Life in My World – Shake, Rattle & Roll

Shake

Washington had a 4.6 earthquake Friday morning at 5:09 a.m. I was sitting on the couch when it hit. I thought, “My, that is one strong gust of wind to rattle everything so much. Even the goblets are rattling. I wonder how that happened.” And then everything was quiet, I supposed the wind blew itself to the next field. I didn’t realize the wind was really an earthquake until several hours later.

The only other time I have felt an earthquake was when I was sitting at a friend’s dining room table. Her light started swinging and the things on her hutch started rattling. My thought then was, “Hey, she’s got a run-a-way washing machine that shakes things in her house, too.”

Obviously I am not familiar with the shakes of the earth. But next time I’ll be ready to call it what it is because if it’s not the wind and it’s not the washing machine what else rattles things if not those?

(P)rattle

Deb, Darla, and Anita

• A few of us met to scrapbook on Saturday. I worked on a few Christmas projects. I wish I could show you pictures of them because by the time I’ve given them away you don’t need ideas, and these were cute. It was fun to visit with everybody.

• I finished the book Hallelujah, the Coming Forth of Messiah this week. I am glad to have learned more about the creation of this masterpiece. I knew it didn’t have the acclaim then that it has now, but I didn’t know that Handel mostly performed it for charity then. I really, really liked that part of the story and that much of the proceeds went to free people from debtor’s prison, or a local children’s hospital and orphanage. (I also didn’t know that women wanted to be taller than men back in the 1700’s so they wore fruit in their hair to make the pile look higher.)  Another good thing about the book is that the music runs through your head while you read it:  think a children's talking book, but your head is the record.

• Interest rates are so low it was worth the effort and money to refinance.  I love how a lower interest rate and the stroke of a pen can chop off years of payments.  This week as we signed papers we were talking about interest rates. I remember when home loans were 12%. The woman we were talking to said the first loan she negotiated (as a banker) was 19%. I was trying to guess the year that loan must have been made. She thought for a minute and said, “Carter. It was while Carter was still president.” We determined it must have been in 1979. I remember when President Carter asked us all to wear sweaters at home and turn our thermostats down to 67 degrees to preserve oil during the 70's oil crisis. When I asked my mom why we didn’t turn our thermostat down (ours was always set at 72 degrees) she said we used coal so we didn’t count. (I must have wearied my mother with questions. Today when I think of some of her answers . . . well, like I said, I must have asked too many questions.  Any guesses as to how she answered which color of blanket the nurses knew to put new babies in?  "Ask your dad."  Guess who got laughed at by the other nine at the supper table?)

Roll 

Here is a picture of the pie I rolled out in a very unprofessional photo shoot at the fire station.  
It's such a pretty pie, not even the photo props of a public restroom paper towel and dirty 
leaves from the parking lot can mar its beauty.

Our ward harvest dinner was this week. Calvin grilled the salmon for it. (Actually, I saw how much butter the men cooked the salmon in, and I think it would be safe to say that they used the grill to heat the butter in which they then boiled the salmon. Do you have any idea how moist and delicious butter-boiled salmon is?  It is very, very good.  Only men who don’t worry about cellulite and thigh size, and Paula Deen would dare use that much butter to cook.  I love daring cooks.)

The other great thing about the dinner was all the homemade pies. If the church ever held a cook-off, there is a very good chance our ward would win. We have many incredible cooks. There were a couple dozen homemade pies, they were pretty and it was hard to choose.

I made a caramel apple pie.  I don’t remember whose sight I found the recipe on, I’m sorry, but it is worth copying.  If I copied it from you, please let me know and I'll name it in your honor and send my fellow copiers to your site.

Apple Pie

Pastry
1½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
½ cup shortening
4-5 Tbsp ice water

Filling
¼ cup sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
5 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples

Topping
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ cup oats
½ cup butter

Topping on Top of the Topping
½ cup melted caramel (or Mrs. Richardson’s caramel sauce for ice cream)
½ cup chopped nuts (almonds or pecans)

To make pie crust, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening until well mixed. Add water and mix well. Roll dough out on floured board and put in pie pan.

Peel apples. Add sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Pour into pie crust.

Mix topping ingredients and spread on the top of the apple filling.

Bake pie at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 30-45 minutes until crust is nicely browned and filling bubbly.

Drizzle melted caramel on top of pie and sprinkle with nuts.

What shook, rattled, or rolled in your week?