Surviving the heat

I have enjoyed the cooler weather we’ve had the last few days. It has been sweltering hot for several weeks. At Thursday night’s football game, Byhalia vs. H.W. Byers, it felt like a sauna. Everyone was dripping with sweat. Thankfully the referees called breaks for the two teams to rest and cool off. I’m hoping the cooler weather is a sign that fall is in the near future.

Saturday morning, I decided to travel to Alabama and visit my daughter, Emily, over the weekend. She told me she had been called into work when I arrived, sometime around lunch. So, I decided to head on to Lawrenceburg, Tenn., to visit my youngest brother, Bobby, while she was at work. It was only an hour’s drive, and I had not seen him in several months. I called one of my youngest sisters, Carolyn, to see if she would like to tag along.

The '70s songs were playing as we were catching up with what was happening. Before we knew it, we were in my brother’s driveway.

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking, laughing, and getting a bite to eat at the Brass Lantern.

Some of you know that I’m from a large family. I have three brothers and three sisters, most of whom live in Florence, Alabama, except Bobby and my sister, Mary Ellen, who is a missionary in Mexico City. I don’t get to see my sister Mary Ellen often, but hopefully, I will see her this weekend before she returns to Mexico City.

On that note, I would like to tell you all a short story Carolyn shared with me this past weekend. The heat can make you do some of the craziest things.

As I said earlier, Mary Ellen flew in to visit my mother. When she comes to visit, she will cook meals and also put some meals in the freezer for later. If cooking is involved, so is going to the grocery store. This is where the story gets interesting.

Mary Ellen and my sister Carolyn made a list of items that were needed at the grocery store Friday afternoon. Not familiar with the store, Mary Ellen spent a lot of time looking for things she needed for the special recipes she was making for mother. But this time, at the grocery store, the heat added to the adventure and no one was laughing.

Mary Ellen and Carolyn paid for the groceries and hurried to the car to unload the groceries and to get back inside the cool air-condition car. That is when it happened. Carolyn closed the back of her SUV and as the door was closing she realized she had put her car keys and purse in the back too.

Now the food, phone, purse, and keys were all inside the hot car. They decided to wait inside the coffee shop and call my oldest brother, Jimmy, with Mary Ellen’s phone. Mary Ellen and Carolyn did not know what to do. But, a prayer was answered when the man sitting at the table next to them overheard their predicament. He kindly asked if he could help and suggested that they call a locksmith. They thanked him and were so glad he told them about the locksmith.

Jimmy arrived and they were able to wait in his car until the locksmith arrived.

They were worried about the groceries that needed to be refrigerated but it wasn’t long before Roman’s Lockservice pulled up into the parking lot and immediately got her car unlocked.

The locksmith told Carolyn that he could only unlock the driver door because if he unlocked any of the other doors, they would have more problems. He also told her she would have to crawl over the seats to get her keys to turn off the alarm. Mary Ellen, who is not used to the `Alabama heat,’ was still sitting in my brother’s car, which was nice and cool when she finally got to her keys.

They successfully got the keys, paid the locksmith, and went to my mother’s house to finish their cooking.

Visiting family can be fun and exciting, and when you go anywhere with one of my sisters, you usually have a funny story to share later- wherever we go.

Below is one of my mother’s recipes that we all enjoy. Th muffins are delicious and healthy too. They are especially good right out of the oven with a little bit of butter.

Mamarie’s Fruit and Oatmeal Muffins

1 egg
3/4 Cup Milk
1 apple, grated, not peeled
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Quick Oats
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Nutmet
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients: flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat egg and add milk, grated apple and oil. Stir in dry ingredients with the egg, milk, apple and oil, until all ingredients is completed mixed. Fill the a greased muffin pan 3/4 full (or you can use paper muffin cups). Cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Yields a dozen muffins.