Friday, December 28, 2012
What? A Pajama Party? At Her Age?
Del goes to Cleveland Clinic for his yearly check-up each December and for the last few years, I have not been invited. I've figured out that my going would make the appointment have more importance than he is willing to give it, so Ive stopped arguing with him - about that. So, this year,instead of staying home by myself worrying, I decided to have a pajama party. Not a usual thing for a 66 year old to do, I suppose, but I knew it would take my mind off the event, which blessedly turned out to be what Del calls a waste of a world class surgeon's time.
My second reason for throwing the pajama party was because the Carroll County Democratic Party party was set to happen here a couple of days later, and I have a severe decorating anxiety. Del and I had decorated the trees and put a wreath on the door, but it didn't look like a party. So, I asked 3 Democrats and 1 Independent to pack their toothbrushes and jammies and head out to work, I mean, party. Bless their hearts, the pajama party crew arrived with a load of various types of greenery and their talents and transformed the place. I had known that one of my friends is an interior designer, but was unaware that lawyer friend also studied design at one point. Woo hoo! The rest of us were willing workers.
By midnight, we were pretty much worn out, but stopped working and continued to talk until about 1:30 when we all gave up and went to our rooms. Other than beds for everyone and adult beverages, things seemed pretty much as they did in the old days - gossip, boy talk, too much food, etc., but we did not break out the nail polish or orange juice can rollers.
Speaking of food, our dessert was a big hit. One person threatened to lick her plate. I had made an adult version of Easy Chocolate Eclair Dessert. The recipe for the original version was posted on 3/9/12, and it is delicious for any occasion, but if you feel in the mood for a little kick in flavor, try this:
Adults Only Easy Chocolate Eclair Dessert
Follow recipe in 3/9/12 post with these exceptions:
1. Substitute 1/2 cup Baileys for 1/2 cup of the milk needed for making the pudding.
2. Stir 3 tablespoons of dark unsweetened cocoa powder into the canned frosting to cut down on the sweetness.
3. Be responsible. Do not serve without making sure guests are aware of the alcohol involved.
Come morning, each person stumbled out looking tired and muttering something about coffee. For some reason, we ate our breakfast of baked apple oatmeal standing around in the kitchen instead of at the kitchen table. Maybe we didn't want to get that far from the coffee pot. By noon everyone was on the way home, and by 1:30, I was curled up on the sofa for a nap!
I think I'll have another Cleveland Clinic pajama party next year. If someone else will have the Democratic Party party, we won't even have to work!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Boiled Peanuts. Acute Colic and Family Notions
I was brought up on a farm in Southside Virginia where peanuts were an important crop. When I was a child, the peanuts, which are not a nut and which grow under ground, were harvested and then piled up around a tall, sturdy stick to dry in the sun. A city friend of mine, meaning she was from 5,000 person Emporia, thought the peanut shocks were peanut trees. I've tried to find out why the stacks were called "shocks", but have come up empty. This may mean I haven't looked hard enough or that I remember the word incorrectly. Much later on, the family farmers began to use large dryers instead, and I remember how loud the fans sounded. The peanuts were sold, of course, but some were always kept back so that the families had some to cook from time to time.
Mother did what she called "parching" the peanuts. This usually meant roasting them in their shells, but occasionally we would shell them first. I remember that they needed to be stirred quite frequently and checked for doneness. This was particularly true when they had been shelled because they cooked much more quickly, and a scorched peanut tastes nasty and smells p the house. My bedroom opened right into the kitchen, so cooking smells were important to me.
Some people rubbed off the skins and cooked the peanuts in oil, but if I remember correctly, Mother rarely did that. She did make peanut brittle at Christmas time. SIL Pat and Del loved to get a box of it. Bubba and I were less trouble. He liked chocolate covered cherries, and I liked "silver tops" (Hershey's kisses).
Having grown up in Georgia, Del's folks loved boiled peanuts, but had a difficult time getting Virginia farmers to sell them freshly harvested "green" peanuts. At that time, we Virginians were of the opinion that green peanuts would make you sick. My uncle Big Bubba believed they would give you the Acute colic and you would surely die. Acute was pronounced with a long /A/, the emphasis was on the first syllable, and it was always proceeded by the word "the". Somehow that sounded much more serious to us kids than if it had been pronounced as it was intended to be. Big Bubba also thought that eating watermelon and drinking co-cola would result in the acute colic and sure death. Big Bubba was not always right, but he was certainly confident in his opinions. He was the oldest of the Robinson siblings, after all.
The first time Del came to the farm during peanut harvest, he asked if he could buy some of the freshly harvested peanuts. This presented a problem. On the one hand, they didn't want to offend a potential prospect. The Robinson women of the previous generation were both old maids, after all. On the other hand, they didn't want to kill him off, and it was well known that green peanuts would, well, you know... What to do? What to do? He assured Mother and Daddy and my uncle garland that his family had eaten boiled green peanuts forever without a bit of trouble, so in the end, he was given a mess of peanuts to take to his parents, but not before yet another warning that they would get the Acute colic and surely die.
The first time I ate Mrs. Williams' boiled peanuts, I was surprised at how good they tasted - very much like black eyed peas. What's not to like? The Williams would assure you that my assessment is just wrong, of course. I learned to make them according to her method, so, once again, it's more a process than a recipe.
Now a days I have seen boiled peanuts for sale in service stations in Virginia, so I guess that as we began to travel more, brave Virginians decided that if they didn't kill everybody else, they wouldn't kill us either.
A man in Huntsville, Alabama used to sell them by the "dip" from an iron pot by the side of the road, and Del swears they were great, but I could not make myself eat anything that came out of that nasty looking slimy water. One of Del's great pleasures was to take northern visiters to the University out to a really nice lunch and then drive them by for a dip of boiled peanuts. I don't know that he ever converted anyone, but he never failed to amuse himself.
Boiled peanuts:
2 lb. GREEN peanuts - dried or roasted will not do, so don't even try
1 3/4 - 2 cups salt
water to cover peanuts by 2 at least 2 inches.
Dissolve 1 3/4 cups salt in a couple of gallons of water. Add peanuts and add more water as needed to have them covered by at least 2 inches. Mrs. Williams always put a heat safe plate on top to keep the peanuts from floating to top of water. Cover pot turn heat to high until the water boils. Reduce the heat so the water simmers. Stir every 20 minutes or so and be sure to add more water to keep level 2 inches above the peanuts. Be sure to bring water back to boil each time you add water and then reduce to simmer.
After about 4 hours, check one of the peanuts to see if it is beginning to taste salty. If not, add the remaining 1/4 cup salt. Cook for 2 more hours and check for desired texture. Ms. Williams cooked them until they were quite tender, so it could take as much as 7-8 hours. She would taste for salt, and if they weren't salty enough, she would leave them in the liquid in the refrigerator over night. Then she would drain them and store them tightly covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. She often put some in zip lock bags and froze them for later. I'm guessing she always cooked a large batch because it took so long to cook them.
You can eat the peanuts hot or cold, and they are kind of messy. The proper way of eating seems to be to open the peanut, slurp up the nuts and the liquid in the shell, chew and swallow.
Note: Treat the green peanuts as you would other fresh vegetables. Refrigerate as soon as you get home and refrigerate cooked peanuts for 3-4 days, or freeze. I suppose you could freeze raw green peanuts in the shell, but I don't really know.
Mother did what she called "parching" the peanuts. This usually meant roasting them in their shells, but occasionally we would shell them first. I remember that they needed to be stirred quite frequently and checked for doneness. This was particularly true when they had been shelled because they cooked much more quickly, and a scorched peanut tastes nasty and smells p the house. My bedroom opened right into the kitchen, so cooking smells were important to me.
Some people rubbed off the skins and cooked the peanuts in oil, but if I remember correctly, Mother rarely did that. She did make peanut brittle at Christmas time. SIL Pat and Del loved to get a box of it. Bubba and I were less trouble. He liked chocolate covered cherries, and I liked "silver tops" (Hershey's kisses).
Having grown up in Georgia, Del's folks loved boiled peanuts, but had a difficult time getting Virginia farmers to sell them freshly harvested "green" peanuts. At that time, we Virginians were of the opinion that green peanuts would make you sick. My uncle Big Bubba believed they would give you the Acute colic and you would surely die. Acute was pronounced with a long /A/, the emphasis was on the first syllable, and it was always proceeded by the word "the". Somehow that sounded much more serious to us kids than if it had been pronounced as it was intended to be. Big Bubba also thought that eating watermelon and drinking co-cola would result in the acute colic and sure death. Big Bubba was not always right, but he was certainly confident in his opinions. He was the oldest of the Robinson siblings, after all.
The first time Del came to the farm during peanut harvest, he asked if he could buy some of the freshly harvested peanuts. This presented a problem. On the one hand, they didn't want to offend a potential prospect. The Robinson women of the previous generation were both old maids, after all. On the other hand, they didn't want to kill him off, and it was well known that green peanuts would, well, you know... What to do? What to do? He assured Mother and Daddy and my uncle garland that his family had eaten boiled green peanuts forever without a bit of trouble, so in the end, he was given a mess of peanuts to take to his parents, but not before yet another warning that they would get the Acute colic and surely die.
The first time I ate Mrs. Williams' boiled peanuts, I was surprised at how good they tasted - very much like black eyed peas. What's not to like? The Williams would assure you that my assessment is just wrong, of course. I learned to make them according to her method, so, once again, it's more a process than a recipe.
Now a days I have seen boiled peanuts for sale in service stations in Virginia, so I guess that as we began to travel more, brave Virginians decided that if they didn't kill everybody else, they wouldn't kill us either.
A man in Huntsville, Alabama used to sell them by the "dip" from an iron pot by the side of the road, and Del swears they were great, but I could not make myself eat anything that came out of that nasty looking slimy water. One of Del's great pleasures was to take northern visiters to the University out to a really nice lunch and then drive them by for a dip of boiled peanuts. I don't know that he ever converted anyone, but he never failed to amuse himself.
Boiled peanuts:
2 lb. GREEN peanuts - dried or roasted will not do, so don't even try
1 3/4 - 2 cups salt
water to cover peanuts by 2 at least 2 inches.
Dissolve 1 3/4 cups salt in a couple of gallons of water. Add peanuts and add more water as needed to have them covered by at least 2 inches. Mrs. Williams always put a heat safe plate on top to keep the peanuts from floating to top of water. Cover pot turn heat to high until the water boils. Reduce the heat so the water simmers. Stir every 20 minutes or so and be sure to add more water to keep level 2 inches above the peanuts. Be sure to bring water back to boil each time you add water and then reduce to simmer.
After about 4 hours, check one of the peanuts to see if it is beginning to taste salty. If not, add the remaining 1/4 cup salt. Cook for 2 more hours and check for desired texture. Ms. Williams cooked them until they were quite tender, so it could take as much as 7-8 hours. She would taste for salt, and if they weren't salty enough, she would leave them in the liquid in the refrigerator over night. Then she would drain them and store them tightly covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. She often put some in zip lock bags and froze them for later. I'm guessing she always cooked a large batch because it took so long to cook them.
You can eat the peanuts hot or cold, and they are kind of messy. The proper way of eating seems to be to open the peanut, slurp up the nuts and the liquid in the shell, chew and swallow.
Note: Treat the green peanuts as you would other fresh vegetables. Refrigerate as soon as you get home and refrigerate cooked peanuts for 3-4 days, or freeze. I suppose you could freeze raw green peanuts in the shell, but I don't really know.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Baked Tomatoes
Our meals at home were often heavy on the vegetables with small amounts of meat. One such meal that I particularly remember was pretty much always the same - baked tomatoes, black eyed or sugar crowder peas and collard greens with slices of home cured bacon and biscuits. We frequently had either peas or greens without the tomatoes, but never the reverse.
So far as I know, mother made these by eye rather than by recipe, so like so many things, it's more a process than a recipe.
Baked Tomatoes as Mother made them
1 quart home canned tomatoes with liquid
1/2 cup sugar or more if tomatoes seem quite acid
3-4 left over biscuits or slices of cold toast
salt and pepper
1/4-1/2 cup water as needed
1 T butter
Pour tomatoes into greased or sprayed casserole dish. Slice or quarter them. Stir in sugar and taste to be sure they are somewhat sweet but not dessert sweet. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Rough chop or tear bread into chunks and stir into tomato mixture. Be gentle so that neither the bread nor the tomatoes fall apart. It should be somewhat soupy. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water if needed. Dot the butter over surface of casserole.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and bread has absorbed some but not all the liquid. You want the tomatoes to be juicy/syrupy. Add more water if needed.
Note: If I were making these, I would need to use store bought canned tomatoes. I would use half the juice from the can and half water, unless the tomatoes were packed in really thin juice.
So far as I know, mother made these by eye rather than by recipe, so like so many things, it's more a process than a recipe.
Baked Tomatoes as Mother made them
1 quart home canned tomatoes with liquid
1/2 cup sugar or more if tomatoes seem quite acid
3-4 left over biscuits or slices of cold toast
salt and pepper
1/4-1/2 cup water as needed
1 T butter
Pour tomatoes into greased or sprayed casserole dish. Slice or quarter them. Stir in sugar and taste to be sure they are somewhat sweet but not dessert sweet. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Rough chop or tear bread into chunks and stir into tomato mixture. Be gentle so that neither the bread nor the tomatoes fall apart. It should be somewhat soupy. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water if needed. Dot the butter over surface of casserole.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and bread has absorbed some but not all the liquid. You want the tomatoes to be juicy/syrupy. Add more water if needed.
Note: If I were making these, I would need to use store bought canned tomatoes. I would use half the juice from the can and half water, unless the tomatoes were packed in really thin juice.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Okra - Poor Maligned Veggie.
Will everyone who considers okra inedible please say "aye"? Now, how many of you have actually tried it? Ha! I thought so. Many of you have just been put off by by what you've heard - mushy, stringy, slimy. I have even heard an indelicate person use a slang word for that which is produced by a runny nose.
Del and I grew up eating okra. Mother either fried it or made it with tomatoes. She also made okra pickles with dill. By the time I came into the family, Mrs. Williams put it in soup or stewed it. She usually put whole pods on top of her butter beans, but she always took them out and served them in a separate dish because Mr. Williams didn't like the way okra made the beans taste. Or he did if he knew they had been cooked together. Just one of the little secrets cooks keep from their families.
Both our families grew okra and used it fresh. I buy it frozen, and usually keep both the sliced, but unbreaded, and the whole pods in the freezer. When David, Tracy and Rosa come, I usually fry it, but I also use it in soup and stew whole pods or cook them on butter beans.
Here are the ways I learned to cook okra. If you try them and still aren't converted, you might want to grow a few plants anyway, because dried okra pods are beautiful in arrangements. When picking fresh okra, you might want to wear long sleeves and gardening gloves, because it is an itchy plant.
Fried Okra (Serves 6)
1 lb. frozen sliced okra
1/2 cup white stone ground corn meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
healthy shake of ground red pepper
Oil to barely cover bottom of iron frying pan or other pan large enough to to hold okra in a single layer (You know your frying pans. Some may require more oil than mine do,)
Remove okra from freezer to refrigerator to partially thaw. When ready to cook, put into paper bag with meal and seasonings. Shake, shake, shake.
Put enough oil into frying pan to cover bottom of pan. It will be shiny but not of any depth. Turn onto medium high heat. Check temperature by putting a tiny pinch of meal into pan. If it sizzles, shake bag again and pour everything into the pan. Spread okra into single layer, if possible. Cook on medium heat, turning as it begins to brown. Much of the meal will fall off the okra, but that is to be expected. Continue to cook, turning frequently, until the meal is brown. You may need to turn the heat down if it browns too quickly. You want the okra to be tender and the meal brown, not burned. Taste from time to time to check texture.
Note: This will not look at all like the okra you get in Cracker Barrel and such, but the green taste of the okra comes through and it is not greasy.
Boiled Okra
Fresh or frozen okra pods, partially thawed, if frozen
Salted and peppered water to barely cover
Depending upon size of okra pods, allow 3-4 per person. Simmer, covered, for 5 -10 minutes. The okra is done when the tip of a paring knife pierces it easily. Start testing for doneness after 5 minutes. You want it to be tender but not cooked to death. Do not let it come to a full boilor cook it too long, and do be sure to gently turn it instead of stirring because the pods will break and the result will be slimy and mushy. I'm okay with that, but I expect that for the uninitiated, it would be rather like eating a raw oyster, without risking Hep whichever letter. Because of my work and our travels, I've had my shots, but here are not enough shots in the world to persuade me to eat one of those, so I can't say for sure. Apply some kind of heat, however, and it's a whole other story. But I digress.
Note: You can also lay the pods on top of your fresh/frozen butter beans (baby limas), but be sure to check often because they will cook much quicker than the beans. To be fair to Mr. Williams, the flavor of the beans will be slightly changed.
Stewed okra
Mother didn't write down a recipe for stewed okra, so this is a method based on my memory of what she did, substituting store bought/short cut ingredients.
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup frozen sliced okra
1/4 cup frozen corn (my addition)
salt and pepper
hot sauce
Combine tomatoes and okra and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Check after 3 minutes for tender/crisp texture. Add corn and simmer for 2 minutes. Add salt to taste and a good bit of black pepper. You can also add some garlic powder and onion powder if you like. Add a couple of big shakes of hot sauce or allow each person to add it at the table.
Okra in Soup
Add either okra slices or pods to soup during the last 10 minutes of cooking. I prefer slices because they are more forgiving of over cooking and freeze well if you make a big batch of soup.
Dilled okra
I haven't made pickles or canned anything else since I used to help Mother, so I don't know the modern rules for safety, and would hesitate to tell anyone how to proceed, except to the grocery store. Up Nawth, you may have to go to a fancy store, but I used to buy them in Ohio without difficulty.
Del and I grew up eating okra. Mother either fried it or made it with tomatoes. She also made okra pickles with dill. By the time I came into the family, Mrs. Williams put it in soup or stewed it. She usually put whole pods on top of her butter beans, but she always took them out and served them in a separate dish because Mr. Williams didn't like the way okra made the beans taste. Or he did if he knew they had been cooked together. Just one of the little secrets cooks keep from their families.
Both our families grew okra and used it fresh. I buy it frozen, and usually keep both the sliced, but unbreaded, and the whole pods in the freezer. When David, Tracy and Rosa come, I usually fry it, but I also use it in soup and stew whole pods or cook them on butter beans.
Here are the ways I learned to cook okra. If you try them and still aren't converted, you might want to grow a few plants anyway, because dried okra pods are beautiful in arrangements. When picking fresh okra, you might want to wear long sleeves and gardening gloves, because it is an itchy plant.
Fried Okra (Serves 6)
1 lb. frozen sliced okra
1/2 cup white stone ground corn meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
healthy shake of ground red pepper
Oil to barely cover bottom of iron frying pan or other pan large enough to to hold okra in a single layer (You know your frying pans. Some may require more oil than mine do,)
Remove okra from freezer to refrigerator to partially thaw. When ready to cook, put into paper bag with meal and seasonings. Shake, shake, shake.
Put enough oil into frying pan to cover bottom of pan. It will be shiny but not of any depth. Turn onto medium high heat. Check temperature by putting a tiny pinch of meal into pan. If it sizzles, shake bag again and pour everything into the pan. Spread okra into single layer, if possible. Cook on medium heat, turning as it begins to brown. Much of the meal will fall off the okra, but that is to be expected. Continue to cook, turning frequently, until the meal is brown. You may need to turn the heat down if it browns too quickly. You want the okra to be tender and the meal brown, not burned. Taste from time to time to check texture.
Note: This will not look at all like the okra you get in Cracker Barrel and such, but the green taste of the okra comes through and it is not greasy.
Boiled Okra
Fresh or frozen okra pods, partially thawed, if frozen
Salted and peppered water to barely cover
Depending upon size of okra pods, allow 3-4 per person. Simmer, covered, for 5 -10 minutes. The okra is done when the tip of a paring knife pierces it easily. Start testing for doneness after 5 minutes. You want it to be tender but not cooked to death. Do not let it come to a full boilor cook it too long, and do be sure to gently turn it instead of stirring because the pods will break and the result will be slimy and mushy. I'm okay with that, but I expect that for the uninitiated, it would be rather like eating a raw oyster, without risking Hep whichever letter. Because of my work and our travels, I've had my shots, but here are not enough shots in the world to persuade me to eat one of those, so I can't say for sure. Apply some kind of heat, however, and it's a whole other story. But I digress.
Note: You can also lay the pods on top of your fresh/frozen butter beans (baby limas), but be sure to check often because they will cook much quicker than the beans. To be fair to Mr. Williams, the flavor of the beans will be slightly changed.
Stewed okra
Mother didn't write down a recipe for stewed okra, so this is a method based on my memory of what she did, substituting store bought/short cut ingredients.
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup frozen sliced okra
1/4 cup frozen corn (my addition)
salt and pepper
hot sauce
Combine tomatoes and okra and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Check after 3 minutes for tender/crisp texture. Add corn and simmer for 2 minutes. Add salt to taste and a good bit of black pepper. You can also add some garlic powder and onion powder if you like. Add a couple of big shakes of hot sauce or allow each person to add it at the table.
Okra in Soup
Add either okra slices or pods to soup during the last 10 minutes of cooking. I prefer slices because they are more forgiving of over cooking and freeze well if you make a big batch of soup.
Dilled okra
I haven't made pickles or canned anything else since I used to help Mother, so I don't know the modern rules for safety, and would hesitate to tell anyone how to proceed, except to the grocery store. Up Nawth, you may have to go to a fancy store, but I used to buy them in Ohio without difficulty.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Do You Remember the First Valentine Your Dear One Sent You?
I received my first Valentine from Del 46 years ago when we were freshmen at Richmond, and I have never forgotten it. It was so sweet, so tender, so romantic. Unfortunately, it didn't survive our many moves, but who could forget the beautiful words? "Wax in my ears, lint in my belly button and you in my heart." It was accompanied by a huge lavender heart shaped box of candy with a huge fake orchid on it. He confessed some years later that he bought it because it offered the best value for the money. The man is a true romantic. What more can I say?
Actually, he and some of his family members have a warped sense of humor when it comes to choosing cards. They spend more time picking out the perfect insulting card than I do a pair of shoes. He always picked out David's Valentine card, but one year he was out of town, and I did it. David opened the sweet card I had bought and asked if his dad was mad with him. It seems he thought his dad hadn't cared enough to spend the time to look for the truly obnoxious.
We didn't have special Valentines Day plans tonight. Del had oral surgery yesterday to remove a tooth and the impacted wisdom tooth under it. They hadn't wanted to remove it back in the olden days, but the time had come. The wisdom tooth left a small hole in his sinuses, so he now is the only one in the family who has had a collegen (sp?) injection. The menu for this evening was mashed potatoes with gravy. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, and lunch was macaroni and cheese and yogurt.
He has done quite well, although when we were trying to wake him up he kept talking about Boy Scouts on bikes who were trying to help senior citizens cross the street and telling the nurse he was a cheap drunk. She assured him that on this particular occasion he was quite an expensive drunk.
I saw this recipe on the Hershey's site, but haven't tried it. I'm thinking it could not possibly be anything but wonderful.
Recipe:
28 hersheys milk chocolate kisses
10 caramel filled or other type filled kisses
2 T. plus 2 t. whipping cream
1 cup ground nuts or some other covering that goes well with the type filled kiss you are using
Put the 28 kisses in microwave safe bowl with cream and nuke for 1 minute. Stir and continue to heat in 15 second bursts as needed. Cover and refriderate for 4-6 hours, or until firm.
Use 1 T. chocolate mixture to completely cover filled kiss, gently rolling to form a ball without mashing the filled kiss out of shape.
Roll in ground nuts or whatever coating goes well with the filled kiss you chose.
Refrigerate until firm, but remove from frige 5 minutes before serving for better flavor.
Sounds yummy to me. If you make them, please let me know how they turned out.
Actually, he and some of his family members have a warped sense of humor when it comes to choosing cards. They spend more time picking out the perfect insulting card than I do a pair of shoes. He always picked out David's Valentine card, but one year he was out of town, and I did it. David opened the sweet card I had bought and asked if his dad was mad with him. It seems he thought his dad hadn't cared enough to spend the time to look for the truly obnoxious.
We didn't have special Valentines Day plans tonight. Del had oral surgery yesterday to remove a tooth and the impacted wisdom tooth under it. They hadn't wanted to remove it back in the olden days, but the time had come. The wisdom tooth left a small hole in his sinuses, so he now is the only one in the family who has had a collegen (sp?) injection. The menu for this evening was mashed potatoes with gravy. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, and lunch was macaroni and cheese and yogurt.
He has done quite well, although when we were trying to wake him up he kept talking about Boy Scouts on bikes who were trying to help senior citizens cross the street and telling the nurse he was a cheap drunk. She assured him that on this particular occasion he was quite an expensive drunk.
I saw this recipe on the Hershey's site, but haven't tried it. I'm thinking it could not possibly be anything but wonderful.
Recipe:
28 hersheys milk chocolate kisses
10 caramel filled or other type filled kisses
2 T. plus 2 t. whipping cream
1 cup ground nuts or some other covering that goes well with the type filled kiss you are using
Put the 28 kisses in microwave safe bowl with cream and nuke for 1 minute. Stir and continue to heat in 15 second bursts as needed. Cover and refriderate for 4-6 hours, or until firm.
Use 1 T. chocolate mixture to completely cover filled kiss, gently rolling to form a ball without mashing the filled kiss out of shape.
Roll in ground nuts or whatever coating goes well with the filled kiss you chose.
Refrigerate until firm, but remove from frige 5 minutes before serving for better flavor.
Sounds yummy to me. If you make them, please let me know how they turned out.
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Wine of the South
I recently read or heard, I can't remember which, that sweet tea is the "wine of the south." Tea certainly flowed in our Southern Baptist home. When I say tea, I mean ice tea (without the /d/), because in our house, that really went without saying, 2 meals a day 12 months a year. Hot tea was, and except for Chinese tea, pretty much still is, associated in my mind with colds and sore throats.
The first time I recall being regularly offered a choice of coffee or hot tea was when Del was in the Army, and I had to attend the "ladies" events. We wives were even given a little etiquette book that among other things, spelled out who would pour the tea and coffee for the first five or so minutes of the party. It was considered an honor, believe it or not. The wife of the highest ranking officer was given the honor of pouring one, and the wife of the second highest ranking officer poured the other. I wish I still had the book, because it really was a hoot, and because I don't recall whether tea out ranks coffee or coffee out ranks tea. After the first few minutes, others at the party took turns pouring. I always crossed my fingers that I would not be chosen, being left handed as I am. The tea party habit continued to some extent while we were at Washington and Lee in Lexington, Va., but not much after that.
Until I started hanging around with the Williams family, I don't think I was aware that there are two strong schools of thought about what one means when one says "tea." In my family, it meant unsweetened tea, with sugar available for those who preferred it and lemon if we had company. Daddy put sugar in his, but neither Mother or I did. I can't remember about Bubba. I assumed that everybody made it that way, but have learned recently that some of my childhood friends in Emporia grew up with sweet tea.
Mrs. Williams made sweet tea. My memory is that she always used the same pitcher and had a special large spoon she used to measure 3 heaping spoons of sugar into the hot tea. The family had quite a shock one night when I made the tea with 3 of the big spoons of salt insead of sugar. Keeping salt in a canister that matched all the others was not something I had ever seen before, never mind that it was clearly labeled.
I thought her tea was pretty sweet until I met the Georgia relatives' tea. One aunt made it so sweet that I swear I could feel grains between my teeth.
I don't remember the preferences of other family members on either side at this point, but I make it plain, and David and I always drink unsweet - I with lemon and he without. Del drinks it unsweet with lemon at home, because "it isn't the same when you stir sugar into cold tea", and happily drinks sweet with lemon when we are out. Tracy doesn't drink tea, but her mother makes sweet tea most of the time, I think.
Del will drink tea anywhere, but I am an ice tea snob and firmly believe that with almost no exceptions, Chic-fila being one, restaurants above the Mason Dixon Line just can't make ice tea fit to drink. An excellent reason to stick to wine, if you ask me.
Ice Tea Recipe
6-8 tea bags (Mother usually used Luzianne or Lipton)
4 cups hot water
4 cups cold water
Bring 4 cups of water to boil, add tea bags, remove from heat
Let steep 10 minutes only, remove bags
Pour cold water into pitcher, so pitcher won't break
Pour in the hot tea solution
Serve over ice cubes
Sweet tea
(a guess, based on the size of Mrs. Williams' big spoon)
6-8 tea bags
4 cups hot water
4 cups cold water
Bring 4 cups water to boil.
Add tea bags, remove from heat
Let steep 10 minutes, remove bags
Add 3/4 to 1 cup sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.
Pour cold water into pitcher. AAdd hot mixture.
Serve over ice cubes.
Sun tea
It got to be quite the thing to make sun tea when I was a teenager. Mother used to put a covered pitcher out on the picnic table where the tea would steep to desired color. While none of us ever got sick from drinking it, the food people now tell us that sun tea is risky because tea leaves may carry bacteria that would not be killed by this method. It really is a wonder we all lived to grow up, don't you think?
Hot tea
I just dunk a bag into a cup of hot water. Friend Sandy, a tea drinker, has experienced my attempt to make a pot of hot tea. My heart was in the right place, but, bless my heart, that's all you could say about it.
The first time I recall being regularly offered a choice of coffee or hot tea was when Del was in the Army, and I had to attend the "ladies" events. We wives were even given a little etiquette book that among other things, spelled out who would pour the tea and coffee for the first five or so minutes of the party. It was considered an honor, believe it or not. The wife of the highest ranking officer was given the honor of pouring one, and the wife of the second highest ranking officer poured the other. I wish I still had the book, because it really was a hoot, and because I don't recall whether tea out ranks coffee or coffee out ranks tea. After the first few minutes, others at the party took turns pouring. I always crossed my fingers that I would not be chosen, being left handed as I am. The tea party habit continued to some extent while we were at Washington and Lee in Lexington, Va., but not much after that.
Until I started hanging around with the Williams family, I don't think I was aware that there are two strong schools of thought about what one means when one says "tea." In my family, it meant unsweetened tea, with sugar available for those who preferred it and lemon if we had company. Daddy put sugar in his, but neither Mother or I did. I can't remember about Bubba. I assumed that everybody made it that way, but have learned recently that some of my childhood friends in Emporia grew up with sweet tea.
Mrs. Williams made sweet tea. My memory is that she always used the same pitcher and had a special large spoon she used to measure 3 heaping spoons of sugar into the hot tea. The family had quite a shock one night when I made the tea with 3 of the big spoons of salt insead of sugar. Keeping salt in a canister that matched all the others was not something I had ever seen before, never mind that it was clearly labeled.
I thought her tea was pretty sweet until I met the Georgia relatives' tea. One aunt made it so sweet that I swear I could feel grains between my teeth.
I don't remember the preferences of other family members on either side at this point, but I make it plain, and David and I always drink unsweet - I with lemon and he without. Del drinks it unsweet with lemon at home, because "it isn't the same when you stir sugar into cold tea", and happily drinks sweet with lemon when we are out. Tracy doesn't drink tea, but her mother makes sweet tea most of the time, I think.
Del will drink tea anywhere, but I am an ice tea snob and firmly believe that with almost no exceptions, Chic-fila being one, restaurants above the Mason Dixon Line just can't make ice tea fit to drink. An excellent reason to stick to wine, if you ask me.
Ice Tea Recipe
6-8 tea bags (Mother usually used Luzianne or Lipton)
4 cups hot water
4 cups cold water
Bring 4 cups of water to boil, add tea bags, remove from heat
Let steep 10 minutes only, remove bags
Pour cold water into pitcher, so pitcher won't break
Pour in the hot tea solution
Serve over ice cubes
Sweet tea
(a guess, based on the size of Mrs. Williams' big spoon)
6-8 tea bags
4 cups hot water
4 cups cold water
Bring 4 cups water to boil.
Add tea bags, remove from heat
Let steep 10 minutes, remove bags
Add 3/4 to 1 cup sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.
Pour cold water into pitcher. AAdd hot mixture.
Serve over ice cubes.
Sun tea
It got to be quite the thing to make sun tea when I was a teenager. Mother used to put a covered pitcher out on the picnic table where the tea would steep to desired color. While none of us ever got sick from drinking it, the food people now tell us that sun tea is risky because tea leaves may carry bacteria that would not be killed by this method. It really is a wonder we all lived to grow up, don't you think?
Hot tea
I just dunk a bag into a cup of hot water. Friend Sandy, a tea drinker, has experienced my attempt to make a pot of hot tea. My heart was in the right place, but, bless my heart, that's all you could say about it.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Maybe I should read my own blog - Chicken Muddle Revisited
It seems that I did post the recipe for chicken muddle on this blog in September and promptly forgot. It is well worth making and since you end up with such a large quantity you can tuck it away in the freezer and enjoy the results of your work for a good while. I made it in my huge Oster Roaster this time and it was much less work. I just cranked it up as high as it would go and cooked it without the top so the liquid would evaporate. Got to be able to eat it with a fork, as Greensville Countians all know.
As we were filling the kitchen sinks with ice to cool the muddle, I remembered that when Mother and Daddy made the big iron pot of muddle, they used to buy ice to fill the thoroughly scrubbed bath tub and stick the little containers of muddle down in it so they would cool quickly and safely before putting into the big chest freezer.
That's pretty much all I know about chicken muddle, and I will try to keep better track of what I already posted, from now on.
As we were filling the kitchen sinks with ice to cool the muddle, I remembered that when Mother and Daddy made the big iron pot of muddle, they used to buy ice to fill the thoroughly scrubbed bath tub and stick the little containers of muddle down in it so they would cool quickly and safely before putting into the big chest freezer.
That's pretty much all I know about chicken muddle, and I will try to keep better track of what I already posted, from now on.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Welcome 2012!
Del and I had a fun time ringing in the New Year at our favorite hangout in Carrollton, listening to Bluegrass and drinking from Mason jars - not the new fangled "upscale" pseudo redneck wine glasses made of jars glued to candle sticks that my niece and nephew gave me as a joke, I think. These were plain pint Mason jars as used by real rednecks. They don't fill them with wine, of course, but the pour is rather substantial. Note to self: One is enough for me, even when I'm a passenger.
David, Tracy and Rosa came for lunch after church on Sunday. We were always traveling back to Ohio on New Year's, so this was the first time Tracy and Rosa were subjected to Robinson Rules for Jan. 1. It's the only time I can think of when I consider it appropriate to invite friends and family to dinner, serve them foods I know they don't care for and bully them into eating them.
Our New Year's Day must haves are hog jaw, collards or turnip salad and black eyed peas. Because I knew those might be received with bounded enthusiasm, I also made a pork loin and fried okra and offered some of the chicken muddle I made on Saturday. David, Del and I enjoyed the peas, and I enjoyed the greens. Tracy and Rosa each ate one pea and one piece of greens. Everyone ate a piece of hog jaw, probably because I called it bacon. Rose dissected hers to remove every scrap of fat, and David asked me later what it really was. He probably thought bacon was too simple to be a superstition. Plus, he probably remembers that I told him liver was cowboy steak. It worked until Del came home unexpectedly and spilled the beans.
Fortunately, the okra and the chicken muddle saved us from breaking out the peanut butter. Nobody loves okra or chicken muddle like our Rosa.
The recipe for chicken muddle can be found at
http://bettyslithuanianadventure.blogspot.com/
My fried okra, made with frozen grocery store okra, is not as good as the home grown made by my mother and Tracy's mother, but it is pretty good.
Fried Okra Recipe
1 bag frozen, cut up unbreaded okra, semi thawed
1/2 cup white, plain stone ground corn meal
salt and pepper
oil to just cover bottom of large heavy frying pan (iron is best)
Open okra bag and pour in the meal, salt and pepper. Hold bag closed and shake, shake shake. Let sit while heating the oil until it sizzles when a piece of okra is dropped into pan. Give the bag of okra a good shake and pour in enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a single layer of okra. It's fine to crowd the pan and to pour in the loose meal. Let cook on medium heat until the bottom is brown. Then turn the okra and allow to brown on the other side. Once that happens, start to stir so that the okra will cook evenly all over without burning. Some of the browned meal will separate from the okra, but it will be delicious. We like it really brown and crunchy.
Note: Okra cooked this way will not look at all like the deep fried okra served in some restaurants, but it really allows the flavor of the okra to come through.
David, Tracy and Rosa came for lunch after church on Sunday. We were always traveling back to Ohio on New Year's, so this was the first time Tracy and Rosa were subjected to Robinson Rules for Jan. 1. It's the only time I can think of when I consider it appropriate to invite friends and family to dinner, serve them foods I know they don't care for and bully them into eating them.
Our New Year's Day must haves are hog jaw, collards or turnip salad and black eyed peas. Because I knew those might be received with bounded enthusiasm, I also made a pork loin and fried okra and offered some of the chicken muddle I made on Saturday. David, Del and I enjoyed the peas, and I enjoyed the greens. Tracy and Rosa each ate one pea and one piece of greens. Everyone ate a piece of hog jaw, probably because I called it bacon. Rose dissected hers to remove every scrap of fat, and David asked me later what it really was. He probably thought bacon was too simple to be a superstition. Plus, he probably remembers that I told him liver was cowboy steak. It worked until Del came home unexpectedly and spilled the beans.
Fortunately, the okra and the chicken muddle saved us from breaking out the peanut butter. Nobody loves okra or chicken muddle like our Rosa.
The recipe for chicken muddle can be found at
http://bettyslithuanianadventure.blogspot.com/
My fried okra, made with frozen grocery store okra, is not as good as the home grown made by my mother and Tracy's mother, but it is pretty good.
Fried Okra Recipe
1 bag frozen, cut up unbreaded okra, semi thawed
1/2 cup white, plain stone ground corn meal
salt and pepper
oil to just cover bottom of large heavy frying pan (iron is best)
Open okra bag and pour in the meal, salt and pepper. Hold bag closed and shake, shake shake. Let sit while heating the oil until it sizzles when a piece of okra is dropped into pan. Give the bag of okra a good shake and pour in enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a single layer of okra. It's fine to crowd the pan and to pour in the loose meal. Let cook on medium heat until the bottom is brown. Then turn the okra and allow to brown on the other side. Once that happens, start to stir so that the okra will cook evenly all over without burning. Some of the browned meal will separate from the okra, but it will be delicious. We like it really brown and crunchy.
Note: Okra cooked this way will not look at all like the deep fried okra served in some restaurants, but it really allows the flavor of the okra to come through.
Where was I before I Lost my Blogging Spirit?
Happy New Year, family and friends. I can't really say what happened to blogger me between Nov. 5 and now. We were out of town for a bit, including time with friends Tom and Sharon and Anita and Dave and a wonderful week with our friends Mark and Sandy in Vieques, but for some reason, or actually no reason, I just felt sort of "blah." My thoughts really didn't interest me, and I felt pretty sure they wouldn't interest anyone else. I would welcome ideas on why a person who has such a blessed life sometimes feels just "blah."
Anyhow, I will think back over the last couple of months of the year, dig out things and recipes of interest, and catch up over the next few weeks.
Anyhow, I will think back over the last couple of months of the year, dig out things and recipes of interest, and catch up over the next few weeks.
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