The Monday Recipe Blow

How is your Monday going so far?  Here is a recipe to make it even better!

This blog features Lois Elaine Mueller's recipes every Monday. Lois' heyday was in the 1950's and 1960's, and her children swear she was the best cook that ever lived. Many baby boomers will remember these mouth-watering recipes, and these dishes are just as tasty today as they were in the sixties.

Many of Lois Elaine's dessert recipes feature cherries.  Why?  The Muellers were from Michigan, which happens to produce some of the country's best cherries, so the family ate a lot of them.  This recipe, for Cherry Cheese Bars, calls for canned cherry pie filling, so you can make this recipe any time of the year, in any part of the world!

Lois Elaine's Cherry Cheese Bars:

Crust:
1 c. walnuts, divided
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. firmly-packed brown sugar
1/2 c. butter-flavored Crisco (or butter, or butter substitute)
 1/2 c. flaked cococut

Filling:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of a 13x 9" pan.  Chop 1/2 c. of the walnuts for the topping. Set aside. Chop the remaining 1/2 cup of walnuts finely.

For crust:
Combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in Crisco until fine crumbs form. Add 1/2 c. nuts and coconut. Mix well. Remove 1/2 c. of mixture and set it aside. Press the remaining crumbs in the bottom of the pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes.

Filling:
Beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla until smooth. Spread over hot baked crust and return to oven. Bake 10 minutes longer. Spread cherry filling over cheese layer. Combine nuts and remaining crumbs and sprinkle evenly over cherries. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes more.  Cool and cut into 24 bars.

The Friday Dog Blog

Another Friday rolls around, and another dog rolls around....Here's a scaredy-cat dog for our Dog Blog....

Sofi the Talking Schnauzer is usually so brave!  Who would think that a simple dock on an admittedly very large lake in Michigan could make her flatten her ears and tuck her 1 inch tail?   She'll stand toe to toe with a bulldog twice her size, but cowers in fear at a little (well, a lot of) water.  Go figure!

Do You Have A Job Interview?

Hello....In this economy, many of us are seeking employment, and it's a tough row to hoe out there.  The competition is fierce, and companies can pick and choose.  So, how do you get them to pick and choose YOU?  I ran across some tips from a government website recently, and they actually look pretty good.  If you are out of work, or afraid that you will be at some point, it would be worth perusing this little article.

Here is the website from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov

In my job, I hire about 10-15 people every year.  Although I agree with most of the tips to follow, I will put some comments in parentheses and you are welcome to ignore them!


Job Interview Tips
An interview gives you the opportunity to showcase your qualifications to an employer, so it pays to be well prepared. The following information provides some helpful hints.
Preparation:

• Learn about the organization.
• Have a specific job or jobs in mind.
• Review your qualifications for the job.
• Be ready to briefly describe your experience, showing how it relates it the job.
• Be ready to answer broad questions, such as "Why should I hire you?" "Why do you want this job?" "What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
• Practice an interview with a friend or relative.

Personal appearance:

• Be well groomed.
• Dress appropriately.
• Do not chew gum or smoke.

The interview:

• Be early.
• Learn the name of your interviewer and greet him or her with a firm handshake.
• Use good manners with everyone you meet.
• Relax and answer each question concisely.
• Use proper English—avoid slang.
• Be cooperative and enthusiastic.
• Use body language to show interest—use eye contact and don’t slouch.
• Ask questions about the position and the organization, but avoid questions whose answers can easily be found on the company Web site.
• Also avoid asking questions about salary and benefits unless a job offer is made.
• Thank the interviewer when you leave and shake hands.
• Send a short thank you note following the interview.
• (Use some humor, but not too much.  Smile a lot)
• (No matter how nervous you are, do not talk too much - answer the questions but don't ramble on)
• (And if you ARE nervous, let the interviewers know (with a smile).

Information to bring to an interview:

• Social Security card.
• Government-issued identification (driver’s license).
• Resume or application. Although not all employers require a resume, you should be able to furnish the interviewer information about your education, training, and previous employment.
• References. Employers typically require three references. Get permission before using anyone as a reference. Make sure that they will give you a good reference. Try to avoid using relatives as references. (The best references are work-related, especially former supervisors).
• Transcripts. Employers may require an official copy of transcripts to verify grades, coursework, dates of attendance, and highest grade completed or degree awarded.

The Monday Recipe Blog

Hello....What a great Monday we are having, and now we get a recipe, too!

This blog features Lois Elaine Mueller's recipes every Monday. Lois' heyday was in the 1950's and 1960's, and her children swear she was the best cook that ever lived. Many baby boomers will remember these mouth-watering recipes, and these dishes are just as tasty today as they were in the sixties.

Last week we featured Lois Elaine's recipe for peach cobbler, and this week we are posting the pastry portion of another summer favorite, Strawberry Shortcake.  This recipe is for a biscuit-type pastry. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

Lois Elaine's Shortcake for Strawberries:

Sift together in a bowl:
3 c. flour
3 1/4 t. baking powder
1 1/4 t. salt
2 T. sugar

Mix in:
1/2 c. shortening (or butter or butter substitute) until crumbly.

Add 1 beaten egg and 2/3 c. plus 2 T. of milk, stirring with a fork to make a soft dough.  Knead 15 to 20 times on lightly-floured board.  Pat dough into a greased round 9" layer cake pan evenly with fingers and bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

The Friday Dog Blog

Hello, and TGIF!  AND, thank goodness we have a dog for our Dog Blog!

Sofi the Talking Schnauzer is feeling shy these days - it must be the heat.  When asked to pose for a nice picture in the woods, she pulled a Greta Garbo - "I want to be alone...."

Oh, These Oklahoma Stories!

Hello and happy Wednesday!  I love old ghost stories, and I came across this one the other day on the website http://www.americanfolklore.net

So, here we go....

You Can't Get Out

A Oklahoma Ghost Story 
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
 
One dark, windy night, the town drunk was meandering his way home after the bar closed. Somehow he got turned around and ended up walking through the churchyard instead of taking the road home.


The wind picked up and he thought he could hear a voice calling his name. Suddenly, the ground opened up in front of him, and he fell down, down into an open grave! He could hear the voice clearer now, calling to him. He knew it was the devil, coming for him just like the preacher said, on account of him being the town drunk.
The hole was very deep and inside it was pitch black. His eyes adjusted to the darkness after a few moments, and he made out a form sitting in the darkness with him. It called his name, and he scrambled away in fear, trying to climb out of that terrible grave. Then the figure spoke. "You can't get out," it said.

The drunk gave a shout of pure terror and leapt straight up more than six feet. He caught the edge of the hole in his hands, scrambled out, and ran for home as fast as he could go.

Inside the open grave, his neighbor Charlie sighed in resignation. He'd fallen into the hole a few minutes before his friend and had thought that together they might help each other climb out. Now he was going to have to wait until morning and get the mortician to bring him a ladder.

The Monday Recipe Blog

Hello....Are we out of the Dog Days yet?????  Well, at least it's time for another recipe....

This blog features Lois Elaine Mueller's recipes every Monday. Lois' heyday was in the 1950's and 1960's, and her children swear she was the best cook that ever lived. Many baby boomers will remember these mouth-watering recipes, and these dishes are just as tasty today as they were in the sixties.

Oklahoma produces great peaches, particularly in the Stratford and Porter areas, but this year the pickin's were pretty slim.  For anyone anywhere who were lucky enough to snag and freeze some fresh peaches, here is a great Lois Elaine recipe for Peach Cobbler!

Lois Elaine's Peach Cobbler:

Filling:
1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 c. water
2 T. butter (or butter substitute)
5 c. sliced, pared fresh peaches

Biscuit Topping:
1 1/2 c. biscuit mix (Bisquick, for example)
4 T. sugar
2/3 c. light cream
2 T. grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Blend sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon in a 2 qt. saucepan; add water. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter and peaches. Pour into a shallow baking dish. Combine biscuit mix and 2 T. sugar; blend in cream with a fork. Drop dough in 6 mounds around the edge of the baking dish. Combine the 2 remaining T. of sugar and the lemon peel. Sprinkle on the dough.

Bake 25 minutes or until peaches are tender and biscuits are golden brown.  Serve warm with plain or whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream!)

Makes 6 servings.