Showing posts with label memoirs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memoirs. Show all posts

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Legends of the Lake - Philip Nork, Author

 
Nana's Rice Pudding
(One of the Phil's favorite)
 
3/4 cup of cooked white rice
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of sugar

Mix the egg and the milk together, slowly beat in the sugar. Add raisins to the mixture if desired.
Put the mixture in a shallow pan and bake for 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour at 325.
When finished put the pan in the refrigerator until ready to serve.Scoop out desired amount and sprinkle cinnamon on top.
 
 
Legends of the Lake – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 
While driving you’d pass many cow pastures, large corn fields, and farms to the left and the right of you, as you drove slowly to avoid the most worn down areas of the road. The further you progress, the more trees and beautiful wild flowers take over the landscape… Looking left you see a sliver of the lake, a big blue lake. There are campgrounds and a small bait and tackle shop situated right next to it… Continue on your slow drive down the hill and through all the curves, you pass children of the generation walking on the side of the road… The young boys are shirtless and some are white as white can be, while others have what were called “farmer’s tans.” This is where their arms and faces are tanned, but their chests and backs aren’t as they always wore t-shirts during the day… The aroma of fresh cut green grass and giant pine trees lingers in the background, while the special odor of the seaweed which gets pushed up on the shore makes me smile… This is when you see it off to the right… you can’t miss the boulders which line the front of it which proudly proclaims to everyone that “The Krons” reside here.
 
Philip had the kind of grandparent/grandchild relationship that every kid would love to be able to brag about. Actually his Gramps and Nana (Kron) were his mother’s grandparents making them his ‘great’ grandparents. No matter, he love spending as much time as possible at their lake house in Wisconsin. Gramps bought the lake property before he and Nana had their first child. They envisioned it as a place to bring the family throughout the generations and that’s exactly what they did. This two bedroom cottage housed parents, children and grand children for many years and the one thing it did, or should I say those in residence did, was create memories.
 
Over the years memories were passed on from one generation to another and by the time they reached Phil’s young ears they may have grown and may not be quite true but who was to say they were or weren’t. For instance, one of the cottage owners went by the initials of AC instead of his name. He was from Chicago and in the ‘produce’ business. When probation came he was there to help out by opening what was known as a ‘speakeasy’ with a bar and gambling in the back. It wasn’t too long afterwards that AC disappeared back to Chicago, never to return. That was around the same time Al Capone was locked away. Was AC the famous Al Copone? If not, how did a ‘produce’ man acquire alcohol, gambling equipment and some pretty mean looking guards for the ‘speakeasy?’ Then there was the story about Nana needing some type of container to carry her food to and from the pier. One of the residences, a Mr. Tupper, came up with the perfect container including a fitting top. Or how about the time one of the kids was hit by a baseball, which hurt like heck. A man from a nearby cottage brought out a ball, threw it as hard as he could and hit the kid square in the chest. Billy, expecting it to hurt was shocked when it didn’t. He picked it up and found it to be soft and light. When asked what it was called the man explained it didn’t have a name just yet. Billy suggested the name ‘Non-Expanding Recreational Foam’ ball or NERF for short.
 
Are these truths or fictions? Who cares. They are the stories that made a young boy’s life better. These stories, along with those telling them, helped to shape not just Phil but all of the family into what they were and are today. Reading Legends of the Lake kept me in a frame of a ‘wishing world.’ I wish I could have lived and experienced the history of some of these family members and also wish I could be one to help carry beautiful memories on into the next generation. I loved the feelings of love, peace, family, togetherness, and true life that Phil experienced while growing up. Don’t get me wrong, there were bad times too but the teachings of Gramps and Nana made those times a lot easier to live through. You have to read this one or you’re missing out on some wonderful emotional feelings.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Can We Come In & Laugh, Too? - Rosetta Schwartz, Author


SLOW-COOKER CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE SOUP
(A dish created for Rosetta's daughter Morgan by Morgan's husband)
 
An excellent way to use up leftover roast or grilled chicken. Remove the skin and bones and chop chicken finely with a large knife, or use cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts.
 
2 (14 oz.) cans of chopped tomatoes, including the juice
2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 cup frozen sweet corn
2 stalks celery
½ cup short-grain rice (not instant)
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cups cooked lean chicken shredded
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
 
Combine all of the ingredients except the chicken in a slow cooker. Stir well and cook on low until the rice and vegetables are tender – about 6-8 hours. One hour before the cooking time is complete, stir in the chicken. Sprinkle with the basil just before service. Serves 6-8.
 


Can We Come In and Laugh, Too? – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds, A Book and A Dish
 
‘When I was very young the only transportation was street cars. There were o buses, elevated systems, or cars. Henry Ford was still working on his Model T. As for airplanes, I believe the Wright Brothers invented their first model in 1914. Also the only form of home entertainment was the Victrola. I remember that after my parents saved enough to buy a Victrola, every couple of weeks my brothers purchased new recordings and played them while dancing around the living room. As for radios, it was many years later when the first crystal set was invented. It wasn’t until around 1946 when my daughter Morgan was seven, and Phyllice was around two, that radios became very popular. We bought a very good radio set, encased in a lovely big mahogany cabinet, and after that we listened to many good programs. Don’t ask me why everyone clustered around that radio cabinet staring at it as thought there was something to see, but that’s what everyone did back then.’
 
Rose Schwartz was born November 18, 1909. She was the youngest of ten children born to her fun-loving Latvian immigrant family. She later became Rosetta after one of her sisters decided Rose just wasn’t classy enough so when she registered her for school she told them her name was Rosetta and that’s what she was known as from then on. Rosetta married All Shifrin in the 1930s and later Max Lachman. She passed on in 2006 just a few months short of her 97th birthday. In 1988 her daughter Morgan was able to convince her to write her memoirs so the rest of the world could share a laugh from the life of this beautifully, happy woman.

 
Rosetta lived through both WWI and WWI and gives us a few stories about the hard times created by war. She tells of the time she sold Al’s extra shoes only to find out that shoes were being rationed just a few weeks later. There were the blackouts that were mandatory in hopes that if the enemy flew over they wouldn’t be able to see Chicago in the dark. She tells us about her move to Florida and later to California where many of her brothers and sisters also ended up moving to. Her stories are all warm hearted yet cheerful. Whenever there was a problem, she looked at the bright side not the dark and always found humor in even the worse circumstances. She was truly a woman that anyone would love to know and call their friend.

 
At the end of Rosetta’s writings her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews all expressed their own feelings about this lovely lady. They added to the warmth by giving their memories of the woman that was never negative, always loving and always forgave whatever one might have done wrong. This is a very uplifting story about a very special woman. I personally wish I could have asked the question ‘Can We Come In and Laugh, Too?’

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Confessions of a Crazy Fox - Anna Maria Kolojaco Mullins, Author




Suzanne’s Pudding Pie
(Anna's daughter-in-law's recipe)

1 stick butter
1 cup sifted flour
1 cup chopped pecans
9½ oz Cool Whip
8 oz cream cheese
1 sm. box instant vanilla pudding
1 sm. box instant chocolate pudding
2 ¾ cups cold milk
1 Hershey bar

Combine butter, flour, and nuts. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 13X9 inch glass baking dish. Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 350°. Blend one cup Cool Whip with creamed cheese and spread over cooked crust. Combine both puddings with the milk (23/4 cups) following the directions on the package. Put this over the cream cheese mixture. Follow with the rest of the Cool Whip. Top with grated Hershey bar.

(My daughter-in-law, Suzanne Mullins, first brought this treat to a family gathering many years ago and the family has requested it for every gathering since and gave it that name. I’m not sure if it was originally a Cool Whip recipe or not but I often substitute whipped cream and make it outrageously decadent.)


Confessions of a Crazy Fox – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; A Book and A Dish and Think With Your Taste Buds

‘I stewed about it until New Year’s Day, 2010, and then I wrote Jimmy a long letter pointing out a lot of the things he and Jeannette had done to hurt me the last decade and if he didn’t put a stop to it, I was going to go ahead and release my story.  I had decided not to take the last offer I had, after Jim was diagnosed with cancer, but my sister inspired me to try again.  I knew I wouldn’t hear from my brother and posted on Facebook that New Year’s Day that my resolution was to publish my family memoir.  It did shock a few family members who couldn’t imagine what I had to write about or why.  I figured if Jeannette’s story was the one our extended family had been hearing all these years, perhaps it was finally time to broadcast mine.  That shouldn’t really surprise any of them.  They all know I write when I’m pissed and believe me, Jeannette pushed me way past that point this last time.’

I never research nor read other reviews before starting a new book and when I was sent a copy of Anna Mullis’ book Confessions of a Crazy Fox, I actually expected it to be a mystery, murder, suspense.  What I never expected it to be was the story of her life.  My first thoughts were borrrring!   And since I will decline a book before I’ll write a bad review, I almost turned this book down.  But I always give a book, any book, a chance and at least try to read the first 25-50 pages hoping it will appeal to me and that’s exactly what I did with Confessions of a Crazy Fox.

I read the first couple of chapters as Anna talked about her childhood, she sure had a streak of defiance!  I continued reading as she introduced her ‘guardian angel’ that saved her from being bitten by a snake.  When I read about her cousin Bobo I actually started feeling that I knew him.  Her parents turned out to be the kind we all wish for.  Their love for their family, friends and neighbors was something many only dream about.  Then tragedy hits, first with the death of her Dad and later her Mother and with each also comes the separation of family.  I’ve always said that the 2 things that bring out the worse in a family are weddings and funerals.  I’ve decided to add another to that list - money. 

Reading about the greed between the siblings actually reminded me of a few incidents within my own life after the death of my own parents.  I’m sure we can all relate to this greed at some level, either through our own experiences or through the pains we’ve watched others experience.  I personally feel that greed is the #1 cause of family problems throughout the world.  And greed isn’t just about money.  While reading Confessions of A Crazy Fox I finally realized that greed is nothing but jealousy.  Someone gets just a bit more, got a bit more or will get a bit more, bringing on a jealousy called greed.

I’m sure that by now you have realized I read the whole book.  Actually I had trouble putting it down.  It firmly points out that if you make someone mad enough your sorrow might just come back to haunt you by way of a book telling the whole world just how greedy you really are.  In Confessions of a Crazy Fox, Anna Mullins doesn’t just blow the top on her siblings she also includes her own sins throughout her life, and her honesty in admitting her own faults is one of the things that made this book so interesting.

 
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