Text 9055, 96 rader
Skriven 2008-06-14 18:11:07 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 8899 av Nancy Backus (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: holiday soup
====================
Hi Nancy,

 RH> (still is).  Our first year in Germany, I bought a wreath and we taught
 RH> our girls about the religious aspects of why it was done.  Seeing it,
 RH> hearing our explination, and having our churchs there (and other
 RH> places since) do it, they appreciate the meaning of the season better.

 NB> And probably are or will be passing along the true meaning to their
 NB> own kids, as well.  :)   Growing up, we didn't really do much before

Hopefully they will. Robert hasa basic understanding but he'll know more
this coming Christmas.

 NB> Christmas Eve, when Daddy would go out and get a close-out Christmas
 NB> tree (usually from the Boy Scouts), except for Christmas shopping for

My dad would gt one from the scouts a couple of weeks before but not put
it up until Christmas Eve. Then it came down on New Year's Day. In his
younger years, he also went with the scouts to cut the trees.

 NB> each other, and other family and friends.  Then Mommy and Daddy would
 NB> stay up just about the whole night to trim the tree, wrap presents,
 NB> fill stockings, etc.  When I was older, late high school and college,

We'd have most all of it done beforehand.  We decorated the tree the day
it wa put up--usually in the afternoon.

 NB> stay up and help them...  and when morning was dawning, I'd keep the
 NB> younger kids amused until M&D woke up, and Christmas morning could
 NB> officially begin.  :)  The religious aspect of it was simply something
 NB> that we grew up with knowing...  Daddy always read the Christmas story
 NB> before we opened anything, too.

My dad would read it on Christmas Eve before we went to bed. Maybe a
glass of egg nog and then bed. The "evening meal" on Christmas Day was
always cookies and cocoa; my mom used to bake about 8 different kinds of
cookies.  I think she's cut back to 4-5 and half size batches but it's
still a lot of cookies.

 RH> PB&J was my folks mainstay for sandwiches for us kids.  If it wasn't
 RH> that, (for school lunches), it was either a slice of bologna or a
 RH> slice of "Kraft singles" cheese.  We'd rarely get tuna fish sandwiches
 RH> and never have any turkey or from a roast.

 NB> We got PBJ, bologna, and sometimes pickle loaf or olive loaf.  Cheese,
 NB> too, but I think that we didn't usually have the American type, at
 NB> least not the pre-sliced.  Velveeta sometimes, real cheddar sometimes,
 NB> muenster or swiss...  Also cream cheese with PB and/or jelly;
 NB> variations such as PB & raisins & mayonnaise, PB and honeybutter
 NB> (mixed up at home) with wheat germ.  I remember making myself raisin
 NB> bread with ketchup
 NB> sandwiches as a teen.  We always had different kinds of bread (usually
 NB> bought from the "day-old" stands), whole wheat, rye, pumpernickle,
 NB> raisin, cracked wheat.  We probably also had white, but it wasn't
 NB> Wonder bread...  We were allowed to be creative, with the materials at
 NB> hand...

Sounds a lot better than what we had. My folks always got the cheap,
supermarket brand of white bread. Dr. David Rueben calls it "balloon
bread" as it's so full of air.

 RH> I generally use a home made (unsalted) stock instead of bullion. Last
 RH> night I made pepper steak for supper;  the recipe called for salt, a
 RH> bullion cube and soy sauce.  I omitted the salt, used stock for the
 RH> bullion and used the soy sauce.  It had enough salt for us. I use a
 RH> bit of salt in some cooking but usually only a pinch (or grind) or two.

 NB> Ah, well... you are a cook.  (G)  I'm at best just a latent cook. (G)
 NB> I'll use the canned or boxed stocks... I do tend to try to get the

Had to learn out of neccessity, now it's fun to be creative.

 NB> reduced salt versions, as we don't like things too salty.  Once upon a
 NB> time, when I had time, energy and the need, I did do up a few batches
 NB> of salt-free soups from scratch, and home-canned them, mostly to give
 NB> to
 NB> Richard's gramma who wasn't supposed to be having salt anymore, and
 NB> was complaining that the food was just way too bland...  Turkey rice,
 NB> beef
 NB> vegetable, chicken noodle...  We had some of it, too, of course.  But
 NB> that was years ago now...

Salt fre can be quite bland. That's where herbs and spices can add
flavor. And, I can see, if you used white rice, it would be extra bland.
(G)

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Gone crazy, be back later. leave a message at the Beep!

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