Summer Fun for Three Sisters part 3
Summer Fun for Three Sisters part 3
March 25 2017
Every time we arrived at the Greyhound bus station Grandma and Grandpa were there to greet us. On the way to their house Grandpa would stop for ice cream. We could have anything we wanted but Grandma always had a berry shake and Mother would have a chocolate shake. we stayed at their house most of the time and part of the time we stayed at our aunt and uncles house that was only nine miles away out in the country. Our cousin Ken was lots of fun out there in the country.
Grandma and Grandpa lived in town and had a little dog called Penny. Our cousins and other kids came over to Grandma and Grandpas house and we had fun playing in the backyard. Sometimes we went to the zoo and the art museum and other various places. Our Mother always enjoyed going to the Egyptian display at the Art Museum because it had always fascinated her when she was a young girl.
We loved the zoo especially the petting zoo within. Being around the small animals was a lot of fun because we were allowed to pet them and give big hugs. The fourth of July was really exciting because we got to go to a stadium where we could sit in the stands and watch the fireworks in a safe place. The only thing we did not like were the mosquitoes because we rarely had them at home in California.
Once when were were in the country at out Aunt and Uncles house our Uncle decided he was going to have the eating area covered in paneling. He told us we could all draw anything we wanted on the walls then it would be covered like a time capsule for someone to see in the future. We just had to sign our names and date the drawings. Who knows those drawings may still be there after a good forty years.
Our Aunt always set a beautiful table right down to the flowered tablecloth. Her meals were always delicious and well balanced in nutrition. The main meat or fish meals, great vegetable choices. She always had a pitcher of ice tea in the summer on the table. We children loved her condiment tray of various raw vegetables. Celery stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese, carrot sticks pickles and black olives. We all loved those black olives because if we got the chance we would place them on the ends of our fingers eating them off one at a time. Some times she would make her fresh apple cake and that was super scrumptious. I asked Mother to give our readers a copy of my Aunty's cake. She got the recipe years ago from her sister-in-law in West Virginia.
Aunt Gin's Fresh Apple Cake
4 cups diced apples
3 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 cup salad oil
2 whole eggs
1⁄2 cup chopped nuts
1⁄2 cup plumped raisins
Directions
Sift dry ingredients together.
(flour,baking soda,salt & cinnamon)
Mix oil ,sugar & eggs. Add to the dry
ingredients. Then add apples and / or.
nuts and raisins if desired.
place into a well greased or sprayed
tube pan -- this is a stiff batter.
bake 60 -70 minutes in a 325 degree.
oven. Cool and remove from pan --
yes this is a heavy cake -- but so tasty.
and a long keeper
if kept in an airtight container.
Sometimes we four would go outdoors with our Uncle Kenny while our Mother helped Aunty with the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. Uncle Kenny would give us some money and we would all walk the half mile down to the corner store and buy a soda, candy or an ice cream then walk over to the lake and watch the boats. When it started to get into twilight towards darkness those pesky mosquitoes charged at us and started attacking us so we all high tailed it down the road back to the safety inside the house.
Indoors we would play Scrabble, Monopoly or Checkers and we all were very competitive.
If Star Trek was on the television our cousin Ken Jr would stop playing games and sit in front and watch his show munching on popcorn. We either continued the board games quietly or went over and sat down and also watched Star Trek while munching popcorn.
©Julia A Knaake