A Refreshing Memory

An anniversary and a memorial tribute

Strawberry Mint Lemonade for a small ceremony.

It’s been a year since the light went out at the end of our street, on Villa Crest. It went dark when Betty Jeane Mincemoyer died at the age of 97, leaving the Blue Zone at the end of our block where Shirley Gilligan, aged 102, was still living in her home. Now, BJ is gone, and Shirley has moved to assisted living, but is still smiling.

Some people age gracefully, tending to their daily chores with steady determination. BJ weeded her garden every night, gripping her walker strung with a bucket to collect the weeds. She had a fleet of walkers, one of which paused at the top of the few stairs into her kitchen, so she could wheel herself over to the railing and hoist herself up and grab on. She made it work.

Neighbors and friends of BJ Mincemoyer gathered to share memories, with garden flowers courtesy of Susan Gilligan.

A few of the neighbors and side support people in BJ’s constellation of helpers decided to get together on the anniversary of her passing. It was not a sad event at all. We sat across the street from BJ’s house, under the canopy of a tulip poplar and with a direct view of BJ’s garage, which was her domain. She had one side of the double garage fitted with a screen door to allow easier access and to dry her foraged black walnuts. She started every morning with a bowl of oatmeal topped with her walnuts and Meyer’s Dairy skim milk. Maybe that was the secret to her longevity.

Joan brought cookies she had made using BJ’s recipe. Janet brought ripe peaches and cantaloupe (as well as pepper plants grown from seeds of BJ’s peppers for door prizes). John contributed black raspberries from our yard. Paula made Irish Soda Bread and brought a bowl of strawberries—BJ’s favorite. Oatmeal scones Egg Bites filled the bill of fare.

BJ would have approved of the menu, especially the option of Meyer Dairy milk.

We brought snacks to share, sat in a circle facing her house, and shared stories about the funny interactions we had with the feisty nonagenarian over the years. She planned and paid for her own funeral when she was 85. She held the event at Camp Mount Luther near Mifflinburg, where she lived most of her life, working as a nurse and a home ec teacher, and she invited all her friends. A lovely luncheon was served while we viewed a slideshow of her early years as a young working mom. Whenever I would leave for a jaunt out west chasing grandkids, BJ would remind me that I had already been to her funeral, so not to worry if something happened to her.

Joan’s cookies, made using BJ’s recipe, were a big hit.

She knew well why I was going. The reason she left Mifflinburg was to live near her grandchildren and help support their working parents. She lived adjacent to the Panorama Elementary School and volunteered there every morning to greet kids arriving by bus. She installed and tended a school garden and gave lessons to the kindergarten children about planting and harvesting. She hosted after-school meetings in a large room that she had added to the small ranch when she moved in. She was a force of nature.

And we were all thankful to have been a part of her orbit.

We all signed BJ’s tribute balloon, and it bobs outside this week in commemoration.

BJ's Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe courtesy of Joan Weisbrode)

1 cup softened margarine

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup peanut butter

Beat the above with electric mixer, then add 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix well.

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine these dry ingredients and stir into above mixture.

Then stir in 1 cup old fashion rolled oats and 12 oz. chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Herby and Cheesy Egg Bites

These are handy to have around for a quick protein boost in the morning. Make them in mini-muffin pans or regular-sized muffin pans, and you can have them ready in the refrigerator, so you don’t have to heat up the kitchen on a hot summer morning.

Yield: 24 mini or 12 full-sized

6 eggs, beaten

½ cup cottage cheese

½ cup shredded cheddar

1 cup minced fresh herbs of your choice (I used about ½ cup of parsley and added tarragon, basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, and a bit of sage to fill the cup. You could also use steamed spinach or kale.)

Salt and pepper to taste

Butter for greasing the muffin pan

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray and also butter it to help prevent sticking. Combine the beaten eggs, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, and herbs. Whisk it all together and season to taste with salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of pepper. Ladle the batter into the prepared muffin pan and place it in the middle of the oven. The minis will bake in 10-12 minutes, and the regular-sized ones will take 15-18 minutes. They will puff up nicely when they come out of the oven and then deflate as they cool. But that’s okay—they are still delicious! BJ would have approved.

I made an Affogato Punch for the morning, with a fresh 8-cup carafe of brewed decaf espresso and a quart of vanilla ice cream. I think it would have been too decadent for BJ.

But she would have liked this drink:

Strawberry Mint Lemonade

I cheated. I used a carton of Paul Newman’s Lemonade from the grocery store and blended 2 cups of it with 2 cups of frozen strawberries and a handful of fresh mint. Very refreshing on a hot day, served over ice and garnished with fresh mint.