Category: HOLIDAYS
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The Tablecloth ~ Who Says God does not work in mysterious ways?
They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc… and on December 18th they were ahead of schedule and just about finished.
On December 19th a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.
On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.
The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.
By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc… to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.
Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. ‘Pastor,’ she asked, ‘where did you get that tablecloth?’ The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria
The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.
The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth, but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house cleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.
The man asked him where he got the Tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.
He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.
The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier.
He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.
How To Make Your Own Smoked Cheese Without A Smoker
It’s time for Fire Day Friday when we take Our Krazy Kitchen outdoors and experiment with live fire (grilling, smoking, roasting, baking using flame).
You can turn this…..
Into this….. (I think this is the first officially licensed OKK product)
But first, the Legal Department here at OKK “asked” (okay….they locked me in a dungeon and force fed me Brussels sprouts until I agreed) to post the following Safety Notice:
For this project you will need:
- A medium sized box slightly narrower than the racks you will use
- 1 unused soldering iron without the tip ($14)
- 1 tin can (burn out the inside with a torch or grill if it has a bpa lining)
- a rack or two of some sort. I used two resting racks that were slightly larger than the box. You could use the rack out of your toaster oven.
- Several blocks of various cheeses
- 1 cup of hardwood or fruit wood chips (you can buy these at many grocery stores and hardware stores these days by their grilling/coal section)

Plug in the soldering iron and wait for the first wisps of smoke (3-5 minutes)…..
Here are some quick tips I can think of
- Bacteria spoils cheese. Make sure your hands, cutting boards, and knives are all sanitized during every step of this process.
- Cold smoke. The inside of the container has to remain below the melting point of your cheeses (roughly 70-80f). The smoke generator will raise the temp of your box by 10-15 degrees (the smaller the box, the greater the temp increase). So do this in the shade on a day when the air temps are 45f or less. Don’t you just love the high tech digital control panel of the OKK Smokerator 3000?
- Packaging – If packing the cheese for gift packs, pick cheeses that alternate in color and can be cut into roughly the same size pieces.
- Experiment with a variety of cheeses – my favorites have been gouda, cheddars, pepper jack, and monterey jack. It occurs to me that I’ve never smoked a blue cheese….and can’t imagine doing so but whatever floats your boat.
- Experiment with a variety of woods – my favorites have been hickory, cherry, and a mix of the two.
- Soft cheeses take on smoke more readily, hard cheeses take longer.
- Use as natural of a cheese that you can. Cheeses with a lot of flavorings and preservatives don’t seem to fare as well.
- Use the best quality cheese that you can.
- Smoked cheeses are great simply with crackers. But when used as an ingredient with sauces, sandwiches, soups and casseroles, it adds a nice subtle layer of flavor.
- Once you have smoked your own cheese, you probably won’t enjoy “smoked” cheese bought at a store because a lot of them just use “smoke flavorings”.
- Once you have tried smoking cheese, try smoking nuts, salts, and peppers.
Try a New Recipe: Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

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Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
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Don’t forget to visit me at The Bad Girl’s Kitchen for more fabulous recipes!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
There are only two easy rules:
1. Post these rules when you participate in this meme.
2. Link to the people you tag as well as the person who tagged you.
1. Which do you like better: hosting Thanksgiving at your home, or going elsewhere?
2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen turkey? Organic? Free-range?
3. Do you make stuffing or dressing? What kind?
Absolutely make it from scratch! It’s an Oatnut Sourdough Herb Stuffing.
4. Sweet potato pie or Pumpkin pie?
Neither, it’s Pumpkin Cheesecake here.
5. Are leftovers a blessing or a curse?
Definitely a blessing. We love the leftovers for easy meals the following week and MUST HAVE turkey sandwiches.
6. What side dishes are a must-have in your family?
Oatnut Sourdough Herb Stuffing, Apricot Carrot Casserole and Baked Pineapple.
7. What do you wish you had that might make Thanksgiving easier?
A double wall oven would be easier on my back.
8. If/when you go to someone else’s house for the holiday, do you usually bring a dish? If so, what is it? My Apricot Carrot Casserole because it is so different and blends well with whatever their menu is.
9. What do you wish one of your guests would bring to your house?
Smiles, appetites and positive attitudes.
10. What do you wish one of your guests would NOT bring to your house?
Bad attitudes coupled with deep seated arguments over politics and/or religion.
11. Do you stick with a particular menu from year to year, or do you mix it up?
12. Is Thanksgiving a religious or secular holiday in your home?
13. Share one Thanksgiving tradition.
The Thanksgiving traditions in my family seemed to dwindle as the kids grew older and then the extended families and alternate get togethers grew. We do have a traditional meal with the same traditional recipes we have always used though.
14. Share one Thanksgiving memory.
15. Name five things you’re thankful for.
- My Faith and love of God
- The love of family and friends
- A roof over our heads
- Food on the table and Dirty Dishes
- Babies & Puppies
THANKSGIVING ROUND-UP
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, November 24th ~ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8th, 2009
WHERE: OuR KrAzY kItChEn
- Do you have a special pumpkin pie recipe recipe?
- What is your favorite side dish recipe?
- Do you have a favorite apple recipe?
- Do you have special way to carve a turkey?
- How about a party punch that’s perfect for the Thanksgiving crowd?
- What is your idea of a best decorating idea?
APPLE RICE STUFFING ~ SIMPLY DELICIOUS SUNDAY

2 1/3 cup apple juice
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 large onion diced
1 stalk celery chopped
2 large apples, unpeeled, diced
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs dried herbs (any combination of oregano, basil, thyme, etc.)
salt and pepper to taste
CEMETERY WATCHMAN – IN HONOR OF VETERANS DAY
My friend Kevin and I are volunteers at a National cemetery in Oklahoma and put in a few days a month in a ‘slightly larger’ uniform. Today had been a long, long day and I just wanted to get the day over with and go down to Smokey’s and have a cold one. Sneaking a look at my watch, I saw the time, 16:55. Five minutes to go before the cemetery gates are closed for the day. Full dress was hot in the August sun Oklahoma summertime was as bad as ever–the heat and humidity at the same level–both too high.
I saw the car pull into the drive, ’69 or ’70 model Cadillac Deville, looked factory-new. It pulled into the parking lot at a snail’s pace.. An old woman got out so slow I thought she was paralyzed; she had a cane and a sheaf of flowers–about four or five bunches as best I could tell.
I couldn’t help myself. The thought came unwanted, and left a slightly bitter taste: ‘She’s going to spend an hour, and for this old soldier, my hip hurts like hell and I’m ready to get out of here right now!’ But for this day, my duty was to assist anyone coming in.
Kevin would lock the ‘In’ gate and if I could hurry the old biddy along, we might make it to Smokey’s in time.
I broke post attention. My hip made gritty noises when I took the first step and the pain went up a notch. I must have made a real military sight: middle-aged man with a small pot gut and half a limp, in marine full-dress uniform, which had lost its razor crease about thirty minutes after I began the watch at the cemetery.
I stopped in front of her, halfway up the walk. She looked up at me with an old woman’s squint.
‘Ma’am, may I assist you in any way?’
She took long enough to answer.
‘Yes, son. Can you carry these flowers? I seem to be moving a tad slow these days.’
‘My pleasure, ma’am.’ (Well, it wasn’t too much of a lie.)
She looked again. ‘Marine, where were you stationed?’
‘ Vietnam , ma’am.. Ground-pounder. ’69 to ’71.’
She looked at me closer. ‘Wounded in action, I see. Well done, Marine. I’ll be as quick as I can.’
I lied a little bigger: ‘No hurry, ma’am.’
She smiled and winked at me. ‘Son, I’m 85-years-old and I can tell a lie from a long way off.. Let’s get this done. Might be the last time I can do this. My name’s Joanne Wieserman, and I’ve a few Marines I’d like to see one more time.’
‘Yes, ma ‘am. At your service.’
She headed for the World War I section, stopping at a stone. She picked one of the flower bunches out of my arm and laid it on top of the stone. She murmured something I couldn’t quite make out.. The name on the marble was Donald S. Davidson, USMC: France 1918.
She turned away and made a straight line for the World War II section, stopping at one stone. I saw a tear slowly tracking its way down her cheek. She put a bunch on a stone; the name was Stephen X.Davidson, USMC, 1943.
She went up the row a ways and laid another bunch on a stone, Stanley J. Wieserman, USMC, 1944..
She paused for a second and more tears flowed. ‘Two more, son, and we’ll be done’
I almost didn’t say anything, but, ‘Yes, ma’am. Take your time.’
She looked confused.. ‘Where’s the Vietnam section, son? I seem to have lost my way.’
I pointed with my chin. ‘That way, ma’am.’
‘Oh!’ she chuckled quietly. ‘Son, me and old age ain’t too friendly.’
She headed down the walk I’d pointed at. She stopped at a couple of stones before she found the ones she wanted. She placed a bunch on Larry Wieserman, USMC, 1968, and the last on Darrel Wieserman, USMC, 1970. She stood there and murmured a few words I still couldn’t make out and more tears flowed.
‘OK, son, I’m finished. Get me back to my car and you can go home.’
Yes, ma’am. If I may ask, were those your kinfolk?’
She paused. ‘Yes, Donald Davidson was my father, Stephen was my uncle, Stanley was my husband, Larry and Darrel were our sons. All killed in action, all Marines.’
She stopped! Whether she had finished, or couldn’t finish, I don’t know. She made her way to her car, slowly and painfully. I waited for a polite distance to come between us and then double-timed it over to Kevin, waiting by the car.
‘Get to the ‘Out’ gate quick.. I have something I’ve got to do.’
Kevin started to say something, but saw the look I gave him. He broke the rulesto get us there down the service road fast. We beat her. She hadn’t made it around the rotunda yet.
‘Kevin, stand at attention next to the gatepost. Follow my lead.’ I humped it across the drive to the other post
When the Cadillac came puttering around from the hedges and began the short straight traverse to the gate, I called in my best gunny’s voice: ‘TehenHut! Present Haaaarms!’
I have to hand it to Kevin; he never blinked an eye–full dress attention and a salute that would make his DI proud. She drove through that gate with two old worn-out soldiers giving her a send-off she deserved, for service rendered to her country, and for knowing duty, honor and sacrifice far beyond the realm of most.
I am not sure, but I think I saw a salute returned from that Cadillac.
Instead of ‘The End,’ just think of ‘Taps. ‘
As a final thought on my part, let me share a favorite prayer: ‘Lord, keep our servicemen and women safe, whether they serve at home or overseas. Hold them in your loving hands and protect them as they protect us.’
Let’s all keep those currently serving and those who have gone before in our thoughts. They are the reason for the many freedoms we enjoy.
‘In God We Trust.’
Sorry about your monitor; it made mine blurry too!
If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under!
GRAVESIDE CUPCAKES
- 1 box chocolate cake mix (if you want to go the “easy” route… feel free to make the batter from scratch as well. If you use boxed cake mix, bake according to the directions for cupcakes)
- Chocolate or Vanilla frosting – made from scratch, or store-bought, also up to personal preference
- Sandwich cookie crumbs OR chocolate sprinkles for graveyard “dirt”
- Cookies such as Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies or something similarly rounded to make a “tombstone”
- Icing to write on the tombstones with – preferably black in color but other colors could work. Or, if you want to make “grass” you could always use some green!