Pharm Cooking: It's a small world
By LOU GREENHAW
Contributing writer
September and October have been trip time for me. I was in western Washington last week, and I'm headed for Nashville this week. Then except for trips to football games and maybe Kansas City, I'm planning to be home through the end of the year. It will take me that long to get all the trip stuff organized and put away.
The trip to Washington was business and pleasure. We went real estate shopping in the area where we want to retire. We have about decided on a town called Lynden near the Canadian border.
It is a town of about 10,000 people, and the main attraction downtown is a Dutch windmill. After working across the street from a windmill all these years, I should feel right at home.
While looking at towns, we passed a Mennonite Church in the country. We went inside and had a nice visit with the secretary. They were going to install a new pastor the following Sunday, and he was from Topeka. Small world. The church is 65 years old, but there weren't many ethnic Mennonite names on the roll.
The timing of our trip was because the women with whom I played bridge twice a month when our husbands were all flying overseas had a reunion. I had not seen most of them for 25 years. The lady who organized it kept it a surprise that I was coming.
I walked into the restaurant where we were to meet for breakfast and immediately my heart sank. The first woman I saw had not aged well, and I didn't even recognize her. Come to find out, it was one of my friend's mom. She didn't look good for 50 something, but she looked great for 88.
It was just like old times with everyone laughing and talking at once. One husband called his wife on the cell phone, and we all talked to him. We ate breakfast and visited until they began setting the tables and having customers for lunch.
I now have two cousins in the Seattle area and still have lots of friends so it will not be like moving into a totally strange place. Plus, I have never had much trouble finding someone to get to know. But that is still seven years away, so I'm not giving all my cool summer clothes to the Et Cetera Shop yet.
The weather around here has been about like the Lynden area is most of the year. Except there is very little wind there compared to here. The days are in the 60s, and the nights can get down to the 30s. That's my kind of weather.
It is beginning to feel like soup weather. We like a hearty cheese vegetable soup with a good crusty bread. It is sort of a comfort food. With all the craziness going on with the sniper in the Washington D.C. area and a feeling that no where is safe, comfort foods sound good.
I have some cousins that live right in the middle of that area. No amount of comfort food can compensate for that.
For now, we can be thankful we live in Hillsboro where we can buy gas or walk into a business without dodging bullets.
Vegetable Cheese Soup
4 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup potatoes, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 box frozen mixed vegetables
1 pound Velveeta
1 cup ham, diced or 1/2 pound of bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
Bring water to a boil. Add cubes. Stir until dissolved. Add all the vegetables. Cook until potatoes are tender. Reduce heat and add cheese. Stir and cook until cheese is melted. Add ham or bacon if desired.
