Jesus, God and Santa Claus - A Southern Season Brunswick Stew

On a Christmas Eve 16 years ago Jay, David IV, David III and I were gathered at Sister and Jack's home with our extended families. Jay was about 5 years old and wanted to say the blessing. He said a sweet short prayer and ended it with "Thank you Jesus, God and Santa Claus!"

I guess that about covered it for a 5 year old. Or maybe any age.

David IV reminded me of this the other day when he messaged a picture of a pretty decorated Christmas Tree in Texas with the caption "Thank you Jesus, God and Santa Claus!"

So today is Christmas Eve and we will gather again at Sister's house for dinner. It will be a smaller group than 16 years ago but we will celebrate the memories of Christmases past and anticipate the love and joy of the present.

It has been an unusual season of Advent this year. A mix of many activities and some time alone as well.

We enjoyed pizza at Jackson's house and then great music at Gardner-Webb when Mark Wood from the TransSiberian Orchestra once again came to town to conduct a big group of local high school orchestra students. Mark Wood, his wife, son and several others accompanied the orchestra and chorus performing songs from Kansas, the Beatles, Aretha Franklin and more. It was a fantastic concert and proof that young people really want to dig in and learn when they are interested in the method of teaching.

Beth, Papa John, Linda and I enjoyed the spirit of Christmas and more wonderful music from Jeff Renn and Friends at the Don Gibson Theatre.

Wandering through uptown Shelby another day, I saw Santa and snapped a quick pic. He waved but was busy hugging the 3 year olds from a local day care. There is nothing sweeter than a 3 year old's face as they run toward the open arms of Santa.

Later on we gathered at the Cabin for the company Christmas lunch. Harry and his elves prepared the food for everyone, Daddy stoked the fire and I arranged table with Mama's Christmasey tablecloths and a lot of poinsettias. The cabin is so easy to decorate because it is always so warm and homey. David thanked each and every one for what they mean to the company and to him personally.

After lunch, Jay and I wandered into the pasture to get a closer look at the calves. There are a lot of babies in the pasture at this time of year and babies are miraculous any time but never more than at Christmas.

We welcomed a new baby cousin a few days ago and can't wait to meet Mary Eden in person soon. Julia, Braxton and Maggie will probably teach her all about sports before we know it.

And we welcomed another baby. A furry puppy. Jay and teammate, Max, had rescued the puppy from a thorny bush on the campus at Gardner Webb. Since the basketball team played away at Wake Forest and East Carolina, it wasn't long before the puppy arrived at our house.

Yet another walk-on in our menagerie. Dingo and Mr. Cat were less than pleased with the new addition. But Jay reminded Dingo that when she walked on 10 years ago Sandy and Oreo had to put up with her puppyness.

Jay - who is very good at arguing a case - declared that the puppy should be named Simba. To represent the Circle of Life. We all love the Lion King movie and have watched it many times. We took a very special family trip to see the play in New York City several years ago. And we all believe in the Circle of Life.

We were toast.

Our friend and vet, Dino, proclaimed Simba healthy and happy. Dino said Simba was eight weeks old and suggested that he may be a mixture of German Shepard and Samoyed. I didn't know what a Samoyed was so I googled and found that they are a Russian Breed of REINDEER HERDERS.

Well you never know when you might need a good reindeer herder. Especially at this time of year. In fact, just a few days ago, I had seen 5 baby deer running across the golf course.

Simba is just about the cutest little teddy bear of a puppy we have ever seen. But then what puppy isn't adorable? The good Lord knew what he was doing with puppies. Even Dingo and Mr. Cat have warmed up to his cuteness.

Simba has brought new joy and happiness to our household. And isn't that what we celebrate this time of year? Joy, Love, Hope. Peace.

O the wonder and magic of Christmas. Thank you Jesus, God and Santa Claus!

A Southern Season Brunswick Stew
(from Chris Holloway, Executive Chef)

This is a really neat idea for a family gathering or any kind of gathering. Judy got this recipe from A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, NC which is one of the coolest kitchen store/cafes around.

The idea here is to have various people prepare different parts of the recipe and then get together and pour everything into a huge pot to simmer. As the pot simmers, everyone enjoys each other's company, maybe a brew or two, and then enjoys the stew. It makes so much that there is usually plenty to send home with folks.

I make brunswick stew various ways depending on what I have on hand. Typically I don't put beef in there but you can put whatever you want in stew. Like Greasy Sae said in the Hunger Games, "when I put it in the stew I call it beef!"

I actually haven't done this yet but it is on my short list of things to do. Here is the recipe from Chris Holloway.

Ingredients:

24 cups tomatoes
10 cups butter beans
10 cups corn
8 cups onion, 1/4 inch chopped
8 lbs potatoes, 1/2 inch diced
2 large hens (or 10 breasts and 10 thighs)
5 lbs Boston Butt
5 lbs beef

1 1/2 Tbsp red pepper
1/8 cup black pepper
3/4 lb butter
12 oz worchestershire
1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar

Day before:

Cover beef and pork with foil and roast fat side up at 350 degrees for 3 hours or until falls apart.

Cook chicken in water. Bring to low boil and cook until meat falls of bones (about 2 hours).

Let meat cool and pull. Store in fridge overnight.

Boil Potatoes and Mash half. Mash 1/2 butter beans.

Day of:

Put everything together and cook over low heat till deep orange color - about 6 hours. Brunwick Stew is NOT red!

Stir. Drink Beer. Stir. Enjoy.

Makes 17.5 quarts or 4.5 gallons. Send everybody home with some for the freezor.

The instructions say to serve with saltines. Mama looked this recipe over and everything was going along fine until she got to the part about saltines. She emphatically said, "No! not saltines. Brunswick stew is served with cornbread."

I'm with Mama on the cornbread, but this does sound like a fun gathering.