We abandoned our “safer at home” environment for a little while, but it was for a good cause.
The most important item on our “to do” list has now been taken care of.

Here’s hoping you can cross it off your list, too.
Stay safe.
Well hello again dear fiends … er, friends. It’s that time again and, as usually happens this time each year, the closer we get to Halloween, the more requests we get from many of you asking about the Halloween poem that was a part of our show for many years.
And so, once again crawling out from the depths of Halloween’s past, it’s the return of our Halloween Poem. It’s a fun “trick” to add to your bag of treats for your little people.
Of course, this year is not like any we’ve shared before. The scary reality that is 2020 means that, unlike previous years when we would suggest you invite a bunch of little people to your Halloween party and share the poem with them, this year we’re offering it to you as a possible fun option for your own child or children who may be going a bit stir-crazy from staying “safe at home” and just might welcome the idea of a fun, at home, event this Halloween.
For the uninitiated, this is a poem which, in one form or another, we’ve been presenting on radio and the Internet for several decades. Honestly, we don’t know the origin of the poem. A listener sent it to Steve many years ago in a galaxy far, far away in the days before him n her became HimNHer. The positive response to the poem and the fun it can provide, particularly for kids, at a Halloween party resulted in it becoming one of our annual traditions. And, as Steve’s Dad always said, “Tradition is a fine thing as long as it doesn’t become a habit.”
But, we digress …
OK, here is how it works. Tell your little person, or little people, that you’ve got a special Halloween treat for them. Then, just get them in a dark room and read them this story of a young man who went to school to learn to be a first-class ghoul. As you’re reading the story, in the dim light, you pass out items that are supposed to be body parts. Johnnie has put together a list of things you can use to simulate the body parts. To make the story even scarier, you can play the audio of Steve’s voice reading the poem.
To read and hear the Halloween poem just click on this link.
Again this year, we have to say a huge THANK YOU to Dave Marzullo, one of the hardest working SPIRITS at WGN Radio for jumping through more Internet hoops than you’ll ever know to make our Halloween poem and it’s audio available.
Even in this high-tech world, each year we hear from a lot of people telling stories of the fun they had with the kids and this old school Halloween poem. Hopefully, you’ll be one of them.
If you are not familiar with Apple Butter allow me to explain…there is no butter in Apple Butter. It’s spicy applesauce that’s cooked til it caramelizes and turns into a concentrated fruit spread for toast, muffins or in cookies or fruit bars etc.
You can use Fuji, Gala, Macintosh, Jonagold and toss in a few Granny Smith.
Peel and core 6 pounds of apples. That’s 10-12 medium apples.
Slice or chunk apples and put in the crockpot/slow cooker.
In a bowl mix:1 cup of white sugar1 cup brown sugar (I use 1/2 dark & 1/2 light brown sugar)
Add 1 TB of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp salt
Later you’ll need:1 TB vanilla
Mix sugar and spices and add to apples. Toss apples to coat.
Put the lid on the crockpot and set the crockpot on low. Next, set your timer for 10 hours. Yes, 10 hours!
In 10 hours take the lid off and add 1 TB vanilla extract. Stir and leave uncovered simmering on low for 2 more hours.
When time’s up use an immersion hand blender or potato masher and carefully (because its dangerously hot!) smash any pieces that are left intact.
You’ll have a deep brown smooth apple spread. You can refrigerate it til its cool then pour into jars and keep refrigerated. No canning process is necessary.
Enjoy,
Johnnie
Remember boys and girls how, months ago, in a previous post about The Wonderful Tree Lady we told you that, if you were good, stayed safe and washed your hands, you might see more of The Wonderful Tree Lady’s adventures in future posts?
Well, it seems you’ve been good and, since we’ve just found out that The Wonderful Tree Lady has been at it again, we wanted you to share a few pictures with you of some of the magic she sprinkled around to welcome Autumn in to our house.
Along with sharing these pictures with you, before she left, The Wonderful Tree Lady wanted to make sure we shared a warm Happy Autumn greeting from our house to yours.
Stay safe!
Our Video Road Test, of the 2020 Lexus NX 300 F Sport is now posted on Consumer Guide Automotive’s Daily Drive website.
So, what did we think of this compact premium SUV?
Just click on this link to take a ride with us and see for yourself.
And don’t forget, if you want to check some of our previous road tests and some of the other goodies we’ve been pouring into the Daily Drive tank, just point your browser right here.
Sunday, July 26, 2020, I (Steve) observed the completion of 77 turns around the sun.
In no particular order, I thought I’d share a few thoughts about that milestone.
This was the first time I’ve marked a birthday in the middle of a pandemic. I won’t complain if it’s the last.
Johnnie makes the best birthday cake!
Actually, anything Johnnie makes is the best!
2020’s pandemic party curtailed any in-person birthday party events and substituted video screen connecting. I’m not one for big parties anyway, but I do look forward to the small gathering of family and friends that usually populates our patio. One of the things getting together via video underscored was that while loved ones may not have been physically present, love was.
During a birthday video chat with a relative, who shall remain nameless, Johnnie and I learned that, if you’re holding your cell phone low enough and close enough to your nose, you can look just like Mr. Potato Head.
Now that I’ve put 77 turns around the sun behind me, I’m probably a bit more aware of the prevalence of ageism and it’s one of the many “isms” I won’t put up with. But then, I felt the same way when I was 17. I’m not sure if that means that I haven’t grown up or if it means more people need to.
One of the oft-repeated birthday questions is, “What would you tell your younger self?” Other than a suggestion to avoid gluten, I don’t really know. But, I am reasonably sure we’d have a good conversation.
Actually, now that I think about it, there is one thing I’d tell my younger self, “Believe it or not, you’re the guy who gets THE girl!”
I share a birth date and year with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. I suppose it’s possible he’s played in front of a few more people than I have but, I know, there is no way he loves making music more.
Speaking of music, like many of you, COVID-19 and the resulting lifestyle change to “safer at home” along with some family health issues hit the pause button on several things I had planned for my 76th year. One of them was finally finishing and releasing an album that I’d planned on calling “Spirit Of 76.’ Well, it’s still on the burner for year 77 (the album, not the title) but, if it doesn’t get finished in the next 12 months, the following year, I may have to go really old school … and release it as a 78.
As Johnnie said, “It’s not like any birthday we ever imagined, but we are together and healthy…the best gifts ever.”
And, in 2020, those gifts mean more than ever.
Stay safe.
Steve
In a previous post, 1975, we mentioned that we’re going through our photo archives for our second book, tentatively titled “Life After Dark.” Well, the archeological photo digs continue and we’ve unearthed a few from our days at WIND radio, in Chicago, so we thought we’d share them with the class.
In 1980 Steve interviewed The Village People and Producer Jacques Morali, who were in Chicago promoting the movie “Can’t Stop The Music.”
As you can see, there was a bit of a stir in the halls when Steve took Leatherman around to say hi.
In 1982, WIND did a special Saturday morning remote of Steve’s show and invited listeners to come down, see the broadcast and watch the sunrise at The Adler Planetarium. He invited the new kid, Johnnie, to come down, join the broadcast, and meet the listeners.
Also joining the broadcast was another WIND personality, our “Night Crawler” friend, Ted Lauterbach.
It was a memorable morning that gave us a chance to hang out with a few hundred listeners who got up early and joined us for coffee, doughnuts and a great view.
All of these photos were taken before we even started dating and it’s kind of fun to look back on “the way we were.” We hope you enjoy the occasional look into the wayback machine, too.
At this point, we’re probably, at least, a year away from finishing our second book, so don’t be surprised if, as we unearth more “treasures,” we share a few more of our discoveries with you.
… make lemon cakes! (Better than Starbucks)
Preheat oven to 350
Spray pans with Pam or grease one 9×5 loaf -bake 50-55 minutes
OR
2 med loaf -bake 35-45 min OR
4 small loaf pans-bake 30-35 min (muffin tins work too just adjust the baking time)
Mix all ingredients by hand. No mixer needed!
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 eggs at room temp
1 c sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/2 c vegetable or canola oil
2 TB lemon zest(about 1 lg lemon. Save the lemon to juice for the glaze)
2 TB lemon extract
1 1/2 cups flour (I use King Arthur’s Gluten Free or Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
And then …
Add the lemon zest to the cup of sugar. With a rubber spatula muddle
the zest flavoring into the sugar or use your fingers & rub the zest into the sugar turning it yellow
Add sour cream or yogurt. Mix well.
Add oil and extract. Mix well.
Add eggs. Mix well but, don’t overwork the batter.
Flour, baking powder and salt can be mixed together and slowly incorporate dry into wet ingredients.
Mix well
Bake according to pan sizes (Test center of loaf with toothpick for doneness).
Let cool
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
Add juice of the lemon that was zested. For extra zing you can add a tsp of lemon extract. Mix sugar and juice until it is pourable but, not too thin. Add more sugar to thicken
When blended taste.
Too tart? Add more sugar. Not zingy enough add more juice or extract(careful extract is strong).
Remove loaves from pan and pour the glaze over.
Enjoy!
Johnnie