Innehållsförteckning för November 2016 från Country Extra

Pumpkin Ice Cream Roll PREP: 25 min.• BAKE: 15 min.+ freezing • MAKES: 10 servings 3/ 4 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1 teaspoon baking powder Dash salt 3 large eggs 1 cup sugar 2/ 3 cup pumpkin Confectioners’ sugar 1 quart butter pecan ice cream, softened Whipped cream, optional Toasted chopped pecans, optional DIRECTIONS 1. In a small bowl, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt. 2. In a bowl, beat eggs at high speed for 5 minutes or until pale yellow. Beat in sugar. Stir in pumpkin. Fold in dry ingredients. 3. Line a 15x10x1-in. baking pan with greased and floured waxed paper. Pour batter into pan; bake at 375° for 15 minutes. 4. Turn cake out onto a linen towel sprinkled with…

TAKES: 50 min.• MAKES: 3 quarts 2 pounds ground beef 1 pound bulk hot Italian sausage 1 large onion, chopped 1 large green pepper, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 jar (16 ounces) salsa 1 can (16 ounces) hot chili beans, undrained 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1 can (12 ounces) pizza sauce 1 package (8 ounces) sliced pepperoni, halved 1 cup water 2 teaspoons chili powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese DIRECTIONS 1. In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, sausage, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. 2. Stir in the salsa, beans, pizza sauce, pepperoni, water, chili powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover…

As I waited in the VFW cantina, the phone rang. It was time. The honor guard grabbed their rifles while I grabbed my case and went to the cemetery. It was a bitterly cold day, so I sat in the car warming up my trumpet. My mother, my grandpa and my brother, who were members of the honor guard, sat with me as we waited for the funeral caravan to arrive. I have to do this right; I can’t mess this up, I thought. I looked up toward the cemetery entrance and saw the approaching hearse. We got out of the car, lined up and prepared for the start of the service. The family and friends of the deceased veteran also got out of their cars and headed for their…

Just as I covered our sleepy dog with my pink blanket, the phone rang. It seemed fitting that the blanket my grandmother had soothed me with when I was a child also could warm dear old Hopeydog. Still thinking about my sweet Gramma who died when I was 18, I answered the call. My sister, Tina, was breathless with excitement. Her friend, a skilled seamstress, had offered to take old fabrics and piece them together to make an outfit for the vintage Raggedy Ann doll that Tina had just purchased. The doll was exactly like the one she’d had as a child, but its clothes were missing, and the “I Love You” heart stood exposed on the chest. Tina thought clothes made from vintage material would be best. I agreed—until…

Happy Trails S hay’s previous owner couldn’t handle a large, energetic dog. So my husband, Drew, adopted him, and they became hiking buddies. Over the years, the two of them hiked hundreds of miles over all kinds of terrain. The two even attended college together—and Shay attended enough classes to earn his forestry degree, too. Debbie Paganucci North Bonneville, Washington Feline Better ONE DAY AS I walked down the hallway after work, I noticed a “free kittens” sign. When I went to see them, one black-and-white kitten remained. I had a cat when I was 4 that looked just like her, so there was no question that I had to bring her home. At first she was very frightened, but after a few minutes my daughter tried to make…

I grew up on a dairy farm, and one summer I begged my parents to let me raise a pig. After laying out a plan, they finally said yes. We loaded up in the car and headed to an Amish farm where Dad asked the man if he had any baby pigs he would like to sell. The man led us into a shed where I saw lots of piglets. I noticed a cute pink one, so I stuck out my finger and said,“That one.” The man tried to grab it, but after a few unsuccessful attempts, I told him it didn’t matter which one he picked. He caught a female. I named her Corker. When we got home I put Corker in an old stock tank. With a little…

Hidden Gems We like to introduce our readers to the most beautiful parks they’ve never heard of in a special section we call Hidden Gems. We’re looking for recommendations from our readers. Are there any national or state parks and forests you’d like to tell us about? Please send us your stories and photos. Fun in the Sun As you prepare for Thanksgiving, summer is almost a distant memory. But the sunny season lives on in your photos, and we’d love to see them. Send us snapshots of the summer fun you’ve had, the places you’ve been and what you saw and did there. Tell what led to the picture and who’s in it. Faith Matters The bells ring faithfully in country churches across America. At Country and Country Extra,…

As a teenager, I dreamed of owning a log house and raising chickens. It bothered me that I was the first generation not to grow up on a farm. I grew up in the city, but I have deep roots in the country. The Shelby County, Illinois, census stated Rezin Whitlatch, my great-great-grandfather, “went to farming on land he purchased in 1865.” I also found pictures of my grandfathers, one plowing behind two mules and the other casting seeds on the farmland where my mother grew up. But when Mom married and moved to town, she wanted her four daughters to be cultured—which to her meant piano lessons and ruffled dresses. I liked to climb trees, catch crawdads in the creek and collect bugs, but hated piano lessons. Daddy,…

SITKA , the first and oldest city in Alaska, looks like a fairy-tale town. Onion-shaped domes of the picturesque St. Michael’s Cathedral dominate the skyline, while Victorian homes and carvings influenced by the Native American Tlingit dot the city. Hugging the western shore of Baronof Island, the town faces the Pacific Ocean; it is the only one along the Inside Passage with that distinction. Impossibly intricate inlets, bays and fjords weave through islands like strings of pearls offshore. Sitka is within the borders of Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rain forest in the United States. Like most towns in southeast Alaska, the only way to get there is by boat or plane, which adds to the charm. Sitka’s history is as rich and varied as the landscape surrounding…

People acted as though they were at a community picnic. Everyone looking for shoes started talking to all the others in the bus. When I was a kid in the 1960s, my parents, Clifford and Arlene Woodman, had a country store in the small town of Frankfort, Maine. No neighboring houses could be seen from our place, and new salesmen were always amazed at the amount of business we did. Pop’s motto was,“We sell most everything.” If he didn’t have something in stock, he would pick it up for customers on his weekly trip to Bangor. Some of the families in our community didn’t have any means of transportation, so this was a valuable service to them. One time Pop was in Bangor getting shoes for someone at the…

COUNTRY CHUCKLES Texas-Size Leak A Texan was visiting Niagara Falls when a New Yorker asked him, “Do you have anything like this in Texas?” “Nope, sure don’t,” he said.“But I know a plumber from Texas who could fix it!” Bob Ochterbeck Magnolia, Texas Vacation Days My daughter, son-in-law and my two grandsons, Ethan and Esteban, 12 and 14, took a vacation in Texas to visit the kids’ other grandfather. We picked the boys up from school on their first day back. After a few minutes of driving, I asked Ethan what the teacher had said about missing two days of school. He replied,“Grandpa, I did not miss school. I missed my friends, but I did not miss school.” Edward Gill Beloit, Wisconsin Obedient Turkey Thief Grandma Hamilton raised…

Homecoming Hug “I couldn’t wait to see my daughter, Susie, when I returned from Afghanistan,” says Sgt. Kimberly Paquet. Read her story on page 62. Hello Daddy “My son-in-law, Jeremiah, left to serve in Iraq when his son, Tristan, was 2 weeks old. When they met again, he explained, ‘Yes, son, I am your daddy,’” writes Deborah Dunnigan of Hedgesville, West Virginia. Role Model “My great-grandson, Barnabas, looks so proud wearing his dad’s military hat,” says Peggy Walton of Forestville, Maryland.…

ven though we live in an E age of satellites and smartphones, some old - fashioned things are too sweet to go out of style. At the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement in Blountstown, folks still gather to demonstrate the sugarcane syrup process, from field to the bottle. “I’ve been going to the settlement since they opened up the syrup house, basically whenever the Southern Syrupmakers Association has a meeting,” said Wesley Pope, a fourth-generation syrup-maker. “At one meeting, I demonstrated the old-fashioned way of how to clean a kettle by coating it with mineral oil,” Pope said.“During another, I gave a talk on how to test the sugar content of a stalk. Others show how to strip, top and cut down cane to prepare it for the mill.” Each year, the…

The early winter storm was much worse than the forecast. In the 1950s, weather was frequently a best-guess science. “Sweetheart,” Dad whispered to Mom,“I’ve got to get out of bed and go check on the turkeys.” When Dad left the house, Mom worried that he would not be able to make it to the farm. The snow was whipping around the little white frame house at 40 miles per hour, and there were deep drifts on the driveway. At 7 a.m., Mom was ready to call for help when Dad’s truck slid into the driveway. He nearly collapsed on the kitchen floor.“Call Bishop Gurney,” he stammered.“Have him tell the congregation to come up to the farm and get a free turkey for Christmas dinner. “Near as I can tell,…

One of my favorite writers, Margaret Cousins, said,“Chili is not so much a food as a state of mind. Addictions to it are formed early in life, and the victims never recover. On blue days in October, I get this passionate yearning for a bowl of chili, and I nearly lose my mind.” When the sun begins to lower on the horizon, and the days start getting shorter and frost forms on the pumpkins, I can’t stop thinking about cooking chili. There is just something about a hearty bowlful of chili that warms up a person from the inside out. And it seems like everyone has their favorite variation. Years ago, wonderful Minnesota friends served us their homemade chili “Minnesota style” with fresh carrot sticks and cinnamon rolls alongside. I…

One morning in early fall, I spotted a pair of wild geese on our pond. The beautiful sight caught me by surprise, because we’d never seen geese there before. I assumed they would soon be on their way, so I savored the opportunity to be close to these graceful creatures. I wondered where they came from and why they’d chosen our pond. The next morning, the geese were still our guests, so I took a circuitous route to the mailbox to show them I meant no harm. Still, I couldn’t resist getting a closer look. I stopped by some trees near the water’s edge and quietly peered through the branches at this handsome pair. I was surprised to see that they were staring at me! As the days passed, I…

Tucked away on one of the banks of the Upper Ammonoosuc River stands the historic yet active Stark Union Church. The quiet town of Stark, New Hampshire, has about 500 residents and is bordered by Devil’s Slide, a cliff splashed with vibrant foliage in the fall. Likely you have seen a photograph of this church before, as the setting is one of the most picturesque in New England. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, this church has a past that sets it apart. Stark Union Church was built in 1853. Solomon Cole, Andrew Cole and Benjamin Thompson were put in charge of the project and planned a place of worship where, with a little cooperation, Baptists, Adventists, Episcopalians, Methodists and Congregationalists could practice their religion side…

The moving truck rolled to a stop on a rocky road. “We’re here,” Dad called out the window. My stepmom, Polly, and I had been riding in a pickup truck following Dad and my sisters, Ruth and Sue, for two long days. I glanced at Polly in disbelief. We were in the middle of a forest! She just smiled and said,“We’re finally home.” My parents had sold our house and business back in Huntington Beach and bought 10 acres in the Fall River Valley,600 miles north. I knew the plan was to camp out all summer while Dad built a cabin on the land. But I’d pictured a tidy campground with real bathrooms, showers and a cute little store. This was only…trees. Within minutes of arriving, Dad opened the truck…

’Twas nearing Thanksgiving when Grandma did try, to win us a turkey for dinner—sigh sigh. To the raffle she went on the dash, asked for three cards and laid down her cash. Again and again someone else was the winner; poor Grandma was just a beginner. When the heat of the battle had all cleared away, all ’twas left was one turkey-duck at play. Alas and alack! Our grandma finally got lucky, winning Mr. Turkey-duck ever so plucky. Homeward bound, they set out together, he sleeping under the porch to escape bad weather. The morn brought little Miss Curious, little Miss Pry, who opened the porch gate when hearing a cry. To the top of the roof flew that bird on the double. Poor Grandma, was there no end to…