Published: August 04, 2009 09:58 pm         

Are we saving the stuff worth saving?

Do you save a lot of stuff? Think about it.

A dear friend of mine recently died. She left a house full of treasures for her daughter to sort through. Even though she was very organized and had most everything labeled, it was still a huge job to sort and decide what to keep, what to sell and what to throw away. Thank goodness there are people like the Sunshine Girls who make it a business to help sort, appraise and price what is to be sold.

We were fortunate to have seven kids to go through the years of things Mother and Daddy had accumulated. We went through everything. We found five pairs of old ice skates, survey equipment, old cotton scales that were my grandpa’s and grandma’s diaries of when she came to Indian Territory.

Just what little I did to help go through my friend’s things got me to wondering why we keep some of the things we do. Why do we? We know what a job it is going to be for someone left behind to categorize treasures. Even with things labeled and a history of description it is difficult, and some treasures can easily be overlooked.

We get sentimentally attached to the things we enjoy and the first thing we know, it becomes a collection. We have the joy of looking in shops for additional things to go with our collections.

I save everything. I save old valentines, letters, dishes, white ironstone, books, magazines, records, recipes, cookbooks, quilts, sheet music and cookie cutters. I really cannot say why I collect all these things but everything means something special to me and I find it hard to part with them.

Some would say it was because we were raised in an era when things were few. Most people did not have much money to spend. Everything we owned had to have a use or purpose of some kind. Maybe that is why my generation collects things.

“We just might need that some day” is a familiar expression of people my age. Heaven knows when we will ever use most of that stuff but still we cannot bring ourselves to dispose of it. Old toys, old childhood books and other things we save just for the sake of saving should be passed on or shared with someone who will use them.

Many of the things I hold dear have sentimental, nostalgic value. I would never throw away anything that belonged to Mother or Grandma or anything my granddaughters have given me over the years. Those wonderful things have almost become a part of my personality.

Most of us have so many things we usually need a storage facility to keep all of it. Our attics, garages and closets are full. And we still spill over into a storage unit. Why else would there be so many being built in and around Enid?

Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be, and vice versa. We truly value the stuff we keep as it becomes a part of us and we hate to part with it. I guess it is okay to leave it for our kids to go through and decide what is useful and what is foolish to keep. Some treasures need to be preserved whether our kids use them or not.

Do you ever have difficulty throwing leftovers away? We put them carefully in little tiny dishes and refrigerate them for later. But then we forget we have saved them until they turn blue, green or fuzzy. It is only then that we throw them out without guilt. Some leftovers are better the second or third day. Roast is better in the hash the second day. Baked potatoes taste just as good as hashbrowns with ham or bacon for breakfast. We cannot help but save those tasty leftovers.

I have always enjoyed saving old recipes, especially those I hold dear from Grandma and Mother. It soon will be Colorado peach time. One of the best things we make with those peaches is this pie. I have had several requests to repeat this recipe, so what better time than now?



Peach/Pecan Pie

1/4 cup soft butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 eggs

11/2 cups peeled, diced peaches

1 unbaked pie shell

nut/crumb topping (see below)



Cream together the butter, sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon. Stir in syrup. Beat in eggs. Add peaches. Pour into pie shell and sprinkle with topping (below). Bake at 350 degrees one hour.



Nut/Crumb Topping

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons soft butter.

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans



Combine sugar and flour and work in butter until crumbly. Add nuts.



Send your comments to: Peggy Goodrich, Food For Thought, P.O. Box 1192, Enid, OK 73702.