The days are starting to get noticeably longer as we move toward springtime. I usually stop this time of year and wonder what happened to the last six weeks. It seems like we just celebrated the holidays a week ago!
DEALING WITH DEATH. We went to Marijo’s funeral on Wednesday and it was a really good service. What made the service most helpful in finding some closure is that her grandson, Brian Barry, delivered a eulogy. He had written it when she had been seriously ill a few months ago and when she got better had shared it with her so his words had her blessing before he delivered them. He gave everyone a chance to laugh and cry about all the traits and quirks that made her the person she was.
Mom rode with us to the funeral home. During the course of the conversation she told me that a nephew of Mrs. Connie’s had died last weekend as well. He was quite a bit younger than I am but I remember him out in the tobacco patch when Kenny and I were raising tobacco together. Unfortunately, I learned this after he was already buried. Then Mom told me about another fellow, Ritchie Escue, who had just died from liver problems. He was a couple of years younger than I am and grew up in the community. We didn’t share a lot of interests but he was a likable fellow and he came to a lot of activities at church when we were growing up. In recent years I had kept up with him through his mom who had been hired to sit with Aunt Ruth.
SNOW SUPERSTITIONS. All the weather people were calling for snow Wednesday night. Jenna was sooo excited and told the boys to put their pajamas on inside out to make sure the snow would come. So our crew trooped off to bed with all their stitches showing, dreaming of a fun filled day of playing in the snow. In the morning I flipped on the TV to learn that we were running two hours late and all the neighboring counties were running on time. Jenna was pretty disappointed and when I mentioned that the pajama idea hadn’t worked she simply said, “I guess we should have put spoons under our pillows too!”
They were calling for another snow to begin on Friday afternoon, this time predicting 4-6 inches for our area. It looked like they got this one right but alas, it began to taper off a few hours later. We woke up the next morning with two inches and rising temperatures. We did get a great snowball fight in after Jenna’s ball game.
MOVIE REVIEWS. Vicki called me before I left town Friday evening and asked that I stop by the movie store on my way home. Being the dutiful husband I went along with half of the population of Springfield to rent some flicks to keep us entertained during the impending blizzard. Jenna requested Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which we watched Friday evening. This is not just a weird movie, it redefines for me the 10 on the weirdness scale.
I also rented The Legend of Zorro and Batman Begins. Vicki and I enjoyed these films very much. Zorro was fun to watch. My only complaint with it was that some of the jokes and one of the sets seemed a bit too modern for the year the year the story was set (1850). For those of you not up on the Batman movies this was a prequel to all the other films produced in the last 17 years and is by far the best.
THE FUDGE. Everyone has those foods they grew up with that are so good to your own personal taste that the same dish cooked by another person is measured against what you grew up with. For me one of those items is fudge. Mom and Aunt Mar make the fudge that sets the standard for me. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy fudge made by someone else, as long as they don’t contaminate it with nuts I usually do.
The recipe is titled Never Fail Fudge and it reads simple enough. It needs to be renamed. During our first years of marriage I asked Vicki to make the fudge. After her third failure she vowed never to attempt it again. Unfortunately, I married a woman who is true to her word. Since neither Mom or Aunt Mar made any fudge this holiday season I became desperate and took matters into my own hands. Now I am not a confident cook. When I am preparing food in the kitchen I always feel I am about half a step away from burning down the house or something so I approach the chore with fear and trembling.
To get back to the fudge, my first batch failed--too grainy. The second batch was good but never set (you could dip it out of the dish and 10 minutes later never tell that any fudge had been taken). By this time my supportive wife had presented me with a recently purchased candy thermometer. My third attempt produced chocolate brittle (I burnt it, okay). I finally succeeded on the fourth try but was so mixed up by then that for the life of me I can’t remember what I did right. If you want to give this a go here is the recipe:
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all ingredients except vanilla and bring to a boil. Boil one minute for icing, two minutes for candy. Add vanilla and beat well. Pour into a buttered pan. Hope for the best.
Joe
