Laughter is good medicine...

"Laughter is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles. It won't take the potholes out of the road, but it sure makes the ride smoother."
Barbara Johnson
Writer

Laughter is an amazing balm for sadness and an energizing antidote to a sluggish day. I always seem to have the most amazingly upbeat experiences when I am with my sisters. The most amusing part of it is, our jocularity is mainly caused by laughing at ourselves. What a surprise...well, not really. We are all fairly jovial with keen senses of humor. Ha! Okay, I will retract that statement...we are easily amused. And, as our keen senses seem to be getting a bit weathered as the years pass, the funny scenarios just keep popping up.

At Thanksgiving, my younger sister walked into my kitchen with a somber expression as she immediately began relating her ill cat story to all who would listen. It had been a trying few days for her as the feline was not doing well and needed medical attention. I was, of course, bustling in the kitchen doing the last minute preparations and had my mind firmly zeroed in on the tasks at hand. The Thanksgiving meal was moments away from being perfected and everything was smelled wonderful. It was going to be ambrosia for our palettes no matter what, as I had decided it to be so.

So, in my half attentive state, my sister asked for my advice on what to give the poor cat. With the thoughts of culinary delights on my brain, I was thinking to nudge her toward taste testing a few things before the actual meal began, so I immediately responded with, "Have you tried the rice pudding?" Her look of utter horror could not have been missed by even a person with extremely advanced cataracts, as she exclaimed, "Rat poison!" To which I responded, "No, I left that out today, and used the Watkins Vanilla instead."

We eventually assessed our incorrect conclusions due to our less than perfect hearing, which of course lead to several stories about other times when our hearing was slightly off. But, I will save those exchanges for another day. There are some dillies. Here is the rice pudding recipe in which I left out the rat poison. Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Rice Pudding
3 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt, optional
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. Watkins Vanilla Extract
Watkins Cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine milk, rice, sugar and salt if desired; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Pour into a greased 1 1/2 qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Add raisins and vanilla; cover and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve warm or chilled. Store in refrigerator.

We enjoyed this as well!

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Watkins Pumpkin Pie Spice
3 large eggs
1- 1/2 cups mashed, cooked pumpkin (or use canned)
1 cup evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9-inch pastry pie shell
Combine sugar, flour and salt; beat in eggs. Stir in pumpkin and milk. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 400°F for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Top with sweetened whipped cream and a sprinkle of Watkins Cinnamon