Country CousinIssue Date: April 20, 2022Shirley Prudhomme Has Spring sprung?
Easter has come and gone. Income Tax Day has come and gone. April is slightly over half gone, and so is the snow. Think it might really be Spring?
One thing is certain....You can't trust the weather here in northern Wisconsin, especially in Spring. Can be 60 degrees in the morning, and snowing by nightfall.
TIME TO WORK, TIME TO PLAY
Won't it be great when the weather is fine enough to just sit in the sun and enjoy?
Can't be all play and no work, though. Garden and lawn care time are almost here, so that means taking your your lawnmower and/or roto tiller in for servicing now to avoid the rush at the repair shop when you need them in a couple of weeks. Get them tuned up, the oil changed, bolts tightened, blades sharpened - whatever is necessary.
BE PATIENT
Don't let warmer weather trick you into moving your plants outdoors too early. If you simply must give them some fresh outdoor air, load them onto a wagon or rolling cart that can be hauled into a nearby garage or shed when the need arises. Start them in a sheltered, shady location with only brief sunshine, just like you should do for yourself when you first start going out in the sun after a winter indoors.
CHAIN REACTION
As the following story indicates, carting plants in and out of the house can be dangerous business, and even the harmless grass snake can pose some unsuspected hazards, particularly in parts of the country where poisonous snakes are more common than they are here.
Seems the wife had been bringing in house plants during a cold snap while friend hubby was showering. Snuggled into warm soil around one of the plants was an innocent little green grass snake. He poked up his head to see what was happening. Woman saw snake, let out blood curdling scream and dropped plant. Startled snake slithered under couch. Startled hubby dashed naked from shower to save screaming wife. Was informed of snake under couch, bent over to look. Family dog came to look too. Cold nose touched naked butt. Hubby, thinking he had been snake bitten, screamed and fainted.
Wife, thinking Hubby had suffered heart attack, called rescue squad. Emergency crew loaded man onto stretcher and had just hoisted him when snake came out of hiding. Medic saw snake and dropped his end of stretcher. Hubby's leg broke inn fall. That's why he ended up in the hospital.
Later, wife returned home, but knew snake was still in the house. She called a neighbor, and he offered to capture snake. Armed with a rolled-up newspaper he began poking under couch. Couldn't find snake. Snake found the woman, who was crawling on the floor, helping hunt. Snake slithered across her hand. Woman screamed and fainted. Neighbor man tried to use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to revive her.
Just then his wife, who had been grocery shopping, came in to see what was going on, carrying a plastic bag filled with canned goods. Seeing hubby in what appeared to be a compromising position over neighbor's wife, she slung bag of cans, striking him soundly in back of head. Hubby attempted to get up, then collapsed on floor. Blood was flowing. His wife, filled with remorse, was bending over him when the other woman woke up.
Woman observed unconscious neighbor and sobbing wife and thought he had been snake bitten. She called 911, then crawled to kitchen for small bottle of brandy kept for medicinal purposes. She was attempting to pour it down neighbor's throat when police arrived.
Smelling the booze, seeing the prostate man and the two disheveled women and the chaos surrounding them, the police assumed there had been a drunken brawl and were preparing to take all three into custody when the little snake again crawled out from under the couch. A startled gun-happy officer attempted to shoot him. Shot missed, but did strike leg of end table, which came crashing down. On end table had been a lamp, turned on. Bulb broke and live wires touched drapes, setting them on fire. Police officer attempting to beat out fire on drapes fell through window onto family dog. Startled dog dashed into street, causing a passing car to swerve and strike the squad car. Considerable damage to both vehicles.
Another neighbor, seeing flames shooting through window and the officer's inadvertent hasty exit, called the fire department. A rookie fire fighter pushed a wrong button and raised the ladder instead of turning on the siren as their truck sped down street. Ladder struck overhead utility lines, putting out electric service in a 10-square-block area and creating a brand new hazard.
Meanwhile, inside the house, fire was put out, but not without considerable damage. The injured man woke up, but head was still bleeding. The two women explained about the snake and the brandy, and were not taken to jail, but neighbor had to go to ER for stitches. Officers couldn't go anywhere in their mangled squad car. Tow truck and second squad car arrived. While waiting, they did manage to find snake and evict it from house.
Eventually things returned to normal and both hubby and neighbor were released from hospital. Leg and head healed, drapes, couch and carpet were replaced. All was peaceful on the home front. That's when the weatherman announced another pending cold snap. Friend hubby suggested to wife that she should bring plants in. That's when she shot him.
PLANTING TIME
Speaking of bringing plants in and out, if you haven't started any seedlings and plan to do so, better get with it. Six weeks is about the right time line for most small seedlings from planting inside to planting outside, and that's just about what's left if you want to set them out toward the end of that first week in June. Even small seedlings will transplant well if you start them in peat pots or egg shell halves and plant the whole thing when the time comes. Just be sure to cover the whole peat pot so it doesn't wick moisture out of the soil around your plant, and to crack the shell slightly before putting it underground with the tender roots intact.
We've had particularly good luck starting broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbages in the egg shells. The gardening book calls them "brassicas," as opposed to "cucurbits," which include cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, etc. For us they seemed to do better in peat pots, as did tomatoes and peppers.
HELP WANTED
Also speaking of chain reactions, every spring and fall Marinette County Elderly Services organizes helpers willing to volunteer their time to help their elderly neighbors get their yards and homes into shape for spring. The twice a year event is known as Chain Reaction Week, and this year it is scheduled from Saturday, May 14 through Sunday, May 22. Chain Reaction Week volunteers mainly do outdoor chores like raking, window washing, and taking down storm windows and putting up screens.
Elderly Services finds many ways to help the elderly keep living independently in their own homes, and there are multiple opportunities for volunteers. Applications for Chain Reaction Week assignments or to fill other volunteer needs may be submitted by contacting the Marinette County Elderly Services office at 516 N US Hwy. 141 in Crivitz, calling 715-854-7453 or by mail to MCES, PO Box 456, Crivitz, WI 54114 or emailing aging@mces.net.
In addition to helping with the Chain Reaction Day effort, Elderly Services organizes a Volunteer Medical Escort Program that serves those frail elderly unable to ride the rural bus that the agency also operates. Volunteer drivers provide transportation to medical appointments using their own vehicles and donating their time.
Helping others without any thought of collecting a reward of any sort is a really great way to feel good about yourself. That's something no money can buy, so if you've got the time, give it a try.
Oops"¦didn't mean to make a poem about that, but honest, truly helping someone who needs help and hates to ask for it does plant some pretty poetic feelings in our hearts.
If you don't choose to get into the formal Chain Reaction program through Elderly Services, maybe you could offer your help to an aging or ill neighbor or family member anyway, to do things like raking, washing windows, putting up screens, or even vacuuming the house and scrubbing floors.
ARBOR DAY
Friday, April 29 is the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day USA. Plan now to celebrate by planting a tree "¦ or even 100 trees if you can get enough seedlings by then.
Incidentally, our Marinette County economy was originally built on trees and still depends heavily on the jobs and enjoyment that our forests provide.
We're lucky here in TIMESLand to have a County Forest Department that understands trees and handles harvesting correctly. There are more trees in Marinette County today than there were when the white man first arrived here.
SPICE LIFE
If your plans include some spring cleaning of the spice cabinet, consider getting rid of spices that have exceeded their useful life span. In future, when you buy a spice, herb or seasoning packet that you like to have on hand but don't use often, date the container with a magic marker. Then you'll know when to toss the remainder and start over fresh. No sense spoiling good ingredients by trying to season a dish with spices that are past their prime. When in doubt throw it out is probably a good rule here.
They all lose flavor with time, herbs more quickly than spices. Seasoning packets and salad dressing and sauce mixes can get downright rancid and ruin whatever you add them to.
The folks at McCormick's have prepared a handy little chart on the shelf life of various seasonings. They also included the information that if you have any of their products (except for black pepper) in one of those rectangular red and white tins, it's 15 or more years old. Also, if any of their spices list a Baltimore, MD address it's at least 15 years old. That's well beyond any of their recommended spice spans.
Guess who still has some of those?
Only salt and vanilla seem to have unlimited shelf life. And they don't need to, since those things, along with pepper, are used most regularly.
They recommend that for best flavor whole spices like cloves, peppercorns, etc. should be used by the time they're four years old. Ditto for extracts with the exception of the long-lived vanilla.
Ground spices will last three years.
Poppy and sesame seeds keep their savor for about two years, but most other seeds are usable for at least four years. That includes celery, anise and fennel.
They say herbs should be used in one to three years, but give no hint as to which kinds last longest. You can always do the sniff test. If there's no aroma, or worse, a sort of dusty, musty smell, it probably won't taste very good either.
If you still can't bring yourself to toss it, bring some water to a simmer, drop in a pinch, and sniff again after a few minutes. That works only if you haven't forgotten what it's supposed to smell like in the first place.
Seasoning blends and mixes last only a year or two.
Ever open one of those seasoning mix packets that you know has been around way too long and found the contents caked in the bottom of the package?
True to my mingy nature, tried using one of those once and had to throw the whole dish out. It not only wasn't good, it was downright bad. Rancid. Some mixes do contain oils and old oil can be really nasty. It takes a while, but old onion soup mixes go bad too, even if the package has never been opened. So do some salad dressing mixes.
COOKIN' TIME
Enough about yucky stuff. Time to talk about good things.
RUTH'S PEPPER STEAK
Minimize kitchen time with quick and easy recipes that pack a lot of flavor. This was a family favorites that I enjoyed while visiting my brother and sister-in-law at their home in Arizona several years ago. They have kept alive the tradition of enjoying a sit-down meal with as many children and grandchildren as they can gather after Mass every Sunday. Serves eight as is, and can easily be doubled if you have a large enough pan, and a large enough group.
2 pounds beef sirloin steak
1/2 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 green peppers
1 can diced tomatoes, 16 ounces
1 beef bouillon cube
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 can mushrooms, 4 ounces, with juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Rice
Have the rice cooked or at least cooking before you start. Cut meat into thin strips, about 1/8" thick by 2", preferably across the grain. Seed the peppers and cut into strips. Melt the butter in a large heavy frying pan. Stir in the garlic powder and black pepper. When it gets sizzly stir fry the meat until it all changes color. Add the onions and pepper strips and fry until the onion becomes translucent. Add the tomatoes, bouillon cube, soy sauce, sugar, salt and mushrooms. Stir the cornstarch into the cold water and then stir that into the mixture in the pan and continue cooking and stirring until it makes a gravy. It's done.
EGG SALAD
This egg salad puts a new twist on an old favorite. It's good on sandwiches, and also as a dip with snack crackers. Great use for the colored eggs delivered by the Easter Bunny.
8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
1/2 tablespoon honey mustard (or yellow mustard)1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of salt
To make sandwiches, use 8 slices bread, baby spinach leaves, and 8 slices of tomato.
In a medium bowl, use a pastry blender or fork to mash the eggs into a very coarse paste. (I use the food processor, but be careful not to get the eggs too smooth. Mix in all the other ingredients. To make sandwiches, spread equal amounts on four slices of the bread, add two slices tomato to each and a nice covering of baby spinach leaves and top with the second slice of bread. (I like to butter the bread, and this is even better on lightly buttered toast.) If you're on a low carb diet, enjoy the egg salad on rolled-up spinach or lettuce leaves, or even as a stuffing for celery sticks.
LEMON ZUCCHINI COOKIES
Sneak some veggies into the kiddies (and yourself) with these tasty cookie treats. Bake now while the weather is cool, and freeze some for the hot days we all think will get here some day.
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 cup finely shredded zucchini
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Lemon Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
In a large bowl, cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, zucchini and lemon zest. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. For glaze, combine confectioners' sugar and enough lemon juice to reach a thin spreading consistency. Spread or drizzle over cooled cookies.
The Country Cousin
Thought for the week: Let's all remember the truly important ŗ R's" - Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for our actions. And when we're talking respect, respect the dreams of others. People who don't have dreams don't have much, no matter how much money they have. Those who hold on to their dreams may be broke sometimes, but they're never poor.
(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 715-927-5034 or by e-mail at shirleyprudhommechickadee@yahoo.com.)
Recent stories, opinions and photos
|
| |
|
Yes
No
Undecided
