She said it's a male, can we keep it?

Midnight, Morris & Me

     Growing up we always had numerous pets. Whiskers was my brother’s dog and was around before I was.  He was a sweet old dog with a bad case of mange on his back. He had also been backed over by a car which broke his leg and they had to put pins in his leg. The accident didn’t hold him back at all, he still ran down the road running alongside me on my bike but he kinda ran sideways like the old Chevy Novas did with their rear ends looking like they were going to pass up the front.  If you said get the bunny he’d fly up over the hill to look for one!      

     We also had a cat named Tiger, and boy was he was mean. Of course that had nothing to do with the fact that Rich and I would wrap him up in a blanket take him outside and throw the blanket high into the air although he always managed to land on his feet.  Unfortunately it made him very mean!  I remember one time he hid behind the couch and as one of the girls from the neighborhood walked by he attacked her, grabbing her leg with all of his craws and biting her at the same time.  We eventually sent him to live on a farm. 

Midnight meeting me at the wall

     Whiskers was my brother’s dog so my parents let me get another cat.  Morris was his name. We later found out he was a she. Morris gave birth to a litter of kittens and my mom let me keep two of them. Two beautiful long haired cats which I called Fluffy and Midnight. Fluffy had a bad habit of climbing on top of warm car tires and was accidentally run over by my mom’s Avon Lady so we had to have him put to sleep.  Midnight lived to be 19 years old and was my buddy. He knew the sound of my car as I would come home from work and he would be waiting for me at the front walk. This long haired, jet-black cat was the sweetest cat you would ever meet. He loved to have his belly rubbed and was a gentle as a lamb when inside. When he was outside he was the king of his domain. He would catch small prey and fend off dogs, and was caught on film fraternizing with the raccoons.  He was an amazing cat. One time I took him to a cat show and he wasn’t very happy and actually had diarrhea all over my mom and himself, poor cat. Mom had to go home and get washed up and changed. Midnight, however, did win Blackest Cat! (and the stinkiest.) Needless to say that was our last cat show. We found out later that many people sedate their pets for shows.

     We also had bunnies, LOTS of bunnies.  My brother and I came home with a (male) bunny (or so the woman told us) from the petting zoo at ACORD Park and after all was said and done this male bunny ended up being a pregnant female.  Then they started multiplying. Dad spent most of his spare time building cages to try to keep them separated. Our shed was a bunny heaven. When we finally decided to stop the bunny-palooza we had well over 30 bunnies throughout the year. Our gardens grew wonderful that year thanks to the huge amounts of natural fertilizer. 

     Whiskers was still going strong and would often round up the bunnies in the yard kinda like a sheep dog with sheep. Unfortunately he disappeared one Fourth of July.  We think he was afraid of the fireworks everywhere.  Rich and Donna eventually went and picked up a mixed breed dog from the pound and called her Knucklehead, Knuckles for short. 

Knuckles

     Knuckles, although a Heinz 57 and a dubious name she was very smart and very talented at catching Frisbee. The one day she was catching Frisbee she went out in the yard several times and brought the Frisbee back, the third time she ran after the Frisbee but this time kept going straight, forgot about the Frisbee and instead ran several houses over and grabbed a nasty little poodle dog by the throat and shook it with all her might.  We couldn’t help but laugh. It was a nasty little dog who used to chase us on our bikes and cars as they went by.  It survived and Knuckles continued to keep a close eye on it every time we played Frisbee. 

 

Grizzly Bear

      Knuckles had a litter of puppies and what a great mom she was, and very protective of her pups. My brother walked into the basement with a towel over his head and Knuckles went after him protecting her puppies. Rich didn’t get hurt, but the water meter reader wasn’t so lucky as he pulled back a bloody hand. It wasn't as bad as it sounded and he never said a word realizing he has walked into our basement without warning. We kept one of the puppies which looked like a fuzzy bear. I named him Grizzly Bear. He wasn’t very smart, and hated to go for a walk (it was more like a drag) but I loved that dog and his very sweet disposition. Grizzly would howl at planes flying overhead and fire whistles. He also went missing like Whiskers but complete with his chain and all. We think the next-door neighbor who didn’t like his howling took him and got rid of him. Knuckles was with us for several more years until mom unfortunately found her hanging from her dog house. She loved to perch herself on top of the house and her chain got caught on a nail that was sticking out. I felt so bad for my mom who had to get her down and take care of her lifeless body. That was the end of pets for us until my brother and I had families of our own.

 

Simple Cookies using Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix and a few extra ingredients!

melting Snowman Cookies

This is a simple cookie using Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix plus a few added ingredients, but the decoration idea takes it over the top! What a fun idea and no cookie has to be the same as the last.

 

 

CRAN-PISTACHIO COOKIES

Add pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix, flour, eggs, butter, salted pistachio nuts and dried cranberries and you have an elevated cookie that not only tastes great but looks the part for the holidays!

 

Dolphins, Horses and Birds Oh My!

Dolphins frolicking in Clearwater Florida

Clydesdale Horse at Anheuser Busch

A handsome horse close by our house

 
 If you don't have your turkey in your refrigerator yet you better get on it quick. 

Thanks for reading.

Ron

Buffalo NY area received a years worth of snow in one storm ~ Nov. 19, 2014

BIG TIME SNOW!

OK, so a dusting and cold temps aren't so bad. The poor people in the Buffalo New York area have been devastated by a lake effect snow storm that dumped 6' of snow on them with another storm ready to hit them which may dump another 2-3' on top of that! Please keep these people in your prayers as they dig out of this mess.

Memories of my Grandmothers

Mom, Aunt Kathy & Grandma Kirch

     I never met my grandma Inez and grandpa Merle Brooks or my grandpap Charles "Brownie" Shantz, they passed away before I was born. Although my middle name is Charles after my grandpa Shantz and I’m told that I also have his build and curly hair. I did however know my grandma Virginia Kirch (my mom’s mom who had remarried). She was a feisty little red headed, blue eyed Irish dynamo who had seven children including my mom. Her new husband never really filled the shoes of being my grandpa in fact he was kinda weird, but my Grandma more than made up for that.

     Grandma Kirch loved birthdays and made sure that everyone celebrated their birthdays with a bag full of gifts and a HUGE strawberry pie that she had made especially for you. She worked at Eat 'n Park in Dormont making pies and she would always pick the biggest strawberries for the pies for her family. My mom continued the tradition of birthdays being a big deal and was always known to either host the party or show up with a big bag of gifts when someone’s birthday came around. 

     Another memory of Grandma Kirch was coffee with Cremora creamer. (she allowed me to drink coffee). She also made the best beef gravy ever. No one has ever matched it. Another thing that I LOVED as a kid was when my mom would make her mother's cupcakes, simply called "Mom's Heavy Cupcakes". They were a very rich dark chocolate cake and she would remove the center from the top with a cut out tool and then put special icing in the middle of the cupcake and put the cutout on top like a cap! I was a huge hit at school when I brought those in. My friends STILL talk about those cupcakes. 

     I'll never forget many years ago when my family was going on vacation and we stopped at a restaurant along the way. We all ate our food and the waitress suggested apple dumplings for dessert. We thought, what the heck, we're on vacation. As soon as we tasted the dumplings my mom said, do you have my mom baking back there? One time I was sleeping over my grandma's house and I was watching Tarzan on TV. She asked if I wanted something to drink and I asked her what she had. She mentioned a few different things, one of them being a beer. I said (jokingly) "I’ll have a beer." Boy was I shocked when she brought me one!  I said :"I was only kidding grandma" and she said a beer is better for you than pop. That stuff eats the rust off of bumpers! I ended up drinking milk.

     She was tough but but the chemo she had to go through for breast and ovarian cancer was more than she could take. She fought a good fight but being in such a weakened state she ended up having a stroke.  Looking back in a way it may have been a blessing for me because I got to see my grandmother in a totally different light. A softer, gentler woman. I remember being her hands, as we would bake pies together. She taught me all of her tricks of the trade including putting tapioca on the bottom of the pie crust before adding the filling. She was so sweet and patient with me. She even said she loved me which was a word she rarely used. I will always have special memories of her. 

Grandma Annie

     Now you would think that with four grandparents already accounted for that would be all. But I was fortunate to have another grandma. Grandma Shantz. Or known better to me as Grandma Annie. She was my Grandpap Brownie's second wife. When my mom's parents got divorced he married the next door neighbor, hmm nothing fishy there. Anyhow my grandma Annie was a remarkable woman. She was German and spoke with an accent. She was also an incredible baker, my grandpap Brownie must have loved sweets.

Although I didn't spend as much time with her any time we went to her house she was feeding us. She not only baked but loved to make all kinds of German foods and he house always smelled incredible. Grandma Annie lived to be 102 years old and I was excited to be able to have my quartet sing for her 100th birthday. After grandma Annie passed away my mom was given some personal affects of her dads and interestingly enough his social security card stated his name was Charles Sanca. This really came as a shock but made a little sense since we had a relative who lived in Alabama and his name was Richard Sanca. We're thinking that when the family came over from Czechoslovakia to America that there may have been some mispronouncing of their last name and some ended up Sanca and some Shantz.

     I really feel bad that I never got to meet my grand parents on my dad's side and especially my grandpap Brownie since I hear that my brother and I have many of his traits. But I feel blessed to have had two great grandma's who were both amazing in their own ways and always made me feel loved and cared for.
  

In honor of my Grandmas 

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

     Both of my grandmothers loved to bake and I guess passed down to my mom and now me. Although I enjoy baking all kinds of things my favorites are pies and cookies. 

     Here's a cookie that screams fall to me with a combination of Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Drink Mix, Cinnamon and Caramels. 

Apricot Filled Foldover Tea Cookies

     These Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies will be perfect with a tall glass of ice cold milk or a hot cup of java.

     For the second cookie I decided to offer another fruit filled cookie. These Apricot Foldover Tea Cookies are delicate and delicious.

     I have to get into my mom's old cook books to retrieve some of the old time recipes from not only my mom but from my grandmothers. This is the first time since my mom's passing that I've felt like baking again and I have a feeling we're going to have a lot of baked goods around the house for the holidays. 

Finally a few fall pictures I've taken

 

      

Ron