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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us July 12, 2006 Food & History Jeff Cheek A dessert for diabetics I have to violate my own “no family stories” rule to introduce a special recipe. Last month I spent two weeks in Texas, attending a granddaughter’s graduation in Arlington, then a family reunion. My son is a tenured professor at TCU, but Mary Christina will attend the University of Texas on an academic scholarship. Next stop was to visit Tom and Sharon Hudgins. Sharon included some innovative programs I started as a USAF education services officer in Japan in her book, “Never An Ivory Tower.” She also sent me an autographed copy of her latest book, “The Other Side Of Russia.” On 9 July they flew to Russia on assignment for National Geographic magazine. Sharon promised to bring me back some unique Russian recipes for “Food & History.” I drove to San Angelo for the Cheek family reunion. Ours are different from most. We meet in Texas, then somewhere else. This time we met in San Angelo. I will host the next one at Lake Tahoe. This reunion was hosted by my nephew, Donnie Cheek, a retired Army officer and a brilliant linguist. He speaks, reads and writes both Chinese and Korean. He is comptroller/manager of an engineering firm headquartered in San Angelo. When I complained about the miserable West Texas heat, Donnie told me this story: People think God created the world in six days. That is incorrect. Actually, it took God many months to build the world.Every day, He would plan and construct about 100,000 square miles. He would plant grass and trees, then add the birds and other animals. He then sent rain to dampen the earth and the sun to dry it out. Then, unfortunately, God got very busy. He was called away for a week. Meanwhile, the sun baked that hundred thousand square mile plot. The grass and trees all died, leaving only sagebrush and cactus. The birds flew away. The only animals who survived were tarantulas and rattlesnakes. Then God remembered and rushed back. “Good Heavens!,” he said. “ Look at this mess! It’s a disaster! It will take me months to fix it. I’ll have to get a jackhammer and break it up and start all over.” Then God thought it over. “No, I have a better idea. I’ll leave it just like it is, but I will create a new race of people who are tough enough, and crazy enough, to want to live in a place called West Texas.” My next stop was Comanche. I grew up on a small farm 16 miles south of town. I wanted to spend some time with two old friends, Era Lane and Hoyt Dowdey. Mrs. Lane was our neighbor when we moved to the farm in l939. She rewarded me with cookies for bringing her mail. She is now 105 years old, in a nursing home, and very fragile, but she recognized me. “ Child (that’s ME) where is your little dog ?” When I was nine years old I had a black mongrel, Butch, who followed me everywhere. She remembered him, too. Hoyt and I were in the fifth grade together. We’ve been friends for 67 years, even though we had three fights when we were kids. We still argue about who won. Half an hour later, we were best friends again. Hoyt has diabetes and must give himself two insulin shots every day. His lovely wife, Shirley, monitors his diet carefully. One evening, she served a pie his diabetes can tolerate. I named it Shirley’s Delicious Diabetic Dessert. INGREDIENTS: 1 - Graham cracker pie crust 1 - package sugarless strawberry Jello 1 - 8 oz block fat free cream cheese 1 - 8 oz tub Cool Whip Fresh strawberries, halved PREPARATION: Mix Jello with half cup hot water. Chip cream cheese into Jello, beat with hand mixer until frothy, then add half cup cold water. Beat again and cool. Fold in Cool Whip, mix well, pour into pie crust. Decorate with strawberry halves, chill and serve. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Ceramic Piggy Banks Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Mailing Lists Custom Made Computers Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams