Living on Tucker Time

All the activities this week were done on “Tucker Time.” Tucker Time means don’t look at your watch, if we say dinner at 6, it means anywhere from 6 to 8!

It has been a wonderful week at our house. All the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were here. It was our annual reunion, a little earlier than usual. Normally everyone comes home in July, but this year granddaughter Megan was married to Matt Hagen and we pushed up the reunion date.

Our prayers for good weather were at least one-half answered. On the first day the large tent we rented blew over and I was afraid that was a bad omen, but from then on there was sunshine.

The winds were cold, the bugs bit, but who cared, we were together again. In addition to our immediate family, Dave’s nephews and nieces came from Kentucky, Wisconsin and Illinois.

We had about 30 people for dinner each night. Davey cooked, while the girls made desserts, helped at the stove, other preparations and with the dishes.

As usual, the health-minded group had their hikes. A short one at O Kun d Kun Falls and a 12-mile trek in the Porkies. On each of them they collected large numbers of wood ticks and mosquito bites. At one point, Bob (Arkansas grandson) had garnered 40 wood ticks while others had at least 10.

As usual for the past few years, there are even more electronic devises associated with the reunion. Old computers have given away to smart phones, tablets and phablets. Each electrical outlet had at least four chargers attached. As Bob said, “You thought we ditched the umbilical cord at birth, but now we are tied to our devises.”

What was new is that now even the youngest of the kids has some form of computer. Jilly and Katie have iPads, but their mom monitors how much time they can spend on the devises.

As usual, Euchre occupied all the non-cooking moments. If there was a clean table, four people rotated playing. Many of the games were still going at 2 a.m.

We had our own contest. We chose an outlandish picture of one of the family members and the others had to write a caption for it. My co-workers Kenny and Jackie were the judges. The answers were hysterical and in the end, Jilly, 10, beat all the adults. They then turned the tables on me and used a picture of me after the bad facial fall I had this winter. The responses were embarrassingly great and I was presented with a coffee mug with the horrible picture of my messed up face.

We had a days reprieve when the plane for the Arkansas bunch was cancelled but eventually they had to go. There were tears in our eyes but a lot of love in our hearts. Next year there will be two new babies to hold and love.

It was special when Bob wrote on his Facebook page: “A week in Ontonagon is never enough.”

I’m writing this on Thursday night and Davey just announced dinner would be late. Of course. We are still on Tucker Time.

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If you have a sweet tooth this will be perfect.

German Chocolate Bars

In a large bowl, combine a package German chocolate cake mix, 1/2 cup coarsely  crushed  pretzels, an egg, lightly beaten and 1/2 cup butter, melted. Press into greased 13-by-9 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or till edges are lightly browned. Cool.

In a large bowl, beat 1/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 cup dark corn syrup, 2 1/4  cups flaked coconut, 1 cup butterscotch chips, 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped pecans. Pour over crust. Bake 25-35 minutes or until edges are brown and center is almost set. Cool. Cut into bars.

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