Snowy Apricot Bars

6 oz. dried apricots
1/2 c firm margarine
1/2 c sugar
2 1/2 c Bisquick

2 c brown sugar, packed
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 c bisquick
1 tsp vanilla
chopped walnuts (may be omitted)

Powdered sugar

Place apricots in a saucepan. Add water to cover. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 min. Drain, cool, chop and reserve.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut margarine into sugar and 2 1/2 c bisquick until crumbly. Pat into ungreased jelly roll pan (15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1) Bake 10 min. Beat brown sugar and eggs. Stir in apricots, 2/3 c bisquick, vanilla and nuts. Spread over baked layer Bake 30 min longer. Cool completely, cut into bars (2x1 in)Roll into powdered sugar. Makes 75 cookies.

Recipe courtesy of Rosemary McAuliff and Bisquick

It snowed overnight. I heard the plows through the night. This morning, it looks like what the natives here consider Christmas. I, on the other hand, did not mind a snowless Xmas. I guess I should be ok with it snowing considering it IS the middle of January and spring officially start in about 2 months. In the mean time, I scour the half-price flower bunches and buy myself flowers. After all, I must keep my sanity so I can garden this spring. The flower and seed catalogs also keep hope alive that spring will return. I wonder though if winter will hang on with a vengeance because we had such a long reprieve from the cold and snow.

Creme Brule with Raspberries

6 TBSP raspberry jam
1/2 pint fresh raspberries

6 large egg yolks
6 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla (the real stuff)
1 1/2 cups whipping cream

6 tsp. sugar (brown or white)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In 6 ramekins,spread 1 tsp. each raspberry jam and press 7 fresh raspberries into the jam.

Whisk egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and cream together. Divide the mixture among the 6 ramekins. Bake in a bano maria for 35-40 minutes. Insert knife into the center and it should be come out fairly clean.
Before serving, sprinkle itsp on top of the custard and broil until the sugar has caramelized but not too burnt. Serve with raspberries as a garnish.

Today is our 27th anniversary. Permit me to reminisce a bit. I remember when we were so poor that our first landlord bluntly asked us how we were going to pay the rent. At that time, Steve was earning $4.50/hour and I was earning $6o every 2 weeks. Despite that, we WERE able to pay the rent and I was able to squirrel away $800.00 (secretly kept in the pocket of my old softball team jacket in our closet.That money sent Steve home to the Philippines to defend his thesis for his soon to be lost Master's Degree.) Nevertheless, we were happy there. It was home. We were so proud of our acquisitions. An old electrical crate became our coffee table and a twin bed sufficed.Steve's mom's old boss gave us a bunch of stuff like an ironing board, some spices, and other things I don't recall. After all, that was 27 years ago.
Three and a half years later, our landlord, (the same one) did not renew our lease because Ally was on the way and NO CHILDREN ALLOWED was specified in the lease. I know the laws were changed after that because I believe these days, that clause would be illegal.
So, we moved to Main Street in Pittsford. The new place seemed like a mansion compared to our teeny apartment on Oxford Street. It actually had the same number of rooms as our old place but each room was twice the size.The living room served the purpose of bedroom for Mommy when she came to stay for a bit when Ally was born. It was a convenient, pleasant place to live. We were happy there except on snowy days when our trusty old Chevette could not make it up our driveway because of the incline. By that time, I was working at Hick's and McCarthy. A traditional diner in the true sense of the word. Steve was still working at an investment firm selling mutual funds. I also went into selling real estate at some point then.( I continued to work at Hick's too). I am never one to rely on the unknown. Full commission jobs are just too iffy for me.
We came to know of this house on Rosedale Street through a colleague in Peter Brizee's office and we were able to assume the mortgage of that house without bank approval. The interest was 13.5 % and our payments were $880.00. The house was a dilapidated eyesore. It obviously needed a lot of work. But, it was ours. I think both sets of parents were appalled but nothing could change our mind. It's funny that after a couple of years, Steve and I tried to refinance to a lower interest rate which would mean lower payments. The bank told us that we did not qualify because we did not make enough money. We worked on the house little by little eventually replacing the furnace , kitchen, bathroom, family room,lower half bath and front and back porch. Bryan was born in '89. The parents were living with us. We had a great neighborhood. Our neighbors were great up until the time we moved to Galena when one of our neighbors kinda went nuts.They were great years.
Then we moved to the Midwest. We now have an old brick house (1854) that we work on little by little. The work needed was different from our first house. We've had to do tuckpointing, a new roof, some plumbing and a little porch work. Not as drastic as Rosedale. As we continue to live here in good ol' Galena, I realize that life has been good to us. We have prospered in our careers and our children have brought us great joy. Their achievements are our achievements. I have broken down these years by house/home. It seems that every time we moved, it was an upward movement.I hope to continue on this upward movement despite the fact that I don't see us moving for several more years.Happy anniversary, Steve. Thanks for sticking it out with me through thick and thin.

Chicken Marsala

4 chicken breasts, pounded and flattened
1 egg, lightly beaten
flour, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, basil
olive oil
butter
6 cloves garlic
beef broth
marsala wine

Saute 6 cloves garlic in olive oil/butter mixture.
Dip chicken in egg,dredge chicken breasts in the flour mixture. Brown in the olive oil /butter mixture.
Set Aside.

Marsala sauce

Mash the 6 cloves garlic
Add beef broth and marsala wine. Add the browned chicken and serve.


Chicken Marsala is one of our daughter, Allyson's favorite meals. We would have cooked it today for her because it is her 23rd birthday today. In our family, the celebrant requests whatever meal they want for the occasion. This is the first birthday she has celebrated without us.We did not cook it today because she is not with us today. She is back "home" in Philadelphia because of her work. This passage of time (which goes way too fast) is not something I like but I have to accept. We raise our children to be hardworking, honest, and pleasant people who, if we do our jobs right, will make their mark in society in a positive way. Allyson is making her father, brother and me very proud of who she has turned out to be. A beautiful person who has taken on the challenge of working with at-risk teenagers in the inner city of Philadelphia. She is giving back to society before she has benefited from society.She works 65 hours a week developing programs and curriculum for these young people she works with.
Ally, we don't say it often enough. We are so proud of you and your achievements. Keep up the good work. We miss you very much but you have to do what you have to do. Happy birthday. Love you.