Month: November 2025

Remembering Our First Date, repost

[This was first published on November 22, 2021]

It seems so long ago, 58 years (62 years now!), yet I’m reminded of our first date every year by the headlines from back then…

(Original Caption) New York, New York: Headlines announcing Kennedy’s assassination from three New York newspapers, the Times, the Daily News, and the Herald Tribune. November 23, 1963.

I was eagerly anticipating our first date. We were supposed to go to a fall dance at the high school. We hardly knew each other…had just met in English class our senior year, even though we had been in the same schools since 7th grade. Our paths had not crossed in any class before.

We were in our afternoon classes when the PA announcements came on that President Kennedy had been shot. We all listened in stunned silence. Over the next few hours, we were bombarded with all the speculations from the news media, our teachers and our classmates. The details would unfold over the days and weeks (and years!) to follow.

Many of the pictures in the news are still familiar to me today:

President John Kennedy rides in a motorcade from the Dallas airport into the city with his wife Jacqueline and Texas Governor Johhn Connally.
Lyndon B. Johnson, during his inauguration immediately after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, with Jackie Kennedy by his side.

This picture always hits me hard:

Members of the Kennedy family at the funeral of assassinated president John F. Kennedy at Washington DC. From left: Senator Edward Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, (aged 6), Jackie Kennedy (1929 – 1994), Attorney General Robert Kennedy and John Kennedy (1960 – 1999) (aged 3). (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

By the time I got home from school the world had changed. I think we were all in shock. All I could think about was what a relief it would be to go to a dance to feel somewhat normal again…if only for a few hours.

Of course, we had not gotten the memo that the dance was cancelled! (No quick texting back then!). So…I got all dressed up, Bert came over to pick me up and we went to the school. Oh no! The sign on the door gave us a reality check! We headed back home to just go for a walk around my neighborhood and talk. We hardly knew each other so it was an awkward time.

It was also a memorable beginning to our relationship that I will be reminded of every year. I guess it stuck, because 58 years later (now 62 years!) we’re still together!

UPDATE:

We married in 1967 so this year we’ve been 58 years!).

Here we were in 1968 (we eloped in 1967…had a reception in 1968…that’s a whole other story!)

Here we were in 2021…

and in 2025!

For such a pivotal moment in our lives, this event was hardly mentioned in the news today…however, we will never forget that day!

Planning Ahead to Make Christmas Favors

I’ve spent this whole week brainstorming what to make for favors for a group of 14 women from the Ladies Auxiliary to the Fire Company at our Christmas party in December. I have 4 weeks until I need them, but I need to decide soon exactly what I will put together. As I brainstormed, I ran all over town to see what I could get. Did I say how much I miss JoAnn Fabrics and how much I hate shopping?!?

I started with the container…I found small red gift bags at Michaels. I had to go to Walmart to get enough white tissue paper.

Looking around my various project supplies, I first started with soap. I have enough Goats Milk melt & pour soap base and small molds to make an assortment of small soaps. Two or three in a mesh bag will the first item in the bag of favors and suggested a gift bag for a ‘spa’ day.

Next, I found a box of tiny tea lights (battery-operated) that would be a perfect addition to the gift bag.

I wondered if I had time to make 15 hot and cold eye pillows. They are filled with flax seed and can be put in the freezer or microwaved. You can read about how to make them at https://marykisner.com/making-a-hot-or-cold-eye-pillow-for-headaches-or-toothaches/

This is what they look like…cotton on one side and flannel on the other. I have plain muslin for the liner (to keep the flax seeds from poking through the outer fabric.) I think I’ll have enough time…if I can get the fabric, flannel and flax seeds in time!

I found some nice 100% cotton fabric at Walmart but alas…no cotton flannel!

I even tried Michaels…no flannel of any kind! Luckily, Amazon came through and 2 yards of flannel will be delivered tomorrow!

Of course, the eye pillows will need flax seeds for stuffing…but 14 of them will require about 8 pounds of flax seeds (1 cup in each pillow). I had a small bag, but not 8 pounds!

Thank goodness, I could order a 10-pound bag from Amazon. It arrived today!

When I have all the components, I’ll get an assembly line going to crank out 14 eye pillows!

Last, but not least, how about some Christmas M&Ms to snack on while relaxing with a warm eye pillow! Amazon came through again! This bag will show up in a few days.

You can see that preparing these 14 gift bags required some lead time to assemble all the components! Just the brainstorming, sorting through my stash of supplies and running around town took several days. Now, I wait for things to arrive from Amazon so I can start making the eye pillows.

I really like how the focus is around being handmade. I don’t think I’m giving any useless stuff to my friends…the soap can be used, the M&Ms can be eaten and the eye pillow might be soothing during the Christmas season! If nothing else, the bag can be ‘regifted’ to someone else who needs it.

If you plan to have a handmade Christmas, plan ahead so you have time to enjoy the holidays yourself! Enjoy!

Please email me directly if you have comments or questions: maryjkisner@gmail.com.

Making a Traditional Swedish Apple Cake

https://marykisner.com/making-a-traditional-swedish-apple-cake/

I’m always on the lookout for apple cake recipes. I’ve shared at least three so far…French apple cake (with rum), German apple cake and Cinnamon apple cake. I’ll put the links at the end of this post. Most baked apple recipes include pies, dumplings, crumbles and crisps. I’ve focused on the apple cakes…for some reason they interest me.

This recipe was described as ‘a classic dessert that captures the essence of Swedish home baking. Made with cooked apples, this beloved treat is perfect for fika or any cozy gathering.’

Of course, that phrase, ‘perfect for fika…’ peaked my interest. Never heard that word before. I looked it up and found:

“Fika is a cherished Swedish tradition that goes beyond a simple coffee break, embodying a social ritual centered around taking time to pause, relax, and connect with others. The term ‘fika’ (pronounced ‘fee-ka’) is derived from a slang inversion of the Swedish word for coffee or tea. It is equally defined by the presence of a sweet or savory snack. The practice is deeply embedded in Swedish culture and is considered essential for maintaining a healthy work-life balance.”

This recipe came from a website called, https://foodandjourneys.net. Some of the ingredients are listed in grams so I retyped it for my convenience. Here is the recipe:

Prepare the Apples

The first step is to prepare the apples. That takes about half an hour, so don’t preheat the oven too soon!

  1. Peel and slice the apples (I used three apples and weighed them to be sure).

    2. Combine the sliced apples with 1/4 cup honey and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Cook about 15-20 minutes over medium-low heat.

    3. Drain the apples and set them aside. Discard the liquid.

    Make the cake

    1. Preheat the oven to 350 degreesF. Prepare cake pan or casserole by greasing with butter.

    2. Sift together flour and baking powder.

    3. Cream sugar and butter in a separate, bigger mixing bowl.

    I melted the butter.

    4. Add vanilla extract and eggs and continue mixing.

    5. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix well.

    6. Transfer about 3/4 of the batter into the prepared pan or casserole. Smooth the top.

    7. Add the drained apples, trying to arrange them evenly.

    8. Randomly place the remaining batter on top.

    9. Place the pan in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until it turns golden on top or a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

    This Swedish Apple Cake was delicious!

    This certainly was not low carb, but it was one more apple cake in my recipe file. Enjoy!

    If you’d like to check out the other apple cake recipes, here are those links:

    https://marykisner.com/making-french-apple-cake/

    https://marykisner.com/making-german-apple-cake/

    https://marykisner.com/making-cinnamon-apple-cake/

    As always, for comments questions, please contact me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com

    Blog Update November 3, 2025

    (https://marykisner.com/blog-update-november-3-2025/)

    Hello Readers! It’s time to give you a quick update about my Blog. My first blog entry was was in January, 2021. Since then, I’ve written 452 posts about all kinds of stuff. It seems I continue to make, bake or research something at least once a week and I still enjoy sharing how I do it.

    Finding a Specific Post:

    I find the search feature of WordPress to be cumbersome. I did not add ‘tags’ to each post at the very beginning and eventually discovered that was how WordPress indexed things. By the time I realized I should have done that, I just decided to go with my PDF list of posts with hot links. I was already making the list as I went along and it worked for me.

    I sometimes think I should go a step further and pull together posts with a common theme…like sewing projects or greyhound information…and make a booklet available, but that never quite materializes (smile). I guess I’m counting on folks to explore the downloadable PDF that lists all my posts with hot links. You can download it from here (it is also on the ‘Welcome’ page):

    Blog Entries 1_452 marykisnerDownload

    Since the website (run by WordPress) seems to have updated and now the link to the ‘Blog’ on the ‘Welcome’ page doesn’t seem to work, I’ll make a point to put the link to each article at the top of the text. If you have subscribed to my blog, you should receive an email each time I post. That link at the top might be helpful if your computer or phone doesn’t download the pictures. That happened on my phone last week!

    About my readers:

    My website/blog does not function quite like Facebook. I know I have 28 folks subscribed and they receive an email when I post, but I don’t know who reads what. I know how many people read each article each day…but not who they are. I know what countries folks are from that read anything on my website. I seem to have readers in the United States, United Kingdom, Chile, Australia, Ireland, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Canada and a few others. Very interesting! Lately, I’ve noticed someone must be exploring the PDF one post at a time so my viewer numbers have increased to over 100 each day! That’s exciting! I hope someone is trying lots of new stuff! That’s my goal!

    About comments:

    If you recall, a few months ago I had to disconnect the ‘comment’ choice at the end of each post. That worked from that date forward. However, I still receive over 100 spam comments each day that I need to manually remove. Most are not even in English! Thus, I’ve added a note at the end of each post that includes my email address (maryjkisner@gmail.com). I do love to hear from interested folks! It was impossible to find that one comment in the pile of spam. I look forward to hearing from you with questions, comments or suggestions for new topics!

    Reminder:

    This website/blog is designed to give me a place to share the things I’m doing and write about them. Please notice the site is free, there are no advertisements, I do not try to sell you something and I do not discuss politics. Frankly, if you’re not interested…don’t read it! The digital world is invasive enough. My philosophy is…enjoy! Make it yourself!

    I look forward to hearing from you. Enjoy! maryjkisner@gmail.com