I Might Believe in Mary Worth-The Second Salem

Given it's September 26, 2026 and it's the full moon, I think it is a good time to recall this memory. I just learned where the Spiritual Hub of America is, or at least was at one time. Can you guess? I didn't know either, but incidents in my past now make sense. It is Whitewater, Wisconsin. In the 19th century, Whitewater was called the "Second Salem.”

My grandson is attending the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. He was telling his mom about people who go to the cemetery to conjure up spirits. It is tradition to go to the cemetery and it reminded me that sixty years ago I did that too. I also attended UW Whitewater although back then it was called Whitewater State University. It wasn't until 1971 that it became part of the University of Wisconsin system. 

I would never do this now, but in 1966 I was nineteen years old and we would also visit the cemetery. We would go after dark and would say "I believe in Mary Worth".  We would listen for spirits to answer back and swore we saw and heard the voice of Mary Worth. We didn't have the internet to research the subject and it never occurred to any of us to look up the origin. It was just tradition. On top of that, a few of the people from my floor would sit around and use the Ouija board. These boards were originally invented as a harmless game which was "was born directly out of the same 19th century American Spiritualism movement that fueled towns like Whitewater.” Now I see spiritual posts and people who say they would never touch one of those boards, but we looked at it like an innocent game. We would ask it all kinds of questions, like the name of the person we would marry. Believe it or not, my roommate and I both married people with the name the Ouija board predicted. I don't know when we quit, but it did get a little creepy. We went to college without all the modern conveniences today’s kids have. Thank goodness because who knows what would have happened. We had a record player and a hot pot. At night when we were sleeping, the record player would turn on by itself. Or a voice would come into our room over the intercom when the office downstairs was closed. My roommate was in the bathroom and the shower came on in another area and no one else was in there. There were weird feelings at times but we never made the connection between the spirits we invited in and the fact that Whitewater was a Spiritual Hub. Maybe that is why they tore my dorm down. It might have been haunted. We don't know if others in the building had similar experiences because no one talked about it. I think it was probably torn down for expansion but the other explanation makes for a fun story.  

My grandson was nice enough to get some pictures for me. There is the cemetery but there is also the Starin Park Water Tower (1889). It is still there surrounded by a fence. We are not sure if the fence is to keep people out or to keep spirits in.

There are three cemeteries in Whitewater. They make the "witches triangle". They are Calvary Cemetery on the north side of the campus, Oak Grove Cemetery near Washington Elementary school and Hillside Cemetery near Cravath Lake. Calvary Cemetery near campus has been known to have lights floating around. There was a big temperature change that could be felt when entering the cemetery. I wonder if the lights were just college kids with flashlights, but who am I to say? The temperature change was real. 

The Oak Grove Cemetery is the resting place for Mary Worth. She supposedly was an axe murderer. We would call up the ghost of Mary Worth, never knowing that she was an axe murderer and it seems we were even in the wrong cemetery. We could have sworn we saw and heard her. 

The last cemetery was Hillside Cemetery. The grave of Morris Pratt can be found there. Pratt, who died in 1902, was a prominent Spiritualist and the founder of what would eventually become the Morris Pratt Institute. In 1889, he opened the Temple of Psychic Science in Whitewater, which is a large building dedicated to the practice and study of Spiritualism. After Pratt’s death, the temple became the Morris Pratt Institute, a school devoted to the study and teaching of Spiritualism. The Whitewater Historical Society has an interesting article on this. It is way too much information to paraphrase but here is the link. It's very good. https://www.whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org/post/ spiritualism-the-morris-pratt-institute  Another good article can be found here: https://blogs.uww.edu/ucinfo/2021/10/18/morris-pratt-and-the-temple-of-psychic-science-in-whitewater/  The Institute has since moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin but is still dedicated to the study of spiritualism. 

Whether I believe in Spiritualism or not won't be discussed here. I am sure there are people who consider it the work of the devil and there are others who are totally in step with its energy. The fact there was a school devoted to it is very interesting to me. If you want to read more about Whitewater Wisconsin Spiritualism there is a lot of information on the internet. Maybe it's good I didn't know all the details, it might have frightened me to death. Now it has made me fascinated with something that took me sixty years to learn.   

A Star Was Never Born but She Tried

Hopefully I haven't told these stories already. I have written at length about being sick as a baby more than once. My only hope is that if I can't remember what I wrote in 987 blogs, then maybe no one else can either. 

My granddaughter called today. It is always nice talking to her since we don't do it too often. She was talking about my last blog and said I looked like a little diva. That was a shock. I never thought of myself as a diva, but maybe I was back then. I did do things that would shock the people that know the person I became.

For example, I had the lead role in a performance of "The Little Red Hen". When I was in first grade, we did the play. Maybe the other grades did a play too, but I was focused on my special role. I practiced singing the lines accompanied with the piano. My mom's friend was an elementary school teacher and she helped me. We performed on stage at the local armory. It was a big deal. It was so big that I have no memory of it except practicing and how cold the teacher's hands were when she pinned the name on my dress. I guess we didn't have costumes. I draw a complete blank about anything else. We have no pictures of this special occasion but I am pretty sure I didn't dream it. I guess I shut down during difficult times even back then. 

I do remember the story and part of the song.

"Cut, cut, cut cadacket said the little hen, see my little yellow chickens 8, 9, 10" and "then I will do it myself". That last statement was a bit of foreshadowing for my life. I still am not comfortable with asking for help and at my age, I really do need it.

The next thing that surprised her was that I took singing and piano lessons. She said maybe you are more like your grandchildren than you thought. I didn't go very far with these lessons because I didn't have the courage to perform in public but it did me well in college when I had to take music classes. That was not the case for my husband. Poor Mike couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. We used to play games in the car where he would hum a song, and I would try to guess it. I couldn't guess most of the time. His go to song was Country Road by John Denver and I usually got that right. He had to take music classes also and one professor actually had him stick his head down in the piano to try to mimic a sound. He practiced "Go Tell Aunt Rhody, the Old Gray Goose is Dead" on the piano many times in order to get a passing grade. Good thing they had music teachers when he actually became a teacher. I miss that side of my husband that very few people saw. He had his stern teacher look but was a softy on the inside and he sure loved his girls.

I sure wish I had pictures of this. The Danish side of my family was very musical. I know I have mentioned this before but my mom could play the piano by ear. She could hear a song and play it. Many of her siblings could do the same and sing along. Some had offers to be professionals. My grandpa had a lot of songs from the old country he would sing all the time. Maybe that's where two of my grandsons, Dylan and Jack got that talent from. They sing all the time. You always know where they are because they are singing. My daughters also love to sing and dance. I guess if you have the beat in your genes, it has to come out somehow. 

Who knows what other memories will emerge. They say old people start remembering the past more than the present.  Stay tuned, who knows what I will remember.

A Blast from the Past

Before I give up the writing of this blog completely, I have been thinking of some old stories from my life that my grandchildren would like to hear. They have no idea what life was like in the late 1940's and through 1999. Or what it was like on January 1, 2000 (Y2K) when we thought the world would end or at the very least all technology would go to black. Nothing happened but it was stressful. Us older individuals couldn't imagine we would live to see the world as it is today. 

 This was our family picture from 1951. People dressed up. In the 1950's women wore dresses. My mom wore house dresses and aprons. I remember up until the 1960's women very rarely wore pants. It was 1966 when the pantsuit was debuted. I remember my grandma wearing pants to go fishing once in a while, but she almost always wore a cotton house dress. Looking back on it, she probably wore my grandpas pants so she didn't get her dresses dirty when they were fishing. Women did not have several pair of pants. Men and women did not wear athletic shoes. It wasn't until the 1960's when I remember getting white Keds. They were tennis shoes and were about the only shoes of that type people wore. We started to wear pedal pushers (today they are called capris), we wore shorts and even blue jeans on occasion. Times were changing. Men did not wear blue jeans in the 1950's but wore slacks and dress shoes. The kids can't believe I had to wear dresses to school. When you knelt down the hem had to touch the floor. No short skirts were allowed. I think that changed in the late 1960's and 1970's, but in 1965 when I graduated those were the rules. The boys had to have their shirts tucked in, wear belts and slacks. We definitely had a dress code. I grew up right on the edge of a fashion change. Now anything goes.

Food was also different many years ago. Food was real and rarely did anyone have an allergy to nuts or gluten. As food companies tried to make bigger profits, they added color, fake flavors and highly processed oils. Additives were added to animal feed for quick growth and weed killer put in the soil for higher yield. In the 1950's hardly anyone went out to eat. We ate at home. McDonald's started back then but it was a big deal. All the other modern fast food restaurants didn't exist. In fact as gross as it sounds my dad hunted squirrels, rabbits, deer and clunked frogs for meat. I can't imagine eating that stuff now, but that was part of our diet. Believe it or not, I can remember when pizza parlors opened up. Now pizza is as common as bread.

There was no such thing as a shopping mall. There were a few stores like Sears, hardware stores. grocery stores, pharmacies, a dime store and general all purpose stores but a lot of people ordered out of catalogs. The mail order catalogs like Montgomery Ward and Sears were how we got our clothes. The United States postal service was dependable back then. Now it takes more than a week to mail something two miles, if it arrives at all.

Grocery stores gave out something called Green Stamps. After every shopping trip we would put the stamps in books. When we had collected enough books, we would travel to Illinois and trade in the books for household goods. My parents got a television, table lamps which I still have, and a variety of other things for the house. While in Illinois we would buy a case of Oleo margarine. The margarine was white and it contained a orange button that would be kneaded into the oleo to make it yellow and look like butter. Wisconsin, the dairy state, didn't allow margarine so a lot of people went to Illinois. Looking back it had to be very unhealthy, but it was cheap. I felt really rich when we were able to buy "real butter". 

Entertainment was different too. Of course there were no smart phones or computers. Imagine having to look things up in an encyclopedia or another reference book. We didn't even have a television until I was around 8. The TV channels came on at 4pm and went off at midnight (maybe even earlier). There were only a few major TV networks with news programs and variety shows.  People went to the movie theater to see movies. Then came DVD's and CD's and now you can stream almost any movie at anytime. 

There are so many examples of how things have changed in the past seventy years. I never thought I would live to see what has happened. It was all science fiction. Buck Rogers from around 1930 was about space travel and communication devices. All imagination that could never happen. I remember having to read the book 1984 by George Orwell and big brother watching us. 1984 was 42 years ago. Good lord. Now big brother watches and listens to us everyday.

I can't even begin to remember all the differences in my lifetime. It boggles the mind. The kids now days can't identify with any of this. I don't even know anyone over the age of five that doesn't have a smart phone. Some children have them by the time they go to kindergarten. They are most peoples' entertainment. I hate it but I am one of them. If I forget my phone, I almost panic. We didn't even have answering machines and caller ID was an extra cost that wasn't necessary. We managed and even lived to tell about it. No wonder everyone has anxiety. We didn't know everything about everything, so life was calmer. Maybe it's a good thing I am old. My brain is full.

Back To Kefir After Nine Years

On September 10, 2014 (12 years ago) I wrote an update about the Kefir I drank to get my probiotics. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/09/update-of-my-kefir-miracle.html  This link and the links included in this blog tell about what happened, when I started and how I got into kefir. I shared grains with others and was very into it for a long time, but then life took over. In 2017 I froze some of these grains to take a little break. Supposedly frozen grains can last from six months to a year. As with most kicks I get into these days, I forgot about them. I still took probiotics but none were as good. I was going to order more but never did. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2012/12/the-miracle-of-kefir.html

Fast forward to my refrigerator fiasco. When the refrigerator failed, I had to clean out the old one. Lo and behold, there in the bottom of the freezer was a bag that contained my frozen kefir grains. These grains were almost nine years old. 

Most of the old stuff I found got thrown away and I almost threw them away, but decided to add milk and see what happened. I read that these grains could take up to ten days before you could tell if they were dead. To my surprise, by the 2nd day they were active. I tossed the first couple days of kefir in case it tasted like freezer, but after that the kefir has been delicious. 

I have learned something from this. I only make what I can drink in a few days. As the grains increase in size and amount, I can freeze a few and share with who ever wants to monkey around with doing this. Most people don't want to do it, so they accumulate. The rest I can feed to the animals or toss. I was always worried about getting rid of them and made so much more kefir than I could drink. It got to be overwhelming so this is a game changer. If I get sick of doing it, I will can put more grains in the freezer for an undetermined amount of time. For now this is great. 

This is totally off the subject and a little aside. When the men delivered my refrigerator, one of them saw my Big Foot wind chime. He asked if I ever see Big Foot out here. The other guy said he was from the city and never saw a property like mine. I guess we take so much for granted. I didn't know if I should laugh or if this person was serious. I should have greeted him with this hat. That would have really made him wonder. 

Self Reflection at Age 78

This is another blog where I am doing some self reflection. It is not something everyone needs to read or is even interested in. It is a blog so my friends and family can understand me just a little more.

 Who is this person I have become? Some days I don't even recognize her. Maybe that is what becoming "mature" means. I am almost 79 years old. I actually am starting to like myself. It took me a little longer than most people, but I have arrived or at least getting close. Experiences along my path have brought me here, and I like it. I am often underestimated and that used to bother me. I would be very self deprecating, but today I will just say thank you. I would often do that to make others feel better, but it backfired most of the time. 

When I was born and only two weeks old, I developed pneumonia. They say my fever was 108 degrees. I am not sure that was true, but this was the dark ages and equipment was probably not that precise. Anyway, I was rushed to the hospital by the doctor who came to the house and with his own car took me there. That would never happen in this day and age. He had been to a seminar on a new drug called Penicillin. They gave me an adult dose and I lived. My parents were so happy, they protected me from that point forward until I left home. It was out of love, but I wasn't allowed to do things other kids could do. If it made me uncomfortable, I didn't have to do it. I never learned to fall and get up, dust myself off and continue on. It sounds like I was spoiled. I was not. I had to follow the rules. Kids were seen and not heard, we couldn't embarrass anyone or really say what we thought.

I started out in college wanting to be a teacher, but decided that wasn't for me. My parents let me switch. The degree I eventually got wasn't worth anything. Who cares if you can speedwrite, type or conjugate verbs. My mom did a lot of the talking for me so I never developed social skills either. As a result, I was a late bloomer. In defense of my mom, she lost her mom when she was 13 and had to live in a rooming house for high school and grow up fast. She thought she could protect me from all of the hardship she endured. What was meant to be love was a detriment. 

I didn't think it would take me this long to find myself and it was a long process. Just getting married at almost 21 was wonderful. It forced me to do adult things, have babies and become closer to my true self.  My husband started out taking care of most things like phone calls, house repairs, buying the cars etc. but  gradually I took over the household budget, school stuff, doctor appointments and adult things. I always hated calling people but I did it. I probably sounded like an idiot at times, but I did it. Maybe that's the plan. I have now bought a car, I have to make all the phone calls and arrange for everything. Life teaches us things even if we don't want to learn.

I never wanted my daughters to feel like I did, so I made sure they would be involved in activities, have friends and succeed. I made them competitive in subtle ways. Every night when they were little we would race to see who could get their pajamas on first. It was a game and I always won. They thought I was a magician because no matter how hard they would try, I won. It was a fun memory they both remember to this day. I would have them call for pizza, go get ice from the ice machine in a hotel and be in charge of their own activities. I was supportive for whatever (or mostly) they chose, but they did it themselves. If they wanted to be in all the sports or student council or a class officer, we supported them. Of course all kids are different. My daughter tried these games with her kids and it didn't work. They weren't going to play the pajama game. They thought it was so dumb. My girls were raised before technology changed everything. We were all a little naive and that was a wonderful time to raise kids and for them to grow up. 

Before phones my daughter would read by the light of her fish tank. I wondered why she wanted a fish tank so bad. It was part of her plan to read late into the night. They made stilts out of an old ladder to a bunk bed. They skated in the street and built forts in the back yard. They hardly watched TV and played outside for hours. None of the kids were overweight. They might come in for a brief snack but never hunkered down in their rooms. 

Now I am in the final chapters of my life. I am grateful I lived a long life. I have a lot more I want to do. I will as long as I am given the opportunity and my health stays good. I have learned that people either like me or they don't. That isn't my problem anymore. I like me. Others have their own demons or at the very least deep ideas and emotions to overcome. I can't do that for them. Since I live a quiet life, my intuition is pretty darn good. I forgive almost anything because dwelling on it only poisons me, and I am not the one who made the miscue. This is a hard one, but I don't dwell on all this negative thinking either. I just can't. If someone acts inappropriate, they are the one looking bad. Sometimes people don't even know they are hurting your feelings or they make a decision they think will be helpful, but it's taken all wrong. Misinterpretation is a huge problem and the cause of all sorts of feuds. Keep your mouth shut if it isn't kind or helpful and let others figure it out. As Popeye would say "I yam what I yam and dats all that I yam.” I think it's a good place to be.

August 24th, My Day to Remember

Today would have been my 58th wedding anniversary. It's a day I will always remember. We were so young and not very worldly, but life is a journey and we managed just fine. We can't change anything, but we can learn to live with it. I learned something important along the way. From 1968 until 2021 was my book of life. It was a great book. There were some wonderful chapters and some sad times. I am very happy my book was written during this time frame. It was without all the outside influences the young people of today have to face. Granted they have a smaller world that we had no idea about, but we weren't constantly on the treadmill of life. It was a sweet and calmer time.

Now I am in my sequel. It is a much different life book from the first one we wrote. Five years ago it began and has been a little slow at getting to the good part. I have met people who are on their own journeys and are writing their own books of life. I have found that some who lost their long time spouse jump back in before they are ready. These people haven't grieved and are constantly searching for their old life back. Others hide the rest of their life, but most try to establish a new normal. The old book of life can be taken out and read occasionally. A new book can't replace this book, but it can be a good book. I was under the assumption that this new book would be a calm and an easy read. Nothing is further from the truth. I still have to work through stuff everyday. Some people are lucky enough to find another friend or partner to navigate life's challenges, while others are on their own. Either way it's all good. 

I had to buy a refrigerator recently, get an oil change, find people to help me out with some homeowner challenges and hope every decision I make doesn't create more problems. Those are things none of us can predict. Some days I am very sad and lonely and other days I am so grateful for the life my first book provided. 

How my sequel ends is a mystery. It may be a short book or long and interesting. Some of that is up to me and some depends on who or what shows up to my story.  My challenge is to remain engaged and not revert to my chair and the television. My needs are simple, but I still have to remain inquisitive about the world around me. 

Baked Cheezy Crackers

 

Today I was hungry for cheese crackers. I like Cheez-it's, but I rarely buy them. I don't like that they use bad vegetable oils like palm, soybean or canola oil. The rest of the ingredients aren't too bad, but homemade is usually healthier.

I didn't feel like going to the store either. I had all the ingredients necessary to make them and so I did. I also have a small food processor with a glass bowl. As you know I eliminate plastic when I can. I used this processor for the peanut butter I recently made. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2026/07/lets-make-some-peanut-butter.html

In my food processor I added:

1 6 oz. package of shredded Swiss cheese. It is about 1 1/2 cups if you shred the cheese yourself. You can use cheddar or any shredded cheese. 

1 cup flour

1 1/2 t. cornstarch

1/4 t. salt

Mix these ingredients for 30 seconds and then add the cold butter 

6 T. cold butter cut in 6 pieces

Mix for another 30 seconds until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add 2 T. cold water and mix until it clumps and begins to form a ball. 

Chill the dough for 45 minutes and it's ready to roll out. I didn't chill it and I couldn't roll the dough as thin as I would have liked. Chilling the dough makes it easier to roll the dough a little thinner and removing the pieces onto the baking sheet. This dough is very manageable and not sticky.

 Next cut into the size squares you are comfortable with. I used a knife and cut the squares about an inch. With a toothpick I put a hole in each piece. 

 

 

Place each piece on a cookie sheet. Some of the shapes aren't perfect but good enough. It's a little time consuming but not as much time as running to the grocery store and much healthier.

 

 Now bake at 350 degrees until brown. These took about 25 minutes. I used white cheese so they didn't get as brown as they would have with cheddar cheese. They were a little thicker than I wanted so I baked them an extra five minutes to get them crunchy.

 

The next day some of the crackers were a bit soft so I put them back into the oven to crisp them up a little more. Now they are perfect and taste so cheesy. 

Toe-Up Knitted Socks with Worsted Yarn

I can't believe after writing 982 blogs in the past 14 years, I haven't included the knitted socks I make. I wrote the pattern for a Christmas stocking (https://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/10/my-basic-pattern-for-knitting-christmas.html) and I wrote about the Christmas stockings for my daughter ( https://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/12/pipers-new-christmas-stocking.html), but not the heavy winter socks I make. I have made so many, I have lost count.

When I took the nine day bus trip to Maine in October of 2022 (https://www.thecabincountess.com/2022/10/my-nine-day-bus-trip-to-coastal-maine.html) , I took along knitting to occupy time during the long travel time. This trip was wonderful. It was a year after Mike died, and we had always wanted to take that trip. Of course it was bittersweet and nine days was a bit too long to travel alone, but I am so glad I went. I wish I were brave enough to drive myself because there are a lot of places I would still enjoy visiting but alas, I will be 79 years old soon and my family thinks that's too risky. They are probably right. Most of the time I feel younger than I am. On that trip to Maine, I gave our trip coordinator a pair of socks. Two years ago I surprised him with another pair on a shorter trip I took to Shipshewana, Indiana. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2024/10/my-bus-trip-to-shipshewana-indiana.html

Last year he asked me to make another pair and a couple weeks ago he wanted another pair. I am glad he likes them. I make them with leftover yarn so it just takes my time. 

There are several patterns for socks everywhere but this is the one I use all the time. It is through KnitFreedom.com. This website has a lot of free patterns. The one I use is called Beginner Toe-Up Socks with a Fleegle Heel. I will include the link but if it won't open, just go to the KnitFreedom.com website and type Toe-up Worsted socks in the search box. https://www.knitfreedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/KnitFreedom_Pattern_Generic_Toe-UpSocksFleegleHeel_AnyWeightSize_V1.4.pdf 

They also have patterns for hats, scarves, pillows, purses and several other things.  

Here are the ones I made recently. I misjudged the yarn I had for the green pair so the cuff section is shorter. He uses them to sleep so it should be just fine. 

Geocaching Revisited

In 2006 we began Geocaching. My daughter had heard about it and we thought it sounded like an inexpensive and fun activity. It was fun and included eating lunch in unknown places. We would make a day of it. I have written about it several times. There are several types of caches. There are virtual caches, earth caches, multi-caches and traditional. I won't describe it again, but if you aren't familiar with it here is the link from my first blog about it. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/03/geocaching-as-one-of-our-hobbies.html

Twenty years ago we would go to a lot of different places mostly around Wisconsin but where ever we would visit, we would look for at least one cache. We would hike miles into the woods just to find that special container. We even geocached in London in 2009. Yes, our London trip was in 2009. Boy time just keeps whizzing by. I can't say I like it, but we have no choice.

Since Mike's death, I rarely geocache. First of all I shouldn't walk miles alone into the woods anymore, at my age it wouldn't be smart. Nothing is fun alone, but for many reasons it is just dumb to drive around and hike alone. It probably isn't a good idea at any age. Stuff can happen from falling to encountering a large animal. 

In an attempt to get me out of the house, my daughter gave me this kit for Christmas. It's a kit with everything necessary to geocache. The kit includes a stamp for signing in and pens that write on wet paper or work upside down. It includes tools for getting into small places and of course mosquito repellent wipes. I love it. Although I took it on a recent trip to North Carolina, and I forgot it was in my carry-on. When it went through the scanner, it was dinged. They had to go through my luggage and found a small little multi-tool. This tool had a tiny blade. My teeth could do more damage than this tool, but we couldn't keep it. Fortunately there was time to take it back to the car. That is the beauty of flying out of a small airport like Appleton, WI. This kit and a phone are all the equipment I need. 

Now I am back Geocaching in a modified way. When they have time my daughter and her family will take me out. We actually went on Mother's Day. I am a simple person and that was more fun for me than a fancy brunch and a bouquet of flowers. I look for easy ones on my own. I am planning a couple easy ones after the busy weekend. During the week things are pretty quiet out in the country. In twenty years some of the caches are too tricky and hard to find. Having two sets of eyes is helpful but not always necessary. I just move on to another rather than trying to kill myself. I have found 885 caches. This year we have done 23. It's still a fun activity and it gets me out of the house. It takes me to places I am not familiar with but still safe. My sense of direction isn't what it used to be but that's what GPS's are for. I gotta keep on going and this is one way I can do that.

Easy to make Pudding

Years ago I posted about how I like pudding. I like most kinds but especially chocolate, vanilla and rice pudding. The only flavor that doesn't appeal to me is butterscotch. I don't like the pudding cups because they taste horrible to my taste buds. Though convenient, they taste like chemicals. I used to make Avocado pudding but I don't always have an avocado to use. Here is that blogpost.  https://www.thecabincountess.com/2017/08/avocado-chocolate-pudding.html

Although I make this avocado version once in a while, I usually make this microwave recipe. It is usually about 8:00pm, and I want chocolate. I will make this pudding in 10 minutes but then it is too hot to eat. I stick it in the freezer for a while until it's set and cool. It isn't as convenient as the pre-made pudding cups but it has no artificial ingredients and turns out perfect. If you want to sweeten it with honey, maple syrup or artificial sugar, I think it would turn out. I feel the strong taste of honey or maple syrup overrides the chocolate, so I use plain white sugar.

 Microwave Chocolate Pudding

Mix together in a microwave bowl or as I do, a 8-cup Pyrex pitcher.

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

A pinch of salt

When these dry ingredients are combined add 2 cups of milk (or non-dairy milk) and a teaspoon of vanilla. Mix well. I use the immersion blender but a spoon would be fine as long as it is completely blended.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stir well and microwave for another 3 minutes.

Just pour in dishes and put it in the refrigerator. It is ready when it is cool. This recipe makes 3 small dishes less than 1/2 cup each, but enough for a quick snack or desert. 

Vanilla pudding is made the same way without the cocoa or last time I made it, I added two eggs. It was very good. It tasted more like custard. I also put a few chocolate chips on top for the fun of it. Whipped topping would taste good too. I haven't made it without the eggs so it may need extra cornstarch to thicken it.

Microwave Vanilla Pudding

Whisk together: 

1/2 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch of salt

Add:

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups of milk (I used 2% but whole milk would be even better or a non-dairy product)

2 beaten eggs

Mix everything very well and microwave for 3 minutes, stir and cook 3 more minutes. 

Pour in dishes and cool.

I have written about my Rice Pudding before. There is a microwave version of that too, but I usually make this in the Instant Pot. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/10/rice-pudding.html 

These are simple recipes and easy to make with common ingredients. Some people don't like and won't use a microwave. These recipes will work just as well in a saucepan, you just have to stir often to prevent scorching. It is a quick snack or pour the pudding in a prepared pie shell and have a piece of pie. 

My Reverse Osmosis Water System

Sometimes in life you just do things as you always did them and never really question why. That was me and my Brita water filter pitcher. For years I would fill the pitcher and make my coffee or drink the water. At the appropriate time, usually every month, I would change the filter and think I was getting clean purified water.

One day I saw an ad for a very inexpensive water testing gadget.  It looked like a thermometer. You would put it in your water to see what numbers you get. Very clean purified water would register a low number and the higher number would indicate how contaminated the water was. 

I have well water that was supposedly clean so I tested it. It wasn't horrible or in the danger zone, but it was marginal at 215 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). It registered in the acceptable range for tap water. I would be fine drinking it but sometimes well water has a rusty taste.  My water softener takes care of that but sometimes I can taste a hint of rust. 

I then tested the Brita water. It was no different from my plain well water, in fact it was slightly worse. It must be going from the tap and through the filter with no change. Next I thought I should test the bottled water I would drink occasionally. I don't drink it often because it comes in plastic bottles. Everyone has plastic in their systems in this day and age but I avoid it where I can. I am sure it contributes to some health problems that didn't occur before plastic bottles became the norm, but that's a discussion for another time. The bottled water registered 344 TDS. Again it won't kill you but it's not that good.

I want to mention that this water testing wasn't really very scientific. There are many ways to test water. You can call a company that specializes in water quality, you can have the state you live in test it by sending in a sample or you can get an idea the way I did. 

At this point I was on a mission to find a water filtration system that didn't involve hiring a plumber and the expense of a whole house filter. The least technical, the less chance of something leaking or going wrong, and it was portable. There are many systems on the market. There are all sizes and all of them claim to be the best. Some are fancy and look beautiful but take up a lot of room. Some look very industrial but were also too large for me. I settled on a Bluevua lite system. It is not a water filtration system, it is a UV Reverse Osmosis water purifier. I liked that it had a glass pitcher, it had a UV light for more purification, you could add a remineralization filter for better taste and you just plug it into a normal outlet.  This lite version is small enough to fit on the kitchen counter and it provides plenty of water for me. The container is 40 ounces. If you need more water, you just push a button and it dispenses another container in a couple of minutes. 

I did test the water from my reverse osmosis system. The machine said it was only 12 TDS but the tester said it was 42 TDS. That is still really good and when I washed the equipment it was even better.  I like it below 30 TDS, but the number isn't exact and it varies slightly day to day.

This Reverse Osmosis system eliminates PFA's and other dangerous chemicals hidden in our water. The Brita filters cost about $7 per filter times 12. This filter cost $80 and it lasts a year. That isn't a great deal of difference cost wise but the water quality is so much better. Don't take my word for it. I don't get paid for these blogs. They are just my experiences so look it up yourself. I probably won't live any longer, but I have to try for better options wherever I can.

Let's Make Some Peanut Butter

I am knee deep in the Winter of my life. I am way to old for all the drama and misunderstandings that are happening right now. Every age has its challenges but by now I thought it would be smooth sailing for me. Whether it's personal or world issues, I just need to let things play out. Whatever happens, happens. I am not responsible for others. Don't be shallow, selfish and only think of yourself. Life for everyone could be so much better if people would let go of their ego, think of others and just be kind. 

Since I have no control over anything, I decided to make Peanut Butter. I know, some people take drugs or drink, but I make food.

If you ever buy peanut butter and read the ingredients in the popular brands, you will see peanuts, sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oil, dextrose, salt, molasses and other things. That is insane. A 40 oz jar costs about $4 or more. Even natural natural peanut butter has sugar and palm oil in it. That costs $7. This version costs whatever a jar of peanuts cost. It's usually about $2.50. 

Peanut butter is so easy to make if you have a food processor or a blender. It just takes a jar of unsalted dry roasted peanuts. You pour the peanuts in the food processor and blend for 5 minutes. If your food processor gets too hot, just stop it and let it cool. Then continue to blend until smooth. If you want chunky peanut butter just quit sooner. I added a pinch of salt and some honey, but that is in your control. I wish the jar of peanuts would not be made of plastic, but while trying to eliminate as much plastic as I can from my life, it is nearly impossible.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you notice the Rowe Pottery bowl in the picture that says Neillsville, WI; Est. 1882, I recently got it. For those who know me, know I was born in Neillsville. Rowe Pottery in Cambridge WI must have been commissioned to make these bowls.  My good friend saw them for only $5 on the clearance table and bought it. I love it.

My Summer Vacation To North Carolina-Part 4 the Moore's Creek National Battlefield and the Venus Fly Trap

Our trip was almost complete. As we traveled back to where we started, we had a few more stops to make. We had time because we were going as far as Rockingham, NC. We wanted to be closer to the airport so there was no rushing on Sunday morning.

We headed back to Wilmington, NC. There was a nice nature trail in town which was started by a man named Stanley Rehder. Mr. Rehder was known as "the flytrap man" and was an advocate for carnivorous plants. He transplanted and cultivated Pitcher plants, Venus fly-traps and Sundews all over North Carolina. I read on one of the signs that the Venus Flytrap only appears naturally from 75-100 miles around Wilmington, North Carolina. Outside this area the plants have been cultivated. The yellow and purple Pitcher plants were blooming and very pretty. I didn't see any Sundew plants and the only Venus flytrap plants we saw were in a planter. They are very small and hard to see. I was under the impression they would be much larger.

Our next stop was very appropriate considering on July 4, 2026 it is the 250th Anniversary for the United States. This was a national site for the Moore's Creek National Battlefield. 

 

 

This Revolutionary War battlefield is managed by the National Parks Service. It commemorates the 1776 victory of the patriots over the loyalists at Moore's Creek bridge. This ended the hopes for the loyalists to regain North Carolina for the British. It weakened British control making North Carolina the first to vote in favor of independence.

 

This battlefield is home to the only women's monument of the Revolutionary War. 

 

 

 

 

The bridge where the famous battle occurred is long gone, but the rebuilt version is where the old one was. We talked to a man who was walking his dog on the trail. He said the old bridge was left at the bottom of the river.

 

Another interesting thing about this trail is the swamp. I can't imagine troops marching through these forests and swampy lowlands, especially in February. Being cold and tired in these conditions must have been miserable in this Cypress swamp. We also learned that those root projections poking out of the soil are called "knees".  

 

 At the end of this trail we did see another Venus Flytrap. This was really tiny but they are there if you look hard enough. Locals probably take these for granted but we were fascinated. 

 

 Before we left the area, we picked up another geocache. That made five for the trip. 

 

Now it was time to head to our last hotel in Rockingham, NC and in the morning catch a flight from Charlotte to Appleton, WI. By 3:00pm I was back home. What a wonderful whirlwind.

 

We went 765 miles in 6 days. Two days of air travel and 4 days on the road. My daughter can drive in any type of conditions. There are a lot of loud and fast Dodge cars that thought they ruled the road, but she handled it well. Confession: I was lost most of the time but thank goodness for her and a GPS that worked most of the time.