Archive for August, 2010

Honored to Share

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Corn Recipe Entry

When I entered the Corn Roast Festival Recipe Contest, I did it to share a family recipe.

One of the best flavor mixes I've ever tasted is a dish my first mother-in-law Carolyn Davis Morgan taught me ages ago.

When she told me she was making Fried Corn, I was a bit less than enthusiastic. First of all, I could not imagine how anyone could fry corn.† Secondly, why would you add calories to an already starchy food?

Maryjo Costanzo Morgan shares Fried Corn recipe taught to her by Carolyn Davis Morgan

Carolyn Davis Morgan's recipe for Fried Corn garners Mj a trophy

Why?† Because it is absolutely delicious!

Here's the recipe - if I'd thought ahead, I would have more carefully named it "Nanny's Fried Corn" to honor Carolyn Morgan ... she gave me so much more than this recipe!

"Nanny's" Fried Corn

4-7 slices thick cut bacon
6-8 ears of ripe corn, shucked (you can use frozen corn, cooked, in a pinch)
sugar
salt, pepper to taste.

Cut raw corn from cob.

Brown bacon. Drain. Dice into ºî pieces. Set aside.

Carefully pour remaining bacon grease into a suitable glass container and set aside.

Put corn in the same pan the bacon was cooked in. Sprinkle with sugar ñ about 1 tablespoon per 3 ears of corn, more or less, and cook corn on medium-low heat to carmelize the sugar and corn, about 10 minutes. Stir often so it won't scorch.

Add bacon pieces. Salt and pepper to taste.

Note: Some corn is naturally sweeter than other corn, so reduce the sugar to Ω T. if you know a batch of corn is especially sweet.
I am deeply grateful to have had a person so generous, kind, and thoughtful as Carolyn Davis Morgan in my life.

The Reporter-Herald posted winners in today's paper.

Posted in Corn Recipe, Fun, Gratitude, Loveland, Maryjo "Mj" Morgan, Writer | 4 Comments »

The Loveland Corn Roast Parade is coming

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Parades. The first parade I remember well was on the Fourth of July and I was a participant. My older sister helped my little sister and me decorate our tricycles with red, white, and blue crepe paper. We affixed tiny American flags all over our bikes and pedaled the parade route through out tiny downtown to welcome Alaska as a state.

Then we saw Music Man performed live by my older brother's high school.

I was hooked.

Tomorrow I'll be in a parade, too. This time the theme is corn Ö for the Loveland's annual Corn Roast Festival Parade. I look forward to the smiling faces, the music and camaraderie, and all that goes with a hometown festival.

Watch for Loveland 365 ñ we will be a sandwich-boarded group marching and singing. It is good to celebrate living in a community and being a part of something whose sum equals more than the individual parts.

For info on Loveland's Corn Roast Festival, visit the Loveland Chamber of Commerce website.

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Posted in Colorado Corn Roast Festival, Fun, inspiration | 2 Comments »

Paying the Price for "Free Stuff"

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

My grandson kept hearing the same commercial on his favorite radio station. ìWant a free electronic notebook, just go to this website.î There were testimonials and guarantees that this notebook was absolutely free. Karl was sure I was mistaken when I told him that there was some catch. ìPlease, please, Mimi, I need a notebook for school.î Please, please, can we just go to the website?

Being the indulgent grandmother that I am, I finally told him to write down the name of the website. I told him we would look at it and if I needed to buy anything, I would not finish the transaction. Notice how naÔve I was.

We went on to the website and it asked for my name, my email address and my telephone number. I thought I could write these in to continue and they would be erased if I did not accept the deal ñ whatever it turned out to be. We finally reached a screen stating that when I pressed ìAcceptî I was agreeing to have an insurance agent call me. I turned to Karl and said, ìThereís the catch. I wonít accept.î Karl was quite gracious and accepting of my decision.

I thought that was the end of it. It was not. The next morning, I had six email advertisements appear. And my telephone started ringing with all kinds of solicitations. When I protested that I was on the Do Not Call List, they told me that I had been approved for calls now.

After two days of excessive emails and constant telephone calls, I googled ìTelephone No Call Listî and the registry showed up. I entered my telephone numbers and email address. They sent me an electronic message asking for a confirmation. I confirmed. Peace at last.

Valuable lesson learned. Your information goes into they system even if you decline the offer.

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Posted in Phyllis Kennemer, Writer | 3 Comments »

What Color is Joy?

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Opening a brand new box of crayons ranks right up there on my joy scale. As a kid, I might not have been ready for school to†begin in August, but I was always ready for the fresh start and unlimited possibilities contained in the rainbow of perfect points in my new box of crayons each year.

My daughter starts her junior year of high school tomorrow. My son leaves for his sophomore year of college the day after that. Maybe they donít need Crayolas anymore, but I do.

I have a new box of 24 sitting on my desk right now. More than the basic eight, but not so many as to be overwhelmed with the choices. Blue green, apricot, cerulean, carnation pink, yellow-green, green-yellow. Now all I need is a coloring book.

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Posted in Cindy Strandvold, Writer, Fun, inspiration | 4 Comments »

Dog-gone it, it's my turn!

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

I am racing in the heat, and then I stop for a break and hang out my tongue. I get back up and sniff the grass, but I prefer it when I get a ride and can encounter the whole world, smells and all. I ride in a white bag sitting atop rolled-up towels.

My name is Zoey, and I am a very cute, very smart miniature dachshund. Hereís my stats: weight, 8.6 pounds; height, 2 hands; length, very, very long; age, 1 Ω years; cuteness factor, 10.

Shelley, the keeper of this blog, is letting me write this month. She and I blog on Shelleyís website, whatever it is all that tech stuff does. I just type.

I bet you donít believe that Iím typing, but Shelleyís brother rigged up a special dog-friendly keyboard with 1-inch keys that are in alphabetical order. Donít give me any of that QWERTY stuff. It was hard enough learning the ABCs and how to spell.

Shelley and I blog once a week. Weíre telling our story of how we met and bark about important subjects, like chasing birds, befriending feral cats and calling out to possible friends, human and dog alike.

Oh, the white bag, you ask. Shelley carries me in it when we go on walks and I donít feel like being on a leash. I let her know by taking a seat and looking around at beautiful nature. I like the bag for making me taller, plus itís nice to take a breather once in awhile. I am kind of squat and though the smells may be better at ground level, I like seeing†what's beyond the blades of grass or Shelleyís high heels. It is so busy with all the changes in smells and motions and noise; it reminds me of squirming all over my siblings before we parted ways.

(P.S. Shelley told me about her friend Heather's daughter Samantha, who has left us for greener pastures. Dog-gone it, I wanted her to play with me. I heard she is beautiful and kind and lovely and anyone like that is a friend of mine. I am sorry, Samantha,†your Mommy had to say goodbye to you before you got to experience all the world's smells and she got to see you become who you would become when you're very being was what made her want to sniff up so much love, she couldn't even keep†you in her heart, she had to let all that love flow into words and hugs and kisses, oh and so much, I can't even describe it. I'm just a dog, you know, and I don't understand love that big, but can anyone?)

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Posted in Heather Schichtel, Writer, Life Event, Shelley Widhalm, Writer | 3 Comments »