Vera Kathleen Stevenson

passed away at Vermilion Health CentreContinuing Care, Vermilion, Alberta on February 28, 2023 at the age of 99 years.

Vera is survived by: her children, Carol (Larry), Joan (Murray), Patsy and David (Debbie); son-in-law, Barry; numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and extended family.

Vera was predeceased by: her husband, Douglas; daughter, Sheila Carlson; grandson, Geo ; sisters, Evelyn Cook and Connie McGregor; and brother, Norman Glover. private family service in memory of Vera was held.

may be made to Vermilion Health CentreContinuing Care or Islay Assisted Living.

We would like to thank the sta at Islay Assisted Living and Vermilion Health Centre-Continuing Care for taking such good care of mom. Thank you to Dr. Duplooy and Dr. Muhlad.

r Doug Baynton, McCaw Funeral ServiceDave and Linda, Glenn, Joel, and Brett McCaw, Dean Wenzel, Daria Hoegl and Charlene Alexander for going above and beyond. It meant so much to much to all the pallbearers.

To anyone else who helped in anyway, thank you so much!

Thank you to everyone who sent cards, owers, made donations, sent texts, phoned or stopped by. Your thoughtfulness means a lot.

The Stevenson Family

Cream Of Mushroom And Onion Soup

Dawn Hames Columnist

With cold days still in March it’s great to have a warming homemade soup. Along with great taste, mushrooms, onions, and garlic have some very specific health benefits. Eating the white button mushroom reduces the risk of breast and prostate cancer. An extract of white button mushrooms is equivalent to eating 3.5 ounces a day and has shown to exhibit a decrease in existing tumor size. Shitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to boost the immune system, and contain small amounts of vitamin D. Both onions and garlic are anti-inflam -

Helen Row Toews

I just don’t know

Sometimes there are questions in life that have no answer. I thought about this today as my husband and I drove our daughter to the Edmonton Airport. She’s attending university in BC this year. Anyway, we’d been silently cruising the highway, each of us lost in our own thoughts, when suddenly she spoke.

“Why is Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta?”

And there you have it. The perfect unanswerable question—for me, at least. I’m sure someone knows the correct response. I don’t.

After hugging our daughter tight and wishing her a safe journey, Tom and I stopped at a fast-food restaurant before heading home. As we approached the counter to place our order, I noticed a colourful poster announcing a caloriewise milkshake with wholesome ingre - matory. Onions contain quercetin which is a potent anti-oxidant. The quercetin in onions does not degrade with heat in soups; it is only transferred into the broth. Onions are also a good source of chromium which is useful for a healthy blood sugar balance.

Cream of Mushroom and Onion Soup

1 Tablespoon butter

1 yellow onion

1 lb. mushrooms

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup butter plus 1 tablespoon

1/3 cup flour

4 cups chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/2 cup cream (I use whipping)

Chop the onion, mushroom, and garlic.

Add the 1 tablespoon of butter to a heavybottomed pot large enough for the soup. Melt the butter on medium/low heat and add the onions, mushrooms, and garlic to sauté. Sauté the mixture until the mushrooms are just starting to brown and the onions are beginning to caramelize. Pour the onion, mushroom, and garlic mixture into a bowl. Use the same pot, to melt the 1/4 cup butter. When the butter begins to slightly foam, stir in the flour. This creates a roux, and it is the base for thickening the soup. Stir the flour-butter mixture until all the flour is dissolved and it is heated through. Begin adding the liquid 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition with a whisk until all of the stock has been added. You can use a homemade bone broth for the stock, or if you purchase stock be sure to check that the ingredients are

Prairie Wool

dients and real whipped cream. Okay, while that sounds delicious, isn’t it a contradiction? How is it possible to have a diet milkshake that, by definition, is made of ice cream, sugar, fullfat milk, and topped off with a swirly pile of whipped yumminess? Am I wrong? This has got to be one of those same unanswerable questions?

Sometimes inanimate objects, such as the lowly windshield wiper, throws us into wild speculation. For me, this has been something I’ve never understood. Perhaps you can help. Why is it always the wiper on the driver’s side of the vehicle that messes up? Invariably, the rubber strip goes haywire, or the whole thing flies into the ditch as I’m hurtling down the highway at top speed. My passenger enjoys a great view of the road, and I’m hunkered down and sideways on the seat, trying

Thank You

I would like to express my thanks to my family and friends for all their prayers, Masses, baskets, food, cards, phone calls, etc., after my recent operation.

Special thanks to Chris for always being there for me.

God bless you all for your kindness!

Fin Martin

to peer through a space the size of an M&M. (And not the bigger, candycoated peanut size.)

Here’s another thought to ponder. Why do big online shopping companies send small items in huge boxes? My son ordered a music book not long ago and was so astounded by the packaging it arrived in that he saved it to show me. The book was 10x11 and only about 50 pages long, but it had been sent in a box that could have safely held twentyfive of them. Instead, the book lay sad and alone beneath scads of air-filled tubes to keep it from rattling around and was stamped, FRAGILE - Handle with Care on the outside. Really? Was that strictly necessary? It was a book, for heaven’s sake, not a piece of Waterford crystal.

This brings me to a pet peeve (play on words) as well as an unanswer - all basic foods and free of food additives. I have found the brand Kitchen Basics is free of additives and allergens. If you add the broth too quickly, you will have to wait, stirring, for the temperature to rise for the soup to thicken. The amount of salt you add will depend if the broth already has salt in it or if it is sodium free. When the base is prepared add the spices, the sautéed onion, mushroom and garlic mixture back into the pot and heat thoroughly. Stir in the cream just before serving. Makes 4 servings. This soup also makes a wonderful topping for potatoes, noodles or rice. For thicker gravy instead of a soup increase the flour to ½ cup and cut the stock down to 3 cups. If you are allergic to dairy the cream can be left out with excellent results. Beef broth can also be substituted instead of chicken broth for a rich flavor variation. able question. Why can I offer our cats a morsel of salmon, they sniff it with an air of revulsion, and look at me as though I’ve tried to poison them. Yet, five minutes later, I catch them busily gobbling up a clump of their own fur? What the heck! Does that make any sense at all?

Furthermore, our dog Chili, the same hound that chewed a hole in the drywall near her bed because she was bored, turned her nose up at a tidbit of leftover hamburger. Yet, later that same day was found in the pasture contentedly gnawing on a lump of frozen horse poop. Answer that one, will you!

On this nasty note, I shall end. I’m sure you have questions of your own. Let me know if you know the answers to any of mine.

Find Helen, more stories, and her books at helentoews.com.

St. Jerome’s 2023 Leadership Class

There would simply be far too many individuals and businesses to acknowledge in creating a complete list of those who supported the St. Jerome’s Leadership Family Carnival on March 2nd. Without a doubt, someone would be omitted. Therefore, let us send a thank you to all of our local businesses, parents, alumni, staff and students who contributed in some way to make the carnival such a tremendous success. Whether it was a donation of used toys to be used as prizes, a silent auction item, volunteering to work a shift or simply by coming and playing, the evening was such a great example of who we are as community.

God bless each of you for your generosity.

VERMILION VOICE www.vermilionvoice.com

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Editor: Lorna Hamilton

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