Exchangers, I am doing a couple of different things today because this is my last column that will appear in the Sunday News.
I will miss it and all of you immensely.
I've had a good 25- to 30-year run — don't remember exactly — and feel you are my friends. This column is one of the highlights of my writing/editing career with the Sunday News.
It was also the "fun"' part, you might say. Never serious except in the search for that lost or unheard-of recipe. We found most of them! We did it together and that is what made it all so special.
Over time, all the things we used to type or write by hand and send to one another became electronic missiles; but they contained the same fun tastes and traditions. In yesteryear, besides snail mail, I received many telephone calls when you were in the middle of a recipe and needed some guidance. Sometimes you just wandered into the office when you were in town and we would sit and chat. I loved that person-to-person contact.
My time at the Sunday News is what I refer to as the heyday of newspapers. Performing duties was almost too much fun to consider work. I just loved it, all of it. And I have such memories.
The Saturday before Thanksgiving, for example, would always find [now retired staff writer] Peg Schmidt and me — and sometimes another staffer — working on the Christmas edition. Peg furnished the holiday music and, at 11 a.m. sharp, we stopped what we were doing and went to the city streets for the annual Christmas parade; Santa would ride the fire engine and then take the ladder to the top of Watt & Shand (home of the new convention center that is now under construction). Some years, our kids would join us for the festivities.
Peg and I used to chat every morning before anyone else arrived at work and, by gosh, we sure could solve the problems of the world. If only someone had listened! A good friend she is, indeed.
I had all good staffers when I was editor of the section that was called Montage, then Style, and now Living: In addition to Peg, there was Anne Koenig, who is now editor of Living; Nancy Eshelman, who is with the Harrisburg Patriot News; Barb Hough Roda, now the managing editor of the Sunday News; and Lisa Christopher, who lives on the West Coast. Together, we went through the weekly deadlines, plus marriages, births, adoptions, rearing kids ... all that life and death have to offer.
I'm not going to go on and on because, at various times, we have been there and done that.
I am going to leave you with two tidbits, a little different. Have fun with the first idea, and use the last recipe to its fullest!
The first thing is this chain letter, the only one I have received via e-mail. If you choose to participate, you surely will receive a new crop of recipes to try; and then you can share yours. Keep it going as they say!
Cammie Ward has become a friend during my Februarys at Dockside, Fort Pierce Beach, Fla. Her husband is the dock captain and she is always there when he is out with a charter. She's a heck of a fisherwoman, I might add. The e-mail:
You've been invited to be part of a recipe exchange (no relation to this column). Please send a recipe to the person whose name is listed in the top position above (even if you don't know the person). It should preferably be something quick, easy and without rare ingredients. Actually, the best one is one you know in your head and can type out and send right now.
Then, copy this letter into a new e-mail, move my name to the No. 1 position and put your name in the No. 2 position. Only my name and your name should show when you send your e-mail. Send to 20 friends.
If you cannot do this within five days, let me know, so it will be fair to those participating. You should receive [many] recipes. It's fun to see where they come from. Seldom does anyone drop out because we can all use new recipes.
The turnaround is fast because there are only two names on the list.
That should keep you busy for a while, sending e-mails and trying new recipes.
And, this recipe I have loved since I found it in "Cooking With CHOICES, United Disabilities Services." The book was published in 2000 by CHOICES, an adult social, recreation program of UDS. CHOICES is the acronym for Creative Holistic Opportunities Individualizing Community Educational Services. It is an adult day program serving cognitively alert people with severe physical disabilities. The recipe caught my eye and as I leave, I will share it. You'll note that the directions call for ingredients that are not mentioned in the ingredients' list; and the list contains ingredients not mentioned in the directions. Doesn't matter — mix it all together and you'll have a result that goes beyond measure! A HOLIDAY RECIPE 4 cups of love
2 cups of loyalty
4 quarts of faith
2 spoons of tenderness
3 cups of forgiveness
1 cup of friendship
5 spoons of hope
1 barrel of laughter
Take love and loyalty. Mix it thoroughly with faith. Blend it with tenderness, kindness and understanding. Sprinkle abundantly with laughter. Bake it with sunshine. Serve daily with generous helpings.
Have a happy and healthy life, y'all.
Goodbye — until we meet again.
You are welcome to keep in touch to say hello or contact me if I can help you in any way. My e-mail remains lccollingwood@aol.com.
Send your letters Today, the Recipe Exchange column goes into retirement.
Decades ago, Linda Collingwood was a staff writer for the section that was then called Women's News and Views. (It would later become Montage, then Style, then Living.)
Linda liked to try, and share, new recipes; she knew others would, too. And she had the vision to tap into the cooking expertise available among the Sunday News readership.
Thus, the "Exchange" was born.
Linda would hold other positions, including section editor, at the Sunday News prior to her retirement in July 2002; but Recipe Exchange was a constant. She created intimacy with her audience, using the column to share her family stories, in addition to wonderful recipes. And, over the years, we have gotten to know a little bit about some of her regular Exchangers, as well.
So, as we herald in the New Year with the appropriate refrain of "Auld Lang Syne," let's make a resolution to share our memories with — and good wishes for — our dear friend Linda Collingwood.
You may write to her via e-mail at lccollingwood@aol.com; or, better yet, send a letter — just like the good ol' days!
Mail it to: Linda Collingwood, in care of Living, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328. We'll be sure to forward your letters to her!
