Pictures from the Past

Mid-May of 2007 was the last time we stopped in Riverton at Dwight and Velna's house. We had been in Orem, for Ron to attend the Woodturner's Seminars at BYU, and Louise had come down to Ann and Paul's to spend some time with us. This was a precursor to our year from purgatory - both of us having our individual challenges. And we haven't been back to Riverton or Orem since them. Have to reform! In the meantime, these pictures were in the internal memory of my camera, not on a memory stick. To my frustration, I couldn't figure out how to retrieve them without reconnection the USB camera port....Finally, after almost memorizing the inscrutable instructions that go with the Sony camera, I was able to move the pictures to a memory stick. In fact, I did it so well, that I managed to put each picture on that stick 8 times each - overkill, for sure. Anyway, I was glad to retrieve these three special pictures to add to my family album.

Z is for Zucchini

This is all we have left after our give-away yesterday. Yes, we still can find people who don't have any. But, if they get to the possible behemoth size, you can do one of two things with them: (1) decorate them and enter them into the contest at the Franklin County Fair, and/or (2) chop them up and add them to the compost pile.
Found this recipe, and think it's pretty good:
Zucchini Patties ( found on the Internet, attributed to a Sherry McCarty of Albuquerque, NM)
Ingredients:
1 cup baking mix (Bisquick)
1/2 shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:
1. Combine Bisquick, cheese, salt, eggs, zucchini, and onion in a mixing bowl. Blend well.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet (I used olive oil)
3. Spoon heaping tablespoons of zucchini mixture onto melted butter Fry for 3 to 5 minutes per side, until golden brown. Place browned patties on a paper towel. Add more butter (olive oil) to the skillet when necessary for additional batches. Serves 5 to 6.
This recipe first appeared in American Profile Magazine, and came from a website called "Relish"
You might include diced red peppers, or crumbled cooked sausage or hamburger - or use a sharp cheddar.

What to do with a bucketful of Zucchini

Ok, at the risk of changing the mood of the blog for a few days, I thought it might be fun to find out what everyone is doing with produce from the garden. Has anyone tried dilly beans (made with string beans)? Yummy and so easy to do!
On the other hand there is the "Z" (zucchini for those non-gardeners). My neighbor brought over a few pieces of the following "z" coffee cake and I was left wanting more. Don't know if it was because of the frosting or what, but I thought I would share the recipe because it is quick and easy, and I had never seen this recipe before (that I can remember).
2 cups grated zucchini (or a little more - whatever!)
1/2 cup oil
Mix these together and set aside.
Mix together the following:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar (could this be reduced - only an experiment will tell you)
1 1/4 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
Add dry ingredients to zucchini mixture. At first it will be kind of dry, but the consistency improves as you stir.
Add 2 tsp vanilla and nuts, if you like them.
Pour in pan (greased? or ungreased? Hmmm, the sharer of the recipe didn't include that little tidbit). Bake at 375 for app 22 minutes.
Frost with Duncan Hines Creamy Homestyle coconut frosting - see, I told you there was a reason I really liked this little cake.

The Beaded Purse - Early Style

This little beaded purse used to live in Mother's cedar chest with the other treasures of the past, including Mother's flapper dresses and the elegant green dress with the hobtnail-type trim. Judy remembers it as being our grandmother Louise (Mach-Krajicek)'s - Perhaps Louise will remember its' origin? Somehow I associate it with Aunt Rose (Kray) Allgeier, but my memory about these things may be faulty, too. Anyone who knows and remembers, please let us know.

Ross Leaves For Afghanistan

On Tues, August 18, Ross reports to Everett, WA and thus begins his one year recall assignment. Afghanistan will be his home where he will be directing a medical team. As the Petersen clan gathered to bid Ross a safe return, he reminded us that he is a very good shot.

A more somber moment with his much loved beagle.

Our families have indeed gone north, south, east and west.........they leave one shore with the sure knowledge that another shore awaits them.

TURTLE HEADS

For Judy who has every plant on earth, but no turtle heads.

"Home in the Valley"

For those siblings who purchased the book on Powell's first 100 years, let it be known that I am in the picture of the band on page 117. I'm the only feminine French horn player, and you can see me if you look straight up from the majorette on the far right. Just in case you wanted to know. ;-)

Relics of the Past

Sewing clothes for children, darning socks, and mending everyone's clothes was an ongoing occupation in our house as we were growing up. By the time we were in Junior High School, Mother was teaching me how to sew with the treadle sewing machine - admittedly I was very proud of my handiwork. We ordered fabric, thread, etc. from Montgomery Wards, or Sears Roebuck. I have several old "Monkey Ward" spools of thread in my stash. The old green metal box, with paint almost gone from it, was used to hold the straight pins - thin pins with a tiny head poked in the red tomato pincushion that were so easily to lose. After a day of sewing, we had to scour the floor for any strays, both because they were needed, and because Mother didn't want anyone to step on them. I remember once when we were older and had our own families, Judy called me from her home in Washington to me that she felt liberated because she had just swept the floor and hadn't bothered to sort out the straight pins. There is a moral there somewhere, but I'm not up to speed today, so you'll just have to bear with the anecdote. The blob of old beeswax in front dates way back. When you darned socks or did any other hand mending, you pulled your thread through the beeswax to make it stronger and less apt to tangle. I didn't know how to darn the holes in toes and heels until I came home from my first quarter of college. There were some holey socks, and Mother "made" me sit down and taught me how to darn them. Sad to say, I don't do that any more, but I do have the beeswax. Someday, when I'm gone, my kids will look at that blob and wonder (1) what is it? and (2) why did I bother to save it.

I went back to live in the white house with blue trim and roof from the summer of 1971 to the summer of 1973. During that time, all of the old glass doorknobs began to fail from wear, so Burchell replaced them with new ones - not so pretty, for sure. I asked for the old knobs, and gave each one to my siblings - do you all still have yours? Just wondering.

Penrose Church

Dwight is feeling grumpy, we all are busy with stuff, but when I ran across these photos, which are very poor in quality, I thought perhaps you might enjoy seeing them. If I remember correctly, the film these photos was on got wet (or something), but Mother felt the recording of the dismantling of the Penrose Church should be preserved. So, through the ripples in the film, see if you can imagine where Dad and Uncle Norman took out tubs and tubs of honey comb. Even though the front steps are hard to pick out, I remember spending hours on them. And I suspect we all wish we had the tin ceiling tiles. Wonder if we could find them in the dump piles across the river?