Dad and Caroline on their wedding day in May 1990.

Life Goes On

When Mom passed away in 1987, Dad and she had been married for 33 years. It goes without saying that Dad was devastated by the loss. We all were. But, as the saying goes, Life Goes On. It has to, doesn't it? Having enjoyed the many years of companionship he shared with my mother, it was not easy for Dad to adjust to life as a single person. The one thing I know my mother wouldn't have wanted was for my father to be alone.

Fortunately for Dad, destiny brought Caroline to live in his neighborhood. Actually, I should say fortunately for our entire family, because with Caroline came peace and happiness that was sorely missing from our lives after we lost Mom. When they met, Caroline was working as a Showroom Designer for Florida Tile here in Lakeland. A few years after they married, Dad and Caroline purchased a vacation home nestled in the mountains of North Carolina. Every chance they could, they made the 12-hour drive from Lakeland to escape to their mountain retreat in North Carolina. They dreamed of the day when they could spend more time in North Carolina.

When Caroline retired from Florida Tile, they were finally able to move to their North Carolina home permanently. They enjoy a wonderful life in the secluded mountains. Dad built a shop in back of the house, which he dubbed "Hugh's Humble Hobby Hovel." Caroline enjoys working outside, landscaping and planting flowers. They enjoy walks together in the woods, where at the right time of year luscious, juicy blackberries can be picked and made into jam (using the microwave, of course). Caroline has two daughters, Anita and Suzy. Both live in the Dallas area with their husbands. So between them, Dad and Caroline have four daughters. Anita has brought Caroline and Dad the joy of two granddaughters (Caroline and Catherine).

When Dad and Caroline first married, Dad was retired and Caroline still worked. So, Dad was a house husband and took care of all of the cooking and cleaning. In fact, Caroline had to beg just to be allowed to cook a meal. Caroline's a wonderful cook, but Dad figured she worked so hard all day, that she shouldn't have to work when she got home. Naturally, one of the things Caroline adapted to when she met Dad, was cooking in the microwave, as it had become the way of life. That wasn't a difficult task because once you become accustomed to cooking in the microwave, it saves so much time and the food tastes so good. It wasn't long before Caroline was adapting her own recipes to microwave cooking like the one featured on this page is one.

Caroline's Shrimp in Crabmeat Sauce

2 tbsp. butter

3 oz. fresh mushrooms
(washed and sliced)

Put butter and mushrooms in a Corning 16 oz. round casserole and cover with paper towel*. Cook 3:00 minutes (_____) at 100% power until mushrooms are tender. Set aside.

3 tbsp. butter

¾ cup chopped onion

2 cloves minced garlic

Put butter, onion and garlic in a 1-quart casserole. Cook 4:00 minutes (_____) at 100% power. Add mushrooms.

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/3 cup water

3 tbsp. soy sauce

¼ cup white wine

8 oz. peeled shrimp

8 oz. white lump crabmeat

hot pepper sauce (to taste)

salt and pepper (to taste)

Stir in cornstarch. Slowly stir in water, soy sauce, wine, shrimp, crabmeat, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and the juices from the mushrooms, shrimp and crabmeat. Cook 6:30 minutes (_____) at 70% power until mixture thickens. Let stand 2 minutes. Serve over steamed rice.

*When using paper towels in the microwave, ONLY use solid white paper towels. Do not use paper towels with color designs imprinted for decoration.

NOTE: Cooking times are for a 700-watt oven. For best results with this and any other microwave recipe, please be sure to go to the Timing Section of Microwaving Tips for a complete explanation of timing in the microwave.