I began smoking cigarettes when I was fifteen. It seemed like the sophisticated thing to do. Lord knows, I wanted to fit in. It soon became a habit. I would hunt for my glasses so I could find my cigarettes. I was noted for searching through the ashtray, sorting out the longest cigarette butts. It was hell to run out of cigarettes. We were living on Lee Road east of Michigan Center, Michigan. Extra money was hard to come by, trying to build our house. Every spare cent went into buying materials. Almost every cent, that is.

Since I am allergic to egg yolks, I am always looking for a recipe without them. Try this one

No egg bread pudding
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
6 ounce can evaporated milk
3/4 cup fat free milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups day old whole wheat bread, Cut in 1-inch cubes

Last week Anne came into the house in a hurry with something on her mind. She had been down at the road getting the mail. "Guess what?" She said. "You have been called for jury duty!"

"ME?" I screamed. "But I'm ninety-five years old. (Pause) Yes, I would love to serve on a jury. Say! You know, I COULD do it. There is an elevator at the back of the Court House. I could take it to the second floor, wheel myself down the hall to the court room at the front of the building and sit comfortably in my wheelchair at the jury box. I would be fulfilling my civic duty. Yes, I could do it."

Several years ago, a memoir writing class was offered at the Senior Citizen Center at Halls Crossroads. I had been trying to write about my past and needed someone to critique my efforts. I figured this would be a good place to start. I had no idea how much it would help. The classes met the first and third Tuesday of the month. Bob Farmer was the moderator. They ended when the class reduced in size because of deaths, relocations and other interests.

When I think of my mother-in-law's cooking, I think of potatoes, pancakes and goose. believe that Myrtle was basically a good cook, but not with anything involving these three items. When she came to live with us at Pulaski, she seldom volunteered to do any cooking.

Peeling potatoes was her favorite chore. When it was time to fix supper, she would cheerily announce, "I'll do the potatoes." There was no stopping her. She really wanted to peel the potatoes. Myrtle was good at it. The peelings would roll away from her paring knife in thin curls. She wasted very little. You could use her in a training video. She peeled potatoes that well. There was one problem. She peeled lots of potatoes, perhaps about five pounds at a time. That was too much for three adults and one baby for supper.

4 apples
1/4 cup toasted walnuts 1//4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature 14 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup apple cider 1/4 cup honey

Core and scoop out centers of apples, leaving a 1/2-inch shell. Mix nuts, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Spoon into apples. Mix apple cider and honey. Pour over apples. Bake in preheated 350 F. oven for 40 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

I saw Dr. Moncier on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. I have had an ongoing urinary problem for several years. The Clinic nurse took a blood sample and a urinary check. I was given an antibiotic prescription. But other problems would surface.

I remember when I had baby teeth, do you? They quickly became cavity prone. It was probably my diet during the Great Depression with a lack of calcium that caused it. Those back molars really hurt as they tried to poke through the gum areas. Of course, that meant the baby teeth had to come out before the permanent teeth came in. The most embarrassing time was when the baby front teeth were pushed out. It took a while for the second ones to appear.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine apples, blackberries, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and lemon zest and juice. Toss together gently. Spoon into 9 by 13-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Grate butter with large holes of box grater into flour mixture. Toss to combine. Stir in buttermilk just until dry ingredients are moistened. Drop eight 1/4 cup scoops of dough over filling. Sprinkle with almonds.

World War II was over and Pug was home from the war. We were newly married and living in our new house on Hanover Road just outside of Pulaski. I was not knowledgeable about the benefits returning servicemen were able to receive. Too bad.

Pug had a way of doing something that affected both of us but not telling me until afterwards when I could then do nothing about it. For instance, he bought a new steel cabinet sink with double drainboards on it. The attraction for it was the name "Shirley" on the nameplate. It was bigger than necessary for our new kitchen. Then there was also the time he brought home an expensive garden tiller. It was useless on our rocky garden. It sat out on the edge of the garden until Pug found someone to take it off his hands for a fraction of what he paid for it.