My Niece Brooke is 12 Today!!!!

Happy Birthday Brooke! I can't believe you are 12:) I hope you have fun with your friends tonight. Watch out for payback from Colton!

I am posting some pictures of your happy little face that are some of my favorites!

This was taken when you were born in Flower's Hospital.

Your Dad with your Granny and Great Grandmother Momma Peacock. We were all so happy when you finally came! You were a beautiful baby.

This is a picture of Brooke and her Poo Blanket. Poo was her constant companion. He had to be with her at all times.  I think he still is!

Sharing Poo with Colton:)
We like to watch movies. One day we were watching Babe. I thought Brooke would like it because she has always loved animals. All of a sudden Brooke started sobbing really hard. She said she was crying because Babe was lost. I turned the movie off! :)

Brooke, Poo and....... Is that Donald Duck?

In Grandpa's Lap eating Cheez Its with Gracie.

Playing and Singing Jesus Loves Me!.....

Presenting.......THE FACES OF BROOKE

BIG APPLES!

                                                       

                  Having punch with Gracie during Baby Shower for Cicely.

During the shower....in background are Brooke's Granny, Aunt Kim's back, cousin Whitney, cousin Calee, great grandmother Momma Peacock, Aunt Mary, Cicely opening presents, Brooke and Colton.

Home from School Sick with Colton!

That Book Looks Serious!

Halloween Party 2005

Cousin "It" Is Here!

Jasmine, Count Dracula and The Little Mermaid.

With Isa during a party!

Dressing Stephanie!

"You're kidding....."

Brooke, her dad and baby King Louie:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE! WE LOVE YOU AND WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!



God's will in our lives.......

The Birthday Boys!....Hudson on the right was 1 yr. old Nov. 6 and Holland is 2 today, Nov. 9.

These boys have quite a story to tell already! Holland was born premature and stayed in Children's Hospital in Birmingham until Christmas Eve of 2008. We were so happy he made it home for Christmas.

A year later, Hudson, with great care, was born a full term baby. Soon after his birth there were complications and he was taken to Children's hospital in Birmingham. The doctors told his Mom and Dad, Amber and Justin, there was only one hope to save Hudson's life and of course they agreeded to the procedure. I won't attempt to explain it. But I will tell you a story.......

Justin and Amber had just agreed to the medical procedure and came back and sat down in the waiting area of the intensive care at Children's Hospital, where Justin's mother and I were. One of the Chaplins of the Hospital came over and sat down next to Justin. He had some stones in his hand that had words like wisdom, strength, understanding etc. on them. The Chaplin held out his hand and asked Justin to choose one of those rocks that represent what he would like to pray for. Justin looked at the rocks and thought for a minute and said,  "Well Preacher if it's all the same to you I won't do that." You could see the Chaplin squirm a little. Justin continued, "You see I've found that when you pray for something the Lord puts it in your path to need those things. So if it's all the same to you I had rather just pray for God's Will in my son's life."  The Chaplin was overjoyed to hear that and we prayed..........  There's a lesson there for all of us.

Amber, my niece and Justin, her husband, are two of the most courageous people I have ever known. I am so proud to have you in our lives. We love you all very much.

Holland left, Amber and Hudson right





National Peanut Festival

This Banana Tree came up next to a barn at the farm where some limbs, that were trimmed from Granny's Banana tree, were thrown away. They were o.k. not very sweet.

Yesterday I watched some of the Peanut Festival Parade on television. I called home and Momma said that Holland was riding in the parade on a tractor with his Daddy! Glad the tractor had a cab, it was really cool outside. Great parade day though. The National Peanut Festival has always been a bright spot for our family.
My first memory of the fair was when I was about 4 years old we lived on the Cottowood Highway and the fairgrounds were located on the grounds of the Houston County Farm Center. We could see the farris wheel from Momma's bedroom window. I remember lying on the bed with Momma waiting for Daddy to come home and take us to the fair. My favorite game was Pick up Ducks! I won a little sock monkey once! We all enjoyed the greasy pig and calf scramble as much as the midway. We also enjoyed the livestock tents and of course the crafts and cooking tent. When it was time to go home we always bought a corn dog and then a candy apple!

I found this clipping in Granny's recipe box from the Dothan Eagle featuring the Peanut Festival Cake winner, Mrs. Carolyn Coskrey. Mrs. Coskrey was one of Momma's good friends in later years.  Mrs. Coskrey was a great cook and a good friend to all. She passed away recently and is missed by everyone in the community. I'm not sure of the date of the clipping but LBJ was president.  There is a cartoon on the back.  The LBJ Tax Bill is standing in front of President Johnson saying "I bring you a message from Congress" ....on his back side is a big foot print!

The rides were operated by Johnny's United Shows. Granny's brother Eddie Sims worked for them. Every year he came to visit and sometimes he had a surprise for me! I  will post some pictures of Uncle Eddie.

Uncle Eddie on the right and his father, my Great Grandfather, Henry Sims on the left.

Thanksgiving 2007, Chicken and Dumplings and Cornbread Dressing with Giblet Gravy

Momma's Thanksgiving Table 2007

In the early days on Thanksgiving Day we were usually at home with Granny and Grandpa. Aunt Ruby and Aunt Bertha came over to our house, and sometimes, Aunt June and Uncle Bob and Mick and Sandra came too. Momma, Aunt Bertha and Granny cooked enough food for an army. They served cornbread dressing, with giblet gravy, chicken and dumplings, fresh peas, potato salad, baked ham, baked turkey, sweet potato casserole, collards and/or turnips with mustard, with fried corn bread. For desserts there were cakes, pies, and cookies. Momma usually made a coconut cake with a 7 minuet frosting, and a lemon cheese cake. Aunt Bertha often made a Japanese Fruit Cake and Granny usually made a German Chocolate cake for Thanksgiving.

Steve left standing, Keith right standing,
Mickey Wayne holding Teresa and Daddy, 1978

Aunt Bertha made the chicken and dumplings, Granny and Momma both made a pan of dressing. And they each cooked meat and vegtables. There was alot of food. But there were alot of hungry guys to feed! We ate left overs and made turkey and ham sandwiches the next day while we watched the Alabama/Auburn football game.


I'm not sure where to start. This is a big task because they didn't measure things except in baking. Baking measurements had to be exact. Aunt Bertha's chicken and dumplings were so good. She made the dumplings from scratch. Her dumplings were the best of all the Aunts! Sorry Aunts! Every Holland Family reunion I always made it a point to ask Aunt Bertha which pot of dumplings she made so I could be sure to eat hers! It's going to be hard to tell you how to do this because there are no measurements, but I will try to explain it. "Practice makes Perfect applies here. I think she had a lot of practice!


Steve about 6 yrs old and Aunt Bertha




Holland Family
Standing Left to Right Naomi, Lena Mae, Jessie, Bertha about 7 years old, Seated are Oree left and Hubert my grandfather Right

 Momma dictated the following directions to me, without measurements of course. I tried to pin her down to approximate measures for the oil and buttermilk:) She said "You just have to do it and you will know how!" So here we go lets see how we do.......

Bertha's Chicken and Dumplings

Self Rising Flour
Buttermilk
Vegtable oil
Large Hen
3 Stalks of chopped celery
1 large yellow onion

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, stainless dutch oven is best, cook a large hen, salted and covered with water, with 3 stalks of celery, and 1 large onion chopped. Cook for 2 hours on medium low heat. Watch the hen and when the legs and thighs begin to separate from the breast it's done. You want it to hold together while you take it out of the water, so don't over cook it. Let the hen cool and then remove from the pot and remove the skin, and bones, pull the breast meat apart and reserve for later use in the dressing and the giblet gravy. At this point it's best to make your dressing. When you have the dressing almost cooked return the broth to stove and bring to a boil. Make sure the pot is about 1/2 full of broth if not add some water, this would be about 4-5 qts of broth.

In a bowl of self rising flour make a well and put 3 tablespoons of vegtable oil, and about 1 cup of buttermilk in the well. With your hand flip the flour from the sides of the well into the buttermilk and mix it until you have a dough ball big enough to make about 10 to 12 biscuits. If you need more just add more buttermilk and flour.

When you have a ball that is thick enough you can pick up, transfer it to a floured surface. Kneed  until it is soft and smooth. You may need to add flour to get it smooth and not sticky. Then flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a thin sheet, 1/8" thick or less. Take a knife and cut the sheet of dough into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide, about the width of lasagna noodles or a little less, then cut them again into pieces about 2 to 3 inches long. You can lay the long strips in stacks and then cut the whole stack into the smaller pieces.... it's a little faster.

Pick up a stack of the cut dumplings and lay the dough in the boiling broth in single layers. After you add each layer of dumplings sprinkle the top of each layer with black pepper until you have added all of the slices.  Do Not Stir!!!! Press dumplings down in broth with the back of a spoon. (Very Important). Cook only for 1 or 2 min. and then turn the heat off and let the pot sit for at least 5 min. on the cooling eye of the stove. Remove from the eye and let stand or serve DO NOT COVER WITH LID and DO NOT STIR. 


Corn Bread Dressing with Giblet Gravy

3 cups of medium grind corn meal
10 pieces of white bread for bread crumbs
2 tsp. of salt
3 eggs
2 1/4 cup milk
3 Stalks of celery sautee until tender in 2 tablespoons of butter with 1 large onion chopped
7 eggs boiled and chipped (reserve 3 eggs chipped for gravy)
Hen meat previously cooked with celery and onion, deboned and shredded

For Cornbread:

Heat oven to 450
Pour 1/4 cup vegtable oil in 10" cast iron skillet set aside.

Mix cornmeal, salt, 3 eggs and milk. Place in skillet in 3 pones. With a spoon take the oil that comes up the sides of the pan and dab the tops of the pones.  Bake in 450 degree oven for 30 min or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool. You can make cornbread the night or day before and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before crumbling.

Toast the white bread until crunchy. Let cool and roll toast with rolling pin into fine bread crumbs.

Ok now you are ready to combine everything and make your dressing. At this point you can refrigerate everything and assemble the next morning.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine crumbled cornbread with sauteed celery and onions, 4 sliced and chopped boiled eggs, ( chop eggs into slices about 1/4 inch thick or less and then cut in half. You don't want to smash the eggs or cut them too small they will break up when you start mixing it all together), add the bread crumbs, and reserved chicken and season with black pepper. Pour some chicken broth into the cornbread mixture and mix with spoon until well blended. The dressing should appear wet and pour easily into a 13 x9 baking dish. Bake 45 min at 400 degress until golden brown.

Giblet Gravy

3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 heaping tablespoons of flour
3 to 4 cups warm chicken broth
2 cups dark meat chicken diced
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onions
3 chipped boiled eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in skillet and add flour stir until brown add warm broth and season with salt and pepper, add celery, onions, chopped chicken and chipped boiled eggs. Cook on medium for about 10 to 15 min. until thickened. If too thick add more broth. This gravy should be medium to thin....not thick.

Gosh I sure am looking forward to seeing everyone. I found some pictures from Thanksgiving 2007. We were all together in Rabun Gap. It was a really nice Thanksgiving. Our last with Momma Peacock and Daddy. I can't find any of Momma Peacock except her back! She must have been doing that on purpose.  Amber may have some more she had her camera. I will post them if she does.


Happy Birthday Baby Hudson. Hudson Smith is 1 year old today! We are so thankful for you!

Daddy Nov. 27, 2007

Danielle on the way home! She's sleeping :) Shhhh!  We love you Danielle!

Momma, Aunt Shirley and Aunt Brenda during the National Peanut Festival Parade around 1995.

More tomorrow....

Big Creek, Roscoe, Saturdays at Granny's, Bertha's Company Hash Recipe

Ancestors plowing field.

Big Creek, where I grew up, is a community in south Alabama. Not a town or a city. Just a little community made up of farming families whose ancestors have lived there since the 1700's. Big Creek Methodist Church where my father is buried has the grave of a Revolutionary War soldier, whose family is tied to mine by the marriage of distant relatives.

I have traced my family tree back to my Great, Great, Great Grandfather Eli English. The entire family lived within a few miles of Big Creek. They were farmers and woodsmen, loggers and pulpers. Eli English was born in 1848 in Ga. He was a farmer and later became a preacher in a church named Bethel Baptist close to Graceville, Florida, about 7 miles from Big Creek.

Yes the creek is Big. It is small in places but big in others. It is fed by a bay called Cooper Bay, where my Dad always said "the biggest coons in the country live in Cooper Bay!"  He loved coon hunting. I asked him why and he said he just liked hearing the dogs bark and tree the coons. He loved his dogs and he loved being in the woods. I never remember not having at least two hound dogs, usually more than two.

When I was about four years old Daddy brought a baby raccoon home. It was a baby that his dogs  made an orphan. He didn't tell me that.  He just fed the little fuzzy thing with a bottle and gave it vegetables and fish to eat. His name was Roscoe. Roscoe grew up to be a big guy.  He was about as big as my dog Louie, who weighs about 12 lbs.

Soon Roscoe learned how to get out of his pen. His pen was on the other side of the pump house just outside the kitchen window. The dog's pens were on the other side of the pump house by the barn. Of course we always knew when Roscoe was out because the dogs would go crazy!

Raccoons are very smart and use their front paws the same as we use our hands. They look like they have leather gloves on to me. We fed Roscoe grapes and corn on the cob and he washed them first and then ate, holding them in his hands. He was cute and fun to watch. I was never allowed to hold Roscoe but I could touch him while Daddy held him.

One day in the spring, I think, we were going to Granny's house for supper and when we came home we found that Roscoe opened the back door and wrecked the kitchen. It was totally destroyed. All of the dishes were out of the cabinet and broken in the middle of the floor. Flour, sugar, potatoes, everywhere! And to make it even worse there was a bucket of syrup and a churn of butter spilled too. Wow what a mess that was. I remember Momma sitting down in the middle of the floor and crying. Daddy put me to bed and when I woke up the next morning it was all clean.

Roscoe was locked in his cage after that. And despite Momma saying he had to go and arguing with my Dad that he should turn him loose he stayed for a while longer. Then one day he bit Daddy's thumb really bad. After momma bandaged his hand Daddy loaded Roscoe in the dog box he always carried in the back of his truck and took him to the bay and set him free. Daddy said he learned then that no matter what you do a wild animal will always be a wild animal. Roscoe wasn't able to feel remorse or gratitude or know right from wrong. He couldn't become a domestic pet.

The syrup that Roscoe spilled came from Daddy Buck's in Graceville. Really good cane syrup. Wish I had some right now! We ate syrup for breakfast mixed with peanut butter. Momma made her biscuits. I don't know if store bought biscuits even existed then. They didn't for us anyway! The homemade butter was just the very best! Daddy took a little butter and smashed it with his fork and poured some syrup over it, and stired it all together and broke off pieces of the biscuit and "sopped" it up! I loved it and still do. I just haven't ever been able to make those good biscuits the same as Momma.

Picture of Me and Daddy :)

Momma didn't measure anything. She took flour, she stored in a big round plastic container inside a big silver pail and made an indention or well in the flour and she poured in some buttermilk. Then flipped the flour from the sides of the well into the buttermilk. She used her hands and flipped the dough in the well until it was the right consistency. Then she pinched off a little and rolled it in her hands to make a circle and placed them in a greased cast iron skillet. When the skillet was full she put a dab of cooking oil on top. She is really good at doing this. But doesn't make them anymore. I asked her why and she said that the frozen ones are just as good and alot easier! They are easier Momma, but not better!

Me, Momma and Greg

My Grandpa, Hubert Holland lost his thumb when he worked in the saw mill and he told us that he bit it off sopping syrup! He took me to see syrup being made one day. I'm not sure if we were in Gracville or Cottonwood. I was little, but old enough to remember going with him. I remember the mules pulling the arms of the grinder, and the strong smell coming from these big black cast iron pots that were outside over a fire. We took home a big five gallon pail of syrup and Grandpa filled up smaller pails for us to take home. Those pails were used for a lot of things. In an earlier blog I told you about Granny storing her Lane Cake with cut apples around it. She used one of these pails for that, and she stored flour and sugar in them also.

I spent as much time as I could with Grandpa and Granny. On Saturdays we ate breakfast and then Granny went out in the back yard to do laundry.  She had an old wringer washing machine. I loved to watch her set this thing up. She always said "Now Katie you sit right there and don't move. Granny don't want you to get your fingers caught in this old machine. Noooo why it would just pinch your little fingers right off!" She always called me Katie. And if she was looking for me she would call out "Yoo Hoo Katie Lou where are you?" I was usually in her room in the floor looking at something or plundering through her closet, trying on her shoes, or putting on her "ear bobs", as she called her earrings. Later in the afternoon Grandpa would take me to the store at Wilson Mill for a treat. I usually had an orange soda and a Moon pie or a Baby Ruth candy bar, Grandpa liked those. Then I would take a nap on a pallet in the living room with an old black oscillating fan blowing. The noise and the movement of the curtains put me to sleep every time.

On Sunday mornings after breakfast Granny read the Sunday Comics to me, "the funnies" as she called them. I liked Blondie and Dagwood and Charlie Brown and Alley Oop and Orphan Annie. Alley Oop was about a guy who lived in the jungle and there were always pairs of eyes looking out of the dark at him. That was really creepy to me. I have always had a reoccuring dream that I am walking and all of a sudden there is darkness and eyes popping out looking at me.

Ok that's enough of that I hope I didn't bore you with those memories.

This is a picture of Granny and Grandpa on their 50th wedding anniversary. Granny was so happy that day! She said "Wooo Katie, I can't believe we made it 50 years! I wouldn't trade my life for any other."

The following recipe was in Granny's box and it was written by her sister in law, Bertha Holland.
The recipe calls for two cups of tomatoes. She canned all of her tomatoes or put them in the freezer. Today you can purchase canned tomatoes. Use for this recipe, a #2 can, which is the large can of whole peeled tomatoes. The steak sauce she used was probably A1 steak sauce.

Randall Wade's reply to birds pictured earlier

KAYE , THAT IS VERY DEFINITELY A STARLING-------THAY ARE TACKY BIRDS , THAT WERE INTRODUCED BY THE BRITISH MANY , MANY MOONS AGO-----THE MALE IN MATING SEASON HAS A VERY NICE , MELODIUS SONG ---SOMETIMES, PEOPLE KEPT THE MALE IN A CAGE FOR HIS SONG  !   -TROUBLE IS THEY ARE PESTS-----THEY FLY IN HUGE FLOCKS OF SEVERAL HUNDRED SOMETIMES , IN THE SPRING AND FALL -------ONE BAD WAY THEY ARE A PEST IS, AS YOU SEE, THEY INVADE OTHER NESTING BIRDS HOUSES , GOURDS , OR TREE HOLES-------AFTERTHE GOOD BIRDS RAISE THEIR YOUNG AND LEAVE , THEN THE STARLINGS MOVE IN
.----SOMETIMES THO , THEY WILL ENTER THE NEST , OR  HOLE , AND THROW THE BABIES OUT !!  BIG CITIES WITH PARKS OR EVEN BUILDING LEDGES , HATE THEM AND DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO DISCOURAGE THEM AWAY-----LIKE LOUD NOISES , GUNSHOTS , ETC !!

THASS ALL !!

An Explaination, A Mission, A Passion and a Question 11/4/10

This is from an earlier post in August. My daughter Tricia just read it yesterday and thanked me for posting it. So here it is a second time.

August 25, 2010 Trautman Family Farms in Stoughton, Wisconsin hit the note today!

I woke up this morning and started working on the family tree some more.  Actually I should say TREES. I have over 200 names listed now. Mianly in the Lott and Peacock and the Holland and Sims Families. I actually have a lot more work to do on the Hollands. So by the end of the day I may be around 300 strong! It's amazing to me and I love all the stories I am hearing.

I have been thinking about the coming fall season and I get quite excited because this is my favorite time of year. It's been so hot this summer I promise to never complain about being cold this winter! I am planning to spend some time up in Rabun Co., Ga. this fall. I have been mapping out some farms, vineyards, and wellness centers to visit with Lee Ann. I am most excited because Lee Ann, my daughter, is back in school at Auburn to complete here studies in Horticulture. I think she has a very bright future ahead of her in horticulture, organic farming or green house management what ever she chooses. I have long told her to choose a career that pertains to something you love. If you don't love what you do every day you are not happy. Momma's love to see their babies happy!  That's why we live and breath everyday.

I have been trying to get up everyday and name all of the things that I am grateful for and I have been feeling much better and life has been going a little smoother. 2008 proved to be the worst year of my life and I am still trying to pull myself up by my shoe laces. At least now I am in a squat position! I'm up off the floor and out from under the bed! The latter stages of grief maybe.

Well this morning as I was searching for farms in Rabun Co. I found http://www.localharvest.org/  ....Organic farms within 500 mile radius of New Orleans were listed. Well I started clicking on farms guessing where they might be based on mileage listed as distance from NOLA.  I hit upon a farm site in Wisconsin. I want to share todays blog from Trautman Family Farms with you all. Mr. Trautman, or Mrs. not sure, summed up my thoughts and feelings completely for me today. He tied it all up in nice neat little package for us. If you read this and you agree please go to his website and comment to him. 

www.localharvest.org/blog/15556/entry/an_explaination_a_mission_a


Trautman Family Farm (stoughton, Wisconsin)


The Grass-Organic Life in Wisconsin!


25 Aug · Wed 2010

An Explaination, A Mission, A Passion and a Question

I have, over the past few days, specifically, made it a point to be grateful. To look around me, and reflect, how beautiful life is, and how many gifts I truly receive each day. A friend of mine, Tim Williams, told me this, he learned it somewhere, that if you start your day by being thankful for five things, you will have a great day. I read quite a bit of Dr. Wayne Dyer, and he is big on gratitude, too. And I have seen, in people I respect, and desire to be more like, that they, too, spend more time in gratitude than 'the norm'. The opposite of gratitude - is complaining - about - everything.

Because the world around us, the culture we've built, is one to bitch about everything. Nothing is right. If an alien - a spaceman - came down and secreted himself amoungst us, it would be easy to see how he might report back, "these people are miserable, what a terrible place this planet earth is". By how we talk - how we talk about the problems, endlessly; I look at it anymore that people actually entertain themselves bitching about the world around them. But somewhere along the way, I moved from being just like that, to desperately wanting to ask, at the end of a good long scather about - oh - healthcare, the economy, the housing market, jobs, Iraq, Afghanistan, pollution, the government - I desperately want to ask - "so what are you DOING about it?". I don't ask - because I know the dumb stare I'll get - and I'm fearful then that I'm making them uncomfortable. No one wants to feel uncomfortable now, do they? So then I'm marked - I won't play nice and join in the fun; bitch about it all, nod my head in agreement, and be confident that the problem lies completely outside present company. We, ourselves, are blameless. "Nothing I could do!". It's the rich. It's the corporations. The government. Not our decisions - the ones we make every day - but someone else, somewhere else, out of reach of us.

Somewhere along the way I accepted in myself that I am changing the world. As I sit here now and breath in and out, I am changing the world. By such a tiny amount - but how do I know - that perhaps I was given gifts - that I have been ignoring the signs, the encouragements of those gifts for a lifetime - that God - has been so gently, so persistently been trying to convince me to use, when instead, I deny them. And I bitch. A significant amount of time in a life. And by accepting that as my culture, our culture, I look at the world in a different way - I fill it with bad, because that's all I talk about, hear, see - I invite it every day through the news, the conversations I have with people. I make - I - Make - the world a little worse place.

Or, I choose to make the world a better place. To reject the idea that the world is a bad place at all. That somehow it fits someone elses agenda - manipulation of me - to buy something, to not do something, to do something - to live in fear, and make stunted ill informed choices - including doing nothing - in fact, that being the most often - doing nothing - feeling slighted if one second of my oh-so-earned leisure time is infringed on - becoming so incredibly self involved in the trinkets, the baubles, the nothing of a lifetime. A new car, a vacation, a new electronic device, a new amusement; advertising tells us daily how we cannot be happy unless we do THIS. Buy THAT. And we are on the treadwheel for life - never quite getting there - to contentment - to satisfaction, because then we lose the will to buy, we might find the energy to do something that helps one another, rather then the one another purchasing a service for that, buying a device for that, supporting a candidate that says he will provide that for free.

Somewhere along the way this beautiful farm of ours changed me, as much as I changed it. Perhaps the faith I had in nurturing it, putting all my good intentions, all my hope into what I absolutely convinced myself could be a better future - and did the same with my children; that I would not accept 'that's how kids are today', that 'the education system has failed us' and on and on and on - I took responsibility, I took consistent action, considerable sacrifice over time, and I have done so long enough to see that it does work, it doesn't have to be 'that' way one tiny bit.

It's so easy to say, I'm just one person. I can't do anything. But now I train myself to think about all that I do - I ask myself this question: "So what if everyone thought that same way, would it be a better or worse world?". I can talk myself into thinking - boy what a monkey's uncle I am - everyone else is 'doing it' - and here I am denying myself that thinking I'm changing the world - and I can convince myself very easily if I let me - that the smart play is to go along, get what I can while I can, it's a dog eat dog world out there, no one's going to look out for me if I don't - but it's not true at all.

As my mind has changed, I have attracted into my life, beautiful, giving people. The rate of change has increased; my appreciation and belief in the wonderment of it all - and the radical humility that I didn't do this - but my creator - God to me, perhaps it's Buddah or Allah or even Nature - just something so powerful beyond yourself that defies explanation.

If I allow myself to be happy then I am; if I insist on being unhappy I am, if I decide there is nothing I can do there isn't, if I do, there is, if I choose to make my life about service to others I will, if I decide that it's all about me and my needs then that is what it will be.

I choose love.
I choose service.
I choose to surround myself with people that want more than anything to make a better world for their children - for your children - for everyone's children, and I will not be convinced otherwise by any one or any thing. I will stumble, I will fall, I will cry more than I ever thought I would, but I will also feel joy I never knew I could. I will give even when I know the receiver will show no gratitude. I will give a thousand times - if only to know the chance exists that it will help - I will be smart - and know that I want to do the most good in this life - and so I've got to learn, adapt, and grow, and be more efficient - choose my words better, feel humility deeper, speak from the heart more often.

I choose love.
Who will join me?


"I say yes! How about you?  Let Mr. Trautman know if you will join him."

Thursday Nov. 4, 2010... Granny's Vegtable Soup

This morning I am posting some pictures of the birds that live in the palm tree house I posted earlier this week. My  father in law "Big Wade", thinks that this may be a type of woodpecker. I have no idea. My Wade, Wade "Hammond", thinks it is not a woodpecker....but he doesn't know what it is. So Big Wade, or anyone who knows what kind of bird this is let me know. There are several different holes and birds living in the palm tree house. My picture only shows one bird. The others flew out when I came up to the tree. But one brave guy hung in there!
I walked down to the Destin Community Center to vote, after I took the picture of the bird and of course the nice lady at the door told me I could not take pictures inside. I thanked her and told her that I walked with my camera trying to get a picture of a woodpecker for my father in law. She thought that was funny:) I left my camera with her. I voted and walked back and didn't see any of the birds on my way back. I was really surprised I could catch the one I did!

What do you think Big Wade?

It's turning cold! We can build fires and wear our fuzzy slippers and sweat shirts! Momma has a good method for cooking vegtable soup that I will tell you about. All of my girls, Tricia, Lee Ann, Marcee and Amber grew up loving this soup. Now Isabelle and Brooke are the new biggest fans! Tonight and tomorrow night we will have perfect weather for a big pot of soup. Lee Ann you can do this in Auburn...hint hint:) You can reduce the amount just cook 1/2 as much ground beef and add vegtables accordingly and use frozen mixed vegtables. You can use canned vegtables, which is always the faster method, but be sure to drain them first and cook just until tender. And if you don't have chicken broth just use water.

"Granny's" Vegtable Soup

3 tablespoons of oilve oil
1 small onion chopped and sauteed in oil
Add 1 1/2 pounds of ground chuck  beef
Add 2 cups of chicken broth
1 large #2 can of tomatoes peeled whole or chopped
Assorted vegtables if you don't have fresh vegtables in the middle of winter buy a bag of frozen mixed vegtables and use those.
Some of our favorites are:
carrots chopped in rounds about 1/4 to 1/2" thick,
corn niblets fresh or frozen,
green beans, fresh or frozen
red potatoes, 5 -7 small red cut in 1/4's, or Uncle Ben's white rice about 1 cup
salt  and pepper to taste

Sautee the onions, add the beef and brown, remove from heat and drain excess fat. Chuck is more lean so you may not need to drain. You want a little of the oil and beef drippings for flavor:)

Add vegtables and tomatoes. Add the vegtables that require longer cook time first, like carrots and potatoes. Seson with salt and pepper. Fill pot with water as needed to cover. Cook on med high until they reach a boil then reduce to medium low. Cook the first vegtables about 20 min. Then add the quicker cooking vegtables like beans and corn. If needed add more water,enough to cover, and cook until they are tender on medium low heat. Let stand for about 10 min. before serving.

Serve with fried corn bread or saltine crackers or "sodie crackers" as my daddy and my granny referred to them......

Fried Corn Bread is my favorite! Or the baked Pepper Corn Bread I posted in an earlier post is delicious too. I will have to make some fried corn bread in order to tell you how to measure for it. I learned from Momma, she is one of those great cooks who doesn't measure any thing! Next week I am also going to post about making granny's cornbread dressing. I made Momma let me measure and write it down several years ago. Then the next year I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for in laws, Wade and Sally and made everything on my own for the first time! I made it through! Planning and preperation is the key to a good Thanksgiving dinner. My Wade said he doesn't understand why he has to wait for Thanksgiving to have cornbread dressing! Poor guy:)

Family pictures Christmas 2009

I found this picture from last Christmas a few minuetes ago!  O.K. I will list everybody left to right by row.

Back Row left to right:

Syndi White, my brother Greg and Kim's daughter
Danielle Williams, our adopted niece! Danielle is Amber, Greg's daughters', half sister!
Marcee Holland, my neice, my brother Keith's daughter
Amber Holland Smith, my niece, brother Greg's daughter
Patricia Roberts, my daughter

Front Row left to right:

Isabelle Kennedy Holland, Greg and Kim's daughter
Patricia Holland, my Mother
Brooke Holland, my niece, brother Steve's daughter
Lee Ann Roberts, my daughter
Gracie Holland, my niece, brother Steve's daughter

This is Kim on the left, my sister in law married to brother Greg and my sister in law Donya that is married to my brother Steve.

Brother Greg and his daughter Isabelle.

This baby is Holland, Amber's oldest little boy. He is 1 yr. old in this picture.  And the little blonde headed boy out of focus is Colton, Steve's son.

Holland was our Christmas present in 2009! He came home from Children's Hospital in Birmingham, on Christmas Eve. That was a very good day.:)

Brooke's first time to hold him!

Amber put the Glad wrap next to him so you can see what a big boy he was!

Holland and Colton

 


This is Micheal, Keith's grandson, and Gracie, Steve's daughter. He is telling her a secret I think!

That's all the time I have right now. There are two more great nephews, Hudson Smith, Amber's second son and Marcee's second son Clayton.

November 2, 2010 Birds in Destin

This is a Palm tree trunk on my street that some birds have made a home in.

Destin Bridge Sunset. This was taken Summer of 2004.....Before Emerald Grand.

Boat coming into harbor.....

Remember to vote today!

COOKIES!!!

Walnut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

3/4 cup Crisco shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Heat Oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil cookie sheets.

Beat shortening, sugar, and brown sugar with electric mixer until creamy.
Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Beat into the shortening
mixture until well blended. Stir in oats, raisins and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfulls onto cookie sheet space about 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 12 min. Place on rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies: Same recipe as above with two changes.
In place of raisins I add 1 cup milk chocolate pieces. In place of walnuts or pecans, add 1 cup of chopped pistachios.  These are Wade's favorite!

Chocolate Chip Cookies......taste good and easy to make!

3/4 cup crisco
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
2 tbsps milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Do Not grease cookie sheet.

Beat shortening and brown sugar in large boal with electric mixer. Beat in milk, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda. Blend in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonful 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 min. Remove from oven. Cool on baking sheet for 5 min and then transfer to rack to cool completely.

White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies

Use the same recipe as above. Substitute 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts. I made these once and didn't chop the nuts and they fell apart. So best results with chopped nuts:)

I am posting some pictures of Momma's Loofa Gourds she is growing. They are really neat. They grow on the vine green and then they turn yellow and then dry out and turn brown. The vine has to be up off of the ground or they will rot.  To get to the loofah you break the outside layer and shake out the seeds. Then trim the ends and cut into pieces small enough to bathe with. I didn't know that loofahs grew like that. I really thought they were a sponge from the ocean!

Sunday Oct. 24, 2010 Squash and Miss. Mud Cake

This is a picture of some squash, green beans and onions I cooked in the oven last night. I sliced the squash, snapped ends of beans off, sliced onions and sprinkled all of them with salt, pepper, nature's seasons, and olive oil. I rolled them around a little to coat all of them and then roasted in the oven at 350 for about 20 min. After 10 min. I took them out and gently stirred them, then returned to the oven until done.  We had these along side the crab cakes.

I usually cook squash and beans on top of the stove in water or chicken stock so I thought I would try something new for me. The oven method works great all three were tender and the flavor was very good.

Today is Sunday, Wade wanted me to bake some chocolate brownies so I went to Granny's recipes for Mississippi Mud Cake. I remember this as a real treat when Granny would make this.  I have always wondered why it was called Mississippi Mud Cake......... Until today when I poured the chocolate frosting on top of the melted marshmallows and I realized it has that mahogany color the rich red earth in Mississippi has. The marshmallows peeping out resemble cotton on the ground in the mud.

When we went through the Memphis airport last week I pointed out posters of John Deere cotton pickers to Wade......Cotton in the Mississippi Delta, you can't get more southern than that!

I am including a copy of Granny's recipe. I couldn't use it exactly as written because I only had plain flour not self rising flour so I found another recipe that I have used many times with plain flour and buttermilk, and soda etc. I will include both for you.

When my girls were little I usually made this cake because it was easy and fast to make. No mixer just a big wooden spoon needed! Another reason I made it often is that it is easy to transport in the 11 x 16 pan. I have one with a removable plastic top with handles.....that I never trust! Kids love it! And big boys like Wade!!!   : -)

MISSISSIPPI MUD CAKE 2010

Brownie:

2 cups plain flour

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

½ cup shortening

4 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup water

1 tsp baking soda dissolved in buttermilk

½ cup buttermilk

2 eggs slightly beaten

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup walnuts

approx. 15 large Marshmallows cut in half

Preheat oven 400 degrees

Lightly grease 11 x 16 pan

Sift sugar and flour in large mixing bowl.

Melt butter, shortening, with cocoa and water bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir into sugar and flour, stir in other ingredients until well blended. Pour into grease 11 x 16 inch pan. Bake 20 minuetes at 400.

Slice 15 large marshmallows in half. About 5 min before brownie is done make frosting.

Frosting:

1 stick butter

4 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons milk

1 box confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

After 20 min take brownie out of oven and lay sliced marshmallows on top about ½ inch apart. Return to oven until marshmallows melt and begin to toast about 2 min. Watch it closely…..

When marshmallows are melted remove brownie from oven and pour the frosting on top of the marshmallows. Allow to cool completely on wire rack Store covered.