Glad Tidings And Good Cheer

So much for being ready for Christmas and yet, it will all get done.  I have started the fruit platter which will have strawberries, pineapple and cream cheese dip in the middle.  

Merry Christmas to all my friends out there!  I'll be thinking of you.

Knock Knock

Someone is there.  She is shameless.  A beggar.  I like to leave the doors propped open on nice days and guess who wants in?  Last week I was sitting in my chair when something jumped up on my foot resting on the footstool.  I was shocked and jumped.  She hurried back out the door.

I feed the squirrels nuts and this one has learned a few tricks.  She can climb up the screen door and rock in and out and cause quite a racket when she wants some nuts.  From the time I raise the blinds in the morning, they watch from the trees and come running.  Mother Nature has to comply.  I do enjoy the animals.

More Old Southern Recipes

Time for some more recipes.  More in keeping with the weather.  In weather reports, it sounds like the midwest and northeast need these.  It's been pretty mild here so far and I am glad!

Teeny Thanksgiving Apples

I saw the cutest things ever at the store.  Teeny organic Crimson Gold apples.  Grown in a micro-climate in the Cuyama Valley near Santa Barbara, CA, they are the perfect size for tiny caramel apples for Thanksgiving.  The grandkids will love them.  

This is the first year of not cooking Thanksgiving and I am thrilled.  Middle daughter is doing it at her house.  All I have to bring is homemade cranberry sauce and baked macaroni and cheese.  And, these little jewels.  Being that the plate is a butter pat, the largest apple in the bunch is the size of a small hen's eggs and the smallest maybe a nickel. 

Love to all my friends out there and have a happy Thanksgiving!

It's Only Money

STILL HAVING COMMENT PROBLEMS!  Read more bloggers having trouble too.  It is frustrating because we can't interact with our friends.  

Now, I sold these on eBay after one day.  A famous natural history museum bought them.  I didn't charge enough.

These are Osage feather wedding plumes from the turn of the 20th century.  They were worn by  women in 3's or 6's in a black top hat.  They also wore a long black woolen coat with tails.  Sorry, but  I wouldn't like the look for my wedding day.  I've just shipped them off and am a little sorry I didn't have them appraised first.  It's only money, huh?

Snowy Morn

We only had a freeze a couple of nights ago.  Leaves and flowers are still on the trees and plants.  The early snow is unusual though not unheard of.  A little creature has been out ahead of me.  It climbed up (or down) the roof.  I need to go get feed for the water fowl, but at least all the bird feeders are full.  I have lots of nuts ready for the squirrels.  So, I guess I am ready for the snow.  The ground is still warm enough to melt it on the roadways, thank goodness.  In this part of the country, we can't drive on the snow as evidenced by all the wrecks.

Comments, Vote and Casserole Recipes

Let us clobber the backward leaning folk today. I have personally been told that I don't love America and therefore should leave it - move away.  Well, I've got a message for you.  Move to Syria or Afghanistan; we don't want you here either.  How'd you like that? Doesn't sit well, does it?

I still, after months, cannot comment on mine, or any others' blogs except for those whom accept anonymous comments.  One would think Google would have fixed this by now.  And something else, I have three people from my own state of Oklahoma, that have made fortunes by blogging.  The Pioneer Woman, The Antiques Diva and Orangette.  We all know others who have also grown successful businesses.  I hope blogging doesn't go the way of the cassette player.  I would so miss it.  Come on Google. Fix the bugs.

Well, skipped a few of the salads and went to casseroles.  I finally had to break down and turn the heat on.  Hard freeze coming.  The leaves are still glorious though.  I stick them in every book I have.  Each one is prettier than the last.  To those of you that haven't heard from me, I am still reading and enjoying your posts.

Well, kind of casseroles.  I might have to skip some of the vegetables too.

Into The Mystic

We were born before the wind......

I have been on a journey this past year and a half, or so.  It began with the line, As Above, So Below - from Hermes Trismegistus' Emerald Tablet.  That lead to crystals and a whole world of mystical things - the Tree of Life, Hoodoo, Voodoo, Wicca, The Kabbalah, Tea Leaf reading, Feng Shui, the I Ching, palmistry, numerology, astrology, Tarot, fortune telling...

All of these blend into each other which is the most surprising discovery I have made.  Even into different religions.  They go back thousands of years.  A few months ago, I would have said, I don't believe in Hoodoo or Voodoo.  Even two months ago I would have said I don't believe in witchcraft.  Did you know that crossing your fingers behind your back is an old witchcraft spell?

I'm just at the beginning of tarot and fortune-telling cards.  The man with the crutches on the upper left is from the 1700's and is from a minchiate deck from Italy.   Some of the upper cards are between 1700's-1800's.  The deck on the bottom is a handmade fortune-telling deck from Warsaw from the 1940's.  I have had to go buy books to research and as for the fortune-telling deck, I've yet to figure out what the symbols mean.

It has been very interesting, I only wish I'd have started in my 30s and 40s when I still had more than a reptilian brain (the memory is going, going,)

Who knew?

It is raining and I do hope the little trick or treaters are able to go out.  I don't want any candy left after tonight.

More More More

Love Lula Belle's slaw.

Whew!  I think the end is in sight for salads.  Maybe one more post of them.

More Recipes

Good Lord, I never saw so many salad recipes.  More to come.

Salt Fat Acid Heat

A new show just started on Netflix and I am hooked.  Samin Nosrat is wonderful - a breath of fresh air.  Her enthusiasm and joie d'vivre is contagious.  I had never heard of her, but am now a fan.  I can't wait to watch all the shows.  Sumptuous locales, the people, the cultures and Samin make this show a must. 

I was a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain; no one like him.  I think the same about Samin (Sameen).  So far I've watched her in Italy and Japan.  There is a shopping site on the show website and I am wondering if the Japanese artisanal soy sauce, aged for four years in 150 year old cedar vats is worth the cost.  It shouldn't be used in cooking, but for tasting on rice, sushi etc.  What the heck.  You only live once and I need to taste it.  Supposedly unlike regular soy sauce which is aged for three months and mass produced.  

I think you can watch the episodes on youtube if you don't get Netflix.  So worth your time.

I Can't Comment Or See

Well hell.  I've needed to go see the optometrist as it has been a couple of years and I am supposed to go yearly to have my eyes dilated and checked.  It is just last on my list for this year and I still haven't done it.  I took my glasses off for a moment and laid them on my lap.  When I realized they weren't on my face, I started to get up and crack - I stepped on them.

In the US, Medicare doesn't cover eye exams or glasses.  You have to go to the eye doctor, have the tests done, then pick out frames and have the lenses made with add-ons of course.  This pair cost about $800.00 (the frames were about $125-150).  Guess I have to go quickly as my old glasses aren't strong enough.  

Still having comment problems. Google has a large lawsuit over Google+ and has deleted it.  Chrome is also being sued over something or other.  I'm just waiting for Google to fix it.

It has gone from fall to winter in a week.  I actually had to put on a tee shirt and socks last night to sleep in. I also had to put up all my citrus plants yesterday because freezing temps were in the forecast.  Got stabbed in my scalp and hands and arm for my efforts by inch long thorns. Yes, I am kvetching.

Landslide

My precious weenie child, Emmy, wants her breakfast this morning (Sister is sleeping). She is the sparkle in my eyes, my joy. Looking at her in the morning light made me think of this song, Landslide.  I and Emmy and Sister are getting older too. 

By the way, Blogger is acting up.  I can't comment or reply to comments, though I've experimented and sometimes can comment as anonymous.  I'm still reading your blogs friends, but I am worried about that even.  I was told to delete cookies.  Done.  Still having problems.  Get Chrome.  Uh, no! I have a MacBook Air and an iPhone that use Safari as my browser. Then told to delete all followers, save then set it all up again...  WTF?  I don't even know how to do that.  In reading in the help forum, it seems that a few months ago, Blogger changed some things.  I think it is related to the Gmail comments we are getting on our posts.  They want us to use Gmail now.  Try reading the Help Forum.  Not what I want to have to do. Jeez.  Anyway, If you don't hear from me and/or I drop out of the ether, I'll find my way back. Somehow.  Maybe. Guess it depends on Blogger as I can't figure it out by myself.

More Old Recipes

Here are some more of Jeanetta's old recipes.  The thumbnails were so tiny I couldn't tell what order they were in, but here they are. I cannot comment on this post or anyone else's and I hate that because I love talking with all of you.  Hope blogger gets it fixed soon.  Also been trying new headers and can't figure out how to use my google photographs and can't find older ones.  I don't do tech very well.

I didn't forget.  I'll try and get them all posted before the holidays in case you might use one.

Assist Please

I love looking through UK magazines.  Recently, I found the wall paper I want to put up in my powder room.  It has only taken me three years.  My problem? I have looked high and low for this pattern, which reminds me of a trip to Italy.  I must be missing something as I cannot find it. Have any of you seen this hillside pattern in your publications?

I love the English language are rarely come across words I haven't seen before.  This one caught my eye.  Have you seen it in your readings before?

Try to Remember - Hong Kong Parents Choir 2015

September is magic.  Bittersweet.  I think of this song each September.  "Try to remember that time in September when dreams were kept beside your pillow." I love this video.  You need to watch it in full screen to see the parents up close.  We really are more alike.

Who'd have thunk? Faded out blue jeans and white shirts.  So sweet.

Gullah Geechee

I don't have enough space here to explain it all, but I'll gloss over it, if I can.  I have been studying the Gullah Geechee culture for months now.  The Cherokee Native Americans along with the Choctaw and Chickasaw (of which my husband and children are on the rolls), lived nearby the outer banks of the Carolinas, before relocation on the Trail of Tears, and intermingled with the slaves brought to America.  In fact, they named the West African slaves Gullah Geechee. The coast proved to be a good area to grow rice and the slaves were expert rice growers before their arrival in the 1600's.  The Native Americans inter-married with them and taught them many things, in particular, about more than 600 plants and roots used for medicinal purposes as well as foodstuffs.

Since the Native Americans and slaves had no option to go to doctors, they had to treat/heal themselves.  One example, Slippery Elm Bark, was used back then and today it is aspirin.  The roots and plants were also used in the practice of Hoodoo.  Maybe more on that later.  Their culture was rich and varied.  The Gullah invented the blue hand and eye to drive evil spirits away.  They also began the 'haint blue' paint still used on houses today in the South.  They invented Br'er Rabbit, a trickster in their stories and brought bottle trees to the American south. The Gullah were very superstitious. As I said, too much to tell here.

Above, is the Angel Oak tree on Johns Island, near Charleston, South Carolina.  It is thought to be about 1400 years old and supposedly, the tree has seen many things over the ages.  It is said the other trees nearby take care of it and feed it.  If you get the chance, google it for pictures.  I've never seen another like it. If only I could get an acorn.

Anyway, I ordered an old Charleston cookbook as all the study made me want authentic creole food.  I thought you'd like to see some of the recipes.  I'd love to try the Cherry Bounce.  Those southerners love the drinky winky. Even sloe gin fizzes in the morning are commonplace.

I was looking for a creamy bisque soup and I'm going to try the Kiawha Shrimp Bisque, but with crab.

I'm not sure which recipe I am looking for, so I'll try this one too, as it sounds more like the one I've been looking for.  Notice underneath the recipe it says Charleston is famous for this soup. The one I've had had an orangey spice in it, perhaps saffron or paprika.

I don't know of another food more popular in the south than biscuits. Maybe like the scones in Scotland.

Grits, seafood and corn and rice, okra and beans and greens. Though many nationalities lived in and around Charleston, these ingredients were very popular.  Not only the Atlantic Ocean, but different rivers provided many foods to the area of this major port city.

I've barely scratched the surface.  New Orleans is known for their Cajun food, but I don't think they have anything on Charleston's Creole cuisine.