The Pioneer-Republican of Iowa County from Marengo, Iowa • M4

4M WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2018 THE PIONEER-REPUBLICAN Chunk Pickles Make salt brine strong enough to hold up an egg. Put cucumbers in, let stand in brine 3 days, drain and wash thoroughly. Put in fresh water and let stand for 3 more days. Wash good again. Heat cucumbers in 1 part water and 1 part vinegar for 1 hour.

After temper- ature is hot enough to just put your hands in, keep stirring them to heat all through evenly. Add a piece of alum the size of a walnut to one dish pan full. For syrup: 6 C. vinegar 6 C. sugar 1 oz.

stick cinnamon oz. whole allspice Small piece of alum Cook these ingredients three min- utes. Pack cucumbers in jars and pour syrup over them to seal. (Recipe courte- sy of Wilma Rettig, South Amana) No-Churn Ice Cream 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk 2 tsp.

vanilla extract Pinch sea salt 2 C. heavy cream, chilled In a small bowl, whisk the sweet- ened condensed milk, vanilla and salt until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a large metal bowl, whip the cream with a hand mixer on high speed until peaks form, about 2 minutes. Fold about 1 C.

of the whipped cream into the condensed milk mixture with a rubber spatula until combined, then fold the lightened mixture into the whipped cream until well blended. Pour into a chilled 9 5 3 inch metal loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid and scoopable, about 3 to 4 hours. To add additional ingredients: wait until ice cream has set for several hours, then add crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, toasted nuts or chopped up candy bars. Stir them in, then place ice cream back in freezer until Ranch Mac Cheese 1 lb.

gemelli pasta 4 T. unsalted butter 4 T. 3 C. whole milk 2 tsp. (dry) ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix 2 C.

grated sharp cheddar cheese Cook pasta according to package di- rections, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until it begins to foam. Whisk in until smooth and cook, whisking, for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the milk and ranch seasoning mix.

Fold in the cheese and stir until melted. Add the cooked pasta and mix well. Serve hot. Iced Coffee and Cream Pops 1 oz. cold brew 7 oz.

sweetened condensed milk, di- vided 1 C. heavy cream, divided tsp. vanilla extract Combine the half the sweet- ened condensed milk and C. cream in a large bowl or measuring pitcher. In a chilled metal bowl, whip the rest of the cream.

When the cream has thickened, add the vanilla and sweet- ened condensed milk. Whip until soft peaks form. Carefully pour the mixture into popsicle molds, about of the way full. Top the mixture with about 2 T. of the softly whipped cream, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk.

Insert ice pop sticks and freeze until at least seven hours or overnight. To un- mold, dip molds into warm water and gently pull popsicles out. Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins 1 C. all-purpose C. white sugar 1 tsp.

baking soda 1 tsp. ground cinnamon tsp. salt 1 egg, lightly beaten C. vegetable oil C. milk 1 T.

lemon juice 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 C. shredded zucchini C. miniature semisweet chocolate chips C. chopped walnuts Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 12 cups or line with paper liners. Combine sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Mix egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a bowl. Stir into dry ingredi- ents until just moistened. Fold in zuc- chini, chocolate chips and walnuts.

Fill prepared cups full. Bake in preheated oven until a tooth- pick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. TASTE OF IOWA COUNTY AMANA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 68 GATHERS The Amana High School Class of 1968 held its 50-year reunion on June 22-23. The reunion opened with a banquet at the Ox Yoke Inn on Friday evening. Saturday events included a morning photo op at the old high school, tour of all the Colonies, lunch at the Brau Haus and a hosted grill night serving up Amana brats with a host of sides and The grill night was also blessed by having teachers Mr.

Berger and Mr. Kellenberger and wife attending. The decision was made not to wait another 50 years before the next reunion. Pictured are, back row, from left, Regis Butz, George Schuhmacher, Perry Kraus, Alan Baumgartel, Richard Olswold, Laren Wille, Gerry Schuerer; front row, Eunice (Sprague) Cunningham, Nancy (Bahr) Skripsky, Sue (Parvin) Spidle, Ramona (Leichsenring) Gerard, Deb (Roggentine) Hawkes, Delilah (Trumpold) Moffit. Unable to attend were Tom Honolka and Melvin Rotter.

Deceased class members are Gloria (Williams) Racey and Jim Wetjen. The clock was ticking. It was Wednes- day and on Saturday morning, I was leav- ing for a weekend dog show. I was afraid the blessed event would happen while I was gone and miss it. In the meantime, I named the occu- pant of the little sea-foam green shell Norbert, in tribute to the dragon Hagrid hatched from an egg in the Harry Potter book.

That Norbert went on to cause all kinds of mayhem. I expected my Norbert to be much less incendiary. Friday morning when I checked, the chrysalis had turned black. No cause for alarm. This was normal.

Three hours lat- er, it had gone crystalline and I could see the black and orange stained glass pat- tern of tightly folded wings inside. Later that morning, Norbert popped into the world, crumbled and bedraggled. As it turned out, he was a she. Norberta hung from the empty chrys- alis for several hours as her wings un- furled and pumped up. When she began them, I took her outside and found a tasty looking pink zinnia.

She sat on my hand for minute, then stepped on- to the like she was departing from a royal carriage. After adjusting her tiara and having a sip of nectar, she on her royal agenda. I felt a bit like an empty nester. I was about years old when I saw my monarch chrysalis. The pale green object with its gilded highlights was dangling from the underside of a milkweed plant in the dusty road ditch near our house.

My mother told me one of the black, yellow and white caterpillars also seen on the milkweed had spun it and in a matter of days, an orange and black would hatch out of it. My skepticism stretched far enough to embrace this little miracle since it made as much sense as anything else adults said. Flash forward a few decades. Quite a few decades. While gardening last week, I saw something I seen in nearly 50 years a monarch chrysalis.

It was at- tached to an iris leaf just cut While made it a point to have werbeds that are friendly to and other pollinators, never seen a chrysalis here. Granted, I spent a lot of time crawling around on my hands and knees looking for them, either, and they the sort of thing you run into by accident. I just kind of assumed they were there, since got milk- weed planted all over the place and see lots of monarchs dancing amidst the I was excited to see this one and over- come with guilt destroyed its habitat. If I threw it on the compost heap, it would surely never hatch. So I did what any re- sponsible adult would do.

I gathered up the iris leaf with its precious little attach- ment, took it in the house and got on the internet. Thanks to a story I did about the Homestead Monarchy group of raisers a few summers ago, had a crash course in monarch husbandry. My Facebook friends been raising the little creatures in their kitchens were also quick to give advice when I asked. I care- fully attached the leaf to a stick and sus- pended it in a big glass jar with enough room below the hanging chrysalis for the to emerge. And then I waited.

I had no idea how close the thing was to hatching. I felt oddly protective of it and watching it became a near obses- sion. It like it was doing anything, just hanging there, but I found excuses to keep going to check on it. Tales of a mom Crystal Ball Melinda Wichmann Newspapers of Iowa County USA TODAY NETWORK Rohrer Don and Susie (Lila) Rohrer will cel- ebrate their 70th wedding anniversary with an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug.

11, at the Victor United Methodist Church. The couple were married Aug. 1, 1948, at Victor Immanuel Church south of Victor. They have three chil- dren, Jeanne Roth, Jane Nixon and Soonee Sill, grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Don estab- lished and operated Rohrer Brothers Fertilizer for many years and Susie was a teacher, writer and artist.

ANNIVERSARY Don and Susie (Lila) Rohrer Davis-Randall Frank and Carrie Davis, Marengo, announce the engagement of their daughter, Taylor Davis, to David Ran- dall III. He is the son of Angela Timm and the late David Randall Jr. The couple met and graduated from Iowa Valley High School, Ma- rengo. David graduated with his degree at Iowa State Uni- versity and currently works for Kin- zenbaw Earthmoving and is enlisted with the Iowa Army National Guard. Taylor attends Mount Mercy Univer- sity to pursue a nursing degree and currently works at Highland Ridge Care Center.

The couple will be married Aug. 18, 2018. ENGAGEMENT David Randall III and Taylor Davis Folkmann Nathan and Erin Folkmann, Maren- go, are the parents of a son, Rhett Aar- on, born on July 9, 2018. He weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces and is 21 inches long. He joins a brother, Nolan.

Grandparents are Greg and Lori Sjaarda, Okoboji, and Kenny and Shel- ley Folkmann, Marengo. Great-grandparents are Margaret and the late Harry Ebel, and Marvin and Bertha Sjaarda, Paullina; the late Dale and Margaret Risdon, Marengo; and the late Merlin and LaVerna Folk- mann, Williamsburg. NEW ARRIVAL Hats and More Hats and More met July 12 at Sigour- ney Golf and Country Club with 17 members attending. Members found their seats by matching sections of greeting cards. Little containers of treats were at each place setting.

Prizes were awarded to Janet Wade and Fran Pilkington. A get well card for Sondra Aldridge was signed by all pre- sent. The group surprised Helen by singing to her. Helen Bucher and Joan Long hosted the day. The Aug.

15 meeting will be at Barn Wired in Sigourney at 11 am. with Elaine Sorden and Jackie Iosberger hosting. FAMILY NEWS BRIEFS.