By Sheri Hopkins, Lifestyle Contributor
Hello everyone! The dog days of summer are here. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July.
If I repeat my story, I’m sorry. Just read them and act like it’s the first time you heard it. I’m sure I’ve told y’all all the crazy sayings my mom would say as I was growing up. Not just my mom, but all the moms and grandmas. My mom told me not to hang upside down on the monkey bars, I would turn my liver over. Let me add, she was serious. The summer before third grade, daddy and momma bought us a swingset and got it all put together and on the end was a monkey bar. Of course, in mom fashion, she told us not to hang upside down on the monkey bar or we would turn our liver over. Her and dad took off with the box to take them to the burner at the sawmill (which was in the backyard of our house). Guess what I did? Yep, I climbed on that monkey bar to try to turn my liver over and was hanging from my knees and fell off and broke my arm. So, don’t worry about turning your liver over.
She also said not to spin in circles, that would turn your liver over. Also, you have to wait 30 minutes to swim after you eat or you will get leg cramps and drown. I believed this one because I wasn’t fond of water. I sure didn’t want to get leg cramps and drown. The biggest problem was trying not to eat every 30 minutes so I could get in the water.
Don’t sit too close to the TV or you would go blind. So, me and my sister would scoot back, we didn’t want to ho blind. But, if you eat carrots, it will help you see better. So, I guess if you set too close to the TV, you could munch on a carrot to counteract the sitting too close.
Do not pick up frogs, because if they pee on you, you will get warts on your hands. We didn’t listen to that either. I sure would scrub my hands though, because those frogs always peed on me. I sure didn’t want to get warts on my hands.
Don’t step on a crack or you will break your mother’s back. That one traumatized me so bad, to this day I can’t hardly step on a crack. I could envision my poor momma with a broke back, all crippled up because I stepped on a crack.
One of my favorites was don’t eat any junk food before supper, you will ruin your supper and won’t eat. I will be 60 in July and I have never ruined a meal by having a snack beforehand.
I hear my mom’s words coming out of my mouth so much. I wish you could have seen Ella’s face when I told her not to hang upside down or spin circles, she would turn her liver over. She thought I was crazy. I remember the old saying, ”scream bloody murder.” One day we were shopping and I told her if anyone tried to grab her to scream bloody murder. As innocent as could be, she said, ”Nana why would I yell out ’bloody murder’?” I laughed so hard, she had no clue that I meant just to scream loud. She thought I wanted her to yell the words ”bloody murder.”
Good times, and good memories.
This week’s recipe comes from my friend Diana Hattabaugh and she said it is delicious. I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but I’m going to.
CHOCOLATE NUTTER BUTTER ICEBOX CAKE
1 lb. package of Nutter Butter Cookies
2 small boxes of chocolate cook and serve pudding, has to be cook and serve.
4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip
1/4 cup peanut butter
Combine pudding mixes, milk, sugar and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once softly boiling remove from the heat. Spoon 1/3 of the pudding into the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Add a single layer of the Nutter Butter cookies on top of it. Pour another 1/3 of the pudding over the cookies then add another single layer of the cookies, top with the remaining pudding and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes then refrigerate until completely chilled. Top with Cool Whip. Melt the peanut butter for 20-30 seconds in the microwave and stir until then enough to pour and drizzle over the Cool Whip and serve. I would probably crush a few of the cookies and sprinkle on top. Keep in the refrigerator. If you want to make a 9×13 size, just double the recipe. The warm pudding softens the cookies. Enjoy!
