Lost in the mail?

I freely admit that I'm a creature of habit and have always been a little fanatical when it came to paying bills. Maybe it was growing up poor, but I've always tried to pay things on time even before I had heard of a credit score. Plus, I really hate late charges. It's one thing to pay a late charge because you just didn't have the money available to pay on time. But, to pay a late charge because you forgot the bill? It's like throwing a pile of dollar bills in the floor and setting them on fire. It really irks me and I never really understood it until it happened to me.
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I don't remember what was going on in my life at the time, but I remember totally forgetting to make a payment on an installment loan. This was years ago before you could even get a free credit score. I ended up calling the company and they waived the late charge for me. I don't think companies are as understanding with their fees these days. But, it's always worth a try. I've had a few payments lost in the mail. No, really, they were lost in the mail. Of course, I didn't know until the next bill came in with a big fat late charge. Let that happen on a credit card these days and you'll end up with 24% or higher interest. It's just easier to pay the bill online.
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After years, and I do mean years, the due date changed on my electric bill. Before I even had a house of my own, I'd go with Mom to pay our bill. So, that due date has been in my head since I was a child. They changed it because they were going to centralized billing. Really? Couldn't the central computer use the same due date? So, here I am trying to remember if this is the week the bill comes in the mail. Hopefully it won't get lost in the mail.

Is it the heat or what?

It's Summer and the living is easy. Right? Maybe it's the heat, but tempers seem to be a little short everywhere these days. I was waiting in line at the pharmacy the other day and they forgot me. So, my wait turned into several minutes. Honestly, I kind of 'zoned out' and didn't realize how much time had passed. At least I didn't notice until the clerk kept apologizing to me. I kept saying it was no problem and also thought, hey, if that's the worse thing that happens today, then it will be a good day. Almost immediately afterward, I was a victim of road rage. It happened so quickly that I didn't have time to be scared, but afterward, I kept wondering what had happened. I still don't know what I did and though I had obviously upset a guy in a pick-up, he never honked his horn.
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So, in the span of a few minutes, one stranger was apologizing to me for something that I wasn't even upset about and another was chasing me down for some unknown slight. What's up with everyone lately? Can't we just take a step back, take a deep breath and relax a little? Do we always have to be wound so tightly that when the slightest thing goes wrong, it's a disaster? Well, waiting a few extra minutes in line is not a disaster. If you've never lived through one, you've definitely seen a disaster on television. And, I betting if you take a step back, you can see the difference.
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Yes, we're all under a lot of pressure - family, work, finances - but you know what? The key words there are 'we're all under a lot of pressure'. Not just you or me, but everyone. We all have our own set of problems and you never know what might be going on in some one's life. You've been there...one of those days where if one more thing happens, you'll either snap or be reduced to a puddle of tears. Just one more straw and it'll break your back. Don't be some one's straw today, and maybe someone will give you a break too. It is summertime after all.

Star Spangled Banner

Oh! say, can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming—
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous flight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
Oh! say, does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses!
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream;
’Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave;
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation,
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto—“In God is our trust”—
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Don't you work here?

I think that I wear 'normal' clothes. But, I cannot count the times that I have been in a store and another customer asked me for help thinking that I worked there. One time, a lady became down right upset with me when I didn't know where the product she was looking for was located. She actually said "Well, don't you work here?". She was shocked and a little embarrassed when I said no. I spent a few hours wandering the hospital while a family member was in surgery several years ago. I guess my mauve top looked a little too much like nursing scrubs. Everyone was asking for directions! I learned a lesson that day to be careful of what I wore when going anywhere near the hospital.
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Maybe it's the Christmas in July sales that usually come around every summer. Or, it could just be that with the end of June, half the year is gone already. Where does the time go?
These days, with cool websites like http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/ shopping for uniforms was never easier. And, it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas! What are you giving your favorite medical worker this year?

Pickle Juice & Summer Salad Recipes

Can you believe it's June already? I don't know where the days go. One of my favorite things about summer in the hollow has always been salads. Mom would make up big batches of potato salad and slaw almost every week. I was talking with Sunflower Sue the other day about saving pickle juice. You know - the juice left over in the pickle jar? Mom always saved it and used it in her potato salad. In days when every drop counted, Mom knew how to get every bit of salad dressing (we're talking Kraft here, not mayo) out of a jar. She'd pour a little pickle juice in the jar and shake it up. And, just like magic, there would be this wonderful 'dressing' she'd use to spice up the potato salad. Or, sometimes we'd use it in a bottle of store bought dressing that didn't have enough left in the bottle to get through dinner that evening. If there was no pickle juice on hand, then a little apple cider vinegar worked just as well.
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To this day, I still save pickle juice. These days, I'll use it as a base for a homemade salad dressing as I don't make potato salad that often. But, it's little things like this that really helped stretch the budget back in the hollow. So, the next time you are about to throw out an 'empty' bottle of salad dressing, try the pickle juice trick.
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Here are some vintage salad recipes I ran across in a cookbook from the late 1800's.

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Plain Salad Dressing is admissible with nearly all salads. It is composed of oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt, and nothing else. Many who do not care particularly for oil, use equal quantities of oil and vinegar, others one-third vinegar to two-thirds oil; these proportions satisfy a large class, but four parts of oil to one of vinegar are about the right proportions, provided the vinegar is of the best.
The plain dressing is made in two ways, either mixed in a bowl and the salad added to it, or as follows: Take a tablespoon and put in it (holding it over the salad) one saltspoonful of salt, one-fourth this quantity of freshly ground pepper, and a tablespoonful of oil; mix and add to the salad. Add three more tablespoonfuls of oil; toss the salad lightly for a few seconds; lastly, add a tablespoonful of sharp vinegar; toss the salad again, and serve.
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Beef Salad.—Cut into neat pieces, an inch in length, half a pound of boiled fresh beef. Take two heads of crisp lettuce, reject the outside leaves, wipe the small leaves separately, place them in a salad-bowl, add the beef. Chop up a sweet Spanish pepper, add a tablespoonful to the salad. Prepare a plain dressing, pour it over the salad; just before serving, mix gently.
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Breakfast Salad.—Scald two ripe tomatoes; peel off the skin, and place them in ice-water; when very cold, slice them. Peel and slice very thin one small cucumber. Put four leaves of lettuce into a salad-bowl, add the tomatoes and cucumber. Cut up one spring onion; add it, and, if possible, add four or five tarragon leaves. Now add a plain dressing and serve.
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Chicken Salad.—The average cook book contains a good deal of nonsense about this salad. Nothing can be more simple than to mix a little nicely cut cold boiled chicken and celery together, with a tablespoonful or two of mayonnaise. Put this mixture into a salad-bowl, arrange it neatly, and over all add a mayonnaise. Garnish with celery tops, hard-boiled eggs, strips of beets, etc. Use a little more celery than chicken. Or, tear a few leaves of lettuce, put them in a salad-bowl, and add half a cold, boiled, tender chicken that has been cut into neat pieces; pour over it a mayonnaise; garnish neatly, and serve.
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For large parties, and when the chicken is apt to become dry, from having been cut up long before it is wanted, it is best to keep it moist by adding a plain dressing. Drain it before using. Put on a flat side-dish a liberal bed of crisp lettuce. Add the chicken, garnish neatly, and, just before sending to table, pour over it a mayonnaise.
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If in hot weather, arrange the salad on a dish that will stand in a small tub or kid. Fill this with ice, place the dish on top, pin a napkin or towel around the tub to hide it from view. Flowers, smilax, etc., may be pinned on this, which produce a very pretty effect.
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In ancient times the fairest and youngest lady at table was expected to prepare and mix the salad with her fingers. "Retourner la salade les doigts," is the French way of describing a lady to be still young and beautiful.
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Cucumber Salad.—If properly prepared, cucumbers are not apt to interfere with digestion. They should be gathered early in the morning and kept in a cool place until wanted. After peeling, slice them very thin; sprinkle a little salt over them; let stand ten minutes, and add cayenne, and equal parts of oil and vinegar. If allowed to remain in salt water any length of time, if oil is omitted, or if their natural juices are squeezed out of them, they become indigestible.
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Orange Salads.—Peel and slice three oranges that have been on ice. Remove the seeds, arrange the slices in a compote, cover with powdered sugar, and add two tablespoonfuls each of maraschino, curaçoa, and brandy. Let it stand an hour in the ice-box before serving. Or, arrange in a dish a neat border of cold boiled rice. Peel and divide into sections three Florida oranges; put the oranges in the centre; dust powdered sugar over all, and set the dish in the ice-box. Just before serving pour over the salad two wineglassfuls of arrack. A plain salad dressing is served with orange salad in some places in the East, but would not suit the American palate.

They're Back!!!

Little red eyes and enough noise to drive you crazy...cicadas are back! This is the 13-year swarm in Tennessee. And, boy are they loud! I can even hear the roar above the air conditioner. I know some areas are not as loud as not everyone is surrounded by trees. This one posed for a long time on the porch.

Different types of cicadas actually swarm every year, but the big swarms occur with the 17 year and 13 year cicadas. Want to know more about them? Check out Cicadas bring back the buzz or Cicadas.

Fried Potatoes

Fried potatoes are a guilty pleasure. They didn't used to be. Once upon a time, they were a staple at the supper table. But, over the last few years, the potato, particularly fried, has almost become a four letter food. These fried potatoes found their way unto the breakfast table too. Often the leftover potatoes found their way into a sandwich if meat was scarce. I had forgotten about those long ago sandwiches until I read these recipes. This is exactly how I was taught to prepare fried potatoes in the Hollow. Hope you enjoy them!

Thin Fried Potatoes.

Pare and cut raw potatoes very thin, with either the vegetable slicer or a sharp knife. Put them in cold water and let them stand in a cold place (the ice chest is best) from ten to twenty-four hours. This draws out the starch. Drain them well. Put about one pint in the frying basket, plunge into boiling lard, and cook about ten minutes. After the first minute set back where the heat will decrease. Drain, and dredge with salt. Continue this until all are fried. Remember that the fat must be hot at first, and when it has regained its heat after the potatoes have been added, must be set back where the potatoes will not cook fast. If the cooking is too rapid they will be brown before they have become crisp. Care must also be taken, when the potatoes are first put in the frying kettle, that the fat does not boil over. Have a fork under the handle of the basket, and if you find that there is danger, lift the basket partly out of the kettle. Continue this until all the water has evaporated; then let the basket remain in the kettle. If many potatoes are cooked in this way for a family, quite an amount of starch can be saved from the water in which they were soaked by pouring off the water and scraping the starch from the bottom of the vessel. Dry, and use as any other starch.

French Fried Potatoes.

Pare small uncooked potatoes. Divide them in halves, and each half in three pieces. Put in the frying basket and cook in boiling fat for ten minutes. Drain, and dredge with salt. Serve hot with chops or beefsteak. Two dozen pieces can be fried at one time.