Aunt Bertha Day!

[Karen]

You all know I am a rememberer of people and birthdays, and today is Aunt Bertha Day in my head. She was a great lover of animals, and today's Dog of the Day is a beagle, as she had several beagle - or beagle mixes in her life, as well a big orange fluffy kitty, about beagle-sized himself!

Aunt Bertha was my Great Aunt - she was the youngest woman in her generation, and my mother the eldest of the next generation, so they were always buddies. Besides, Aunt Bertha was the one person my mother could point out that she was taller than, as we kids grew past her.

Aunt Bertha was everything one would picture with that name - short, grey curls, glasses, soft and loving - intent on making sure everyone - human and animal alike, ate well. A mathematician by trade, she was good at numbers until her death. She passed away several years ago, but today would have been her 105th birthday. She especially relished the years when Easter happened before her birthday, because as a child, she was not allowed a party of cake during Lent.

So hug someone today, and have dessert, in memory and honor of Aunt Bertha!

[Cinder & Smoke]

So hug someone today, and have dessert, in memory and honor of Aunt Bertha!

OK, Auntie Bertha ...

Three FurKid {{{HUGGS}}} have been delivered ...

Lil earlie fur Desert ... but nuffin is imossible ... < searches fridge > ...
NO Birfday cakes to be found

HI HO!! - Lookie what's in the pantry cupboard ...
< dusts off ancient package > ... "Instant BROWNIE Mix" ... That'll do!

We'll do the Birfday Browie rite after din-din ... SOMEwhere I've got a stash
of Kandils ... prolly NOT 105 of 'em, but ONE otta give us the proper effect.

HAPPIE B-Day, Auntie Bertha!!

[Karen]

If anyone's interested, I could post her special hot fudge sauce recipe ... she was an excellent cook of all sorts of things, but that sauce is the only thing I can think of that is labeled "Aunt Bertha's" - the butterscotch sauce is "Aunt Betty's" but Aunt Betty died before I was born, and as we usually made both when it was an occasion for sundaes, I group them together in my mind. Aunt Betty was a middle sister, the girls of that family were "Edith, Ethel, Elizabeth, Florence ... Bertha!" When her mother was calling her, she'd go down the whole list until she got to Bertha! Ethel was my grandmother.

[Prairie Purrs]

I had an Aunt Bertha as well, also a great-aunt. And also an animal lover--cats in particular, although she adored our poodle too. I'm not sure how many kitties she took care of over the years, but people knew she was a soft touch and were always dumping unwanted cats and kittens on her doorstep.

She loved yard sales and giving gifts. Which meant that she'd show up at our house with the darndest assortment of stuff. I still have part of a vanity set she gave me--hairbrush, hand mirror, and some jars for creams and powders.

She passed away many years ago, but I remember her fondly. She had a kind and loving heart.

[Lilith Cherry]

Happy thoughts of Aunt Bertha

I would love that recipe please Karen.

[Karen]

Aunt Bertha’s Hot Fudge Sauce

Mix 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark Karo (dark corn syrup, Karo being a brand name)
1/4 cup water

Cook over moderate heat or in microwave, stirring constantly over heat, occasionally in microwave, until it forms a soft ball in cold water. Start checking after 4 minutes if you are using a microwave. Enjoy over ice cream.

It gets all stretchy and chewy when cold - if you put it in the fridge you can stand a spoon up in it, but just rewarm it, and spoon over cold ice cream, or whatever you need good dark chocolate sauce to complement, and there you are!

If you have a "candy thermometer" you can use it, otherwise the test is take a cup of cold water, and drip one drop in. If it just sinks to the bottom and flattens out, keep cooking. If it forms a soft round ball on the way down - it's perfect!