Wofford Citadel Tailgate - Bean Dip

It really is a small world and people everywhere really do have a lot in common. Everybody loves food, family, friends and - at least in our corner of the world - football.

The Wofford Citadel game is always a good one because both schools have a long history in South Carolina. This year the game was at Wofford and it was also homecoming weekend. And Halloween weekend. And it was a significant birthday for Wofford mom, Vikki.

So there were more than enough reasons for a big tailgate. Big hardly describes it. I think huge would be better. Everyone lost count but there were over 100 people at the tailgate. And it was a blast.

It started with Gary, the birthday girl's husband. Gary and Vikki live in Pennsylvania and wanted to bring ribs and pork to Shelby for David to cook in the big cooker. So the Pennyslvania people packed up the pork and arrived Friday night at our house to spend the night while the big cooker worked it's magic.

Saturday morning everyone started congregating at Lot E, the Wofford football parent parking lot. Since it was Halloween weekend, there were little trick-or-treaters wandering about and they stopped by all the tailgate spots for treats. David and Dale especially enjoyed talking with the trick-or-treaters!

It was another picture perfect day weather wise and Wofford came away with a big win. The game was good but didn't have a heart attack ending like last week at Elon. That was probably a good thing for our hearts because we worked them out pretty good with tailgate food.

After the game, the tailgate crowd grew and grew and included all the regulars and families of regulars plus visitors from Arizona and Texas and Pennsylvania and I'm not sure where else.

Scout, who is a four-legged regular, appeared in Wofford attire and didn't go away hungry. Neither did anyone else.

It was fun to have Quinn and Wil with us and then to find out Wil and regular tailgater, Gowan, had worked together.

It really is a small world.

Bean Dip

With all of the pork, I thought it would be good to have something on the lean protein side, so I made my version of Susan's bean dip. There are a million ways to make this and a million names for it. Some call it Texas Caviar.

Susan taught me how to make this a few years ago. I'm sure I don't do it just like she does because Susan is an intuitive cook like I am. Most of the time when we share a recipe, we just tell each other the major ingredients and kind of go from there.

If I am rushed for time or if I don't have fresh tomato or jalapeno, I substitute - my favorite ingredient - 1 can of rotel.

Main Ingredients:

1 can kidney beans
1 can chick peas
1 can black beans
1 can mexican corn
(if I have leftover corn from the garden I use it instead of canned)
Chopped red and yellow pepper
(the mexicorn is colorful but fresh peppers add crunch and color)
Chopped jalapeno
(fresh jalapeno not pickled - jalapeno is still growing in the garden)
Chopped onion
Chopped tomato
cumin
cilantro
(fresh is best and thankfully I still have some in my herb garden)
olive oil
vinegar
salt, pepper

Drain the beans and peas. Mix in the rest and serve with Tortilla chips.

Leadership and Biotechnology - Colorful Fruit Salad

Last week the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park held a ribbon cutting for the James B. Hunt Leadership building. Jim Hunt was the Governor of North Carolina for a total of 16 years. Dad likes to tell the story of being at an event one March several years ago when everyone wanted to talk about the NCAA Basketball Brackets - the Sweet Sixteen. Betty McCain, who can always be counted on for a fun speech, rose to say that when she thought of the Sweet Sixteen it was the 16 Years that Jim Hunt served as Governor. For many years before and after Jim Hunt was Governor, he has been a moving force in North Carolina - especially in visionary ideas for job growth and for education. Books have been and will continue to be written about his legacy and his leadership in North Carolina.

But Jim Hunt is also a cattle farmer. He and Dad have politics and cows in common. Jim's wife, Carolyn, and Mama also have alot in common because both are down to earth people who would just as soon be on the farm as in the middle of state politics. So while they all have the last name Hunt, they are not related by blood but by a very real and strong friendship.

In the early 1980s, Dad served in the NC legislature when Jim Hunt wanted to begin discussion of biotechnology as a new industry for North Carolina. Agriculture, Textiles and Furniture were the main industries in the state at the time and the idea was to create an incubator for future economic growth with a future industry. Some thought that biotechnology would most impact agriculture in terms of better crop production, better technology for animal feeds, fertilizers, etc. Most people really had never heard of biotech at the time and it was fairly difficult to explain. Dad, who has always enjoyed science, was asked along with others to study the idea of biotechnology as an industry in North Carolina. Many hours of meetings, discussions and preparations went into the study before the legislature approved the establishment of the NC Biotechnology Center.

Fast forward 30 years later and the impact on North Carolina is really beginning to show. And it really is just the beginning. Textiles and Furniture have taken a pretty hard hit and Biotechnology is a strong area of growth. Turns out agriculture is just a part of the Biotechnology scene. Big areas of growth also include production of new drugs, better ways to deliver drugs, new medical devices, and biofuels.

So through private public partnership, North Carolina is behind only California and Massachusetts in the United States and is known throughout the world as a place where the Biotechnology Industry is encouraged and supported. Over 225,000 jobs have been created in the biotech industry in NC and the growth in the last few years has been especially strong. Jobs are now growing all over the state in biotech fields and are expected to grow exponentially as the research and product development continues to turn into manufacturing jobs.

Dad still serves on the NC Biotechnology Board so he, Mama and I headed down to Raleigh last week for the ribbon cutting of the James B. Hunt Leadership Annex. While we were in Raleigh they decided to have a Ruby's Cooking at the Raleigh condo so we had several folks over for dinner and served the typical menu of homegrown corn, green beans and crowder peas, cornbread, ham biscuits, slaw and Roast Beef with carrots, potatoes and onions. I made an apple pie and decided very last minute to make a fruit salad.

Tuesday morning we headed off to the Biotech Board Meeting and Ribbon Cutting and it was such a celebration of visionary thinking that is working years later. US Senator Kay Hagan, Governor Bev Perdue, Lt. Governor Walter Dalton and others were there to thank those who had the vision and political will to make the Biotech Industry a reality in North Carolina. It took a lot of political courage to work for something that everyone knew would not produce instant gratification, but would take time to be successful in terms of jobs and economic growth.

I thought it was especially sweet when Jim Hunt recognized and thanked his former college professor from NC State for sharing the vision and for encouraging him to keep working toward it.

At the ribbon cutting someone mentioned that the essence of discovery is what you find when you are looking for something else. The important thing is that you have to be looking. In the 1980s leaders in North Carolina were looking for a new industry and new jobs and ways to improve lives with applied science.

So, Tuesday was a day to be proud of and it will be interesting to watch how biotechnology will continue to impact the lives of people in North Carolina and everywhere.

Really Quick and Colorful Fruit Salad

I made this fruit salad for Ruby's Cooking last Monday night because it fits Mama's requirements of colorful, pretty and healthy. And it fit my requirement that day for fast and easy.

1 can pineapple chunks
1 can mandarin orange segments
fresh blackberries
fresh blueberries
fresh strawberries

I use about a cup or so of the fresh fruit and just judge it by the size of the bowl and balance of colors.

Drain pineapple and mandarin oranges in a colander and then put in a pretty glass bowl. Wash and add blueberries and blackberries. Wash and cut strawberries in half lengthwise so you can still tell they are strawberry shaped. If they are huge cut them into fourths.

You can add sliced bananas or kiwi or other things if you want to but I didn't that day. It is a really fast and pretty salad and is good without added sugar or lemon juice or anything else. If you don't eat it all for dinner, it is great with vanilla yogurt or over toasted biscuits for breakfast.

Halloween - Chili with Beans on Rice

When Halloween rolls around I always think of Chili with Beans on Rice. And Mama dressed up like a witch. Mama even looks pretty as a witch.

Sometimes on Halloween if the mood struck she would get all dressed up, complete with black pointy hat, long curly black wig, black dress, black lace up boots and a great long cobweb broom. Then she would do a spiritual reading of the poem "Little Orphant Annie". Mama can be very spirited.

"Lil Orphant Annie" is a poem written in the 1800's by James Whitcomb Riley. Like all of the stories Mama chose to tell us this one had a very clear moral. It's about what can happen if little children don't behave themselves. It wasn't the least bit scary when Mama recited the poem because she has this playful way about her. And even when she said "an the goblins 'il git cha if you don't watch out!" everybody would laugh because Mama's eyes were laughing. She looked like the complete opposite of a scary witch. To be on the safe side though it seems like the little children always did behave ourselves. I mean themselves. Like Daddy says, Mama has always known how to get things done.

So Halloween brings back lots of fun memories of trick-or-treating in Lattimore. I loved to dress up like a witch and then go with my sisters and everybody else up and down Main Street. One of my favorite stops was to Aunt Hattie and Uncle Aubrey's House. We didn't just stop and yell trick or treat at the door. Aunt Hattie and Uncle Aubrey invited us in to talk and see our costumes and then we had hot apple cider and fresh popped pop corn. I loved this because they gave every one of us our own little brown bag of popcorn. And the cider smelled so good. One Halloween I had chicken pox and I remember just crying at the front door when everybody went out to trick or treat. When they got home, they brought a little brown bag of popcorn that Aunt Hattie had sent for me. Popcorn and hot cider always make me think of Aunt Hattie and Uncle Aubrey.

In the '60s we celebrated Halloween on West Warren Street and sometimes on Peach Street in Shelby. Big green army coats with deep pockets were a big part of those Halloweens.

In Chapel Hill in the '70s I experienced the thrill of Franklin Street on Halloween. My best costume back then was a Great Pumpkin outfit. I borrowed a huge orange pantsuit and then cut a basketball with eyes, nose, mouth and wore it over my head. My buddy, Gardner, and I had a rocking and rolling good time that year.

There have been a bunch of fun Halloweens since then. One year when our children were in elementary school, Margaret, Robin, Anne and I organized a Halloween parade in the neighborhood. We do love a parade. We decked out golf carts and marched around the neighborhood and then came back to our yard for a big covered dish supper. I made chicken wings and David made ribs and there were plenty of skeleton bones after that party.

Rick and June used to have a big Halloween party where everybody went all out for costumes. Sweet Potato Queens, Spud Studs, Lady Godiva's Ugly Sister, Sonny and Cher, and many others were memorable costumes. For a couple of years David and I dressed in togas and that is still one of my favorites because it is fun AND it is comfortable.

The boys have had some interesting Halloween parties at our house with some really creative costumes along with black lights, dry ice and dancing in the creepy basement.

It seems like this time of year Mama always cooked Chili with Beans and served it over Rice. She would add a salad and buttered, toasted hot dog buns. When we came in on October nights there was nothing better. You can adapt it as the spirit moves you!

Mama's Chili Recipe

1 lb ground beef - Mama uses Ground CHUCK. She says it is always important to brown it until it really is brown. If you are using a lean beef like chuck you may need to add a little oil to get it right.

1 cup chopped onions
#2 Can Kidney Beans (Mama says a #2 can means 15 oz)
#2 Can Tomatoes with Italian spices - just whatever you have
#2 Can Diced Tomatoes (I use petite diced with no salt added)
1 cup water and 1 cup beef broth
2 tsp chili powder - mama says she uses more than that
2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
garlic salt to taste

Saute onions and ground chuck until really well browned. This is key. Mama says it needs to be the color of Brown to be good. Then add the rest and simmer at least 30 minutes.

Mama says you can add green peppers and mushrooms and things it you want, but the simple way works just fine.

I have a vegetarian friend who does it this way too, but instead of ground chuck she sautes coarsely chopped squash and zucchini. I think she adds cumin also.

Some people add Rotel which really is the wonder ingredient. Sometimes I add black beans instead of kidneys.

Chili with Beans is good a million different ways, but please - Serve it over Rice. With buttered and toasted hot dog buns. So the goblins won't git cha. Happy Halloween!

Music and Mush and a Hail Mary Touchdown

As Fall Festivals go, the annual Livermush Festival/Art of Sound in Shelby is a tough one to miss. But, since we were heading out to Burlington for the Wofford-Elon football game, we had to miss this year's festival.

This festival started out years ago as the Livermush Expo. Livermush is indigenous to Cleveland County and is not the same as pate, pudding or scrapple. There is cornmeal in there along with most of a pig and it has more texture and alot of flavor. The idea of Livermush and Expo being used together was funny because livermush is not widely available outside of Cleveland County. I remember some fun folks working together on a slogan for the Livermush Expo. There were some good ones including Everything but the SQUEAL! but my favorite was Where SNOOTY is IN and we ain't Kiddin'! Think about that one.

Livermush is a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but those of us who love it have very specific ideas about how to cook it. Our family eats it sliced really thin and fried till crispy. If we are having it for breakfast it is great with grits and buttered toast. If it is a sandwich for lunch or supper it needs toasty bread and some mustard. There is Mack's and Jenkin's, and I'll keep to myself which I like best, but occasionally Daddy will host a Hog Killin' in Lattimore and somebody makes homemade livermush. If a Hog Killin' in Lattimore doesn't need it's own blog post, I don't know what does. Stay tuned for that - if you dare.

One last thing about livermush. It is a very inexpensive way to eat and, to eat something that is pretty darn greasy. In Lattimore, we were real proud of that. Not the least bit embarrassed and I can still hear how funny it was to hear David or Jim Martin pitch livermush saying, "It can feed a family of four for 79 cents!"

The Livermush Expo is now part of a bigger Fall Festival combined with a more recent event called The Art of Sound. All types of musicians perform in various venues around town and there is some really good music. This year I missed two I would have loved. My friend and neighbor, Frank Love's Orchestra played big band music. This is the real deal of the Big Band Sound and they do it first class all the way. Frank lives up the street from us and we have been lucky to hear him play at his house and at ours over the years. Frank is amazing. He is a great musician and a great orchestra leader with a ton of energy. He is also a former nationally ranked tennis player. I call him Uncle Frank and when someone wants to know how we are related I say we are related by choice.

The other musician that I missed seeing was David Lee. David worked at North Lake Club for years and always had such a sweet spirit. He also had alot of musical talent and was involved in what was as close to a Motown Sound as Shelby had in the 60s. I do love the Motown sound.

My husband, David, was most sorry to miss the Pet Parade at the festival. We have two pets, Dingo and Mr. Cat. Both are walkons to our family, but they are most definitely a part of the family. We are all crazy about these two, but David has a very connected and special relationship with both of them. Another blog of its own one day.

So, we missed the livermush, the music and the parade for just about the most exciting heartattack ending of a football game ever. Wofford and Elon had it all on the line on Saturday. Wofford dominated the first half and then Elon nearly dominated the second half. Football is so interesting. I remember when David IV played both soccer and football, then one day he told me he wanted to just play football. When I asked why, he said it was because every single player in every single position had a specific job to do on every single play. And when they all do their job and work together it feels like magic. There were some magical plays on Saturday.

David's high school coach, Coach Norman, used to say the team needs to work as one heartbeat. We were one heartbeat away from a heart attack on Saturday. With 9 seconds to go, the game was tied 21-21. Wofford had the ball in Elon territory and alot of us were wondering how we could live through a college overtime. In college overtime, each team gets one possession and if both score, they do it again until finally only one team scores. It is nerve wracking.

So with 9 seconds to go I was standing behind our quarterback's parents patting his dad on the shoulder and saying "maybe we can get close enough for a field goal". The ball was snapped and our jaws dropped open when Mitch launched a Hail Mary pass way down field and it seemed like an eternity as we watched Devin pull it out of the air. We held our breath and then the referee signaled a touchdown. Pandemonium broke out. Mitch's parents and Devin's parents happened to be sitting side by side and the euphoria exploded into pure jubiliation.

So, we didn't want to miss the fun in Shelby, but the fun in Burlington is a memory of a lifetime.

Full Moon Flash Party and Bulldog Madness

Whoever described living in a small town as sleepy didn't live here.

It's not that we can't find anything to do, it's that most of the time we can't figure out how to do it all.

Our neighbors are named David and Sally. Honest. And we are all into cooking. I think more than once there has been a mix up over whether something was happening at David and Sally's or David and Sally's. But Thursday neighbors David and Sally were involved in a Pig Pickin and Oyster Roast at a club near our neighborhood. So we were enlisted to bring the big cooker out to help cook some ribs and q. This all happened pretty fast and I started calling it a Flash Party. Kind of like the Flash Mob songs and dances that spring up out of nowhere.

When neighbor David does anything he does it full tilt. Before we could blink our eyes he had a really nice fire pit built to roast the oysters and a whole pig. He called a local band named Calm and Collective to come play without even knowing that my nephew, Jackson, is their keyboard and saxophone player. Calm and Collective is a group of very talented musicians who play what I think they call fusion reggae. It's reggae with a sax. If that won't make you want to groove, nothing will.

So Wednesday night we were getting excited about the Thursday flash party when we realized Bulldog Madness was also Thursday night. Bulldog Madness is an opening night party and pep rally for the Gardner Webb men's and women's basketball teams. It is all for fun and there are crazy games and dance offs and short scrimmages. We didn't want to miss it so we had to get our roller skates on.

Thursday was a very full day that started with David loading up the cooker with meat and heading off to work. His work days are always full of variety and this one was no exception. Among other things, it included a quick trip to Spartanburg for business combined with a quick lunch with David IV.

I started out with work at the Round Up. I needed to do what Jethro called ciphering. Sometimes I cipher about as good as Jethro did. Daddy wanted an update which he expresses as "where do we stand at the store?". Giving a report on finances always makes me think of the NC Trucking Association meetings. The long, detailed financial report would be written out, but when the treasurer stood to present it he would always say "We took some in. We spent some. And we've got a little bit left". Everybody loved how this shortened what could be a long, dry recitation of numbers. For some reason, it doesn't work quite that way at the Round Up Store. Usually Daddy already knows where we stand long before I cipher.

But once the ciphering was done Daddy and I went to lunch. At Wendy's of course. We sat at the sunny window side and talked about everything from politics to poker. Alice T was there with her father Jim and she said it must be father daughter day at Wendy's. I'm not sure who enjoyed this more - the fathers or the daughters.

Later in the day, David took the big cooker with the meat still cooking up to the fire pit where the flash party would break out. Then we left for Bulldog Madness where we enjoyed seeing all the cute students and being a part of the fun. They turned off the lights in the gym and with a spotlight on a balloon arch, loud music and red LED pom poms flashing all over the arena the 2010-2011 GWU Basketball team was introduced. All of the players, coaches and students were having fun and we are looking forward to what adventures await as Jay experiences being a part of this young Division I team.

Then we headed back to the Flash Party. Like any true Oyster and Pig Roast this party was outside in some of the most perfect fall night weather ever. Oh yeah, and there was also a clear sky with a full moon. I leaned over to neighbor David and said, "With a beautiful sky like that - no need to worry about more decorations." Neighbor David said with a twinkle in his eye, "Someone else was in charge of that decoration."

A lot of folks came out for the flash party at the firepit under the full moon. And to groove to reggae with a sax.

It's a small town but it's anything but sleepy around here.

Sasanquas and Lattimore Fall Festival - Pear Salad 60's Style

In mid October the sasanqua camellias, that Dr. Lampley planted in the 60s, begin to bloom in the back yard. The first year we lived on Fairway Drive, I was walking around outside and smelled a sweet smell almost like honeysuckle. I knew it was too late for honeysuckle to bloom so I looked around and noticed delicate white flowers and shiny green leaves in a hedge of tall trees. I cut off a few branches and brought them inside. I was familiar with japonica camellias that bloom in the spring, but fall camellias were new to me. Since then I've learned that sasanqua camellias are native to China and Japan and they do have an asian look to them.

So every year about this time, I look for the sasanquas to bloom and then bring some into the kitchen. They smell great and are so pretty and a distinct change from the brown, burgundy and orange of typical fall flowers.

Mid October also makes me think of Fall Festivals at Lattimore School. Lattimore school was closed years ago, but when we lived in the old Hewitt House it was a thriving school in the middle of Lattimore with 1st through 12th grades. We could walk to school from the Hewitt house on Main Street. On the way, we passed Grady and Euzelia Brooks house with their exotic bamboo garden and koi fish pond. We called it the goldfish pond. The fish were huge and the bamboo always seemed unusual on Main Street in Lattimore.

We also walked by the Willis house where Daddy's first cousin, Mary Elizabeth lived. Mary Elizabeth's nickname was Chuff but she didn't like it so we always tried to remember to call her Mary Elizabeth. She never married and when she died, I went to the auction of her possessions because I wanted something to remember her by. One treasure is a small flower vase that was in a box full of odds and ends. I bid on it and won the bid for $7.50. The vase is tall in the middle with 3 smaller ones hanging from tiny chains. Most any season, most anything out of the yard - herbs, flowers or a mixture of whatever is growing - makes a cute arrangment in this vase.

Bell's Antiques - Nishie called it Bellses- was on the way to school. They had all kinds of antiques that were brought from all over the place to sell in Lattimore. Right beside Lattimore School was Horne's grocery store where Jack Horne and Annie Mae had to contend with kids before and after school.

Lattimore had some great teachers and most of them knew every family in Lattimore. Mrs. Nina Toms was my second grade teacher and she had also taught my father and all four of my sisters. Mrs. Toms was an experienced teacher; organized, intelligent, in charge and calm. I can still see her face when we sat in her classroom in November 1963 and the loud speaker came on to announce that President Kennedy had been killed. Mrs. Toms hung her head and, quietly, big tears rolled down her face. I didn't grasp the full impact of the death of Camelot at the time, but I did know that if Mrs. Toms was showing this kind of emotion it was a really sad thing.

There was an auditorium with wooden chairs and this is where we had Assembly. We assembled for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes we heard lectures or watched performances and sometimes we performed. Mrs. Lattimore was our music teacher and she taught us to play recorder and sing alot of fun songs like The Happy Wanderer, This Land is Your Land and one about cowboy life with a verse that said "there's sand in the butter and flies in the meat. Press along to the old corral". The boys had a bass part when they were supposed to sing in deep voices "Press along cowboy. Press along cowboy". Most of them didn't have deep voices but the boys and sometimes the girls tried to make our voices really deep to sing that part.

We laughed alot when we were singing. Daddy reminded me the other day that we used to ride 2 at a time on the riding lawnmower singing while we mowed the grass. We sang really loud and tried our best to sing harmony. One of my favorites went like this -- "I See the Moon the Moon sees me, Down through the leaves of the old oak tree. Please let the light that shines on me, Shine on the one I Love OH OH OH OOOVEERR the mountains OVER the Sea. Back where my heart is longing to be. Please let the light that shines on me. Shine on the one I Love" Thank heavens the lawnmower was really loud too.

Lattimore school always had a Fall Festival. It was also a fundraiser, but I didn't know that at the time. For me it was just fun. They had games like a fishing game where you would cast a fishing line over a table and curtain and behind that curtain there was an adult who would hook a surprise treasure to your fish hook. It was always fun to see what you would reel back in.

The Fall Festival usually had a cake walk. A cake walk is alot like musical chairs but as Judy pointed out, it's better because you are playing to get to take a cake home. I had to consult the experts on how that cake walk actually worked and Libby quickly got the inside scoop from Ann at the beauty shop. Numbers are placed on the floor for however many cakes have been donated. Participants pay .25 or $1.00 or whatever the going fee might be to get a chance to walk around the numbers. One at a time a cake is chosen and a number is drawn to represent that cake. There can even be a little gamesmanship in that process. The music starts and the participants walk around the numbers. Whenever the song stops whoever is on that cake's number gets that cake. This continues until all cakes are gone. Sometimes they would up the ante when they got down to the last few cakes. Like musical chairs it can get pretty competitive and pretty funny.

It may be nostalgia, but it seems like the cafeteria at Lattimore School had pretty good food. At least some of it was homemade like the vegetable soup with a grilled cheese sandwich on white bread. I remember one thing I didn't like. There must have been a surplus of ripe olives because sometimes there were big green bowls of huge black olives on the tables. Ironically I love black olives now, but in grade school they were gross.

During Fall Festival the Lattimore School cafeteria would serve homemade chicken pie. There really is no better comfort food in the Fall or anytime. When I made Chicken Pie the other night (recipe in Oct 18 post), I needed a quick side dish. I was in a 60's nostalgic mood and a pear salad that Mama used to make came to mind. Fresh pears weren't always available back then and Mama used canned pears. I don't know if she made this up, but it is vintage Mama because it is fairly healthy and very pretty.

Mama's Pear Salad

Drain one can of pears and arrange pears on a plate
Put just a tiny dab of mayo in the center of each pear
Grate a small amount of Cheddar Cheese over the pears
Top each pear with a red cherry

Getting Together and Mixing it Up

Food and Football keep bringing people together. Actually a lot of things brought people together last week.

Tuesday night at the Cabin, music and politics brought people together. David Holt came to Lattimore to show support for his former student, Jim Proctor who is a candidate for NC House. David Holt is a teacher and musician and a lover of history. He demonstrated musical styles he had learned from all kinds of southerners including a 120ish year old black woman from Bamberg, SC named Susie Brunson. Susie taught David Holt how to play a washboard. With a block of wood stuck on one side and a tin cup on the other. He used something like thimbles on his fingers to strike the washboard ridges and then tapped the block of wood or the tin cup to make different rhythms and sounds. You could watch the audience and know that everybody saw a connection to the rhythms of rap. David Holt also played bones and guitar and Jim Proctor played a washtub bass, which really is a big tin washtub turned upside down with a string and a stick to simulate an upright bass. It was a fun and interesting night.

On Wednesday, tennis brought people together for a social match between 14 women from Hickory and 14 women from home. The home team lost the match, but it was still a good day. The weather was great fall tennis weather and it was fun to socialize outside over lunch.

Wednesday night we pulled off Sister's Birthday Surprise. This event felt alot like spontaneous combustion. It was amazing because what started out in our minds as a simple supper with Sister, within 24 hours, turned into a 12 person seated dinner with surprise guests Quinn and Mary Katherine. Bobby, 4/5s of the Mabry family, Jay and David IV managed to come from various directions to celebrate. Sister was so surprised and we were a little surprised ourselves that it all went so smoothly! But it worked out great, we all had fun and we were so glad to have the opportunity to be together.

Thursday night, Jay's friend Shelby arrived from Ann Arbor, Michigan to spend fall break with us. Jay started official basketball workouts Thursday night also so their schedule is packed but we have all enjoyed the time together.

Friday, Jay was at basketball practice so we took Shelby to meet David IV for dinner. The look on David IVs face was priceless when Shelby first wanted to know what pimiento cheese was and then asked about calabash chicken. It's interesting to realize that what seems so normal to us is so foreign to someone else.

Saturday we went to Spartanburg for the Wofford-Western Carolina Game. We decided not to take the grill this week so our tailgate was deli sandwiches, chips, kit kat bars and reese's cups! Thankfully others brought several kinds of chicken, bbq sandwiches, homemade potato soup and various other munchies.

Once again we were blessed with perfect fall football weather and we came away with a big win and a lot of exciting plays to rehash with everybody. We gathered as many players as we could and took a great group picture.

After the game, it was our turn to take the low country parents to a different world so we headed up to Lake Lure. It was dark when we got there Saturday night, but Sunday morning we wanted to take a boat ride around the lake. Walking down to the dock, Jamey wanted to know where the boat was. David explained it was INSIDE the boathouse. They weren't used to boat houses or to mountains surrounding the water. They almost lost their sea legs when they realized there are no tides to factor when docking the boat.

Sunday we got home in time to go with Shelby and Jay to Sushi Dojo for dinner. We had Bento Boxes and Teriyaki Chicken and shared our favorite appetizer called the Honeymoon. It's a tempura fried jalapeno half that is stuffed with crabmeat and cream cheese with a sweet spicy sauce. Jay wanted a Bulldog roll which is kind of like southern fried sushi. Mixing of cultures was the order of the week.

Chilean Miners and Chicken Pie

Wednesday October 13th was the day the whole world became one family. At least for a little while. 33 Chilean miners and their rescue team were brought one by one from 2,000 feet below ground back to the real world. They were shuttled to the earth's surface in a barely 13 foot tall, shoulder width capsule that was called the Phoenix - a name which David IV pointed out symbolizes rising from doom. Family, friends, co-workers, rescuers were there in person. Through television, the rest of the world was there too. Literally the rest of the world because there were news crews from everywhere including the US, Europe, Iran, Japan, Russia, North Korea. The Pope delivered Hope in Spanish, President Obama said the rescue had inspired the world. The Chilean President Sebastian Pinera personally welcomed every single person from the Phoenix with a hug and a smile.

Everywhere last week everyone shared in the joy of the rescue. Daddy talked about how it could change the world because anyone watching the rescue could see that with all the differences that people have we have alot of similarities too. And for that one day people were focusing on the similarities. It was on the faces of the families and friends while they waited for the Phoenix and the faces of everybody with each arrival. The human emotions were there - fear, grief, hope, joy, relief, gratitude, love. The faces told it all. And, as Daddy pointed out, it didn't change when you saw one rescue, because the next one was just as emotional.

I remember a conversation with Daddy years ago when he said he believed that everybody had something good to offer. Daddy really meant everybody - every human being on earth. Mama believes this too. We learned it as little children in a song in Sunbeams - red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.

Daddy grinned and said sometimes you have to look really hard to find the good, but if you look hard enough you can find it. It can be hard to see the good in all humans - in our own backyard or in other countries - but last week Chile made it easy.

As Jay posted on Facebook, it was 'a testament to teamwork, patience and faith'.

Teamwork, patience and faith. Viva Chile. Viva la difference.

So what does this have to do with chicken pie? For one thing chicken pie is one of the best comfort foods in the whole world. Mama found a recipe years ago called Chicken Pie to Die For. I remember the day she showed it to me and she kind of laughed and rolled her pretty brown eyes at the recipe's name. To Die For is a phrase that just wouldn't roll easily from Mama's tongue. I never did like the name, but the recipe really is great. It is easy, it is quick, it is delicious.

When the Chilean President hugged the returning miners, he said "Welcome to Life!"

So, in honor of the day the whole world was a family, and in gratitude to Mama and Daddy for teaching us about family and about life, from now on I will think of this recipe as Chicken Pie to LIVE For.

Chicken Pie to Live For

1/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
3 Tbsp flour
2 Cups Chicken Broth
salt, black pepper and white pepper - we like it peppery
3 Cups bite size shreds or chunks of chicken
Pie Crust

Saute onion in butter until transparent. Sprinkle flour and whisk vigorously while gradually adding broth. Continue to whisk over lower heat for 5 minutes until the gravy thickens.

Add salt, peppers and chicken. Stir together and remove to let cool. If you want a top and bottom crust, layer pie crust into pie plate and add chicken mixture. If not, just top with a crust. Usually, we do just a top crust. Sometimes we make faces or other things to decorate the pie crust. Bake 25 minutes until browned. Makes 4 servings.

Notes: Sometimes I use leftover chicken but mostly I use the bone in chicken breasts that come packaged three to a pack. I don't measure because it usually works out to about 3 cups. Susan taught me to cook chicken all day in a crockpot when I am busy. Just put it in the crockpot to cook, then remove, discard bones and shred with two forks. If you didn't plan ahead early enough for the crockpot, just put it in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes or so. Sis Davis always cooked chicken with celery and onion for flavor so I usually do this too. The broth is always better if it comes from bone in chicken. There's just something about the bones that make the broth tastier.

Enjoying the Moments - Blue Cheese Vidalia Onions

We are enjoying the moments.

It can be really hard to balance work, play, our boys schedules, our own schedules, other people's schedules and just daily schedules in general. If we aren't careful, we could just spin around here and there and react to whatever comes our way. But, we count our blessings that we have family, friends, and opportunities to balance.

Work and play converged for a 24 hour period in Raleigh last week. We attended a quick event downtown and then Jackie, David and I went to dinner where, for the first time ever, we tasted Lime Sorbet with Jalapenos. A very intriguing mix of sensations. We also previewed Will's athletic scarf prototype, attended to a variety of work details and visited Steve and Patty's homestead-in-progress at Deep River.

Wofford played Georgia Southern so we headed down to Beaufort, SC to congregate with a few other parents on the way to the game. Captain Jamey and Theresa were ready for the crew to arrive and had us moving all weekend in a laid back kind of way. They have a well designed home on the water surrounded by live oaks with spanish moss dangling from the tree limbs. I had that feeling of being in a foreign country again. I joked that we might have landed on Avatar's Pandora and I had an uncontrollable urge to hook up my hair to the spanish moss.

Then football pretty much took over. UNC-CH played Clemson in Chapel Hill, USC played Alabama in Columbia and Wofford played Georgia Southern in Statesboro. We had family and friends at all games and tried our best to keep up with it all.

It was a beautiful weekend for football everywhere, and Statesboro, Georgia was no exception. The game was amazing. Georgia Southern has a huge football tradition and this year both they and Wofford were 3-1. Georgia Southern has about 20,000 students while Wofford has about 1400. There were over 21,000 people in the stands and about 250 of us were Wofford fans. The excitement in the air was only matched by the fact that every single play on every single down was amazing. There was so much on the line for both teams. This was one of the best football games I have ever watched. The game became kind of a math problem when both teams missed extra points and then there was a safety and then a two point conversion that was missed and - well - you get the idea. Throughout the game I was trying to do the math to think whether we would go for first downs, or field goals or whatever.

Every single down was fun to watch. Both teams played their hearts out, made some mistakes, made some amazing plays, and when it was all said and done in the last minute Wofford won 33-31. It was a game for both teams and for everyone in the stands to remember.

On the ride home, I was reading game recaps on the Ipad. One Wofford defensive player had a quote that is still sticking in my mind. He was talking about the last few minutes when the defense really needed to contain Georgia Southern's offense for four full downs because if they got into field goal territory, Wofford would lose by one point. He said that everyone on defense was "just in the moment. We weren't thinking about which down it was. We were just going after the quarterback on every play."

I know how hard these college players work. And after you have worked and prepared and practiced, there comes a time when you just have to get in the moment and play. It's a great life lesson.

So this week, we worked and we played and we enjoyed the moments.

The trick is to keep it all in balance. This week brings more as we plan for a birthday dinner for Sister, an event at the cabin, several tennis matches, general work issues, another fun Wofford weekend and the official beginning of Jay's basketball season. Counting our blessings for every moment.

Blue Cheese Vidalia Onions

For Sister's birthday, I was struggling with a menu when Carol mentioned Blue Cheese Vidalia Onions. This is a recipe from the Fresh Market and Friends Cookbook. I love anything Fresh Market and everything that I have ever cooked from this cookbook is fairly easy and wonderful. I typically make this in the spring when Vidalia onions are coming in, but it is so good as a side dish with beef or pork and, besides, Sister loves blue cheese. It is ridiculously quick and easy and fairly inexpensive to make.

2 very large Vidalia Onions
6-8 oz blue cheese, crumbled (I buy it and crumble myself. You can also use Feta)
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dill weed (sometimes I have left this out)
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Slice onions into 1/4-1/2" slices and place in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Combine blue cheese, butter, Worcestershire, dill weed and pepper. Spread over onions. Bake for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Chill in the Air - Cowboy Soup

October brought a little chill in the air. Having been to the fair and eaten my share of fair food, I was feeling some guilt about the scales and my arteries. The combination of the cool weather and a need to eat something wholesome and healthy led me to make Mama's Homemade Vegetable Soup (Cowboy Soup).

We have been on the go so much that I also wanted a day to regroup. There was a chance of rain in Monday's forecast so I planned to spend all day Monday regrouping at home and making vegetable soup. Actually this soup doesn't take all day. Once you cut up the vegetables and cook for 20 minutes, you just add the rest of the ingredients and it can simmer for a while.

Turns out it didn't rain, but I followed thru with the rest of my plan.

Back in the day, Nishie used to make soup for us at the old house in Lattimore. We didn't love the idea of vegetable soup back then, so Nishie called it Cowboy Soup. Nishie was such a good salesman. She made everything fun.

Miraculously Cowboy Soup was one of our favorite things from then on. I'm pretty sure Nishie didn't have a recipe, but used whatever was leftover from Sunday lunch. It was tomato based and had all kinds of vegetables and always okra.

Mama didn't have a recipe either, but she has made soup so many times that she and Daddy have written down a framework for how she does it. She tweaks it alot with different spices and alternative vegetables and occasionally with beef.

As always, cutting up the vegetables uniformly is a big deal. This is for two reasons - they cook more evenly and they meet Mama's pretty requirement.

This recipe makes a big pot of soup. This week, David and I had it for dinner, then Sister and Mrs. Sarazen and I had it for lunch, and then I put the rest in a quart mason jar to take to Chris for his birthday. I'm sure Daddy has figured out the cost per serving, but I don't have that info at my fingertips. No doubt it is a really inexpensive way to eat something wonderful and healthy.


Mama's Homemade Vegetable Soup (Cowboy Soup)

3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 onions, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cans beef broth
2 Cans diced tomatoes
1 package of frozen corn (for Mom this means 1 pint ziplock bag of homegrown frozen corn but you can use grocery store corn if you don't have your own)

In large soup pot, put carrots, potatoes and onions and some water and 1 can of beef broth to cover. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Remove half of the vegetables and puree, then return to the pot. This makes the soup thicker. I don't do this step sometimes and just go with thinner soup. I like thin soup with cornbread!

Cook 1 package of frozen corn. This is a good time to use corn from years past if you have it. This time, I used 2006 corn and it was great.

Add the corn, rest of the beef broth and 2 Cans of diced tomatoes. Mom's recipe says 1 regular and 1 Italian style tomatoes.

Season with a few drops of Tabasco, oregano leaves, basil leaves, salt, pepper.

For alternatives, she also might add thyme leaves, frozen baby limas, frozen chopped okra. She always cooks her frozen vegetables first then adds to the soup pot. If she wants vegetable beef soup, she adds leftover roast beef or she might cook some stew beef especially for soup.

Simmer the soup and serve with Mama's Cornbread. Soup and Cornbread - all the elements.

Where did September go? - Hot Artichoke Dip

September blew by. The fall transition month barely gave me time to do the transitioning.

I keep hearing words of wisdom that my cousin's husband said last summer. He was talking about what to do when you don't really know what to do next when he said, "You know, you've just got to get out." Mama says it another way - "just put one foot in front of the other one".

So, during the last week of September we put one foot in front of the other and got out.

The official opening of the Cleveland County Fair is still exciting for me. The Fairgrounds look great with spruced up new paint, new sign, new landscaping, but the old feel of the fair is definitely still there. It's a real credit to everyone who has worked over 86 years in alot of different ways to keep the Fair going. There is a little rain in the forecast but most of the fair week forecast is for 0% chance of rain which is good news for everybody.

It seems like the past week was about getting out with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. Probably the weather had alot to do with that because when it's not 100 degrees and humid it is more fun to be out and about. Sister and I had lunch one day and then I introduced her to the wonderful world of social networking. She enjoyed seeing pictures of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Libby and I took Mama to lunch and through the wonderful world of text messaging, David IV and Devin joined us at the last minute. Daddy wanted to take ham biscuits to a 7 am event so he and Mama and I met at the Roundup early Friday morning to cook and deliver hot biscuits. The Round Up Store Fiscal year ended on Sept 30th, so there was a little extra paperwork to be done in the office this week also.

Gardner-Webb held a Weekend Festival to honor my favorite writer, Ron Rash, and Southern Appalachian Culture in general. Mrs. Sarazen and Mrs. Archer are Ron Rash fans so on Friday night the three of us went to a Ron Rash Dinner which really was a Ron Rash Roast. It was a great time and hilarious to hear his brother and sister talk about growing up Rash. They are a brilliant and amazing family which his sister compared to the Munsters. Ron graduated from GWU and Clemson and is a professor at Western Carolina. He has published poetry, short stories and novels. His latest novel Serena is an international best seller and will be a movie one day. He continues to recieve literary awards and continues to write. Once he told me there were "always characters walking around in his head". His brother and sister showed him no mercy at the roast. His sister noted that she had taken her studies seriously, worked hard, followed all the rules, earned good grades and a degree in ceramic engineering. Her brother, she noted, had broken alot of the rules, floundered for a time as far as grades and now he had a festival named after him. Ron's brother wanted to know how many ways critics could describe Ron's work as bleak. He also wondered whether Ron actually wrote one piece since during the first two paragraphs no one close to a body of water had drowned.

After all the roasting and ribbing was done, Ron's brother took a moment to thank the communities of Gardner-Webb and Boiling Springs for being a good place to grow up - even for a Munster. And both brother and sister took a moment to let Ron know how proud they are of him. I think the entire community is proud.

Saturday morning we loaded up the grill to take to the Wofford-Furman game. This is a huge rivalry and last year Furman crushed Wofford. I can't remember the final score, but the Furman horse which comes out after each touchdown probably needed extra grooming after that workout.

Our tailgate plan was to take the grill and then anyone could bring hamburgers and hot dogs for their own crowd for after the game. The weather was perfect football weather and the tailgating area at Wofford is so convenient and so pretty with grass and shade trees. Wofford won 38-17 which made the already beautiful day even more beautiful. The grill was loaded with burgers and dogs with various grillmasters after the game. I made a hot artichoke dip that is loaded with fat and calories so of course everyone loves it. We munched on this and other goodies that folks had brought while the burgers and dogs were cooking. This was a great tailgate plan and a fun day.

We invited the low country parents back to our house after the tailgate and decided to wind up the night enjoying the Summer House. Theresa said she thought summer was over and she wanted to call it the Fall House.

Sunday we had bacon, coffee, and some great cinnamon rolls that Linda had brought before everybody headed in different directions. I met David and Jay for a quick lunch, then left for a tennis match. We were hosts to a traveling team and just as the match was to start, the rains came. We searched for dry courts in the area and ended up at Peachtree Racquet club to get the match played. We were playing the number one team in our divison. Our team is hanging on to last place. This tennis season has been - let me say umm - a season of growth and development. We wanted to play up to challenge ourselves and we really got what we wanted! But, I am happy to say, you really do learn alot by losing. We are improving our games and we put it in perspective with our motto - After all we're not pros. We're just a bunch of middle aged women playing mediocre tennis.

The most important thing is that we put one foot in front of the other and got out.

Hot Artichoke Dip

This recipe has been around forever. It is easy and quick and everyone loves it. It stays hot for a long time and is even good when it cools down. The calorie count is awful, but it is a crowd pleaser. You can also add jalapenos, onions or other things to it, but I think it is good the simple way.

1 Can of Artichoke Hearts, with juice
Put these into a baking dish and then cut them up into bite sized pieces
1 Cup of Mayo - I am a Hellman's girl
1 Cup of Parmesan Cheese - I use real grated cheese sometimes and sometimes a mixture of that with the ground type.

Bake this at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Serve with crackers. I think it's best with crackers that aren't too buttery.