6/07/01 - George Relives Tractomotive Memories!
When George was a co-op student in his "Tech" days at Northwestern
University, he worked at Tractomotive during the Fall and Spring Quarters.
Tractomotive manufactured rubber tired loaders (crawler tractors except
they had rubber tires).
A couple of weeks ago, George received a call that former Tractomotive
employees got together quarterly for dinner at Lamb's Farm in Libertyville.
George had a delightful time seeing old friends Jack Smith and Bill
Dobeus, who was the son of the company's owner.
Jack Smith (left) and Bill
Dobeus (right) Flank an Unidentified Lady at Lamb's Farm
6/05/01 - Cubs Win! Cubs Win!
Neighbor Don McKie invited George and a couple of other friends from
St. John Church to the Tuesday night opener of the Cubs' series with St.
Louis. The tickets included drinks and dinner in the Stadium Club before
the game. The weather was so cold and dreary, it took a some optimism to
even leave for the game. The threatening skies never gave up. Heavy mist
and fog persisted throughout the game, but they got it in without any rain
delay. The Cub bats were hot. They hit a back to back homers in the 6th
and a grand slam in the 7th. It was hard to see the scoreboard through
the haze, but the guys thought it made a pretty picture anyway. Final score:
Cubs 12, Cardinals 6.
Coffee
& Beer??
Cub fans Don McKie, George, Dave Dorn, and Al Albeiter
looked pretty confident during the pre-game festivities.
A Happy Ending...
5/25-26/01 - Memorial Day Weekend Is Very Pleasant
The Needhams were in town over the holiday weekend, and brought daughter
Nancy along, to visit with Annabel. We joined the group for a delightful
brunch at Greg and Jill's home. We stuffed ourselves on ham, oven-baked
potatoes, Nancy's special quiche, and fruit salad, followed by strawberry
shortcake. Everything was yummy!
Paul stopped by to drop off Joslyn so she could spend an overnight with
Grandma and Grandpa Sengstock. Much to her delight, Uncle Greg gave her
a ride on his shoulders.
Greg
and the Girls
The Needhams enjoyed getting some time with Annabel, who entertained
us with her spoon. No, it doesn't take much...
Roz, Annabel,
and John
On Monday morning Joslyn, Kate, and George joined our neighbor Don McKie
to watch the Wheaton Parade. Afterward, Joslyn got to play at Kelly Park
where she tried out the swings and other outdoor equipment.
In the late afternoon, we returned Joslyn to her home where we enjoyed
a picnic of brats, hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. The day was cool,
but sunny and pleasant. We've been dodging showers a lot lately, so it
was good to see old sol.
5/24/01 - Recipes Now Shared
There were rave reviews for some of the items people brought to the
Derby Party and two of the cooks were kind enough to send their recipes.Esther
Loth and Mel Ziska brought the Stuffed Marinated Mushrooms that were scarfed
up before the race. Marge Johannes brought the Strawberry Spinach Salad.
Stuffed Marinated Mushrooms
“Large marinated mushroom caps may be stuffed with a mixture of ½
cup minced cooked chicken, 3 tablespoons mayo, 2 tablespoons chopped chives,
and salt and pepper to taste. Add a few of the minced marinated mushrooms
if desired. Blend the mixture to almost a paste and use a teaspoon to stuff
the mushroom caps.”
From The Gourmet Cookbook Vol. I
Well, that leaves a lot to the imagination and room for some creativity.
The Ziska/Loth variation: day before serving, clean large mushrooms,
remove stems and save them aside.
Marinade consists of 1 part good olive oil
and 3 parts white wine vinegar, basil or favorite seasoning.
Dip/submerge and coat a few caps at
a time in marinade, drain slightly and place in a airtight bag in
fridge overnight.
Dice reserved mushroom stems, sauté
in olive oil and butter, add fresh garlic as desired.
Dice smoked turkey (mesquite or hickory )
Chop chives
Blend sautéed stems, turkey, chives
adding mayo (not too much) to form stuffing
Drain excess marinade from mushroom caps and
stuff
Strawberry Spinach Salad
1/3 c. raspberry vinegar
1-1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1/2 c. sugar
10 oz. fresh spinach*
1 tsp. dry mustard
*(I used 1/2 spinach & 1/2 Romaine lettuce)
1 tsp. salt
1 pt. fresh strwberries washed, capped & sliced
1-1/2 tsp. grated onion
1/2 c. sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1 c. vegetable oil
In a blender, combine vinegar and next four ingredients. Process until
blended. With blender running, add oil in a slow, steady stream.Stir in
poppy seeds. Just before serving, combine spinach, strawberries, and almonds
in a large bowl. Toss with desired amount of dressing.
(Dressing may be stored in refrigerator up to one month.)
5/04/01 - New Countertop Installed
The kitchen countertop was replaced 5/4/01. It looks just about like
the old one, but it is shiny and has no stains. The sink is new also. Again,
it's about like the old one. The Jenn-Air is exactly like the old one;
in fact it is the old one!
The New/Old Kitchen
4/26-27/01 - Garmans Pay a Visit
Friends Anne and John Garman, of Carmel, IN, made a whirlwind trip
to Wheaton. They came up to say hello to Ella Henderson, who underwent
cancer surgery on Wednesday. Ella's surgery went well and she has an excellent
prognosis.
The Garmans short stay corresponded with the regular 4th Thursday Lunch
Bunch outing, so Anne was able to visit with a few old time acquaintances.
(See Lunch Bunch Dines and Dines.)
We had a beautiful evening and enjoyed supper out on the deck. It was
the last supper for our aging grill. The filets were good, but it took
a half hour to cook them. Pat forgot to cook the vegetable, but we decided
we had plenty without it. John caught the first mosquito of the season.
It was a whopper that must have flown in from Minnesota. The night was
finished off with lemon meringue pie and everyone said they were going
to have it again in the morning.
On Friday, we had a leisurely breakfast but all forgot about the lemon
meringue pie. The Garmans took off for home via Land's End Discount Store,
their regular detour.
Headin'
Home to Indy
And the new grill was initiated later in the evening of the 27th with
three plebian hamburgers. It is shiny though, don't you agree?
The New Grill 
3/11/01 - Annie Update
Greg and Annie came to transfer their home videos to tape and we got
to see the continuing saga of "Annabel, The Movie". They stayed for pork
dinner and we had a great time.
Hi, Everybody!
2/12/01 - Winter Takes a Breather
On Friday, February 9th, the temperatures rose into the mid-50s and
the snow did a real disappearing act, to give us our first glimpse of the
lawn since mid-December. Most of the view was under water however, as the
ground was still pretty well frozen and couldn't absorb the load. The view
was short-lived as well; about an inch of snow fell during the night and
painted the landscape white once more.
Our side yard collected a good amount of water, which quickly froze.
It seemed to make a pretty good ice skating pond. Pat is learning to play
"The Skater's Waltz" on the organ now. If we got the organ out there, made
some hot chocolate, and lit a bonfire, we could have a great party!
Can you see all the leaves? It's not that we were derelict in our raking
last Fall. It's been a very unusual year. The leaves just hung on and on.
We have a couple of Sycamores that tend to do that anyway, and their branches
are still almost half full of last year's leaves.
Lake Sengstock
2/10/01 - Turn About Dance at the High School
Laura Chiemlewski, Joey Gaba, Mike and Katie joined together for an
evening out. The group went to Grady's where everyone selected the same
menu item. You guessed it - Cheeseburgers!
The ladies and gentlemen exchanged flowers beforehand.
The Dance Line...
Mike Mahler, Katie Sengstock, Laura Chiemlewski, Joe Gaba
At the end of the dance, Mike danced with Laura and Katie became angry
because she wanted the last dance. She was not pleased. Joey didn't care
at all.
2/10/01 - Chaperones Run into Old Neighbor
Pat and George decided they might as well have a meal out while they
were chaffeuring the young people to their Turn-About dinner and dance.
It was a surprise to see Gwen Coleman Geiger, who grew up next door, waiting
for a table with what seemed like half of Wheaton. The restaurant was filled
with high schoolers going to their dances. Apparently not only Wheaton-Warrenville
South was having a dance, but St. Francis High School as well. Gwen
was with her boys, Greg and Jeff, and we ended up sharing a table and getting
caught up on all the news.
Gwen is still teaching at West Chicago High School, Greg is a 7th grader
at Edison Jr. High, and Jeff is in the 5th grade at Lincoln. Jeff opted
for the prime rib and was in a bit of a funk until it arrived!!
Gwen
With Sons, Greg & Jeff
1/26/01 - Tiger Mascot Joins Italian Night Dinner at Wheaton-Warrenville
High School
Friday Night was the annual Italian Night dinner at school. Parents
and friends enjoyed a spaghetti plate, salad, and a drink and watched some
of the school groups perform. Among the performers were the cheerleaders,
orchestra, swing choir, dancers, and pom-pom girls. The dinner was followed
by the basketball game against the Wheaton North Falcons. The tigers were
trounced, 59-42.
Joey Gaba, Laura Chmielewski, The Tiger, and Mike Mahler March to the Gym
Defeated, But Still in Happy
Spirits
1/23/01 - Oven Finally Arrives!
Since the baking element fried itself way back prior to Thanksgiving,
there have been a lot of trips back and forth between the kitchen and the
downstairs range. We were lucky to have a second oven on the premises and
none of the meals suffered, we just got a little more exercise preparing
them. A replacement element was ordered, but it took a month to learn it
could not be had - that they no longer made it. So we searched far and
wide for a new oven to fit the wall cabinet. We finally found one, only
to have it backordered for another month.
We're back in business now. This one is a convection oven and has digital
controls, so there's another learning curve to overcome with the new-fangled
technology, but we're handling it!
Every
Kitchen Needs One!
Return to Sengstock Link Page
Return to top of Sengstock family Page
Pat,
George & Kathryn