Today, my door bell rang, but I was napping, and I didn’t get up. No one comes to my door except the Avon man who rings the bell.  Then, a minute or two later, I heard knocking on my glass patio door.  I figured I had better check this out.  There stood a young man and a toddler.  The toddler was busy trying to eat a big green apple, his yellow hair tousled, his clothes mismatched.  The young man was holding a yellow bag. I thought he was delivering phone books.  I looked at them both through the door, and the young man said, “Maam, would you happen to have some work I could do.  I have a 1 year old and a 2 year old, me and my wife, and we are hungry, and the babies don’t have any diapers.”  I looked at him standing there in sweat pants and a tee shirt in this raining cool weather we were having, looking like it was going to storm.  He said, “I came up and don’t have any family in the area.  I’ll do any kind of work.”  I was so touched, but then, again, I have been burned many times throughout my life.  I have always been a soft touch.  I have always been for the underdog and tried to help people, and, so far, I don’t see the rewards on this earth.  I am waiting for them in heaven. On this earth, it seems the people who are out for themselves, who lie, cheat and steal, come out better.  I told the young man, “Now listen, this is a one time only deal.  I can’t trust anyone anymore because of things that have happened to me.  I don’t need any work done.  I’m old and don’t have much myself.  My mom paid my way to bingo last night and I won a hundred dollars.  She paid my way because I was flat broke.  Now, I want you to take this 20 dollar bill and get those babies some diapers, and if there is anything left go down and get some bread and milk and cheese.”  The young man genuinely said, “Maam, I don’t want a hand-out.”   I looked at him and said, “Please, bless your heard, take it.  I won it when I needed money.  Maybe you are the reason I won it so I would have this to give you today. No, take it,” and, as he took my hand with the money in it, he kissed the back of my hand, and looked at me with tears in his eyes.  My eyes were teary, too.  I told him to please call the Salvation Army or check out the food pantries around here since he was new to the area, and I turned away, as he walked off.

What a sad state of the economy:  Number one that I work every day and still am broke before payday comes around again in 2 weeks.  That I work every day and can’t have any pleasurable activity like going to a movie or playing bingo unless someone pays my way.  That the utility bills can charge you to “deliver” the gas to your house.  That groceries are so high, milk over $4.00 a gallon.  I don’t even know what diapers cost, but I’m sure they are way up there now.  That people are struggling so they have to go door to door to ask for work, and in most areas, if someone called the police, they would probably arrest them and take their children away. 

My heart grieves for this young man and his family, and those like him.  There isn’t any work around here.  I feel sorry for myself sometimes, but at least I have a job.  I feel for this young man and his kids who may have empty bellies and be sitting around hungry.  I know how that feels, and I remember my grandma, what she told me when I was a child, and a picture she had….it was a picture of Jesus knocking on a door with someone opening it…it was a beautiful picture….and my grandma said, you never know when Jesus might knock on your door.  He might even come as a stranger asking for help…so I helped this young man.  I could have been being duped.  He could have wanted money for drugs or something, but I didn’t get that impression from his eyes.  I think he really was hungry, and from the way that child was dressed and chewing on that apple trying to eat it, I believe he was sincere.   Anyway, I fell for it.  Luckily, I had the money from winning at bingo because I, myself, didn’t have any food in the house I could give him.  I couldn’t go to the store lately and was running low. 

I just had to write this because I have been upset about it all day, and I had to get it off my chest.  Why did he choose my door?  I live in a poor neighborhood.  Maybe he just started walking down a street close to where he lives.  Anyway, I’m trying to put it out of my un-trusting mind, all the alterior motives as to why someone would do this. 

It is a sad state of the economy when we begin seeing hobo’s and people knocking on people’s door asking for work and for food.

God Bless President Obama and God Bless the United States of Amerca.

It was Christmas time again. Everyone hustling and bustling about. The time for gift giving, friends and family, baking, candy making. Times were tough this Christmas. There would be more homemade gifts. There seemed to be less homes decorated with lights, fewer trees in the windows, and she noticed fewer cars in the shopping marts, as she went for groceries. It was a sad statement of the current economy. She was trying her best to bake everyone something for Christmas, make special candy, because money was tight. She had been stricken with an illness that kept her from working this year for months and never quite getting back up to snuff. Her pay checks got slimmer and slimmer, so there wouldn’t be the money she usually had at Christmas time for gift giving. She was a mother, though, and it was hard for her to come to terms with the fact that she couldn’t give good presents for Christmas. She had always wanted Christmas to be more…it never seemed as though she had given enough. Times had been rough before, but she would go to work without lunch money so her kids could have theirs. She would use her Christmas bonus every year for her family, taking none for herself. Her family was all grown up now. They had their own homes and families.

It was Christmas Eve. She had made lots of goodies for gift giving, only to find out no on wanted them. They didn’t want candy or cookies. They were fat enough. Thank heaven she would have a little Christmas bonus this year. She was one of the lucky ones to even have a job, let alone get a bonus. She would split the money up between her children, grandchildren, and their spouses. It wouldn’t be a lot, but it was all she had to give.

She heard from her friends that some of their kids didn’t even want to exchange gifts with them. One of her friend’s said that was fine, but why did they pick her to say this to and not their mother-in-law, who always seemed to get a present. Well, maybe she did more for them. Maybe she was more available. Maybe she came around more. Maybe she was more a part of their family.

Another friend had told her that her child wanted a really expensive gift, and that she felt bad she couldn’t get it for him. She just wasn’t going to have enough money.

Another friend had said her children never asked for anything, but of course knew they would get something. All children, young or old , will…as long as they have a mother.

It was a sad fact of life she was getting older now. She had not always made the best decisions in life. She didn’t have a big house or live in the nicest neighborhood. She didn’t even get to see her children but maybe once or twice a year…sometimes on Thanksgiving, and Christmas, occasionally through the year. She wanted them to come to her house, and she was always there, but they were busy. They worked. They had families of their own.

She vowed this year she would not run around trying to find a time they weren’t busy to deliver their Christmas gifts and would make them have to come to her house to see her to get them, but as it got closer to Christmas, she knew she would have to go. She hadn’t heard anything from them. Every time there was a plan made, it fizzled out.

So, she tracked them down, one by one, and in between their comings and goings, their busy social lives and the other people they had to visit, she went to deliver her meager Christmas gifts.

It was Christmas Eve, and she had called her children and wished them a Merry Christmas, and let them know she would cook a ham and have food to eat if they would stop by and see her on Christmas Day, as she hoped they would.

Time was passing by quickly. She lit her little table tree and got out her box of pictures. There were no presents under the tree. She had gotten them all delivered. She turned on “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and began to sort through her box of pictures. Christmas trees, presents under the tree, children with smiling faces as they opened their presents in their pajamas. Tears came to her eyes. Those were most CHERISHED Christmas memories.

Before she knew it, the clock had struck midnight, and she knew no one was coming Christmas Eve. She still had hope for Christmas Day. She was sitting in the chair holding a Christmas picture of her and all her children.

Christmas night at 10:30, she got a call from her daughter, but she couldn’t answer it. She was no longer of this world. She had passed on to the next. Her daughter figured she had gone to bed and didn’t investigate further. She was found by a neighbor, sitting in the chair by the window, clutching her picture to her heart.

I hope if you read this, you might remember your mother…think about what she did for you…you may not know the whole story…you may not know everything your mother went through for you to have the best Christmases she could give you.

If you can’t visit her, you could call her before she calls you on Christmas day. You could be the first one to call instead of her. That in itself would tell her you were thinking of her on Christmas and that even though she is not there with you, you haven’t forgotten her. You could play some childhood Christmas music and call your mom and let her know you are doing this. That will make her heart happy.

You never know…no matter what her age, this could be her last Christmas….you never know, it could be yours….remember, no one will ever love you like your mother, and when you get old it is a lonely time anyway, especially at Christmas and around the holidays. Don’t leave your mother sitting alone on Christmas with a box of pictures of Christmas PAST to look at. Give her a Christmas PRESENT.

CHRISTMAS HAM

Easy way to honey glaze your ham

5-6 lb. fully cooked ham
1/4 cup whole cloves
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 cups honey
2/3 cup butter
1/8 tsp. white pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place ham cut side down in a foil-lined roasting pan. Using a sharp knife, score the surface of the ham in a diamond pattern. Place the whole cloves in the scored intersections. If you don’t like the cloves taste, leave this part out.

Combine corn syrup, honey, butter, and pepper in the top of your double boiler, and heat until the butter melts and the mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally. Let the glaze sit in the top of the double boiler, over the hot water, while your ham bakes, for extra basting glaze.

Brush glaze over ham, cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 325 degrees, basting the ham every 10 to 15 minutes with the warm honey glaze.

During the last 5 minutes of baking time, remove the foil and turn on the oven broiler to caramelize the glaze. During the broiling time watch the ham carefully because it is easy to burn the glaze on top of the ham.

Remove ham from oven, cover with foil, and let sit for 10 more minutes before serving.

A 5 to 6 pound ham should serve 10-12 people.

POTATO SALAD

Ingredients
4  pounds  potatoes (about 8 big potatoes)
3  hard-cooked eggs, chopped up, diced, cut into 8ths, however, you like it.
1  cup  mayonnaise
1  tablespoon  spicy brown mustard
1 1/2  teaspoons  salt
3/4  teaspoon  pepper

Preparation

Cook potatoes in boiling water, covered, about 40 minutes, till tender.  Drain and let potatoes cool down. Peel the potatoes, and cut into 1 inch cubes.

Sometimes I bake the potatoes, let them cool in the fridge and then peel and cut them.

Stir together potato and egg.

Stir together mayonnaise and next 3 ingredients; gently stir into potato mixture. Serve immediately.  I think it is best left overnight in the fridge.
Sweet Pickle: Add 1/3 cup sweet salad cube pickles or relish.

2 celery ribs, diced, and 1/2 small sweet onion, diced, to potato mixture.

Light Potato Salad: Substitute 1 cup low fat mayo.

DEVILED EGGS

6 eggs (makes 12 deviled eggs, duh)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 tsp salt

one or two shakes of the pepper shaker

2 tsp prepared mustard (plain old yellow mustard)

a pinch of sugar (then to taste)

Remove egg yolks. Mash them up with a fork.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Some people add sweet pickle relish – I personally don’t like them that way.  This is simple and tasty.

BAKED BEANS

SIMPLE – Just buy a couple cans of baked beans – doesn’t matter – If you can still find BIG JOHN’S – these always worked great.  If you want you can fry up some bacon, just don’t let it get too crisp, and add this to your baked beans.  But bacon or not, add some brown sugar to taste, put in some molasses or dark corn syrup to taste – I find TASTING is a big part of cooking – maybe that is why I am never hungy when it comes time to eat…I watch everyone fill their plates and sit down to eat while being asked, “where’s your plate,” and I find, I’m just not hungry for a big old plate of food… wonder why?????  Cook this a while on top of the stove or go all out and stick it in the oven just to heat it all up. That’s the end of that.

So you have ham, potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, and just buy some little dinner rolls, preferably from a good bakery around your house, and you can serve this meal up all day long.  Of course, refrigerate any food after it has sit out about an hour and a half. 

For dessert, you have all those cookies and candies, I just know you have already made, to sit out on the buffet or counter-top if anyone has any room left for dessert. 

Grab a plate, go sit down, enjoy each others’ company.  Thank your higher power for bringing everyone together once again this year.  Share memories of Christmas past.  Remember our loved ones who aren’t with us and the joy and happiness they brought us.  First and foremost,  remember we are celebrating the birthday of our beloved Jesus Christ.

A Patty Playpal doll/my brother got a cowboy outfit complete with gun

CAROL

Villagers all, this frosty tide,
Let your doors swing open wide,
Though wind may follow, and snow beside,
Yet draw us in by your fire to bide;
Joy shall be yours in the morning!

Here we stand in the cold and the sleet,
Blowing fingers and stamping feet,
Come from far away you to greet—
You by the fire and we in the street—
Bidding you joy in the morning!

For ere one half of the night was gone,
Sudden a star has led us on,
Raining bliss and benison—
Bliss to-morrow and more anon,
Joy for every morning!

Goodman Joseph toiled through the snow—
Saw the star o’er a stable low;
Mary she might not further go—
Welcome thatch, and litter below!
Joy was hers in the morning!

And then they heard the angels tell
‘Who were the first to cry NOWELL?
Animals all, as it befell,
In the stable where they did dwell!
Joy shall be theirs in the morning!’

——————————————————————————–
The above carol appears in chapter five of The Wind in the Willows where it is sung by the field-mice to Mole and Rat.
Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. New York: Charles Scriber’s Sons, 1908.
It can also be found in:

Harrington, Mildred P., and Josephine H. Thomas, eds. Our Holidays in Poetry. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938.

Nothing gets me in the Christmas mood like the CLASSIC – CHRISTMAS VACATION.  This movie has it all, the unexpected visiting relatives, the mishaps with the tree, the MUCH AWAITED CHRISTMAS BONUS, and the classic “quotes” from Chevy Chase that I have used many times at Christmas – although, there is one I sometimes use from BEETLEJUICE – “I’m going crazy, and I’m taking you all with me!!!!!” 

Another movie that is wonderful for Christmas Time is the TIMELESS CLASSIC -” THE BISHOP’S WIFE,” starring Cary Grant, as the angel, and the beautiful Loretta Young, as the Bishop’s wife. 

I love to watch “BORROWED HEARTS,” “EBBIE,” “A CHRISTMAS STORY,” who can forget Dolly Partin’s “SMOKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS.”  BIll Murray’s “SCROOGED,” is a MUST watch CLASSIC. A “DIVA”S CHRISTMAS CAROL,” is also a great update of the original CHRISTMAS CAROL.   The old, “MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET,” with Maureen O’Hara and John Payne, is a must see. 

I’ll post more, as I find them.  These are the ones that come to mind right now.

Also, you MUST have Gene Autry’s Christmas songs, with “Rudolph the Red Nose Reinder, Frosty the Snowman, Here Comes Santa Claus,” playing in the background when children are visiting at Christmas time.   It’s also good to play while baking.  I love to listen to Manheim Steamrollers Christmas music. also. 

All this said, I better get busy.  I need to get my mind on Thanksgiving…2 days away. I know, I’m getting ahead of myself, but they are already putting the Christmas shows on TV, that’s all it takes for me. 

Better check my turkey breast, hope it is getting thawed out.