Indulging in Salmon Patties

There is a poster at the cabin with a picture of a sleepy, grinning pig and a caption that reads - Those who Indulge Bulge. I confess. I have indulged, I bulge.

You may have noticed that I love to cook, I love to eat and I love to socialize. Because of these facts, I have fought the weight battle for years. Fortunately, I also love to exercise. During my 30s and 40s, I taught dance aerobics, step aerobics, even funk aerobics. I also earned a certification in personal training which actually came in very handy during parenting. I have read just about every self-help book from Edgar Cayce to Stephen Covey to Dr. Oz. And I can tell you that I know the TRUE secret to successful weight loss. This may come as a shock, but the TRUE secret to successful weight loss is -- to use up more calories than you take in.

Sometimes the simplest truths are the hardest ones to achieve.

There are some pretty crazy diets out there folks. Cabbage diets, low carb diets. All kinds of diets. Carol was telling me about a four day diet where you eat 10 boiled eggs, 10 bananas and 10 hot dogs every day. These diets may work for some people, but they do not work for me. For one thing, I am very rebellious. I do not like to think that I have to eat something or that I am restricted from something. The second thing is that I like to cook and I like to eat a variety of things. Many of which are fried.

I do like healthy foods as well. One of the last remnants of the holidays is when we squeeze our last Ruby Red Grapefruit. Each December, we get a case of fresh Ruby Red grapefruits which are the absolute best in the world. We pull out the old juicer that we have had for 23 years and we ration the grapefruits so they will last as long as possible. There is nothing better than fresh squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice for breakfast. This morning we had one grapefruit left and we both had our last wonderful glass until next Christmas.

But back to bulging. The only time I have been successful at weight loss is when I step up my exercise and reduce my calories to about 1200-1500 per day. I do not restrict what types of things I eat or drink, but I do count the calories.

So, this week I have committed myself to reining in the calories and stepping up the exercise. The calorie part is a challenge, but exercise is fun and easy for me. I have started taking a tap dancing class with my dance teaching neighbor Beth and two other fun co-horts who will remain nameless. We agreed that we wanted to take a class for fun and exercise, but we don't want to have to perform. So far so good on that one. We are having a blast.

Tennis will start up soon, so even though doubles isn't very strenuous, at least when I have a racquet in one hand, I can't be holding a cheeseburger and fries in the other. Carol and I have moved from the slow pace of the walking track at the Y (which is great for our mental health, but doesn't burn alot of calories) to treadmills with a faster speed and higher inclines. We try to get treadmills side by side so we can continue to solve the world's problems and also figure out what's for dinner.

Which brings me to salmon patties. Friday, while on the treadmill, I told Carol that I had just had a conversation with Mom and Dad about salmon patties. Or salmon balls as Nishie called them. We NEVER called them salmon cakes or salmon croquettes.

I love salmon. So does most of my family. Libby, Mem and I meet now and then at Pleasant City Grill for a salad with grilled salmon. Everyone who works there knows what we want when we walk in the door. One day recently, we had a new waitress. When she took our order Libby surprised us by ordering shrimp on her salad instead of salmon. We noticed some discussion going on in the kitchen when finally Chris, the owner, walked out of the kitchen to our table. He had a quizzical look on his face and asked, "Did you really order Shrimp? We just want to make sure your waitress didn't misunderstand you." That's why we love Pleasant City Grill.

I could eat fish every day for every meal. So could Mama. Mama Crowder too. She used to have salt fish for breakfast. But I especially love salmon - fresh, baked, broiled, grilled, and even right out of the can. Daddy taught me to make a little salmon salad with just canned salmon, chopped onion and a few drops of cider vinegar. You wouldn't believe how good that is.

But salmon patties are especially good. Because they are fried. And also because they are fast and easy to make. Fortunately they are good for you too, with calcium, protein and those Omega 3 fatty acids. The good kind of fat. Gotta love a fat that's good for you.

The other day I called Mom and Dad and with both of them on the phone asked them to refresh my memory about making salmon patties. True to form, they had differing opinions on a recipe. They agreed on many things including using 1 can with the juice and all of the other things in there. This may seem counter to Mama's don't put anything in you wouldn't want to eat rule , but once you stir things around a little you'll be okay. Trust me. And Dad says the bones and things are part of what makes it so healthy. They also agreed that you should cook them fairly slowly over med high heat to make the crispiest crust. They said to use crumbled crackers, not bread crumbs and not to roll them in extra crackers, just put the crackers in and mix.

From there they begin to differ, Daddy likes to use onions, but Mama can take or leave them. Mama says to use one egg and Daddy says two or three eggs. Daddy likes alot of crackers and Mama likes a minimum. I had to go with Mama on egg and crackers because as she said, "Do you want it to taste like salmon? or eggs and crackers?" I definitely want it to taste like salmon.

So I made salmon patties Friday afternoon, put on my armor and took some out to Lattimore for a critique. I am happy to report that they passed the test. So here is the recipe that I came up with. I ciphered a bit and decided that each patty has roughly 100 calories. Perfect diet food for me.

Salmon Patties

1 can Wild Alaska pink salmon with juice and bones
1 egg
9 crackers (we think Zesta Whole Wheat are the best crackers)
1/4 tsp cider vinegar
about 2-3 tablespoons chopped onion (Dad said to saute onions, but I didn't)
Salt and pepper to taste - more pepper than salt, there's salt in the salmon

Mix everything together and form into patties. They will be slightly moist. You should get eight patties out of this recipe.

Here's a trick I learned from the Fresh Market. When making crabcakes, salmon patties, hamburgers or meatballs, they will stay together better during cooking if they are cold.

So after making the salmon patties I put them in the freezor for 15 minutes to solidify before frying. You can also put them in the fridge for an hour or so which is nice for making things ahead of time.

Heat Wesson oil in a cast iron frying pan to medium high. I use enough Wesson oil to come about halfway up the salmon patty, not cover them. The oil should bubble when you put the patty in. I fry four at a time for four minutes and turn to the other side. Fry four more minutes. They weren't quite crusty enough so after frying four minutes on each side, I turned and fried another minute or two on each side. Remove and drain on paper towels to soak away excess oil.

In Lattimore, we had salmon patties with dried beans like great northerns or pintos, Nishie's slaw (recipe April 11, 2010) and Mama's Cornbread (recipe April 25, 2010). Since I was counting calories, I skipped the beans, slaw and cornbread this time. Two salmon patties and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice - my kind of diet food!

The End of January and the first signs of Spring

January has zipped on by. Actually at times it seemed slow because we were inside alot with the snow and cold, but the last week just flew by. In January there are always alot of tasks to do at the Round Up and this year was no exception. Getting W-2 information out and doing the yearly Workers Compensation Audit are January tasks that I am happy happen only once per year. This year there was added paperwork fun because federal fica payroll taxes were lowered - which is good news for net paychecks, but which required the dreaded ciphering. If you have ever worked with payroll you know the fun vocabulary which includes, FUI, SUI, FICA, and FUTA. And you know that since the beginning of time, you could go to a local bank to make 941 deposits, but beginning this year you can only do this electronically. Which required setting up, enrolling and activating routing numbers and passwords and other fun computer tasks interspersed with calls to the IRS for help. That part of January moved very, very, slowly.

David IV had a much more interesting January. Wofford has a great January Interim. All kinds of interesting classes are offered and students take one in depth class for 4 credit hours. Many classes include travel, but with football workouts, David has not been free to travel in January until this year. So he was excited and we were happy for him to have the opportunity. When I asked what his travel options were he said, "Rio, Hawaii or Martinque." That sounded like heaven compared to FUI, SUI or FUTA. I thought he might choose Rio, but after some thought, he chose the Martinque/Guadeloupe Interim. So 20 college kids with two professors spent 2 weeks learning about geography, flora, fauna, economics and culture of the French/Creole islands. They hiked through rivers, visited rum factories, tasted tropical fruits that I have never heard of and ate really interesting seafood on the beach. Really interesting seafood included all kinds of fish - and Octopus. David texted from the last leg of the trip that he sure would like some Homemade Chicken Pie. When we picked David and a couple of other weary travelers up at the airport they were pretty happy to know that they would be having Homemade Chicken Pie for dinner. (recipe on October 18, 2010 post) They told us a little about the trip and then David said, "I'm so tired and so hungry. I just want to eat and go to sleep, but I kept a good daily journal and you can read all about the trip." He did keep a truly interesting journal and I was happy he wanted to share it with us. I had reminded him before he left that Grandpa's advice is, "Live frugally at home, but when you travel see and do everything you can." Judging from the journal I am happy to report that he didn't seem to miss many opportunities.

Jay and GWU have been on an AWAY swing in Virginia. The team is still struggling to get in synch, but with all of the challenges the experience is still a good one. Second semester has started and Jay reported that his classes and his professors are interesting. We were proud that with all of the workouts, games and extensive travel, Jay had great first semester grades. We're looking forward to more home ballgames next week and to continued improvement as everyone adjusts to the challenges that come with new teams and with college level sports.

I'm also looking forward to the Oscars. I hope to see more of the movies, but I have seen True Grit and The King's Speech. I thought both were good and I found it interesting that both were about personal determination, facing challenges, overcoming obstacles and the various relationships that develop along the way. I love all Westerns because I love the American themes of rugged individualism, equality, independence and self-reliance. I also love history and politics and was captivated by WWII era British politics and by the very not American theme of a monarchy. These movies were set in two different political and social systems, but the characters in both showed that a successful life in any system requires True Grit.

It might take some grit to get through the rest of Winter and into Springtime, but it's always a boost when the seed catalogs start coming in the mail. One catalog came yesterday and then while I walking around outside, I noticed buds on the camellias and on the tulip tree. It's still a while before they'll bloom, but seeing the buds put a little spring in my step. And in my heart.

January 25, 1991

At 8:35 am on January 25, 1991, Jay Royster entered the world. It's surprising that he didn't come in with a basketball in his hand. Because for most of the 20 years since then, he has seldom been without a basketball in his hand.

Once we were taking a trip to the Bahamas and Jay called the hotel before we left to make sure they had a basketball court. Then he took his own basketball on the airplane to make sure he would have one. When the rest of us were going snorkeling, Jay decided to stay on land and play basketball. When we got back from snorkeling, Jay had made friends on the court with some local Bahamians who invited him to come play pickup games across the island "under the bridge". Where the real games were going on.

And that's another thing about Jay. He has never met a stranger. He likes people and makes friends with everybody - all ages, sizes, races, colors and creeds. We can seldom go anywhere that someone doesn't say, "Oh, your Jay's family." Once we were in a hotel in another part of the state when David struck up an early morning conversation with the hotel manager. As usual talk got around to sports and the manager said, "Wait. You're Jay's father? I watched him play in the High School State playoffs!"

Once when D was in the hospital, an orderly came in and noticed a picture we had brought to the room. He said, "Oh, how do you know Jay Royster?" D explained that he was Jay's grandfather and the orderly explained that he and Jay played basketball together at the Y. From age 6 or 7 on, Jay just about lived at the Y. He was a true gym rat, going to the Y first thing in the morning and staying till they closed. After a few hours, I sometimes needed to be somewhere else and many many sweet people stepped up to be his 'guardian' until he was old enough to be there by himself.

Jay was four years old when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It was a blow, but Jay has wrestled that tiger with the same determination that he does everything else. He has had the support of friends, family, teachers; and the guidance of three amazing endocrinologists over the years. Drs Backeljauw, Morris and Buse have shared with Jay their knowledge of diabetes management and their caring personalities. They helped him take control of his health and encouraged him to not let diabetes stand in the way of his dreams. Which was a good fit for a person like Jay who was planning on that anyway. He couldn't have better doctors.

Jay's fire, independence and honesty have always shown through. When he was about 7 years old, we were making a Sunday afternoon trip to visit some folks he barely knew. Jay wanted to be at the Y playing ball and was very unhappy to be putting on 'nice clothes' and going for this visit. I saw his frustration and as we got in the car I said, "Now Jay. I want you to think of at least two nice things you can talk about when we get there. And I want you to be pleasant and happy." He scrunched his face up in pure agony and said, "Mama. You are trying to make me something I'm NOT!" He has always called a spade a spade.

When Jay was in sixth grade, he came home from school and told us that there were some really good athletes in his middle school PE class. I remember him saying, "I think we could put together a really good basketball team." The Shelby Sonics were born and for three years we traveled around the state as they played basketball games after the school season was over. They won several tournament championships and played well in a national tournament in Florida. They went on to play together at Shelby High School where they set a goal to win a state high school championship. After six years of perserverance, determination and teamwork, as seniors at Shelby High, they brought home the 2A High School State Championship. We were proud of Jay and the whole team and are still enjoying watching their personal growth and development.

Once when Jay was about 12 years old he called home from the Y and asked if he could bring some guys home for lunch. "Sure", I said, "Do you need me to come pick ya'll up?" "No they can drive," he said. "Hmmm" I thought. But okay. So I started frying bacon for BLTs. Pretty soon I heard a car drive up and heard Jay's 12 year old voice and then the deeper voices of older boys. In walked 3 20ish year old guys who were over 6 feet tall. Jay said, "Mom this is Josh, Tim and Chris. They play basketball at Gardner-Webb!"

Josh, Tim and Chris had been playing ball with Jay at the Y all morning and boy were they hungry. They finished off two loaves of bread, several pounds of bacon, 5 or 6 homegrown tomatoes and a head or two of lettuce. All the while they were laughing and talking like old friends. They remained friends and we saw them many more times before they graduated and moved on. About a week ago, Jay and GWU were playing basketball in South Carolina and sitting in the stands was Josh. He is now in ministry in South Carolina and had come to see the Bulldogs play. We gave him a big hug and thanked him for being such a good influence on Jay so many years ago. Josh just smiled and shook his head and said, "I love seeing him in a GWU uniform. Wow. It's crazy isn't it?"

Crazy indeed. David called one day last spring and said, "Did you know Jay has been over to GWU to talk about playing basketball?" As far as I knew Jay was set to go to UNC-CH in the fall so needless to say, I was very surprised. David said, "Well I am about to go meet him for lunch. I'll let you know what he says." About an hour later I received a text message that said "Can you spell B-U-L-L-D-O-G?"

Crazy indeed? Not really. Jay is going to live his own life. He is determined, courageous, faithful, fearless and fiercely independent. We couldn't be more proud of him.

Mid-January, MLK and Comfort Food - Sis's Meatloaf

In mid January, there isn't alot to do in the garden. Especially because for most of this January the garden has been covered in snow. We have had an unusual amount of snow and it has stayed on the ground longer than normal. Most years it has snowed one day and then it's been 65 degrees the next day. This year when it snowed the temperature stayed so low that the snow hung around longer. And then it snowed again.

Sis always said, "old folks say when the snow stays around for three days it's waitin' on more to come". I guess Sis and the old folks know what they are talking about.

Besides four sisters, my mother-in-law named Sister, and my Aunt Sissy, there is another Sis. Her real name is Clara, but everybody calls her Sis. She is another intuitive cook who taught me many things. Not all of it was about cooking. One day she was at our house and we were both trying to "straighten up a little" which was interesting with two little boys running around. Sis mentioned that there were fingerprints on the glass door and I blew it off saying "let's don't worry about that". Sis stopped, gave me a look and said, "WE can do BETTER than THAT." It made an impression. I still make sure to keep the fingerprints off the glass door.

But Sis is more playful than stern. When the boys were little she would come over and get everybody outside for fresh air. Most of the time she found something from the yard to bring inside. Other times she would perch little stuffed animals in funny positions and in funny places all around the house. I'm sure she did this to play with the boys, but it was fun for me too. I would laugh when I would find a floppy elephant hugging a teddy bear on the staircase. These things would appear where I least expected it and the laugh would come when I most needed it.

Sis has many cooking specialties but one of my favorites is her meatloaf. I hadn't made it in a while so I called her the other day to refresh my memory. It was good to catch up with her and to hear her sweet voice. Her instructions for meatloaf did not include amounts. Her instructions barely included ingredients. Our conversation went something like this:

Sis, "just put some ground beef, chopped onions and ketchup in a bowl." Me, "like maybe 2 pounds of beef and a whole onion?" Sis, "ummhuh. yeah, then add a little light bread and crumble it around with your hands." Me, "like maybe two pieces of bread?" Sis, "ummhuh. yeah, then add some egg and a little milk so it won't be too dry." Me, "maybe some green pepper?" Sis, "if you like green pepper you can put some in. some people do and some don't". Well you get the picture. So I made the meatloaf and added a few things we like. Sis always puts ketchup on the top in a swirling pattern so I did that too. It turned out great.

In mid-January, we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr for his preaching and teaching about peace, love and service. In honor of MLK here are two of my favorites quotes:

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear".
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Like Sis, MLK taught that WE can do BETTER than THAT.


Sis's Meatloaf (more or less)

2 lbs ground chuck or lean ground beef
1 onion (about 1 cup diced)
1/4 cup green pepper diced
about 3/4 cup ketchup (I use a mixture of ketchup and steak sauce)
2 pieces light bread
2 eggs
a few drops of milk to keep it moist if needed
salt, pepper to taste

For an extra kick, I add:
1/4 tsp dry mustard
a few drops tabasco and worchestershire sauce

Mold into a loaf in a frying pan. Pat down and drizzle ketchup on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Don't overcook. Sis said to "push on it a little and you can tell when it's done". There will be grease in the pan and it's best to remove meatloaf to another pan before you slice it.

Serve with homemade mashed potatoes, english peas and homemade biscuits for a great comfort food meal.

Snowy Day Supper - Spicy Shrimp and Corn Chowder

David says when it snows he always thinks about a story that an old friend and mentor told him years ago. Seems the old friend and his son had a small business. One day it snowed pretty hard and the son was in a panic about the snow. "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?" he asked. The old friend calmly said, "Well son, I am going to put on my pants, one leg at a time, and go to work".

It has snowed about ten inches today and snow is still falling. So as it continues coming down in what is probably the most widespread snowfall I have seen in my life, David calmly put on his pants one leg at a time and left for work. Well, he does have four wheel drive.

Instead of going to work, I decided to stay home and experiment with making soup for supper. I'm practical that way.

Maybe not so practical, I turned on the Christmas lights in the windows. For years, I have left our Christmas lights in the windows year round. I turn them on for Valentine's Day and Birthdays and lots of other special times. Making soup on a snow day is a special time. It's also a special time to acknowledge public servants and everyday heroes like some of the people in the Arizona tragedy. So the lights in the windows are on.

Any winter night is a good night for comfort food like soup, but tonight really fits the bill. Last weekend on the way to a GWU basketball game, we stopped for dinner and had a great bowl of Shrimp and Corn Chowder. I have been thinking about it ever since and picked up several ingredients that I thought I might need to try and duplicate it. So after looking at some chowder recipes online and using the framework of Mama's Cowboy Soup and Daddy's Gravy, I have made up my own version of Spicy Shrimp and Corn Chowder.

It's not as complicated as it looks and it really turned out great. We like it spicy and this really was but you can use your own judgement about the amount of spices. I think we may need some snow cream to cool us off.

Sally's Spicy Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

1 lb raw shrimp - thawed, peeled and deveined, I used small shrimp and left them whole. If you are using jumbo shrimp, cut into bite sized pieces

1 Bag Home Frozen Corn - cooked (If you don't have this use 1 can of corn, drained)

3-4 slices bacon, cut into bite sized pieces. (Sister taught me to cut bacon before frying which makes it easier to fry if you plan to crumble it up anyway. Just stir around in the pan as it cooks.)

1 onion, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
A little garlic - 2 cloves minced or a dash or two of powdered

About 3 TBSP plain flour

About 4 cups Seafood broth (chicken or vegetable broth would work too)
About 2 cups whole milk
3 cups diced potatoes (I used white but red would be good too)
1-2 tbsp butter

1 Bay leaf
Cayenne Pepper - several generous shakes
Thyme, Black Pepper, White Pepper, and Salt - to taste.
for spices I start with 1/4 - 1/2 tsp then adjust after it cooks a bit.
Tabasco - I used texas pete this time and put a generous tablespoon full
Lemon juice, Worchestershire Sauce - start with a few drops and adjust if needed
Parsley - several generous shakes
Old Bay Seasoning - one good shake

Directions:

In a large pot, saute bacon bits. Remove bacon and pour off all but about 1 tbsp grease. Reserve bacon bits for garnish.

Saute onion, garlic, celery, pepper, and carrot in bacon grease for about 5 mins.

Add flour and stir until browned to make a roux - a couple of minutes
Add broth a little at a time to make a soupy gravy.

Add milk, spices, butter and potatoes. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add a little more broth if needed.

Add cooked corn.

Add Shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink - just a few minutes.

Put into soup bowls and garnish with bacon bits and extra parsley.

This is great with toasted garlic bread and a tossed salad.

We thought it was thick enough, but if you want it thicker just make a little more gravy. Put about 2 tbsps of butter into a saucepan and add 2 tbsp flour. Brown and then add a little broth. Stir gravy into the soup to thicken.

Snow and Silence

Snow started falling in the middle of the night. By midday there were several inches on the ground with more coming down. Falling snow is beautiful, peaceful, and quiet.

It is a welcome time for peace and quiet. This morning President Obama led the nation in a moment of silence to honor and pray for Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and all of the victims of a senseless shooting in Arizona. The shock and sadness of this tragedy are overwhelming. News reports of the innocent victims are heartbreaking to say the least. There are news clips of Gabby reading about freedom of speech from the U.S. Constitution on the House Floor just last week. Back home in Arizona, she was doing exactly what public servants and elected officials are supposed to be doing. She was listening to her constituents on a Saturday morning at a Safeway Grocery store. This shooting feels a lot like a terrorist attack.

But the shooter is not a foreign terrorist. He is a 22 year old American boy who obviously has mental illness. And a gun. Many believe that hot and angry political rhetoric, added to a mentally disturbed boy with a gun, had a part in this tragedy. Count me in the group of people who hope that good discussion and honest debate can return to the political scene replacing the shouting, sound bites, halftruths, and hatred. But also count me in the group who believes that's only a piece of the puzzle. Everytime something tragic like this happens, it turns out that denial or a lack of treatment of mental illness is also a factor.

The national moment of silence this morning reminded me of a quote from William Penn, a Quaker and a pacifist who lived during Colonial times. His writings were studied and incorporated into the U.S. Constitution that Gabby Giffords read from last week. Penn believed in equality, unity, truth and peace.

About silence, Penn said, "True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."

True silence is a very rare thing in our lives. But at 11:00 this morning, with snow silently falling and a quiet house, I joined in silence with others across the nation to honor the shooting victims. After a few minutes, a favorite hymn came to mind which ends with singing, "God is Love and our vocation is to love till love has won". Here's to Silence. And to Love and Peace.

Jack's Cooking at the Round Up - Country Style Cubed Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Ruby's Cookin' is a term that originated when Daddy wanted to have a spur of the moment homemade meal with friends in Raleigh. So I guess when he does a spur of the moment homemade meal at the Round Up, we ought to call it Jack's Cookin'. These two events have some similarities and some differences. The food at both events is homemade and consistently delicious. Both events really are spur of the moment. You're lucky if you get about an hours notice. This includes those who are helping with the cookin' when Daddy is in charge. Both events come with the rule that there is no agenda to be discussed. These are food and fellowship only events. Soliciting, lobbying, arm twisting or other agendas are not allowed. Just fellowship and appreciation of home cooking.

Both events require setting tables with real stainless flatware and real plates. And not just any real plates, but the blue plates. The blue plates and flatware are items that we tease Daddy about unmercifully, but he relishes the fact that we all love them. Daddy's typical response being, "it's almost sickening how I seem to be right about so many things". First the blue plate story. Years ago, Ingles grocery store had a special with blue willow plates, cups, saucers and serving dishes. You could buy a blue dinner plate for $2.99. Daddy thought they were pretty and a real bargain so he bought some. Then he bought more. He sent Mama out to get some. Pretty soon he had all of us scouring multiple Ingles locations adding to the number of plates and accessories. To this day he thinks we don't have enough. Which he reminds us of everytime somebody wants to borrow some. On many occasions one of us has loaded up blue plates to move from home to the cabin to the Hunt House to the Round Up and to Raleigh. He's right. We didn't buy enough.

The flatware he bought from QVC. He used to tease Aunt Burnette about buying things from QVC but soon enough he was doing it too. I have so much of this DNA that I don't allow myself to watch QVC. But, Daddy does and one day he decided to buy a box full of stainless flatware with accessories. They are attractive, have the right weight that he likes and are convenient to carry around in their box. Plus he thought it was a bargain. So he bought two sets. We all thought he was crazy. Daddy didn't think we had enough so he had me go online to buy a third set. The exact pattern wasn't available so he had to settle for a similar pattern. He was a bit perturbed with me for not getting four or five sets. Which he mentions every time one of us loads up a box or two of flatware to move from home to the cabin to the Hunt House to the Round Up to Raleigh. Right again. We didn't buy enough.

The similarities between Ruby's Cookin and Jack's Cookin' end about there. Mama always requires napkins, tablecloths, centerpieces and she wants all the chairs at any one table to match each other. Matching of colors is essential in all things for Mama. She is uber organized and everything is neat, tidy, comfortable and beautiful. Daddy flings things about and doesn't notice crumbs or messes of any kind. He wants the tables set with the flatware, plates and real glasses, but he could care less about chair colors. Or tablecloths. OR napkins. Paper towels are napkins at the Round Up.

So when Jack's Cookin', Mama may help a little at home with the advance preparation, but as she says, she is an observer at the Round Up. This is a self defense mechanism learned over the years. It may have saved her health and their marriage. Fortunately for Daddy, he has Chris, Philip, Abel and me to help handle what Mama can do all by herself.

Daddy has taught his sous chefs to make several items according to his specification. There is no overlap between who he allows to do what because only the appointed one can do it right. Like Mama, Daddy is a lot like Tom Sawyer sometimes. Phil makes homemade mashed potatoes and Chris makes several things including salad, dressing, and cornbread if that is on the menu. I am allowed to be an assistant and to arrange tables as Hines Boi used to say. Hines Boi was a German fellow that Mama and Daddy met in South America and brought to the states years ago. Another blogpost another day.

So, yesterday I walk into the Round Up to do a few last end of the year bookkeeping tasks and I find that Jack's Cookin'. He has several standard Round Up menus and on this day he was making Country Style Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Salad, English Peas and rolls.

I asked who was coming and he said, "I don't know. Whoever you can get a hold of." This was at 10:30 am. He serves at High Noon. Twelve Sharp. I arranged table for about a dozen and about a dozen longtime, old friends and Round Up regulars showed up. These things never fail to amaze me.

The conversation was interesting as always and one of the funniest things was hearing Daddy's oldest, best, Lattimore friend-since-third-grade tell about his favorite Christmas present. Not that we hadn't heard this story before, but Carl can make any story funny no matter how many times you hear him tell it. I know it will lose a little of the fun in just reading about it. But, try to imagine Carl talking with pride and wistfulness and with a sense of humor about growing up in Lattimore during the depression. Money was tight of course but it was what people knew and they managed with what they had. Many people used outhouses but he did have one Aunt who had indoor plumbing. He said along about August his Aunt would save empty toilet paper rolls and wrap them up for Christmas presents. Then another fellow who ran road equipment would start about August saving cats that had been run over. By Christmas these cats were flat and dried out and they got wrapped for Christmas too. Everybody listening to this story was giggling as Carl explains how excited all the kids were with their Christmas presents - Sail Cats and Toot Toots! Sail Cats being the early version of a frisbee and toot toots being a fine musical instrument.

Lattimore folks always have made up their own fun. And Daddy still cooks up his own fun at the Round Up.

Country Style Cubed Steak and Gravy

Buy choice cubed steak on sale. Dad emphasizes that on sale and choice grade are very important factors. Put flour on a plate and heat wesson oil in a cast iron frying pan. Dredge cubed steaks in flour and add to the hot grease. Salt and pepper meat in the pan. Fry on medium high heat but not too fast. Frying slowly is important for the best flavor and the best crispy crust. Turn over and salt and pepper again. Daddy uses a lot of salt and pepper. Fry until they have a very crispy crust and cover for a bit to let them steam in the pan. Uncover, fry a little longer to make sure they are good and crispy and then remove to a glass dish. Continue until all pieces are cooked. You can put the covered glass dish in the oven at low heat to keep warm while making the potatoes and gravy.

Brown Gravy

Scrape all of the steak crumbs and bits from the frying pan loose and keep them in the pan. Pour off excess grease but keep enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Daddy might salt and pepper the grease and crumbs. He likes a salty peppery gravy. Heat the crumbs and grease really hot and add a few tablespoons of flour for a roux. When flour is browned add water and stir constantly. Keep adding water a little at a time until you have the consistency of good gravy - not too thick and not too thin. Daddy uses a short handled spatula for stirring and makes sure to keep as many crumbs as possible for the absolute best crunchy, smooth, flavorful brown gravy.

Homemade Mashed Potatoes

Peel potatoes and cut uniformly. Put in large pot, cover with water and boil until tender but not falling apart. Pour off the water and add salt, pepper, butter and a little milk. Using an electric mixer, mix until creamed together but with a few bits of potato. Serve immediately with browned gravy or peas in the well.

Happy New Year! - Collard Greens

So far, 2011 has a lot in common with 2010. In a good way.

It's only January 3rd and we've already watched several ballgames and gathered for food and fellowship with friends and family.

The Bulldogs have played hard, but are still developing as a team. We look forward to watching their continued growth over the next few months.

Mama, Daddy and Sister came over for the traditional New Year's Day lunch of collards, cornbread, hoppin' john, and streak O'lean. And hog jowl. Because Daddy would have been disappointed without it.

Collards are a leafy green vegetable and are supposed to bring health and prosperity during the New Year. Hoppin' John is a colorful, high protein, low fat dish that is also supposed to bring health and prosperity. I have always been at a loss for what good hog jowl can do, but I think it may be happiness.

While I was frying the hog jowl, I had to use a bacon press to keep the edges from curling up. When they curled up it looked a little bit like a smile and it made me think of the happy little pigs from the old Valleydale commercial. If you don't remember this commercial, there were several pigs dressed as a high school marching band. They were playing band instruments, smiling, heads up, high stepping and singing in harmony about how great it was to be a Valleydale pig.

Three day's later the Valleydale Team Fight song is still stuck in my head. Cymbals clang, "Valleydale Bratwurst! (cymbals) "Valleydale Bacon!" (cymbals) "Valleydale Sausage!" Big finish with the cymbals clanging 5 times as they proudly sang "Hail! Hail! Hail! It's Vall-Ee-DALE!! Hurray for Vall-EE-dale All Hail! It's Valleydale!"

So, I was standing in the kitchen, looking at the happy little pig smiles in the frying pan with the memory of the happy little Valleydale fight song. Then a new Geico commercial came on TV with a happy little pig being carpooled home from school, leaning out the window with two wind twirlers yelling "Weee!! Weee! Weeee!". All the way home. I got so tickled I laughed out loud. All by myself. Which is why I have decided that the good that comes from having pig meat on New Year's Day must have something to do with happiness.

I've also decided it's definitely time to get over the holidays and get back into a regular routine.

Yesterday we enjoyed a tradition that several families started a few years ago. Just before our children wind up the holidays to get back to school, we have gathered for homemade pizzas. Typically John and Beth have cooked our pizzas in a standard oven, but this year we added a new twist because Brian brought over a portable wood fired pizza oven. We gathered outside around a big table, with all kinds of toppings, pizza dough, pizza pans and the pizza oven.

It was funny to watch as everyone rolled out their own personal sized pizza and created their own pizza masterpiece. The first try they tentatively sprinkled cornmeal on the metal pan, carefully pulled off a tennis ball sized piece of pizza dough, gingerly rolled out their dough and thoughtfully chose their toppings. By the second or third try they were pizza experts whipping the whole thing together in no time.

Brian and Susan told us that when rolling out the dough "cornmeal is your friend" which is so very true. We were also told that when choosing toppings "less is more" which is probably true but nobody can stick to that rule.

Brian took the metal pan and pizza paddle and shoveled each pizza into the oven and then cooked them to a crispy melty perfection. It was a great way to have a gathering and a great way to end up the holiday season. Jay was right when he said that I'd know when it's time to take the Christmas tree down. It's time.

Two final things before I let the holidays go. For several years on New Year's Eve, I have thought about 1 or 2 things from the last year that I need to put behind me. I write them on a piece of paper, throw them into the fireplace and watch them burn away. Some things just need to be let go. Then I write down several things I want to do better in the coming year. In the last few years, I have put mostly the same things on the 'do better' list - make more healthy choices, read more, learn more about diverse people and places, be more prayerful, be more patient, be more thoughtful, follow the Golden Rule. Seems so simple but so hard to do.

So this year, I'll keep working at it by focusing on two of my favorite quotes.

The first was written by Richard Woodstone, "Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better person."

The second is from Micah 6:10 "And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to show mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Here's to Health and Happiness in 2011.

Traditional Collards

I bought fresh, local Collards for New Years and they were soft, tender and easy to make. They were tastier and easier to work with than I remembered and I think I may try them prepared in some other ways before they go out of season.

Cut the collards off the stalks. Then fold the leaves over and cut out the center rib. To decide where to make the cuts, I used Mama's don't leave on anything you wouldn't want to eat rule.

Cut the collards into smaller bite sized pieces. Put in a colander and wash several times. This is really important because there is nothing worse than biting down on gritty collards. Put a little water and a little vegetable broth into a pot. Add Collards. They may stick out over the top, but will cook down a lot. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer. I added a little more vegetable broth during cooking because I like the pot likker soaked into hot cornbread. When collards have cooked down a little add a little salt, pepper, and a few drops of Wesson oil or a piece of hog jowl. Continue cooking until tender. Don't cook them to death. For two stalks of collards, I probably use about 1 tsp salt, generous pepper and about 2 tbsps of oil. I don't usually add the hog jowl, but since I had some, I did add one small piece. To make Daddy happy.