Peanut butter allergy recommendation

Family, food, Safety first

A certain young grandson has a peanut allergy. When Wyatt comes for a visit all peanut products are stored in cabinets.

I read labels so when I bake cookies to share with grandchildren, I do not include anything with even the possibility of peanut contamination. Food labels highlight use of peanuts and if the product is made in a factory where peanuts are put into other products.

Cross-contamination isn’t good for Wyatt. This I learned the last time he and his family visited.

Rachel was making Wyatt a jelly sandwich. She found a jelly in the fridge he didn’t dislike and thought about using it. Then she asked me, “Do you ever put your knife in the jelly after putting peanut butter on your toast?”

“Yes,” was my answer. This is a no-no. We had cross-contaminated the jelly with peanut butter. Even a tiny bit could cause Wyatt a reaction.

I don’t remember what we did about Wyatt’s jelly sandwich that day, maybe we opened a new jar, even so, I’ve been changing my BAD habit ever since.

I still eat peanut butter,

I no longer put my contaminated knife in any other container, especially the jelly,

I use a separate spoon for the jelly or have squeezable jelly for my company to use. The squeezable container doesn’t need a knife.

I am doing this even though no one is visiting me at this time. It is a good habit I want to keep so there will never be any peanut butter mistakes in the future.

Using separate utensils in the jelly jars is something everyone can do. Then if you have company with a peanut allergy you know your jelly is safe to share.

Here’s wishing everyone allergy-free days.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

A new project

pets

When Bob was getting his cancer medicines delivered, one had to be kept cold. It was delivered in a foam, insulated cube. Afterward, some were used as coolers, some were given away. These were left.

I thought about these cubes for some time. Today I used four to make a house for the outside cats by taping them together.

But before setting it outside I showed it to Othello.

To get him to look inside, I had to put treats in the cubes.

I do not know if any cat will really like to shelter in this house but at least I tried.

Better a home for cats than put in the garbage.

I might have to use treats to attract outside cats, too. It may take a while for them to figure out that it is warm inside. I just hope it is large enough for comfy living.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Homemade Bagels

food

I like to eat bagels but I’ve never made any until today.

A friend bragged about making bagels on FaceBook. It didn’t sound too hard, so I thought I’d give it a try–before I run out of yeast.

I googled bagel recipes and finally found one at home in an old West Bend Automatic Bread & Dough Maker instruction book–this bread maker is long gone, but the recipes are still good.

Bagels — ingredients to make 8 bagels

1 cup warm water, 3 cups flour, 2 Tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter cut into 6 pieces; 2 teaspoons yeast.

I mixed these ingredients in my current bread machine as I would a loaf of bread on the dough setting. After it mixed and rose in the machine I continued with the recipe instructions.

Remove dough from pan, place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator and place dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 equal pieces. Punch hole in the center, and form into a bagel shape.

Let rise in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to water. Reduce heat to a simmer and carefully add 2 to 3 bagels to the hot water. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes on each side (I was more successful with 1 minute simmer on each side, which was suggested in another recipe).

Drain and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes–times varied for me.

Mine did not all look lovely as the ones from the bakery, but were edible.

I shall try making bagels again, but may play with the recipe. I think splitting the dough into 16 pieces would be better.

If you have a good bagel recipe, please send it my way. You can email me at sunnybook@aol.com. (Also, if you know where I can get yeast, let me know. It’s like buying gold these days, if you can find it.)

For those of you who subscribe to my blog, check out my YouTube channel. I’m reading from the early years of my column

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

A little piece of history

Family

I was looking through some old photos and I came across a photo of my Grandma Jo and her sister Mary. The odd thing about this photo is that it is ripped.

I don’t know when that happened, probably a long time ago, but I have the photo and I thought I say something about my relatives.

Grandma Jo is on the left and her sister Mary is on the right – Maybe late 1940s or 50s.

Notice that both women are wearing hats. It was what women did back in the old days. Things changed after the Catholic church didn’t require hats at mass.

I loved both these ladies. Grandma Jo was the best cook ever. She even made wedding cakes. One time, when I was about ten, I helped take a cake to a reception. I don’t know how the large part of the cake was moved, but I was sat down in the back seat of a car and handed the top tier of the cake.

This was a great responsibility and I was scared to death that I’d ruin her beautiful cake. I guess the cake arrived in good condition because I don’t remember getting yelled at for messing up.

Aunt Mary and her husband, Val, always wanted to adopt me, and they weren’t kidding. They couldn’t have children so they pestered my parents to let them have me or my sister–Mary and Val never adopted anyone.

I remember going to their home and having orange juice (and other snacks). I especially remember the orange juice because Aunt Mary had little glasses and a pitcher with oranges painted on them. It made me feel so special drinking juice out of those glasses.

When both Grandma Jo and Aunt Mary were old, they lived together for a while–I don’t remember how long. What I do remember was that the two women sounded like my sister and me. They didn’t always agree and argued some. Hearing those two ‘saints’ disagree made me laugh. They seemed so much more human to me at those times.

I don’t know where this photo was taken or when, but I’m happy that it wasn’t thrown away. There are still good memories there to go around.

Saving a little family history doesn’t have to be long or hard. Even a snippet like this has its benefits.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Safe packaging

food

When a twist cap was too hard for me to open, I had Bob there to do the job. Now, I’m on my own.

There’s a V-shaped gizmo in the kitchen to use for tough glass containers, but this won’t help everything.

The other day Rebecca gave me some fruit cups. These make a tasty snack if a person can open them.

I love this mixed fruit. There is just enough for a quick pick-me-up, but I struggled to pull back the opening tab.

I went to open my snack by the sink. For sure when I opened it, juice would spill out.

No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t get the plastic to pull back.

I went to Bob’s office and found pliers to pull the packaging back. It slipped on the plastic so didn’t help.

I did eventually get it off with my own fingers and had my snack, but next time I’ll just use a knife to cut the plastic and be done with the struggle.

Those easy-open packages aren’t always so easy, but at least this one gave me something to write about today. (imagine you see me grinning)

Now on to the next big battle.

Have a good day.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved