Sticking Together - Lattimore Stickys

February has been full of friends. Many of those friends have been four legged and furry. We are really grateful for all of our friends - four legged and two legged - because friends stick by each other in tough times and enjoy each other in good times. As the saying goes, friendships double our joy and divide our grief and February has had it's share of both.

It's been fun to watch the four legged ones become friends with each other. Simba is still all puppy and we have loved watching how Dingo has settled in to her role as babysitter, playmate and big sister. Thank heavens for Dingo taking on these roles because without her, Simba's puppy energy would wear us out.

I love the picture on this post of David with Simba, Dingo AND Mr. Cat going for a ride on the golf cart. Carol said Simba's expression appeared to say, "I don't really know what's going on, but I am ALL IN!" Simba is a full time player.

It has taken Mr. Cat a little bit longer to warm up but he's caught on to the proper way to play with a puppy. Mr. Cat also knows the proper way to let a puppy know when playtime is over. Jay posted a video of such play on facebook and immediately friends weighed in on Mr. Cat's swagometer. Mr. Cat is well known for his swag.

Then it was Simba's turn to learn to play with a new friend when Scott came for a visit and brought Wilson - the 5 year old Greyhound. To Simba, Wilson probably looked about 10 feet tall. But they learned to play together too and Scott snapped the picture on this post during a morning walk. I laughed when Scott emailed the pic with the caption, "Simba going under the Wilson bridge."

It was great to have Scott back in Shelby for the first time since our 30th high school reunion. Time does fly but old friends easily pick up where they left off. Of course in this case that included lots of basketball, lots of visits and lots of meals. When you're only in town every eight years or so you have alot of catching up to do. Scott caught up with friends and relatives as well as livermush and bbq. We had a spontaneous dinner party of Cowboy Soup and Cornbread and it didn't feel like so many years had gone by. It felt like family. Old friends are like that.

We enjoyed more good friends with a trip in early February to High Point for basketball with the Staleys and a visit with Susan and Thomas for supper and the Super Bowl. As Thomas says, "we meet for a social event and a ballgame breaks out!" The first time I remember Thomas saying that was at a Charlotte Hornets game in 1991. Some things never change. Thank heavens.

On the other hand, when some things don't change it can be rather nerve wracking. Like Big South basketball games. The picture of the scoreboard on this post could be any number of games with the final score 57-56. Suffice to say that when attending a Big South Basketball game don't plan to leave early. These games can be rather sticky.

Yet another kind of sticky has been on my mind recently - the stickys that Nanny taught Nishie how to make.

Nishie and Nanny made Stickys with the leftover dough from homemade biscuits. The last bit of dough is rolled out flat and spread with butter, sugar and cinnamon and then rolled up jellyroll style and sliced. The slices are placed in a pan and baked until browned on top. There's a reason they are called stickys. When Nishie and Nanny made them, they were gooey with mass quantities of sugar, butter and cinnamon. When you picked up a sticky you knew how they got their name.

The other day I made two runs of Mama's Homemade Biscuits (recipe posted May 23, 2010) and decided to try my hand at Lattimore Stickys. It's been years since I made them and usually I don't make them because we do have to draw the calorie and sugar line somewhere. Sometimes I just draw the sugar line and make my own version of Stickys with butter, parmesan cheese and Italian spices.

But true Lattimore Stickys were on my mind so I gave it a shot. Just as I was taking the finished stickys out of the oven, Mama invited me out to Lattimore for a quick lunch. So I proudly took my stickys to Lattimore for a taste test by Dad, Mom, Libby and Penny - who quickly and unanimously critiqued that they did not have enough butter or sugar, they were not sticky enough, and they needed to be more brown on top. Somehow they were consumed despite these shortcomings.

Sticky ballgames, friends sticking together, and sticking my neck out with old family recipes. Can March madness be far behind?

Early Springtime - Sally's Vegetarian Chili

It's a beautiful early springtime in Western North Carolina and we're hoping that the groundhog up in Pennsylvania was wrong about six more weeks of winter. We've barely had one day of winter so far this year but we have often had snow in early March. It's wise not to make any bets on weather in NC.

Hopefully winter weather won't come in and damage all the buds on the dogwoods and camellias or the pretty daffodils that are springing up everywhere. Or bother the cute baby animals that are springing up in Lattimore.

On a ride around Lattimore this week, Mom and I noticed a lot calves in Dad's pasture. And in Tommy's pasture we saw lambs, baby goats and even a baby donkey. Tommy's pasture is always fascinating with classical music playing in the barns but even more so the day that Mom and I stopped by. Daffodil, the goat, had just delivered triplets and there were also three lambs delivered that day. It was so exciting that I took Jay and David back by the next day. Lattimore is just full of excitement.

Honestly, it was fun to slow down a little and just enjoy the sunshine, the daffodils and the beautiful animals.

We also enjoyed having the basketball team over for dinner one night to celebrate having some home games and also to celebrate Jay's 21st birthday. It's always fun to cook for a crowd of hungry boys and since some of their families were in town, we enjoyed cooking for them too. David brought out the big cooker for ribs and the charcoal grill for beef and pork tenderloins. I made mass quantities of mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn from the Lattimore garden and several other things. It was a fun and relaxing time together and they took no prisoners. I've discovered that it's pretty easy to clean up when there aren't any leftovers.

So, I don't know if it was the huge team meal or the zumba classes that I've enjoyed the last few weeks or the super bowl coming up or seeing all the cute baby animals, but I have been craving some healthy vegetarian chili recently.

Years ago when vegetarians were kind of rare in my world, I asked my one vegetarian friend how she made chili. She kind of grinned and said, "Well, I make it like you do. Except when you are putting in the meat, I am putting in chopped vegetables." How simple is that?

Last night I made vegetarian chili and she was right. Even David the meat lover liked it. I usually wing it when making chili, but I did try to pay attention this time. When it was time to put in ground beef, I added chopped squash and zucchini. This one's got a kick to it but we think it's a keeper.


Sally's Vegetarian Chili

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic (I use McCormick minced garlic in oil because it's easy)
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow squash, cubed
1 zucchini, cubed
1 or 2 tablespoons oil to saute vgetables

Saute garlic and onion until transparent, then add celery, peppers, squash and zucchini and saute a few minutes to soften a little. Then add:

1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes (I used no salt added), not drained
1 can rotel, not drained
a Cup or so of Water

Season with:

1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon cumin
A shake or two of celery salt
Crushed black pepper

Simmer all together and serve with Mama's Cornbread (recipe on previous post). You can afford the cornbread calories and you need a little grease since there is no meat in there! Enjoy.