Saturday, April 07, 2007

Pineapple Souffle

Every family has their inside jokes. In my family, one is that Kim can't cook. Now, of course, this isn't true. But, all the other women in the family are good cooks and we've been doing it for a long time and we don't get too excited about it. Kim wants to know all the details when she starts to cook something, and this has been the cause of much mirth in the family.

One time she wrote down a recipe at Cathy's house and, because she was talking while doing it and went off and forgot the recipe card, which was to be discovered by Bob. Now, we all adore Bob, but he is the ultimate jokester. He could barely wait to call Kim and ask if he could come watch her when she made the pecan pie because he wanted to see how she used the 1 1/2 eggs she had written on the card.

At another family gathering, the subject of mashed potatoes came up. Kim peels one per person. There are three in their family - she peels three potatoes. Cathy and I kind of looked at each other with incredulity, and Cathy said she peels five pounds when it's the three in her family eating. I agreed, that I made a bunch when I made mashed potatoes. When Kim regained her composure, and got somewhat over her shock, she questioned us more throughly, certain she had misunderstood. This has been the subject of much laughter - especially since Kim, ever a good sport, tried peeling more only to have to throw some out.

Well, I think I've painted the picture sufficiently. Kim is very good natured, and invites the cooking jokes at her expense, and the rest of us never disappoint.

Yesterday at Mattie and Jim's, Kim made a Pineapple Souffle. Well, it was quite the hit. One of the gentleman there wanted to know who had made it. Mary Ann answered that it was her daughter-in-law, Kim, at which point this elderly gentleman promptly announced that he would marry the woman that made that.

Today, after he and Leah went home, Johnny called Mary Ann to get Kim's phone number because Leah wanted to get the recipe. I joked with my brother, Jackie, that I hoped Kim called Bob to tell him that she was getting requests for her recipe.

Well, she did, and Bob enjoyed that, too.

I decided I should call and ask for the recipe to share here. I was person number three who had requested it.

When I talked to Kim she recited the ingredients and then said, "is that five?" I said yes, and she said, "OK, that's it then. I don't make anything that's got more than five ingredients." I had forgotten Kim's five-ingredient-rule.

This prompted me to go back and look through the photos from yesterday, to see if I had any pix of the now-famous dish. Fortunately, I did. And in two seperate photos, people are dipping into that very thing.



I particularly enjoyed the fact that Bob is visible in the background here as Joyce dips into the Pineapple Souffle.

Although the photos don't do justice to this now highly sought after item, I did try to crop in on it in the various photos where it was visible. It should be noted this was a double recipe - just so there's no confusion.



And look at it just a few photos later...


We didn't know then what a treasure we had in our midst! I didn't eat any and I'm starting to feel like I really missed out. I guess I'll have to make some myself.

And... just in case you want to do the same... Kim, like all good cooks, generously shared the recipe.

Kim's Famous Pineapple Souffle
that generate marriage proposals and numerous recipe requests
all the while keeping within the five-ingredient-rule

1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple (not lite)
1 stick melted butter
4 slices bread, diced
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients and bake at 350 degrees in a 2 quart casserole for about 45 minutes.



Then the Fence was Gone

Well, yesterday I said I'd get a photo of Johnny today since he escaped my camera lens during the big family gathering. Fortunately, when I arrived at Mattie and Jim's today, Johnny and Wayne were busy tearing out a fence in the backyard.




Of course, this required much discussion...





And ripping out posts...





And then replacing posts for tomato cages. But no need to hammer those into the ground by hand when you can use a tractor to push them in. I'm not sure this is one of the recommended uses of a tractor, but it did work.



However, Leah was sure it was a little off...




It didn't seem to me that her help was appreciated.


Wayne did take a little time to play with Sam, who liked to fetch the discarded chunks of wood and then chomp on them for awhile. Not sure what was so fun about that, but he was having a great time at it, so you can't argue with success.




But that was just a brief break. They got the fence out and all but a couple of the holes filled. They had a list of things they wanted to accomplish this weekend and most got done. Painting the porch didn't happen, though, because it was just too chilly to be doing that. It seems Easter Sunday will be a little nippy tomorrow.




Meanwhile, Jim shocked his granddaughter, Leslie, today when she walked in and saw him on the computer. He has only gotten interested in the computer in the last few months. I'm proud to say he's a regular reader of this blog. Well, at least that's what he tells me. I guess your brother has to say such a thing.




Leslie took a picture herself. I decided it was a good idea to do the same. Of course, maybe it's easier to get people to read when they're reading about themselves. That's a good trick for me to remember for the future...


Family

Today has been a big family gathering. I've seen people I haven't seen in more than a decade, and even met some folks I didn't know before. My brother, Jim, wanted to have everyone to their house today and so we all showed up. And when I say, "all," I mean all - including his granddaughter and my great niece, Leslie, who I hadn't seen in many, many years. She lives in Mississippi.




I affectionately refer to both Jackie and Jim as "big brother," because to me they both are my older brothers. But there's less than two year's difference between them, so I'm the only one who can call Jim "Big Brother." For some reason that occurred to me as I was driving to Kentucky.




It was a day filled with lots of laughter and lots of stories. Wayne is a big story teller, as are Jackie and Bobby, my brother Jackie's son's. I seem quiet by comparison, if you can imagine. That's Wayne in the photo above with his mother, Mattie.


To the right here is Angie, Wayne's oldest daughter and Mattie and Jim's oldest grandchild. She was there with her husband who I'd not met before and their kids.

Angie's son, Alex, turned six this week. His new sister, Hannah, is nine. They were less than excited about all of these people they didn't really know. Remember when your parents made you go to some boring function with lots of people you didn't know and there wasn't anyone fun to play with? Exactly.


Frankly, they did very well, playing for a long time. I think maybe the Easter Bunny had made an early visit.




Some of Mattie's brothers and one of her sisters were there today. I hadn't seen any of them in ages, so it was cool to see them. She also had some cousins visiting I'd never met before.












Kenneth, on the left here, lives in Wisconsin, so we don't get to see him very often. He was catching up with Bobby and Jackie. Kenneth is the baby in Mattie's family.



Bobby and Cathy (above) and Jackie and Kim (below) all live here so I get to see them whenever I come in. They're all great fun to be around.




I am thrilled that Mattie and Jim are living here, now, too. That means that I get to see them much more often, as well as their sons, Wayne and Johnny.




Somehow my nephew, Johnny, escaped my camera lens today. I'll have to make up for that tomorrow. I had not met his girlfriend, Leah, until today. She is very sweet. I got the feeling she didn't care too much for having her photo taken.




That's Leah on the right, and Joyce on the left. Joyce is Wayne's significant other.




I love having both my brothers in one place. That's Mary Ann and Jackie in the photo below.





I was struck by technology today, more than once. Not only were there a couple of us taking digital pix, but whenever a phone would ring, it meant a dozen people had to check to see if it was their phone. Also, phones were the digital photo conveyance of choice.


To show pictures of kids...




and pictures of horses... (it IS Kentucky, after all)




I'm really blessed to have family I enjoy. I thought I'd try to share photos since I talk about everyone occasionally. As I said, Johnny escaped me today but I'll try to correct that tomorrow.


And this is an opportune time to suggest that you make plans now for a summertime family reunion. You may discover there are people you're related to that you like on multiple levels.