I was introduced to truffles at the original Dilettante’s Chocolates on Broadway in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle, Washington, in the early ’80’s. The delicacies were the size of a baby’s fist and expensive even then, but worth it. They were so rich and flavorful I would take a tiny bite and let it melt in my mouth before taking the next morsel. The Hungarian recipes were made with only the finest ingredients and you only needed one because it was nice to let the flavor stay in your mouth for a time. Continue reading “Chocolate Lovers Delight”
Every May 1, across all branches of The United States military, Americans honor the sacrifices of the combat wounded, ill and dying on Silver Star Service Banner Day. [courtesy National Day of Calendar]
I’ve been involved with the military a long time and this is a new one on me though the calendar says this day was established in 1917. Maybe I’m not as observant as I think I am. If there is a blue star banner hanging in someone’s window that means they have a family member that is currently in active service to our country, the United States. If there is a similar colored flag with a gold star that means the military member died while in service to our country. And today I am learning that the silver star banner means the service member came home from combat wounded or ill. Continue reading “Thank a Veteran”
When you move a lot as a military wife, you end up having a lot of different hairdressers. Add on to that, when you have thin baby-fine hair, with just enough wave to be a problem, not an asset, it’s hard to find someone who can cut it so it looks nice when they are done and when you do it yourself. It’s been a long time coming for me to find my gal, Kera. I come home now happy with my cut which is even on both sides, and I style it with little fuss using just a blow dryer and big brush. I’m not a fusser. The sooner I am out of the bathroom, the better. Continue reading
I was late picking up my new out-door enthusiast girlfriend to take to dinner at my parents and never noticed something on the front of her wool jacket, but my mother did. On the way home I asked what the small opaque disks were.
“Oh dear, they’re fish scales. I helped Dad clean the fish we had for breakfast.”
“I want my parents to welcome you back if you’ll go with me again, please be more careful.”
“I’ll do that but you should know welcoming a red-neck like me and accepting me is two different things in my book.”
Written in response to Charli Mills April 26, 2018, prompt from Carrot Ranch Literary: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a fish tale. It can be about fishing from any angle, about those who fish, or what might be caught. Go where the prompt leads.
April 26: Flash Fiction Challenge
As smartphones have become a constant companion for most people in the United States, landline phones are rapidly losing their relevance. In 2004, more than 90 percent of households in the U.S. had an operational landline phone – now it’s (significantly) less than 50 percent. That’s according to data provided by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, which has been tracking phone ownership in the U.S. as a by-product of its biannual National Health Interview Survey since 2004. Continue reading
I grew up in a 4-H household in the rural Finger Lakes area of western New York state. The H’s stand for head, heart, hands, health and we had adult mentors that taught us general life lessons. In my case, cooking and sewing. Other kids raised farm animals but we lived in a little town of 300 people, so didn’t have the necessary barn or pasture.
My mother taught pie baking and I remember a specific lesson on how to make a bed with the sheets tucked properly to make square corners.
My mother doing the demonstration and the back of my head. I was between 5 and 6. Two other “students” look on.
Being the youngest of four girls I learned to bake and cook through osmosis, watching everyone older than me. I don’t remember a specific time in the kitchen with my Mom but my older sisters let me sift the flour and measure the sugar. I was baking batches of cookies and sweet breads on my own by the age of twelve and full dinners by the age of fifteen. Full dinner meaning meat, potato and vegetable.
We “harvested” wild game and fish so I learned how to clean and cook them from my father. Taking a deer from the field and ending with the meat in the freezer is something I can still do today. We liked the flavor of the meats so they were fried, baked or roasted with just salt and pepper, no fancy sauces to mask what we were eating. After a duck and/or goose hunt he would check what was in their gizzard while cleaning them. If the contents were muddy we didn’t eat the meat because it would taste muddy, but if the contents were grain, we enjoyed the whole bird. Fish eggs from perch, trout, or sunfish were enjoyed by all.
To this day I have trouble cooking for just two. Thankfully my husband likes leftovers. “Playing” in my kitchen is fun and to this day most things, sweet and otherwise, are made from scratch. I do regret I didn’t learn to make roses out of frosting to decorate a birthday cake like my Mom used to. Mine always look like they don’t have enough petals and are already wilted. It’s nice to remember hers.
Sue Spitulnik 