52 Blessings - The Finer Things

1.  Several years ago I read an obituary in my hometown newspaper of a woman named Thora. While I didn’t know her, I felt like I did by the time I finished reading the tribute to her. It sounded like she loved and served her family and they loved and appreciated her in return. Why, the obituary even included Thora’s Bowknots, one of her recipes. Now that’s the way to keep a dish on living – posting it in your obituary. Pinterest be hanged.

I read Thora’s obituary back when I sent a weekly newsletter. I included her story and the recipe in one week’s mailing. Since then I have received more than a few e-mails from her grandchildren (scattered across the nation) who discover the recipe from my on-line post. It’s always fun to hear from them. One granddaughter wrote me this morning thanking me for the recipe, she had fond memories of making bowknots with her grandmother. She wrote, “They are supposed to be tied small enough so that they are the exact diameter of a glass, easy to submerge in milk. This is how Grandma Thora let us eat them when we were little.”

When I read Thora’s obituary and recipe, I saw it simply as a human interest story, but it is far more than that to her grandchildren and I’m glad I posted it for their sakes. As her granddaughter wrote, “Finding this recipe on your website might motivate me to finally make them this holiday season – see how choices impact others?”

2.  Last week Levin and Cali came to visit while Ray was traveling. Calvin was working out in the pasture and Levin was . . . wandering. For the most part he walked among the leaves and kicked them, but for a little while he sat on a pile of boards and watched Calvin work. Calvin gave him a couple of screws to hold and Levin was very careful with them. He held them tight for a little while and then put them on the board next to him. They promptly rolled off so he got down off the board, picked them up and put them on the board. When he sat next to them they rolled off again. Again and again and again the screw rolling went. Finally I took a screw and pounded the tip of it into a board and then gave Levin a little hammer to pound on it with.

After I took his picture it reminded me of this picture of Calvin. 

3.  Yesterday Calvin and I drove down to the temple. We went a little early so we could get some Thanksgiving groceries as well. Few things excite me like food prices. I may not remember your phone number, I definitely won’t remember your address without a landmark, but you can bet I’ll remember the cost per ounce of most products. I was so excited to see that not only was corn syrup and cream cheese back to last year’s prices, but Guittard chocolate chips were cheaper ($1.78 a bag), and brown and powdered sugar showed a respectable showing at $1.18 for a 2 pound bag. Let the holidays begin.
         
Oh, and lest I forget.  I saw something that has to do with groceries today that I have never seen before.  I saw a hen lay an egg.  Really.  Our new batch of hens are laying strong and when I went to gather eggs this morning I had to reach under the hens to pull a few out.  The old hens peck your hand when you reach in, and they definitely don't move over or get up.  But this new hen didn't know about squatter's rights and she jumped right up, and when she did the egg plopped right out the back of her.  I stood there and thought, "I'll be.  I've NEVER seen that before and I'll probably NEVER see it again."
         
I just thought you'd want to know.
         
And one more thing about eggs.  We've got so many extras right now I have to keep finding new friends to give them to.  (They're not quite as bad as zucchini, but they're pushing it.)   I took them to church and asked a family there if they needed eggs.  The boy (he's Hispanic) saw them and jumped up and down and said, "Yes!  Mexican eggs.  I've always wanted Mexican eggs."  I looked at the mom quizzically and she said, "They always ask me to buy brown eggs at the store, but they're too expensive."  I laughed and asked the boy, "What kind are these?" and pulled out a blue egg.  He's still thinking on it.  We invited them to Thanksgiving Dinner, I'll see if he has an answer by then.


While bowknots, hammers, and groceries are not diamonds, red carpets, or white truffles . . . they are a few of the things that make life so fine for me and I'm grateful for them.