By Karen Hendrix
For The Tribune
Olga Otte opened her beautiful home in the country to the Kum Join Us Homemakers for a fabulous pitch-in dinner on Dec. 5.
She made delicious ham balls using her own special recipe. Other dishes included corn casserole, the absolute best tasting Brussels sprouts (who’d think you’d ever stand in line for those), cranberry Jell-O salad, dinner rolls, mac and cheese, brownies and strawberry dump cake. The homemakers showed off their cooking and baking skills, and everything was delicious.
After dinner, we sat around the table just like old times discussing things that happened recently. Our conversations brought up a few fun memories from our childhood. Linda Guinn told us about picking up a snapping turtle by its tail and taking it home in the bed of her truck. Apparently, her truck smelled pretty bad for a long time afterwards.
Talks turned to hunting and which of our family members enjoyed hunting and had killed a deer already this year. Of course, the points each deer had also was mentioned. It’s a right of passage among all hunters to brag about the biggest rack to hang on their wall.
I was surprised with how many had been killed this season. I think I’d rather enjoy the bounty of the hunt and stay nice and warm inside.
Michelle Wood tested our knowledge with a few games. Those included a Christmas word scramble, Christmas song picture scramble, Christmas riddles, an Emoji-type Pictionary game and a how well do you know your cookies game. These were some really difficult games, but Carrie Morrison came out a winner more than any of us. Other winners were Misty Stuckwisch, Olga, Mandy Otte and Karen Wiesehan.
A Mexican wedding cake pecan cookie topped the list of the 12 members attending for their favorite Christmas cookie. Second place went to iced sugar cookies, and Carrie Morrison mentioned her dad’s cinnamon stick cookie as her favorite. Others included Forgotten Angels, butter jelly thumbprint cookies and buckeyes.
Olga played the piano while we sang the first verse of several Christmas carols. I think we all look forward to this at our annual Christmas dinner. We have some really beautiful voices within our group.
Anyone wishing to join a great group of people to share recipes and tidbits every month feel free to join us. We meet the first Tuesday of each month and are always looking for new faces. Contact the Indiana Extension Homemakers Association office at 812-358-6101 to be put in touch with a club near you. Until next month, enjoy your family and friends during this special holiday season.