Tiptoeing thru the Tulips - Penny's Blonde Brownies

In the late 1960's and early 70's, Laugh In was a fun show on television. There were all kinds of crazy skits and jokes that were tied together with mod music. This was a time of serious political division in the United States with people on different sides of heavy issues like the Vietnam War and racial equality. Sit-ins were a type of peaceful protest which sometimes weren't so peaceful and Laugh In was an attempt by entertainers to heal some of the country's division with music and comedy.

Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Goldie Hawn, Ruth Buzzi, Flip Wilson, Lily Tomlin and a lot of other really clever and funny people were part of the show. I thought about this the other day when David teased me by recapping our weekend as 'tiptoeing thru the tulips'.

Tiny Tim performed on Laugh In and other shows of that era with his hippie style long hair, a ukelele and a high pitched voiced. "Tiptoe Thru the Tulips" was his trademark idealistic, sort of romantic but silly song about spending time chilling out together.

So last weekend, instead of our usual hard working, fast paced world of business and pleasure, cooking for huge crowds, going to football games, tailgating and other things that we typically do - we mostly chilled.

Well we were on the go but we weren't doing all the cooking and entertaining and organizing. We just enjoyed it while other people cooked and entertained and organized.

It actually started on Thursday when Susan invited me to go with her on a tour of Johnson and Wales University in Uptown Charlotte. In 1914, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Wales started a trade school for chefs in Rhode Island. Now, J&W has grown into University status with a remarkable facility in Charlotte. At J&W, people who are passionate about food are everywhere, so it was naturally a place that I loved. Anyone can take a free tour by calling the admissions office and it is worth it to see the several floors of labs where students of all ages and backgrounds are learning the nuances of baking, chopping, sauteing, serving, and managing all parts of the hospitality industry. There are also weekend cooking classes for non-students that sound interesting. Definitely something worth looking into.

Thursday evening the Cleveland County Tennis Association led by Donnie, Debbie, Mary Beth and Cindy hosted an end of the season Fall Fling at the Cabin in Lattimore. Everything was warm and toasty with a big fire roaring and BBQ with all the trimmings. They had asked me to come and talk about how the CCTA developed several years ago and then they surprised me with a sweet award to acknowledge my part in that development. The CCTA continues to grow even more under their leadership and it's exciting to see that happen.

On Friday after work, David and I tiptoed up to the Lake and instead of cooking we went out for dinner at the Point of View. This is a nostalgic thing for me because this restaurant was once owned by my parents and was called The Log Shop. I was pretty young in those days but I do remember it and remember hearing all kinds of stories about gatherings at the Log Shop and in one of the rental houses that they called No. 6. In those days, the Log Shop served up country ham, grits, and eggs for breakfast and steak and potatoes at night. The view is spectacular with the lake, the stonefaced mountains and the Island. The fall colors were not at peak but were starting to turn and that made the view even more beautiful.

Saturday morning we took a couple of short hikes around the lake and David got a great shot of the view from the mountain above the old Log Shop. I got a great shot of David getting the great shot. I never get tired of that view.

Saturday afternoon we arrived back in Shelby for the end of the Livermush Festival when all things mush are celebrated. I couldn't help but think how much Mama Crowder would have loved all the pig and pagentry.

Later on, Susan and Thomas met us in Uptown Shelby at Newt's for a great burger and a walking tour of some of the other hot spots. Then we walked on over to the Don Gibson Theatre to watch the Cleverly's Trio. Which was four people playing bluegrass. Sorta.

The Cleverly's put on one of the funniest shows we have seen in a while. Maybe since Laugh In. We spent most of the evening raring back with laughter at the witty showmanship and the music of Beyonce, Ce Lo, and Blackeyed Peas being played bluegrass style. They even played Hocus Pocus by Focus. No doubt we will jump at a chance to see the Cleverly's again. Hopefully the fifth member of the trio - Otto - will be with them next time.

Sunday morning David and I took another hike through some interesting property with water, fall leaves, and history. Later on we got a call from Daddy that Cousins Jim and Donna were visiting from Massachusetts and why didn't we all come out for supper in Lattimore. Within a couple of hours Mama and Daddy had corn, country ham, cornbread, mac and cheese, slaw, crowder peas, and molasses and biscuits ready for an impromptu gathering of more than a dozen of us. We took no prisoners and one of us sopped up the last bit of country ham gravy with the last piece of cornbread.

It was great to reconnect with Jim and Donna and to have a spur of the moment family gathering. Kai and Melia entertained us by modeling their coonskin caps and playing with the Fisher Price toyhouse. Fisher Price had a winner with that toy because pretty much every kid for the last 30 years has played with it in Mama's cozy den. Mama makes it comfortable to play in her den.

Chilled out time with friends and family; great meals, music, and comedy. Just tiptoeing thru the tulips.

Penny's Blonde Brownies

Penny somehow had time to whip together some of her blonde brownies for the impromptu Sunday night Supper in Lattimore. I've only made these one time because Penny usually makes them. They are chewy and wonderful.

2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 sticks melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix everything together and spread into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

October Flowers and Family Time - Jalapeno Poppers

The yard is full of October flowers, the garden is still flowing with jalapeno peppers and we have enjoyed a great variety of family time oppportunities in the past week.

We took Sister on a quick trip to South Carolina to visit Quinn, Wil, MK and Robert in their pretty antebellum house surrounded by spanish moss and oaks. It was our first trip to their home, our first time to see 2 month old Robert and our first time to see MK enjoying her role as big sister. It is such a joy to watch young families grow and develop. And it's a joy and an inspiration to see the miracle of traditions and history and people and personalities blend together to form their own unique story.

It was a fun trip to the low country and we had the unexpected pleasure of a spur of the moment King Party of Four with Lynn and Kevin and the cute, four legged addition to their family, Bo.

We returned to Shelby in time for Lynn, Julia, Maggie, Jay, Ennis and Marge to come over for suppper to celebrate Sister's birthday. We had Lattimore corn and crowder peas, cornbread, slaw, and sliced tomatoes with basil. Sister brought her awesome chocolate chip cookies, Lynn added a hearty potato casserole and Marge brought butternut squash. For the first time I can ever remember, David and I tag teamed manning the charcoal grill and the Zesty Italian Chicken turned out perfect despite the leaping flames.

It was fun to watch Maggie interact with Mr. Cat and even more fun to watch her preoccupation with balls. We have a LOT of balls in our house - all sizes, shapes and textures and Maggie had a handle on all of them. Maggie proved that, like her collegiate sports playing parents and her many sports oriented cousins, she is going to be a player.

Speaking of collegiate players, Jay's basketball team has begun practice for real and we are gearing up for another kind of family fun with the Runnin' Bulldogs.

Dad, Jay and I took a short drive to Spartanburg one day and as always the conversations were varied and very interesting - covering politics, health and what to wear to weddings and funerals. Dad offered Jay 40 cows and a bull if Jay would change his last name to Hunt. Those two are like peas in a pod.

Back in the garden, there are so many beautiful things growing that it was fun to make several flower arrangements for Sister's birthday supper. Typically in October there are plenty of perennials that I can count on in the yard. This fall has been full of the hillside pinks, knock out roses, a few zinnias here and there and the tall yellow and blue ones that I can never remember the name of. Rosemary, basil and mint are still growing so they go into the arrangments too.

There are a lot of sweet smelling white flowers growing - on tea holly, the lime tree and the gardenias. The gardenias have been the prettiest ever this year.

And there was a surprise in the yard when several pretty blue hydrangeas appeared. I told Lynn that I think they bloomed just because she was in town. Lynn and I both love hydrangea.

So I put together arrangements of all kinds of things that typically aren't put together - like basil and gardenia; rosemary and zinnias; magnolia, hydrangea and knock out roses. It's fun to mix the unexpected and see how it blends together into something unique.

Speaking of the unexpected, fun blending and families, Beth and I went to Ovens Auditorium on Sunday afternoon to watch a very unique, blended family indeed. The Addams Family. It is a musical comedy with big showstopper songs and dances and some very unique sets and special effects.

Like the song says, they're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky. You really oughta see-um, they really are a scree-um.

Songs like "When you're an Addams, you do what the Addams do", "One Normal Night" (what's normal?), "Let's Live Before We Die" and then the after dinner game celebrate the full range of family dynamics. Beth and I were laughing left and right.

The show was fun and politically incorrect and thought provoking. It's full of life and death, tears and troubles, love and laughter - and how parents, children, and extended families blend it all together. When you're a family, you do what families do.

Jalapeno Poppers

With all the Jalapenos in the garden, I googled some jalapeno popper recipes and found many variations. This one is from someone named Cindy at allrecipes.com.

Slice fresh jalapenos in half and seed (I did leave some seeds just to kick it up)
Fry 1 lb Jenkins Sausage and add a block of cream cheese till blended.

Cut Bacon in half and fry until half done (or you can microwave if you want)

Use the same amount of bacon as jalapenos. I had eight in the garden so I had 16 jalapeno halves and 16 bacon halves.

Stuff sausage and cream cheese into jalapeno halves and wrap with bacon. I didn't need toothpicks to secure but just wrapped them tight and placed each on a baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for a least 20 minutes or until they are as brown as you want them.

The Runaway Bunny - Black Cod/Sablefish

Years ago, on two occasions, I was invited to Mother's Day Tea. This event was held annually in Mrs. Nell's Four Year Old Preschool Class at First Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina. Mrs. Nell was and still is one of the most loving teachers in our lives. We were lucky that both Jay and David experienced her preschool class. Mrs. Nell didn't just teach the 4 year olds, she taught the parents of 4 year olds.

At the Mother's Day tea, young moms and fresh faced 4 year olds sat at tiny little tables in tiny little chairs enjoying tea and cookies while Mrs. Nell read The Runaway Bunny. This is a short, sweet children's book by Margaret Wise Brown with beautiful illustrations by Clement Hurd. The gist of the story is that no matter where the bunny goes, the mother will always love him. Being four can be so confusing - not quite in school, but not quite a baby either. The Runaway Bunny is a gentle nudge to the four year old that wanting to explore is a normal thing.

It's also a gentle nudge to the mother that the bunny needs and wants to explore. Mrs. Nell had found a sweet way of letting both the mothers and the children know that while children inevitably grow up, the bond of love remains. As safe as mother's love.

This memory came flashing back last weekend when I least expected it.

I flew to Texas to visit one of those fresh faced four year olds who is now fresh out of college and exploring the job of his dreams. It was the first time I'd had a chance to see him in his new surroundings and I was so excited.

Instead of tiny little tables and chairs, Marta, Colin, David IV and I sat in an outstanding, grown up, restaurant in Dallas, Texas called Sushi Shensei. It's hard to say Sushi Shensei even before a grown up beverage, but it's a wonderful place to eat.

We sampled lettuce wraps, sushi and amazing fried rice in a pretty pottery bowl. We had corn sake soup that you didn't eat with a soup spoon, but drank from a sake cup. We had Traditional Miso Black Cod served with sauteed boy choy. Black Cod is my new favorite seafood. It is similar in taste and texture to Chilean Sea Bass but, as I learned it is sustainable and not quite so expensive, so you can eat it guilt free. It also is not really cod but like a lot of fish has several names. It grows in the North Pacific and sometimes is called Sablefish.

Sushi Shensei served up more than a wonderful meal. When our waitress brought the bill, it was not in one of those typical bill holders, it was tucked into a children's book. It seems the owners of the restaurant are two families with children who had decided to present their bills in children's books. All kinds of children's books are there and it just so happened that the one with our bill was The Runaway Bunny.

This caught me totally off guard. I took one look at the Runaway Bunny book and held it up for David to see. He remembered and grinned. I remembered and cried. Not a sobbing cry, but just huge tears pouring over my eyelids like a waterfall.

They really were happy tears because I couldn't be more proud of him or more grateful that he wants to explore. I guess I can thank Mrs. Nell for that.

The waitress asked David and me to sign the book. Laughing but tears still falling I could barely see as I signed Sally Royster. We laughed harder when my grown up son signed David Royster, IV "The Rabbit".

So that night broke the ice of emotions and the rest of the trip was a whirlwind of new places and people.

Michelle, Barry, Marta and Colin have each offered a home away from home to David which has been a true blessing. Even Runaway Bunnies need a soft place to land.

Michelle is a high school principal and to thank her for her hospitality I invited her to dinner and to see Taylor Swift at the Cowboy Stadium. We went to dinner at the Flying Fish where we had another great meal of grouper, sauteed vegetables and southwestern rice and beans. She pointed out the sign pictured on this post which explains how the restaurant handles rowdy children. Every school principal in the country would probably love to deal with parents and children that way.

Michelle and I were both like proud moms as we watched David in action during the Taylor Swift Concert at Cowboy Stadium. Cowboy Stadium is an amazing place - sleek, clean, modern, huge. It is all about the fan experience. It was fun to see what David does at the stadium, to see how much he is learning and how much he enjoys his job - even with the long long hours and few days off.

Taylor Swift is a remarkable young woman. She can make a concert with 55,000 people feel very personal. She performed on two stages and at one point walked from one end of the football field to the other - through thousands of little girls in cowboys boots and dresses. She was shaking hands, blowing kisses and telling her fans how much she loved them. Everyone felt like they were up close and personal thanks to the giant screen in the middle of the stadium. It was a very entertaining show.

Marta and Colin had offered us the 'weekend spa package' at their beautiful home and we had a great time being with old friends in a new place. They showed us Dallas from 560 feet up in the air at Reunion Tower. Their sweet daughter Kelly, who is an executive pastry chef, gave us a quick tour of Ft. Worth. We loved Ft. Worth and we loved Kelly's amazing cakes and truffles too.

In Ft Worth we had brunch at the Brownstone Restaurant and I took a picture of the towering Blue Cheese Wedge with Fried Onions as well as Colin's favorite dish - the Sausage Hash. You know I love any dish that is served in a cast iron pan.

It rained that day which is a rarity in Texas this year, so we decided to head on back to the Holden 'spa' for dinner at home. Marta and I took a short trip to a fantastic grocery store called Center Market and came home with Black Cod for dinner.

While David and Colin rustled around in the kitchen fixing the Black Cod, stir fry vegetables and brown rice, Marta and I sat outside in the rain. In their hot tub. Holding umbrellas. And telling stories of children and motherhood. Marta should know about motherhood - she has five wonderful children and several grandchildren. But that's a-whole-nother beautiful, loving story in itself.

The day came for me to head back east but we had one more treat in the whirlwind trip. We met Michael and Sue for breakfast and enjoyed laughs and conversation and some Southwest Mijas which is breakfast in a tortilla.

As David took me to the airport we talked about many things and then hugged goodbye. Inside the airport I recieved a sweet text that he had enjoyed our visit. I texted back the last line from The Runaway Bunny - "Have a carrot."

No matter where those bunnies go, that bond is as safe as mother's love.

Black Cod

Since I didn't cook the Black Cod, I asked David how he and Colin fixed it. Here is David's summation. (Remember that David learned to fry squash, onions, peppers, etc the Lattimore way which is coating in egg/milk then flour/cornmeal, then frying.)

"Colin sort of reverse battered it to fry. Flour first, then egg. He put olive oil in the pan and cooked them with no cover on high heat."

Whatever the details are, Colin's lightly breaded and lightly sauteed Black Cod was excellent!

Cleveland County Fair - "You See What You Want to See"

Since the early 1920s, this time of year has brought the Cleveland County Fair to town. Many things have changed over the years and many things have remained the same.

Dad reminded me that in the late 30's most people in Lattimore had never traveled outside of the county much. Very few people had been to the beach or for sure New York City or even Charlotte. And most people were connected in some way to cotton farming. The schools were oriented around children and families picking cotton by hand. So back then everyone was eager to pick and gin a bale of cotton and get a few silver coins to take to the fair. It was unusual to have even one dollar to spend at the fair, but as Dad says, you have to get into perspective what a huge spectacle it was with the shows, and lights, and food smells that were different from anything anyone had ever seen. Lattimore folks were used to chicken and ham and the fair offered the first New York and New Jersey taste of sausages, peppers and onions cooking in what Daddy called some kind of hash.

There were a lot of free acts in the grandstand that Dr. Dorton, a local animal doc who developed and promoted the fair, brought to town. Everybody was amazed by the Flying Wallendas trapeze and highwire act. Even the New York City Rockettes did their high kicks in the grand stand. Dad noted that in the 30s before World War II, "People had never been to Par-ee and we saw sights we'd never seen or even heard tale of before."

There were shows that happened a little later on at night too. "The Hoochie Coochie Shows". Dancing girls that were "scantily clad by the standards of the day" who would dance on a little stage in front of a tent. A barker's voice would blare over loud speakers and his language was "a little risque for those days". Music that you never heard in church, played while the barker with a microphone would encourage people to come into the tent and watch the dancers perform. The performance and the costumes were something that you could see any night on TV today but not in Cleveland County in the 1930s. Some people in the county began to get a little upset and of course the news media of the day wanted to talk about the controversy.

One day someone caught up with Dr. Dorton to complain about the Hoochie Coochie shows. The complainer described in detail how the shows were just a bad thing for people to see at the fair. What with all the racy language, the baudy music, the scanty clothes and those pretty girls that wiggled their hips.

Dr. Dorton reminded him that there is a lot to see at the fair. He described how each community worked long hours to create a fair booth in the Exhibit Hall with a theme to remind people of the good qualities of life - Honesty, Integrity, Education, Service, etc. And that these booths were interesting and excellent to see. And that many people from all over the county brought farm produce, jams, jellies, pies and more to the fair for all to see. And that cows, mules, pigs, chickens and all kinds of farm animals were brought to the fair for people to see.

Dad remembers hearing that Dr. Dorton said, "When I go to the fair, I see the exhibit halls, the Lucky Teeter Car show, the beautiful horses in the barns. I guess you just see what you want to see."

Carol, Mary and I went to the fair yesterday and we saw what we wanted to see. It was a blast. There are still booths in the exhibit hall, plenty of farm animals, even some exotic animals. There are still dizzing smells of peppers and sausages and of course the go-to food, Vinegar Fries. I do miss Mama Crowder's ham biscuits at Wilson's. (see September 27, 2010 post)

There are plenty of free acts that were really fun and interesting. The darling Hansen Family with the Mom, Dad and 3 cute little girls performing on roller skates, on a trapeze, a trampoline and even juggling fire. We talked with them after the show and realized how different their life is but how much fun they have performing together as a family.

There are members of the Cleveland County BeeKeepers who are passionate about explaining the interesting life of bees and the production of local honey.

There is art - Chainsaw Art. And there is history. A local blacksmith set up a display of an 1800s Chuck Wagon to show how people back in covered wagon days cooked as they drove through the wilderness looking for a new place to settle. He has a forge set up and sells tools that you can use today to cook over a campfire. It was interesting to watch his demonstration and to talk about the Chuck Wagon cooks in the 1800s. It seems the cook was a very busy person who worked all day preparing meals and then was the last to go to bed at night. Some things never change.

We all thought it was interesting that since the cook was up late into the night, the last duty was to position the wagon hitch toward the North Star so that in the morning the wagon driver would have a compass for the next day's trip.

Food, cooking, history, families that work together, families that play together. You really can see what you want to see at the Cleveland County Fair.