Pharm Cooking: I found a dress for the weeding!
By LOU GREENHAW
Contributing writer
There is good news and great news! The good news is I finally have a dress for my son Cameron's wedding. The great news is how I got it!
After shopping at every bridal store and better department store in three different cities, I was pretty discouraged about finding the dress I needed. The bride's mom is wearing a full-length dress with a jacket that is trimmed with beadwork. The bride preferred we wear purple to blend in well with the bridesmaids for the pictures.
Apparently, darker purples are not the big color this spring. I had about given up and had my sisters looking in all the stores in Oklahoma City. We had to go to Wichita to run errands. It was that recent Saturday that was so cold. I put on tights, long underwear, sweater and a windbreaker. In other words, I wasn't dressed to try on dresses because I had already looked everywhere in Wichita.
As we passed Town West shopping center, I asked Steve to turn in so I could make sure nothing new was on the racks at Dillards. Steve said he would just sit in the car and study his Sunday school lesson. Wouldn't you know, they had four dresses! I tried all of them on, and two of them I tried twice! I was worried that the one I liked best looked too wintry for a May wedding.
So like the gregarious person I am, I took the dress to other ladies shopping and asked their opinion. Before you know it, a group of ladies had formed all talking about the dress and weddings they had on their calendars. One husband actually rolled his eyes!
The next problem was that it was suppose to have one button on the jacket and it was missing! Everyone suggested a different kind. The clerk was very nice and tried to find a button among the ones in the drawer. Everyone else fanned out to look for another dress like it so we could check it. None was found.
The clerk asked from which rack I had removed the dress, and by then, I didn't remember. She said she would scan the price to see on which sale rack it was. The dress was marked as $180 regular price with a sale price of $90. That was within my price range. When she scanned it, the price came to $67. She asked if that was okay!! I agreed. Then she said that because it was missing a button, she would discount it more. She hit the total and with tax, the $180 dress cost me $35.88!
So as long as I pay less than $150 for a button, I'm ahead! Isn't that great news?
I called Kristy, the bride, to tell her the great news, and I described the dress. She said, "That sounds just like my mom's dress, and she got it at Dillards!" She said if we had the same dress, it was God's design and not to worry about it. Anyway, when she called her mom, she discovered that her mom had bought another dress!
Now that the dress shopping is out of the way, I can concentrate on more immediate things. Tobi, our German exchange student who lived with us a couple of years ago, is coming with his parents, Gregor and Juta. They are great people. Gregor wants to see corn growing in Kansas. They will be here this weekend, but that isn't a problem. He calls wheat, corn! The farmers at church were arguing over which brand-or color-of farm equipment that we should show him.
Then there is Easter. My sisters are coming, so that will be three weekends in a row with the Greenhaw Hilton and restaurant booked! I love company!
Easter dinner will be fun to plan. I like to use some of the old traditional family favorites and add a few new recipes. A good healthy salad is a nice addition to the usual gelatin one. This one is lower in calories and high in fiber and flavor. Now if I can just get a great deal at Dale's or Vogt's on wild rice, it will be perfect!
WILD RICE AND APPLE SALAD
2/3 cup wild rice
2 cups water
2 unpeeled tart apples, chopped-use both red and green
2 stalks celery, diced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
s cup low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
Wash rice thoroughly by running cold water over rice in strainer. Place rice in saucepan with two cups water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered for 35 minutes or until kernels are tender. Uncover; fluff with fork. Drain any excess liquid. Toss cooked rice with apples, celery, brown sugar and lemon juice. Combine yogurt and mayonnaise. Mix with salad ingredients; refrigerate at least two hours before serving.
