MAKE A NOTE!! -- November 15, 1997

CIRCULATION 56

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EASY FIREPLACE "FIRE" (Courtesy of Connie Neville:-)

Connie, my cousin, just started getting the Make a Note and is already contributing great ideas to share. She lives in FL where there isn't a great need for fires in the fireplace they have. So sometimes, to get the feel of a fire without the heat, she will put about 15 candles in the fireplace, with at least 2 of the really big ones, and light them up. Sometimes she uses scented ones. What a great idea, even for people in colder climates who might not want to mess with the ashes! POST IT...by your thermostat, or near the fireplace, maybe on the box of tall matches if you have them.

CHRISTMAS REMINDER

Gift shopping done and boxes mailed, shoebox done, working on Christmas letters/envelopes. Mail your cards/letters out before the end of the month. POST IT...on your fridge.

THANKSGIVING IDEAS 

TURKEY TABLE TOPPER FOR KIDS OR YOUNG AT HEART- Take a red apple. Put 3 toothpicks in bottom of apple to act as legs. Put one toothpick on "front" top & put a green olive on it with the red pimento dangling to act as the head. Put 5 toothpicks on "tail" side to act as feathers and fill them up with raisins.

CRAFT FOR KIDS - Have kids decorate placemats either on butcher paper or on plain brown paper bags (Indian mats), then have them laminated. School Tools here in Fayetteville only charges 75 cents/foot for lamination and most cities should have comparable prices. This could become a family tradition.

FIVE KERNELS OF CORN-There was a time when the Pilgrims only had 5 kernels of corn each to eat for a meal. Put 5 kernels of corn by each place setting. Before the meal starts, perhaps before the blessing, pass a bowl around the table and have each person drop a kernel in one at a time and tell one thing for each kernel that they would like to thank God for.

POST ALL OF THESE...with your Thanksgiving shopping & To-Do lists.

ANOTHER PARTY IDEA

In certain European countries they do something called the "Almond Gift". They make rice pudding, although you could make some other kind of pudding or dessert, and they put one whole almond in the dessert (not in each serving). Everyone has a serving and whoever gets the almond, be sure to let people know it is in there so there won't be any ER trips for choking, gets the "Almond Gift", usually a small box of candy. Often they will try to work it where the youngest child gets the almond if they know where it is. This is usually a Christmas dinner activity, but there's no reason you couldn't do it with other meals. POST IT...with your holiday recipes.

REAL THING

So many of the email forwards we receive, esp. about viruses, are fake. But this is one that I came across last year that is for real and for a very good cause. The publisher of the book, "The Polar Express", will donate a book to a childrens' hospital for every so many emails they receive about Christmas. This can just be a Christmas greeting, or a story about a special Christmas, long or short. Go to www.polarexpress.com and help out with the project. Pass this on to others you think would participate. They do this every year. POST IT...by your computer.

HOLIDAY LEFTOVERS

WRAL-TV in Raleigh had a great story on their web site about how long you could keep holiday leftovers. While I tend to keep our things a bit longer, and we've never gotten food poisoning that I know of, these are their guidelines...Turkey 2 days, ham 3-4 days, stuffing 1-2 days, egg nog 4-5 days, pumpkin pie 2-3 days, cranberry sauce 7 days, mashed potatoes 1-2 days, cold cut trays 3 days, sweet potatoes 7 days, fruit cake ???. If you would like a nice printout of these things you can see if it is still on the web site at www.wraltv.com/features/5onyourside/1997/1104-fridge-clean/holiday.html or eliminate the "holiday.html" to see a chart on regular leftovers. POST IT...on the inside of a cupboard in the kitchen.

COOKING TEMPERATURES

It really isn't as important how long you cook something as much as what temperature you cook it to, to kill anything that might cause food poisoning. If you have a thermometer to use with a microwave, then use it, instead of the time settings. Not only will this assure that it is cooked well, but will also avoid overcooking. Purchase a separate food thermometer if you don't have one to check foods prepared in the oven or on the stove. Recommended temps are: Beef (Rare) 140 (all are degrees Fahrenheit), Beef (Medium) 160, Beef (Well-Recommended) 170, Ground Beef/Veal 170, Lamb (Medium) 170, Lamb (Well) 180, Pork 170, Chicken/Boneless Turkey 180-185, Turkey Roast 170-175, Stuffing 165, Ham (Raw) 160, Ham (Fully Cooked) 140, Venison 160-170, Rabbit/Duck/Goose 180-185, All Leftovers 165. This is from a great book called "Diet for a POISONED Planet" that I highly recommend. POST IT...Inside a kitchen cupboard.

EASY CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPE

Will try to start putting in Christmas Cookie recipes that are easy for those holiday preparations.

Honey Graham Ohs S'mores

Grease 9x13 pan. Heat 3/4C light corn syrup, 3 Tblsp butter/margarine, and 11.5 oz pkg (2C) butterscotch chips to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat & stir in 1 tsp vanilla. Pour over 1pkg (12oz) Honey Graham Ohs! cereal (in Fayetteville area it is only available at Harris Teeter in the Quaker cereal section) about 9C, toss until coated. Fold in 3 C mini marshmallows 1C at a time. Press into greased pan with pan of buttered spoon. Let stand 1 hour. Cut into squares & store loosely covered at room temp. I don't know why people like this one so much, but they are always asking for the recipe. POST IT...in your recipe box.

REQUESTS

Requests for story ideas are welcome.

JOKE (Although I guess it shouldn't be funny:-)

One hot Fourth of July, as we were watching the fireworks explode over a local lake, I overheard two public high school SENIORS having a discussion regarding the meaning of the holiday. (Their names have been changed to protect the "innocent", and/or "ignorant".) 

Brad: "You know, they don't celebrate the Fourth of July down south. They are still mad because they lost the war." 

Dave: "The Fourth of July isn't about the civil war, dummy. It's about World War I."

-Marica D. Wilson, Chariton, Iowa (in HSLDA's "Court Report")

QUOTE

"The first thing I'm going to do...is...bake fruitcakes. ...If no one else eats them, we'll use them to extend the patio after Christmas." --Erma Bombeck

(Actually I read that if you take the fruitcake, slice it, and toast it in the toaster, & put some butter on it, that it isn't bad. I tried it and I liked it. Anyone else have other uses for fruitcake, other than passing them on to someone else the next year? I like the Pineapple Macadamia Nut ones if anyone wants to get rid of one of those. :-)

EXTRA QUOTE ON REQUEST

As some of you know, a friend who is a pastor's secretary had asked me to help her find a quote for him. I appreciate all the help, and congratulations to Patty Keller for being the only one who could come up with the quote. Actually, I spent 2 hours on the internet trying to find the quote and the person who said it, then after I found it, I opened up a magazine I hadn't looked at and there it was. OUCH! But what I did find out was that Martin Niemoeller was a German pastor, who was imprisoned more than once for speaking out against the Nazis. His quote is most often repeated as the following...

"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time, no one was left to speak up."

This quote is actually one that has developed over the years, that is a bit different than the original quote. Either way, the message is to get involved and stand up for the oppressed. Here is the original quote for those of you who requested it...

"When Hitler attacked the Jews, I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church and there was nobody left to be concerned."

---quoted from the Congressional Record October 14, 1968 (Niemoeller just passed away in 1984).

God Bless, Sharon

^i^

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