The Facts from Clute, Texas • Page 25

razos People Bfl THE BRAZOSPORT FACTS Sunday, December IS, 1994 First Person Rhonda Moran What's your peeve? Venting frustration keeps holiday cheer in better balance A an antidote to that seasonal malady, Holiday Cheer Overdose, I am writing today about my -pet peeves, which cover many aspects of life. Let us begin. Peeve No. 1: Waiting in a long line at a grocery store, fast food restaurant, etc. and finally getting up to the check-out only to realize that no one is in line behind me.

Peeve No. 2: Alarmist, Chicken-Little "news" stories. If it's July and it's hot outside, expect the evening news on TV to lead with a story about wildfires. Often, there also will be stories about global warming and how the planet isn't the cool place it used to be. Let winter arrive with a few lower-than-average freezes, however, and these same news people will report (with straight faces) that this pattern of frigid temperatures has convinced some experts that the Ice Age is returning.

Stories like these make me mutter to my TV, "It's not global warming or an Ice Age, you morons. The seasons are changing." Peeve No. 3: Traffic signs that say "No Left Turn." Peeve No. 4: Newspaper stories I've read a zillion times, in different papers and by different authors, but the. same story never- of these Firecrack'ers Are Dangerous! (read about this in July and January); Hole in Ozone Layer Means More Skin Cancer (see this story every summer); Be Sure to Have Candy Inspected (a perennial Halloween story).

Newspapers run dozens more of cliched stories, which have worthy causes but suffer from tired presentations. We in the media should think of new angles, new ways to tell the old stories. Peeve No. 5: Idiots in grocery stores who pay no attention to where they leave their carts while they shop, thereby blocking the entire aisle for no reason. Peeve No.

6: News stories that focus on the bad news while ignoring the equally important good news. Example: Interest rates are rising. This is bad news if you're buying a house, but not if you're a to live on interest from your life savings. No reporter talks to the newly happy investors. They got interviewed back when rates were falling and they didn't have enough money to live on anymore.

Peeve No. 7: Junk mail addressed to my-late husband and sent to my. new address. This stuff makes my children cry. Peeve No.

8: Barbara Walters asking questions that make people cry. She did it this past week when interviewing Olympic Gold Medalist Oksana Baiul, whose mother died of cancer when Oksana was 13. Walters asked something like, "Do you think your mother saw your performance that night?" and Baiul's confident expression crumpled into tears. Peeve No. 9: Cellophane wrappers on CDs.

Every cellophane package ought to have a 'corner flap big enough to gel a fingernail under. Peeve No. 10: Cashiers who don't count out change properly. If the price is $9.50, and I paid with a $10, the correct cashier would start counting at $9.50, saying "$9.75" (as she hands me a quarter), then "$10" (as she hands over the second quarter). Very rare these days.

Read enough? I feel better now. Merry Christmas. Rhonda Moran Is a feature writer and editor for The Facts. 'Please, Santa, come in your sleigh and don't risk them airships Dear Santa First of a series By RHONDA MORAN The Brazosport Facts hildren's letters to Santa Glaus have been appearing in the pages of The Facts for decades, offering written proof that today's adults once longed for footballs, dolls, little china dishes, BB guns and the perennial favorite a bicycle. Mixed among the routine requests are bits of history the children of the 1940s asking for war bonds, for or the little girls of 1935 petitioning Santa almost in unison for Shirley Temple dolls a sign that children of yesteryear were as s'usceptible to movies as The Lion King groupies of today.

Searching the telephone books for matching names, The Facts located some of the letter-writers who still live in the Brazosport area. Also quoted here are letters from children we didn't locate, but whose letters are typical of those of the day: 1927 Letters of decades past reflect historical events, life in a simpler era The Freeport Facts' Dec. 2 edition featured a front-page drawing of Santa along with an article urging area children to send their letters to Santa to The Facts. "Here is something you probably haven't heard yet," the article said. "Santa has discarded his reindeer arid sleigh for an airplane a big red airship.

Maybe you heard the hum of the motor when he drove into town late the other evening In his trip to Freeport, Santa paid a visit to The Facts office, the paper reporte'd. "He wants The Facts to help him with his mail this year. He has asked that The Facts publish the letters his little friends write to him, telling him how they have acted during the year and what they want him to bring them for Christmas." And so, children from throughout the area sent letters to the paper. A few of those letters follow: Dear Old Santa, I don't know what little children like us would do if anything happened to you, so please Santa come in your sleigh and don't risk them airships. You're gettin' too old to go so fast.

I am a little country girl 12 years old. I help my mother in lots of ways and am good, so Santa I am asking you to bring me some apples, oranges, candy and nuts, and some raisins too. I sure do want a red sweater, a doll, a set of doll dishes and a little stove. If this is too much, just bring me what you want me to have. Bessie Hooper, Angleton Dear Santa Claus, I am a little boy ,6 years old in the first grade.

Please bring me a bicycle, a coaster wagon, a scooter and a'black board to make my numbers on. Wishing you a happy and merry, merry Xmas. Your friend, Eugene Dunn. Dear Santa Claus: Thank you for the things you brought meJast Christmas. Mother and I bought a bicycle for me this Christmas.

Will you please bring me a derrick for Christmas. Your friend, Malcolm B. Hoefle. Malcolm "Mac" Hoefle, now 74 and living in Brazoria, was 7 when his letter to Santa appeared in the Dec. 16, 1927 edition of.The Facts.

"My favorite uncle worked in the oil patch, so I guess that's where that came from," Hoefle recalls. "I was an only child, and my mother and I lived in my grandmother's house. Sometimes my uncles came home for Christmas, and I thought the sun rose and set in the youngest one." Christmas in 1927 was "wonderful," Hoefle recalls. "I looked forward to it all year but it only seemed to come around about once every 15 years." See SANTA, Page 5C HOEFLE Recipes from readers feature party foods HOT ROLLS 1 cup warm water cup melted margarine cup sugar teaspoon salt 2 packages-Rapid Rise yeast 2 cups flour i Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add melted margarine, sugar and salt; stir and add flour.

If too soft to handle, add a little more flour. Let rise in warm place until double in bulk. Mash dough down on floured wax paper. Do not knead. Just roll over in flour.

Make into rolls, put in oiled pan and oil tops. Let rise again until double in bulk. Bake in 400 degree oven until golden brown. Blanchie M. Broaddus Clute ANGEL BISCUITS 2 packages Rapid Rise yeast cup warm water 2 cups warm buttermilk 5 cups all-purpose flour cup sugar I tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup Crisco Melted butter or margarine Dissolve yeast in warm water.

Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in buttermilk; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in mixture and mix well.

Turn out onto lightly-floured surface. Knead lightly three or four times. Roll to thickness and cut with a 2 biscuit cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. Bake 450 degrees for 8-110 minutes.

Lightly brush tops with melted margarine or butter. Blanchie Broaddus Clute MEXICAN NACHQS 12 large tortilla chips 3 ounces monterey jack cheese 1 ounce cheddar cheese, shredded Place tortilla chips on a plate and top with cheeses. Microwave on high for 1 minute, rotate plate and cook 1 minute more. Serve immediately. Blanchie Broaddus Clute PARTY SNACK cup butler 1 package dry onion soup mix 1 cup unsalted peanuts 1 cup bite-size wheat cereal squires 6 ounces pretzels 6 ounces cheddar cheese Goldfish crackers Place butter in a glass measuring cup.

Cover and microwave 45 seconds or until butter melts. Stir in soup mix. In a 4-quart microwave-safe bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour soup mixture over dry mixture for three minutes, toss to coat. Microwave for 5 minutes, stir twice while cooking.

Cool. Blanchie M. Broaddus Clute OLD FASHIONED SWEDISH MEATBALLS 2 pounds ground beef 1 egg cup bread crumbs 1 6-ounce can cream of mushroom SOUP 7 cup sour cream Mix meat, egg and bread crumbs together, blending well. Form into bite-size meatballs. Place in a glass dish and cover with wax paper.

Microwave on high for 7 min. utes. Remove from dish and keep warm. Repeat until all meat balls are cooked. Stir mushroom soup and.

sour cream together in a casserole. Place meatballs in mixture, blending until well coated. Place casserole in microwave and cook on high for 2 minutes. Serve immediately. Mary (Sissy) Barnes Lake Jackson RECIPES,.