Country Cousin

Fine winter weather...

The poor Easter Bunny ran into some pretty serious snow on his way home if he kept hiding eggs in TIMESland until Easter Sunday evening. That night-long snowstorm started at about supper time and dumped at least half a foot of heavy, packy snow in our driveway. Made some fine snowman weather for homebound kids, but didn't see any snowbunny creations around. Maybe even the kids are tired of snow, packy or not.

The calendar may say April, but we're promised some fine winter weather right through to the end of the month. Daytime highs aren't expected to get even up to 60 degrees, and most nights will be around freezing. On the other hand, there's some sunshine predicted, and no more snow or rain is expected until next week Wednesday.

TAX TIME

Normally today, April 15, would be the dreaded income tax deadline day. This year, due to coronavirus, the filing deadline has been extended until July 15. That means taxpayers who will owe money don't need to file their tax return until this date, and if they owe money they don't need to make payments until then.

Am also told that folks who haven't already filed but want to do so because of the stimulus payments should do so electronically, because the IRS is only processing electronic returns. Business Insider says they should use the IRS Free File portal if your income was under $69,000, or go directly to a third-party on-line tax preparer. Most can expect to get their refunds within three weeks of submitting an electronic return.

Free state and federal income tax filing is also said to be available available through H&R Block, TurboTax, and Credit KarmaTax for very simple tax situations, regardless of income level.

Those who completed and mailed a paper return should not expect a refund any time soon. Again according to Business Insider, the IRS has closed its offices because of coronavirus social distancing will not be processing paper returns until the offices re-open. In the meantime the IRS also is not accepting any calls or responding to written questions about individual taxpayer returns.

Incidentally, some of the stimulus checks arrived on Wednesday.

FISHING SEASON

The walleye run seems to be stopped, at least temporarily. Experts say this year's run was halted early because cold rain and snow chilled the waters to much. Am told the run might start again if some warm rain falls, but it doesn't look like that will happen, and once the suckers move in the walleyes move out. Cheer up. Lots of fishing opportunities open up on May 1 but hopefully we'll all be out of quarantine and back at work by then.

SAFER AT HOME

Am wondering why, if coronavirus is so contagious, when it hits one family member, other members who have been living in close contact do not seem to get it. Or is it that do get it, but with symptoms are so mild that they don't know they've had it?

Remember back when I was about six years old, I, my baby sister, and our closest family of cousins all had bouts of chicken pox, whooping cough and measles in one horrible six month period. We older kids spent our quarantine time together, and mostly we enjoyed ourselves despite our illnesses. Whenever the weather was nice enough we were encouraged to play outside.

Especially with whooping cough we amused ourselves by trying to make each other laugh, because laughter would bring on a coughing fit.

The extended period of illness was not so kind to my baby sister. She was 6 months old and weighed 24 pounds when the first of the three illness hit her. By the time she celebrated her first birthday she weighed only 12 pounds. Am certain our parents thought she wouldn't live to celebrate that birthday, but they never let us know how worried they were.

Maybe being so sick for so long did stunt her growth. We are in general a short family, but she is barely five feet tall, even with shoes on, and even through young adulthood remained very, very slim.

Also recall the horrible polio epidemics that struck down young people in the early 1950s, until finally the polio vaccine was developed. What a blessing!

One of my classmates, Earl Molander, got polio when we were in sixth grade at Merryman School in Marinette, and his twin brother Roger did not. Earl lost many months from school, spent a long time in an iron lung, and had to wear a leg brace when he finally was well enough to be up and around. The two brothers had been the same size when the illness struck, but Earl ended up smaller and stayed a bit smaller and slighter for the rest of their lives. He had been a star athlete before the polio, and never recovered that prowess, but his status as straight "A" student was not affected. Our teacher once said that as far as she knew, Earl had never misspelled a word on either a spelling test or on an assignment that he handed in. He and Roger both went on to some prominence on national and international scenes. Their dad was a math teacher at Marinette High School.

STAY HOME, STAY HEALTHY

The coronavirus experts tell us to stay home and stay inside to stay healthy. Need to wonder why they do not instead advise us to stay healthy by getting outside and exercising while we have free time at home, if we can do that without coming in close contact with others.

For most of us here in TIMESland having kids play out in the yard would be no problem, and certainly that would make them healthier than huddling in the living room watching TV or playing video games.

Would make the parents healthier too, and saner.

Also wonder why we're not being advised to take vitamins and eat healthy to build up our resistance. I have been taking supplements of Vitamin C, zinc and other nutrients and use an essential oil known as "Breathe" because I was born with allergy-related asthmatic bronchitis so it would be hard for me to know if I had coronavirus or just another bad bronchitis attack.

Have been hearing horror stories of people who believe they need to be tested for coronavirus and clinics are refusing their requests. At least one victim that I know of was twice refused a test. When he got sicker, they did test him. His test was positive, but they had waited too long for treatment.

AWESOME RESPONSES

The Safer at Home orders issued for Wisconsin and Stay At Home orders being enforced in Michigan cost many local families the right to enjoy traditional celebrations for Easter and other special occasions this year.

The restrictions also brought out the goodness of people that is being displayed in so many ways.

A little girl in Peshtigo was deprived of a birthday party she had been looking forward to. Instead, she was treated to drive-by birthday wishes from well-wishers including Peshtigo firefighters on their fire trucks, and Peshtigo police officers in squad cars.

How exciting that must have been!

Sky Harbor II Restaurant on Hwy. 141 just north of Crivitz is closed due to the Safer at Home orders. That has to have horrendous financial impact on the business, particularly since the restaurant closings came on short notice, while their refrigerators and freezers were stocked with perishable foods for the coming busy weekends.

So what did the owners do?

As an alternative to families getting together for Easter dinner, they would give away 500 Easter dinners, and encouraged families to arrive at the same time to pick them up so they could at least greet other through their car windows.

When business is going on as usual, Lance Olson, owner of the Mariner Theater behind the courthouse in Marinette, regularly offers free movies for the kids, but manages to make enough money to pay the bills from concession sales. Now that source of income is gone, but the bills still need to be paid.

Olson posted a notice, Lance Olson Owner of Mariner Theater, regularly puts on movies, free, for kids, but makes money to pay his bills from concession sales. The other day he posted notices on Facebook that he has to close the theater due to coronavirus, but still has bills to pay, so he was opening the concession stand from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday. He suggested people stop by to buy theater concessions, then take them home to enjoy movies on TV with their kids.

Before 4 p.m. on that Friday, the crowd had lined up, larger than any Olson had ever seen lined up for a movie, and people kept coming. A helper was taking orders so they were ready to be picked up in turn. Friends said Olson was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. He repeated the concession sale offer, and people still keep coming.

He also suggested that friends and customers can help small business owners get through this by buying gift cards that give them the money they need now to pay bills and can be spent later once income resumes after the business is allowed to re-open.

URGE TO TRAVEL

Naturally, all these directives to stay at home unless it's absolutely necessary to venture out has caused my personal travel bug to bite.

Got to thinking about places where I'd like to go, and places I might have to visit someday, whether I like it or not.

I've been to a lot of places, but I've never been to Cahoots. Apparently you can't go alone, you have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I've never been in Cognito, either. I hear nobody recognizes you there.

However, I have been in Sane several times. You can't fly there, you have to be driven. Your kids can probably do that. There are roads to Sane, but they don't have an airport.

COOKIN TIME

Cold weather means soup time, and time at home means time to prepare some really great soups. No dessert recipes this week. You probably have Easter goodies left over anyway.

CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE

This is a version of the good old diet soup. Very healthy, and they say if you eat a bowl of this before every meal you will lose weight no matter what else you eat.

6 large green onions, sliced (or a cup or so of chopped regular

onions)

10 ounces or so of mushrooms, sliced

1 or 2 cans of tomatoes, diced, whole, or stewed

1 48-ounce can V-8 or tomato juice

2 large green peppers, diced

1 bunch celery, sliced

1 head cabbage, diced

1 package dry onion soup mix

8 cups water, or more

Diced or cubed leftover meat of your choice, optional

Additional herbs and seasonings of your choice, if needed

Spray a soup kettle with cooking spray and add the mushrooms and green onions. Brown very gently. Do not allow them to burn. Add the tomatoes and juice. Cut green pepper in half and remove seeds, stem and membrane. Then cut the green pepper, cabbage and celery into bite size pieces and add them to the pot. Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice), cover and put on a low heat and cook for about 2 hours. Taste and correct seasonings to taste. Add beef or chicken bouillon cubes, any herbs you wish, and salt and pepper if needed. If you like a spicy soup, add Tabasco, curry or cayenne pepper to taste. Cool quickly and refrigerate. Heat only as much at a time as you need. Keeps for at least a week in the fridge, and freezes well.

SOUP KITCHEN SPECIAL

You can't eat any cheaper than this, even at the old time soup kitchen. Trim down your food budget and your hips with one easy recipe. Plan to make this next time you cook a roast of any kind, including chicken, or if you've purchased a rotisserie chicken. Before slicing and serving the meat, trim off all the fat, skin, bones and gristle, if there are any. If not, the soup isn't free. Save the recipe for another time when there are scraps to salvage. Go ahead and make gravy from the pan drippings. Eat what you want, then add the rest of the gravy to the kettle with the trimmings. Boil together the bones, fat and other trimmings for at least an hour,preferably more. Strain and then refrigerate overnight so the fat comes to the top and hardens. When it's time to make the soup, get rid of the fat. The dog will love you for it. Use the broth that settles below it toward the quart of broth called for in the recipe below. Add water and bouillon cubes if necessary. When everything is done add chunks of the leftover meat, and there's your bonus meal.

1 quart beef, pork or chicken broth (left from the roast

combined with water or add canned broth if necessary)

1 cup tomato sauce (or two cups vegetable juice)

1/2 cup minced onion

1 cup cabbage, chopped

2 cups vegetables of your choice (celery, green beans,

potatoes,

carrots, summer squash, etc. are all good)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil, thyme or oregano (or mixed)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup uncooked small pasta shells or noodles, optional

1 cup leftover meat, cut into bite size pieces or shredded

In a large pan bring everything but the pasta or noodles to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are nice and tender. Add pasta and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Add meat and heat through. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. This is good with garlic bread. Also with peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwiches. This can easily be put in a crockpot on low around lunch time and be ready by supper. Add the noodles or pasta during the last half hour if you're using them, but then the low carb benefit is gone.

SPICY POTATO CHOWDER

Have a bit of the Easter ham left over? Use it to spruce up this

tasty and warming soup.

1/4 cup butter

1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 cup finely chopped onion

3 poblano peppers, seeded and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 (20 ounce) package refrigerated Southwestern-style hash

brown potatoes

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 (12-ounce) package fresh broccoli florets

Sautéed chopped ham

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add bell pepper and next three ingredients, and sauté 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Add potatoes and cumin, and sauté 5 minutes or until browned and tender. Gradually stir in broth, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 25 minutes. Add broccoli florets for last 15 minutes or so. Whisk together flour broth and milk and stir into the potato mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for five minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat to low. Add cheeses, and cook, stirring constantly, until cheeses melt and mixture is thoroughly heated. Stir in chopped ham, or sauté ham bits and use it top each bowl as the soup is served.

The Country Cousin

Thought for the week: Lent is over for this year. Easter has come and gone. But the message of the Resurrection stays with us, hopefully forever. Some men credited with having intelligence far above that of average humans have expressed awe at the thought of Jesus, even without actually becoming worshipers of Christ. Hopefully, they came to believe at the end.

H. G. Wells summarized, "I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history." James C. Hefley declared, "I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life;" Albert Einstein obviously believed when he said, "No one an read the Gospels without feeling the actul presence of Jesus. His personality pulsate in every word. No myth is filled with such life." But St. Augustine perhaps hit closest to our hearts when he said: "I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful, but I never read in either of them: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden.'"

(This column is written by Shirley Prudhomme of Crivitz. Views expressed are her own and are in no way intended to be an official statement of the opinions of Peshtigo Times editors and publishers. She may be contacted by phone at 715-291-9002 or by e-mail to shirleyprudhommechickadee@ yahoo.com.)

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