2 thoughts on “Phones, Photos, Phallus and…4-H?

  1. My wife was a 4-Her and it stuck with her for her entire life. I think she won some county level competitions for sewing and/or general huswifery. And the brownie recipe she got from her 4-H cookbook remains unparalleled. Here it is:

    1/3 c shortening, melted (this is key)
    2 eggs, beaten
    1 t vanilla
    1 c sugar
    1/2 c cocoa powder
    1/4 c flour
    1/4 c water (you won’t use all of this most likely)

    Preheat oven to 350°. Mix dry ingredients together. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until the dry ingredients are all wet. Add melted shortening and stir in thoroughly. At this point you may or may not have to add some water to thin out the batter. If you can pour it out of the bowl without the water, you’re in good shape. If not, add a little at a time until you get it to a good consistency. It should still be pretty thick. Pour into a 8×8 greased baking pan and bake for 20-25 mins. Start checking at 20, as you don’t want to overbake. A toothpick should come out clean when it’s ready.

    Cool for 10-15 minutes and enjoy.

    If my wife had left me nothing but this recipe to remember her by, I’d be a happy man still.Report

  2. Mom was in 4-H and she did her best to get us to a place where 4-H was “exotic”.

    When we visited Gran and Granddaddy and stopped by the A&W to get a gallon of root beer for our visit, sometimes there would be a glass case full of thank yous from the 4-H club to the owner of the A&W for purchasing a handful of market steers.

    I wondered if I ordered a hamburger, would I be eating one of the cows mentioned in the thank you note?

    Of course, I was not allowed to order a hamburger. It would spoil the dinner that Gran would be making.

    When I was a kid, a long-distance relationship was a weird commitment. It involved plane tickets and phone bills. Now I wonder at the extent to which that’s changed. Free (well, “included”) long distance makes things a lot easier… which probably makes these relationships more common. Goodness knows, when I was a kid, “NEVER MEET ANYONE FROM THE INTERNET!” was the rule. Now? Hell, it’s the only way to meet people anymore.

    Well, that and 4-H, I guess.Report

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