No matter where you live, if you've been listening to National newscasts, you know that the Illinois, Wabash and Mississippi have all been way over there banks and have caused a lot of mud, damage and havoc here in our state. The thing about Illinois is that the Wabash partly borders to the East, the Mississippi to the West and the Illinois River slowly meanders down the middle. So our state, the one with all the Governors in jail, and no money in the bank has now been designated a disaster area - those of us who live downstate and take the brunt of the political mess from Chicago and Springfield -have known this for eons but now it's official. The Federal Government says so! (I digress)
Our dad and Uncle Stan were the only two of the seven Scovil brothers who did not join the Navy during the Second World War. Both of them had three children and were deferred because of their jobs. I can't remember what Uncle Stan did - streetcar driver maybe? - but dad worked at Caterpillar. And during that terrible flood of 1943 he did sandbag duty. In fact, when he retired they presented him with a plaque that stated that he had logged more hours working on that line than anyone else. I remember him coming home and mother having a dish pan with hot Epsom salts water to soak his feet. We lived on Smith Street at the time. Somewhere in the family archives - which means another sibling has the picture - there is a shot of him standing by that fence of sandbags.
On the night of Vern's wake, Connie Essington said to me: "Did you know Vern saved East Peoria?" No, I had never heard that story. Connie said that during the big flood in the 1970s, Connie was working for Vern and one night they were patrolling the levee on the river. (Put in after the flood of '43) He said that everyone else had taken a break and just he and Vern were there. Connie was walking along checking for leaks, he on one side and Vern down the other. Connie said he yelled for Vern that there was a pretty big gash in the wall and getting bigger and to come quick. When Vern saw what was happening, he ran over, got on a D9 tractor that they had been using to strengthen the levee and began moving dirt to fill the gap. The thing was, management was not supposed to be on the equipment, it was against union regulations but there was no one around except the two of them - the drivers were on a break. (Hopefully enough time has passed that Vern won't get in trouble with the Union). So there you have it, Vern Mall and the Little Dutch Boy. Two of a kind!
This time around, one of the things that the local media has mentioned time and time again is how everyone has pitched in and worked together to save those businesses built years ago below the flood plane. I think people who live in the Midwest, people like Dad, Vern and all the High Schoolers and others who have worked so diligently, personify what Illinoians are about. Despite our crooked politicians and officials, for the most part, the real population of this state are mighty fine folks.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Bacon Grease
Today daughter Mary wrote on Facebook about having a jar of bacon grease in her fridge. She and I were talking this afternoon and she asked me if I did as well. It used to be a staple in my kitchen. It sat on the stove in a jar that had matching salt and pepper shakers. I think we originally got a set for a wedding present.
Bacon Grease was a staple like Crisco and butter. And they all had their place in the kitchen. Actually we very seldom bought butter. Maybe at Thanksgiving I would buy a pound and squirrel part of it away for Christmas. We used margarine for toast and sandwiches. Butter was way too expensive for a family of eight. Vern's mother made butter but she waited until the cream had soured before she churned it. When I was there visiting and doing chores, I would wash and wash the butter hoping to get rid of that sour taste but it wasn't possible. She always insisted we bring some home and I tried 'doctoring' it up with salt and sugar and washing it some more but it still was not my taste. Vern would have been beside himself if I had thrown it away and, of course, he liked it because he had grown up with it. So I usually had margarine for me and Clara' s butter for him. I'm not sure what the daughters used. I'm sure Leah ate the same as her dad because if he was for something so was she.
Crisco was used for baking. I was never good at making pie crust - I tried everyone's 'fool proof' recipe but this fool could never do it right. I was thrilled when Alissa became old enough to want to bake and she made amazing pie crust. In fact, at least one year her cherry pie won a blue ribbon at The Heart of Illinois Fair. After she moved to California, when she would come home for a visit she would make about a half dozen Dutch Apple pies and we would put them in the freezer. This was Vern's favorite. I did manage to piece together enough pie dough to make an occasional peach or blackberry cobbler. Not much to look at but pretty tasty!
The bacon grease was used for frying eggs, frying potatoes, I even fried chicken fried pork chops in it. And, of course, the only seasoning for home grown green beans was bacon grease. In fact every year sometime early in the season, we would have green beans, new potatoes and some bacon slices that had cooked slowly all day plus fresh lettuce with bacon crumbles with a little of the grease, a little sugar and vinegar - wilted lettuce. One of Vern's favorite meals. Rereading this, I realize it was no wonder he had his first heart attack at 49! Vern's parents grew their own pop corn and used bacon grease and salt to season it. yikes!
How times have changed. The bacon grease/s&p set went to good will. For several years I kept a small amount in the fridge for just green beans, I don't have it in the house anymore. If I cook bacon, the grease gets thrown out. I don't use Crisco but coconut oil and never have margarine, only butter and used sparingly. I fix scrambled eggs in the microwave with a spoon of butter for flavor. If I bake cookies, I use butter. I fried onions and peppers recently and used a mixture of olive oil and butter. I probably use olive oil for cooking most and I always buy extra, extra virgin and a good quality. I don't use much so feel its worth it.
Actually, I seldom eat fried foods but if I do cook bacon, I cut each slice in threes. It fries up easier and I can use it for a sandwich or crumble it for a salad. A favorite salad is fresh spinach, feta cheese, dried cranberries and crumbled bacon with a vinegar and oil dressing. Sometimes I might add celery, grape tomatoes and green onions, depending what's on hand.
For the most part, we all tend to eat a little healthier but every once in awhile fresh green beans, new potatoes and a little bacon rendered including the grease makes life just a little better. And life IS good.
Bacon Grease was a staple like Crisco and butter. And they all had their place in the kitchen. Actually we very seldom bought butter. Maybe at Thanksgiving I would buy a pound and squirrel part of it away for Christmas. We used margarine for toast and sandwiches. Butter was way too expensive for a family of eight. Vern's mother made butter but she waited until the cream had soured before she churned it. When I was there visiting and doing chores, I would wash and wash the butter hoping to get rid of that sour taste but it wasn't possible. She always insisted we bring some home and I tried 'doctoring' it up with salt and sugar and washing it some more but it still was not my taste. Vern would have been beside himself if I had thrown it away and, of course, he liked it because he had grown up with it. So I usually had margarine for me and Clara' s butter for him. I'm not sure what the daughters used. I'm sure Leah ate the same as her dad because if he was for something so was she.
Crisco was used for baking. I was never good at making pie crust - I tried everyone's 'fool proof' recipe but this fool could never do it right. I was thrilled when Alissa became old enough to want to bake and she made amazing pie crust. In fact, at least one year her cherry pie won a blue ribbon at The Heart of Illinois Fair. After she moved to California, when she would come home for a visit she would make about a half dozen Dutch Apple pies and we would put them in the freezer. This was Vern's favorite. I did manage to piece together enough pie dough to make an occasional peach or blackberry cobbler. Not much to look at but pretty tasty!
The bacon grease was used for frying eggs, frying potatoes, I even fried chicken fried pork chops in it. And, of course, the only seasoning for home grown green beans was bacon grease. In fact every year sometime early in the season, we would have green beans, new potatoes and some bacon slices that had cooked slowly all day plus fresh lettuce with bacon crumbles with a little of the grease, a little sugar and vinegar - wilted lettuce. One of Vern's favorite meals. Rereading this, I realize it was no wonder he had his first heart attack at 49! Vern's parents grew their own pop corn and used bacon grease and salt to season it. yikes!
How times have changed. The bacon grease/s&p set went to good will. For several years I kept a small amount in the fridge for just green beans, I don't have it in the house anymore. If I cook bacon, the grease gets thrown out. I don't use Crisco but coconut oil and never have margarine, only butter and used sparingly. I fix scrambled eggs in the microwave with a spoon of butter for flavor. If I bake cookies, I use butter. I fried onions and peppers recently and used a mixture of olive oil and butter. I probably use olive oil for cooking most and I always buy extra, extra virgin and a good quality. I don't use much so feel its worth it.
Actually, I seldom eat fried foods but if I do cook bacon, I cut each slice in threes. It fries up easier and I can use it for a sandwich or crumble it for a salad. A favorite salad is fresh spinach, feta cheese, dried cranberries and crumbled bacon with a vinegar and oil dressing. Sometimes I might add celery, grape tomatoes and green onions, depending what's on hand.
For the most part, we all tend to eat a little healthier but every once in awhile fresh green beans, new potatoes and a little bacon rendered including the grease makes life just a little better. And life IS good.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Nostalgia Tour
Whenever our friend, Russ Epperly, would come back to Peoria from San Diego, sometime during his stay here, he would take what his wife, Mary Lou, would call his 'Nostalgia Tour'. He would visit all his old stomping grounds throughout the city - but mostly in the Southside and reminisce or bemoan the fact that things had changed. Mary would roll her eyes and comment that he HAD to do it every time he came back and often he wanted her along too. I think she seretly enjoyed 'looking back' with him because her being with him was so important to him.
Today, I went to lunch with some friends. One of whom has been having some health issues and I told her I would pick her up and drive her home. She lives on Airport Road and it had been years since I had been out that way. What started as a lift for a friend ended up being one of Russ Epperly' Nostalgia Tours', Norma Style.
After lunch, instead of traveling back the shortest route via I474, I asked Rita if it was still possible to get through Bartonville from East Peoria. She said absolutely and we headed West. I took an alternate route (I never admit to getting lost, only that I want to get the 'flavor' of the area). I got the 'flavor' of North Pekin. After a slight detour, we were over the Shade Lohman Bridge, down the off ramp and a right turn and we were in Bartonville. The old Bartonville Bank Building is still in the middle of the cross street. (It is recycled as a cake supply shop and has been for years.) - I don't know how long it has been since I have traveled this road but probably more than twenty years. We took the fork to the right, Smithville Road, and started up the hill. The landscape is still a little bare from winter but some new undergrowth peeking through. I think there are a few more houses now, not so much on the road itself but bulldozed and cleared out into the hillside. Not really fancy homes, but newer ones.
At the top of the hill, I could see the new runways for the Airport, and a plane was approaching low towards one of them on my left side. I took Rita home, and instead of getting back on I474 I headed down to Harmon Highway, crossed the Kickapoo Creek Bridge, under which Vern and I used to park and 'spark'. Up past the Kroger Store where we shopped when our children were very young.
I didn't drive in those years we lived out by the Airport. Vern would take me and one, two, three or four daughters to Krogers.(depending where we were in the baby chain) (The younger two were born after we moved back to the Southside). I would go in with all of them and my list. He mostly worked third shift at that time and weather permitting would stay in the car and sleep. He never liked grocery shopping.
I would put the current baby in the child seat in front, Leah in the shopping cart and Alissa and Lora hanging on each side. If I had a lot of groceries, Vern would come in and he would push a cart as well. We had milk home delivered, had a large garden and I canned and froze vegetables. Vern's parents, every other year or so would give us a quarter of a beef, so we shopped for essentials every two weeks. Lora would get bored hanging on the side of the basket and take off and Alisa would decide to do the same thing, so it was look at the list, round up kids, look at the list, round up.... etc. I have never liked grocery shopping either!
I took the left turn to Seventh Street, past The Elks Club - we went to a lot of parties there - and left on Sterling past Madison Golf Course. The first stop sign past the golf course, I noticed some stone pillars. I went right and it was Fairway Drive. I babysat for a family up there in my teens. One night, the boy about eight got mad at me, he didn't think he should have to go to bed. A few minutes later, he came out with his dad's shot gun, he was going to shoot me. I called my Dad who stayed with me until the parents came home. I can't remember the family's name but I never babysat there again. I had forgotten the incident until I saw the stone pillars today.
Back to Sterling, and right on Rohmann and a stop at Haddads Market. This is the second time I've been there since the fire on New Years Day, 2010?. A lovely store and the heart of West Peoria. I needed laundry soap and cheese and I picked up a frozen Davis Brothers Pizza - Davis Brothers Pizza, more memories - from the Freezer Case.
Rohmann to Main, left on University, right on War Memorial left on Sheridan, right on Crestwood and home and all the while memories, people and places running through my head. I certainly enjoyed my Nostalgia Tour. Thanks, Russ, it is a good way to remember.
Today, I went to lunch with some friends. One of whom has been having some health issues and I told her I would pick her up and drive her home. She lives on Airport Road and it had been years since I had been out that way. What started as a lift for a friend ended up being one of Russ Epperly' Nostalgia Tours', Norma Style.
After lunch, instead of traveling back the shortest route via I474, I asked Rita if it was still possible to get through Bartonville from East Peoria. She said absolutely and we headed West. I took an alternate route (I never admit to getting lost, only that I want to get the 'flavor' of the area). I got the 'flavor' of North Pekin. After a slight detour, we were over the Shade Lohman Bridge, down the off ramp and a right turn and we were in Bartonville. The old Bartonville Bank Building is still in the middle of the cross street. (It is recycled as a cake supply shop and has been for years.) - I don't know how long it has been since I have traveled this road but probably more than twenty years. We took the fork to the right, Smithville Road, and started up the hill. The landscape is still a little bare from winter but some new undergrowth peeking through. I think there are a few more houses now, not so much on the road itself but bulldozed and cleared out into the hillside. Not really fancy homes, but newer ones.
At the top of the hill, I could see the new runways for the Airport, and a plane was approaching low towards one of them on my left side. I took Rita home, and instead of getting back on I474 I headed down to Harmon Highway, crossed the Kickapoo Creek Bridge, under which Vern and I used to park and 'spark'. Up past the Kroger Store where we shopped when our children were very young.
I didn't drive in those years we lived out by the Airport. Vern would take me and one, two, three or four daughters to Krogers.(depending where we were in the baby chain) (The younger two were born after we moved back to the Southside). I would go in with all of them and my list. He mostly worked third shift at that time and weather permitting would stay in the car and sleep. He never liked grocery shopping.
I would put the current baby in the child seat in front, Leah in the shopping cart and Alissa and Lora hanging on each side. If I had a lot of groceries, Vern would come in and he would push a cart as well. We had milk home delivered, had a large garden and I canned and froze vegetables. Vern's parents, every other year or so would give us a quarter of a beef, so we shopped for essentials every two weeks. Lora would get bored hanging on the side of the basket and take off and Alisa would decide to do the same thing, so it was look at the list, round up kids, look at the list, round up.... etc. I have never liked grocery shopping either!
I took the left turn to Seventh Street, past The Elks Club - we went to a lot of parties there - and left on Sterling past Madison Golf Course. The first stop sign past the golf course, I noticed some stone pillars. I went right and it was Fairway Drive. I babysat for a family up there in my teens. One night, the boy about eight got mad at me, he didn't think he should have to go to bed. A few minutes later, he came out with his dad's shot gun, he was going to shoot me. I called my Dad who stayed with me until the parents came home. I can't remember the family's name but I never babysat there again. I had forgotten the incident until I saw the stone pillars today.
Back to Sterling, and right on Rohmann and a stop at Haddads Market. This is the second time I've been there since the fire on New Years Day, 2010?. A lovely store and the heart of West Peoria. I needed laundry soap and cheese and I picked up a frozen Davis Brothers Pizza - Davis Brothers Pizza, more memories - from the Freezer Case.
Rohmann to Main, left on University, right on War Memorial left on Sheridan, right on Crestwood and home and all the while memories, people and places running through my head. I certainly enjoyed my Nostalgia Tour. Thanks, Russ, it is a good way to remember.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Come Fly With Me
We've been planning a couple of trips and pricing plane fares, and I started thinking about some of my experiences with flying. One year at the Heart of Illinois fair, Joanne Billings and I, having saved our pennies, took a helicopter ride over the city. This was my first experience flying. The copter went from the fair grounds off of north University to downtown probably in about a half hour in all. It was pretty exciting and about the only thing I can remember is how many swimming pools there were in that area.
For one of my birthdays, I think it was the 30th, we were on Cat vacation in Missouri and as a surprise, Vern and b-i-l, Claude Young - one of my favorite people - planned to take me on a plane ride. Claude had a friend who had a four seater small plane. Vern's sister took care of all ten of the children and we traveled to a Springfield flying field and we went up. Claude and Vern in the back, me up front. I loved the adventure and we flew over Mary and Claude's house and even Vern's family farm thirty miles north. As I remember it was pretty cool and I can still remember the smiling looks on Vern and Claude's faces because they had pulled off such a great surprise.
I think the first commercial flight I went on was to Washington, D.C. I was selected to go to the National Leaders Conference for 4-H. That is another story, a good experience. There were three of us going and we were in the waiting room when an announcement came over the intercom: "Would Norma Mall please come to the ticket counter" Of course, I thought something had happened to one of the girls and I hurried towards that area. I turned the corner and there sat Gail Fitzpatrick, Ronnie Rathbun, Phyllis Calliss and Linda Nieukirk (and maybe some others) dressed in their bathrobes, slippers, shower caps holding towels and who knows what else. They said they just remembered I was leaving and left in a hurry to say goodbye. Crazy, crazy ladies and, I'm not sure what the other two women I was traveling with thought of this tribe. Lots of fun times.
The first time I traveled alone, was to Kansas City. Brother Russ and his wife were going to a convention and they asked me to come and stay with their three kids. The trip was on Ozark. I loved Ozark airlines, (remember how noisy those old planes were?) and went a couple more times on Russ's nickle to babysit.
When Mary and Gregg bought their travel agency, several times we were able to travel first class to California. Vern loved traveling first class, he always ordered champagne and by the time we made it to the west he had a nice glow.
In 1993, when my friend, Rita and I went to Europe for the first time - coach - I did not get comfortable on the whole trip over but loved, loved the hot wash cloth before we landed. We flew on Virgin Airlines. And I remember coming back, and one of those traveling with us, said: "Look, Norma, we are now over the United States". Lump in the throat time!
When we went to Italy in 2011, a client of Mary's gave me points enough to travel first class. (Thanks again, Elena) What a way to go! I had my own little cubicle that made into a bed and I slept coming and going. I think my traveling to Europe has ended, don't think I would want to go any other way and cannot afford it on my own.
Haven't I had some wonderful adventures, a lot of them provided by others. I am blessed.
For one of my birthdays, I think it was the 30th, we were on Cat vacation in Missouri and as a surprise, Vern and b-i-l, Claude Young - one of my favorite people - planned to take me on a plane ride. Claude had a friend who had a four seater small plane. Vern's sister took care of all ten of the children and we traveled to a Springfield flying field and we went up. Claude and Vern in the back, me up front. I loved the adventure and we flew over Mary and Claude's house and even Vern's family farm thirty miles north. As I remember it was pretty cool and I can still remember the smiling looks on Vern and Claude's faces because they had pulled off such a great surprise.
I think the first commercial flight I went on was to Washington, D.C. I was selected to go to the National Leaders Conference for 4-H. That is another story, a good experience. There were three of us going and we were in the waiting room when an announcement came over the intercom: "Would Norma Mall please come to the ticket counter" Of course, I thought something had happened to one of the girls and I hurried towards that area. I turned the corner and there sat Gail Fitzpatrick, Ronnie Rathbun, Phyllis Calliss and Linda Nieukirk (and maybe some others) dressed in their bathrobes, slippers, shower caps holding towels and who knows what else. They said they just remembered I was leaving and left in a hurry to say goodbye. Crazy, crazy ladies and, I'm not sure what the other two women I was traveling with thought of this tribe. Lots of fun times.
The first time I traveled alone, was to Kansas City. Brother Russ and his wife were going to a convention and they asked me to come and stay with their three kids. The trip was on Ozark. I loved Ozark airlines, (remember how noisy those old planes were?) and went a couple more times on Russ's nickle to babysit.
When Mary and Gregg bought their travel agency, several times we were able to travel first class to California. Vern loved traveling first class, he always ordered champagne and by the time we made it to the west he had a nice glow.
In 1993, when my friend, Rita and I went to Europe for the first time - coach - I did not get comfortable on the whole trip over but loved, loved the hot wash cloth before we landed. We flew on Virgin Airlines. And I remember coming back, and one of those traveling with us, said: "Look, Norma, we are now over the United States". Lump in the throat time!
When we went to Italy in 2011, a client of Mary's gave me points enough to travel first class. (Thanks again, Elena) What a way to go! I had my own little cubicle that made into a bed and I slept coming and going. I think my traveling to Europe has ended, don't think I would want to go any other way and cannot afford it on my own.
Haven't I had some wonderful adventures, a lot of them provided by others. I am blessed.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
ELLEN LEE
I have eight grandchildren; Lisa, an English teacher, who at the present time gets to be a stay-at-home Mom, Joel, an Engineer, Tony, who works for a distributing company, Steven, a sophomore in college, Tim, a junior at UW-Eau Claire, and Jonathan and Charlie, who are both seniors in high school and Elle, who is currently living and working in the Boston area and works for I-Robot. I love all of these great kids but the only ones birthday I can remember for sure is hers, 4-4-88.
When she was born, I remember how beautiful her mother looked - Lora has her dad's family's warm Italian coloring, and I am also reminded of holding Ellen at Methodist Hospital where she was born. Because they lived so close to us in Washington, I'm afraid all the Aunts spoiled her. (She was a beautiful little girl - still is!) This is her with her Aunt Maureen.
When she was eight, Vern and I took her on a trip out West. She was a good traveling companion. We had many adventures: getting stranded in Kansas in 100 degree weather with car trouble, donkey's heads coming in through the open windows at Mount Rushmore and she fell out of a tree at our destination in Colorado. She called Mount Rushmore: "the place with four heads". I still call it that. Once I looked back, she was sitting in the back seat. She was sitting in the middle, sound asleep and had all three seat belts buckled around her. How did she do that?
Recently, she called and asked if I was feeling okay because I hadn't blogged anything for awhile. I told her it was because I hadn't had anything to write about - I was having dental work done, pretty boring. In that conversation, she was complaining about something in her life and I told her to put it in perspective, at her age I had four children - or maybe three and one on the way. Now that I think about it, that was unfair of me, I should have just made soothing grandmother noises. Hmmm, not good at that! Too opinionated.
When she was in High School, we always made it up north to see her in a play. She usually played a comedy role. Her Mrs. Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice" was classic.
Once while she was in High School or College, she had to write a paper on "What is love". She called me. I told her that love isn't the lust of young people, (I remember that) but that love is when you are recovering from surgery and your husband helps you take a bath and wash your hair and leads you back to your bed that he has put clean sheets on. That is true love! She said: "Oh, Grandma, that makes me cry!"
I love her, as I do the other seven. If there was one thing I would change about her it is that she would realize her own worth. She is an amazing women. An award winning artist, very creative, do you get the idea I'm proud of her?
Well, Miss Ellen, better known these days by her artistic name 'Elle', but she is still Ellen to me, I finally have something to write about. Love you, little girl.
When she was born, I remember how beautiful her mother looked - Lora has her dad's family's warm Italian coloring, and I am also reminded of holding Ellen at Methodist Hospital where she was born. Because they lived so close to us in Washington, I'm afraid all the Aunts spoiled her. (She was a beautiful little girl - still is!) This is her with her Aunt Maureen.
Recently, she called and asked if I was feeling okay because I hadn't blogged anything for awhile. I told her it was because I hadn't had anything to write about - I was having dental work done, pretty boring. In that conversation, she was complaining about something in her life and I told her to put it in perspective, at her age I had four children - or maybe three and one on the way. Now that I think about it, that was unfair of me, I should have just made soothing grandmother noises. Hmmm, not good at that! Too opinionated.
When she was in High School, we always made it up north to see her in a play. She usually played a comedy role. Her Mrs. Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice" was classic.
Once while she was in High School or College, she had to write a paper on "What is love". She called me. I told her that love isn't the lust of young people, (I remember that) but that love is when you are recovering from surgery and your husband helps you take a bath and wash your hair and leads you back to your bed that he has put clean sheets on. That is true love! She said: "Oh, Grandma, that makes me cry!"
I love her, as I do the other seven. If there was one thing I would change about her it is that she would realize her own worth. She is an amazing women. An award winning artist, very creative, do you get the idea I'm proud of her?
Well, Miss Ellen, better known these days by her artistic name 'Elle', but she is still Ellen to me, I finally have something to write about. Love you, little girl.
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