All Kinds of Rascals - Mama Crowder's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

There sure is a lot going on in the world - here and there, home and away.

Home and away we have watched the GWU Bulldogs play basketball. There have been wins and losses, but always a good time with these guys that we have grown to know and love. They had a great win at Coastal Carolina ending Coastal's 22 game winning streak. That was the longest winning streak in any division in basketball this year. We weren't at that game, but David was able to freeze a news clip frame from television and take a picture of the post game celebration.

GWU took a loss in Charleston and then a big win at home against Radford. We look forward to the last home game this weekend and then the Big South tournament next week. It's been a tough season, but lots of good experiences.

Far away in Libya and Egypt, people have decided to come out of the dark ages and fight for their own freedom. I love that they are using Facebook and other social media to stay united. It's something I don't fully understand from a detailed, geopolitical, diplomatic view, but I think the Young Rascals song going around in my head the last few days speaks to the heart of the matter.

All the world over so easy to see. People everywhere just wanna be free. Listen people listen. That's the way it should be. Peace in the Valley. People got to be free.

Love the Rascals.

This week a lot of their songs have been coming to mind. Like when David and I took a 24 hour trip to Charleston to watch the GWU Bulldogs play and then without a real plan in mind, we wound up late that night at a favorite spot - Isle of Palms, SC. When we woke up to a beautiful sunrise on the beach, I could hear the Rascals singing "It's a Beautiful Morning! Think I'll go outside for a while. And just smile!"

After a great early breakfast at the Boulevard Diner, we headed back home.

It was a quick trip, but not only did we enjoy the game, we packed a lot of other things into that 24 hours. We took a trip down memory lane dropping in on old friends in Summerville. Jack and Lynn were very gracious when we pulled into their driveway and then called to ask if we could stop by. David hadn't seen them in over 20 years and I had never met them. It was a really great visit and we found out they have a grandson at Wofford. Such a small world.

On the way home we drove through Holly Hill where David worked at Santee Carriers - his first job out of college.

As we drove off the interstate through Holly Hill and toward home, we noticed several purple fields along the way. Since we had the handy IPad out for directions, I started searching the internet to identify the purple fields. At first we thought it was clover and we learned a lot about different kinds of clover and all the medicinal properties. You might want to chew on some now and then - it supposedly cures many ailments.

But after stopping to pick a few sprigs, we positively identified the purple fields as Henbit Nettle. Not to be confused with Purple Nettle. I'm sure. It is amazing how many species of nettle and clover and other plants there are in this world. I'm convinced you could study plants forever and never learn it all.

It's the same with birds. I did participate in The Great Backyard Bird Count last weekend and that was a lot harder than I expected. For one thing, you don't just count birds. You have to identify each bird. The directions from the internet even said, "If you can't positively identify the bird, do not count it."

Well. They did have a list of birds common to our region. I printed the list out and it is in two columns and very small type. It is six pages long. There are 11 kinds of hummingbirds. And 12 kinds of woodpeckers. Not to mention 7 kinds of wrens.

So I saw a lot of birds in the backyard, but could only POSITIVELY identify Robins, Bluejays, Carolina Wren and the American Crow. A very humbling experience to say the least.

When you think about the amazing numbers of plants and animals in the world it just proves the saying - The more you know, the more you know you don't know.

So this morning, I woke up hearing all kinds of birds chirping and singing outside and even though it's not Sunday afternoon yet, there came another favorite Rascals tune again - Groovin'.

I grooved on Mama Crowder's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies last week. These are much quicker to make than Tea Cakes, but there is a mystery to getting them to set up. Sometimes it works better than other times, but even if they don't set up just perfect most of us like to just eat them with a spoon anyway.

Also, you will be happy to know that according to My Own True Weight Loss Diet Plan Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies are health food. Yep. They use cocoa instead of chocolate. Never mind the butter you add. And they have oatmeal. Definitely health food. Enjoy!

Mama Crowder's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 Stick Butter (I use real butter)
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Cocoa

Boil the ingredients above for 2 minutes ONLY. This is key to the set up thing.
Add:

2 1/2 Cups Quaker Quick Oats
Boil for 1 minute EXACTLY.

Then Add:
1 TBSP Vanilla
1/2 cup Crunchy Peanut Butter (extra crunchy is best!)

Drop in spoonfuls onto wax paper or aluminum foil. They should 'set up' fairly soon - a little dry and easy to pick up. If they don't set up right they will be sticky and gooey, but they will still taste pretty darn good.

Learning in Lattimore - Sis's Scalloped Potatoes and Soupy Way Potatoes

On visits to Lattimore this past week, I learned several things - as usual.

Jackie was visiting and Mama served chicken salad for lunch on the glassed in porch. The porch was a screened porch originally, but after many years of discussion they decided to glass it in. It added a whole new dimension to the house. Mama covered, again, all of the cushions for her white wicker furniture and it is a really pretty and comfortable place to be. I remember the wicker furniture from the front porch of the Hewitt house in Lattimore and how we would gather out there in the mornings and "drink coffee". Back then, my coffee was mostly milk and sugar with a little drop of coffee in the cup.

Mama has covered those wicker chair cushions many times and she also made most of the curtains in the house. Unfortunately, I did not get the sewing gene. The other day Mama and I were rambling around in the basement and she showed me several bolts of cloth that she had had for years. I recognized one that used to be on the porch cushions. Mama called it a Charleston print. It looks just like Mama - pink and green with an azalea print. Very southern and very pretty.

So, on the glassed porch the other day, we finished lunch and while we were talking, Mama rolled the window open to refill her bird feeder. All kinds of birds flock to her feeder which is attached to the outside of the window. She has a little book that her sister, Mem, gave her to identify the birds. There was the cutest little Chickadee outside the window hopping around on the dogwood tree branches.

Jackie mentioned that this weekend was The Great Backyard Bird Count Weekend. This is a scientific project organized each year by Cornell University and the Audubon Society. Everyone in the country is invited to spend at least 15 minutes over four days this weekend counting the birds in your own backyard. You can log into a website and enter how many birds you count and they wind up with a real-time count of birds all over the country. I had never heard of this but there are plenty of birds in our yard and I wouldn't want them to go uncounted. Google it if you want to join the fun.

I learned another thing in Lattimore this week during a conversation with Daddy about cows. He explained that back in the day, everybody had a cow in their backyard for milk. Lots of people churned their own butter and made their own cheese. This was in the days before refrigeration - when people used ice boxes to keep things cold. I'm guessing this has something to do with "The Iceman Cometh". Anyway Daddy was talking about how everybody had a milk cow and they were usually Jerseys, Guernseys and Holsteins. I remember these cows from the dairy farm at Nanny's house and how they were different colors. Jerseys and Guernseys are brown and Holsteins, known to give a greater volume of milk, are the black and white ones. I thought it was funny when Daddy pointed out, "that Chik-Fil-A cow is a Holstein, not a beef cow". Maybe the marketing people on Madison Avenue don't know much about cows.

Daddy doesn't have dairy cows anymore, but does have some beef cows. He used to have mostly Simienthals which are big red Swiss cows, but now he has mostly black Angus. He really enjoys riding around in the fields in his big old Lincoln with grass hanging off the bumper. He watches the cows at all times of the day and in that pastoral setting he observes their personalities and what he calls their family traits. Jackie took pictures of the cows included on this post and sent them to me. Guess which picture Jackie captioned "Grass is Greener".

No doubt the cows have different traits and personalities and you can see that these animals would be interesting to get to know. Daddy loves being out there watching the cows and says it's a peaceful, spiritual time for him.

So, I was thinking about milk and butter and cheese and how easy it is to just go to the grocery store instead of milking and churning and all and I suddenly wanted to make Sis's Scalloped Potatoes.

Sis's Scalloped Potatoes are quick and easy. She usually makes it in a 13 x 9 pyrex dish, but I made it in a small pie plate the other day. The amounts of potato, onion, cheese, milk, etc depend on the size of your dish. You'll figure it out.

Sis's Scalloped Potatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Choose your baking dish. The size of the dish will determine how many potatoes and onions you need.

Peel Potatoes - Slice thin - about 1/8th inch (I used four for the pie plate)
Peel and Slice Onions - Slice thin (I used one for the pie plate)

In baking dish layer potatoes and onions
Sprinkle a little flour and dot with butter
Repeat potato, onion, flour, butter
Grate Cheddar Cheese on top
Sis said to pour milk over "until it barely covers the potatoes". Don't put too much milk because there will be some moisture from the other ingredients.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bake for about 30 minutes until potatoes are browned and cheese is melted.


Soupy Way Potatoes - with Beef My Way

Making Sis's Potatoes made me want to make another of my favorite Potato Recipes.

Soupy Way Potatoes are a Lattimore favorite that Nishie and Mama made. It is basically potato soup, but sometimes they would put a few strings of leftover roast beef in if they had any. When I make it, I like to have a lot of beef so it is a lot darker and beefier than the original which is mostly potato and is a creamy white color. Judy named this dish when she was a little girl and wanted "potatoes that Soupy way". Forever after everybody called it Soupy Way Potatoes.


1 lb Stew Beef (I cut them up into smaller pieces either before or after cooking)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed uniformly
1 medium onion, diced uniformly
2 ribs celery, diced uniformly
3 tbsp flour
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
32 oz box Beef Broth
1 can Beef Consomme (judgement call - If you want it really dark and beefy tasting or if you didn't brown stew beef before cooking in the crockpot)

salt, pepper, parsley to taste

Stew Beef: I cooked the Stew Beef one day and made the soup the next.

Brown Stew Beef in cast iron pan before adding to crockpot. Mama and Daddy say it won't be good unless you brown it first. Daddy said, "if you don't brown it, it'll taste ordinary." Browning sears the beef on the outside and makes the gravy more concentrated. If you don't brown it, you'll need to cook in crockpot with beef consomme over low heat for at least 8 hours. It still won't be the same, but pretty close.

Cook stew beef in crock pot with a broth or consomme to cover, on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Remove from crock pot and save in fridge until ready to use.

For Soupy Way Potatoes:

In a 6 quart pot: Put cubed potatoes and diced celery and cover with beef broth or beef consomme. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes till potatoes are tender but not mushy. You can add black pepper, but the broth will have plenty of salt.

In a large soup pot: Saute diced onion in about 1/2 stick of butter. When onions are translucent, add about 3 tablespoons flour and make roux. Whisk in 1/2 cup milk to make gravy.

Add cooked stew beef including broth and then add the rest of the 32 ox box of beef broth. Continue stirring to mix thoroughly.

When potatoes and celery are done, add with their liquid to beef and onions in the large soup pot.

For seasonings I added:

Salt, pepper, parsley until I liked it. Flavors increase over time.

Serve with crackers or with cornbread.

Roses, Rosemary, Pruning and Peace

"If you don't like the weather just hang around a little while. It WILL change." For sure. This North Carolina saying definitely came true this week.

The weather changed dramatically from snowy and cold to sunny and 70 degrees. David and I got outside one day with a wheelbarrow to do a little yard work. Sister had reminded me that it was time to prune the knock out roses. So, we cut them way back and hopefully they will grow and bloom like they did last year.

It felt good to be outside in the beautiful weather working in the yard.

Unlike most species of roses, Knock Out Roses are super hardy and easy to care for. As Sister says, "They thrive on neglect."

Another plant that thrives in any situation is Rosemary. Our rosemary bushes were just as happy with snow all over them as they are when it is hot and dry. Rosemary is a really versatile plant to use in cooking and in flower arrangments. In cooking, rosemary is especially good with roasted pork, poultry and vegetables so I usually throw a sprig or two in when I am roasting something in the oven.

In flower arrangments, I stick Rosemary in most everything. It is always handy since it grows year round at the kitchen door and it always seems to fit in. Last week, I put three sprigs in a Japanese Ikebana vase. Ikebana is an interesting form of flower arranging that was developed by Buddhist monks centuries ago.

Besides cooking and flower arrangements, Rosemary makes me remember people; past and present. Rosemary is a symbol of remembrance showing up in literature in ancient, medieval and recent times.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare has Ophelia say, "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember..."

This past week we prayed and loved and we remembered a sweet, young, talent whose life ended tragically and abruptly. How fragile life is. And how hard to deal with the reality that we are spiritual beings living in a physical world.

On Valentine's Day, I heard someone say that there are two parts to the human heart - the mechanical heart that beats and the spiritual heart that feels emotion. This week spiritual hearts struggle.

I thought about my grandmother, Alma Harrill Hunt. Nanny lived to be 101 years old. It stands to reason that if you live to be 101 years old, you will experience most of lifes joys and sorrows. Nanny had more than her share of both, but she was so peaceful and calm. She had the peace that passes all understanding.

Nanny read the Bible start to finish at least three times in her life, and she studied parts of it everyday. Once I asked her what her favorite book was and she immediately said, "I like to read Psalms. It always comforts me."

So I turned to Psalms this week and, honestly, it made me think about going to an Opera. Not just because Psalms has a lot to do with music but because, when you go to an Opera, it makes a lot more sense if you know what's going on before you get there. To get the most out of Psalms, knowing the story and the background helps a lot.

Nanny was like the songwriters in Psalms. The presence of God in her personal life made it possible for her to peacefully and calmly handle the joys and the sorrows that came her way during her 101 years.

I'll keep working on Psalms, but in the meantime the beauty and simplicity of Corinthians is comforting.

Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13)

Mama Crowder's Tea Cakes

Teacakes are not hard to make, but they do require some time.

I mainly remember Mama Crowder making teacakes for Christmas and Valentine's Day. I guess it was kind of like a winter sport for her. During other seasons she was so busy working in the garden or "putting up" whatever was in the garden that she barely had time to make teacakes.

Teacakes look like roll-out-and-cut sugar cookies, but they have a more cakey texture. They really aren't that sweet right out of the oven, but the powdered sugar icing takes care of that.

Teacakes are a typical Southern thing and like a lot of Southern things, there are probably 1000s of variations and recipes. In fact, I had two variations of what I thought was Mama Crowder's teacake recipe in my own files. With instruction like "heaping cup sugar" and "pinch salt" and "a little bit of milk". One of these recipes was on a well used and studied page that I could hardly read for the all the holes in the paper. The holes were from sticky things flying in the kitchen while I practiced this recipe over the years. I haven't made teacakes recently and wanted to get it right, so I called Libby for help.

Making teacakes by yourself is not that much fun. But it is fun to do with someone else. Mama Crowder knew this and sometimes she would call and ask if anybody wanted to come make teacakes. She would make the dough the day before and sometimes she would already have the cookies cut out and baked. If you were there to help with the icing, you had to be VERY VERY careful to ice all the way out to the edge of the cookie. When you were sprinkling colored sugar or sprinkles on the cookies you had to have a good eye for how much is enough. As much as Mama Crowder enjoyed the help, she was pretty particular about how those cookies were iced and decorated.

Since Libby and I both wanted to make teacakes for Valentine's Day, we decided to make them together at my house last Friday morning. I reviewed the recipe with Libby and accepted her corrections since she's made them more than I have - and hers are always really good.

I made up the dough which is fairly quick and easy to put together, then divided into two balls and chilled in the fridge. You can do this several days ahead but we usually make the dough one day and bake the next.

On Friday morning, we rolled out the dough to Mama Crowder's exact specifications which were - "Roll THIN. About as thick as a Wooden Matchstick."

I found a wooden matchstick (see photo) because I wanted to be precise. Libby and I decided they used to make matchsticks a little thicker back in Mama Crowder's Day, but we think we got it right.

Since it was for Valentine's we used only heart shaped cookie cutters, but Mama Crowder used all kinds at different times. I love the reindeer at Christmas even if their little legs sometimes burn or fall off. I always decorate reindeer as Rudolph with a Red Hot for a nose.

We baked the cookies and then let them cool. Libby made the icing. Mama Crowder usually made several colors of icing - pink and white for Valentine's, and red and green for Christmas. We just made white icing this time. I'm not a fan of pink cookies.

Thankfully Libby remembered that it helps with clean up if you put aluminum foil down before you decorate. Otherwise everything will be sticky AND those little multi colored sugar balls will roll off the counter and all over the kitchen.

When it was all said and done, we had about 80 cookies. Well, maybe more like 75 because several of them disappeared during the icing stage. There is nothing better than a slightly warm freshly iced teacake. With a hot cup of coffee or a big glass of milk.

They tasted so good and it warmed my heart. All morning long, as we rolled, baked, cut and iced, I could almost see Mama Crowder at work and hear her laughter. Those heart shaped cookies are full of love.


Mama Crowder's Tea Cakes

For Cookie Dough:

4 1/2 Cups Plain Unsifted Flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

Sift together after measuring.

1 heaping cupful of sugar

1 tsp vanilla
2 egggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup butter (softened)

Mix wet and dry ingredients until stiff dough forms. Divide into two balls. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate until ready to roll and cut.

To Make Cookies:

Let dough soften out of fridge and then roll out very thin. "Thick as a wooden matchstick".

Cut into shapes. Bake at 350-375 degrees on greased cookie sheet (we used pam spray) and bake for 8 - 10 minutes until they rise. Touch to see if they are done. Your finger print shouldn't stay in the dough and the cookies shouldn't be too brown on the bottom. To avoid burning cookies on the bottom you can move to a higher position in the oven.

Cool cookies. Ice and decorate.

Icing:

1 box 10x Powdered Sugar
1/4 stick of butter (melted)
A few drops of Vanilla
A little milk

Decorating sprinkles. Food Coloring if you want.

You may need to add more milk to keep the icing from getting too dry. Decorate as soon as you ice the cookies or the icing can get too hard.

Teacakes will get hard and are best eaten within the first two or three days. Which usually isn't much of an issue. Happy Valentine's Day!

Margaret Royster's Lemon Chess Pie

Margaret McMurry Royster had a lot of family and a lot of friends. Everybody loved her and her house was always a gathering spot. Margaret and David W. Royster, Sr., married on June 26, 1919 and they moved into the red brick house at 417 South Washington Street in Shelby. They lived in that house for the rest of their lives.

The red brick house on South Washington Street was built in 1857 and is the oldest house on the street. The greek revival house next door was built by Dr. S. S. Royster 51 years later in 1908.

Like many women of her era, Margaret never learned to drive. Most everything she needed was close to home. She was pleasant to be around and people either came to see her or on occasions when she wanted to go somewhere she could find a way.

Margaret's sister-in-law, Kathleen, was in her 50's when she learned to drive. Betty, who is Kathleen's daughter-in-law, told me that the main reason Kathleen got her license was so she could drive the South Washington Street Bridge Club to Virginia Beach every summer to visit with cousin Lucy. Betty and I had fun imagining 6 women with suitcases in the 1950s and 60s piled into a car heading for a week at Virginia Beach. With newly licensed driver Kathleen behind the wheel. That may be a clue about Margaret's framed homemade certificate as a member of the Wildcats.

Because Margaret didn't drive she was at home a great deal of the time. Knowing she would likely be home, people stopped by her house a lot. As David III said, "back then people visited more. And they didn't call or text or email before they came by. They just dropped by." No doubt all of Margaret's family and friends enjoyed those visits and for sure David III did. In fact, for a lot of his time growing up, he was there on South Washington with his grandparents who he called MaMa (pronounced MAHmah) and Pop Ick.

David said that his grandmother almost always had a lemon chess pie on the counter in the kitchen. She made these pies on holidays and to give to people for funerals and for all kinds of reasons. Lynn said when MaMa made a pie, she would always make an extra one to have on hand at home for whoever might come by to visit.

David loves lemon anything so some time ago he got the recipe from Betty Royster - who calls it Aunt Margaret's Lemon Chess Pie.

Chess pie is a very very sweet Southern pie and can be made many ways. Mama Crowder made great chess pie too. The consistency is important - not too juicy and not too dry. The pies can be flavored with lemon, vanilla, chocolate, or even pineapple. Some people call it Vinegar Pie. They put vinegar in it to cut the super sweetness. But it is great super sweet with a cup of hot coffee. A little piece of chess pie goes a long way.

So today I made MaMa's Lemon Chess Pie. I called Betty to thank her for the recipe and we had a fun visit on the telephone. I dropped by Sister's with a small piece and enjoyed talking with her. Then, I thought Anne might want a taste of her mother's pie so I dropped by her house and had a good visit there too.

MaMa's Lemon Chess Pie seems to have brought back the old Southern custom of dropping by to say hey.

I'm thinking David will be happy to find chess pie on the kitchen counter when he comes home.

MaMa's Lemon Chess Pie


Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Combine: 2 cups sugar
4 eggs

Mix: 1 Tbsp Flour
1 Tbsp Cornmeal

Add to Egg and Sugar mixture

Add: 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup lemon juice (the real thing!)

Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake 45 minutes or more at 350 degrees. This depends on the oven. I think I baked the one I made today at least 55 minutes.

Betty says you want the top to be golden brown and "the filling should barely jiggle" before you take it out of the oven. This is really important because if you don't cook it long enough, when the pieces of pie are cut, juice will run all over the plate. Then again, if you cook it too long, it will be dry.

Mama Crowder always said "bake it until it doesn't shake".

Whirlwind Week, GWU Games - Super Bowl Wings

It was a whirlwind of a week with sports, cooking and many different reasons to gather in many different settings. Last week was ramped up a notch even for us.

Last Monday I met my friend Carone on her amazing horse farm. She is into horses in a big, big way. On an international level. She imports hunters and jumpers from Belgium, Holland, England and all over and then trains the horses and the riders. Her farm is beautiful and I plan to get back out there to take some pictures and write about these amazing animals and the people who work with them. It is a fascinating sport.

Like most things, I guess you could spend years just learning the intricacies of horses and horsemanship. I am a little familiar with Western riding and know absolutely nothing about English style. So I googled some information about horses and riding. One thing that I enjoyed was watching You Tube videos of the differences between walk, trot, canter and pace. It's truly like learning different dance steps. Each step has a specific beat and the horse knows that beat. Hopefully the rider knows the beat too. The horse also knows which foot leads and when to change weight. Timing, grace and agility is everything. I was watching this video and had an epiphany about how similar it is to tap dancing. The sound of the beat, changing weight, turns, timing.

I told tap dance teaching neighbor Beth that I had just realized that horses would make great tap dancers. She quickly replied that since CATS was such a big hit, maybe we could do a tap show called HORSES! Not a chance. It's humbling to admit that a 17 hand, 1000 pound animal with four feet dances better than I do.

And that was just Monday. On Tuesday I met Susan in Hickory so she could help me wade through the mysterious world of bed and bath linens. When David and I have spent the night at Susan and Thomas' houses over the years, we always talk about how comfortable the guestbeds are. Susan really knows how to make up a comfortable bed and I was ready to learn from the master. For some reason, there are always amazing sales of these things in January and we were on a mission. But first we had lunch. We started out with a great Greek salad, homemade Tzatzaki and Hummus on pita at a new restaurant in Hickory. I felt like I was in Tarpon Springs or the Greek Islands. Lunch is a very cheap and easy way to travel. We did accomplish the mission and have slept great this week with new bed clothes and new comfy pillows (buy one get one for $1). Love January sales.

Between Wednesday and Saturday, we worked and we did a lot of cooking on the side. We had Carl's lunch at the Round Up. (see post) Then, sadly, a long time friend's mother passed away. She was a dear, sweet lady and we wanted to pay our respects by fixing dinner for her big, sweet family. So David brought out the big cooker and we fixed ribs and bbq. I made two apple pies. That meant I made four apple pies in 2 days - a record for me.

We had the cooker out so we put in some chickens and pork tenderloins and shared bbq with Anne and Jim for Anne's birthday and with Sister who had a few friends over for supper. Clifton was in town for the funeral so we invited him to spend the night. David IV is home for a few days and he loves to cook and eat too. So we really needed the big cooker.

GWU played two home games and they were both heartstoppers. With 1.2 SECONDS to go, the Thursday night game against Winthrop was tied. We had all the momentum and even though Winthrop would bring the ball inbounds, we were certain they couldn't get off a shot. In a miraculous hail mary shot, a Winthrop player who has only made one three pointer all year hit a three to win the game with ZERO seconds on the clock. Someone said that player should have walked right out and bought a lottery ticket. Bill said, "I'm just gonna sit right here in my seat and maybe overtime will start anyway." But that was game over.

Saturday night GWU played Presbyterian and we took friends from Spartanburg and sister Lynn for good luck. Presbyterian had prevailed in the last game and after Thursday's heartbreaker everyone really wanted this one. The Bulldogs came to win. It was intense from the very start; neck and neck all the way. The student section, led by the baseball team, was out in force. Everyone was on their feet in the last .9 seconds with the score tied and GWU on the free throw line. Stefan hit the first free throw and hit the rim on the second one to try and tick some time off the clock. Amid confusion, the ref's allowed a time out to be called and then the refs put .3 seconds on the clock. After Thursday night, nobody was taking that .3 seconds for granted. But GWU won the game 63-62 and it was the sweetest win. After so many tough, hard fought games, this win was just about as sweet as winning a championship.

David IV was at the game with us wearing a Gardner Webb shirt. When Jay walked out of the locker room, we laughed because he was wearing a Wofford Football shirt. We joked that they must have gotten mixed up in the laundry. Well. It has been a whirlwind week.

So, today is Super Bowl Sunday and while I haven't watched pro football this year, I do watch the game, enjoy the commercials and I look forward to this year's halftime show - The Blackeyed Peas. Several of us enjoy guessing the scores at the end of each quarter and that makes it a little more fun too.

We'll have Chicken Wings, Chili and Nachos for the Super Bowl. I make the chili and then let everybody have chili or add toppings to make their own nachos just like they want 'em. I learned to make Chicken Wings from a chef years ago and it is really simple and good.

Chicken Wings

1 6 ounce bottle of Tabasco or Texas Pete (your choice - we like both)
1 Stick Butter
Chicken Wings or Drummettes (about a dozen or more wings)

I don't fry the chicken wings, they are baked. We like them crispy, not sticky, and we like to bake the flavor of the sauce into the meat.

If the wings are frozen, bake them for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees and pour off any excess grease and water. If they are fresh, you may want to cook them long enough to pour off a little bit of chicken grease. Precook on a broiler pan if you have one to make pouring off grease easier.

When you are ready to bake with the sauce, don't use a broiler pan. Use either a baking sheet or cast iron.

Melt butter and add hot sauce. Pour over wings and turn to coat. Bake for about an hour turning every 15 minutes or so. I use medium to high heat - 350 to 450 degrees as I check and turn the wings. They need to be cooked until they are crispy and browned. Remove and serve in cast iron pan.

Carl's Lunch at the Round Up

Daddy and Carl were cooking up plans for lunch at the Round Up. Carl wanted to let some of his old buddies know how much he loves and appreciates them. Daddy wanted to let Carl know how much he loves and appreciates him. The rest of us wanted to let Carl and Daddy know how much we appreciate both of them. And how much we admire their long time friendship.

So on Friday morning Carl, Weasy, Carl's three sons Mike, Tim and Mal and several of Carl's old buddies met at the Round Up for homecooking. This was a real mixture of Jack' Cookin' and Ruby's Cookin' because even though we were at the Round Up, we did have tablecloths, napkins and real flowers.

We fixed green beans, crowder peas and silver queen corn from the Lattimore garden. We had biscuits, cornbread, slaw, macaroni and cheese, homemade mashed potatoes, country ham and sausage. Daddy made two kinds of gravy - sausage gravy and red eye gravy. For dessert, we had Mama Crowder's chocolate oatmeal cookies and two apple pies. It was a very tough time to be counting calories so I tried to keep my hands busy arranging table and taking pictures.

The weather was cold with bone chilling rain, but inside the Round Up it was warm and toasty with great food, great friends and a great deal of love. Daddy and Carl are 88 years old and have been friends for about 82 of those years. Mike found a toast that Daddy had written for Carl's 60th birthday and brought it for Daddy to read to this group 28 years later.

Daddy started with when they first became friends in Lattimore. Daddy deadpanned, "Carl was the older kid. He was 6 and I was 5 1/2." He went on to describe the friendship through the early years, teenage years, high school, young adulthood, hunting trips, army life, jobs, hobbies, kids and families. They were such close friends that long ago Nishie used to say, "If Carl was a girl, Jack would probably marry her!"

Daddy said that when he and Carl were little boys their Mama's took care of them, then their teachers and neighbors looked after them, then their wives; and that there were times that it just had to be the Lord looking after them. They were adventurous boys and sometimes he wondered how they lived through it all.

Daddy went on to say that all friendships are special but that a long lasting friendship is a true joy. Some of us were starting to feel emotional hearing the touching testimony. Daddy said that through all of those years, he and Carl hadn't had a serious disagreement - even over a bird dog. I knew that this was true, but I've been around these two long enough to know that comic relief was coming.

Then Daddy starting talking about the bird dogs they had shared, naming each special dog with reverance. The list grew longer and longer when Daddy dramatically ended with two of their favorite dogs ....Roxy and Jake. On cue, Carl prayerfully motioned the cross in high honor and respect to his dog and said "ah Jake!" Most of us remembered Roxy and Jake and we all cracked up. Tim shook his head and said, "I was doing okay until you started talking about the bird dogs."

It was a great lunch and everyone hung around the Round Up talking for a while. Mal said that if it was his last meal on earth he would want exactly the meal that he just had. Libby offered Mal the rest of Mama Crowder's chocolate oatmeal cookies. Tim mentioned that in Colorado he couldn't find good cornmeal to make cornbread. Chris offered Tim a fresh bag of buttermilk cornmeal mix to take home with him. Tim put the cornmeal in a safe place until time to go. The safe place was the last sink on the Round Up's vanity display. We had a piece of leftover apple pie and offered that. And there were a few other things we wanted to give them. We laughed because pretty soon the last sink was full of booty to take home.

We all took home the realization that it is really special when old friends take time to honor their true and lasting friendship.