A Tribute to the Friendship and
Recipes of Marlin Jo (Jody) Lower
May she rest in peace.
By Cynthia Bowan
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I apologize for being so behind in sharing my monthly column with all of you. Anyone who has been reading my newspaper columns over the past 18 years or copies of those which appear on on
Cynthias Corner Cupboard knows about our best friends, Dave and Jody.
My husband Merrill and I first met Dave and Jody in 1981, through Worldwide Marriage Encounter. Merrill and I were the Pittsburgh/Tri-State area couple in charge of the local Presbyterian Expression, and Dave and Jody became a presenting team couple.
What began as a shared desire to see couples strengthen their marriages and yes, fall in love again, developed into a wonderful, long and deep friendship. Family celebrations from the birth of our last and fifth child, Bethany, to each of their four children's weddings and our second son's wedding to graduations, anniversaries, and yes! Grandchildren!
The four of us loved good food and loved to cook and share recipes back and forth. We gave each other cookbooks, traded recipes, sought each other's culinary advice and loved nothing more than spending at least one summer's evening on their long porch, which looked out over their hilltop and across several counties. In fact, one summer, I made up a drink for us to enjoy and called it "House on a Hill"…
We shared joys and sorrows, good times and not so good. Through it all, we had each other. Jody, however, became very sick some months ago, and a couple weeks later, went into the hospital for the last time. She passed away on Sunday, Oct. 17, just a matter of days after her last birthday.
Half the fun when we got together was gift exchanges for any occasion and even non-occasion. Over a year and a half ago, Jody had mentioned that she would love to do origami someday. Shortly after that, I was in one of the large bookstores and found a beginning origami book. I bought it and kept it until Christmas last year. She was so thrilled that I had remembered! And Jody reciprocated many times over.
We always had fun together. The four of us went out to eat off and on over the years, and it was nothing for us to meet at a restaurant with Jody and I each toting a bag filled with goodies to gift the others with.
Our husbands would be deep in serious discussions about politics, religion and the world in general, and Jody and I would be making jokes and interrupting them and making them laugh and shake their heads at us.
One such night was at the Cheese Cellar, a great restaurant in Pittsburgh's Station Square area, on the Monongahela River. We were having a great time trying to figure out what some of the dishes were being offered, and came down the list of side dishes to noisette potatoes…at least, that's how I think they were spelled. It didn't matter, because after a couple tries at pronouncing the name, Jody declared they should be called Noisy Potatoes. So of course, when the poor waiter was taking our order, we both order a dish of Noisy Potatoes - and the waiter had no clue what we were talking about or laughing so hard about. Okay, so you had to be there…but trust me, it was so very funny.
We figured then we had to add that restaurant to our slowly growing list of restaurants we couldn't go back to again! <grin>
Jody loved people. She had a warm, loving, giving spirit that reached across any boundary or barrier. She had a way of making you feel that you were the most important person in the world - no, the universe. She always put everyone else first.
Over the years, I catered a few events at her country store, the Quad L Ranch and Mercantile. People who came were not looked at as prospective buyers. They were closer to being family.
Even when she was so very sick the last few months of her illness, she continued to write a weekly newsletter to all the shut-ins in her church, and with Dave driving her, delivered small bags of goodies and little gifts to these people. She was part of the worship team in church, and had a glorious singing voice. Prior to becoming so sick, she was a volunteer in a local hospital. Jody also had been a teacher, and touched many of her students' lives as well.
She never wanted to burden anyone with her troubles, but Jody and I could share on a level few people ever reach. It was as though we had been close all our lives; we could almost read each other's thoughts.
I am only sorry that I couldn't give her the last gifts I had bought for this coming Christmas. One of them as a small white fluffy hat, shaped like a snowman's head, completed with an extended orange carrot-shaped nose. I know she would have laughed a long time at it. I took it to the funeral, and her family all agreed - Jody would have loved it.
As Dave handed the hat back to me, he said, "I think you should give it to someone who will also love it. That's what Jody would have wanted." And as usual, Dave was right. This morning, as I thought about this column, and how I could share Jody's love and laughter (two of the "L"s in Quad L), I was also reading a note from Lori, a friend of our daughter Holly's. And I knew right away, the right person to receive this last gift from Jody would be Lori's little girl, Kara. Kara has such a love of life, and so much energy and is a giving child…it is right. She has a lot of what made Jody so special in her as well.
So when I needed to write this month's column, I thought I would make this a tribute to a wonderful woman. But as I have been writing, I realized that more than a tribute, I wanted you all to know my Jody as the living, loving, laughing, caring person who made my life a joy, and I hope, in small way, yours as well.
I am sharing that special drink with you, as well as some of Jody's wonderful, down-home recipes we were privileged to enjoy through the years. Be well, and treasure your friends and family, and as always, CYH - consider yourselves hugged, deeply.
Til's Corn Cakes
1 c. flour
1 c. corn meal
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. water
2 beaten eggs
Place dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine wet ingredients and add to dry. Mix well. Cook as for regular pancakes.
Jody's Ham Loaf
2 lb. ham loaf mix
2/3 c. cracker crumbs
1 1/4 c. evaporated milk
1/3 c. finely minced onion
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. thyme
Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Form into 16 individual loaves or balls.
Refrigerate, then reshape and continue recipe by making syrup and baking. Serves
8.
Syrup:
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
3 T. vinegar
Heat syrup until boiling. Pour over ham balls. Bake 1 hr. at 350 F.
Jody's Curry Salad Dressing
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. good curry powder
1 sm. onion, chopped
1/2 c. vinegar
1 c. oil
Place all ingredients in blender or food processor. Process until well mixed. Store in a tightly covered container in refrigerator, but let set at room temperature for a couple of minutes before using. This dressing goes great on mixed green salads; also, it's doubly great when you add some blue cheese to the salad.
Jody's Curry Vegetable Dip
1 1/2 c. real mayonnaise
2 tsp. good curry powder
2 T. grated onion
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 drops Tabasco sauce (opt)
Mix all ingredients in blender or processor. Refrigerate 2-3 hr. before serving. Serve with raw vegetables. Try this with Brussels sprouts, which you steam and cook first, in addition to regular veggies.
Jody's Peanut Butter Fudge
4 cups sugar
1 stick margarine
1 large can evaporated milk (not sweetened, condensed)
1 pint marshmallow cream
2 large globs peanut butter (she used less than ½ cup)
¾ c. ground walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla
Jody wrote: It is necessary to cook the fudge a bit beyond the soft ball stage, because the oil in the peanut butter tends to keep it from setting up. I also put a little more than the pint of marshmallow called for. I think it makes for creamier fudge. This makes a large 13x9" pan. Once cut it keeps for weeks (fat chance <G>) in the refrigerator. For chocolate fudge, add a large package of chocolate chips.
Place the sugar, margarine and milk in a saucepan. Boil this until it forms a soft ball; then continue to cook two more minutes. Remove from heat and add the marshmallow cream, peanut butter (or chocolate chips) and vanilla. Mix well until the peanut butter or chips are melted and the mixture smooth; add the nuts. Pour into the 13x9" pan and let set up before cutting into squares.
Fairy Pie (Gladys Lower, Dave's Mom)
½ c. margarine
½ c. sugar
4 egg yolks
2/3 c. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ c. milk
Meringue (recipe follows)
Cream margarine and sugar. Add well-beaten egg yolks; beat until light. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add dry ingredients to cream mixture alternately with milk. Pour batter into baking pans and place in refrigerator while preparing meringue.
Meringue
4 egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. finely chopped nuts
whipped cream
fresh fruit (like strawberries or chopped peaches etc.)
Beat egg whites and salt. Add sugar slowly, and beat until soft peaks begin to form. Add vanilla and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Place half of the meringue on top of each cake layer. Sprinkle with nuts.
Bake the cake layers at 350 F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Place one layer upside down on serving plate. Cover this layer with a layer of whipped cream, then fruit. Place the other layer on top, with meringue on top, and serve.
House on a Hill
Summer Drink
12 oz. frozen limeade concentrate
1 juice can (12 oz. ) white rum
chilled 7-Up, about 2 liters
1 large can crushed pineapple, drained
ice cubes
Defrost concentrate, but do not dilute. In a large pitcher or punch bowl,
combine limeade and rum. Add 7-Up to taste. To each tall glass or punch cup,
add a little pineapple and ice cubes. Pour mixture over.
By Cynthia Bowan
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Til's Corn Cakes |
Jody's Curry Salad Dressing |
Jody's Curry Vegetable Dip |
Summer Drink
Jody's Peanut Butter Fudge |
Fairy Pie (Gladys Lower, Dave's Mom) |
Jody's Ham Loaf
