EPISODE 1,196: FIVE TON TRUCK SINKING IN SWAMP — WHAT CAN GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG — DEC.9, 2024
alan skeoch
December 9. 2024
“What can go wrong will go wrong” is a truth familiar to all humans. Certainly to us…i.e. Marjorie and me.
episode 1,193 : The miracle of cataract surgery….may seem silly
Begin forwarded message:
From: marjorie skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>Subject: SmileDate: November 27, 2024 at 8:49:50 PM ESTTo: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
guess what happened after cataract surgery.
I no longer needed glasses! All conditions were normal.
Smile again
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EPISODE 1,192 FIVE ROSES COOKBOOK, 1913—RICE PUDDING GIFT TO READERS
EPISODE 1,192 FIVE ROSES COOKBOOK, 1913—RICE PUDDING GIFT TO READERS
alan skeoch
december 4, 2024
Grandma pinned clippings in the Five Roses Cookbook. She loved
the poetry of Edna Jaques.
December can be a somber month for a lot of people so this episode should be
a little cheerful. Hope so anyway. There may be doubt until the rice pudding
comes out of the oven. Rice pudding? Marjorie found Grandma Freeman’s
cookbook — dated 1913 or 1915. The Freeman family moved from the firestorms
in Northern Ontario in 1914 — moved south to a rock covered 25 acre farm
in Erin Township, Wellington County. In addition to being a glacial dump
10,000 years ago the tiny farm had five swamps. It was cheap and Granddad, Edward
Freeman, professional gardener, had just about run out of options. he got a job as
a munitions maker in Toronto — no sense trying to make a living as a farmer
or market gardener.
So Grandma Louisa Freeman must have sent 30 cents and a mint 10 cent stamp
to get this copy of the Five Roses Cookbook in 1914. The book contains 900 true and
tested recipes. Tested? Yes! Some 750,000 of these books were sold…at one
point 50% of the kitchens in Canada had a copy.
Here is my choice for us to test.
RICE PUDDING
3 tablespoons of rice
1 pint milk (2 cups noted Grandma Freeman)
1 cup water
Butter size of an egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg)
Pinch of salt
Raisins may be added
Put in oven and bake for 2 hours — do not disturb the rice.
Take out and on top spread an icing made as follows:
ICING
2 eggs (whites)
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins (chopped)
Put in oven to brown. Before putting
the icing on top, remove the brown that forms over the rice.
Note: This was cooked in the oven of a wood stove. Guess
the heat necessary on your electric stove…say 325 degrees
or more. How do I know this is a good recipe? I don’t
know for sure — grandma folded the page though. Whether
you fail or succeed is up to you.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
EPISODE 1,182: CONVERSATION WITH ERIC SKEOCH: DID DAD REALLY USE SIGN LANGUAGE ON THE SS CAYUGA IN 1948?
EPISODE 1,182: CONVERSATION WITH ERIC SKEOCH: DID DAD REALLY USE SIGN LANGUAGE ON THE SS CAYUGA IN 1948?
alan skeoch
Nov. 15, 2024
SS CAYUGA. built 1907. scrapped 1960. carried 19 million passengers.
ALAN AND DAD…SIGN LANGUAGE
“Hey Eric, did dad really know sign language? “
Remember that excursion on the SS Cayuga to Port Dalhousie or the Niagara river? I think it was
the summer of 1948 when mom persuaded dad join us on board
at Toronto harbour. Cost was reasonable…$1 for adults 50 cents for kids.
The Cayuga was getting old but the trip only took 2 hours with a capacity
crowd of 1800 people. The Cayuga was not scrapped until 1960. Regular
two hour trips by water then bus to Niagara Falls.
One of the enduring memories is dad surrounded by a crowd of 20 or so’deaf people.
Stone deaf. Dad is in the centre wiggling his fingers rapdly. And the deaf people
are laughing. Tears in their eyes kind of laughter. They were enjoying his silliness.
We were embarrassed. Seemed to us that dad was poking cruel fun at their handicap.
Now I see things a bit differently. Last year I had knee surgery and was in a
wheelchair for a time. Nobody talked to me. It was a feeling that I did not
exist. So I began speaking to others in wheelchairs and often their faces lit up.
And I thought of dad among the deaf crowd on the SS Cayuga. They knew dad
was silly. They loved being acknowledged.
EPISODE 1,181: PART 5 IMAGINARY CONVERSATIONS WITH ERIC SKEOCH (one dark night summer 1948)
EPISODE 1,181: PART 5 IMAGINARY CONVERSATIONS WITH ERIC SKEOCH (one dark night summer 1948)
alan skeoch
Nov. 11, 2024,
