Sudbury, Mass. |
Priscilla Januskiewicz Thanks again for the Muse and all the entertaining articles. We enjoy hearing about what our cousins are up to and you all certainly find a lot of very interesting things to do! And thanks for forwarding the letter from a reader in Florida. I told her to contact cousin Steve Prouty since none of the Proutys she mentioned were on our list of Prouty relatives. There are other Prouty families, however, in Vermont, so I thought maybe Steve would know who they are. I hope she can find the rightful owners of the photos and letters. [Ed. Note: A reader asked to be connected with possible Prouty relatives. We sent the request to Priscilla. --NAM] Roy and I were on vacation in Hawaii in March, and I have just gotten around to reading the March/April edition of the Muse. (And now there's a new one to read!) I enjoy perusing the memorial pages for Christel and the other Charltons. I have seen the outdoor photo of Christel and Doug many times and I think my father may have taken it, but I could be wrong. He took similar photos of Grandma and Grandpa Charlton on the lawn of your house in Hubbardston on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary (in July of 1955), as well as photos of all of the guests in attendance. Roy and I just spent an overnight at Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury recently and I'll try to write a short article about it for you. We had wonderful weather in Hawaii this year, unlike the torrential downpours and flash floods in March of 2006. Thanks again. |
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Daniel Leskinen For those who haven't heard, we have sold our house in Hanover, PA. My job moved me down to Roanoke, VA. We are currently staying at Goose Dam Campgrounds, just South of Rocky Mount, VA. We hope to close on our property soon. I told you all that to tell you this story. One of our cats escaped the camper and thought he could be a squirrel. Now this is no small cat. His girth must be 20 inches around. That would be the same for the tree he explored. You can imagine the size of the branches he was teetering on at 30 feet in the air. I had to drive to Roanoke to get a ladder. During this 2 hour intermission, the neighboring campers took an interest in my cat. Since there is no cable TV, this was the next best thing to watch. When I arrived with the ladder at 9:30 pm, it was all dark. I leaned over to hook up my halogen light, to get a good view. As I stood up, I saw many eyes upon me. It was like a Stephen Spielberg movie. They were friendly eyes. In fact they set their beer down to help me. A young agile gentleman shot right up the ladder and rescued my cat. |
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Gene Murdock My earliest memories of cheese were having slices of American cheese in sandwiches and a hard cheese for Dad to have with apple pie. But the most fun was seeing Mom make cottage cheese from soured milk by pouring it into a bag made of (what else?) cheese cloth, and letting it drip and drain until the curds were left in the bag and the whey in a pan below. The curds we ate as cottage cheese and I believe the whey went to the chickens. When I married Chris I learned much more about the varieties of cheese. At first we were as poor as church mice and Chris did magic with sliced cheese and jars of Cheez Whiz, but Chris was a Cheese Lover, and soon we expanded into one of her favorites - mozzarella in cooking, especially layered in a lasagna creation. She loved macaroni and cheese, and cooked it at home from scratch, and ordered it out when possible. A TV ad with someone eating a cheesy product that copiously stretched out and ran from the pizza slice would drive her into a cheese frenzy. About 1965 we were in Holland and visited the towns of Edam and Gouda, famous for their cheeses. Chris liked a mild cheese, so her favorite snack cheese became Gouda, served in small wedges with the red waxed cover still on. Seeing the wheels of cheese in all sizes in the cheese stores of Europe was a gourmand thrill for us, something that we recalled fondly for many years. A few years later we were touring southern Vermont when we came across a cheese-making factory. We went in and took a tour, seeing the cheese-making process in several stages of its development. Another unforgettable experience! At home I once bought a cheese-making kit and made my own, learning the basic processes of making the different kinds of cheese. Now that was fun! When I got to Iowa, I went to the Maytag farms east of Des Moines where they make a fantastic Blue Cheese. I bought some and took it home, and fell in love with it. It is the best available and has been called that by Julia Child and Emeril LaGasse. My favorite cheeses are cottage cheese with a meal, mozzarella for cooking, swiss for sandwiches, and Maytag blue cheese with Wheat Thins crackers for snacking. But my favorite, by far, is Vermont extra-sharp white cheddar cheese. I can cut off an ounce of that ambrosia and just nibble at it, each minute piece being loaded with flavor and satisfaction. I am now drooling and my jaws are aching so excuse me while go and get a bite. |
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Nancy Murdock Gene’s cheese article makes me salivate. I love cheese. I’ve always liked cheese, but now that we are ovo-lacto vegetarians, it’s a real favorite. I don’t have anything against eggs, beans, and peanut butter, but cheese is really convenient first thing in the morning when I am putting up the lunch I didn’t get to the evening before. I like all kinds of cheeses, although I admit I don’t recall ever even wanting to eat Limburger cheese. But the other kinds - ooh-la-la! The Murdock household was not the only one where the kitchen became a cheese-making factory from time to time. My mother also made cottage cheese. I really liked it, maybe especially because she made it. Woodward’s, where the milk in our house came from, also had homemade cottage cheese on occasion. I remember once when I was visiting Shirley and Carmen, and their mother, Mary, was making cottage cheese. I think it was Carmen who protested that she didn’t like it. Mary said, “It’s all right when the milk hasn’t yet really soured.” I knew that our delicious cottage cheese began when the milk had turned, but I didn’t say anything. I’m thinking now that there is milk that has just turned a little sour, and then there is milk with big curds floating in a watery background. We used it all, but the really sour kind ended up in cakes - which I really loved, also. When I was a child, we bought two kinds of cheese: yellow or orange slices (available everywhere), and good cheddar from Si Wheeler’s store. We could possibly at some time or other have had Swiss cheese, but that may have been at someone else’s picnic. The cheddar cheese went particularly well with apple pie or was used in macaroni and cheese. We also ate Kraft’s cheese spreads packed in little drinking glasses. These involved pimento, olives, ham, etc. We used to look forward to a new jar of cheese so we could have a pretty new glass. It was not uncommon for kids to have a sandwich with this cheese spread thinly for lunch. This was pretty much in line with another standard, a jelly sandwich. It’s no wonder we were skinny! As I became an adult and went out into the wider world, I discovered that I liked a LOT of cheeses. At one time in Medford, MA, when I was dieting to lose ten pounds, I used to have thinly sliced blue cheese and dill pickles with a couple of crackers for lunch. Considering the amount of salt involved, it’s a wonder I didn’t bloat up and add five or ten pounds! Sandra and Bill Hiscock made up a large dishful of very tasty cheese salad for sandwiches one time when we visited them in Florida. I believe it was a recipe from their friend Delia. I don’t recall what besides the cheese was ground up and mixed with mayo, but it was filling and delicious. A couple of years ago, some friends gave us a whole five-pound Brie cheese. When we got it, I hoped we could do it justice before it turned blue around the edges. I blush to admit that we were soon lamenting that it was gone. Our son Roy has at least twice given his dad a wonderful assortment of fancy cheeses from different countries. I recently discovered a small, really old piece of Stilton Blue cheese hiding in the fridge, and I had a lot of fun adding it to my lunches. It was a good idea not to look too closely at it, as it had turned sort of brown and hard, but its flavor really packed a punch. I shared some with one of my lunchmates one day, and he also liked it. My brother John sent each of us siblings a surprise gift of “Hubbardston Blue” cheese last year, made at the goat farm in our hometown. It had an odd-looking texture, but it tasted wonderful! I had no idea that blue cheese could be made from goat’s milk. There are probably a lot of things I don’t know about cheese. But I do know I really like it, and it goes with practically everything! |
2007 |
Darrel Murdock Happy Father's Day! Mary and I went to a Hindu wedding ceremony, complete with before and after receptions. Also, we have had some great shoots lately, including Temperance and Beaver on the North Shore, and Presque Isle and Black Rivers on the South Shore. The water was kicking butt. We had a blast and got a lot of fantastic shots and awesome videos. The website is getting a big boost, indeed! Hope you had a great day, Dad. I was thinking of you. |
Gallery photo |
Bevin Hoffman Hello! How are you guys doing? We are doing well - getting through the summer. Olivia is getting big. She’s already 6 months old. She’s really wanting to crawl and move around. She gets into everything that looks interesting. Jason has been at his new job for 2 months. He travels a lot. He works for DMS Interim Solutions, doing preventive maintenance and site management on medical trailers. It’s cool, and interesting to learn about. He’s about to go to North Carolina for 3 days and then off to southern states for a week. It will be Olivia and me spending quality time. I tend to spoil her when he’s gone. This past Memorial weekend Jason proposed up at Gooseberry Falls at Two Harbors. I was totally surprised, but it was so special! We are planning to get married next July. I am excited. What are you guys up to? Anything new and exciting going on with you? I am sorry it’s taken so long to get you guys pictures, but here are some I hope you’ll like. Talk to you soon. Love always. |
Gardner News photo |
N. Murdock Jane McCauley sent an article from the Gardner News about an interesting project by Missi Sargent. Missi has produced a CD of her vocal performances to benefit the Mount Wachusett Community College team in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. “You turn around and there’s always someone who is fighting the disease,” Missi said. The six cover songs on the album include the Beatles’ “Let It Be,” and Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven.” She recorded the songs at Upside Sound Recording Studio at a discounted rate and then burned the CDs herself. She laid out the cover, complete with liner notes, on her home computer. She makes CDs to order as she receives requests. |
2007 photo |
Bob Murdock Well, I am grateful for another year, but quite astonished to be here. After all, at age 14 I vowed to live to the tear 2000. So I feel like I am living on borrowed time, but I plan to make the most of it. Thanks to all who sent me birthday greetings. Colleen made me not only a delicious apple pie, but also frosted brownies! That's what you can see in the Gallery photo. |
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