2000

BUFFY GORDON'S SPECIAL CAKE

My sister, Anne, has had a time-share condo in Crossville, Tennessee for many years. She and her husband made the decision to do this before he passed away. It has been a godsend for her in that she and their son, Jim, had a nice place to go to for a vacation every year while the boy was growing up. Most years, Jim would take one or more friends to spend a week in this wonderfully beautiful part of Tennessee. As all kids will do, however, Jim grew up and attended college and Anne had to use up her 'points' and so three years ago, after she retired from teaching junior high science, she invited Frances Gordon, another retired teacher from Annes school and myself to spend a week with her at the 'Glade'. We three spent the week and each year since, playing a crazy card game that even I win once in awhile---it takes little skill. We play into the wee hours which amazes this person who goes to bed at 10:00 every night! Of course, we sleep in the next morning. We also take in a play or two at the Cumberland County Playhouse. There is a discount mall in Crossville very similar to the one off I-65 between Columbus and Edinburgh and we hit that place hot and heavy. I am NOT a lover of shopping. In fact, I do most of mine from catalogs but for some strange reason, I LOVE shopping at this mall and I take a list of things to look for every year. There are wonderful restaurants in the area, some with down-home cooking but some that are very upscale. Anyway, last year, Frances told me about a cake that her daughter-in-law, Buffy Gordon, makes. It is a cake that has become a great favorite of the family.The real name of it is Chess Cake but the family has given it a special name in honor of the terrific gal who first made it. I had a problem trying to find the cake mix the recipe called for and so to make sure that I could get the cake made, Frances bought a box and gave to me when we went down for her familys big bash to celebrate her 75th birthday!!! I needed a special occasion to make the cake and could think of none more special than Dan Monts' graduation hog roast party. His special parents, John and Debbie Monts, supplied all the basics and asked guests to bring either a salad or a dessert. I must say that this was a fun cake to make and it certainly did make a big hit at the graduation party. I know it will do the same for your family and or friends you make it for.

GRANDMAS DEPRESSION SOUP

When in Connecticut in May visiting with our kids, John was able to get some things taken care of around the house that Mattie and Stephen needed done. It is wonderful when your kids will let you do things for them. My job was keeping the dishes washed, shopping for groceries and best of all, simply playing with our grandson, Nate, who LOVES to be read to. I even read so much one day that I ended up with a case of laryngitis by bedtime!! (I'm not complaining, though!) One day, I was at the Big Y grocery store getting some things when a lovely young woman passed by M.E. going the other direction. She had a darling young girl with her and said to her as they passed by, "We have to get some baked beans so I can make Grandmas soup." Baked beans in soup? Sure did sound different. Well, that made my ears perk up but I was too slow on the uptake to stop her and ask what she was talking about and before I knew it, they had rounded the corner into another aisle. I was really mentally kicking myself for my slowness when, down at the other end of the aisle I was in, I encountered the pair again! This time, I did not hesitate to stop and inquire about Grandmas soup. The young woman's name is Jan Malone and she very kindly took the time to talk with me and give me the recipe. Her daughter, Trisha, was very good to put up with our long conversation. I imagine that her son, Brad, was glad he did not have to be along! Jan is going through a bad patch in her life right now but she told me she is making it, thanks to good friends and her church. We ended our talk with a big hug. She is such a wonderful person! Anyway, come to find out, Jans family calls the soup for the era in which her Grandma cooked it and NOT because it depresses you to eat it!!!! It was a soup that was cheap to make back in the 30's and filled the tummy. Her grandma did not use meat, as that was too expensive, so the beans substituted for it. It is very tasty.

BROTHER'S BARBECUE GREEN BEANS

I got this recipe many years ago and have tried it with various BBQ sauces....you name the sauce, and I have tried it with this recipe! It has been a delicious way to fix canned green beans that my husband does not like unless they are doped up in some manner. I figured that the recipe could not be improved upon, but was I ever wrong!!! Wheatley's Market in Wannamaker closed several months ago, much to the disappointment of many. They have since rented the space, where the grocery had been, to a young man who has opened the Brotherss Barbecue where one can get beef, chicken or pork that they have smoked and roasted themselves. One can eat on the premises or do carry out. This Warren High School grad began to experiment with making his own barbecue sauce and came up with three varieties: one that is quite sweet, yet with a slight tang (one can almost eat it like dessert!), a bit spicier one and then a third that may blow your top off! Those who like really hot sauce REALLY like this one, I am told. Anyway, I tried the Brother's Sweet Barbecue sauce with this recipe and I will NEVER want to have to go to any other barbecue sauce ever again! It IS all in the sauce! Try this recipe soon using this sauce if you don't mind going to Wannamaker to get it, or use a favorite barbecue sauce of yours. Summertime seems to be THE time for a dish such as this one.

DEBBIE MONTS' UGLY CAKES

You may remember my telling you readers about my taking Bubbys Special Cake to the graduation party for Dan Monts who is a very special young man and son of very special people, John and Debbie Monts. When she tasted this special cake, Debbie remarked that it looked like a recipe she had for ugly cakes. Of course, right away I had to have that recipe. UGLY cakes???? Ummmm....sounded most interesting and I could smell a story here. I love it when a recipe has a story behind it. It turns out that one time Johns co-workers had a pitch-in at work. One fellow brought these little cupcakes that his wife had made and sent. They looked so terribly awful that no one would touch them with a ten-foot pole !!! Everyone thought that this guys wife had really failed with the recipe she used. Well, being his typically very kind self, John felt really sorry for the guy (cant you just imagine the looks and under-the-breath mutterings that were going around?) and so he tried one of these really ugly little cupcakes. He was amazed at how very delicious it was and, of course, said so. I guess since eating one did not kill John, and what with his raving about how good the little cake tasted, others tried one. I understand that it did not take long for the cakes to disappear and everyone begging for the recipe! So, see? NEVER JUDGE A BOOK (OR A CUPCAKE, FOR THAT MATTER) BY ITS COVER! Debbie told me NOT to eat one of these while warm. They are not very good warm. Be sure to let them cool completely before eating one. She also says that if one can, it is best to let these cakes sit in a tightly sealed container for a couple of days before eating them for they are even better later! I must admit that it is hard to wait, knowing that they will be so delicious. It is easier for us to put some away for a day or two since there are just the two of us. I guess you can simply NOT tell your family how good these are in spite of how they look and then you can squirrel some away to eat later. Anyway, try this fun and delicious recipe soon.

CREAM OF SWEET POTATO SOUP INDIENNE

We are so very lucky to have such special friends in Johns former student, Butch King and his lovely wife, Barbara. They are so good to us in so many ways. We have also, thanks to them, become friends with another couple who live near them, Tim and Linda Lentz. The latter love Indian food and were lamenting the fact that it is hard to find a really good place to get this type of cuisine. I opened my big mouth and said that I could fix them an Indian meal. Now, by Indian I mean the country not the other name for Native American. Anyway, we got a date set and I served a meal with a dozen different items on it! I even, thanks to my word processor, typed and printed a menu that I gave to them AFTER we had eaten. I think when one is eating a new cuisine, that it is best not to know what is in the food until afterwards. Indian cuisine is very, very in right now you know, and so I feel that I have finally hit pay dirt. I got many of these recipes from Jatinder Singh who was on the English staff at Howe High School. Jatinder thinks that my husband has been an Indian in one of his former lives, since it is his favorite ethnic food. Of course, he also likes Mexican, Afghanistan, German, Italian........Guess he has had MANY past lives!!!!! So...guess what? I am going to give you all the recipes for the dishes I served at this meal in future columns. If one sounds good, try it. Even if it does not, you will be surprised at how delicious it is. One can make it as spicy hot as one desires. The amount of spices is an individual thing. Do give a few of these a try at least and feel free to let me know what you think. As I said, Indian is very in right now, so get in vogue!!!!!

 JATINDER'S COOKED GREEN TOMATOES

Here is yet another dish I served at the Indian meal I spent three days working on. Every time I cook Indian, I realize why I eat this cuisine out, for it is a LOT of work. HOWEVER, I hasten to add that one does not HAVE to serve all of these dishes in one fell swoop....one can pick and choose. We will be having an abundance of green tomatoes at the end of this years growing season, and making this dish is a very good way to use up some of them. I freeze this and it keeps very nicely in the freezer for several months. This dish can be made more spicy, if that is your taste buds desire, by adding quite a bit of cayenne and more ginger root than the recipe calls for. Notice that this dish uses little oil for the amount of stuff one ends up with. Also, remember that ginger aids in digestion, so that even though you are putting together some strange combinations of food, (to mid- westerners anyway) , the ginger helps even things out in the digestion process. We like the tangy taste of this wonderful Indian dish. See if you dont agree.

INDIAN CUCUMBER AND TOMATO RAITA

One very interesting and delicious thing about Indian cuisine is the fact that various tasty condiments or chutneys or sauces (whatever you would want to call them) accompany the main dishes. The yogurt based ones are intended to cool down the spiciness of the food. All these flavors just blend together into something that is really wonderfully delicious and certainly wakes up the taste buds and makes them sing out, 'Hallelujah!' Some favorite ones we have found in Indian grocery stores are made by Mr. Patak. This is an excellent brand. Some of our favorites are GARLIC PICKLE , LIME PICKLE, GINGER PICKLE, BIRYANI PASTE AND CURRY PASTE. The following two sauces are also favorites of ours and are easy to make. Do try them both.

CILANTRO  CHUTNEY

One very interesting and delicious thing about Indian cuisine is the fact that various tasty condiments or chutneys or sauces (whatever you would want to call them) accompany the main dishes. The yogurt based ones are intended to cool down the spiciness of the food. All these flavors just blend together into something that is really wonderfully delicious and certainly wakes up the taste buds and makes them sing out, 'Hallelujah!' Some favorite ones we have found in Indian grocery stores are made by Mr. Patak. This is an excellent brand. Some of our favorites are GARLIC PICKLE , LIME PICKLE, GINGER PICKLE, BIRYANI PASTE AND CURRY PASTE. The following two sauces are also favorites of ours and are easy to make. Do try them both.

SUMIR SINGH'S CHICK PEA DIP

In this series of dishes from Indian cuisine, I do not expect you to be as foolish as I was and serve all twelve items in one fell swoop! That really is too much of a good thing. The really delicious thing about recipes from this type of cooking is that they can deliciously compliment other dishes you might be serving. I hope that by the time I have finished with sharing with you all these recipes that you will try some of them or maybe even try them as we go along. I had thought about giving you all of the recipes week after week until they were all done but decided instead to intersperse them with other items figuring that it might not be so boring that-a-way. Anywho.......our guests really went wild over this particular dish. It is such a lovely color and it IS, indeed, most delicious. We dipped our Indian bread in it but I can see how it would make a good veggie dip or even a good salad dressing! Or......just eat some with a spoon! Do try this one. By the way, I have found that the fat free yogurt does not work as well in these type dishes as does the regular. I use fat free in baking in lieu of sour cream but in this cooking, the other works better. Of course, this is merely my own opinon!!!

FRESH CORN AND CHEESE PANCAKE

I am glad that I decided to put non-Indian dishes in this column every other week instead of doing a solid stream of the Indian meal I have promised to share with you, for I would be missing out on being fairly timely on various other dishes that are also delicious. Such is the case with this particular recipe. It is easy and can be cut down for one person easily and should be tried now while we can still, hopefully, get good fresh corn. It is best with the fresh corn. I often write up my columns a few weeks ahead of time and I try to be seasonal but sometimes do not make it. If you are unable to get good fresh corn, file this away to use next year! Corn is such a staple in Hoosier homes. We have had friends visit us from other parts of the United States during corn growing time and they are amazed when we take them for a drive on a country road (the narrower the better) where there is corn growing on BOTH sides of the road. I had never thought anything of it but our visitors ALWAYS are flabbergasted over the sight. Their appreciation has made us more cognizant of the growing fields of Hoosier corn. Our daughter out in Connecticut yearns to see big fields of corn and got very nostalgic when I told her several weeks ago that the corn was tasseling and ears forming. I happen to have a couple ears of the ORIGINAL maize. I use it in my talk as Mrs. Drybread of 1848 for kids and adults alike are fascinated with it. When one shucks the corn back, one finds each little, red kernel also encased in shuck! Imagine the chore it had to have been to shuck THAT corn!!!! There has been no cross breeding with this stuff and it has to be grown miles away from the fields of modern hybrid corn. One can ruin a field of the hybrid variety very easily. I got my ears several years ago from a fellow up in Anderson, Indiana who was very careful not to grow it too close to a modern field. Anyway, do try this dish. It is easy to make, filling and yummy.

MOROCCAN CARROT SALAD

With the Indian meal, one needs something cool and refreshing to eat along with the regular spicy dishes. The riata and the dip help towards this as well as sweet chutneys but I wanted a salad type of dish to serve. This particular recipe really filled that bill. It is not only pretty to look at but it is very cool and refreshing in the mouth and a great compliment to the whole meal. This makes enough for six people very easily. It does keep for a couple days. One can use as little or as much of the fresh cilantro as one's tastes dictate. I have found that dishes from the mid-east (where this salad actually hails from) are very similar to the ones from India and that area of the globe. They all tend to use the same spices of coriander, cilantro, cumin, garlic, cayenne, and onion. The only main difference seems to be the use of the mixture of spices the Indians use and call curry. I like to use the curry paste sold in jars made my Patak. Very good indeed. One does not have to be serving a whole meal of Indian or mid-eastern cuisine to make and serve this delicious and most refreshing salad. Try it soon.

ELLEN SAUER'S RHUBARB CUSTARD CAKE

Awhile back I wrote about my trying to be timely in giving you recipes. I try to put in recipes when particular items are on the market or in our gardens. Well, I am going to make a liar out of myself. I am breaking this cardinal rule with sharing with you this particular recipe. I am hoping that perhaps you had enough extra rhubarb to freeze some or have a friend who has done so and is willing to give you some or can find some in the grocery. If not, you will just have to file this away for use during next years rhubarb growing season! Good friend Ellen Sauer, who is now back living way up in northern Minnesota, sent M.E. this recipe over the internet (thanks goodness for e-mail!) and it is so easy and so VERY good. Ellen states that this cake is a real crowd pleaser and she is so right. See if your crowd doesnt agree!

JATINDER SINGH'S CHICKEN MASALA-WALA

Here we are again with yet another dish from the Indian meal I served back in July. Why, you might ask (and rightly so), would you fix this kind of meal in hot weather? Well, that is a very good question. Friends Tim and Linda Lentz mentioned to us that they really liked Indian cuisine and did we know of a good restaurant where we could get some? We used to like a particular one but it has changed hands and is not as good as it used to be and we have not come across another good one yet, so I came up with the idea of my fixing a meal myself and serving to them. This dish is the heart or nucleus of the whole meal. It is such a wonderful way to fix that old standby, chicken, and is good to have even if you do not have all the other dishes to go with it. I do highly recommend having a chutney or two to serve with it, however, and basmati rice is an absolute must. (On August 9th, I did an article about chutneys, etc.) Jatinder Singh has been so very kind to share several of her wonderful recipes with me over the years. She would often bring in some food to my husband from a meal she would have served the evening before when they taught at Howe High School and he would be in seventh heaven when she did this. Jatinder has said many times that she firmly believes that my husband has been an Indian in one of his former lives because he likes this particular spicy cuisine so very much. Do try this dish for your family. You will all be happy that you did.

MATTIE'S CRANBERRY PUDDING

Our grandson, Nathaniel, seems to be getting cuter by the hour! Living so far apart makes it difficult to stay in touch but Nates mommy has always been so good to let us know right away after he has done something cute or new. One of our biggest thrills was when he began to talk with us over the phone and that first, Hi! will NEVER be forgotten! When he takes a nap, he has to have his daddys football in bed with him along with one of his many trucks and a book. Which book gets the honor of sharing space with him varies. He recently tired of The Little Red Hen, for which his parental units were grateful because they had the thing completely memorized, and it is now The Enormous Turnip. Nate will lie for awhile on his tummy, looking through the pages of the book and placing a finger on his chin and going Ummm! as if he is thinking great thoughts. Well.....OF COURSE HE IS!!!! We are thrilled that Mattie and Stephen have already developed a love of reading in Nate. When we were out in May, I actually got laryngitis one evening from reading so much to him! Well, it will soon be time for fresh cranberries to appear in the markets. HOORAY! I love the tartness of this wonderful berry. My husband does not like things that are tart but he does enjoy this dish. It is easy to make and so very, very good. Hold onto this recipe for when the berries arrive and make it just as soon as you can.

GARBANZOS INDIAN STYLE

This Indian dish is wonderfully delicious. I get a hankering for it every once in awhile. It is a side dish that would enliven a ho hum meal very nicely. As I have said before, one does not have to have a meal of dishes from all Indian cuisine. I think it is like antiques. We have a house full of them but my husbands cousin and his wife have just a few interspersed with their modern furniture and those antiques sparkle like little gems and one really notices and appreciates them. Sometimes, one can have too much of a good thing. I would highly recommend using the canned garbanzos or chick peas (whichever you prefer to call them) rather than starting with the dried ones which take forever to prepare. For this dish the canned ones work perfectly. Again, as with the other Indian dishes, I would highly recommend also serving a chutney or two along with it. They compliment each other nicely. Also, I was happy to hear from my sister-in-law from down Hilton Head way that they were thrilled to get the Indian Sweet Potato Soup recipe I put in as the first dish in this series. They had never tried it. They lived several years in India and it was through them, actually, that we got interested in trying this kind of cuisine in restaurants. It was Jatinder Singh, who taught English at Howe High School, who helped with our being able to fix our own dishes.

JEANNE HARNED'S PICNIC PASTA SALAD

The Columbus Herb Society held a garden tour in Columbus, Indiana last June. There were members posted in front of each house but Debbie Monts and I were stationed in front of two since they were side-by-side anyway. These turned out to be the favorite gardens of everyone who took the tour for they were so unexpected. One would never have had any idea whatsoever from merely walking by or driving by that those gardens were out back. One neighbor had influenced the other to make an oasis in the backyard and each one was completely different from the other. On the Sunday, Jeanne Harned of Westport, Indiana helped us and had the foresight to bring along something to eat. She gave M.E. a taste of her pasta salad and it was absolutely wonderful. OF COURSE, I begged for the recipe and this lovely woman, who has her own cooking school in her lovely home, complied with my wishes so that I could share this with you all. I realize that the name of this pertains to a summer function, (a picnic), but quite frankly, one does NOT have to wait for picnic weather to fix this salad for ones family and/or guests. Try it and see if it does not quickly become one of your favorite salad recipes.

INDIAN RICE PULAV

You may never want to eat rice fixed any other way after you have tried this method! This is merely a friendly warning! First of all, the type of rice used in this dish is so very important. Basmati Rice hails originally from India and that area of this old earth. It is a more tender rice and has a very faint flowery odor. It also cooks five minutes sooner than the regular long- grained rice we are all used to. Jatinder Singh, whom I have been mentioning many times lately in my column, shared with M.E. how she cooks this dish. Then, when visiting friends in Atlanta, Georgia, several years ago, we dined in a very popular Indian restaurant there and the rice served was out of this world good. I was able to figure out what was in it that Jatinder did not put in. The restaurant added bay leaves, whole cloves, whole cardamoms, raisins, black pepper and finely grated carrot. I have fixed basmati rice this way ever since. If you do not care for all these extra things, just cook the rice plain. Whatever pleases your palate... do! If one were going to serve this Indian meal, I would say that the most important dishes would be this rice, the chicken, one of the vegetable dishes and at least two chutneys. It really is a bit much to do as I foolishly did and serve all twelve dishes in one fell swoop!!!!!!!

SYLVIA'S INDIAN ROTI

We are gradually making our way to the end of this series on the Indian meal. You are probably breathing a huge sigh of relief at this moment! The Bible tells us that bread is the staff of life and that is so true no matter what country you are in or what ethnic cooking you are making. I learned how to make this type of Indian bread sorta the hard way. I got instructions on how to do the second part first. You see, when my brother, Joe, and his wife, Doris, were living in Caracas, Venezuela, we visited them during the summer of 1970. They had daily help from a lady named Sylvia who hailed from Trinidad. Sylvia knew how to make Indian dishes since this is one cuisine that is very prevalent in Trinidad. One day we got home from gadding about somewhere to find that Sylvia had made the balls of dough. I asked her if she would be so kind as to show me how to make Roti. She told me I could not do it. I could not understand her reasoning and began to insist that I really wanted to learn and again she informed me that I would not be able to learn how to do it. Well, this is like raising a red flag in front of a bull, believe M.E.!!!! Come to find out, Sylvia had a sister who also worked for an American couple and that lady plus my sister-in-law could not (or did not care to) make Roti so Sylvias line of reasoning (if you want to call it that) was that NO American could learn how to make this bread! Well, it did not take much time for M.E. to convince Sylvia that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to learn to make this bread and that I could do it. So, I learned the second part of the process that day and she kindly made it again another day so that I could watch and write down the first part of the recipe. There are many different kinds of Indian bread. We especially like this one and I have, over the years, been able to make the job easier by making it a bit ahead of time. I like it left over the next day as well. It is a good bread with which to sop up food. (Now, THERE is an old, old, old word....sop!)

JATINDER'S RICE DESSERT

You can all breathe a big sigh of relief, for this is the last of the recipes for the Indian meal I served way last summer. I do hope you will try a few of these recipes I have shared with you and if you would like to share with M.E. what you thought of them or have questions, feel free to call me at 317-835-4348 or write to the Image or email M.E. at me@cookingwithme.com. One of our guests had already informed me that she did NOT like rice pudding so it was with great trepidation that I served this dish Jatinder Singh had shared with me. Well, this concoction made a convert to rice pudding! It is so creamy and by using a crock pot, so very easy to make. I made it the day it was served. This tea we have quite often. We even have it for a dessert at the end of a meal. You can purchase mixes for this but it is so very expensive and has to be used up soon after opening. I like making my own. I must admit it is best made with half and half or at least whole milk (which is what they use in Indian restaurants) but for obvious reasons, I use our regular one per-cent milk in it and it is good. I also use fake sugar and some of the real stuff to take away the bitterness of the fake and that works well. Getting the whole cardamoms is a trick. A good local place to purchase the unusual ingredients for this meal is the International Food Market. It is located at 5356 W. 38th Street just east of Moeller Road on the north side of the street in a strip mall. The lady there is most helpful and it is cheaper to buy the whole cardamoms there. She carries a full line of Pataks condiments as well. Everything you will need for any of these dishes is there. John bought a teapot at a sale many years ago that is in the shape of an elephant so I serve this tea from that into demitasse cups. The presentation is half the fun and enjoyment in serving a meal.

MATTIE'S TEX-MEX SPAGHETTI MESS

Our Mattie never swallowed something she hadn't oughter but her son sure did and really worried us no end! Now, we can laugh about it all but at the time, the parental units and grandparents worried. One day, Mattie noticed that Nate had something in his mouth and she asked him what he had and he got that devilish look on his face and tightened up his mouth not wanting her to know what it was. Mattie forced her fingers in his mouth and got hold of the quarter but proceeded to scratch the back of Nates mouth at the same time so he jerked away and down went the coin!!! An X-ray was taken to make sure it did get to his tummy. Afterwards, they decided to eat at MacDonalds, thinking the more grease they got down the kids gullet the better. Stephen thought that perhaps they should get a Quarter Pounder for Nate! Grandpa immediately began to build a little wooden contraption called A Fat-Free Quarter pounder the prototype of which he had seen at Picketts, a wonderful hardware store located on Main Street in Greenfield, Indiana. We sent it to the kids right away so that they could glue the quarter onto it. Well, a week later, the coin finally emerged but it turned out to be a nickel instead! Friends have written us all manner of funny things about it but the most clever was what Beth Bremmer of Shelbyville, Indiana wrote saying, What a blessing it is that the quarter passed even though it was subject to a 500 percent devaluation in a weeks time which made for a VERY poor investment!!! One friend wrote a poem about the event (in couplets of iambic trimeter, no less!) and another made up a joke. We had great fun from it all after the fact. And the famous (infamous) very tarnished nickel? Well, it has been glued onto a cute little oak frame Grandpa Ervin made (with dove-tailed corners, no less!) and a picture of the clever little lad inside the frame. The Quarter Pounder contraption has a Connecticut quarter (sans digestive juices, thank goodness) glued onto it. Here us a yummy dish little coin swallower Nate likes to eat when his mommy fixes it. You will enjoy it, too, I bet.

JATINDER'S CHAI

You can all breathe a big sigh of relief, for this is the last of the recipes for the Indian meal I served way last summer. I do hope you will try a few of these recipes I have shared with you and if you would like to share with M.E. what you thought of them or have questions, feel free to call me at 317-835-4348 or write to the Image or email M.E. at me@cookingwithme.com. One of our guests had already informed me that she did NOT like rice pudding so it was with great trepidation that I served this dish Jatinder Singh had shared with me. Well, this concoction made a convert to rice pudding! It is so creamy and by using a crock pot, so very easy to make. I made it the day it was served. This tea we have quite often. We even have it for a dessert at the end of a meal. You can purchase mixes for this but it is so very expensive and has to be used up soon after opening. I like making my own. I must admit it is best made with half and half or at least whole milk (which is what they use in Indian restaurants) but for obvious reasons, I use our regular one per-cent milk in it and it is good. I also use fake sugar and some of the real stuff to take away the bitterness of the fake and that works well. Getting the whole cardamoms is a trick. A good local place to purchase the unusual ingredients for this meal is the International Food Market. It is located at 5356 W. 38th Street just east of Moeller Road on the north side of the street in a strip mall. The lady there is most helpful and it is cheaper to buy the whole cardamoms there. She carries a full line of Pataks condiments as well. Everything you will need for any of these dishes is there. John bought a teapot at a sale many years ago that is in the shape of an elephant so I serve this tea from that into demitasse cups. The presentation is half the fun and enjoyment in serving a meal.

JEANNE HARNED'S HARVEST PATCHWORK CAKE

Late summer was not a good time for M.E. All of a sudden, I began having trouble breathing. I was huffing and puffing away like The Little Engine Who Could! On the second day, I went in to the Kroger pharmacy near Eastgate and Barbara Judge, the wonderful gal there, noticed my behavior and would not let me have my scrips until I promised to go to the nearest med- check place. She scared me into doing so. Bless her heart! The doctor at the med-check checked me for heart problems and could not find anything untoward (I admire doctors who admit they cannot find something wrong instead of faking it or yelling at you) and I was told to see my regular doctor as soon as possible and to take it easy. The latter advice I did not heed very well, I am sorry to have to admit. I could not get in to see Dr. John Barker until the following Monday. I knew he would be able to find out what was wrong with M.E. He ordered blood work and one test showed it might be blood clots on the lungs but I had not had any chest pain. That is what flummuxed Dr. Barker and the lung specialist he called. So, a lung scan was ordered where those big boogers showed up on screen!!!!! I ended up in Community Hospital East for one week. I had wonderful care. Everyone, from the gal who emptied the paper baskets through to the doctors, could not have been nicer. Even the food was good and that is a nice change from when I was in there several years ago! It had flavor! Even the jello was good! (Every time I told this to the people who brought me my trays, they would look at me as if were some oddity.) I had phone calls, cards, flowers, fruit and visits from wonderful friends and my sister from Louisville, Kentucky even came up to make sure I was all right. My herbie sister, Jeanne Harned, even sent me a copy of an e-mail joke with a hospital theme she had received and which I shared with everyone there, including the lung specialist, Dr. Quick. They all got a huge laugh from it. Jeanne lives in Westport, Indiana, and has her own cooking school called BREAD OF LIFE. She conducts classes and I think does some catering as well. This cake recipe is very timely and this terrific lady shared it with M.E. so that I could share it with you all.

JANIS BURKMAN'S CHEESE AND MUSHROOM ROLL

The word WOMAN and the word LADY conjure up very different connotations to M.E. Woman is simply a term to denote the opposite of man. Lady, however, means a woman who has grace, smarts, lots of class, and a heart of gold. Such a lady, Janis Burkman of Elizabethtown, Indiana, became a member of the Columbus Herb Society a couple years ago. We are so fortunate to have such a member. What really blew my mind about Janis was how my husband and I found out what a small world it is. Janis father owned the Reed Jewelry store in Westport, Indiana, many (and I DO mean many!) years ago when my husband went engagement ring shopping. Mr. Reed did not have in stock what John had in mind so that very kind man picked my then almost-to-be-fiance up and drove him to Indianapolis. There, they got the diamond itself at one place, the mounting was chosen at another and then Mr. Reed sent John to yet a third place to have the diamond set into the mounting. Now, I ask you, how many jewelry store owners do you know who would go to that much trouble even back then? My husband still has the canceled check with which he paid Mr. Reed!!! When the herbies were here to our house for their February meeting, John showed Janis this check with her fathers signature on the back. You can see why Janis is such a special person, having had a father like Mr. Reed. I have also had the privilege to meet Janis mother, who is a most delightful person just like her daughter! At the September meeting of the Herb Society, the group heard an English bred woman speak about English teas and the group ended up with having one after the most enjoyable talk. Janis brought this dish to serve that really made a big hit with everyone because it was so delicious. I was unable to attend this meeting but heard from so many how enjoyable this dish was. Now, this is one of those recipes that is not as hard to do as it would seem at first reading. Just get the ingredients and work it out step by step and before you know it, you will have something to serve over the holidays (or any time for that matter) that will blow the socks off your family and/or guests!

JUDY BROWN'S SWEET AND SAVORY TURKEY SALAD

Do you have some of that Thanksgiving turkey left over? Had so much that you froze a packet of the stuff for future use? Well, if you do, you are in luck, for I have a recipe that will help you get rid of some of that gobbler and in a most delicious way. We have some friends who live up Fishers way. Phil Brown teaches various social studies classes at Carmel High School. Several years ago, he was teaching at Howe High School.( He and my husband had an American Studies class of juniors where they studied American literature and American history together. It was a fun way to teach as well as learn. ) Judy teaches art at College Wood Elementary School for grades one through five. (It really boggles my mind to think that she has to learn all those students' names! When teaching, I had trouble with learning just one room's worth, but then remembering names has never been my forte. Never forget a face, however!) Anyway, Judy teaches art history . Another most interesting class is one called "Arts and Crafts of Cultures Around the World". This class tries to encourage a better understanding of diverse folk art, traditions and customs. As Judy tells M.E., that via the internet, todays students have the capability to interact at the touch of a button with others almost anywhere on this old planet of ours, so such a class should help broaden students' outlook on the world. Judy shared this delicious recipe with M.E. so that I may pass it on to you wonderful readers of this paper. If you do not have any left over turkey, keep this recipe handy and use it the next time you do one of those American birds. Simply make certain that you have some left over to use!

EDITH KRECH'S CONNECTICUT BARK

We are so very pleased our kids have found a church home in Middletown, Connecticut, the town in which they reside. They tried all the churches around and found that the people at the American Baptist Church there were the friendliest. The service was also similar to what our daughter was used to. Last summer, the kids helped out by preparing the Sunday bulletin and the newsletter until time when there was help from a secretary that their church shares with the Methodist Church located close by. One Sunday in November, our kids were given a special tribute during the church service for the work they had done. This was most gratifying to them and so nice of the congregation to do this. There is one lady in the church, Edith Krech, whom our daughter really likes. Edith was born and raised in Portland, Connecticut. She serves on the Outreach Committee of the church. One Sunday Edith brought this tasty edible for the coffee hour the church has every Sunday after the service. This kind lady shared the recipe with Mattie so that I could, in turn, share it with all of you . On first thought, one would not think that mere saltines could turn out to be to good. Try this soon and see what you think.

ROSELYN'S PUMPKIN CAKE

It is so nice to have good neighbors and we sure did luck out when Bill and Roselyn Nichols built next to us. They have a cat named Maggie that came to their house as a stray and they befriended her. It used to be my honor to take care of Maggie when Bill and Roseyln were away. Then, one time I could not do it and my husband, John, did the honors and it was love at first sight or smell or whatever and it was very obvious that Maggie preferred him!!!! Bill works at Ford and Roselyn used to work for Indiana Bell. She likes to read and watch movies. They both love to go to resort places where they can play the games there and see the shows and eat the fabulous food. Pumpkin is a flavor that is most popular in the fall but I think it is delicious any old time of the year. Roselyn sent over some of this yummy cake one day and , of course, I requested the recipe from her so that I could share it with you.

ANNE'S GORGONZOLA CHEESE SPREAD

The weekend after Turkey Day, my niece, Glenna Garner, of Washington, D.C., was here to visit with us. Glenna became deaf as a wee child and is a graduate of the Indiana School for the Deaf as well as Galludet University in Washington D.C. She's into this genealogy stuff really BIG TIME. She is trying to track down the various people in the family trees of both her mother and her father. We asked her if she had a beaux and she jokingly answered back that the research on her computers (note I made that plural!!!) was her beaux! My sister, Anne, also came up from Louisville so that we could all have a great visit. She shared this recipe with M.E. A friend of Annes friend had given this recipe to her knowing how she loves blue cheese dressing. Since I had all the ingredients, I made it. Oh, my! It is to die for! Everyone who has tasted it wanted the recipe...... pronto! I am glad to be able to share this with you all so that you, too, could make this for Christmas/New Years. Now, if you do not like this type of cheese, I fear you are outa luck. So....make it for your family members and/or friends who DO like this kind of cheese. I often fix recipes of dishes that I personally do not care much for but family or friends do.

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