Mike
hobbled in from Sunday afternoon’s hunt with a flare of his old Achilles’
tendon injury. He’s taking advantage of these dull, sometimes rainy autumn days
to rest his leg. Since nothing much is happening, I thought I’d share again from
Mother’s folder of recipe oddities.
BING
CHERRY SALAD
 |
| Morning naptime |
(from
Aunt Margaret Walrath)
1
#2 ½ bing cherries (pitted)
1/3
c lemon juice
1
package orange Jello
½
c blanched almonds
1
3-oz bottle stuffed olives sliced
Drain
cherries. Add water and lemon juice to the cherry juice to make 1 ¾ cups
liquid. Heat liquid and pour over Jello, stirring to dissolve. Add rest of
ingredients and pour into individual molds. Chill until firm. Serves 8.
I
simply can’t imagine this combination of ingredients. But Aunt Margaret
comments: “The way we eat it will only serve 5 or 6.” I guess they liked
it.
Checking
online, I discovered one similar recipe, the only differences being Coca-Cola instead
of water and pecans instead of almonds. On another recipe combining cherries
and olives, the writer commented that she liked the contrast of the salty
olives against the sweet cherries.
So
– Who was Aunt Margaret, you ask. You’ve never heard me speak of her, you say.
Well, Aunt Margaret was married to Mother’s first husband’s brother, Ted Walrath.
Technically, she was not my aunt – not even by marriage – but she was related
within the extended family. They lived in a neat little house just a few doors
from us on Brown Avenue when I was growing up. It was one of those houses that
somehow seemed bigger on the inside than it appeared from the outside. Since
they were neighbors, she occasionally walked past our house and would stop to
visit. After she bought her little blue Chevrolet Corvair, I don’t think she
ever had another car. She said she just loved that Corvair. And -- she was a knitter.
Every
Christmas Eve, as we bustled around the house to get ready for our celebration,
Uncle Ted would show up about 3:00 p.m. to wish us a “Merry Christmas.” He
never stayed but a minute. (Well, he might have stayed a little longer if Daddy
offered him a drink.) Mother later recalled that his brief holiday visits were special
to her.
I
don’t remember when Aunt Margaret passed away – probably in the 1980s – but I remember
well Uncle Ted’s passing. It was during my first week at the University of
Idaho in 1967. As I recall, he had a stroke or a heart attack and fell against
Aunt Margaret, injuring her. Whatever the event, he didn’t survive and Aunt
Margaret was hospitalized. KW
[The b&w photo above, taken during the holidays of 1935, shows three generations of Walraths: Harry Lee stands with Margaret and Ted behind Naomi holding Margot (Margaret and Ted's daughter). Margaret and Ted had another child, Harry, born in 1937.
In the bottom photo, note the beautiful red maple. We don't know from whence this volunteer came, but it's plain that it's not from the big cousin behind it.]
I
just finished this sparkly gold holiday doll dress using the free “Shiny Happy
Dress” pattern from Liberty Jane. The stretchy knit fabric was actually a very
short skirt I bought off the clearance rack at Walmart for $3.00. 
