Why I Like Velveeta

Velveeta . . . you know the stuff.  It can barely be called cheese . . . and it’snot really, not even to the USFDA.  It’s considered a processed cheese food product.   I like the fact that they had to include the word 'food' in the classification.  Like there was a question about whether or not it's food . . . well, maybe there is. 

I’ll admit that I like it. Like spam . . . it has its place in my kitchen but by no means would I putit up there with my beloved super sharp cheddar or luscious creamy brie. 

I've noticed that, depending on where I shop, I may find itin the refrigerated dairy section or I may find it on a shelf somewhere else inthe store.  The question is . . . does itneed to be refrigerated?  Well, no . . . not really.  

It is shelf stable because it is so very,very ultra-super-duper highly pasteurized and it’s not truly cheese and it is vacuum sealed itactually does not need to be kept cold.  Somewould argue that you don’t even need to refrigerate it after it’s been opened .. . well, I err on the side of caution and not go that far. 

Velveeta has a longevity that rivals uranium but to keep itfresh it’s best stored in an airtight container after you’ve opened it.  Refrigerate or not . . . I’ll leave that upto you. 

For those of you cringing over the thought of consumingVelveeta . . . remember when the power went out for weeks and weeks in parts ofthe country after Hurricane Rita and the subsequent snow storm?  Well, because Velveeta has such a long shelflife it is excellent to keep on hand to go with your long or short termsurvival supplies.  It’s great forcamping, too.

Just remember that as well as Velveeta keeps it does lose some quality over time . . .yes, I know, quality is a relativeterm.  Whatever  . . . just make sure you mark the date ofyour stored Velveeta.

If you’re a fisherman . . . keep a plastic container ofVelveeta in your fishing tackle box.  Believe it or not, trout like the stuff . . . whethera week old or a year old, they don’t care.  

And if you want to give those fishies an extra special treat, stuff a pieceof garlic into the inside of the cheese ball . . . you’ll have cheesy garlicstuffed trout on your table in no time . . . well, processed cheese food product and garlic stuffed trout, anyway.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

2 Cups Cooked andShredded Chicken

4 Cups (8 oz. Dry)Cooked Spaghetti

8 Oz. Velveeta {OrMore}, Melted

1 Can Cream OfChicken Soup

1 Can GreenChilies {Or A Can Of Tomatoes With Green Chilies}

1/2 Tsp. GarlicPowder

Mix altogether andpour into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the top with some shredded cheddarcheese. Bake at 350 for 30 min. or until bubbly.

Good day, sir ... I said good day

You know what I can’t stand? No, I guess you don’t so I will tell you.

Store greeters.  I don’tdislike them on a personal level.  I’msure that they are quite lovely and pleasant people.  I just have an aversion to what they do.  You see, I don’t particularly like talking topeople . . . especially strangers. Perhaps it was my upbringing . . . stranger danger!  stranger danger!   I don’t know but . . . with the exception ofmy beloved hubby and my angsty teenager . . . on any given day I would be happynot to have to talk to anyone . . . at all. 

So, when I walk into a store and am practically forced tospeak to someone . . . someone I don’t know . . .  it goads me somewhat.  Since . . . again because of how I was raised  . . . I can’t bring myself to be rude andignore them.  I feel compelled . . . nay. . . obligated to respond in kind . . . andkindly.   That makes irks me.

I just want to go about my business, collect my items to purchase,pay for them and leave . . . without having to say a word to anyone.  Is that too much to ask?

What’s worse is that I can’t avoid them.  They’re right there . . . standing there . .. waiting to welcome me (or any otherperson who strolls through the door).    Andwhen I leave . . . they’re right there . . . standing there . . . waiting to wishme (or any other person who isdeparting the store) a pleasant day.  

And that’s they’re job. They get paid to do this.

That is all I have to say about that.

And don't even get me started on the people hanging around malls and store trying to ask people survey questions . . . 

Sausage Stuffing Casserole Recipe

1 Pound PorkSausage

1/2 Cup Onion,Chopped

2 Stalks Celery,Chopped

2 TablespoonsMelted Butter Or Margarine

3 Cups HerbSeasoned Stuffing Mix

2 Cans (15 OunceSize) Cream Style Corn

   or one recipe Creamed Corn

1 Teaspoon ParsleyFlakes

Cut sausage into 1 inch pieces. 

In a skillet, cooksausage, onion and celery till vegetables are tender and meat no longer ispink. Drain off excess fat.

Stir melted butteror margarine into 1 cup of the stuffing mix; set aside to use as a topper.

In a bowl, combinethe cream-style corn with sausage, onion, celery and parsley. Stir in remainingstuffing mix.

Spoon into a2-quart casserole. Spoon the 1 cup reserved stuffing mix over top.

Bake thecasserole, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for about 35 minutes or till bubbly andbrowned.

Let there be space in your togetherness

Can someone please tell me what’s so elusive about that concept of ‘personal space’?

I don’t know you . . . don’t touch me.  I barely know you . . . don’t hug me.  Hell, for that matter, don’t even talk to me!

I’ve had people approach me to discuss some topic or other.  That’s cool, I’m okay with that . . . for the most part.  It’s when they keeping coming to the point where I’m backing up  . . . and backing up . . . until I hit a wall and there’s no place left to go.  I nearly go into flight or fight mode.  The point is . . . I don’t need to know that you forgot to put on your deodorant that morning or that you ate a bushel of garlic for dinner last night.  Get out of my face!

In Western culture the generally accepted amount of personal space between two people who are not intimate is anywhere between 1.5 to 4 feet.  I would tend towards the further end of that spectrum.  There are other cultures where the idea of personal space has all but been eradicated do to crowded living conditions.  But that’s not here and that’s certainly not me!

There’s a reason I’m no longer a beautician and work with computers.  There’s by far . . . and beyond . . . less personal contact.  Guess what I like best about my bartending job . . .  the physical barrier.  That and if someone gets out of hand I can bop them on the head with a baton. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t mind being touched.  It’s just a matter of whom I am being touch by.  Hubby . . . he can touch me all over . . . and over again . . . rowr.  My friends . . . friends not acquaintances . . . can be touchy, huggy . . . to a degree . . . and some more than others.   But, if I barely know you or don’t know you at all?  Step off, buddy!  And, if you're not sure where you stand then you probably shouldn't get too close.

Scientifically, there is a section of your brain that is hardwired to repel close human contact; except, of course, when sex is a possibility.   That is why, as far as I’m concerned, hubby has zero personal space . . . I’m all into that space as often as logistically possible.  Anyhoo . . . the reaction to be repulsed by close personal contact is thought to be a throw back to the days when someone would snatch your woman by the hair and drag her off to their cave . . . or your food. 

Consider this an education in personal space etiquette . . . and a warning.  

Stuffed Zucchini Casserole

2 Medium Zucchini, Chopped

1 Medium Onions, Minced

1 (7 Ounce) Cans Roasted Red Peppers, Chopped

1/2 Green Peppers, Chopped

2 Garlic Cloves

1 Tomato Chopped

1/4-1/2 Teaspoon Oregano

Salt And Pepper

3/4 Lb Ground Beef

Olive Oil

8 Slices Cheese

2 Tbsp Butter

1 Cup Bread Crumbs

Heat olive oil in a fairly large skillet.

Sauté garlic first, then add onions, green pepper, and oregano.

When the veggies begin to soften, add ground meat.  Season with salt and pepper, and brown until cooked through.

Drain off any excess grease. And put into a large bowl. 

Saute tomatoes in olive oil until they begin to soften.  Add to meat mixture.

Saute zucchini in olive oil until they start to brown.  Add to meat mixture.

Mix the meat mixture, tomatoes zucchini together.  Mix in roasted red peppers and cheese.   Pour into a 9x13 greased casserole dish.

Melt butter in a skillet and add the bread crumbs.  Mix thoroughly and spread overtop of zucchini casserole.

  

Bake in a 375ºF oven for 20-30 minutes, until heated through, and cheese begins to bubble and brown.

Serve hot.

Babes in the Woods

Growing up I heard the telling of the tale the story of Joseph and George Cox.  It is well known throughout the Allegheny Mountains as The Lost Children of the Alleghenies. A small memorial is nestled in the dense forest of Spruce Hollow, Pennsylvania; not far from where I once lived and is common lore throughout the area and beyond.










I’ve never forgotten it, though it has been deca. . . er . . . a few years.   It came to me that I should share the tale.  It’s a sad story; but intriguing, nonetheless.

Blue Knob Mountain

On the morning of April 24, 1856, Samuel Cox had returned from an unsuccessful hunting trip to the little log cabin he had built for his wife, Susannah, and two small sons, Joseph, 5, and George, 6 in the dense woods of Spruce Hollow.  As they sat down for breakfast, he heard their dog barking off in the distance.  Thinking the dog a squirrel trapped in a tree he headed out with his gun to get meat for his family.

Samuel returned home about an hour and a half later from a different direction than he had left from.  He was met by his wife who was frantic because she couldn’t find the children and was certain something had happened to them.   It was a foggy morning and she was afraid the boys had followed their father into the woods. 

Samuel Cox immediately began searching for his sons.  He called for them over and over again but no voice was returned to him other than the echo of his own voice.  In desperation, Samuel sought out his neighbors to ask for their help in finding his two little boys.    The word was spread far and wide from mouth to mouth.  People stopped their labors, closed their shops and headed for the mountains . . . soon over 150 people were searching.  It was nearing dark and the search parties had looked through the fields, over the hills and in the ravines near the small cabin in the woods. Stormy weather was threatening. 

Samuel physically and emotionally exhausted begged for his friends and neighbors to continue looking.  They searched all through the night until nearly dawn.  Fires were kept burning all night long in hopes the children would see the light and go to it.  At daybreak they rested a few hours rest and then recommenced the hunt. 

Ten days later they still had found no trace of the children; on foot and horseback, people from as far away as 50 miles had joined in the search and the number of folks volunteering to help was nearly 1000 .

Only to add further anguish of the distraught parents, rumors and supposition that the Samuel and Susannah had murdered their own two little boys; going so far as to tear up the floorboards of their log cabin and ripping up their garden.  Of course, the children were not found there.

Five or six nights after the children were lost a woman who lived near the foot of the mountain said she distinctly heard a child crying in the woods late at night. A thorough search of the area was done but still the children were not found.  It is thought that the children had cried themselves to sleep and the searchers had passed them by in the dark. They were never heard to cry again.

A man came forward claiming to have the powers to using divining rod to find the lostlings.  He came to the home of the lost children with a forked peach-tree limb.  Taking a branch in each hand he held it up at arm's length in front of him and began to move forward in the direction the children had gone.  If he came to a spot where they had turned the stick would move in that direction.  He was certain that he could find the lost children. It was soon evident that he and his peach tree limb were a fraud.  He became lost himself and had it not been for those who were with him, he would have gone missing himself.

An old witch who lived in a nearby county, was known for her magic powers soon arrived at the mountain.  After performing a number of mysterious conjuring tricks, she said that she knew where the children were.  She said couldn’t find the children unless she was given money.  Her demand was met and she led a group of people into the woods.  They followed her for hours enduring the cold and rain.  They trudged over rugged hills, crossed swollen streams and tramped across sodden fields . . . places that had already been searched many times over.  On and on they followed her; all the while the crone assured them that soon they would find the boys.  It became obviously that the woman was hopelessly lost herself and didn’t have a clue as to where the children were.  

It was then, at the height of the rumors of infanticide and failures of the charlatans, that a young farmer named, Jacob Dibert, who lived 13 miles from the children's home began to have nightmares about the lost boys.

  

 In his nightmare, Jacob dreamt he was out searching for the children on his own.  He could not recognize the part of the forest he was in, but he came to a fallen tree.  Near the tree lay a dead deer.  Stepping over the deer, he followed a deer trail and soon found a small boy’s shoe.  Just beyond where he found the shoe there was a beech tree lying across a stream.  

Then, in his dream, he traveled over a ridge and entered a ravine through which flowed a small brook that came out of one of the mountain gorges. Following this brook a short distance he came to a birch-tree, the roots of which formed a semi-circle, and in this little circle, on the very margin of the stream lay the lost children, dead. Just at this point of his dream he awoke.  The vision was so vivid that he wasn’t sure if he had really been dreaming at all.

Jacob told his wife about the dream.  She had grown up in that part of the mountains and said there was a place like that in that area.   Jacob wasn’t superstitions and didn’t believe in omens.  He didn’t have any belief that what happened in dreams could be true.  They said nothing to anyone else.  The next night he dreamed the same dream over again.   He began to think that what he was dreaming might mean something.  He was afraid to tell his neighbors because he thought they would think he was crazy.

He was willing to venture out on his own to test the validity of the dream but he didn’t know the area.   So, they decided to tell Mrs. Dibert’s brother, Harrison Whysong, who was well acquainted with the area in which the boys had disappeared.  His brother-in-law was doubtful.  The place Jacob dreamt about was five or six miles away from the home of the children and he didn’t think that they could have traveled so far on their own. 

However, none of the searchers had looked for the children on the east side of the stream. No one thought that they could have crossed it without being drowned.

Harrison went along for fear that Jacob himself would get lost.  They began their search on May 8, 1856.Going in the direction indicated by Jacob; they soon passed the dead deer just as Jacob had envisioned it.  Further along on a mound of earth they found the little shoe which had been worn by the younger of the two children. They went over the ridge and into the ravine, down which the mountain stream flowed.  The woods opened up and they could see, in the distance, the tree with the broken top at the edge of the stream.  They approached the birch-tree and lying dead from exposure were the emaciated bodies of George and Joseph, just as Jacob had seen them in his dream.

Their bodies were wasted to mere skeletons.  Their little arms and legs had cuts and scratches from traveling through thorns and thickets.   Their clothing and shoes were in tatters.  Finally they had huddled together in the small bit of shelter they could find and eventually died from exposure to the elements and hunger. Physicians thought that they had been dead three or four days before they had been found.

The bodies of the boys were returned to the Cox home.  Church and school bells for miles around rang out the news that the boys had been found.  Joseph and George Cox, The Lost Children of the Alleghenies, were buried in Mount Union Cemetery.

In 1906, the people of Pavia contributed funds to erect a public monument at the spot where they brothers were found.  The monument is still there today- standing as a memorial to the nightmare of the young farmer, Jacob Dibert.

Jacob Dibert and his brother-in-law Harrison Whysong were remembered as heroes. Jacob's dreams became legend.

The epitaph on the headstone in Mount Union Cemetery marking the last resting place of little George and Joseph Cox.

"George S.,

Born March 30th, 1849,

and

Joseph C.,

Born Oct. 29th, 1850.

sons of Samuel and Susannah Cox. Wandered from home April 24, 1856, and were found dead in the woods, May 8th of the same year, by Jacob Dibert and Harrison Wysong."

Allison Kraus' touching song called Jacob's Dream is based on the story. She learned of the story through a relative of the Dibert family who is a fellow singer/songwriter.

Cher’s Cheesy Ham, Kielbasa and Potato Casserole

I try not to let food go to waste, so I often will take whatever scraps of leftover ingredientsp I have and whip up something new.  This is one of those yummy creations.

• 1 Recipe Wondra Cheesy White Sauce (Recipe Follows)
• 2 Pounds Potatoes (About 4 Large Sliced Thin)
• 1 Large Onion Sliced Thin
• ½ Pound Diced Ham
• ½ Pound Kielbasa Sliced Thin
• 8 Oz Mozzarella Cheese

Preparation

Grease a large casserole (3 qt). Spread a third of the potatoes on the bottom. Put half the onion slices, then half the ham, then half the kielbasa. 

Add one third of the sauce. Repeat with another third of the potatoes, the rest of the onion, ham and sausage, and another third of the sauce. 

Top with remaining potatoes and sauce and cheese.

Cover casserole and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 15 mins until potatoes are tender. If desired (and if there's enough liquid in the casserole) uncover for last 15 mins of baking time.

Cheesy White Sauce

 

• 2 C Cold Milk
• 4 Tbsp Gold Medal Wondra Flour
• 4 Tbsp Margarine Or Butter
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/4 Tsp Pepper
• 1 C Cheddar Cheese

Heat all ingredients  to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. CHEESE SAUCE: Add 1/2 teaspoon dry mustand and stir 1 cup shredded Chedder into hot sauce until melted.

Note:  You can use any roux or white sauce recipe you like.  Also, you can use pre-cooked (boiled, baked, etc.) for the potatoes and cut down the baking time by half.