Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Some things just bear looking in to

Call me a doubting Thomas, but there are some things I refuse to take at face value. For example, the woman who mistakenly threw out a mattress she said had almost $1 million dollars inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfills in Tel Aviv, Israel. I don’t know if it was a Serta, Sealy, or Tempur Pedic, but that’s not the point.

The next day, she said she remembered that she had hidden her life savings inside the old mattress. " I woke up in the morning screaming when it hit me what happened," said the Tel Aviv woman. The police have had to appoint extra security officers at the landfills to handle the hordes of people who showed up to dig for the treasure.

This begs a couple of questions that come to mind. For one, how did she lie all those years on a mattress that was lumpy with a million bucks, which should have made quite a pile of moolah and made sleep impossible? 

Number two, who would have forgotten for a mili-second that they were lying on a fortune all those nights? Obviously, she didn’t trust banks and felt the money was safe with her. Well almost as safe, considering the bank closings that are coming out of the wazoo at present. And by the way, how is your 401-K holding up? Just asking.

But before we judge this poor woman too harshly, we need to take a reality check. Like, where did all our money go for the past several years that we trusted to congress up there in Washington, D.C?

Meet you at the landfill.

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Sermon  of  the week:

The preacher was really laying it on to the congregation. "Oh, Lord," he prayed, "without Thee we are but dust," whereupon a little girl sitting by her mother piped up rather loudly, "Mother, what is butt dust?"

Out of the mouth of babes.

"The potatoes in Mom ‘s salad are mashed, so the consistency is quite different from traditional potato salads. And the prepared mustard that ‘s added to the creamy dressing gives the whole salad a bit of zing." It’s a potato salad I remember eating at family reunions a long time ago..

Mom’s Mustard Style Potato Salad

6 large potatoes – peeled and cubed

3 eggs

1 onion, finely chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

3 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

1 (4 ounce) jar pimentos

2 teaspoons prepared mustard

3 tablespoons creamy salad dressing

1 teaspoon paprika

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, place in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth.

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil; cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.

In a mixing bowl, combine the potatoes, eggs, onion, celery, relish and pimentos.

Blend together the mustard and salad dressing, add to salad and mix well. Sprinkle with paprika and refrigerate until chilled.