The year of my graduation from high school (1955) was also the year of one of my favorite movies of all times, Oklahoma.

I am not sure how many times I have seen it either in a theater or in the form of the play, but I certainly know the story by heart and can sing along with many of the songs that it made popular.

Not only was it a favorite of mine, it was a favorite of my father’s as well. Our family back in those years usually took a vacation primarily in August of the year and usually a car trip was involved where we entertained ourselves playing games in the car such as trying to keep track of the different license plates we noticed. We also were a singing family so we knew many songs including popular ones. A favorite choice after 1955 was selections from Oklahoma. I remember my father’s rendition of Gordon Mac Rae’s “Oh, What a beautiful Morning.” Including, “Corn is as high as an elephant’s eye.” That usually followed seeing the corn fields and being reminded of the phrase that it was always knee high by the fourth of July.”

My father was a great harmonizer – one of my favorite adjectives to describe his harmonizing was “mellifluous.” I believe that is a word that my father used to describe the voice of Gordon Mac Rae.

jtr

So Saturday morning last week I had an errand to run. Every year for the past four or five, I have made a trip to Tyler for Aebleskiver Days.

No, I am not really a fan of that apple-like delicacy, but I do have a particular craving for the Danish coffeecake desert that is made available at Aebleskiver Days and also is available at Danebod days which is the first Saturday of December.

With a little luck I can usually purchase four or five of those coffeecakes handmade by residents of Tyler. They do freeze well and so can be frozen for up to about four or five months. So careful freezing can allow me to have some of the coffeecake year around.

My favorite flavor is made with an almond paste, but there are many variations including cherry, peach, apple, etc.

Having purchased four or more of the coffee cakes, each about 2 feet long, I cut them into fourths and re-wrap them for the freezer, pulling out a couple of smaller pieces just for myself and a guest. Of course I cannot pass up the opportunity to just drive around the countryside observing the state of agriculture in the area. This year the corn is a bit late, but it seems that by this Wednesday all of the area corn fields will have tasselled — which I believe is a bit late.

Some of the late tasselling corn has reached 6 foot high so that if the growing season continues it may eventually be a good harvest of corn. I will keep my fingers crossed .

Until next time: Oh, Fiddlesticks!