Happy 32nd Anniversary!

Who are these thin, attractive young people?

Thirty-two years ago today we were married in The Netherlands. We rode to the ceremony in our 1928 Fiat in the misty rain.

My mom and dad were able to attend the wedding, and Dad was one of our three witnesses (J. and A. were the other two).

Mom was looking really beautiful and had her ringed fingers crushed by the Dutch farmers and their wives who pumped her hand in our receiving line. (They don't do that at weddings here anymore! Receiving lines, I mean.)

As this was Mom and Dad's first time to visit Europe, they tagged along on our honeymoon. From what I can remember, we all had a grand time.

Our delicious wedding cake was made by the local baker who asked if I wanted an American wedding cake. He said that he had made one 10 years before. My answer was NO, and I even ordered extra petit fours to feed the masses. (LOL) The baker told us that he dropped our first cake as he tried to walk it through his door and it slid off the board. So what we got was our second wedding cake! That must be the reason we have had such a good married life!

Although we of course missed having most of my family attending our wedding, we had lots of our friends, colleagues, Dutch family, and my in-law's neighbors help us celebrate under a huge tent in the backyard. I even experienced being lifted high above the crowd and shoved in the direction of my lifted hub for a wedding kiss. I was terrified! (Not of the kiss, but that the lifters might drop me.)

As a kind gesture to all of those who had traveled so far to attend our wedding, we had prepared sandwiches for the travelers. The local neighbors/farmers were the first ones to hit the trays of sandwiches that had not even made it out of the kitchen.

So that is how our life together began on June 7, 1980!

Teaching to the Test (rant)

During my 37 years of teaching, you could have accused me of lots of things, but teaching to the test was not one of them. And in most instances I knew exactly what was on the tests. In some schools, I was on the test committee and either chose the test or made the test. So teaching to the test would have been really easy.

I am amazed that end of year test scores have become so over-emphasized and overrated. What ever happened to teaching the subject matter in the curriculum? If test makers are aware of what is in the curriculum, then the tests should be valid. So teaching to the test is unnecessary, and possibly end of year tests are also superfluous.

Then to think that there are some people who think that teachers should be compensated for their students' scores, which makes me very angry. There are way too many factors that influence student performance on tests. One of the most important ones is "life experience."

At least 10 years ago I served on a test committee in an international school. We were searching for a new test to replace the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. After spending many hours reviewing and viewing several new tests, the committee thought that they had made a decision. As I flipped through the test for Middle Schoolers, I noticed a reoccurring theme that did not fit our school population. On one page of the test there was a large drawing of Jesus Christ and questions concerning something (who knows what it was?). Then I glanced through other sections and found other Christian references. After thorough investigation, we found that this test was made for Christian schools/education. As a Christian, I had no problem with the test, but our international population may have well had a problem with it. So we were going down the wrong track. (Someone in the school system finally chose a test from Australia. Go figure!)

What do tests or questionnaires actually test? As I watched my mom filling out yet another questionnaire at the doctor's office yesterday, I decided that questionnaire makers must get their jollies at confusing the takers. The general instructions were to check off the best answer. I jokingly said "tick off" and explained to Mom that that is what the Brits say. Who ever thought that by the time she finished answering the questions there would be the other meaning for "tick off."

In part one of the survey, she was to check off on a short line next to her answer. Part two was very confusing, since the check had to be placed in a circle, which looked like you were answering zero O on every level of the rating. And then part three used small boxes for the check offs. When Mom was still answering questions beyond her appointment time, I did not rush her too much. Who ever heard of a doctor being on time for your appointment?

Sugar Cookies

With a really busy schedule today, believe it or not, all I have time for is the following recipe from Just Plain Cooking:

Sugar Cookies (Memaw's)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 unbeaten eggs

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/4 cup dates (chopped)

1/3 cup candied cherries (chopped)

1/4 cup chopped nuts

Combine first five ingredients and beat thoroughly.

Sift flour, baking powder, and soda together. Add to sugar mixture and mix well.

Add fruits and nuts and mix well.

Drop by level teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake in moderately hot oven 350 degrees F for 14 - 18 minutes.

Icebox Nut Cookies

Today's recipe has nothing to do with cold cookies. The icebox (fridge) is just the place to chill the dough before you slice and bake them. The recipe was probably around before Pillsbury came up with their slice and bake dough. Actually eating the cold raw dough might not be so bad on this hot day in June. Just remember that there is one raw egg, tho'.

Icebox Nut Cookies (Memaw's)

1/2 cup butter or oleo

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cream butter and add sugar gradually. Add vanilla and unbeaten egg. Beat until well blended.

Sift flour, soda, and salt together. Add nuts. Gradually add to sugar mixture.

Shape into long rolls 2 inches in diameter in waxpaper or plastic wrap. Chill several hours.

Slice and bake on ungreased cookie sheet in hot oven 400 degrees F for about 7 minutes.

Makes about 4 - 5 dozen cookies.

(As an etymology nerd, I love discovering where words in English got their origin. Our word "cookie" came from the Dutch word "koekje.")

Actually it is too hot to bake cookies. When will watermelons be ripe?

Will Our Boxwoods Ever Be So Nice?

This is a photo of our house in The Netherlands. Actually, it is a photo of the front entrance of our house. When we moved there in the late 1980's, there was no front door.

I just wanted you to see our geranium window boxes and our boxwood border. Will our boxwoods that we have planted around the gravel by our front door in the US ever look like this?

I remember planting all of those boxwood plants in The Netherlands. My husband had laboriously set the concrete edges of the driveway in December. The following March he dug all the holes, and I bent down and planted the boxwood plants. I had so much muscle pain the following work day, that I called in sick. I could not get out of bed!

Planting our self-rooted boxwood plants here is almost as difficult. Here our soil is miserable clay, so you have to add soil in each hole so the boxwoods will grow. Last Spring we did a reasonable job of planting, and we still lost two plants. Overwatered? Underwatered? Your guess is as good as mine. This Spring we were too late to add the next self-rooted plants (goal: to get from the entrance to the road). The weather was way too hot, and this time I did not help with watering the holes, etc. My poor hub did the hot work all by himself. We see that we have already lost a few plants, but I am rooting a whole bunch in two big window boxes on the front porch. Next Spring we will be on time.

We have a long way to go to get to the road!

Can You Believe I Missed This?

The meal I missed.

Soon after we moved back to the US, my father-in-law celebrated his 90th birthday by taking a select group of family and friends on a dinner cruise.

My hub and son were able to attend, but I missed this feast.

Every time I see these ornate salad plates, I think about what Opa painstakingly put together for our first meal of every new year. The year that my son was born, my parents were visiting us on the changing of the old and new years. We spent that evening at my in-law's home, and the traditional salad platters were set before us as the first meal of the new year.

My father loved it! Sardines, salmon, potato salad, pickles, etc. were just up his alley!

Many years later in our own little village on the other side of The Netherlands, I was asked to help my neighbor ladies prepare salad platters for our yearly street party. I think they were ready to explain to me how to put mine together, but I had had a good teacher. I just wish I could find the photo of "my platter." Not a bad job, if I say so myself.

Now I have inherited the huge platters. As soon as I get them over here, I plan to fill them up with all kinds of salads.

Goals

Recently a friend asked how I can find something to write about every single day.

In the first place, I have been eager to write for almost 40 years. Now I have the time. Our trusty beagle wakes me every morning at precisely 7:00 am to be let outside. After that, I am up for the day. As my hub is a laaaate sleeper, I have plenty of quiet time to do whatever I want from weeding the flowerbeds to writing on my iPad.

Most days I write. When I took on the goal to publish my mom's recipes, that gave me even more incentive to write regularly. Our life out here in the country is not so exciting, but we like it that way. We lived in the country back in The Netherlands, and our nearest neighbor was repeatedly asking me if it wasn't too quiet or boring out there. Maybe we should have gotten a dog back then. I would have had a 20 year head start on my writing.

Let's jump out of season. Today I have a recipe for Gingerbread Men from Just Plain Cooking:

Gingerbread Men (Memaw's)

4 1/2 cups flour

1 cup quick oats

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup molasses

2 tablespoons vinegar

In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, soda, and spices.

In a large mixer bowl, beat shortening and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs, molasses, and vinegar and beat well.

Cover and chill for 3 hours or overnight.

Divide dough into thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll each 1/3 dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into gingerbread men or other desired shapes.

Place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 5 to 6 minutes. Cool 1 minute then remove to a wire rack.

Makes 30 cookies.