Eclair Dessert

My sister Alicia sent us a recipe for an Eclair Dessert some time back, but we have not had the opportunity to use it, at least not until last Saturday. We had a Church function last Saturday and took the dessert to it. It turned out very good. (Thanks Alicia.) (The poor people that ate it did not know that they were guinea pigs as we had not tried it ourselves first. Good thing it turned out okay.) They had a Pie Tasting contest going on. Now I did not know that the Éclair Dessert classified as pie, but I think that they judged all the desserts that people brought.) Anyway the Dessert came in third place. Everyone that tried it liked it, and some people called it a Cream Puff Dessert. It was beaten out by a Lemon Cream Pie and some kind of Chocolate pie. (I did not try the Chocolate one as I can take or leave Chocolate and I usually leave it.) I am going to post the recipe here for anyone that wants to try it. It is easy but very tasty.

When the recipe says a 12 X 17 pan it means an 12 X 17 pan. We used a cookie sheet with sides and at first I was sceptical that it would hold the dessert but the cookie sheet did its job.

Lynn

ÉCLAIR DESSERT

CRUST
Boil together:
1cube butter
¼ tsp salt
1 cup water
Take off heat and add:
1 cup flour
4 eggs- add one at a time and blend
Spread in 12X17 pan. Bake 400 for 30 min
Cool

TOPPING
2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
Mix together according to package instructions
Add 1 8 oz package cream cheese. Beat till smooth
Spread over crust. Top with non-dairy whipped topping
Drizzle chocolate topping over

Summer Night Lights

Lynn and I have had a wonderful and an amazing time viewing the hundreds of fireflies around our townhouse. They are beautiful spectacles of light. The fireflies begin to flicker as the sun goes down and they dance, hover, and fly over the twilight and darkened sky. I have tried to capture them on camera with little result. Other folks on the web have managed to capture these brilliant and luminescent insects.

A few facts: The firefly is from the beetle family. There are over 100 varieties of fireflies. Each firefly family has different hues of colors. All fireflies have different reasons they flash. Some fireflies want to congregate, the majority want to mate, while other fireflies (usually the female firefly) want to snack. The flash is actually a cold light versus a warm light. *“Some 90% of the energy a firefly uses to create light is actually converted into visible light. By comparison, an incandescent electric bulb can convert only 10 percent of total energy used into visible light, and the remainder is emitted as heat.” Fireflies can be found over lawns, by streams, on bushes, in the trees, around meadows, and for us, right down on our front yard and in the back on our side street. Unfortunately for my family and friends in Utah, Idaho and California, the fireflies are only found as far east (at least in the U.S.) as Kansas.

*Wikpedia
-Shelly

More Opportunities For Us ...

I went on a job interview last Friday and I was informed today by Kelly Temporary Services that they hired someone else; however, Kelly had another opportunity for me. Instead of having a 30 minutes or longer commute, I will only have a five (5) minute commute. The company’s name is Crown Cork and Seal Company and is located in Aurora. I will start my temporary service on Monday (7/21/08) while the person I am temping for is on maternity leave. My hours are from 6:00am to 2:30pm, Monday through Friday. YIPPEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEEEEeeee!!!!
-Shelly

Storm in Chicagoland

Last Thursday we had a storm front go through. It put down about a half an inch of rain in about 20 minutes. It also was very interesting to look at as it was coming in so I decided to post a couple pictures. This is called a shelf cloud.
This is the front of the storm looking toward the northwest.

This is the Storm looking toward the northeast.

I tried to get some pictures of lightning, but the lightning would not cooperate with me so I did not. Another day perhaps.

Prehistoric Find

Last Saturday (July 5th), Lynn and I took a delightful walk and Mastodon Express tour of Phillips Park in Aurora. Phillips Park is an extraordinary park; it has several large and very old trees, picnic areas, and places to fish, an aquatic center, softball and baseball ballparks, sand volleyball courts, a small zoo, and a riding tour. (The zoo’s animals include: mountain lions, elk, wolves, foxes, raptors, turkey vulture and several reptiles, etc.) The Park sits aside one of the ultimate golf courses. There is a fantastic and very quaint spot known as the Sunken Garden. Lynn and I took a 30-minute ride on the Mastodon Express to actually tour the whole park. One of the interesting facts in the park is that while they were digging the small lake in the 1930s, they excavated several bones of a prehistoric mastodon. The mastodon's skull and a few bones are in the Visitor Center at Phillips Park.

Photos of Grandparents and Parents of Lynn

As my sister Alicia, was kind enough to send me the following pictures I have decided to post them here. I will post them according to the age of the people. That would mean that the first honor would go to Grandpa and Grandma Hook.

Alicia tells me that this was taken at their 50th wedding anniversary in 1961. Someone took pictures of the original picture and split it up. Alicia is going to see if she can find one of them together for me. If so I will remove these and post it. Grandpa George Hook passed away in 1964, and Grandma Stella Hook in 1978.

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Then I have my Grandpa and Grandma Kotter. These would be my mothers parents. I think that this also was taken for their 5oth wedding anniversary but I am not certain. If so it would have been taken in 1970.

Grandpa Victor Kotter passed away in 1984 and Grandma Edna Kotter in 1987.

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Then it comes to my parents. The following picture is their wedding picture. They were married in 1951

This picture would have been taken in the mid 1980's. I don't have an exact year.

Mom (Larene)passed away in 1989 and Dad (Alfred) passed away in 1998.

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My goal is to print these off and have a pedigree wall made up of photos of grandparents, parents of both Shelly and myself. I am going to need some good quality photos of Shelly's side of the family to do this. Anyone out there who can help in accomplishing this for me? If so please email me with the jpeg images and I will do the same for her on the blog here.

Thanks

The Declaration of Independence

In the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, the framers made the following statement: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". From this website,
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html, you can download your own copy of the Declaration of Independence.

*Shelly & Lynn*