Libby Hires, Columnist.

My mother had five girls; I was number 4. No sons. Of course, when people would find out there were so many girls, they would be shocked so much that we could tell by their facial expressions.

They would kindly ask, “Any boys?” It depended on which sister that answered first and how we felt that day: “Yes, ma’am, there are 5 of them, too!” or “Yes, sir! We had one, but we killed him.”

Then we’d pop Karen for saying that.

There indeed had been no boys.

As I said, I was number 4. I was the baby of the family for almost 7 years. As fate would have it, my baby sister came along and stole that role from me. We told her that we found her at the dipsy dumpster at Kentucky Fried Chicken on Peter’s Creek Parkway (in Winston-Salem, where we lived). We were so precise with the details! You have to agree we were very creative. You had to be back then. After all, I grew up when we played outside all day and came in when the parents made you. We’d even play outside during the dark because we had games for the nighttime, too! We’d even camp outside in our own backyard.

Until I was 9 years old, we lived in a house that was surrounded by woods. Oh, it was wonderful! The animals that we would see! Of course there were some that you could SMELL, too…and those skunks ended our camping adventures at night sometimes.

The adventures live on in the minds of my sisters and me. Unfortunately, we did lose Karen back in 1983. I’m sure she is looking down on us smiling and being our guardian angel. We all turned out pretty well for kids that didn’t stay inside on computers or computer games. We were the generation that rocked 4-square, croquet, swimming in creeks, swinging from the rope over the creek, volleyball, badminton, flashlight (nighttime hide-n-seek), and so much more!

Not to mention ghost stories. Those were for the rainy days. God bless the Baby Boomers and Generation X. We ROCK! (Maybe with more ibuprofen, but we still rock!)

Here are some favorite snacks from “back in the day” my Gen X heart to yours. Enjoy making them with your kids like I did with my sisters, my mom, and grandmother…and even my dad sometimes.

Peanut Butter Krispies

 1 cup sugar ½ cup light corn syrup 2 cups peanut butter 4 cups Rice Krispies Combine sugar and syrup in sauce pan. Bring to rolling boil. Remove from stove. Stir in peanut butter. Add cereal and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set. Makes about 4 doz. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Cookie Cutter Sandwiches

(Use your favorite spreads like chicken salad, pimento cheese, or even tuna salad. Chicken salad and pimento cheese are used here for reference and were used a lot in our family. Feel free to make your spread homemade as well!

My mom made these for parties. They were a big hit at my 6th grade Christmas party.)

1 Loaf Sandwich Bread (like Sunbeam)

1 tub chicken salad spread 1 tub pimento cheese spread Directions: Remove as many slices of bread as you need for sandwiches.

Spread with your choice of filling. Remove the crust with a knife. Either cut the sandwiches in fourths or cut them in shapes using cookie cutters.

Peanut Butter Banana Roll-Up Sandwich (Not to be confused with a PBR…this has two B’s.)

For each roll-up:

1 slice of bread, crust removed Creamy peanut butter 1 banana, peeled Directions: Take slice of bread and spread with peanut butter. Place banana on edge of bread. Slowly roll bread up around banana, slightly melding the bread and peanut butter to the banana.