Beacon Oct 2023

By
Jack
Zoller
beaconsports
@live.com
Page 8A THE BEACON October 2023
By
Melanie
Alexander
I am part of a study group
By
that meets twice Maxine each month.
One of our cherished Klump traditions
is to begin each meeting
with a light Community dessert. The
Correspondent
group encompasses all age
groups from young adults to
maxineklump.thebeacon@yahoo.com
grandparents. Thus, cookies
are natural to provide ease
of cleanup and few serving
accessories. Here are two
recipes for my contribution to
the “care and feeding” of the
group.
This recipe is a longstanding
family favorite from
my mother’s recipe box. The
cookie is soft and almost cake
with a sprinkle of cinnamon
sugar. These were often part
of care packages sent to our
dorms so I have fond memories.
Last week, this recipe
was one of two for my contribution
to sweet treats.
Sour Cream Cookies
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 375°. In a
medium-sized mixing bowl,
combine butter, sugar, and
egg and beat with an electric
mixer on medium speed until
light and fluffy. Add vanilla
extract and mix into batter.
Mix dry ingredients together
in a small bowl.
Add to the butter/sugar
mixture alternately with sour
cream. Drop by tablespoonful
onto ungreased baking sheet
leaving about two inches
between cookies to allow for
slight spreading while baking.
Flatten slightly and sprinkle
with a mixture of cinnamon
and sugar.
Bake for fifteen minutes just
until cookies are set and very
lightly browned on the edges.
Remove from the baking
sheet and cool on a wire rack.
Store in an air-tight container.
Yield-about thirty-six cookies.
Peanut butter and jelly are
a combination that has no age
limit!
I love an occasional PB&J
sandwich and I am wedded
to the smooth version. However,
these bar cookies are
adaptable to whatever style of
peanut butter reigns at your
house. A word to the wise:
Lining the baking pan with
parchment paper is well worth
the effort. No sticking, no
cookie bits that won’t come
out of the pan, and cleanup is
a breeze. I now use parchment
paper for baking most cookies
because of saving time and
effort in serving and cleanup.
The local “dollar stores” stock
pre-cut baking sheet-sized
sheets at a nominal price.
Easy PB&J Swirl Bars
Crust:
Nonstick cooking spray for
the pan
3 sleeves (28 crackers)
butter crackers (such as Ritz
or TownHouse)
1/3 cup packed light brown
sugar
½ cup salted butter, melted
PB&J Layer:
1 ½ cups creamy peanut
butter
½ cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup seedless strawberry
jam, lightly whisked to
loosen
Spray an 8-inch square pan
with nonstick cooking spray.
Line the pan with parchment
paper, allowing the paper to
overhang the edges of the pan.
Spray again and set aside.
In a food processor, pulse
the crackers, brown sugar, and
butter until combined and it
resembles wet sand. Press into
the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate
for about one hour. (If
you don’t have a food processor,
no worry! Simply place
the crackers into a plastic bag
with a zipper and crush the
crackers with a rolling pin or
tall glass until crumbs form.
Place crumbs into a small
bowl and mix in the brown
sugar and butter.)
Preheat oven to 350°. Using
an electric mixer, beat the
peanut butter, brown sugar,
and butter until smooth. Remove
the crumb crust from
the refrigerator and smooth
the peanut butter mixture
evenly over the crust. Add the
jelly swirl by placing 9 dollops
at intervals over peanut
butter. Swirl by dragging a
kitchen knife through the peanut
butter layer in a circular
motion.
Bake until set about 30 minutes.
Allow to cool completely
then remove from pan and cut
into bars.
403 Walnut St • Lawrenceburg, IN 47025
(812) 537-2020 • lawrenceburgeyecenter.com
CALL 800-737-4111
seiremc.com/seifiber
By
Jeff
Hermesch
Purdue
Extension
jhermesch@purdue.edu
Simple Steps for
A Better Home Lawn
Everyone has a different
idea of what the perfect
lawn looks like, but for
those whose goal is to have
a nice-looking, healthy lawn
with minimal effort, it can
be accomplished using a few
simple steps. The following
steps are listed in order of
importance with an emphasis
on minimizing the amount of
time and inputs devoted to
your lawn. This won’t lead to
a “golf course” type of lawn,
but it will be one that the
majority of homeowners will
be proud to display.
1. Mowing Height: In the
tri-state area we typically
use cool-season grasses for
our lawns such as tall fescue,
Kentucky bluegrass,
and perennial ryegrass.
These grasses perform best
at a mowing height of 3 to 4
inches. Homeowners should
measure the mowing height
of their lawnmowers on a
smooth, flat surface like their
driveway or garage floor. If
all else fails, set the mower at
the highest setting and leave it
there all year.
2. Mowing Frequecy: The
golden rule in the turf industry
is to never remove more
than one-third of the leaf
blade in a single mowing.
For this to happen, homeowners
will need to mow as
often as needed which will
change throughout the growing
season. This might mean
that some lawns will need to
be mowed twice per week in
the spring, once every two to
three weeks in the summer,
and then back to once a week
in the fall. If your mower is
set at 3 inches, mow when
the grass reaches 4 inches.
This can become tricky with
Mother Nature and our spring
rains, but it is best for the turfgrass
plants.
3. Returning Clippings:
Leaving grass clippings in
the lawn returns valuable
nutrients to the soil and does
not cause any harm to the
turf itself. Bagging clippings
increases the time and effort
needed for mowing and
robs the lawn of “free fertilizer”.
On average, returning
clippings adds one pound of
nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft back
to your lawn each year.
4. Fall Fertilizations:
There is a misconception that
spring fertilization is necessary
for healthy lawns. The
ideal time to fertilize the
home lawn occurs during September,
October, and November.
At the minimum, fertilize
in September with one pound
of nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft.
Depending on your goals,
another pound of nitrogen
can be added in October and
November. The November
application is the second most
important time to fertilize. If
a homeowner wants to apply
fertilizer in the spring, they
should wait until mid-May to
add another pound of nitrogen.
In the spring, try to avoid
crabgrass preventers that have
fertilizer combined with the
weed killer if possible.
5. Irrigation: Most homeowners
do not irrigate their
lawns during the summer
months which is perfectly acceptable.
Once your lawn has
gone dormant (turned brown)
for the summer, you should
apply ½ inch of water every 3
to 4 weeks to help prevent substantial
thinning of the lawn.
6. Control Broadleaf
Weeds: There are many
common broadleaf weeds in
home lawns that should be
minimized by following the
first five steps. If these weeds
persist, a mid-October application
of an herbicide containing
2,4-D, MCPP, and dicamba
should be effective. Spot
spraying the occasional weed
is typically all that is needed
for minor infestations. A mid-
May application of the same
product will help if problems
continue. As always, be sure
to read and follow all label
instructions.
7. Control Crabgrass:
By following the first six
steps, homeowners should
have little to no problem with
crabgrass. If it happens to be
a problem, then an application
of a preemergence herbicide
in early spring is very effective.
The application should
be made during March for
best results. As stated earlier,
try to avoid products that are
weed-and-feed containing
fertilizer if possible.
As always, if you have
questions, please reach out to
me by email at jhermesch@
purdue.edu or by phone at
812-926-1189. Look for my
next article in the upcoming
issue of The Beacon!
YOUR HOMETOWN COLLEGE
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convenient locations for residents to advance their
education and careers.
CLASSES START EVERY 8 WEEKS
With five start dates throughout the year, you never
have to wait to begin your education or start
advancing your career.
JOIN US FOR TUESDAYS AT THE TECH
Smaller, more personalized tours for prospective
students are available on select Tuesdays every
month. Scan the QR code to schedule your tour
or learn more at IvyTech.edu/Tuesdays.
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