At the recruiting station, he filled his pockets with rocks to add a couple of pounds.₂

Shortly after returning home, the trio received their official letters to report for duty. They boarded the Southern Railroad to Portsmouth VA and took the ferry to Norfolk the world's largest Naval Base operating out of the original Jamestown Exposition site.

During the first two weeks of training, the new recruits of Platoon Unit 842 were administered shots, given dental and physical exams had their clothes stenciled and began a rigorous calisthenics program to prepare them for battle.

After Boot Camp, the enlisted men received a three-day leave. Byron traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit his sister, Leila Moore Cartwright, who worked at the Anchor Room in The Annapolis Hotel, a favorite service man's hangout.

As an active duty Apprentice Seaman, he earned $21.00 per month.

He received new orders for Tampa, Florida to serve aboard the Auxiliary Mine Sweeper, the USS Augury when the ship was put into commission after sea trials, making him a plank owner.₁His next assignment as Temporary Prison Chaser Guard included orders for New Orleans with 22 other Military Guards to escort prisoners to Portsmouth NH.

When his new orders assigned him to a ship that had already left port, he hitched a ride on board another ship, a WWI Destroyer heading toward Russia. They traveled to New Jersey to pick up ammunition, then, headed toward Key West and his duty station as “Sound Man.” He completed a five-week course with the last ten days of class practicing their new skills at sea.

As an SoM3c, Sonar Man 3rd class, he earned $78.00 per month. Reenlistment in 1945 for 4 years in the Regular Navy earned him a raise to $119.70 per month.

Family traditions -

Byron's older brother, Harold, enlisted in the Army during World War I. His other older brother, Ervin, also served in the Navy. After a tour of duty overseas, Ervin developed tuberculosis and was not expected to live. After losing a lung to the disease, his brother went on to become a lawyer and later, a judge in Marianna, Florida.

USS Augury AM-149 Minesweeper

Admirable Class Minesweeper, one of the largest and most successful classes of minesweepers ordered by the US Navy during World War II.

They were designed to locate and remove naval mines before the rest of the fleet arrived, thereby ensuring safe passage.

Built: at the Tampa Shipbuilding Company Inc. December 1942
Launched: February 23, 1943 and commissioned March 17 1943.
Displacement: 650 tons
Length: 184' 6"
Beam: 33'
Draft: 9' 9"
Speed: 14.8 knots
Complement: 104 (officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel)
Armament: one 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two twin 40 mm gun mounts, one depth charge thrower (hedgehogs), two depth charge tracks
Propulsion: two 1,710 shp ALCO 539 diesel engines, Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts.

The Augury’s shake-down cruise took them from Tampa to Norfolk VA, afterward, to the Panama Canal, then San Francisco, then to Hawaii. Nearing the Philippines, a new set of orders changed their destination to Kodiak Alaska for convoy duty. Their job was to escort Merchant ships back and forth from Alaska to Attu in the Aleutian Islands. Between escorts they sailed Picket Duty or steaming in a Picket Square traveling north, east, south, then west, patrolling in each direction for an hour.

He was also on the USS Augury for his 21st birthday, and served aboard until its decommissioning in July of 1945.

After two years on the USS Augury, he served on the USS Sierra (AD18), the USS Rich (DD820), NROTC Unit, Duke University (as an instructor), NTS Norfolk, Virginia, Sound School, Key West, Florida, Naval Pre-Flight Training, Natchitoches, Louisiana, Minecraft Training Center, Little Creek, Virginia before reenlisting in the Regular Navy.

Crew of the USS Augury AM 149

Moore is on the 2nd row from the bottom, 4th from the left of the photo.

Wartime Romance

Mid 1945, Moore received orders for Okinawa. Taking a troop transport from Seattle WA to Denver, the young Moore boarded a commercial flight to Dallas on a Braniff PBO Hudson with one pilot and one stewardess.

During his thirty-day leave in Texas, he met the woman who would later become my mother. They were married 9 days later in a private ceremony at the bride's family home in Fort Worth, July 15, 1945. Shortly after the marriage, he was deployed overseas.

Mr. Moore set out on a determined program of schooling and enrolled in every class he could get. After completing a five-week Sound Course, he was selected to take a ten-week Sound Maintenance Course detailing how to repair, tune and maintain sonar equipment.

Later he enrolled in Flight School in Dallas, Texas. While he was learning to fly Piper Cubs and N3N Navy Peril craft at this sixteen-week course, the war was raging overseas. When a surprise navigation test caught the student pilots off guard, he washed out of flight school along with 49 of 60 classmates. Soon afterward, he headed back to the danger zone.

USS Rich DDE-820 Gearing Class Destroyer

https://www.hullnumber.com/DD-820

U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo 19-NN - DD-820 Rich - 137766, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

"The second Rich (DD-820) was laid down on 16 May 1944 by the Consolidated Steel Corp. Orange Tex. launched 5 October 1945 and commissioned on 3 July 1946 Comdr. R. C. Houston in command.

After shakedown in the Caribbean, Rich departed Norfolk in late October for a Mediterranean tour most of which December 1946 to March 1947 was spent on patrol in the Atlantic. Returning to the United States in March she was converted to a specialized antisubmarine ship at the New York Naval Shipyard; and in the fall she resumed operations with the 2d Fleet."

Launched: October 5, 1945
Commissioned: July 3, 1946
Length: 391 feet
Beam: 41 feet
Draft: 18.7 feet
Speed: 34 knots
Moore, Byron O SO1 1946-1947 Plank Owner USS Rich

Officer Candidate School 1954

Byron Moore is at the far right side of the photo.

Commissioned Ensign USN August 1954

Next duty station.

USS John S. McCain (DL-3)

Reclassified in 1951 as a Destroyer Leader, it was the second Mitscher Class Destroyer in the U S Navy.

Photo: USN; Original uploader, ScottyBoy900Q at English Wikipedia.; 2005-10-09 Public Domain

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_John_S._McCain_(DL-3)_underway_in_the_early_1960s.jpg

Class: Mitscher Class Destroyer
Named for: John S. McCain
Complement: 403 Officers and Enlisted
Displacement: 3,675 tons
Length: 493 feet
Beam: 50 feet
Flank Speed: 30 plus knots
Final Disposition: Sold for scrap January 1980

"John S. McCain spent the first year of her commissioned service undergoing sea trials and shakedown training in the Atlantic and Caribbean. One of the new Mitscher class of large and fast destroyer leaders she carried the latest in armament and embodied new ideas in hull design and construction. The ship arrived Norfolk 19 May 1955 to begin service with the Operational Development Force in testing new equipment and tactics. She operated out of Norfolk until 5 November 1956 when she steamed from Hampton Roads bound for the Panama Canal and San Diego. After her arrival 4 December 1956 she spent 5 months on maneuvers in California waters."₃

USS Thrush MSC-204

Redwing Class Motor Minesweeper

Laid down: May 7, 1954 as AMS-204 by the Tampa Marine Co., Tampa, FL
Launched: Jan 5, 1955
Reclassified: as a Coastal Minesweeper MSC-204, Feb 7,1955
Commissioned: USS Thrush (MSC 204), November 8, 1955
Displacement: 320 tons
Length: 144 feet
Beam: 28 feet
Draft: 9 feet
Speed: 13 knots
Complement: 39 Officers and Enlisted
Armament: Two 20 mm Mounts

_{USS Allegheny ATA-179}

_{US Navy photo (http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/38/38179.htm) [Public domain], via Wikimedia}

_{Specifications (As Built)
Displacement 835 t.(lt) 1360 t (fl)
Length 143'
Beam 33' 10"
Draft 13' 2" (limiting)
Speed 12 kts.
Armament
one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount} two single 20mm AA gun mounts

Largest Boom Capacity 5 t.

Complement

Officers 5

Enlisted 40

Propulsion

two GM 12-278A Diesel-electric engines

single Fairbanks Morse Main Reduction Gear

Ship's Service Generators

two 60Kw 120V. D.C.

single propeller, 1,200shp

https://www.hullnumber.com/ATA-179

USS Suribachi, AE 21 Ammunition Carrier

Photo By USN (U.S. Defense imagery photo DN-ST-87-09067 [1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Suribachi Class Ammunition Carrier deployed in the Mediterranean where Lt. Cmdr. Moore served as Chief Executive Officer 1961 - 1963. The ship traveled from Bayonne NJ to Norfolk VA, to Key West to patrol the Atlantic during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Launched: November 1955
Commissioned: November 1956
Displacement: 9,758 tons
Length: 512 feet
Beam: 72 feet
Complement: 20 Officers, 324 Enlisted
Cargo booms to load fully equipped trucks, carried a full war load to outfit an Aircraft Carrier or 3 - 4 Destroyers.
Armament: 4 twin 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts

Set in the center of the 6th Fleet in a 50-mile square, it was surrounded by 3 Carriers, 21 Destroyers, 3 Cruisers, 3 Oilers and a second Ammunition Ship, the Yosemite AD-19.

Lt. Commander Byron Moore's life was a collection of roles played out over eighty-one years: brother; student; instructor; fisherman; mariner; beloved father; husband; carpenter; and devoted Christian. He could at times be stern, rigid, disciplined and aloof, yet, there were times his tender side came through.

He lived the motto, "a place for everything and everything in its place." He drew a penciled outline around each tool on the pegboard at his workbench. We learned not to borrow tools without asking and to return them clean and to their designated place.

He was an avid reader and shared the value of books and the importance of good reading skills. He impressed on his children and others the value of discipline and hard work. He stressed the importance of honesty and loyalty and was an example of kindness and compassion to all living creatures.

Duty Stations and Ships

1942-Mar 1945, USS Augury AM-149, Plank Owner
1945 USS Sierra AD-18 as a Senior Sonarman
1946, USS Rich DD-820, Gearing Class Destroyer, Plank Owner
1949 NROTC at Duke University, Sonar Instructor
1949 Sound School, Key West FL
1949 March - Nav Pre Flight Training, Natchitoches, LA
1949 March - Minecraft Training Center, Little Creek, VA
1950 May - Jan 1951, Fleet Sonar School, Key West, FL, Chief Sonarman
1953 Mar 17, Assigned Secondary NJC 3423 "Qualified Instructor"
1953 June 27 - Mar 1954, USS Wilkinson DL-5 1947, Ensign, Plank Owner
1954 Mar 17- Aug, to Naval Schools Command, Officer Candidate School, Newport, RI
1954 Aug - Graduated and Commissioned ENSIGN, USN 4-Jun-1954
1954, Aug to Aug 1956, USS John S. McCain DL-3
1956, Aug to Mar 1958, USS Thrush MSC-204
1958 Apr to Oct 1959, USS Allegheny ATA-179, as Commanding Officer
1959 Nov to Jun 1961, Fleet Sonar School Instructor
1961 Oct - July 1963 USS Suribachi AE-21 as Chief Executive Officer
1963 July to Aug 1964, Fleet Sonar School, Director of Training
He served separate assignments at the Fleet Sonar School in Key West, FL as Instructor, Assistant Director of Enlisted Training, where he reviewed the training plans of officers who were instructors and later was promoted to Director of Enlisted Training. He worked there until his retirement in 1964.

Commander Moore served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Korea and the beginning of the Vietnam era. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal (3*), American Theater, European Theater, Pacific Theater (2*), Victory Medal, European Occupation, China Service and United Nations medals. He worked his way up the ranks from Apprentice Seaman to retire as a Lieutenant Commander. He was awarded a post-retirement commission to Commander.

_{Notes/Sources:}

The bulk of research came from the information packet from the National Personnel Records Center along with notes taken during Mr. Moore's lifetime.

To begin your own research, see this article, How to Find Military Service Records for your relative who served in the Military.

Plank owner, also called a plank holder, is an individual who was a member of a crew of a US Navy ship or US Coast Guard Cutter when it was put into commission
NCBI, WWII Height-Weight Standards at 67 inches was 140 pounds with a minimum weight of 125.
www.Hullnumber.com
National WWI Museum
USS Rich DDE-820, Plank Owner
NavSource online

My Former Life as a Flight Attendant - Braniff International

2025-09-13T16:33:00.008-05:00

Sometimes one phone can turn your life completely around.

For months, I'd been working the late shift as receptionist in a hair salon and attending school in the morning. My cosmetology training was nearly complete when I decided to take a short vacation. I had a job lined up as a hairstylist once I graduated beauty school and passed the State Bar Exam.

One of my regular beauty school customers found out I was headed to Texas for a few days. She asked me to call her daughter while I was there. Long-distance calls used to be expensive while local calls were free. She gave me her daughter's business card with the phone number. Little did I know that phone call would change my life.

Once I settled in with the family in Texas, I gave the daughter a call. She was happy to hear news about her mother in Florida. We had a nice conversation. She was an executive in Flight Attendant services for a major airline. I mentioned that I'd always wanted to work as a flight attendant.

"Well, we're currently recruiting flight attendants." My heart skipped a beat. "But I'm not allowed to interview you."

"I understand," I told her somewhat disappointed.

"I'll ask someone to give you a call, but I can't promise anything."

I figured that was the end of it when the phone rang at my mom's house.

"This is Flight Attendant staffing," the caller announced. "Are you available for an interview tomorrow?"

Of course, I said yes. My mom and I immediately went shopping for an appropriate outfit to wear. All I had with me were vacation clothes. We had a great day shopping in downtown Fort Worth where she grew up.

The next day, I borrowed their car and headed to the airport. I weaved my way through a twisting maze at the huge airport, located the right building and found a good parking spot. Walking across the asphalt in the summer Texas heat, I could feel my hair and makeup withering.

The Interview

She asked about my work history and the reasons I wanted to be a flight attendant. I'd been a hostess and stand-in bartender at a couple of expensive restaurants and shared that experience. I'd also worked at banks and my cosmetology training was almost finished.

She also asked questions to evaluate my personality and suitability for the job like, "What would make you make a better flight attendant than someone else?"

Despite my nervousness, I thought the interview went okay.

Once I got home, the phone rang again.

"Would you be available tomorrow for a group interview.?" There would be a panel of pilots, senior flight attendants, and training instructors that would interview several applicants at the same time. If we made it to the finals, we'd have individual interviews after the group session. Yes!

There was an advantage to not being the first to answer a question. We learned from the reactions of the panel what they didn't want to hear like, "I want to be a flight attendant because I just love people." They were sick of hearing that.

The challenge was to come up with something original after several others already answered the same question. When the group session finished, I was chosen for an individual interview.

Afterward, I resumed my vacation. That's when the phone rang again.

This call changed all my plans going forward. The friendly voice on the phone said I'd been selected to attend Flight Attendant Training starting in one month. A couple of days later, I flew home to Florida. I could hardly believe this happened, until the official offer letter arrived with the date to report for training. I was still in denial.

Over the next few weeks, I finished beauty school, quit my job at the salon, sold most of my belongings, and packed my car for the trip to Texas. Driving through Florida, my roommate and I stopped in Pensacola to take my State Board Exam for my cosmetology license. She'd come with me to be my hair model for the practical exam and flew back to Tampa after that was over. I continued the twelve-hundred-mile drive to Dallas alone.

I'd wanted to become a flight attendant for years. At twenty-one, I applied with Eastern Airlines. They didn't hire married applicants and I got a letter of rejection.

Once I became single again I applied again. This time, they sent a round-trip ticket to Miami for an interview. It took a couple of weeks before another rejection letter came in the mail.

At twenty-five, I applied with Northwest Orient Airlines and went for an interview in Minneapolis, Minnesota in winter time. There were only thirty positions available and they had 800 applicants. We were rushed through the process and told they would let us know the results. A few weeks later, another rejection letter came.

Training in Dallas at the Royal Coach

During the five-week training course, we lived in The Royal Dunfey's Hotel in Dallas. After breakfast, we were bused to the training facility on Lemon Avenue for classroom training and to practice emergency drills and CPR.

We jumped out of second-story windows onto scorching hot evacuation slides, learned to use fire extinguishers on real fires and fumbled our way through dark airplanes to locate safety equipment. We trained to open exit window hatches. One test required us to open the door of a 747 which was five stories above the ground.

"Again!" the emergency procedures instructor would yell as we practiced pulling the emergency hatch off the mock-up airplane.

"Now toss that hatch on the seat and move those passengers along."

We spent hours practicing airline announcements, reading them from our manuals as required by the FAA. We worked in galley mock-ups learning how to use convection ovens and coffee makers. We served seven-course dinners on real dishes with glassware. We trained for a week on bartending skills learning cocktails and how to serve wine and make Cappuccino.

At night we studied our training manuals and memorized configurations for the fleet of Braniff jets. We formed groups and quizzed each other on airport codes and their abbreviations. We practiced and role-played for hours, but it was nothing like serving onboard a flight with real passengers.

After Graduation

Our travel assignments were based on seniority, the length of time we had with the airline, or within our class, our date of birth. Each month we bid on different flight schedules and those with fifteen years plus with the company got the better schedules like five trips to Hawaii during the month. I longed for that kind of route.

Newbies like us had little seniority and usually flew reserve. That meant nine days off during the month with the rest of the time being on twenty-four-hour call. At a moments notice, scheduling could assign us a trip with a one-hour notice. Usually, we filled in for absent employees or those delayed elsewhere by mechanical difficulties on a previous flight. We had to keep a packed suitcase ready, like an expectant mother.

Despite the unusual hours, the waiting by the phone, the meal service on back-to-back commuter flights, and the rigors of standing for up to fourteen hours at a time, the job was a lot of fun.

I'll always remember those days as some of the best of my life.

Coming of Age in the 1960s

2025-09-04T09:51:00.005-05:00

Key West was the ideal place to grow up in the 60s. It's a small island at the southernmost tip of Florida where the temperature averages 65 to 89 degrees year round.

Saturday mornings started around 5 am for us kids. We'd load the cooler with sodas and food while Dad would hitch our 14 foot boat to the station wagon. Then we'd make the drive to our favorite launch ramp at Sugarloaf or Big Pine Key, sometimes Tavernier.

Photo: Diego Pitt via Unsplash

He'd back the boat down the ramp while we watched the car inch close to the point of no return. Once the boat was afloat, my brother would move the car and trailer and we'd head out for a day of fishing. We'd use shrimp and mullet to catch snapper, grouper and grunts. The fish fry was always a feast with fresh fillets of snapper, hush puppies made with cornmeal and coleslaw.

Back then, we walked to school or rode our bikes. On the way home, we'd keep an eye out for empty soda bottles tossed on the side of the road. Recovered ones jostled in our wire bicycle baskets, clinking out a merry tune as we rode home.

After our homework was done, we'd head outside to scrub the bottles clean using the garden hose and ride to the corner store to cash them in for two cents each. A little work paid for a ten cent comic book or a candy bar. If business was really good, we'd splurge on a Coke from the machine at the back of the store.

I recall our disappointment when they put a canned drink vending machine in front of the store. Our return-bottle business faltered with each purchase. Worse, the aluminum canned drinks were fifteen cents. It was our first encounter with inflation.

Miss Jordan's 4th Grade Elementary School Class

After school on the side street by our house, we played "Four Square" with a plastic bouncing ball. We'd draw four boxes in a larger square on the asphalt and write numbers in each square. Whenever a car came along, we'd holler "CAR!" and move out of the way while they drove through.

At the local A&W, we drank root beer brought to us by car hops on roller skates. They'd hang a tray from the driver's side window and skate around delivering orders wearing metal change-makers on their belts.

There was only one Burger King in the small town, and one Dairy Queen. They served the best soft-serve cones. There was a Royal Castle with their famous Birch Beer in a frosted mug for a nickel.

Families enjoyed dollar-a-carload night at the drive-in movies. Cartoons always played before the main feature. We saw mostly Westerns or a comedy like The Three Stooges.

The Conch Train, took tourists around the city on connected cars behind an engine car with a tour guide announcing all the historical data.

When relatives came to town, our family went to the A & B Lobster House near the docks with the best lobster salad and Key Lime pie in town.

Our school day began with the Pledge of Allegiance with our hands over our hearts. Afterward, we sang, "My Country 'Tis of Thee." Then, the teacher, Mrs. Price, would pick someone to read a short passage from the Bible. Yes, it was a public school and we exercised this religious freedom.

When Cape Canaveral, now Cape Kennedy, had a scheduled launch, our Principal, Mr. Carey, would roll an AV cart into the cafeteria/auditorium for the students to watch it live. Other times, we watched the launch from outside. On a clear day, we could see the trail of the rocket's arc from miles away.

21 Feb 1961 NASA Public Domain

In one of his last appearances in the Florida Keys, President Kennedy, traveling down A1A in his white Lincoln Continental convertible, turned to wave to our group beside the road. Soon after that visit, the announcement came over the school PA that JFK had been shot. Classmates cried and sadness prevailed, before we were dismissed from school early that day.

My Dad drove straight from the Navy Base to pick me up from school. Our family spent the evening in a state of shock watching Chet Huntley and David Brinkley recap the bad news.

We drove to Perrine to be with relatives for Thanksgiving and watched the funeral on their TV.

In 1964, Dad retired from the Navy and our family moved to South Miami and bought a house on Franjo Road. The model home, a 3 bedrooms was featured as a close-out for the subdivision with a sale price of $17,300.00. There was a swimming pool with a cabana and a separate bathroom which my brother, a Junior in High School, moved into. We lived in that house for 5 years.

My first car in high school was a 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible. At lunch time, we'd pile in as many kids that would fit in the car, put the convertible top down and with the radio blaring, we'd cruise to 7-Eleven. An order of French fries cost a quarter and were made to order. Or we'd head to Arby's for hand-sliced roast beef cut on their slicing machine at the counter and a Jamocha shake. chocolate ice cream, milk and a dash of coffee. At Burger King, we'd order a whopper with no onions, just in case of a close encounter.

Senior year, the mixed concert chorus took a train trip to Washington, D.C. from Miami, Florida along with the high school band and parents serving as chaperones. It was a twenty-five-hour ride jostling along in standard cars with no sleeping berths. Not that we did much sleeping on the trip.

We performed the Battle Hymn of the Republic in the Rotunda with its magnificent acoustics and our young A Capella voices. Later, we took a tour bus to the National Archives and saw original documents like the Declaration of Independence.

In Arlington, Virginia we competed in the Cherry Blossom Festival of Performing Concert Choirs. Afterward, we headed home on a much-subdued train ride home.

For our final performance of the year, the Mixed Concert Chorus performed Lerner and Lowe's 1954 musical "Brigadoon" for which we rehearsed endlessly. Tickets were sold to raise money to buy a new recording system for our music room.

That last year of the nineteen sixties, graduation day sneaked upon us far too soon, setting off major changes in our lives and the way things had always been. It was the end of an era and the commencement of a new one: the seventies.

A Land Remembered - Book Review

2025-09-02T08:20:00.000-05:00

A Land Remembered is a fictional story that captures the true spirit of Florida's early settlers.

Award-winning author, Patrick D. Smith brings to life a story of dirt-poor Florida farmers in early pioneer days. Theirs is a tale of determination, hard work, and sacrifice, fraught with peril and danger.

Modern-day Florida is filled with luxury hotels, beach-front resorts, tourists, orange groves, and a collection of residents that usually come from other places. Few realize the raw nature of its existence before the railroad brought commerce to the area.

Rampant with alligators, snakes, marshy swamps, and mosquitoes, this land, in its original state, was home to the Seminole Indians. With razor-sharp saw-grass, devastating hurricanes, and treacherous flooding coupled with sudden crop-killing freezes, early settlers had a full-time job trying to stay alive.

During his research for this novel, Patrick D. Smith ran a trading post to learn about the lives of the native people of Florida. He describes the evolution of the state from its roots as a swamp and prairie to its explosive growth in population and major industry in a fictional story that captures the true spirit of early settlers.

Image from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain]

Most people have little idea of what it was like scratching out an existence living on roots, berries and raccoon stew. In his novel, A Land Remembered, Smith gives the reader plenty to think about.

Hardships after the Civil War included a serious shortage of even the most basic supplies. Groceries like flour, sugar, fabric for clothing, shoes, ammunition for hunting and cookware needed to prepare meals were hard to come by.

He tells of the "Cow Cavalry," a group commissioned by the state's governor to round up stray cattle. Their job was to drive the cows to Georgia to feed the remaining Federal troops. Along the way, they also collected and conscripted male settlers to run the cattle, whether willing or not, to travel through the harsh land with its collection of predators and diseases like malaria and dysentery. Federal troops were known to raid villages, taking "everything they could get their hands on" leaving settlers without their horses, mules and cows with no recourse. Buzzards would collect those who objected.

Confederate deserters, hiding out in the swamps to evade arrest, preyed on the families of isolated settlers, killing and devouring even their work animals.

Native Seminole Indians, that were also hunted and pursued, moved deeper into the swamps of the Everglades to avoid those who wished them harm.

Schooners traveled down the rivers carrying supplies for the local trading posts where settlers would bring animal furs to trade for their basic needs. There, they could occasionally get items they couldn't make or grow like coffee and flour.

Legal tender following the war was limited to Spanish gold doubloons carted around in wagons pulled by oxen. With the peril of extreme storms like hurricanes came the ever-present swamp creatures hungry and waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting.

As early cowhands pushed their herds towards the nearest marketplace, they crossed treacherous prairies and uncleared land filled with quick sand and hordes of mosquitoes. Often those dangers were enhanced by cutthroat cattle rustlers ready to kill for a profit and personal gain.

The story opens with a narrative by the elder Sol MacIvey who is at the end of his life. He has decided to defy his doctor's orders and return to his old home on the prairie of Southern Florida.

His earliest memories come flooding back as he reconnects with his Native American friend, Toby Cypress, who formed a lifetime bond with Sol's father through mutual need and respect. Sol's ancestors struggle to grow crops on their homestead while trying to keep their work oxen safe from deadly creatures that lurk in nearby woods.

They flourished despite the odds by capturing, branding and driving herds of cattle across the state to market.

A Seminole family of Cypress Tiger at their camp near Kendall, Florida in 1916. Photographer: Botanist John Kunkel Small, 1869-1938 - Image Public Domain

The text weaves its way past a series of events through three generations of MacIvey's trying to establish a homestead. The author introduces their hired hand, Frog, whose dedication and respect for the family convinces him to stick around for a lifetime. Others join the small establishment in the scrubs to become an integral part of the family and its endeavors.

A mixture of "Bonanza" with its Ponderosa, and an impoverished post-Civil War “Gone With the Wind” existence, this tale keeps the reader engaged as they grow to care for and understand the characters portrayed.

The story provides insight into the erosion of the hard work ethic that prompted patriarch Tobias MacIvey to leave his roots and seek out a new existence in the developing south as life becomes easier with the passage of time.

Coming out of Georgia in 1858 with a horse-drawn wagon, his wife and their small baby crossed into Florida with "a sack of corn and a sack of sweet potatoes," and the tools to clear the land and build a house.

His forty-acre farm in Georgia's red clay soil had failed. Seeking more nourishing soil and a new start, he sold the land in exchange for the goods to stock the wagon - "a few packets of seeds, a shotgun and a few shells, a frying pan and a cast-iron pot" which would have to serve the family for years to come.

He traded the wagon horses for a pair of oxen they named Tuck and Buck. As part of the trade, they got a guinea cow, a strangely diminutive animal which would provide milk for all of them.

Photo Attribution - University of Washington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Their journey through the wilderness, finding and establishing their first isolated homestead, losing it to disaster, then moving farther south to again, seek out richer soil leads them into a whole new world of experiences and eventual enrichment as their family grows and adds members.

With each generation, existence grows easier with successful crops, acres of producing orange groves and ready-made housing for the offspring that come along. When they found a way to earn bushels of money, they finally had it made.

This story has all the appeal of a grandfather's tale, mixing pioneer adventure with a slice of history told by a seasoned storyteller.

This is a saga that will stay in your mind as a keen reminder of what the frontier held for our ancestors. It tells of hard work, sacrifice and reward that comes, but not without its share of loss and grief.

Patrick D. Smith Talks About the Book in this YouTube video

Crustless Butternut Squash Pie Recipe

2025-08-29T09:09:00.001-05:00

Even if you've never baked a pie in your life this recipe is a great place to start. You can put this pie together in just a few minutes and have it baking in the oven. The best part is that no crust is needed.

You will need a nine-inch deep pie dish, measuring spoons and a few basic ingredients from the pantry to get started.

We just call it Squash Pie.

Ingredients:

2 cups of canned, frozen, or fresh-cooked butternut squash
1 can of evaporated milk (13 oz.)
4 fresh eggs
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 Tablespoon of flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
a dash of salt
1 Tablespoon of vegetable shortening to grease the pie pan

How to make fresh butternut squash.

https://vespertinewriter.blogspot.com/2025/08/how-to-bake-butternut-squash.html

Or, canned squash works for this recipe, too. One 15 ounce can is enough.

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (f)
Grease a 9-inch pie dish with a thin coating of vegetable shortening or non-stick spray.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cut the butter into small pieces and let it soften to room temperature.
Mix the sugar and softened butter together until it's creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg
Mix a tablespoon of flour with the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and blend these into the egg mixture.
Stir in the cooked squash using either canned, frozen (left in the refrigerator overnight to thaw) or 2 cups of cooled, baked squash.
Add the vanilla extract.
Slowly stir in the evaporated milk. The mixture will be watery with loose, floating bits of butter after it is poured into the baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

If you have an electric mixer, it saves time but the pie will come out fine if you use a whisk or a hand beater to mix the ingredients.

Frozen squash works fine as well. Allow the squash to defrost in the box for 24 hours in your refrigerator before adding it to the recipe.

Carefully remove the pie from the oven and cool on a wire rack before serving. The pie starts out looking rather puffy, but as it cools, it settles down to look more like pumpkin pie.

Cut the cooled pie into eight (8) slices and add a dash of whipped cream or Cool Whip topping before serving.

The pie may be served either warm or cold.

Store any leftover pie in the refrigerator and use it within seven days.

Once you've made this easy no-crust pie recipe, you'll want to make it again and again. That spicy aroma of the pie while it bakes will bring family members into the kitchen to see what's cooking.

Come try this nutritious dessert that your kids will love. They won't even know it is a vegetable unless you tell them.

Topped with whipped cream it's delicious. It tastes like spicy custard.

My six-year-old asked me the same question during dinner until it became a ritual.

"Will you be passing out dessert tonight, Mommy?" My answer was always the same.

"Only if you eat your vegetables." He would laugh and shovel in whatever was left on his dinner plate. He loved this nutritious pie and always asked for seconds.

How To Bake Butternut Squash

2025-08-23T09:03:00.003-05:00

When harvest brings in the butternut squash, it's time to fire up the oven and bake this delicious vegetable to use in pies or served as a simple, nutritious side dish.

When the weather cools down and fall is in the air, butternut squash makes an appearance in the produce departments of Texas, the southern states, and other markets like Australia and New Zealand where it's known as butternut pumpkin.

This pumpkin-like fruit was first developed in Stow, Massachusetts, and it's wonderful when used in baking breads and pies or even as a side dish. It's a member of the Cucurbita moschata family.

My family likes butternut squash in a no-crust pie recipe that I've adapted that uses canned, frozen, or fresh-baked butternut squash. Having baked this pie for many years, I never tried it using fresh squash until recently. The difference in texture and taste is amazing.

After years of using the frozen kind of winter squash, I finally embraced my fears of strange and unusual vegetables, picked out a firm, uniform specimen at the produce department, and took it home. Then I began to search for instructions on how to prepare it. Should I peel it? Cube it? What about the seeds?

Inside an old Mirro Ware Cookbook from 1954, I found a recipe for acorn squash, which I adapted and it came out delicious. I was pleased at how easy it was to prepare even on my first attempt.

Here's the Easy Way to Prepare the Squash

1) Line a baking pan (13x9 inches) with aluminum foil. It makes cleanup easier.

2) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3) Wash the squash to remove any debris. Use a cutting board and a sharp knife to carefully cut the stem off the squash.

4) Firmly grasp the squash and cut it in half lengthwise, starting at the bulbous end using a serrated knife. Use care. It's hard to make both sides exactly even as the vegetable is very tough when raw.

5) Just like a cantaloupe or melon, scoop out the seeds using a spoon and set them aside. These can be washed and saved for planting or baked and eaten.

6) Drop the seeds into a small bowl with a little water and the membrane will wash off and drop to the bowl bottom and the seeds will float. Spread them out to dry on a paper towel.

Spray the bottom of the pan with Pam or lightly grease with vegetable shortening.

2 Tablespoons of butter (melted in the microwave for 10 seconds
Brush the cut surfaces of the squash with the butter

Mix the spices together and sprinkle onto the cut side of the squash.

1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Put the brown sugar into the cup of the cut squash.

1 Tablespoon of brown sugar (optional)

Add one cup of water to the pan.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil

Make small cuts in the top for the steam to escape.

Bake at 350 degrees (f) for 45 minutes to an hour, until a fork can easily be inserted into the squash.

Once tender, use a spoon to scoop out each shell and transfer the squash into a serving dish or covered container and refrigerate the cooked squash until needed.

Fresh-cooked squash improves the texture of my butternut squash pie and adds to its holding power in the refrigerator.

Here's a recipe for crustless butternut squash pie.

https://vespertinewriter.blogspot.com/2025/08/crustless-butternut-squash-pie-recipe.html

It's delicious topped with whipped cream or Cool Whip. Even Kids will love it.

Memories from the Fifties

2025-08-16T11:29:00.002-05:00

This is me when we lived in Goldsborough Housing in Bayonne New Jersey. Yes, we three kids walked to and from school in the snow, uphill, both ways.

This was our brand new 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88, black with lipstick red interior. My dad was big on buying new cars even though we lived in the projects. Before we left town, he traded it in on a 1959 Rambler Station Wagon, a more practical choice for a family of five.

Most of our neighbors were Navy personnel and their dependents. Dad was stationed at the Brooklyn Naval Yard on the USS Allegheny ATA 179. We often took Sunday dinner aboard the ship served to us in the Captain's quarters. Dad was the XO or Chief Executive Officer aboard the Auxiliary Fleet Tug. I remember he would sometimes bring home a member of the crew to join us for Sunday dinner when we ate at home. Other times, we'd visit the Museum of Natural History and spend hours learning. It was free admission, which was a plus.

We went to church on Manhattan Island where Pat Boone was the song director and his wife was my brother and sister's Sunday School teacher.

Even though I was only 6, 7 and 8 years old when we lived there, I hold these memories close to my heart.

Like when we started at a new school after living in four states during my first year. They tried to set us all back a year because we came in from schools in the south, like Key West, Florida, Valdosta, GA, and Charleston, South Carolina.

Dad donned his Naval Officer's Dress Whites and made a trip to the Principal's office to protest. They relented and put us on probation until we could prove that we could keep up with the work. My first grade teacher there was the sister of my second grade teacher, Mrs. Cassell. She was the absolute best. I wish I could go back and thank her for her kindness and acceptance of me.

There was a little candy store right across from Horace Mann Elementary where we spent our allowance on Red Hots, licorice or salted pumpkin seeds. They also had a good selection of orange wax lips and vampire teeth. My mother sometimes came and took me to lunch at a nearby diner where we ate hamburgers. There was no cafeteria at the school so mostly, we carried our lunch in our tin lunchboxes with a Thermos of milk.

My dog Trixie used to know what time we were expected home from school. When it was time, she would sit on the window ledge and watch for us to walk up the sidewalk.

The project bully lived in the apartment above us. There was a snowball throwing incident with Bruce at the intersection where the school grounds began. We retaliated by lobbing some snowballs back at him. All of us were taken to the Principal's office where we were given detention.

Dad was furious that we didn't show up at home at the expected time. He later told us he was proud that we defended ourselves. We were released from custody under his supervision.

There were lots of good times there: Trick or Treating in the housing complex; having a snow day when a six foot snow drift blocked our building; practicing air raid drills walking two-by-two to a shelter in the school basement. Ah, good times.

And when Dad got new orders, we packed up our station wagon and waved goodbye to our belongings in the moving van, and drove the 1426 miles back to Key West for another tour of duty.

We lived in Navy housing there, too, a place called Sigsbee Park. And when we started school at Sigsbee Elementary, we were already ahead of the game having learned cursive writing, the times tables, and how to memorize passages like Psalm 100.

Then, we moved again, locally this time, into a two-story house on Flagler Avenue which became our family's ongoing project as a fixer upper. For 18 months, Dad was stationed in the Mediterranean and we didn't see him during that time. When he returned, we remodeled the upstairs bathroom, repainted the living room (Mom had us paint it Flamingo Pink during his absence), and built a 6 foot cement block wall around the back yard.

From our frequent moves, we learned how to adapt to change, how to make new friends and how to say goodbye to people we vowed to stay in contact with. Time passed and those connections drifted away like sand on a beach but their memories linger on.

The September Song - These Precious Days

2025-08-13T14:03:00.004-05:00

It seems as if 1983 was just the other day. But it's been 42 years. That seems impossible.

In 1983, I was living on a 300-acre horse ranch, working during the day as secretary to the President of three companies.

My small cottage was located nearest the main road on the long and winding gravel driveway. Delivery people stopped to inquire if my boss, at the big house, was in and accepting visitors. The hand-me-down furniture in the cottage was huge, having come from the house on the hill after they remodeled. The king-size bed took up nearly all the floor space in the tiny bedroom. But the little house was comfortable and just the right size for me.

There were horses in the pasture behind the cottage and I witnessed the early morning birth of a foal, my first such experience. The horses would come right up to the fence hoping for a handful of the greener grass from my side or a fresh carrot with green leaves.

It was quiet, eerily silent at night with only the sound of owls and crickets singing in the dark. Away from the city, the stars seemed brighter, the sky clearer, the air fresher.

We had an office in town. From the third-floor window I could watch the busy traffic on LBJ Freeway aka 635. I'd show up at eight before the family employees who came in around ten. That gave me a couple of hours of peace and quiet in the elegant surroundings.

I sometimes miss driving into town at the rush-hour and finding a good parking place under a shade tree on those blistering Texas summer days.

After I left that job, they relocated the business to a busier, even taller building right off the High 5 intersection on Central Expressway, a nightmare to navigate. The building has changed hands many times since then, each proclaiming their corporate names high at the top of the black glass structure.

So much water under the bridge since those days. There've been many career changes. A college degree finally completed. Holding a corporate management role in a multi-billion dollar global company. Now, retirement. Ah, sweet retirement.

The memories of the past have had time to soften and mellow and the bad times seem less harsh with time. I'm content, now, to live my slower-paced, homebody life at home with my wonderful husband and precious dogs.

The September Song - Ella Fitzgerald

I don't miss those days as much as I miss the energy and productivity that goes with being young. With each passing birthday, I see less time ahead than behind. And I'm grateful for the things I experienced along the way to getting old.