Wiley Tea Room Chicken Casserole

In our town, a large empty building called Wiley's may be restored.

It was a wonder - built about 1913, eight stories with a penthouse on top.
It housed the board of grain, offices of doctors, dentists, lawyers, a tea room, a mezzanine, and ladies stylish clothes, hosiery, purses and all types of  "necessary" items. Later there were dress shops, a toy store and a drug store. The Fraese Drug had moved there from the Wolcott building which had been torn town to make way for a park. Finally the drug store had to move because of a dispute over utilities with the absent owner. That left the building empty. This landlord wasn't interested in maintaining the building which he bought almost 20 years ago at a very low price. At last he has decided to sell. The perspective buyer has plans for offices, stores and on the upper floors, apartments. This calls for a parking garage nearby. The plans seem to be coming together and I hope it will all work out.

Now, back the tea room. It was a lovely place to eat with linen table clothes and delicious food. One of the favorites was the Chicken Casserole. I heard it mentioned on a morning radio show today. I looked on the internet and found the recipe. I had everything necessary except celery. There were a lot of carrots in the vegetable drawer so why not substitute! The main ingredient is cooked chicken.

Someone in this family buys deli chicken from the salad bar for the dogs. Yesterday he brought home a large supply which he will chop and freeze. Before he could get to it, I helped myself to the dog's food and made the casserole.

It is delicious.

Winter Storms

I knew I had missed something.

Suddenly all the weather people were talking about persons with names usually heard in a different context. Finally it came through. They were naming winter storms. Drago. Euclid. Gandolf. Iago. Luna.

When did that happen?  Have I been so out  of the weather scene that I missed this change?

Of course, my main source of information, Google, had the answer.

The Weather Channel only started this in the year 2012. For the winter of 2012/2013 they have determined this will help the public follow conditions more easily.


I guess.

Mini Potato Soup

 I only had three small potatoes so I made a small amount of soup. Onions, carrots, milk, butter and a little cornstarch to thicken it.

It was tasty and not a lot of "leftovers."

Bundled Up

My mom used to always say, "Bundle up, it's cold out."
We have been pretty much free of the cold so far with just a few days below freezing.
Today it's 57 and delightful.

From this photo, it looks like it was taken on a very chilly day. However, with the furnace usually set to "intense heat" I'm sure it wasn't cold in the house

Phone Systems

Things were so easy in an earlier day. Don't get me wrong. I love my cell phone, camera, computer, laptop, printer, answering machine, scanner and all things digital.

However, the way businesses use telephones is quite a challenge to the consumer.
We received a call this morning. Caller ID said Private so I let the machine take the call.
It was a message for my husband to call another number about an important message. Another seven digit number was left to identify him. We tried that number and a recording answered and asked for our seven digit number. He keyed it in and waited. Then he was asked, by another recording for his name and date of birth. There were ten rings (twelve is only a minute) and at last a human answered.

I guess we should be thankful for all the people employed to set up that system of complicated commands, answers, bell tones and chimes that accompanied him when the recording asked for his information.

Remember when you called a number, a human answered and perhaps directed your call to an extension from the switchboard?

It seemed so simple.

January 21, 2013

A cold day  here and a good one to watch the inaugeration.  

Mennonite Women Can Cook

I saw this ad in the paper today. Later I wanted to show it to L. and couldn't find it. We searched the Sunday News and it was nowhere!
Finally I remembered there was an insert about health. Right next to the warning about high blood pressure was this ad for Liverwurst and Fried Mush.
We went last year and the meal is delicious. I love mush.  I grew up eating mush. My mom made mush from scratch - no buying mush from the meat market.
The name liverwurst turns some folks off the idea of eating this delicacy but the serving ladies last year assured us there was no liver in the liverwurst. I must research this and see just what is in it!
The sausage is darn good too.


Later - Checking Google, Wikipedia and the old Webster's "New" Ninth Collegiate
Dictionary, I find liverwurst listing ingredients of spices, bacon and various meats. All of them list either pork or calves liver.  Oh yes, and snouts. Some is spreadable like braunschweiger and some are sliced and cooked. It is quite common in many Eastern European countries and Germany, of course.

Super Store

This is the beginning of a new Dillon (Kroger) store that is being built in our town.
It's called a super store and will have lots of things besides groceries.
It's a bit farther from our house than their present location.
Of course, in this "city" nothing is more than ten minutes away, from 30th Street

south to Carey Park!

 That is if the traffic lights are favorable.

Caution!

I'm not sick with the flu but hope to avoid it.
This afternoon I have to visit a place that is reportedly full of people with that ailment.
So I am going prepared.
This is not a visit for fun but for a necessary treatment, according to my doctor.

I still don't see how a piece of cloth can stop those itty bitty germs.

Sudoku?

 A good friend told me there was a quilt at the library that I needed to see.
Since I hadn't been out of the house for about a week (hiding from the cold weather and the flu) we decided to take a little ride in the van.
I headed straight for the library. In, take photo and out.
L. couldn't believe I had time to focus the camera.
It is a lovely wall hanging and the nine patch does resemble the puzzle's format!

Three Boys and a Tank

I may have posted this before. The cutie on the right is our nephew and the other two cuties are our sons.
This was in Emporia, KS, and the last time we were there the tank is still  there at the park by the Cottonwood River in the south part of town with a new olive drab paint job.

The date: 1963.

A Little Wine for Your Stomach's Sake

My friend L. told me about some mild, sweet red wine that she enjoys for medicinal purposes. I decided I should do the same so we got the name and went to the store that carries it.

She had told me that she had been accused of buying cheap wine. $7.00 sounds cheap but how big is the bottle? I was picturing a small flask.

Here is Liberty Creek, Sweet Red. The bottle contains 1.5 liters.

I have to agree with J. That is cheap wine.

However, it is mild and sweet and the label says it has cherry and some kind of berries and is silky smooth
(I can't taste any of that but it's pleasant.)

Thanks, L.

Words to think about

A great friend and very smart man told me this when I was very young. He used slightly different words but I never forgot it. Ernest A. Dewey, father of my dear cousin, Marcheta.
I compare bullying to injustice.
I don't remember seeing too much bullying in high school but I remember teasing. That's what we called it, anyway.
I was called bird legs, told I had alligator skin and told repeatedly, "You look like Hellen White," and "If ignorance is bliss, Mary is happy." And the Spanish kids favorite, "Seca" and "Chiva." Who knows what was said behind my back. So I had a terrible inferiority complex - but when I started junior high school, Marcheta, was a big influence on me. She had lots of friends and laughed and joked with everybody.
That was my goal, to be friendly. And when the taunts started, I would laugh at the remarks even though they hurt.  I still felt the insults or ugly remarks and sometimes my eyes didn't cooperate and there were tears. Hard to pretend you are laughing but I tried.
This seems pretty tame to what we see as bullying today. I think almost everyone had more respect for teachers and so it wasn't overt in the classroom.

Be kind to each other, please.

Chocolate Liqueur

Aren't they cute? I do love dark chocolate. When I saw these advertised on The Vermont Country Store ad, I debated; but not for long.

They were supposed to arrive yesterday but here they are today, along with half an inch of rain.

I'm happy about both events.

The box says that two "bottles" are one serving. I don't think  I'll be mixing Cognac, Vodka, Tequila, Rum or Whiskey so I may limit my serving to One.
They come from Denmark and the company has been in business since 1884.
Now where can I find a cool dry place to store them until they are all sampled?

A Very Clean Truck

I saw this truck as I was leaving McDonald's this morning. After a KoffeeKlatch with friends, I went through the drive-thru to get L. some pancakes and sausage.
This truck was parked across the street at the motel. I always notice how clean the UPS trucks are because M. had a job as a substitute truck washer when he was very young. His friend, Doug, sometimes had to have a day off and M. would go and wash these monsters in a cold garage.
Later on the trip up Severance, I saw another UPS vehicle that  was streaked with dust and water marks. I wonder where it had been because we sure haven't had any rain!
And nobody had washed it overnight.

Caught in Our Tree

 

This plastic bag was flying high in some wind when it got caught on a branch in our tree. We can see it from the kitchen window.
Earlier we had a strong south wind with a temperature of 43.
L. checked the thermometer and in an hour the temp had dropped to 37. I said that maybe the wind had shifted.
Sure enough, it's now out of the north.

We have our own Wind Sock!

On the Cover

 

A photographer caught our older son in conversation at a meeting somewhere and the picture
was used on the cover of the handbook for CAM candidates.

Wasn't there a song about making the cover of the Rolling Stone? This is just as good although
there may be a slightly smaller readership.

Purple Pride

Well, the Wildcats tried. But the Ducks were just too good. As our son said, "If they'd just had a couple of more quarters."

Wearing my purple sweats didn't help a bit.

Signs to Notice

This sign was too good to pass up. I don't remember where we bought  it.
The small cork round piece below it has four nuts, one with a pink ribbon.
The captions says, "What a nutty family."
It sort of tells the story but we're just about as nutty as most families, I guess.

Some Snow

And Happy New Year.