HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

                              HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

                                                           Taps: Meaning and History

Taps first sounded in July of 1862 and many have put words to the music. The first were very simply "Go To Sleep, Go to Sleep." There are no official words but these are some of the popular words put to the beautiful and solemn melody.

Day is done, gone the sun,

From the hills, from the lake,

From the sky.

All is well, safely rest,

God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,

May the soldier or sailor,

God keep.

On the land or the deep,

Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go,

When the day, And the night

Need thee so?

All is well. Speedeth all

To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar

Goeth day, And the stars

Shineth bright,

Fare thee well; Day has gone,

Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days,

'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,

'Neath the sky,

As we go, This we know,

God is nigh.

Happy Memorial Day, honoring all those who have served and are serving, and especially in memory of my grandfathers, Walter H Loncosky, WWI; Dana Thorp, WWII, My father-Walter B Loncosky, Korean Conflict; my niece who is on the USS San Antonio in the Navy in Norfolk, and to lost friends like Lt. Robert Scheetz, who died in Iraq.

While spending time with your family today, I do have a couple of picnic recipes for you. But today is NOT national BBQ Day as so many seem to have forgotten and I wanted you all to remember that. BTW--I'm mounted on my old guy I lost last fall at 30 yrs of age, Morgan Horse Sebastian Cabbot.

BACON RANCH PASTA SALAD

1 lb pasta small shells, rotini or bowties, colorful is better

1 lb bacon (pepper crusted really rocks it) cooked until crispy

1 can sliced black olives

16 OZ fresh diced tomatoes

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

garlic to taste

pepper to taste

salad topping with sesame seeds etc

1 lg bottle of your favorite ranch dressing

Cook pasta as directed, drain, crumble drained bacon into pasta. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Chill. Best if you can let it sit overnight. This is always a hit and so easy.

STRAWBERRY PIE

1 baked graham cracker shell

1 qt sliced strawberries

1 sm box of strawberry jello

2 c water

1 c sugar

3 tbs corn starch

splash lemon juice

1 tub cool whip

In a 2qt pan or larger bring water, corn starch and sugar to low boil, stirring until it thickens. Add jello packet and mix in and cook a little longer until thick, add lemon juice and stir in. Pour over sliced strawberries in the baked shell. Chill until set and then top with cool whip and berries as desired. To make this almost guilt free, replace sugar with splenda, use sugarless jello, and fat free cool whip.

Deviled Eggs---

Folks always love my eggs and I make a few different versions. A favorite though uses spicy mustard, mayo, wasabi horse radish mayo, paprika, and bacon bits. They are gone every time!

Have a safe Holiday weekend and happy cooking!

ODDS & ENDS Like Mayo, Rhubarb Ketchup and Piggy Biscuits etc.

 I come across neat ideas from homesteading sites and other places and would like to share some here. If you look to cook and have ever watched shows that throw chefs into challenges where they must cook on the darnedest stuff, well, you might see where I am going with this. I like to camp and just adored this idea. It goes along with dutch oven cooking which I am working on getting handle on myself as well. 

Cooking on a log. :) Please share. www.homesteadingsurvivalism.com

Cut the log evenly on both sides so it stands up freely. Then cut it into vertical segments


 most of the way down the length of the log. Stuff in some newspaper into the cracks as 


deep as you can get it, leaving a wick at the bottom, and light it up.

That's all there is to it—the log burns from the inside out, and you have a simple, 


handmade stove...


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Then we have the cute stuff. I found this while looking at biscuit recipes, I made dang


 awesome biscuits but these were really cute. While I don't normally like the container


 biscuit dough stuff, this was cute and it could be done with home made pan biscuits as well.

Piggy Biscuits!!

Ingredients list:

1 container of Pillsbury Italian bread dough.

1/2 cup of chopped ham

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1 Teaspoon peppercorns



1 teaspoon fresh rosemary

1 egg

Prep and baking instructions:

Preheat oven for 400

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray

Open Italian bread dough and roll out on counter-top.

Using a "round" cookie cutter or lid from a peanut butter jar, cut out as many circles as you


 can get out of the dough.

Place one dough cut-out on the cookie sheet. Top with a teaspoon sized portion of ham and


 cheddar cheese. Cover with a second round dough cut-out and crimp the edges together


 tightly.

Cut out small triangles from the left over dough and position on dough circles to form th


e pig ears.

Using a bottle cap, cut out small dough circles and place in center of pig's head to form the


 nose.

Using a knife, press slits in the nose portion to create nostrils. Chop rosemary sprigs into 


short lengths and press into nostril slits to give them more definition.

Use two peppercorns and press into place to create the eyes.

Crack egg into a bowl and mix together briskly to make an egg wash. Using a pastry brush,


 coat each piggy face with egg wash.

Repeat so that all the dough is used up.

Place cookie sheet in oven for about 10 minutes or until they start to brown.

Remove cookie sheet and using a spatula transfer each pig biscuit to a plate. Serve 


immediately.


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We also got chatting on a cooking list about  home made mayonnaise.


Here's a good recipe. And this keeps longer because it is a cooked mayo recipe and no fear


 of salmonella.


Cooked Homemade Mayonnaise 

( about 1 1/4 cups )

2 egg yolks 
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice 
2 tablespoons water 
1 teaspoon sugar 
1 teaspoon dry mustard 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
Dash pepper 
1 cup cooking oil

In small saucepan, stir together egg yolks, vinegar, water, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper until thoroughly blended. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles in 1 or 2 places. Remove from heat. Let stand 4 minutes. 
Pour into blender container. Cover and blend at high speed. While blending, very slowly add oil. Blend until thick and smooth. Occasionally, turn off blender and scrape down sides of container with rubber spatula, if necessary. Cover and chill if not using immediately. 
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Rhubarb is coming on as well, and I love cooking it down as a sauce over toast or ice cream and making rhubarb pies. But here is another use I found that is awesome. Who'd a thunk it?


Rhubarb Ketchup!

Ingredients

• 4 cups diced fresh or frozen rhubarb
• 3 medium onions, chopped
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon pickling spice

Directions

• In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook for 1 hour or until thickened. Cool. Refrigerate in covered containers. Yield: 6-7 cups.
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With the times what they are, we were also discussing Depression Era foods and stretching your grocery dollar etc. Here's a site that had good recipe's from that time. And BTW-- beef tongue is not gross, it is delicious. Do it in a pressure cooker and it is super tasty. Just peel the skin off first.


http://coveredbaptists.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=recipes&action=print&thread=1426