My Dad's birthday is always near Thanksgiving. That's appropriate because we are so thankful for him. I would say he celebrated his 90th birthday on November 27, 2012. And that would be true. But he celebrated days before and he is still celebrating. I like his style. Birthday celebrations should not be closed up in a single day.
My sisters and I discussed many thoughts for how to celebrate Dad's 90th and we came to a decision that there should not be one big party but a celebration that really had no beginning or ending.
So Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you and we'll just keep celebrating every chance we get!
Daddy's Thursday night "Board Meeting" members surprised him with this cute cake last week. We thought they hit the nail on the head with this. Daddy really is the King of Hearts.
Libby made this apple cake for Thanksgiving Day at the Cabin. We considered turning the 9 upside down for David Martin's 60th Birthday which was the day before Dad's 90th.
Daddy spent his actual birthday in the house he grew up in Lattimore. How amazing is it that? Talk about coming full circle. Dad was born in 1922 and his family moved into the Hunt House in 1929. He enjoyed remembering and we enjoyed hearing story and story after story.... especially the one about renewing his driver's license!
Wendell literally dropped out of the clear blue sky to wish Dad a Happy Birthday. It was a nice surprise for everybody and I especially loved it when he said he would be back in 10 years to celebrate the really big one!
One story Dad told about his childhood the other day reminded me of this picture of Simba hiding in the back of Jay's jeep. Dad was remembering being a little boy in the Hunt House and wanting to go with his father on a sales call. Dr. R. L. Hunt was a dentist by trade but he also ran a small business and traveled about selling fertilizer to farmers. Dad was a little boy and he wanted to ride with his father so he hid in the back of the car. Simba tried the same trick with Jay the other day. Dad was more succesful than Simba and got to ride with his father that day long ago.
Judy had wanted to make Brunswick Stew at the Hunt House ever since she found a great recipe from A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. The recipe makes about 5 gallons of stew and is a combined effort with various people contributing parts of the recipe. We gathered all of the ingredients at the Hunt House and then put the stew together to simmer all day long.
Brunswick Stew simmering on the stove at the Hunt House. This is a fun thing to make when you don't know who might be coming over or when they might show up! Judy had some quart jars ready to send home with everybody but this stew is so good there wasn't much left.
A Southern Season's Brunswick Stew
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. Brunswick 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 make for a fun gathering.
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