Today would have been my Grandma (Verna) Kay’s birthday. I was told she was born in 1899 and/or 1900. Not sure which is true. She was a peach … I miss her.
Rock and Jami are having another baby! Number three for them! They had a sonogram Monday, and the doctor says this is a BIG baby. They’ve decided to be surprised about whether it’s a boy or girl. Since they already have one of each - I think that’s a great idea. It wasn’t even an option when I was pregnantwith Rock - best technology we had was swinging a wedding ring on a string over my stomach. It was right.
Baby Rylan Alana Mutchler was born on March 12, 2008 - on her daddy’s 30th birthday. I was blessed enough to be present for her birth! She is reportedly a very good baby - and very much loved by her ‘big’ sister Kaidence. Bryce isn’t impressed.
My Grandpa T.J. was actually my mother’s grandfather (on her mother’s side) - T.J. lived in Greenup Illinois, and I just barely remember him. He lived in a little house that still had an outhouse out back. He wore long sleeves summer and winter. He played the fiddle (My brother Dennis has his fiddle). He mixed all his food together when he ate it. Peanut butter and syrup was one of his favorites. I wish I could remember more but I was only 3 or 4 when he passed away. I have vague impressions of his house and yard, but was just too little to remember much more than that.
When Daddy was in WWII - He and mother wrote each other a lot. They sent a lot of photos back and forth as well.
Here are some of the ‘cheesecake’ photos that Mom sent to him.
You know they talk about .. how can you only know someone for a few days and know you want to spend the rest of your life together …? Well .. that’s how it was with my Mom and Dad. Mom had been vacationing in FL and was traveling back home to Decatur, IL on the train. She happened to sit down beside a handsome man that was also traveling to Illinois…. or did she CHOOSE to sit beside him? Whichever the reason, they spent the trip to Illinois from Florida getting to know one another. This was war time, and Max was sent to the Pacific, and Joan stayed in Decatur working at the local Walgreens. They wrote letters and exchanged pictures. I still have some of the letter that Daddy wrote to my grandmother (His future mother-in-law) - telling her how he loved her daughter and wanted to take care of her for the rest of his life. Mom says she has all the letters that Daddy wrote to her while he was overseas (She hasn’t shown them to me yet though!) Dad came out of the Army/Air Corps (as it was known then) in 1945, and they married only a short time later November 9th of 1945. Daddy worked on the railroad (on a gang that was gone during the week and home on the weekends) and Mom stayed at home as a homemaker. Daddy never wanted her to work. He always said if she wanted to work, then HE would stay at home. He wanted to take care of her. In 1948 my brother David was born, followed by Dennis in 1951 and me in 1955. They moved into the house that she still lives in in 1949 paying $6000 for it. Last Nov they celebrated 61 years of marriage.
I’m so glad my son is going to have lots of memories of his Grandpa (my Dad). When my Dad retired from the railroad, he was still wanting to work, so my husband and I put him to work around our business. He managed our warehouse, loaded trucks, ran for supplies, gassed up equipment, answered the phone - Did all those ‘little’ things that made our life easier. He took Rock to school every single day until Rock was old enough to drive himself. He taught him things I’ll probably never know about. He told him war stories. He loved Rock more than just about anything. We retired from the business 8 years ago, but Dad continued to come down and ‘watch’ the place - run errands etc., until his stroke last Aug. at age 86.
He lives with me now and doesn’t remember much. It’s times like this I wish I could ask him questions, but those memories only come in flashes and they are fewer and further between. I get to tell HIM stories now.
Even though Aunt Betty isn’t that much older than my husband, she’s always been like a mother to him, and has been my mother-in-law since I met Jim. (I first had to be ‘approved’ by her before Jim could marry me!).
Aunt Betty has dedicated her life to caring for her family. She embraced her ‘job’ of feeding, loving, and nurturing her children, their spouses, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and friends. She’s fiercely loyal, and will not hesitate to tell you if she thinks you’re messing up. I miss that she’s so far away now, but she’s living close to her youngest son now, and she is so needed there with great grandkids and all, that she is thriving and happier than I’ve seen her in a long time.
Aunt Betty married Uncle Bill about 20 years ago, and he slid into the family as if he was always there (to me anyway). I love him to pieces. He loves Aunt Betty’s cooking, and it’s so sweet to see him patting her on the butt. They never leave each other or go to bed without a kiss.
I couldn’t even begin to list all the good recipes that Aunt Betty has given me. She makes nearly everything from scratch and fresh supplies. She can make a ham sandwich taste like a gourmet treat. Holidays at her house are a mind boggling display of the best of the best.
Aunt Betty is my hero.
My mom was an only child born on Jan 30, 1920. Her father was a handyman and delivered ice. Her mother was an expert seamstress and did alterations for people and stores in the area. She doesn’t talk much about growing up, but has a scrapbook she kept when she was a kid with important things that happened, like the Lindbergh kidnapping, a local child getting blood poisoning from a kick to the shin, everything that Shirley Temple did, and more that I can’t remember. It’s been a while since I looked at it. When she was older she worked at the Walgreens store.
Dumplings - It’s our family tradition food - Birthdays, Holidays - any time we get together - we want Chicken and Dumplings! I’ve tasted dumplings at a lot of different places but none are like what my Grandma made. (and my Mom makes now). I don’t like the doughy raised bread tasting dumplings, I like those heavy sinkers, rich in the thick chicken broth.
Here is how my Grandma made Chicken & Dumplings.
Boil a nice fat hen. Let it cool pull of some of the meat for the dumpling broth. I don’t like lots of meat in my dumplings - it’s about the dumplings more than the chicken.
For the dumplings get about 2 cups of flour - 1 tsp. salt - 3 TB of shortening - and a little milk. Cut the shortening into the flour and salt until the mixture is crumbly, add a little milk so that you can tell it’s dough. Flour your work space and roll the dumplings out. Cut them in 2 x 4 squares.
Make some thickening with the cooled chicken broth a little more milk and 2 TB of flour…. Bring the broth to a boil and drop the dumplings in. Add the thickening. (you don’t want it like gravy - just a little body to the broth).
I like my dumplings on top of my mashed potatoes.