Remembering & Honoring our Veterans

Bobby Minor

William Lynn

Clarence Edmison

On the news last night, I saw a story about a young man in Ohio who was working on his Eagle Scout Project.  He is interviewing WWII & Korean War Veterans and putting them on the website he started, Voices From the Front.  The site "was created with the mission to capture and preserve the stories of our military veterans, so that their experiences, their memories, and their deeds can be heard even after the men have passed on." 

You can help.  There is a questionnaire and press release form that you can download and interview veterans in your community.   Their stories can then be uploaded on the website.

My photos; Bobby Minor was my mothers first cousin.  He was killed when the Japanese attacked the USS Indianapolis.  William Lynn, my paternal grandfather.  He was a prisoner of war in Germany during WWII.  Clarence Edmison, my maternal grandfather.  He served in the medical corps as an ambulance driver during WWII.  I have many military members in my family, we are proud of each and every one of them.

Consider participating in the Voices From the Front. These men and women are National Treasures. Their stories deserve to be told so we never forget.

Beautiful Autumn

Autumn is here. The colors are amazing!  I love fall, the crisp air, the colorful leaves, apples, pumpkins....especially pumpkins. A friend of mine made a fall bread she found on Pintrest, it was so good!  The original blog it was found on was Whitney in Chicago. Try it, I think you'll love it as much as I did.

Fall Everything Bread
Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or any combo of all-purpose, spelt, white-wheat or whole wheat; Joy called for 2 AP/1.5 whole wheat and I would have used a combo but alas, all I had around was all-purpose)
• 2 cups light (or dark) brown sugar, packed; whichever you have around, I used dark
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves (I used a little more allspice because I didn’t have any cloves)
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, or just under two cups
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup chopped pecans plus 8 pecan halves
• 1 heaping cup fresh cranberries
• 1 medium apple, peeled and cored and cut into small pieces (I used a Spy, Joy suggests Granny Smith; I say anything but a grody Red Delicious)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour two loaf pans (or a combo of mini pans) and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together. Be careful to both not over mix the flour but still make sure that all the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped pecans, cranberries and apple chunks.
Divide the dough between the two greased pans and arrange pecan halves on top of each loaf. Sprinkle loaf with cinnamon and granulated sugar if you’d like.  Bake mini pans for 30-40 mins and full sized pans 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.
Cool completely before slicing. It may be a little crumbly since there is no egg in the recipe to bind up the gluten. Will keep well if wrapped in the freezer if you don’t want to share with friends or co-workers.