The Big Move

Just one more post about our summer.  One more chance to remember September, 2014:  the month we moved Mom off the Dorsch Family Farm. The end of an era.  

Tom and I were due to return to Africa at the beginning of September, but we extended our stay in the USA for a month in order to help with the big move.   

For Tom, it was a month of remembering childhood memories:  building fence with his dad; feeding cattle, mowing, playing countless games of football and baseball on the big buffalo grass front yard with his brothers, friends and neighbors, burning thistles, etc.  

He loved the cooler, fall weather, the wide open spaces, being out of doors, and working in the yard he'd mowed so many times as a boy.

He sorted through several tool sheds and organized a myriad of tools to be divided between the brothers. 

Tonka trucks.  Piles of them.  So well used by a couple of generations of happy boys building dams and farms in the ditches.   The trucks were a bit rusty, some paint peeled off, a few dents and scratches, but the levers still lifted the truck beds and the wheels still turned.  Amazing.  Good for another generation.  Stashed away in the loft of an old garage was the old rocking horse that gave countless hours of "bucking" to four little guys.  (Sorry, no picture.)

There was yard work to do, piles of trees to be burned...  My "Pyro" was happy.

The Newlyweds came up to help for a day. 

 And taking time for a Sunday afternoon game of Scrabble.

While Tom worked outside, I cleaned out closets and drawers and cupboards inside the house and garage.   I brought the "piles" to Mom to sort through--she had the hard job:  what to keep, what to give away.

We discovered fun keepsakes:   she insisted this was one of her favorite hats "back then" and she had looked so stylish with a coat that matched.

I preferred the saucy little red one!

 I loved hearing the stories about dishes and doilies and other delightful treasures we found.  

We got to eat a couple of times in the Bird City Diner.

Great food and in true small town fashion, our lunch time conversation included everyone else who happened to be eating there!  Mom's move off the farm was big news in Bird City.

We worshiped at Mom's church in the neighboring town of McDonald.

Then the big weekend came.  The "keep or get rid of"  decisions had been made and the boxes were packed.   Tom's 2 brothers and a sister-in-law arrived for The Move.

Everyone was exhausted by the move, but the weekend wouldn't have been quite complete without a game of pinochle between mom and her boys.

 

 The furniture in place, the beds made and a new chapter begins.

Thanks,  Cousin Sarah, for the great visit.  Come again!

The Pecan Roll Queen

French pastries melt in your mouth and Druber's donuts are delish at 2am, but not much comes close to The Pecan Rolls made by Hulda Dorsch, my wonderful MIL. She is a gifted lady in many ways and rivals the Pioneer Woman and Julia Child when it comes to cooking and baking.

We took a break from the packing and sorting one afternoon to make a batch of Pecan Rolls to have in the freezer for the weekend when "the boys" came for the big move.  If you've ever wanted to know all her tricks, here goes.

This post is especially for Cassie, Jared, Melissa, Andrew, Lindsay, Erika, Joe, Sam and Lucas so that you, the grandchildren, who have been treated to these succulent breakfast goodies over the years, can continue the tradition and make them for your families and friends.

First, the recipe for the dough:

While the dough is raising, prepare the gooey, yummy part:  on low heat, bring 1/2 C margarine, 1 C dark brown sugar and 2T white corn syrup to a rolling boil. (This is enough goo for one pan only. )

The photo lessons start with the rolling out of the dough, after it has raised 2x in a bowl.  (I'm assuming some basic know-how of yeast baking.)

Roll 1/2 of the dough into a large rectangle like this and sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar. Get it to the edges so every bite is scrumptious.

 Then start rolling it up tightly, all the way across.  Tuck it under snugly.

Look at all those pecans and syrupy goodness.  The baking pan is an important part of the goodness as well, but since most of us don't and won't have a pan just like this, we can use that as an excuse when they don't turn out quite like Grandma's.  (It's approx. a 16 x 10 in pan and this recipe makes two pans of rolls.)

Start cutting chunks off--about 1 inch chunks--you want to make sure that you have enough to fill the entire pan.

Oops, a little hole!  No, problem. 

Cover them with tea towels to let raise in a warm place until double.

Bake at 325 degrees for 22 or so minutes.  After 6 minutes of baking, push down those naughty little spirals that want to jump up.

 Bake until golden brown and then let cool before turning them upside down onto tinfoil.

They are never better than right out of the oven and we had to make sure they were fit to be eaten by others.

For those who can't abide pecans, you can make the cinnamon rolls and then frost right out of the oven with this delicious Ice Cream Frosting.  (Chopped pecans are optional.)

YUM!