Too Precious For Words...

The first photo is my grandson Jacob and his cat Max. Max is quite a bit larger these days!

There has never been a cat
Who couldn't calm me down
By walking slowly
Past my chair.
~Rod McKuen
















What greater gift than the love of a cat? ~Charles Dickens


















Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one.

There is only one smartest dog in the world, and every boy has it.

If there is a heaven, it's certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them.

Pam Brown

Diane's Best Ever Strawberry Shortcake

Bisquick biscuits:

• 4 2/3 cups Bisquick baking mix
• 6 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 6 Tbsp sugar

The strawberry shortcake biscuit recipe used to be on the side of the Bisquick box. For some unfathomable reason, the company has started to print the recipe on the inside of the box.

Heat oven to 425°F. Stir baking mix, melted butter, milk, and 6 Tbsp of sugar in a mixing bowl until soft dough forms. Divide dough into halves. Pat each half into a circle the size of a small dinner plate, transfer onto a greased cookie sheet or I prefer parchment paper. I then sliced it with a sharp knife as though you were cutting a pie, make an X then sliced through the middle of the X horizontally and then vertically. (I did this step to make it easier to cut when ready to serve) Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Two quarts of fresh strawberries

Wash 2 quarts of fresh strawberries, put aside the 8 best looking strawberries leaving the stem and leaves intact. Next clean and cut the remaining strawberries, add sugar as to your preference of sweetening. Stir, let sit about an hour. Drain the juices off.

Next you will assemble about 45 minutes before serving. I placed the eight triangular shaped biscuits on my serving plate in a circular fashion. I used a small container of cool whip because it holds up better than whip cream, but you can choose what to use. I then spread the cool whip over the biscuits making it fluffy around the parameter, I then added half of the strawberries.

Next I added the second set of eight triangular shaped biscuits placing them evenly atop the strawberries aligning with the lower set of biscuits. Then I spread 2/3 of the second small container of cool whip over the biscuits in the center, also making if fluffy around the parameter of the center, and added the remaining strawberries to the very center(see photo . Lastly I placed 8 dollops of the remaining cool whip, one to each wedge (see photo) and placed the whole strawberry in the middle. Serves 8.

* I had slightly altered this recipe for the cake in the photo, as it was to serve 10.

Bud's Famous Cream Puffs

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/4 tsp. iodized salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 4 eggs
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 cups custard see recipe below
• Sifted powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour one very large or two small baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.

2. Pour water into heavy saucepan. Cut butter into small pieces and add to water. Add salt. Place saucepan over medium-low heat so butter melts before water boils. Bring water just to boil.

3. Remove pan from heat and add flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until dough forms into a ball and bottom of pan is filmed with flour. Let dough rest 5 minutes.

4. Add whole eggs, beating in one egg at a time. Dough should be stiff but smooth.

5. Immediately drop 1/4 cupfuls of dough 3 inches apart on baking sheet.

6. Combine egg yolk and milk in a small bowl. Brush each puff with glaze mixture, taking care not to let liquid drip onto pan.

7. Bake 35 minutes, until puffed, golden brown and firm.

8. Cool puffs on wire racks, pricking each with a cake tester or toothpick to allow steam to escape, or leave them in a turned-off oven with the door propped open for about an hour, until firm. Be sure they are really cool and firm before you fill or they may collapse. Baked puffs should have hollow, moist interiors and crisp outer shells that are lightly browned.

9.Add the cone shaped tip to a Mirro Cookie Press, Fill with the cooled custard mixture, by carefully inserting the tip into the cream puff shell and turn until filled or you could also use a pastry decorating bag or cone shaped wax paper.

Egg Custard

1/3 c. sugar 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour 1 tbsp. cornstarch pinch of salt 1 1/2 c. milk 1 slightly beaten egg yolk 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. whipping cream, whipped

In saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until mixture thickens and boils; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes longer. Stir a little hot mixture into egg yolk; return to hot mixture. Cook and stir until mixture just boils. Add vanilla; cool. Beat smooth and fold in whipped cream. Fill cream puffs.

Lightly dust with confectioners sugar using a sieve or baking sifter.

Makes 12 cream puffs

In our quiet little neighborhood of Seventh Avenue in Alpha, New Jersey 1968-1985 my father William "Bud" Dunwell was known for his culinary skills in baking and candy making.

His most famous of treats were his fluffy and delicious cream puffs. He recorded his recipe in the back of a very old cook book. He experimented with several recipes until he felt he had reached perfection. He did the same with his bread and his pickle recipes.

He was often seen handing out cream puffs to the neighbors and to the lady who delivered his Easton Express newspaper. At his funeral in August of 1985 the lady who delivered his newspaper came up to me and said, "God took your dad because he needed a great baker in Heaven, his cream puffs were the best!"

The best thing about my dad's cream puffs is that he was the kind of friendly neighbor who gave them to his neighbors in an act of love and kindness! I would certainly hope that he is remembered that way, and when his name is mentioned it is mentioned with love and kindness too!

The Window From Which We Look

I got the following in an e-mail, and just had to pass it on...


The Window from which we look



A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.
The next morning while they are eating breakfast,
The young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said.
"She doesn't know how to wash correctly.
Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry,
The young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a
Nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.
I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and
Cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others
Depends on the purity of the window through which we look

Bud's Bread & Butter Pickles

In the garden cucumbers are coming in by the basket full. Here is a recipe from my Dad's collection.


12 cucumbers 1/4 inch thick

5 medium onions 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup salt

Wash and cut cukes(Dad's abbreviation for cucumbers), peel onions, and cut all 1/4 inch rings arrange in layers in large pan, sprinkle each layer with salt, and let stand 3 hours. Drain and discard liquid.

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed

1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 water

Combine remaining ingredients, and bring to boil, add cucumbers and onions, simmer 10 minutes. Pack in hot sterilized jars & seal*. Makes about 4 pints.

*If you are planning to store pickles outside of refrigerator, process the filled jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Return filled jars to the same canning pot with its already hot water. Water level needs to be at least one inch above the top of the cans. Bring to a boil and let boil hard for 10 minutes. Remove jars from pot. Let cool down to room temperature. Jars should make a popping sound as their lids seal. If a lid doesn't properly seal, do not store the jar outside of the refrigerator.

Whale Or Mermaid?

Recently, in a large city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:

"THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?¨
A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans).They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia.
Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans.
They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis: Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they do not have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, Good gosh, look how smart I am.

Why HE came, Why HE died, Why HE rose, What HE wants of you...

John 17

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

¹ After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶ “I have revealed you^[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[b] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by^[c] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[d] the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you^[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

* It is my prayer that I too may be known by HIM as one of HIS own! I want you to be with me too! If you have read this you should know I posted it because I love you dearly!