Last of the Summer Harvest

Sunday couldn’t have been lovelier.
Low clouds and chilly.
Perfect for action in the garden.

Align the eroded shape of the raised beds with spade and fork. Freshen the the paths and perimeters. To the compost with the browned sunflower stalks that trellised the cucumber vines and the remains of the summer squash. Harvest the red cabbage (for that touch of German in us) and clean up around the winter roots that are yet to feed us. Plant garlic, pull carrots, and pick spinach. A new crop of sweet pea buds are setting to bloom; a nosegay for Thanksgiving, possibly. Brussel sprouts are coming on. Slowly, slowly, the winter romaine leisurely continues to mature.
How satisfying it is to come in exhausted, to warm by the stove; extricate mud and moisture, rest and reflect and dine on the Last of the Summer Harvest.

Chocolate Chiffon Pie

This recipe is from the 1965 Better Homes ‘New’ cookbook.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
¼ cup cold water
2-1 ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
½ cup water
3 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sugar
3- beaten egg whites
1- 9 inch baked pie crust

Soften the gelatin in ¼ cup water. Combine chocolate and ½ cup water; stir over low heat until blended. Remove from heat; add gelatin, stir till dissolved. Beat egg yolks with ½ cup sugar till light; then add the chocolate, salt, and vanilla. Cool at room temperature. Gradually beat ½ cup sugar into egg whites; fold into chocolate mixture. Pour into cooled pastry shell. Chill till firm. Serve garnished with whipped cream and mint.

Cracker cookies

My auntie Laura introduced our family to this cookie and it’s delicious!

First, bring to a boil, ½ cup of butter and ½ cup of brown sugar with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix it with a whisk. Put one cellophane sleeve of Waverly crackers on a cookie sheet. Drizzle the caramel mixture over the crackers. Take a spatula and spread the caramel all over the crackers and don’t miss a spot! Sprinkle almond slices all over.

Put them in the oven at 350 for about 12 min. We turned the pan after 8 minutes and left them in 4 minutes longer. Cool them on parchment or wax paper. I put this batch in the freezer.

The nice thing about these cookies is that they don’t have many ingredients and they didn’t take long to make.

Mr. Webster...What Do You Say?

Mike “Bible studys” with an old guy, somewhere in his eighties. He is a good man; Christ-follower and minister of the gospel.
Last Tuesday, the morning ritual ended pondering the question of what sin really was. The above mentioned fellow found himself puzzled on the subject and remarked as he left the building, “I’m going to have to go home and see what Webster says about this.”

“Hmm”, says Mike to himself, “Webster?! Would n’t it be more appropriate to find what God says about sin?”

And then which publication do you use, asks wife (that's me)? The original '1828' is known to have the most Biblical references of any other edition. It is perhaps, better known that the latest modern volumes have little in common with the original text. Would /sin/ look the same for the godly Noah Webster as it does for the contemporary publishing house editor with a deadline to meet (and cocktails at five)?

And yet, Webster himself considered "education is useless without the Bible". Right! Thanks Mr. Webster for sending me back to God's Word.