Month: February 2024

”Tomato Aspic and Long Nails”

~ Elizabeth ~ 21 Comments

A few days ago I banged my finger on the headboard reaching for the lamp(don’t ask!) and broke a nail below the quick. It had taken a while for that nail to reach a length I enjoy but not so long that I couldn’t use the keyboard. My mind being a storehouse for many kinds of random memories, I saw the Knox Gelatine box in my mind. Not a completely irrational connection because what came back was the promise that Knox would give a user long fingernails.(They didn’t mention toe nails. What happens in aging toenails anyway? No gelatin needed!)

But since Jello had made dessert as easy as mixing Jello powder, water and sugar, why would there have been Knox in our cupboard in the 1950’s? The answer came immediately back–tomato aspic. For the readers too young to have suffered through years of tomato aspic, I share an image

The picture shows little bits in with the tomato juice and Knox, probably celery. My mother’s often omitted the crunch so it was basically tomato Jello. Fortunately this was considered a holiday treat, so I didn’t have to eat it very often.

As for Knox gelatine, the current package omits the image of the cow, source of the gelatin. A bow to the times, I guess, for consumers who would prefer not to know. Jello was wise enough to never feature the cow on the label in the first place.

”No Women In Viet Nam?”

~ Elizabeth ~ 18 Comments

Historical fiction runs the gamut from romance dressed in old style clothes to carefully researched engaging stories set in the past. Kristen Hannah’s latest novel The Women occasionally comes close to the first, but deftly pivots to provide a moving and fact based novel.

As Hannah has matured as a writer she felt she could finally tackle an idea she had nurtured for many years. As a teenager she was aware of the Viet Nam War as it came into her home on the nightly news. She longed to tell the story of the nurses stationed throughout fighting zones to minister to the immediate needs of the wounded, both military and civilian, before they were sent on to a larger hospital. As she finished her last novel, historical fiction set in Paris in World War ll, she dove into the stories of these nurses.

What strikes the reader most strongly reading about the nurses’ “in country” experiences and their PTSD(unacknowledged)when back home is the failure of many, including at the Veterans’ Administration, to recognize that there were indeed women in combat in the war. While they weren’t fighting in the bush, they were dealing with soldiers’ horrendous wounds from that combat in the field “hospitals” to which the nurses were assigned. Their constant witness to casualties, both grave and fatal, affected them deeply.

I previously cited an earlier novel of Hannah’s, The Four Winds, the story of one woman set in the American drought known as the dust bowl. In The Women she also focuses on one woman, allowing the reader to fully, perhaps sometimes too fully(I took breaks in reading) to know how it was to be there. Hannah leaves the reader with deep appreciation for all who were sent to fight and serve in a war that many Americans still regard with contempt. I had never reexamined my own views of that conflict and found myself changed. For the better I must add.

”Easy Wind And Downy Flake”

~ Elizabeth ~ 28 Comments
From my office window

I have mentioned before that since I moved to New England I frequently find myself quoting Robert Frost. Today it is with a line from Stopping In Woods On a Snowy Evening as I look out at the first major snowstorm we have had in over a year. This afternoon the snow has mostly stopped and Charlie, my grandson and many neighbors are out with shovels and snowblowers to move the downfall off walks and driveways. The plow which comes by regularly on our main road continues to leave more on the end of our driveway. Frequent sweeps are a mixed blessing. We enjoy a cleared road along with the nuisance of that repeated new snow pushed off into our lot.

I am grateful that it finally really snowed here. We had what turns out to have been the third rainiest January(up from fifth) since 1905 and the damp, gray and mud were affecting my mood. Something about a cover of bright white snow makes everything seem fresh and promising. February isn’t meant, as it was last Saturday, to be 56 degree weather. Snow comes to remind us that it really is still winter.

I hope that my friends in the heat of the Southern Hemisphere can enjoy watching the little video of snow fall.

“The Modern Milkman”

~ Elizabeth ~ 19 Comments
Just for Halloween

We know that if we wait long enough clothing and music will come back around. Of course I have already given the old things away by the time “long enough” arrives. But to my amazement several months ago we received a mail flyer introducing us to The Modern Milkman. I had been somewhat envious of a fellow blogger who still had milk delivered to his door. Now I might be able to do the same.

A local dairy started an old business with a new twist. Promising glass bottles brought once a week it also had the insight to make other products available with delivery. Knowing the popularity of “buying local” they also bring chips, salsa, cheese, eggs, bagels, dips and cookies with their service. All these add-ons are made by small companies near by, helping to grow their businesses with local customers. While standard milk products are always on the menu, the other items vary week to week with the varieties published several days earlier. Bagels might be blueberry one week and sesame the next, but I can always choose just the ones we like. In addition each week there are special add-ons, such as a pie at Christmas or chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

Among the quirks lingering from my childhood is the fear of no milk in the morning. Logical: no. Still present: yes. The Modern Milkman delivers on its promises. We NEVER run out of milk!

”What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks?”

~ Elizabeth ~ 21 Comments

The last few months seem to have filled with endless clouds and torrential rains. It rained 15 out of 16 summer weekends. It flooded again in the fall. The month of January came in fifth in total rainfall since 1905. When we moved from the Pacific Northwest where clouds and rain are typical, we enjoyed the frequent blue skies here. But recently I have remembered the grouch constant gray brings out in me!

Much to my surprise when I went out to the car this morning I spied a strange object in the sky. I took a photo to prove that I was not imagining things. It not only glowed, it seemed to reveal shades of blue near by. I am glad I kept the picture. Within an hour it had moved on, taking any tinge of blue with it.