August 10, 2011 Marc Dissell

Mark Dissell and kids Henry and Willa from Minnesota and their exchange student from Sweden, Emma Kjellon, were our guests August 10 and 11. The Dissell's are Servas hosts in Minnesota and were on their way back from Kansas City visiting his sister's family. They hadn't had a chance to visit the Omaha area so requested a Servas host stay. Mark put the Never Sweat Ranch grass-fed beef burgers on the grill for supper and we had sweet corn and cucumbers to go with it. Emma is a good artist so she and the kids had a fun time with drawing. We took a walk about sunset down to the lake. The next day the I made the Cottage Cheese Country Cornmeal Pecan Waffles for breakfast topped by fruit (recipe below). They went into Omaha to explore the Joslyn Art Museum, the Hot Shops, Bemis and the Old Market. That evening they came to the juvie lockin the Charles B. Washington Branch Library to join us for supper and fun with Jeff Quinn's Magic Show and Rainbow Trout and Bubbles face painting and balloon animals, bounce house and Wii and Backpack giveaway. Thanks to Mark and Emma who helped at the bounce house. I'm sure it was a long day but they all had a good night's sleep and were off this morning in the rain to head back north. Thanks for being such good Servas guests!

Cottage Cheese Country Cornmeal Pecan Waffles

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal, 2 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 T baking powder, 2 t salt, 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup cottage cheese, 6 eggs, 1 stick melted butter (1/4 pound), 2 1/2 cups milk

Mix dry ingredients except pecans, mix wet ingredients, combine by hand, add pecans, let sit 15-30 minutes to allow cornmeal and flour to absorb moisture. Heat waffle iron, spray with Pam, and cook until done.

August 1, 2011 Cathron Cole O'Connor, Lincoln, Nebraska

Cathy and I first became friends in the fall of 1973 when I started my sophmore year at the new "Sandhills High School-District 71" then being held in Halsey. (OMG-almost 40 years!) She got a steady boyfriend early on in high school so we didn't spend much time together after that but always kept in touch through the years. She has three beautiful daughters who I've watched grow up which has been fun. In the early 1990s she moved to Lincoln and she shared my studio apartment until she moved into the apartment next door:we shared the porch, her cat, and my phone. She has always been a reader, a learner, up on pop culture, and able to connect the dots and make funny comments about every situation under the sun. She loves politics, history, geography, the American Civil War, genealogy and is working hard to finish a Master of Arts in Historical Studies so she can better engage her students. She is one of the friends I can laugh with until I cry and in fact I did so while she was here. She told me about taking her husband, Tom, on a Sandhills adventure to try to retrace her Dad's mail route and showed me pictures - one of them of a mailbox on a wheel. She learned to drive on that route, part of it the dirt road between Dunning and Stapleton. Cathy is a master storyteller! She looked through my Blaine County History book which jogged memories - and told me the story that Katie Heller told her about teaching school at the Hardscrabble country school and having to take the boys bigger than she was by the collar and standing them up against the wall to get them to behave- something no teacher would dare do today. No, today Cathy said that teachers teach the kids how to take tests! I told Cathy about the recipe that was in my Aunt Virgie Cox's recipe box for an Apple Sauce Cake from Maree Lewis, who married George Sawyer, a Blaine County official, who was accused of raping the Barton girl.

I was so happy Cathy was able to come to visit right at the time when her grandkids were in Lincoln and getting ready to head back to Pittsburgh. One of the first things I ever remember Cathy making for me to eat was nacho chips, covered with cheese and green chilis and baked in the oven at her Mother's house. When she arrived , she pulled her bag of Open Harvest Chicken Herb out of her purse and announced she was going to take part in our guest chef program! I was glad she was so gung-ho to feed us! Yippee! We went shopping to buy the chicken and then spent an hour in the neighbor's pool while the chicken marinated. She had it on the stove cooking and it and the rice were ready by the time Rick got home from work. I put together a Spinich Salad with tomatoes from the Papillion Farmer's Market to go with it and Sarah Watson's Mint Tea.



Thanks for being here Cathy - (and remember to return "The Cattlemen").....




Here are the recipes:

Cathy's Herb Chicken for Three
Marinate chicken in 1/3 cup olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 3 garlic cloves crushed, & fresh herbs of rosemary, basil, cilantro, parsley for at least 30 minutes to several hours. Cook in a covered skillet until done about 15 minutes. Good served with Near East brand Pecan and Garlic Rice.
Enjoy with friends.







Sarah Watson's Mint Tea





10 C Boiling Water


1 & 1/2 - 2 C Sugar


Juice of 4 lemons - 1 Cup


7-9 Sprigs of mint







8 C Boiling Water


10 tsp loose tea


5-7 sprigs mint






Strain both into one pot. Cool. Serve over ice.






Maree Lewis's Apple Sauce Cake





1 1/2 C Apple Sauce


1 C White Sugar


1/2 C Butter


1 1/2 C raisins


2 C flour


2 tsp Soda


1 tsp Vanilla


1/2 tsp Salt


1 tsp Cloves


1 tsp Nutmeg


1 T cinnamon


1 C nut meats (optional)






This is a great cake! There are no directions for baking but put in 9x13 greased pan, 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes to start until straw from broom comes out clean!