Cherry Hill - Episode 13 Amanda Takes a Position as a Home Ec Teacher! 1st Recipe Salmon and Hashbrown Casserole
September 19, 1947
Dear Mother,
The children are back to school and are settling into their routines. Though Paul left me very comfortable and always had strong ideas about the notion of me working, Jack has encouraged me to take a position at the school teaching Home Economics part time.
It surprised me that he remembered I took teachers training prior to marrying Paul because it was certainly not something my husband ever talked about. However, Jack has been ever insistent and at the beginning of the school year, I applied. At first I was afraid but Jack kept pressing the importance of having a purpose and keeping busy and mother, he has been so right!
I teach three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning. This gives me time in the afternoons to get dinner ready for the children, look after household duties and continue to participate in my volunteer work.
Luckily for me the Protestant Ladies Association meets Tuesdays over lunch.
I will say, however, the idea has been met with some resistance from the Association - and especially from Mrs. Wilson.
Though she had experienced a slight thaw where I was concerned right after Paul's death, she's gone back to her old ways and never misses an opportunity to express her opinion that it is unseemly for I, a newly widowed wife, to be out in the world.
But where else could I be?
Looking back over the last few months, I'm proud of myself for stepping forward because, truly, I don't think I would survive another moment of grief all alone in this quiet house with the children at school.
And the students provide me with endless opportunities to smile. On some days this is such a God Send - especially since Nurse Val has been released from the hospital (still with no memory) and back into the town at large where she seems more than determined to re-kindle whatever it was she shared with Jack in high school!
I'm not sure how often she comes by the school, but I can tell you, on days when I'm working she's there!
Just yesterday Jack and I were having lunch at a picnic table in the school yard. The girls made the most wonderful salmon casserole that they insisted our tall blue eyed Mr. Wilson had to try and from out of the blue, there was Val with a bag lunch.
You should have seen the production when she realized he was already eating. Talking like a five year old as though I wasn't even there, she sidled in next to him and insinuated something about dessert.
It took every ounce of my dignity as a Christian woman not to reach across the table and strangle her.
I swear, mother, sometimes I get so angry about everything that has happened I can barley contain myself and with all of these unanswered questions still looming and keeping me up at night, being in Val's presence is simply not healthy for me.
Holding my head high because I refuse to let her intimidate me, I thanked Jack for joining me and made my way back to the classroom.
Behind my back I could hear Val's laughter and I had to blink back my own tears. For some reason I'm feeling betrayed all over again and, although I've resigned myself to the fact that I may never know what went on between that woman and my husband, I can't shake these feelings of foolishness and have vowed that if Val has set her sights on Jack, I'm going to give him wide berth. Yes, he is a good friend, but I won't be made fool of again.
On that note, I can see the children coming up the walk.
Give my love to father and the rest of the family.
As always,
Your loving daughter Amanda
ps... here is the recipe for the Salmon Casserole. it is really quite lovely!
Salmon and Hash Brown Casserole
Printable Recipe Link
Ingredients
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Dear Mother,
The children are back to school and are settling into their routines. Though Paul left me very comfortable and always had strong ideas about the notion of me working, Jack has encouraged me to take a position at the school teaching Home Economics part time.
It surprised me that he remembered I took teachers training prior to marrying Paul because it was certainly not something my husband ever talked about. However, Jack has been ever insistent and at the beginning of the school year, I applied. At first I was afraid but Jack kept pressing the importance of having a purpose and keeping busy and mother, he has been so right!
I teach three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning. This gives me time in the afternoons to get dinner ready for the children, look after household duties and continue to participate in my volunteer work.
Luckily for me the Protestant Ladies Association meets Tuesdays over lunch.
I will say, however, the idea has been met with some resistance from the Association - and especially from Mrs. Wilson.
Though she had experienced a slight thaw where I was concerned right after Paul's death, she's gone back to her old ways and never misses an opportunity to express her opinion that it is unseemly for I, a newly widowed wife, to be out in the world.
But where else could I be?
Looking back over the last few months, I'm proud of myself for stepping forward because, truly, I don't think I would survive another moment of grief all alone in this quiet house with the children at school.
And the students provide me with endless opportunities to smile. On some days this is such a God Send - especially since Nurse Val has been released from the hospital (still with no memory) and back into the town at large where she seems more than determined to re-kindle whatever it was she shared with Jack in high school!
I'm not sure how often she comes by the school, but I can tell you, on days when I'm working she's there!
Just yesterday Jack and I were having lunch at a picnic table in the school yard. The girls made the most wonderful salmon casserole that they insisted our tall blue eyed Mr. Wilson had to try and from out of the blue, there was Val with a bag lunch.
You should have seen the production when she realized he was already eating. Talking like a five year old as though I wasn't even there, she sidled in next to him and insinuated something about dessert.
It took every ounce of my dignity as a Christian woman not to reach across the table and strangle her.
I swear, mother, sometimes I get so angry about everything that has happened I can barley contain myself and with all of these unanswered questions still looming and keeping me up at night, being in Val's presence is simply not healthy for me.
Holding my head high because I refuse to let her intimidate me, I thanked Jack for joining me and made my way back to the classroom.
Behind my back I could hear Val's laughter and I had to blink back my own tears. For some reason I'm feeling betrayed all over again and, although I've resigned myself to the fact that I may never know what went on between that woman and my husband, I can't shake these feelings of foolishness and have vowed that if Val has set her sights on Jack, I'm going to give him wide berth. Yes, he is a good friend, but I won't be made fool of again.
On that note, I can see the children coming up the walk.
Give my love to father and the rest of the family.
As always,
Your loving daughter Amanda
ps... here is the recipe for the Salmon Casserole. it is really quite lovely!
Salmon and Hash Brown Casserole
Printable Recipe Link
Ingredients
- 1/2 of a 1 kg pkg. frozen hash brown potatoes
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 1 diced onion
- 1/2 cup sour cream (can use low fat)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup(can use low fat)
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 tins drained sockeye salmon, skin and bones removed, or 1 cooked salmon filet, shredded
- 1 tbsp dill weed
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- Place hash browns in a medium bowl. Add the diced onions. Pour margarine over and mix well.
- Mix sour cream, soup, egg, and salmon with dill, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the hash browns into the bowl with the soup and mix everything together well.
- Spoon into a 9 x 13 baking dish that has been treated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with cheese and panko. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for one hour.
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Thank you for another installment in this great story. I always enjoy reading them.
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