Rice Krispie Treats

¼ cup margarine

1 package mini-size marshmallows (4 cups)

6 cups Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal

In a large saucepan, melt margarine over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add cereal and stir until well-coated with marshmallow mixture.

Using a buttered spatula or waxed paper (that’s what I use), press mixture evenly into buttered
13 x 9-inch pan. Let cool.

Cut into squares. Makes 24 squares.

Healthy Tomato Treat

4 tomatoes

Tomato filler: pickles, olives, carrots, celery

Empty out each tomato, leaving it to look like a basket.

Then fill the basket with pickles, olives, carrots, celery—and you can eat the tomato, too!

Lincoln Log Sandwiches

Whole wheat bread

Peanut butter

Time to be kids…

I know I’m a sentimental sap sometimes (OK, most times), but when I compare what it was like for us growing up and many kids today, there’s one significant difference: we had a childhood!

Children born in the 80s and 90’s, many of them are growing up in an “organized” environment with daycare and numerous after-school activities that start, at like, 2!

Not that I’m an expert or anything, but it seems to me, that children today are not allowed to have the free time to just be kids. They have to be “super kids” learning to read prior to kindergarten. They’ve got soccer and violin lessons and structured activities nearly EVERY waking moment.

And when they have some down time, they’re in front of the T.V. watching Disney movies (over and over) or cartoons. Or, they’re playing video or computer games. For hours on end. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but “everything in moderation.” That’s what I think.

Unlike today’s techno-savvy kids , we didn’t even purchase our first color T.V. ‘til we moved to Kentucky in ’74. And that one was a la carte (sans remote)! So, we had plenty of free time, free from the 27-inch screen allure, to explore our world. To interact with it. In a safe, secure environment.

So, what’d we do?

Well, we explored the woods. Played in the park. Wandered thru new house constructions. Played King of the Hill (aka the dirt or rock pile), Cowboys and Indians, Huck Finn. Rode bikes. Explored the library. Read books in lawn chairs in the backyard. Played with plastic army men. Went swimming; went to the zoo. Played football and baseball. Played in the creek. Occasionally got in trouble. Had imaginary friends.

Played funny games that many kids today wouldn’t be familiar with:

--Kick the can (that was fun!)

--Red rover, red rover

--Marbles

--Pick up sticks

--Ollie, Ollie, oxen-free

--Tether ball

We also had go-carts, a boxing ring in the basement, a basketball hoop in the driveway, a tree house in the garage! A chemistry set. A rock polishing kit. A record player for 45s like the Beatles, Tony Orlando and Dawn, the Partridge Family, my favorite song “Downtown,” “Indiana wants me. Lord, I can’t go back there…”

Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich

Frozen waffles—not the round ones (2 per person)

Carton of ice cream (Neapolitan is best!)

Take 2 frozen waffles and warm up in a toaster.

Then open up the cardboard carton of ice cream—bending down the sides of the carton. Slice the ice cream very thin.

Now put the slice of ice cream between the two waffles to make a waffle ice cream sandwich!

Sugar Cookie Zoo Animals

1 batch of Mom’s Sugar Cookies (in the Holiday Treats and Gifts section)

Animal cookie cut-outs

Sprinkles and frosting

Roll out dough and cut using various animal-shaped cookie cutters. Let the kids decorate some cookies with sprinkles and others with frosting (after the cookies have cooked and cooled). Bake according to instructions.

Handy Trail Mix

Raisins

Peanuts

Mini pretzels

O-shaped cereal

Banana chips

Take a handful of each ingredient and put it into a big mixing bowl. Mix everything together. Scoop into small sealable plastic baggies and keep handy when you want a quick snack.

Strawberry and Banana Malt

Handful of strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 banana, sliced

Orange juice

Small carton plain yogurt

In a blender, purée strawberries and banana. Now fill with orange juice—just up to the top of the fruit.

Then add a couple heaping spoonfuls of plain yogurt. Blend. (Should have consistency of a malt.)

Watermelon Popsicles

2½ cups seeded and diced watermelon

½ cup fresh raspberries (or frozen unsweetened and thawed)

6 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

In a blender, combine all ingredients; purée until smooth.

Strain into a 2-cup glass measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.

Pour purée into Popsicle molds, dividing equally.

Freeze overnight. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead. Keep frozen.)

Makes about 8 ¼-cup Popsicles.

No Popsicle molds? No worries! You can also use small Dixie cups and add Popsicle sticks. Put in freezer overnight. Then, take off paper cups and voilà: Watermelon Popsicles!!

Also try:

Kool-Aid Popsicles: use ¼ cup less water and a little less sugar. Blend well.

Orange Juice (or other flavored juice) Popsicles: use full strength juice.

My gunk-gunk…

As a child I had a beloved baby blanket that I called my “gunk-gunk.” It was cream colored (at least I think it was) and had a silky border. There was one particular corner that I brought up to my face and, along with it, sucked my thumb. Even in my sleep, I could locate that corner simply by touch (it had started to fray) and by smell: the wrong corners smelled dirty from being dragged on the ground, but the right one smelled…perfect.

Occasionally mom would have to wash my blanket. She tried to be inconspicuous and abscond with it when I wasn’t looking, but I often caught on that something was amiss. If I couldn’t find it, I knew there was trouble and immediately trekked down to the basement to sit—whimpering, but ever vigilant—in front of the dryer, which had a round window on the door that allowed me to view the contents within as they were tossed about.

Every once and a while I’d catch a glimpse of it—reconfirming my belief that my siblings were, indeed, lying creeps for saying that my blanket had fallen apart in the washer, which always started me crying and screaming defiantly, “NO IT DIDN’T!” which led to mom yelling, “Quit teasing your sister!” (I’m gullible, but I’m not THAT gullible—well, maybe I am.)

Hot Lunch
Mom writes: Grilled cheese and tomato soup was a typical hot lunch for children walking home from school (which children were allowed to do when you guys were young). Add warm chocolate pudding for dessert. Yum!  While home for lunch break, you would watch a little television, swing on the swing, read some, do your school work and then you kids were energized for the remainder of the school day…

Ahh, those were idyllic school days in Wisc. Now fast forward to Louisville, the late 70’s/early 80’s, and the era of busing.

Mom against the school system

Lori recalls: One year mom had quite a battle on her hands. The school system wanted to bus me down to Shawnee Middle School—a school notorious for drugs and fighting—but I had already been bused a few years earlier to Byck Elementary (an inner-city school). Mom called the school and said, simply, “She’s not going!” The school informed her there’d have to be a court hearing and until then I’d have to go to Shawnee. Mom called the principal at Byck and he called the school system. They made an exception to allow me to go to Barrett Middle School instead.

“Never say that you HATE something. Say dislike instead of hate.”

Grilled Cheese

Bread

Butter

Velveeta Cheese slices or block Velveeta

Thin ham slices, optional

Thin tomato slices, optional

Using a fry pan, turn on about 325 degrees.

Butter one side of each piece of bread (2 per sandwich) and cut up needed cheese, ham and tomatoes.

Spray fry pan with vegetable oil cooking spray. Place bread butter side down. Layer cheese, ham and tomatoes and then place the top piece of bread, butter side up.

Toast sandwiches on both sides until golden brown and heated throughout—about 2 minutes per side.

If serving to young children, let the sandwich cool slightly first so that they don’t get burned. Cut diagonally, corner to corner, and serve it with Tomato Soup.

Tomato Soup

1 can tomato soup

½ can water

½ can milk

½ tsp. dill weed, optional

Warm up soup on stove, stirring frequently until smooth and hot.

Butterscotch and Peanut Butter
Rice Krispie Snacks

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal

12-ounce bag of butterscotch chips (the larger bag)

Combine sugar and corn syrup in large saucepan. Bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter and then cereal. Press into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan and flatten.

Melt 1 bag of butterscotch chips in microwave. Spread on top. Refrigerate ‘til set, about 20 minutes. Cut into bite-size snack bars.

Note: Be mindful of who you make this snack for—and any other recipe containing peanut butter. Some children have serious, life-threatening allergies to peanuts and must never be given food containing peanut butter.

Jeaneane’s Caramel-Apple Dessert

1 package Pillsbury ready to bake sugar cookie dough

3 – 6 apples, cut into bite-size pieces

1 container of caramel topping (like for ice cream)

Set oven at 350 degrees.

Spread refrigerated sugar cookie dough onto a
9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cook for 12 – 16 minutes, or until cookie dough is done. (See package directions for specific baking instructions.)

While baking, cut up apples into bite-size pieces.

Upon removing from the oven, spread apples on top of baked cookie.

One room schoolhouse

Mom recalls: There were two people that have been influential in my life. One of these people was Miss Elizabeth Hunter. She was my teacher in a one-room school (out in the country, about 10 miles from Dowagiac) and I just loved her. And I loved school.

I loved school so much that one winter we had a bad snowstorm. The roads were drifted in and I made my dad carry me, through the woods, to school because I insisted there would be school that day. And Miss Hunter was there, but no other kids. That’s how much I LOVED school!!

I attended that school for beginners (now called kindergarten), 1^st and 2^nd grades. Then, when I was doing my practice teaching, many years later, I requested from the director to do 3-weeks of practice teaching with Elizabeth Hunter in the same one-room school. And to my delight, permission was granted.

Miss Hunter was thrilled to have one of her former students come back and learn from her. And learn I did! More in that three weeks than any other practice teaching assignments.

She was a great teacher and disciplinarian. She loved teaching and she loved the kids. And I loved teaching with her. I could barely wait to go to school every morning!

Dave’s Little Mother

Mom recalls: Debbie learned to talk at a very young age. She would often say things like, “Mommy”?

“What?”

“Dave’s hungry!” Or, “Dave’s wet!” She wouldn’t say SHE’S hungry or wet, but that David was! She was like Dave’s little mother…

All I need is a hammer and some nails

Mom recalls: Dad always had a project going on in his workshop. Dave liked to work with dad and had his own nails, hammer and saw.

Dad made him a little stool and Dave would put his foot up on that stool, mimicking dad, and would pound nails into that stool ‘til who tied a pup! That stool was completely covered with nails!

Debbie with her casts

Mom recalls: When Debbie was a baby, she had clubfeet and had to wear casts on both legs from about 5 weeks to 18 months. She would clank those casts together and bang them up against the rungs of her crib. She also learned to crawl with her casts and wore them down to a nubbins.

Owen Family Radio Show

Rice Cake S’Mores

Peanut butter, optional

1 plain rice cake, per serving

½ of a 1–1½ ounce bar milk chocolate, per serving

12 tiny marshmallows, per serving

Put rice cake on a plate. If desired, spread peanut butter on rice cake. Top rice cake with chocolate, then marshmallows. Do not cover. Microwave on high for 18 – 20 seconds. Let stand for 30 – 60 seconds. Makes 1 serving.

Rainbow Party Cake

White cake mix

Food coloring, 4 different colors

Set oven at 350 degrees.

Prepare white 2-layer cake mix, per package directions. Then divide batter into 4 portions. Use food coloring to tint the batter four different colors. Spread one of the colors into the bottom of 2-greased and floured 8-inch round pans.

Bake the first layer for 12 – 15 minutes or until set. Spread another color of batter on top of the baked layer. Bake as you did the first layer. Repeat until all layers are baked. Cool completely. Then frost only the tops of cake rounds. Sprinkle rainbow-colored sugars (to match batter colors) on top of the frosting.

4^th of July Holiday Cake

White or chocolate cake mix

White frosting

Strawberries, halved

Blueberries

Witch’s Brew
(Orange-Pineapple Punch)

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 46-ounce can pineapple juice, chilled

1 2-liter bottle orange soda, chilled

Orange sherbet

In a punch bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk and pineapple juice; add orange soda.

Top with sherbet and serve over ice, if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Debbie’s Halloween School Treat

Prepare mom’s Apple Slices in a pizza pan (See Picnics and Weekend Barbecues section)

Orange icing

Green icing

Decorate the Apple Slices pie like a pumpkin using orange icing and green icing for the stem, eyes, nose and mouth.

This makes a great holiday snack for the class!

Indian Corn Necklace

This is a fun craft to make with young children:

2 cups Indian Corn

Food coloring

1 Sewing Needle

Thread (various colors)

School Glue

“I gotta rock…” Charlie Brown

When we moved into our newly built home in Sun Prairie, dad received a truckload of rocks to be used for landscaping around the bushes in the front yard. They were a lot of hard work to spread them, and when finished, the kids were given strict instructions NOT TO PLAY IN THE ROCKS! But it was difficult to comply with this rule because they silently beckoned to us to go in search for their hidden treasures.

I spent countless hours after school, on the weekends and during long summer months hunched over, rummaging through them. If you looked REALLY hard, sometimes you could find triangular shaped rocks that you could pretend were arrowheads, and rocks with sparkly red, yellow or white quartz or even tiny fossils embedded in them. Some rocks that I took a fancy to weren’t fancy at all, just plain Jane’s: smooth, polished-like, with no distinguishing marks but that just felt good the moment I picked them up. Those that I took a liking to, I lined up along the edge of the sidewalk to be added to my collection later.

But, as is typical of kids, every now and then I got distracted and would run off to play with neighbors or go inside to get a drink. (Searching for rocks makes you thirsty!) Next thing ya know, I’d forget about those rocks that I’d so painstakingly searched for.

siblings or mean kids who claimed my precious stones for their own. (There was always some conspiracy when you were a kid!) Which all boiled down to this: you had to go in search for them all over again!

Once I found a rock with what appeared to have gold in it. After a long debate with myself on whether it would be appropriate or not, I decided to share my news—very shyly, but enthusiastically—with family at dinner one night. I didn’t understand why everybody thought my proclamation of finding gold was so funny. “Fool’s Gold,” they laughed. “Fool’s Gold!”

Gold was gold, to me. Despite vaguely feeling like I’d missed the boat on something, I still felt VERY rich!

Even as an adult, I’m still inclined to picking up rocks of interest to me. I’ve collected rocks in nearly every unusual (and not so unusual) place I’ve ever visited. Just a few years ago when I was in Australia, I was walking on a trail that meandered high upon the cliffs and back down near the ocean. I wasn’t searching for rocks. I swear! But, suddenly, some just jumped out at me. And landed in my pocket, which then made it to my suitcase, and then traveled home with me as little mementos of my coastline excursion.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds

Salt

One of the following: vegetable oil cooking spray, olive oil, vegetable oil, margarine or butter

Use your fingers to remove the seeds from the pumpkin, letting the fibers around the seeds slide through your fingers as the seeds remain in your hand.

Once you’ve retrieved the seeds, wash them in a large bowl to remove any remaining fibers. If you like, spread the seeds out on a flat
surface and let dry for a day or two. (It is not necessary, however, to dry the seeds first if you plan on roasting them. It’s strictly a preference thing. Personally, I prefer drying first.)

Note: If you dry the seeds before roasting, they will roast much more quickly than seeds just removed from the pumpkin.

Set oven at 300 degrees.

Scatter either dry or freshly removed seeds on a pie pan or other shallow baking sheet in something resembling a single layer (don’t be too obsessive about this—you’ll stir several times during cooking).

If you like, spray seeds with vegetable oil cooking spray or a tablespoon of oil or butter, stir, season with a few shakes of salt, then stir again. If you’re opposed to oil (butter) and/or salt, omit all or part of this step. (Be advised that salt will not stick well to seeds that have not been oiled or buttered.)

Roast seeds, shaking or stirring the pan occasionally, until they become an appealing golden brown color, about 30 – 45 minutes.

Dough Animals

1 package yeast

4 cups flour

1½ cups warm water

1 egg

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. salt

In a big bowl, mix together yeast, water, sugar and salt. Stir in flour. Knead on table until dough is smooth. Shape dough into animal shapes. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with salt (or “salt glitter”). Bake in oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until browned.

Salt Glitter

½ cup salt

6 – 7 drops food coloring

Add food color to salt adjusting to desired color shade. Cook in the microwave 1 – 2 minutes or you can also air dry your product. To keep soft, store in air-tight container.

Super Sidewalk Paint

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ cup cold water

6 – 8 drops food coloring

Paint brush

Mix cornstarch and cold water together in a small plastic bowl. Add food coloring and stir.

Repeat the process to create different colors.

Snapshot memories …

Bruce streaking up and down the sidewalk in his red fire engine, a peddle car; wearing his Daniel Boone hat—the tail just flying as he drove his red fire engine

Nightly baths; Lori taking Dave’s GI Joe astronaut capsule into the bathtub

Taffeta dresses, ruffled underwear and bows in our hair

“Pa-diddle!” screamed from the backseat

Dancing in front of the picture window at night on Kevin’s Way

Nap time, Debbie, a 3-foot tall doll and a bottle of baby magic poured over the doll

Candy from Columbus Street at a small family-owned convenience store

Chores like pulling weeds and cleaning off the kitchen table to earn our allowance

Chalky sidewalks and hopscotch

Mis-matched beads from Mrs. Martin stored in a worn shoe box

Playing with mom’s hair while she naps

Girls with frilly dresses, white gloves, bobby socks and black patent leather shoes

Paper thin kites and wadded up string, high in the sky, stuck in trees

Making forts in the family room using old sheets and blankets

4-eyes! 4-eyes!

Roller skates that adjusted to fit over your sneakers

Debbie with her buggy and doll

Mom recalls: We bought Deb a little buggy with a doll in it for Christmas one year.

“Take your little dolly for a walk,” we’d say to her. And she would just grumble!

Out she would go with her buggy and doll and you could tell by the way she pushed it on the sidewalk that she really didn’t enjoy playing with it and would rather be doing something else…

The Big Wheel Story…

There’s no doubt, Lori had the coolest big wheel in St. Matthews and the best race course in town!

She recalls: My favorite thing to do was to go up to the top of Cherrywood Road and go down the bumpy sidewalk at full speed. There was a BIG bump when I hit the Maresz’s, next door. Then as I reached our driveway, I would hit the break and take my big wheel into a spin!!

My big wheel had a holder in the back where I placed my fake mini-lunch box with a thermos. Mom would put soda in the thermos for me. And sometimes as I would hit that bump in the Maresz’s driveway, the lunch box would fly out of the back! Man, I LOVED that big wheel!!!

Jeaneane’s Play Dough

1 cup flour

½ cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 Tbsp. cooking oil

1 cup water

1 tsp. food coloring

Mix and cook over medium heat until hard to stir. It will form a ball.

Cool on tin foil or waxed paper. Keep in an airtight container or large sealable plastic bag. It will keep for four weeks unrefrigerated.

Mom’s Finger Paint
(not edible)

⅓ cup glossy laundry starch

2 cups boiling water

½ cup soap flakes

Food coloring

Dissolve starch in a small amount of cold water to make a paste. Then add boiling water. Then cook the mixture until clear over medium heat, stirring constantly. Then remove pan from stove and add the soap flakes. Stir until the flakes are dissolved.

Pour mixture into as many jars as you want colors. Add a couple of drops of food coloring. There ya go!

Edible Finger Paint

1 cup corn syrup

Food coloring

Place corn syrup in a cup or bowl. Add a few drop of food coloring and stir.

Repeat the above steps for each desired color you would like to use.

Let the kids dig in and paint away!

Let the painting dry for at least one day. It may take longer depending upon thickness of paint and weather conditions.

Gak

1 cup cold water

1 cup Elmer’s glue

Couple drops food coloring, optional

1 Tbsp. Borax soap

½ cup very hot water

In a bowl, mix one-cup cold water with Elmer’s glue. In a separate bowl, add Borax soap with very hot water. Stir until Borax is thoroughly dissolved. Stir in Borax mixture into the glue mixture. Let it dry about an hour before using. When ready, it will be smooth and rubber-like. Store gooey gak in a plastic bag or container. Roll it, pop it, stretch it, bounce it.

Bubbles

1 cup water

⅓ cup dish soap (Joy, Sunlight, etc.)

2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Snapshot memories …

Milk delivered to our door

Lori playing hotel; locking all the doors and using one of mom’s hair pins to unlock them!

Large tin of Lincoln logs

Debbie standing up in her crib, barely one years old, yelling, “Mom? I’m WET!”

Mom color-coding our knee socks with little X’s of thread

Windy days, red chapped cheeks and lips, “Keep that scarf on your head or you’ll get sick!”

The four older kids playing Batman and Robin in Bruce’s room and recording it on reel to reel

The plastic bowling ball set with a big ball

Little red wagon Radio Flyer

GI Joe with scotch-taped joints and a really cool space ship

Getting a lollipop at the doctor’s office—if you were good and didn’t cry when you got a shot

Grass-stained pants; big patches sewn at the knees and elbows of our play clothes

Silver dollars from the tooth fairy

Making crafts out of plastic milk cartons, Ivory Liquid bottles, Styrofoam egg cartons, cardboard TP rolls, and Band-Aid tins. “Can I have that when it’s empty?!”

Snapshot memories …

Concentration; Old Maid; Kings Corners; Uno; Four Jacks; Crazy Eights; Solitaire; Bloody Knuckles; Rummy…

Children’s wooden rocking chair

Bow ties

Rocking horse with a big hole kicked in the side

Red Light, Green Light; Hide-N-Go-Seek

Pigeon-toed kids wearing corrective shoes

Footy pajamas

Getting sick in the middle of the night; not being allowed to leave our bed the next day; sipping Ginger-Ale and eating tiny bites of soda crackers; sometimes mom would roll in the black and white T.V. and we could watch some shows while lying in bed; that was pretty good…

Cherished baby blankets; my gunk-gunk; La’s Blee

Brian making smelly concoctions in the basement using his chemistry set; a special chemistry cabinet built by dad to store all of his bottles of chemicals

Well-deserved spankings with a wooden paddle

Mom stuffing Kleenexes up our sweater or shirt sleeves when we had the sniffles, but didn’t have any pockets

Train tracks (braces), tiny yellow rubber bands; retainers

Finger Jell-O
(non-sticky)

2 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin

1 6-ounce package Jell-O (not low-cal)

Water

Dissolve Knox gelatin in 1 cup cold water. Stir and set aside. In a saucepan, bring 1 cup water to boil; add Jell-O and sugar. Stir, bring to second boil and remove from heat. Add ½ cup cold water and Knox gelatin mixture to saucepan. Stir well. Pour into jelly roll pan or any kind of dish or pan with straight sides that has been sprayed with non-stick vegetable oil cooking spray. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters when hardened.

Note: This is easy to prepare, doesn’t melt and isn’t sticky, making it great for snacks and parties.

Finger Jell-O
(sticky, but tasty)

2 6-ounce cans of favorite juice concentrate

4 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin

4 cups boiling water

Make the gelatin—pour the boiling water into a large bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin on top of the water. Carefully stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Add the juice concentrate and stir again. Pour the mixture into two 8 x 8-inch slightly greased cake pans (or one large one). Put in the refrigerator until firm (about 2 hours). Cut the gelatin with cookie cutters.

Face Paint

1 tsp. cornstarch

½ tsp. water and ½ tsp. cold cream

2 drops food coloring

Chocolate Reindeer Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1½ cups sugar

⅓ cup cocoa

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3¼ cups flour

72 small pretzel twists

72 M & Ms

36 small red gumdrops (also called spice drops)

Set oven at 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour.

Divide dough into 6 equal portions. Wrap portions in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Chill for 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each dough portion into a circle 6-inches in diameter. Using a knife, cut each circle into 6 triangular wedges. Place wedges 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

For antlers, on each triangle lightly press a pretzel into the upper corners. Press in M & Ms for eyes. For a nose, press a red gumdrop (spice drop) into the dough.

Bake for 7 – 9 minutes or until edges are firm. Do not over-bake. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool.

A stocking cap on my head

Dad writes: My hair was always thick and unruly when I was a small boy. My dad decided to do something about it. He wore his hair combed straight back, so he thought this was the way I should wear mine—even though it grew more forward. So, for several years, before going to bed, I had my hair combed back and wore a silk stocking cap when I slept at night.

Do you think it worked? Not for a minute! When I woke up in the morning and took off the cap my hair stood straight up. Since I had curly hair it looked like a mop.

At that time the cartoon Dick Tracy had a character called “Mop Top Maggie.” Well, my classmates decided I looked the part, so they nicknamed me “Mop Top.” I stopped wearing the stocking cap before reaching high school but the name stuck.

When I organized an intramural basketball team as a sophomore we were trying to come up with a name. My teammates voted to call us the “The Maggies” after me, their captain. I thought “Mop Top” was bad and I was not happy with using “Maggies” for our team name. But the good part of this was we were undefeated in the three years we competed.

That’s the end of the story.

Snapshot memories …

Walking to and from school

Boxes filled with hand-me-down clothes, pilfered thru before the start of each new school year

Lori having her lunch (containing a sandwich and Cheetos) stolen and eaten by a girl that had, like, 47 pigtails. She was really tall, but it was her hair that was more intimidating! Mr. Detwiler gave her money for hot lunch. But she didn’t want hot lunch. She wanted her Cheetos!!!

If you want to learn more about a subject, look it up in the World Book Encyclopedias or get on your bike and go to the library

In Kentucky, trading homemade chocolate chip cookies for Twinkies and Hostess Ho-Ho’s at school

Prom Dresses

Bruce preparing school papers late at night on the old typewriter

Graduations; kids going off to college

Breaking in new shoes

Turning globe with raised plastic mountains

Field Day; blue and red ribbons

Halloween and Christmas parties. Are schools even allowed to have them anymore?

Reindeer Cupcakes

1 box any brand chocolate cake mix

1 container ready-made white frosting or a batch of your favorite vanilla frosting recipe

Bag of large pretzel twists

M & Ms

Mini chocolate candies (like mini chocolate chips)

Set oven at 350 degrees.

Prepare cake mix using box directions.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

Bake 18 – 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.

Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Break pretzels into pieces to resemble antlers. Decorate cupcakes with pretzel pieces for antlers, red M & M candies for noses, and mini-chocolate chips for eyes.

Store in an airtight container.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Edible Homemade Snowman

1 Tbsp. butter

3 large shredded wheat biscuit cereal (crushed)

½ cup mini-marshmallows

Red hots

Snow Cream

Lot’s of snow

Milk

Sugar

Vanilla

Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce, optional

Maple syrup, optional

Place a metallic bowl in the freezer to chill.

With a large plastic bowl, gather the most pristine, untouched, unsmushed snow that you can find in your yard. (Avoid the sooty-looking stuff or snow that may have been exposed to road salt. Gather just after a snowfall.)

Empty the snow into your frozen metallic bowl and add just a touch of milk, sugar, and vanilla ‘til it’s the consistency of ice cream—it’ll probably be just a little runnier than store bought ice cream. Serve immediately and top with Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce or maple syrup. It’s very tasty!

Magic Reindeer Food

For your fine-feathered friends during the winter:

Bird Seed

Glitter

Glue on eyes

Red ball for nose

Brown pipe cleaner

Glue

Decorate bag. Place mix into bag. Then glue this on the back:

One hundred years from now,

It won’t matter what car I drove,

What kind of house I lived in,

How much I had in my bank account,

Nor what my clothes looked like,

But, the world may be a little better

Because I was important in the life of a child.

Cooking in the fireplace

Recently, Tony and I have been looking at new houses. These days, it’s rare to see homes with wood-burning fireplaces. Tony likes the look of gas fireplaces, but I’m not as easily sold on them. I have very fond memories of sitting on the hearth in my pajamas in front of a real blazing fire.

And I remember how we used to toast marshmallows (‘til our stomachs hurt!) and roast hot dogs on a stick. Sometimes they’d catch fire and we’d have to quickly blow them out before they were charred. (Didn’t matter, though. They were still good that way, too!) You can’t do that with gas logs.

It is such a nice memory for me and it’s a part of childhood that I’d like my own children to experience.

Sure, you can gather around a campfire or grill in the backyard and toast marshmallows. That’s all good! But, in the dark of winter and when the wind’s howling outside, sitting in front of the fireplace roasting marshmallows and making one’s dinner is a real treat—for little and big kids.

Hot Dog Sandwiches in the Fireplace

Slices of white bread

Sliced hot dogs, once down the middle long-ways and short-ways

Melted butter

Using a pie maker, liberally brush melted butter on the insides. Center one slice of bread on each side of the pie maker. Fill with sliced hot dog. Close and remove any outer bread crust. (Do not re-open!)

Place over hot logs in the fireplace. Flip frequently. Do not leave unattended! Once it has been in the fireplace cooking, you can carefully open it to check for doneness. (The sandwich is finished when the bread is golden brown on each side.)

Remove from fireplace, gently remove hot dog sandwich and place onto plate.

Cherry Pies in the Fireplace

Slices of white bread

1 can Cherry Pie filling

Melted butter

Using a pie maker, liberally brush melted butter on the insides. Center one slice of bread on each side of the pie maker. Fill with a spoonful or two of cherry pie filling. Close and remove any outer bread crust. (Do not re-open!)

Place over hot logs in the fireplace. Flip frequently. Do not leave unattended! Once it has been in the fireplace cooking, you can carefully open it to check for doneness. (The cherry pie is finished when the bread is golden brown on each side.)

Remove from fireplace, gently remove cherry pie and place onto plate. Enjoy!

Mom’s Baked Apples

4 baking apples, cored

4 Tbsp. raisins and/or nuts

4 Tbsp. clear honey

Cinnamon to taste

Set oven at 375 degrees.

With a paring knife, core apples and stand them bottom down in a baking dish. Spread a thin layer of honey inside and on top of the apple. Sprinkle cinnamon, to taste, making sure some gets inside the apple. Stuff raisins and/or nuts into the center of the apple.

Bake uncovered for 20 – 30 minutes or until apple skin starts to split. Serves 4.

Note: If your apple won’t stand upright, you can cut a small slice off the bottom to make it level or you can place the apples in a muffin tin to hold in place.

Hot Cranberry-Apple Cider

2 quarts apple cider

1 quart cranberry juice

1 6-ounce can of frozen orange juice concentrate

1 cinnamon stick

Put all of the ingredients together in a large pot. Put the pot on the stove and turn the heat on to medium-high.

Once the cider is steaming, turn the temperature down to low or simmer to keep it hot.

Snapshot memories …

La’s favorite tricycle with tassels that flipped her. Mom made her put it out for the garbage men. Lori sat on the curb and watched them cart it off…

Nursery Rhymes; Mother Goose; Little Golden Books; Dr. Seuss

An assortment of broken crayons; boxes of paint by number kits; dried up markers with smashed tips

Ohio Med Family Picnic; 2-legged sack race; a silver dollar for coming in first

Lori playing with Loan; pretending to be runaways and being on a train. Playing Grease! with Monica. The thing that was weird is that she was always John Travolta! Playing gypsy…

Debbie playing kitchen

Hot wheels and train sets; Connect-4 and checkers

Making our own costumes; old pillowcases used to gather treats; sweaty Halloween masks with broken elastic head bands

Bruce with a stack of encyclopedias next to his bed

Sitting on bleachers for Friday night basketball games; dad yelling at the refs because of bad calls

Bicycles without gears; wide handle bars and a sparkly blue banana seat; the freedom of riding without a helmet