The antique hand pump

The hand pump was a fixture on the large back porch of the big farmhouse built in 1869. It was the house where my mother was raised, and where I started going in 1965. My grandparents, John R. and Janice Day Watson, lived there for some 55 years. Before that my grandfather's parents, Garfield and Ellen Barker Watson, lived there.

The last time I was at the farm was yesterday, to pick up the hand pump that I won in the Watson Auction.

The Watsons are my kinfolk. My mother, Sandra Ellen, was a Watson before she married my father, Fred McDonald. Her brother, David, and his wife, Kathy, and their two children now own all of the Watson farm. My late aunt and uncle, David and Peggy Ruppel, and their children used to also live on the farm.

I paid $121 for the hand pump. Why? Because it means something to me. It's a part of my memories of the farm. I haven't been in the farmhouse since 2018, after my grandmother died, to collect a few things. After that the house was gutted and renovated. 

The back porch was removed. The hand pump was saved, I was informed when I asked about it.

Last week I saw it in the online Watson Auction. 

I never resided in the farmhouse but for 50 years - until the middle of 2015 when grandmother was sent to a nursing home -  I was a reoccurring visitor. 

After my mother died in 1968, my grandparents wanted me to live with them. But my father did what he thought was best for himself and me and he placed me with his parents, Fred and Ruth DeVol McDonald, in Caldwell while he lived and worked in Columbus. 

Dad made certain that I saw my mother's family. 

Dad remarried and started a new family but he made sure I had a relationship with my mother's family. And I did.

Over the years I came to love to go to the farm and I made memories there to last a lifetime. 

Some of the memories I have are in photographs taken by others and some I have taken myself. 

In July 2012 grandmother and I visited on the back porch and before I could snap a picture of her my rechargeable camera battery was exhausted. Earlier in the day I captured the empty rocking chair, hand pump, cat and the view. 

I had this photograph made into a canvas that hangs in my house. This image invokes a strong memory of the farm, porch, farmhouse, grandmother, cats and LOVE.

See grandmother, in her nightgown, feeding the cats a day after her 87th birthday in 2013. There's the hand pump.

The hand pump is on the porch, circa late 1940s, where grandmother and her sister-in-law Dorothy who married my grandfather's brother Harry, pose. They have picked strawberries and are in front of the porch of farmhouse where their in-law's Garfield and Ellen Watson reside. Grandmother and Grandfather later moved into the farmhouse.

I'm sure my love of cats started at the farm. They seem to be in a lot of photographs, especially when I was little. 

Today is National Cat Day!

As far as the hand pump, maybe it will be come a garden water feature at my home. Stay tuned.

Grandma's flower pot now holds my petunias (or so I thought)

1970s

 

2017

The other day I posted these two photographs, intending to create a simple blog about this flower pot.

To make a long story short, I was studying the photographs after I posted this when it occurred to me that this is NOT the same pot.

 

All of these years I have believed the pot that holds the petunias was the same pot that sat on the flower bed ledge of my late grandparents' house at 1028 Belford Street in Caldwell, Ohio.

I'm sad about this.

 

But it doesn't mean the pot on the bottom is not also from my grandparents house. I just can't remember where it came from.

 

My pot is a beauty.  It's old but in great condition. I love the design and the colors.

 

The pot on the top had a tray too, it appears.

Those are oranges. My grandmother's sister lived in Florida and I think they brought home the orange tree.

I don't remember eating any of the fruit.

 

I just remember the pot.

 

V-E Day fell on GI Fred McDonald's 34th birthday

By Matthew O. McDonald

　

On Labor Day of 1943 Fred McDonald's draft number had finally come up. Born May 8, 1911, at the age of 32 Fred left Caldwell, a small farming community in southeastern Ohio. He had left behind his 23-year-old wife of three years who had just recently became pregnant.

His first stop in route to basic training was Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio then Camp Atterbury in Indiana and finally Camp VanHuston, Mississippi for boot camp. Camp VanHuston was very swampy and the men sent here were trained for battle in the swampy South Pacific. Here in basic, McDonald was trained in the 63rd Infantry as a machine gunner and cannoner (ammunition handler). However, McDonald liked to talk to the cook of the division about cooking so when the cook's age caused him to retire, McDonald ended up with the old man's job. His job consisted of cooking lunch, dinner, and breakfast the following day and then getting a full day off. The 63rd was considered the full division with 1,500 members and its own artillery.

Fred McDonald during World War II

Before the 63rd was sent overseas it was Christmas so the soldiers had Christmas dinner and then were sent to Camp Shanks in New York. While stationed here many men weer allowed to go to Times Square to see the ball drop on New Year's Eve. Shortly after on January 5th the soldiers were briefed and loaded into ships. Although these troops were trained for the South Pacific, they were sent to the war in Europe. After landing in southern France the men traveled up the middle of France to Alsace and Lorraine. They finally engaged in battle while crossing the Rhine into Germany. The 63rd was in connection with the 5th Army, a support group which was in the same outfit as General Patton.

From January to April of 1945 they were in the lines (on duty, in battle) just outside of Munich, Germany. On May 7, 1945 they were relieved at their Munich position, however, the next day the war in Europe had ended. Ironically, V-E fell on Fred McDonald's birthday.

They remained outside of Munich until things became organized. They were keeping patrol duty with the military police. Around September of November of 1945, the 63rd Infantry was split up into carrier divisions destined for home. However, the troops who had not accumulated enough points were transferred into other outfits. Fred McDonald did not have enough points and was transferred to the 84th stationed near Castle Germany. On December 6th, 1945 Fred was drove into Austria and from there he was connected with the 83rd Division. Here he had camped with an outfit called the mechanized cavalry (motorized guns and tanks) which was on patrol duty in Austria close to the Italian border.

This outfit left from here and traveled on the Autobahn for two and a half days to another place in Austria. While on the Autobahn they noticed the Germans had dug up the median and replaced it with green cement. These were used as runways for the Luftwaffe. Planes high above unknowing of the runways assumed it was only a median. The Luftwaffe parked their planes in dense pine forests on the runway/median.

Christmas 1945 rolled around and by that time the cooks and mess sergeant had saved up enough milk and sugar to send it to Stires Austria for ice cream to be made. The troops, stationed in an overtaken hotel, had invited 100 orphans and some sisters from a local nunnery for Christmas dinner. The biggest soldier there dressed up as Santa Claus for the orphans. The orphans then received dinner and ice cream.

The last meal Fred McDonald cooked during the war was spaghetti with meat sauce. The meat sauce was made from wild deer that some soldiers had hunted earlier. A man who worked in the message center was getting seconds and he informed Fred that he was going home around New Year's. Before the man got out of the kitchen a sergeant came in and said, "Mac, you're headed for home," and told him what he needed to turn in. Fred replied, "But I don't have enough points." The sergeant replied, "Well the Red Cross has sent for you." Then Fred started slinging in his returns. Apparently Fred's wife had given birth and the doctor told her dad to get the Red Cross to bring Fred home.

From Austria he went on train to Munich, Germany. While at an overtaken airport, he and about a dozen others tried to get an emergency furlow (needed at home). The men were granted the emergency furlow. While on the plane at Munich they were informed that a cold front was moving in and that they would not be able to leave. They were sent to Leharve, France on a slow moving train. From Leharve they rode on cattle trucks in the cold, to the coast. From the coast they loaded on victory boats and Fred McDonald rode upon the Frederick Victory. It took 15 days to reach Staten Island, New York. Here they were rushed through their complementary steak dinner and given their clean change of clothes. They were sent on a train from New Brunswick, New Jersey to Indiana. While in Indiana some of the troops pitched in for a bus back to Atterbury. While they were there they were debriefed and received medals. Many of the men, sick of waiting, walked to the Red Cross to get help in getting back home. While there Fred bumped into a man from his hometown who worked at the Red Cross. This man helped Fred "to get the hell home." Fred arrived in Cambridge, Ohio (20 miles north of Caldwell) and saw his six-month-old son "Bud," Fred McDonald II, for the first time.

　

My brother Matthew wrote this story about our grandfather Fred McDonald for a freshman history class (interview piece) at the University of Cincinnati in 1997-98. Grandpa died on Feb. 21, 2000. This is a special tribute to his memory. He was the best grandpa ever! V-E Day is celebrated in America and Britain. May 8, 1945 was the day Hitler killed himself and Nazi Germany declared an end to the war. People called the Victory in Europe Day for it was a celebration for their victory.

　

Valentine Cake for Mother's Day, and Pumpkin Ice Cream for October

VINTAGE FAMILY FIXIN'S

(This column was originally published on Sunday, May 4, 2014, in the newspaper where I was employed for 25 years. I lost my job a few weeks later. It has been a life change for me. I am so very blessed to be able to be a stay at home mother after all of these years. However, the reality is that it is true what the doctors say, that the loss of a job can be compared to a death, divorce, etc. It ranks right up there. Let me tell you. I had a pretty good summer easing into sleeping in late and staying up later, and of course vacation was a blast. But truth be told I have struggled with my identity since my children have gone back to school. I haven't decided what I am going to do but I am working toward finding my way to be productive and happy without my newspaper job and also dealing with the loss of friends. One of the ways is writing this blog, which I have been ignoring. I believe my mother would be just as proud of me today as she was of me six months ago, when I shared my story about her. As a side note it should be mentioned my mother died on this day - October 20 - in the year 1968.)

Since I won't be writing next week I want to celebrate Mother's Day by sharing a story about my late mother, Sandra Ellen Watson McDonald, and two of her recipes.

My mother died at the age of 24, just two months shy of my third birthday, a victim of leukemia.

I do not remember my mother but many in the area do. My grandmother, 88, certainly remembers her, and my father, her boyfriend and then husband, remembers her well.

She had many friends, now in their late 60s, some with whom I've become acquainted that knew her.

For years I've wondered about my mother. Seeking something more.

And a year ago on Valentine's Day I finally met her.

"Spent a few hours with my grandmother this afternoon, and found in the attic a scrapbook belonging to my late mother of her school days. I broke down when I came across the photograph of her class touring The Daily Jeffersonian and comments about that day in her handwriting. Awesome discovery that made me just weep," I posted on Facebook.



A photograph of my mother and me, and a page from her scrapbook showing she visited The Daily Jeffersonian, and in her handwriting a list of the names of her classmates who toured the newspaper where I used to work.

In that attic I found my mother's youth and the years leading up to me.

Finding the newspaper clipping from The Jeffersonian was profound.

I have been employed with this newspaper since June 1989 and to know that my mother, when she was 11 years old in the spring of 1956, set foot in a space that I now occupy brings me comfort.

Before I came to work in Cambridge, the Jeffersonian plant she toured was razed and a new Jeffersonian building constructed next door. The lot where I park my vehicle is where the old building stood, the place where she and 17 of her classmates from Mt. Ephraim School toured.

I have become familiar with my mother's handwriting as in the attic I also found many handwritten English assignments from both Sarahsville High School from where she graduated in 1963 and The Ohio State University where she attended.

Career exploration was apparent from her writings. In one of the assignments she talks about being in the College of Education but intending to major in home economics, and in another paper she talks about becoming a flight attendant.

My mother attended classes at OSU until she learned she was pregnant with me. She then became married to my father, Fred, and then I was born.

Since finding my mother on Feb. 14, 2013, I have also found recipes in grandmother's recipe box that were clearly written by her. It's no coincidence that one of hers that I've selected to share today is called Valentine Cake.

Valentine Cake

1 1/3 cup coconut

1 regular size package Jell-O (strawberry)

Package white cake mix

6 cups fluffy white frosting

Tint coconut with 1 tablespoon Jell-O - prepare cake mix batter as directed on package, adding remaining Jell-O before beating.

Pour in greased, paper lined pans. Cool 10 minutes. Split cakes horizontally, making four layers. Spread frosting between layers and over cake. Sprinkle tinted coconut around sides.

BONUS RECIPE

The second recipe also is from my mother and was part of a term paper she wrote in English composition at Ohio State with Mr. Gross, the fall of 1963. The class met at 8 a.m., according to the theme folder that holds dozens of essays.

In the writing assignment she talks about the month of October. (She was born Oct. 7, 1944). She talks of Halloween, trick-or-treat and masquerade parties. She offers a recipe for Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie.

Ingredients for 8 servings.

Date and nut cookies - 1 2/3 cups or about 13 cookies

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Butter, melted - 1/4 cup

Canned or cooked pumpkin - 3/4 cup

Cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground allspice - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground ginger - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Vanilla ice cream - 1 1/2 pints

Chopped pecans 1/3 cup

For one pie: Place cookies in a clean plastic bag. Lay flat on counter, open end towards you. Pound and roll with rolling pin until fine crumbs are formed. Add sugar and melted butter. Hold bag and knead until well combined. Turn ingredients into nine-inch pie pan. Press against bottom and sides of pan to form crust. Chill until firm.

Let ice cream stand at room temperature to soften.

Combine pumpkin, spices, salt and brown sugar in a bowl. Stir in softened ice cream and pecans. Pour into chipped pie crust and freeze until firm. If desired, use chocolate frosting in a tube to make a pretty cobweb design on pie surface. Or garnish with shipped cream and nuts.

On her paper the instructor writes in red ink, "Rewrite this in English English which is different from cookbook English."

I wonder what she would think of my writing?

P.S. I'd like to wish the woman who raised me and never treated me like a step daughter, Judy Behringer, a Happy Mother's Day also. See you on Mother's Day, Mom! Love you much.

Republished with permission from the newspaper publisher.

3 Vegetable Casserole and Circus Peanut Salad for Easter dinner

VINTAGE FAMILY FIXIN'S

(revived)

Easter Sunday then and now

　
Welcome to the Easter Sunday edition of Vintage Family Fixin's.

Christ The Lord has risen today, Hallelujah!

My family and I will be spending the afternoon with my mom and stepdad, Judy and Dan Behringer, and my siblings and their families.

My mom Judy - the woman who raised me - came into my life in 1970 when she married my father, Fred McDonald who had lost his first wife, my mother Sandra McDonald, to leukemia.

I was an only child but in 1971 I got a sister, Amy, and then another sister, Molly, in 1974.

In 1979 we got a brother, Matthew.

Fred and Judy were together until after Matthew graduated from high school.

After Dad, Mom, Amy and I moved from Columbus to Caldwell, we lived with my dad's parents Fred and Ruth on upper Belford Street.

After Molly was born we moved to 605 Belford St.



Fred and (the former) Judy McDonald with daughters, Amy, l, Molly and Lisa (me), r, on Easter Sunday 1977.

Shortly after this picture was taken we moved to 704 West St. (I helped carry a large swing set down the street when we moved because it was only a block to our new house).

Among our new neighbors were two older women who lived in the stone-faced house at the corner of West and Belford streets, Helen Ellerman and Jeannette Marshall.

Helen lived downstairs and Jeannette lived upstairs.

Jeannette and my mom shared conversations, and recipes.

Mom asked me to bring to her house today a vegetable and a Jell-O dish for Easter dinner.

Today's featured recipe of 3 Vegetable Casserole was given to my mom by Jeannette. I found a copy in my recipe box.

Mom made this dish for our family on special occasions like Christmas and Easter.

It is very good.

3 Vegetable Casserole

1 package of frozen peas

1 package of frozen lima beans

1 package of french green beans

1 cup of medium white sauce (see below)

1 cup of mayonnaise

3 hard-cooked eggs

4 strips of crisp bacon

Combine the white sauce, mayo and eggs (chopped) and set aside.

Cook vegetables separately according to directions and drain well. In a buttered casserole place the peas and cover with 1/2 the sauce. Next place the lima beans and remaining sauce. Then make a wreath of the green beans around the casserole and place the crumbled bacon in the center of the wreath. Place in a 300 degree oven just long enough to heat through.

Medium white sauce

2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, a dash of black pepper, 1 1/2 cups milk. Melt butter, stir in flour using wooden spoon or wire whisk. Stir or whisk until there are no lumps and then stir in milk slowly until smooth and bubbly. Use a small heavy pan.


•••
The Jell-O dessert I've chosen to take to mom's Easter dinner is called Circus Peanut Salad and I can't wait to taste it. It's been a while since I've eaten a circus peanut. How about you?

I found this week's bonus recipe in Grandmother Ruth McDonald's recipe box.

BONUS RECIPE

Circus Peanut Salad

40 circus peanuts cut up in bits

Mix with 1 large box orange Jell-O. Stir in 3 cups boiling water till dissolved. Add 1 No. 2 can (crushed) pineapple and juice also. Refrigerate till thickens enough to add 1 medium size carton of Cool Whip. Frost when set with topping (see next).

Topping

Mix 1 small box of lemon Jell-O with 1 small package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and stir in 2 cups boiling water.

Let stand in refrigerator until almost set. Add 1 small Cool Whip and mix well.

Frost Jell-O and garnish with mandarin orange slices.

***

Happy Easter, Dad!


Originally published in the newspaper where I used to work on April 20, 2014, and reprinted here with permission of the publisher.





　

Grandma McDonald's Tuna Casserole

 

VINTAGE FAMILY FIXIN'S

(revived)

Tuna Casserole is quick after a track meet

Welcome back to Vintage Family Fixin's.

I prepared this week's recipe after a middle school track meet to feed members of my family who didn't get their fill of pizza, hot dogs and other concessions at the chilly Cambridge event.

It is from my late grandmother Ruth (DeVol) McDonald's recipe box, and after we all tasted it … devoured it … I told my sons I wished she was here to tell her how much we loved it.

Grandma and Grandpa McDonald helped take care of me after my mother, Sandra Ellen (Watson) McDonald, died, and my father, Fred S. McDonald II, worked in Columbus.

Grandma worked a full-time job at the Noble County Courthouse. Grandpa (Fred) was a carpenter with Hill's Store in Caldwell. He was well known for laying carpet and linoleum in many Noble County homes.

Me following my graduation from Caldwell High School in 1984 with my grandparents, the late Fred and Ruth McDonald.

I'm convinced this was something grandma and grandpa made regularly as it is quick to prepare and very tasty.

Tuna Casserole

Mix together:

1 - 10 1/2 ounce condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 - 8/12 ounce drained small sweet peas

1- 5.33 ounce can chunk tuna

Pour into baked 9 inch pie shell. Bake 25 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Top with 3 1/2 ounces of french fried onion rings.

Bake 5 minutes more.


•••••

I used solid white albacore tuna and a frozen Pillsbury Pet-Ritz 9 inch deep dish pie crust which I baked for 15 minutes just before making this dish. This recipe is labeled a casserole but resembles a pot pie both in appearance and taste.

My husband asked if it was made with turkey or chicken. LOL

My star runner, William Donis Loos, had three helpings.

Today's bonus recipe is from Carrie Beatrice "Bea" (Tompkins) Loos' recipe box.

Bea was my husband, David's grandmother and she died on Dec. 9, 2001. I was blessed to have met and spent some time with her before she died.

She and her husband Willard (who my runner is named after) owned and operated the former Loos Produce poultry dressing business on the city's West End before retiring to a farm off Route 662 on Loos Lane.

Bea and Willard had two sons, John and Donis "Don;," the later was my husband's father. Don died before David and I met. Our son Will is named after him too.

This recipe is does not have a title but it is "from the kitchen of Don Loos."

Don Loos was a cook at several places in town.

I'm going to call it Don's Hash.

BONUS RECIPE

Don's Hash

1 package dried beef
1 tablespoon butter

1 can of potato soup

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup cream

1 small can or 1 cup peas

Lightly brown beef in butter, add soup, milk, creams and peas. Heat and serve.

Let me know if you try the recipes and please share any stories you have with me about any of the people I talk about in my columns.

Caldwell's former eye doctor, Dr. Robert "Bob" Rudge sent me an e-mail this week informing me that his wife, Nancy, happened upon my Two Ruth's column from March 23 (published September 13, 2014 on this blog) that mentioned a recipe for Chicken Cashew Casserole by Ruth DeMarco.

"I went to Cambridge High (1944) with a Ruth Campbell and thought it would be quite a coincidence if this is the same one that provided a recipe that may 'grace' the table of one of her 'old' classmates," he wrote.

Yes, Dr. Rudge, son Steve confirmed that Ruth Campbell DeMarco also graduated from CHS in 1944.

Dr. Rudge fitted me with my first pair of eyeglasses ever in the 1980s.

Nancy was the pianist and organist at the Caldwell United Methodist Church, where I became a member in junior high.

It is a small world.

Originally published on April 6, 2014; reprinted with permission from the publisher of the newspaper where I used to work.

　






   

Revival of Vintage Family Fixin's

Early this spring I started a recipe column in the local newspaper where I worked. I called it Vintage Family Fixin's. I wanted to offer readers a recipe - or two - from the recipe boxes of my late grandmothers. In doing this I recalled stories about these women, and other members of my family, and found that sharing those memories with an audience resulted in letters and telephone calls from those who knew them.

It was the beginning of a great journey for me that ended too soon. After the publication of only five columns, I suddenly lost my job due to an error in a headline that had nothing to do with the recipe column.

I did not have an opportunity to tell any of the readers about my sudden departure or my blog but it is my hope that as I revive the recipe column maybe you will share this URL with someone who might find it interesting.

Over the next few weeks I will reprint all of the columns on this blog.
 
Here's the first one.

 

Vintage Family Fixin's

Two Ruths

Welcome to Vintage Family Fixin's.

Today begins with a story of discovery, a theme that has accompanied me through the past year (more about that in a future column).

My late paternal Grandmother Ruth (DeVol) McDonald's recipe box is much like my maternal Grandmother Janice (Day) Watson's attic -- full of unexpected surprises, coincidences or perhaps fate.

Looking through Grandmother McDonald's recipe box last week I ran across a dish called Chicken Cashew Casserole by Ruth DeMarco who in cursive wrote her recipe on a large index card that has two holes punched along the top. DeMarco, hmmmm, I know a DeMarco.

Wow!

It just so happens that Ruth's son, Steve DeMarco, is a contributor to [the name of the newspaper where I used to work] of news concerning Cambridge Concert Association. We are periodically in communication as I am his contact at the newspaper. We also are friends on Facebook.

So it was a coincidence that my Grandmother McDonald, who died at age 68 on Jan. 20, 1989 -- six months before I came to work at the newspaper -- at some point and time during her life met Ruth DeMarco.

Grandmother McDonald resided in Caldwell and worked in the Auditor's Office and later Probate Court at the Noble County Courthouse.

Ruth DeMarco lived a very active life in Cambridge and passed away in 2008 at the age of 81.

The women were six years apart in age.

So how did Ruth McDonald know Ruth DeMarco?

"Her mother's maiden name was Riddle. So she has/had lots of relatives and friends in Caldwell and the area," said Steve of his mother.

Steve said of his mother's Chicken Cashew Casserole, "I make it often and it's very tasty!"

More meals from Noble County folk will be coming your way because in Grandmother McDonald's recipe box I found recipes from the old Ralston's (Pharmacy in Caldwell), the Club in Caldwell, and some of my grandmother's friends (Wanda Wheeler, Mary Jane Yontz) and my Grandfather Fred McDonald's sister Ruth Smith.

Plus you'll enjoy fixin's from my husband's late grandmother Bea Loos, plus some from my late birth mother Sandra (Watson) McDonald, my late aunt Peggy (Watson) Ruppel, and my mother who raised me Judy (Spitler) McDonald Behringer.

Today's featured recipe is from Grandmother Watson's recipe box. Grandmother celebrates her 88th birthday on March 25. Happy birthday, Grandmother! You are the best cook and I remember you making this soup for me. I'm so blessed to have you.



Grandmother Watson's Fresh Mushroom Soup recipe prepared by me.

Fresh Mushroom Soup

1 pound mushrooms

6 tablespoons butte or margarine

2 cups finely chopped onions

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 cup water

2 cans beef broth

1 cup dry vermouth (optional)

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper
Chop mushrooms. In large pot melt butter. Add onions and sugar. Saute over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 15 minutes or until golden. Add mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in flour until smooth. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in water and smooth until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 20 minutes.

P.S. I fixed this soup and my family liked it with the exception of Will, 13, who doesn't particularly like mushrooms. Lee, 11, said, "It's delicious."



Grandmother Janice Watson and me.

BONUS RECIPE

Ruth DeMarco's Chicken Cashew Casserole

1 (3 ounce) can chow mein noodles

1 1/2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 breast of chicken (or 8 ounces of any cold chicken, more if desired (cooked chicken)

1/4 pound cashews, cut in quarters

1/2 cup celery, cut fine

1/4 small onion, cut or chopped

Dash salt and pepper

Set aside 1/2 cup noodles. In 1 1/2 quart casserole, combine the rest of ingredients. If cashews are not salted, add more salt. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup noodles over top. Dot with butter.

Bake 30 minutes in 325 degree oven.


Originally published on March 23, 2014; reprinted with permission from the publisher of the newspaper where I used to work.


　
 


　


　
　




　
 

Unbelievable photograph from 1948

You’ve heard stories about fate, destiny, serendipity, coincidence, etc. Well here's another one.

Last week I received a gift from my 84-year-old grandmother. It is an old photograph with these words written on the back: “Santa Claus on the Caldwell square Dec. 11, 1948, Sandra Ellen age 4 years.”

Sandra Ellen was my mother.

She is pictured in the front, holding her mother, my grandmother Janice Ilene Day Watson’s hand. Grandmother Watson is 22 in this photograph. She looks so happy.

What’s so special about this photograph, which I did not know existed until I received, is that my father also is pictured in it with his mother.

Fred McDonald is in the back, center of the photo being held in his mother, my grandmother Ruth Frances DeVol McDonald’s arms. Dad was 3 years old in this picture and Grandmother McDonald was 28.

I’m still in awe of this photo, which I think was published in the Caldwell newspaper. Somehow here are both of my parents as little children with their mothers. Here are two families that did not know each other when the photographer captured this moment in time.

It is the split-second creation of an image of two complete strangers during Christmastime 1948 viewed by their offspring 62 years later.

It would be a decade and several more years from 1948 until Sandra and Fred and their families would meet, and everyone would share in much joy and then sorrow in a short amount of time.

Fast-forward to Dec. 20, 1965 – the day Sandra gave birth to her and Fred’s baby daughter – Lisa Lee McDonald – that’s me!

Grandmother Watson tucked two other vintage photos in my birthday card this year. One is of my parents on their wedding day in May 1965, and the other is of me and my parents on Easter morning 1967 at the farm. My mother is ill in the latter photograph, suffering from leukemia. Sandra Ellen Watson McDonald left this world in October 1967.

Thank you Grandmother for sharing with me a glimpse of our past through these wonderful photographs.

Scents

The 10 year old said it smelled like Christmas the other day.
It was cold outside and the furnace, which had kicked on a few days earlier, was running around the clock.
I remarked at Christian’s association of the cool outdoors and warm house and apparently some other comforting smells.
Likewise, his 8-year-old-brother a couple of months ago told me, “You smell like Aunt Peggy.”
I was taken back and shocked at his Will's senses.
My aunt, Peggy Ruppel, died unexpectedly at age 55 this past April and I brought home some of her favorite perfume “Opium” that I had not worn until the day Will said I smelled like her.
At that moment we all remembered Peggy and it was sad but comforting that something so simple like a smell could incite a fond memory.
Maybe I get emotional when it comes to the senses.
So many smells trigger certain places and certain times.
My grandmother Ruth McDonald wore - more often than not - a perfume by Evyan launched in 1945 called “White Shoulders.” Grandma’s been gone for 20 years now but I still smell her occasionally like when that woman pushed her cart by mine at Riesbeck’s the other day.
My grandmother Janice Watson’s signature scent is “Youth Dew” by Estee Lauder. She smells wonderful, and always will.
What I really wish is that I could bottle the way Grandma Watson’s 1800s farmhouse smells – like radiant gas heat mixed with clean laundry, hot tea and orange slices.
Bedrooms and bathrooms each have their own radiant floor heaters. There are fireplaces aglow in the office, parlor and living room. In the kitchen at least one burner is continually lit on the gas stovetop. And so in the wintertime the house envelopes me with its warm historic smell that will always be remembered as grandma’s house.
I loved the way the house I grew up in smelled too, which is a compliment to my mother, Judy McDonald given she had four children and a husband and all of their smells to deal with. Mom and a lot of her friends used Claire Burke Original room freshener. It contains roses, lavender and spice mixed with patchouli and vetiver. For a while Kroger marketed a spray air freshener that rivaled Burke’s trademark scent and I remember grocery shopping with mom and stocking up on canisters.
I have an affection for patchouli and enjoy wearing perfumes containing this mint that originated in East India and yields a fragrant oil. I’m always checking out Bath & Body Works latest scents to see if they contain patchouli.
I started wearing a new fragrance this week called Angel by Thierry Mugler, which contains patchouli.
I love the smell of Gerber’s Grins and Giggles Oatmeal Baby Wash, which we’ve been using for 10 years, since Christian was born.
This scent is no longer manufactured but I bought nearly a case of it at Odd Lots this past summer because I just can’t let it go.

We have maybe 12 bottles left.
Smells are like music they take you back to different times in your life and for a little while you remember ....