Sandra Merville Hart

Milton Hershey

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Milton Hershey was born in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, in 1857. A few years later, the Civil War started. He heard cannons from miles away at the Battle of Gettysburg.

His parents separated when he was ten. Five years later he became an apprentice for Joseph Royer, a candy maker in Lancaster. He learned to make fudge, peppermint, and caramels and loved being a confectioner.

At nineteen, he borrowed $150 from his aunt and opened a candy business. Though he worked hard, the business failed.

He moved to Denver where he worked for candy maker who used fresh milk to make caramel, furthering his skills. Milton then opened a business in Chicago. It failed. A new business he started in New York failed. He returned to Lancaster in 1883 and launched the Lancaster Caramel Company. This one was a success.

Ten years later, The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago educated him about making chocolate. He then established Hershey Chocolate Company and focused on a recipe for milk chocolate that was delicious and affordable. In 1900, he sold Lancaster Caramel Company for $1,000,000 to focus on the chocolate.

Hershey built a new candy factory in Derry Church, Pennsylvania, that opened in 1905. There were plenty of dairy farms in the area to supply milk for the chocolate. Yet his factory workers needed a place to live so he built houses, churches, schools, parks, and a post office to establish a new town—Hershey.

Learning from past failures, Hershey focused on one product—a milk chocolate candy bar. His factory made many of them and sold them at prices everyone could afford.

Unable to have children, Milton and his wife, Catherine, established the Hershey Industrial School for orphaned boys. Catherine died in 1915. Three years later, long before his death in 1945, Milton transferred his ownership in Hershey Chocolate Company to Hershey Trust, which funded the school.

When the Great Depression settled over the country, Hershey put his fellow townsmen to work by constructing new offices for his company, a hotel, and a community building. While the rest of the country struggled to make ends meet, the town of Hershey thrived.

World War II started a few years later. Hershey sent chocolate bars (Ration D Bars and Tropical Chocolate Bars) to our military.

Hershey’s giving spirit still lives on. Today Hershey Industrial School, now known as Milton Hershey School, also includes girls. Around 1,900 girls and boys attend annually.

Milton and Catherine Hershey left a lasting legacy in the town that bears their name. Had he given up after those many early failures, jobs for countless people wouldn’t have been available, a town wouldn’t exist, and a school for orphaned boys wouldn’t have opened.

What an inspiration to persevere in the face of difficulties … and perhaps help a neighbor along the way.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Biography.com Editors. “Milton Hershey Biography,” The Biography.com, 2020/01/02 https://www.biography.com/business-figure/milton-hershey.

Nelson, Ken. “Biography for Kids: Milton Hershey.” Ducksters, Technological Solutions, Inc. (TSI), www.ducksters.com/biography/entrepreneurs/milton_hershey.php. Accessed 2 January 2020.

“Who was Milton Hershey?” The Hershey Story, 2020/01/02 https://hersheystory.org/milton-hershey-history/

 

My Boyfriends’ Dogs by Dandi Daley Mackall

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Bailey Daley, a sophomore in high school, is desperate for a boyfriend. She also loves dogs. The dogs seem to find her—boyfriends have alluded her so far.

Her best friend, Amber, doesn’t have a boyfriend either and her single mom is too busy stopping at every garage sale to look for a husband.

Bailey’s desperation blinds her to red flags in her dating relationships yet each one brings a new dog into her life. She figures that a guy with a dog must be the right boyfriend for her.

Wrong. A series of relationships each leave her with a new dog. When will she find Mr. Right?

This YA novel is engaging with lovable characters. The main character makes bad choices at times as the reader spots the red flags long before she does. An entertaining read with a surprise ending.

-Sandra Merville Hart

 

Between Us Girls by Sally John

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Book 1 of Family of the Heart Series

There are a lot of characters in this book. The story is told in the viewpoint of several of them, making it initially difficult to bond with them or understand how they all fit together.

A tornado destroys Jasmyn Allbright’s Illinois home and everything she owns. She makes some big decisions too soon that turn folks in her home town against her.

She takes a vacation in sunny California where her rental car is stolen with everything she owns inside the car.

Little does she know how fortunate she is to have her possessions stolen outside the Casa de Vida Cottages. The owner, Liv McAlister, gives her a temporary home and takes her under her wing.

As Jasmyn’s heart becomes entangled with the residents, Illinois still keeps calling her back. Should she stay or should she go?

Once my interest was snagged, I couldn’t put the book down for long. So many of the characters tugged at my heart that I had to know what happened next.

So happy to learn that this book is a series! I want to see what happens next. Well-written book by a new-to-me author.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Christianbook.com

Storing Eggs

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Have you ever thrown away leftover egg whites because a pie or cake recipe required only yolks? Or have egg yolks ended up in the garbage because you only needed egg whites to make meringue?

That’s happened to me as well.

I found some guidelines in The Fannie Farmer Cookbook for storing eggs that have been separated.

Uncooked yolks may be stored in the fridge for 2 – 3 days. Cover them a thin layer of cold water. Cover the bowl with plastic until ready to use in a sauce. You may also add the yolks when cooking scrambled eggs to enrich the flavor.

Leftover egg whites will last a few days in the fridge if stored in a covered container.

Unbeaten egg whites can be frozen.

When freezing egg yolks or whole eggs that have been removed from the shell, salt or sugar must be added. If saving the eggs for a dessert, add sugar, using 1 teaspoon per 6 yolks. When the frozen eggs will be used in egg dishes or sauces, add ½ teaspoon of salt per 6 yolks.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

Hershey’s Chocolate World

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Last summer I spent a day with a few family members in Hershey, Pennsylvania. My chocolate-loving heart loved this place!

Many activities are geared to families with children but, as an adult, I found some fun things to do too.

Families will love the Create Your Own Candy Bar, Hershey’s Unwrapped (A Chocolate Tasting Journey,) and The 4D Chocolate Movie.

Everyone will enjoy Hershey’s Chocolate Tour, where guests learn how the delicious chocolate is made.

I especially enjoyed the old-fashioned feel of Trolley Tours. We had a great tour guide as we traveled through some significant locations in Hershey and learned Milton Hershey’s inspiring story.

If your plans take you there during the lunch hour, Hershey’s Kitchens Food Hall serves sandwiches, salads, pizza, baked potatoes, soup, double chocolate s’mores, and milkshakes. There is also a bakery.

I loved shopping at the Hershey’s Store for all things chocolate! I’ve purchased Christmas gifts there and, of course, candy bars. And Valentine’s Day is coming. 😊

It’s a fun place to spend an afternoon on vacation.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Things To Do in Hershey’s,” The Hershey Company, 2020/01/02 https://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/en_us/home.html.

 

 

Poverty, Puberty, & Patriotism by Ruth Kibler Peck

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The author became a teenager during the difficult years of World War II. She gives a candid picture of life for a poor Ohio family who do their best to support their country at war.

From the shock of the Pearl Harbor bombing to the horror of the German concentration camps, the reader will see how the news affected one small family and their neighbors.

The military needed rubber so children collected old tires, boots, and garden hoses that they toted in wagons to collection points. Next the children went door-to-door asking for unneeded metal items that were dragged to the curb for pickup.

The author navigates readers through rationing. A ration book was provided to every family for foods such as butter, eggs, meat, sugar, and canned goods.

Great book and an easy read for anyone interested in life in America during the 1940s!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Ford’s Theatre

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John T. Ford, a successful theatrical entrepreneur, leased the First Baptist Church on Tenth Street in 1861. He turned it into a music hall. The building burned in December of 1862. Ford raised money to rebuild and the first performance in the new Ford’s Theatre was August 27, 1863.

President Abraham Lincoln and Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln arrived at Ford’s Theatre around 8:30 pm with their guests, Major Henry Reed Rathbone and Clara Harris, on April 14, 1865. Our American Cousin was playing and Lincoln enjoyed going to the theater.

This night was different.

John Wilkes Booth stepped into the Presidential Box around 10:15 pm and shot Lincoln. Booth stabbed Major Rathbone and then leaped onto the stage and escaped.

Dr. Charles Augustus Leale was the first person inside the box. He removed a blood clot from Lincoln’s head wound to release pressure and allow him to breathe. Dr. Leale knew it was a mortal wound.

Soldiers carried their President down the stairs and onto Tenth Street. William and Anna Petersen’s boarding house was across the street. They placed the dying President in Willie Clark’s room, who was out celebrating the war’s ending.

It was a dark, gloomy morning. It had started to rain earlier. Large groups of people gathered outside the Petersen house, praying for Lincoln to live … yet fearing the worst.

Throughout that long, tragic night, First Lady Mary Lincoln sometimes sat beside her dying husband with her oldest son nearby. Other times she went to the Front Parlor. Neither family member was in the crowded room when Lincoln died at 7:22 am.

The country that had seen so much death and dying for the past four years experienced a deep tragedy. Leaders turned their attention to apprehending John Wilkes Booth, the assassin, and his conspirators.

Ford’s Theatre was closed by the federal government for the investigation. The owner received permission to reopen after the trial. When threats were made if the theatre reopened, the War Department closed it. They leased the building, in August of 1865, to convert it to an office building and bought it a year later.

Three interior floors collapsed in 1893. Twenty-two clerks were killed and sixty-eight people injured. It was repaired and used again by the government for offices.

Today, about 650,000 visitors tour Lincoln’s Museum, Ford’s Theatre, the Petersen House, and Aftermath Exhibits each year.

Ford’s Theatre still has performances and tours are closed during rehearsals and matinees.

Lincoln has inspired many authors to write books about him. A 34-foot tower of these books stands beside a winding staircase at The Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

“Ford’s Theatre,” National Park Service, 2020/01/02 https://www.nps.gov/foth/index.htm.

“Ford’s Theatre Yesterday and Today,” Ford’s Theatre Pamphlet, Last Updated 2008.

“Lincoln’s Death,” Ford’s Theatre, 2020/01/01 https://www.fords.org/lincolns-assassination/lincolns-death/.

His Small-Town Family by Lorraine Beatty

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Home to Dover Series, Book 1

Circumstances drive Nicki Latimer back home to Dover, Mississippi, where she has to raise her infant daughter and save her father’s failing business while he recuperates. Out of desperation the widow hires Ethan Stone, a stranger to town.

Ethan is fighting his way through PTSD. He’s able to push through it with the help of a support group most of the time. That and a childhood living in foster homes leave him feeling inadequate for fatherhood.

Nicki has her own secrets as she’s never revealed the true nature of her relationship with her dead husband. Yet it has left deep scars.

The characters drew me into their struggles early in the story. Both had known heartache and loneliness. An easy read that kept my interest.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Primary Suspect by Laura Scott

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Wrongfully accused and on the run for a crime he didn’t commit, Firefighter Mitch Callahan hates that Dana Petrie is on the run with him. The widow’s only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They flee from the hospital when a man attacks Mitch. The reason for the attack is a mystery to both of them. Mitch feels guilt enough that he couldn’t save her husband from a fire they both battled. All his efforts failed that day three years ago, leaving Dana a widow. Now he’s managed to drag her into his nightmare.

Danger escalates at every turn and now Dana is also a target.

Escalating tension and growing romance make this novel a suspenseful page turner! Twists and turns in the story kept my interest until the end. This is the first time I’ve read a suspense novel by this author and I will look for more.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Poached Eggs Recipe

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I have been on a low-carb diet for a few weeks. Since eggs are on the diet, I’ve been looking for new ways to fix them.

When I was a child, my grandmother had an egg poacher pan. It was a single-serving pan about the size of a man’s doubled fist. She used it to make a poached egg for my grandfather on rare occasions. Sadly, that pan is long gone and I’ve never seen another like it. Yet it stirred an interest in poached eggs so I thought I’d share this simple recipe with you.

I made a single serving with one egg.

When poaching 3 – 4 eggs, choose a nonstick 10 – 12-inch skillet. Since I made 1 egg, I chose a smaller nonstick skillet. Nonstick is important because you don’t want the eggs to stick to the pan.

Fill the skillet with water until 2/3 full. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar, which helps keep the egg together while it cooks.

Add ½ teaspoon of salt or salt to taste. Heat the water to simmering.

Crack an egg and place it on a plate. When the water starts to simmer, slide the egg gently off the plate into the water. (If cooking 3 or 4 eggs, use separate plates so you can arrange them around the pan in a 3:00, 6:00, 9:00, 12:00 pattern.)

Turn off the heat. Cover the skillet and allow the egg to stand for 5 – 6 minutes. The whites are opaque when done.

Remove from the water with a slotted spoon. These eggs are delicious on toast, on hash, or on an English muffin.

I served mine on lettuce and ate it as a wrap. Delicious! I prefer my egg yolks slightly runny so I cooked it 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.