What time is it?

It's time to talk about my clock again. I bought brand new batteries and it still doesn't work so I have decided it's time to throw it away and buy a new clock.

I don't recall what year I bought that clock, but I remember why. My niece, Kristin, couldn't understand why I didn't have a clock.

"But, Aunt Martha, how do you know what time it is?" she asked.

"I don't need to know what time it is." I replied.

She couldn't understand why I didn't care what time it was. To be truthful, I can't remember what was happening in my life that made time so irrelevant to my living.

Maybe it was my living that was irrelevant to time.

Watch the seasonal favorite "It's a Wonderful Life", then ponder that question sometime between now and the new year. Let me know if you reach any conclusions or if it was just good for putting you to sleep quickly.

A little bit softer now

I found a new site tonight. You're probably too young to remember when you could put a quarter in the jukebox and hear 3 of your favorite songs. Most of you are probably too young to even know what a jukebox is.

But if you want to know what rock music sounded like in the beginning - yeah, like before there was fire - go to the 50's Jukebox.

I grew up on this music. My eldest sister was a teenager when this music was playing on the little transitor radio she kept under her pillow at night. She didn't really share it with us, her pesky little sisters, but we couldn't help hearing the tunes now and then.

Who can forget those catchy lyrics that went something like "7 little girls sitting in the back seat kissing and hugging with Fred" or "Who walked in the class room, cool and slow, who called the English teacher Daddy-O" or "Kookie, lend me your comb"? Or the Saturday-night-alone classics like the poignant "I've been cheated, been mistreated, When will I be loved" or the wistful "Each night I ask the stars up above Why must I be a teenager in love"?

Clear the floor and put another coin in the jukebox. Get up on your feet and check out the Isley Brothers singing "Shout!"

OH YEAH! You're a little bit louder now.

Two gloves don't necessarily equal a pair.

I told you it was cold this past weekend. I decided it was time to find my winter gloves, so I searched through the winter accessories box and found a pair. They didn't match and they were both for the right hand, so I dug around some more. I found another pair, but they didn't match each other or the first pair. They were uni-hand, so I could have worn them ... if I didn't mind one brown glove and one red glove. Which I don't, but they weren't warm enough so I pretended I did.

But, ya know what? I went shopping & the first store I stopped at had gloves on sale! So I got two pairs. One warm pair, and one even warmer pair. I wore the warm pair out today. And, know what? I want a matching hat, scarf, and coat. Those gloves sure felt good, and warm!

Know what else? I can only find one of them now.

Dang it!

There's nothing like the aroma ...

of fresh baked bread, warm from the oven, dripping with real butter, to separate the real women from the wanna-bes.

I baked Dilly Casserole Bread this evening when I got home from work. Right now it's sitting on the counter, cooling for 15 minutes just like the recipe said. I'm only waiting to cut into it to prove I can.

The question is can I wait the whole 15 minutes?

I wouldn't make book on it. I can already hear it calling my name, a seductive whisper now, but I know soon it will be shouting, mocking me, daring me to ignore the directions, and live wild.

Uh, I gotta go. Here's the recipe - see how long you can hold out .

Dilly Casserole Bread

2 – 2 2/3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 – 3 tsp instant minced onion
2 tsp dill seed
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 cup small curd creamed cottage cheese
1 egg
2 tsp margarine or butter, melted
1/4 tsp coarse salt, if desired.

In large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, onion, dill seed, 1 teaspoon salt, baking soda and yeast; mix well.

In small saucepan, heat water, 1 tablespoon margarine and cottage cheese until very warm (120 to 130°F.). Add warm liquid and egg to flour mixture; blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed.

By hand, stir in remaining 1 to 1 2/3 cups flour to form a stiff batter. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80 to 85°F.) until light and doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.

Generously grease 1 1/2 or 2-quart casserole. Stir down batter to remove all air bubbles. Turn into greased casserole. Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 350°F. Uncover dough. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until loaf is deep golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If necessary, cover with foil to prevent overbrowning.

Remove from casserole; place on wire rack. Brush loaf with melted margarine; sprinkle with coarse salt. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

Food Processor Directions: 1. In small bowl, soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115°F.). In food processor bowl with metal blade, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, onion, dill seed, 1 teaspoon salt, baking soda and 1 tablespoon margarine. Cover; process 5 seconds. Add cottage cheese and egg. Cover; process about 10 seconds or until blended. 2. With machine running, pour yeast mixture through feed tube. Continue processing until blended, about 20 seconds or until mixture pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a ball. (If dough does not form a ball, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.) 3. Carefully scrape dough from blade and bowl; place in lightly greased bowl. Cover; let rise. Continue as directed above.

Leona Schnuelle Crab Orchard, NE Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest 12, 1960, $25,000Bake-Off is a registered trademark of General Mills ©2006; 2006 © and ®/™ of General Mills

Let it snow, Let it snow, .....

somewhere else.

Winter came to Indiana this past week. It won't be "official" for a few more weeks, but, trust me, it's here. I used the tried and true method of sticking my head out the door - it was almost cold enough to freeze my ears off, so I know it's winter time.

The weather forecasters had predicted snow for a week. Last weekend, one would have thought that a blizzard was imminent this weekend from their dire warnings, but by Thursday night they had decreased the expected snow accumulation to only 1 inch. I watched a lot of forecasts Friday morning and one lone weather man (on Fox 59) predicted no snow while the others were still holding on to their forecast of snowflakes, albeit less than an inch by then.

There was no snow. Not in my county. We did get wind gusts that equaled tropical storms and brought down power lines and trees, but no snow. Unfortunately, the speed and strength of the winds was the only thing tropical we saw.

It's cold out there! But no snow.

I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm too old to appreciate the snow unless I can stay inside, sipping hot chocolate, while admiring winter's unique beauty. So I thank God for no snow while praying that He sheltered the people in the north and west that did have snow and ice up to their pants lines.