HillbillyWoman

A MEMORIAL AGAINST CRUELTY

2009-04-06T00:46:00.001-05:00

CAUTION: This post is very upsetting but I hope you will read it because it is a story of a hero from another land. I hope you read this story so that we can all remember that not only human lives are destroyed by war. I hope you read this story so that we can all remember to have compassion for every living creature on this planet. I hope you read this story so that we can all know that love does endure.

I cried and unless you are a much better person than I, you will cry too. I read about this hero months ago and I knew I wanted to tell as many people as I could his story but I have not been able to. Every time I started to write about him I would start crying. I am certain that there are far worse atrocities in this world but there is just something about this story that breaks my heart.

The city of Kabul, Afghanistan once had a beautiful zoo. In 1978, the zoo received a lion cub from a zoo in Germany and they named him 'Marjan', which is Afghan for 'precious stone'. He was only two years old and little did they know just how precious he would turn out to be.

The Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1978 and for more than a decade, Kabul was spared the ravages of war. In 1992 after the Russians left, civil war broke out and it centered around Kabul. In the months that followed the zoo was virtually destroyed and the animals that were injured were not even given pain medication because the shelling had destroyed their medical supplies.

After the civil war in 1993, a foolish soldier decided to show his friends how brave he was. He went into the lion, Marjan's den and decided he would pet the mate, Chucha, of Marjan. The lioness did not react to the soldier but Marjan ran across the enclosure and killed the man. Now it is a lion's nature to protect his lioness and Marjan was no different than any other lion. The dead soldiers brother retaliated against the lion by coming to the zoo and throwing a hand grenade in with Marjan who though it was food.

The purpose of a male lions mane is to protect him from other lions who might attack. It apparently works with hand grenades as well. When the grenade exploded, Marjan's neck and chest were spared serious injury but his face was badly mutilated by the blast. One eye had to be removed and shrapnel became embedded in his jaw and mouth and most of it could not be removed. The concussion also rendered him deaf. But Marjan recovered and lived on.

Despite the massive injury to Marjan, he was still standing and a photojournalist who was present and who assisted in holding the lion for treatment said that it was amazing how Marjan seemed to know that the stranger was trying to help him and did not struggle.

Marjan was loved by the people who took care of him and Marjan showed his love for them in return. Lions are very spiritual people and are capable of forming the deepest bonds with humans (Just watch youtubes video about 'Christian the Lion' if you doubt this).

Love can give new strength to someone who is weak and Marjan's relationship with his human friends surely strengthend his will to live.

Still it was not easy for Marjan. He had surgeries to repair damages to the jaw but he lost his teeth. Majan could no longer chew on bones. He had to be fed soft meat so he could eat it properly. He needed other types of special care too but in spite of everything he continued to thrive.

The peaceful times for the Kabul Zoo were short lived when the Taliban took over in 1996. They regularly tormented the few remaining animals in the zoo. Marjan was badly stoned and the Taliban officials wanted to kill all the zoo animals. The animals were spared when it was pointed out to the officials that Mohammed had loved animals and kept pets.

Some time in 2000, Marjan's lioness, Chucha, died of a mysterious illness. Marjan grieved her death. He did not eat for a week. He was closely bonded to his keeper and received comfort from him. The keeper had no fear of Marjan. The keeper said he was a noble, gentle king.

After 9-11 when the U.S. began their attacks on Afghanistan, things at the zoo became even worse. The zoo workers received no pay but they loyally remained and cared for the animals left at the zoo. A local butcher saw to it that Marjan always had something to eat. He was already a local hero with the people. He was the lion who would not give up and continued to be proud.

Marjan became world famous in 2001, when Kabul was freed from the Taliban. Soon after the plight of the zoo was made known around the world and help poured in, especially for Marjan. There are several organizations in America still helping the zoo.

Eventually a team of zoo experts made it to the Kabul Zoo. After a thorough exam of Marjan he was reported to be weak and thin but in reasonably good health. They felt any further surgeries to Marjan would be risky because of his age and his injuries had healed fairly well. He was treated for parasites and put on vitamins and heat was installed to his den box. They also decided to build a ramp into his den box as Marjan often stumbled as he entered it. It was believed he was going blind in his remaining eye.

At first Marjan responded well to his treatments and then he seemed to have trouble moving around. Then he started to go downhill and he stopped eating. It was not long before he became very weak and required assistance to get in and out of his den box. Always the strong lion, Marjan did not appear in any distress and enjoyed lounging in the warm sunshine. Within a few days he became so weak he had to be carried into his den box on a mattress. The next day his caretaker found him dead lying in the same spot he had been placed the night before. Grown men cried. Marjan's age had been established at just over 25 years at the time of his death.

It is believed that Marjan died of liver and kidney failure. He would have been about 88 years in human years. Lions usually live about 20 years in captivity.

Some wondered why Marjan had died when he was in reasonably good health a few weeks earlier. The old lion had led a tough stress filled life for most of his years. His deep relationship with his caretakers enabled him to ward off the adverse conditions in his life. He was much loved by his caretakers and the Afghan people. He was able to let down his stress defense and relax for the first time in many years. So Marjan, who had survived many tough times gave in to old age.

They said that Marjan did not appear to suffer very much. Even though he did not move around very much in the end his caretaker said he appeared content. They said he drifted off peacefully and died in his sleep.

Marjan is in that special place God has for brave souls (and creatures). He is once more whole and he can see and hear and he is free from the suffering and cruelty of this world.

After Marjan died, his body was left where it lay. Many Afghan people came by to pay their respects to their brave hero. His remains were buried on the zoo grounds. A memorial service was held for Marjan and a statue is being erected at the zoo entrance when it is rebuilt.

A sign was erected over Marjan's grave. The sign reads, 'Marjan. He was about 25 and he was the most famous lion in the world'.

Marjan was born in captivity and lived a life on the front line. Marjan was a symbol to the Afghan people. They felt he was old like their country and like their country he went through hardships but remained strong.

He is a symbol of strength when all hope is lost. He was a symbol of love that few of us can really understand.

Marjun 1976 - 2002
A King.

ATONEMENT

2009-04-02T13:54:00.001-05:00

Well, I hope everyone made it through April Fool's Day. Why do people think this is such a fun day? Why does this day cause a sane, peace lovin', usually the first to come to the rescue of anyone havin' a problem, person who is old enough to have grown up enough to have gotten all this nonsense out of their system, wreck havoc on their household?

I just don't know the answer to that, I wish I did. I mean I wouldn't even think about puttin' a rubber band around the sprayer on the kitchen sink so when the innocent spouse turns on the faucet first thing in the mornin', well, let me just say they got sprayed good. Or when the coffee pot button is pushed (the thoughtful spouse prepared the coffee the night before) and the yummy smell of fresh brewed coffee entices one to reach for their favorite coffee cup, but for some reason they can't pick up the cup because the offendin' spouse has rubber cemented it to the shelf!

Maybe this was a sign? Maybe someone has put sugar (a lot) in the bottom of the coffee filter in the pot and just put a little coffee on top of said sugar. The innocent spouse doesn't even notice the color of the coffee is off. I mean, that coffee was certainly needed because the poor tricked spouse had to get up at 2 a.m. and again at 4 a.m. to see why the car alarm was goin' off.

You think it would end here, right?

It's sad to say, this was kinda just the start. The poor innocent spouse was soooo glad when April Fool's Day bit the dust.

I must say my husband is such an easy goin' person AND a good sport!

So to make it up to him today I am gonna make his favorite coffee cake.

I call this coffee cake Blackberry Buckle and is it yummy. All the ingredients combined make this one of the best coffee cakes you're ever gonna taste. It's full of good for you goodies like blackberries, oats, nuts, milled flax seed, more nuts and.......well, let me just give you the recipe.

TOPPIN'

1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup nuts, chopped

MIDDLE STREUSEL FILLIN'

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup nuts, chopped

CAKE INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar
3/8 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 cup oats
3 teaspoons bakin' powder
1 teaspoon bakin' soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milled flax seed
2 cups frozen or fresh blackberries

Now I use blackberries 'cause I have frozen ones on hand but this recipe can be made with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and peaches. Just about any fruit you want to use will work.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

We'll mix the toppin' first.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon together.

Toss in the nuts. I use pecans but walnuts work just as well.

Mix in the softened butter. Set this bowl aside.

In another small bowl mix the brown sugar and flour.

Add in the cinnamon.

Any cinnamon will work but Vietnamese cinnamon is considered the best in the world and if you've never tried it well, tarnation thunder, it tastes like it's already got sugar in it! It is sweet and the best tastin' cinnamon you'll ever taste.

Add you melted butter to the mixture.

Stir in the nuts, and sit this bowl aside.

Now for the cake,

In a large bowl, mix the sugar and oil together well. Please disregard the wrong picture here. The correct photo disappeared and it's out floating around blog land somewhere.

Whisk in the eggs and buttermilk. Set bowl aside.

In another bowl, blend flour, oats, bakin' powder and soda, salt and flax seed together well.

Blend flour ingredients gently into egg and buttermilk mixture just until well blended together.

At this point it kinda looks like a bowl of oatmeal.

Very gently mix in your blackberries or fruit of choice. If you use frozen fruit, do not thaw, just mix the frozen fruit right in there.

Spread 1/2 of the blackberry batter into a 13x9" casserole bakin' dish.

Sprinkle the middle streusel fillin' over the top of the blackberry batter.

Drop by spoonfuls the rest of the blackberry batter over the streusel.

Sprinkle the toppin' mixture all over the top.

Pop this bad puppy into your preheated oven and bake 45-50 minutes.

Your kitchen is gonna smell like heaven while this is bakin'. And the flavor, I reckon it's about the best coffee cake I've ever eatin'. And I know it seems like there is a lot of sugar in there but it really isn't too sweet so don't think that.

Brew a pot of coffee (minus the cup of sugar), add a dollop of whip cream and any girlfriend will be happy to come over and spend the mornin' visitin' with ya.

And your husband will forgive you just about anythin'. At least until next April Fool's Day.

Youn's come back dreckly, ya hear?

Rebel

THE PERILS OF A TINY DOG

2009-03-30T20:30:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Sadie and I rule the roost around here. I may be a little dog but I'm a mighty dog, all 3 pounds of me. My favorite place to lie is on the couch. My favorite toy is a toilet paper roll, no paper just the empty cardboard. I love to chew on it and tear it to pieces and even though my mommy has a whole basket full of toy's, that ol' paper roll is the cat's meow.

Speakin' of cat's,

My life was very peaceful here until my mom thought I needed a companion. For some reason she thought I would like a cat. My life has not been the same since they brought HER into the house. They thought it was cute to name her Skitty because she's Sadie's kitty, get it, Skitty. Yeah, I'm greatly amused.

No matter where I lie, she thinks she needs to be there too. She hogs the pillow and is constantly pickin' a fight.

I love lyin' on the furnace vent when the warm air is blowin' and now it's a constant battle for the one I want to lie on, never mind there are a half dozen other vents SHE can go lie on, it has to be the one I want.

Mommy thought it was so cute to put me in the clothes basket today. That pesky cat wanted in the basket with me but I wasn't gonna let her.

SHE is so annoyin'.

"I said, You are not comin' in here with me!"

"Ha ha, I'm in and you're not."

"Stop that you pesky thing!"

Okay, now I'm gettin' out!

"Would somebody get me outta here?"

"Back you BEAST!"

I gotta get out of here!

"Mommy, please get me out of here"

Now this is the way it should be. Just leave HER in there forever as far as I'm concerned.

"Ha ha you stupid cat!"

"They're gonna leave you in there forever!"

"Hee hee hee"

Oh yes, back on the couch where I belong and no pesky cat in site!

Be sure and come back to see me again, I love the attention.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE SPRING TIME

2009-03-25T21:18:00.000-05:00

It's beginnin' to look a lot like Spring time,
Ev'ry where you go;
Take a look in the yard and then
you'll see bloomin' once again
with daffodils and hyacinth's aglow.

It's beginnin' to look a lot like Spring time,
blooms on trees and more,
But the prettiest sight to see is the
forsythia that will be
At my own back door.

Rebel

A LONELY STRETCH OF ROAD

2009-03-19T11:15:00.001-05:00

Drivin' down old Route 66 I was on the lookout for a place I had seen pictures of in books and on TV. We had actually driven this way before but could not find the old motor inn of John's Modern Cabins. On our second trip we were drivin' along and I just happened to look over in a area that was not that far off the interstate, you can actually see the cars whizzin' by on I-44. There they were, in a place where there doesn't seem to be anything. We had to turn off of the current Rt. 66 and drive about 200 feet to an old stretch of the original Mother Road.

Just a small stretch of lonely neglected road.

With 6 small primitive log cabins.

Here sits John's Modern Cabins.

Or, what's left of them.

Here they sit with their old broken, faded neon sign.

Just a small log cabin that back in the 1930's, if you were travelin' late and needed a place to stay, these were the newest, most modern, rooms for a night available out there. All the modern conveniences available, with two, outhouses out back.

John's Modern Cabins are located about 10 miles east of Rolla near the old town of Newburg.

At their beginnin' the cabins flanked a shotgun shack, which is a type of dance hall or juke joint, back in the 1930's.

I'm sure it must have been a little bit rowdy with all the goin' ons that a shotgun shack provides but hey, with all the modern conveniences, you were willin' to overlook a little noise, right? But if you were by chance spendin' the night of Halloween 1935, you probably got a little more excitement than you bargained for. That was the night that a 22 year old man shot and killed his 18 year old estranged wife and wounded two others in the dance hall's fireplace room.

The roadside inn and shotgun shack later sold to a couple, the John Dausch's, who were from Chicago, in 1951. The place sold for a mere $5000, but back in the 50's, that was a tidy sum.
This is when the cabins received their current name of John's Modern Cabins.

Improvements to the old Rt. 66 caused the business to now be located off of the main road. The shotgun shack was abandoned. A large log cabin was built to house a laundry/snack bar. The owner sold illegal beer on Sunday which earned him the nickname 'Sunday John'.

With the arrival of Interstate 44, business dried up and the motor inn shut down.

This is all that remains. Just some lonely little modern log cabins.

Can you imagine the stories this place has associated with it. I wish there was some kind of time capsule for all these old buildin's along the old highway. I mean you can see them and check 'em out but there's no one left to tell about the history or stories or people involved throughout the years. Just what you can read in books or on the net.

Here between two crumblin' cabins you can see one of the outhouses. It's good to see that they kept 'em in good shape, I mean, they are still standin' better than the cabins.

Can you imagine, traipsin' out in the middle of the night to take a pee? Two outhouses to share between 6 cabins and maybe that meant the shotgun shack too. I bet those ol' one seaters were kept busy. They don't look big enough to be two seaters. For those of you who may not know what I'm talkin' about, most outhouses were either one or two seaters. Yep, if you had a two seater, you could be in there with another person, doin' your business at the same time. Very convenient AND modern!

Actually when I was a kid we moved to a farm that had no runnin' water or bathroom in it. I remember usin' the outhouse and makin' my little sister go out with me at night (I was soooo bossy), and that was 1964! Remember we are talkin' about the Ozarks here.

So I can totally relate to those night time motorists who were lucky enough to be stayin' at John's Modern Cabins.

Hopefully if you get to travel down old Route 66 sometime, maybe the cabins will still be there. I did read somewhere that the current owners want to tear down the cabins, but so far they've left 'em standin'. Just another piece of our history, our roots, gone forever.

Just memories, down a lonely stretch of road.

Youn's come back dreckly now, ya hear?

Rebel

THE QUIET MAN

2009-03-17T22:53:00.004-05:00

I don't know how I missed this movie, it's been on the boob tube at least a zillion times throughout the years AND I love John Wayne movies but I have never seen 'The Quiet Man'. Oh my goodness! What a good love story and a really fun entertainin' one at that. CD even watched it with me, and he enjoyed it. It is one of the best love stories and if you have never seen it be sure and check it out. It is traditionally shown on TCM every St. Patrick's Day and I'll be sure and watch it from now on.

I so wanted to just put the video clip here but I can not get it to work for me that way, I don't know what I am doin' wrong, so if anyone knows what to tell me, please do.

Click on the link and watch the clip. I so LOVE this movie. I am such a sucker for a good love story. They don't make very good ones anymore.

Thanks to Jodi over at Live Today, Cherish Yesterday, Dream Tomorrow, I am now able to put that video on here for you. When you see the movie on TCM the quality is a lot better than on this video. Hope you get a chance to see this movie.

R.

"E`irinn go Bra`ch"

2009-03-17T12:07:00.001-05:00

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY TO YOU AND YOURN!

May you always have walls for the winds.

A roof for the rain, tea beside the fire.

Laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,

And all your heart might desire.

IRISH TOAST

May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.

DRINKIN' TOAST

May your glass be ever full.

May the roof over your head be always strong.

And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're gone.

IRISH PROVERBS

* A drink precedes a story.
* Time is a great story teller.
* A friend's eye is a good mirror.
* Even a small thorn causes festering.
* Good as drink is, it ends in thirst.
* It is a long road that has no turning.
* As the big hound is, so will the pup be.
* A trade not properly learned is an enemy.
* Put silk on a goat, and it's still a goat.
* When the liquor was gone the fun was gone.
* There is no fireside like your own fireside.
* It is not a secret if it is known by three people.
* It takes time to build castles. Rome was not built in a day.
* The man with the boots does not mind where he places his foot.
* If you do not sow in the spring you will not reap in the autumn.
* When a twig grows hard it is difficult to twist it. Every beginning is weak.

"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."~~By Alex Levine.~~

These things, I warmly wish for you-

Someone to love,

Some work to do,

A bit of o’ sun A bit o’ cheer

And a guardian angel Always near.

God Bless You and have a great St. Patrick's Day

Rebel

ANOTHER HILLBILLY JOKE

2009-03-16T20:47:00.005-05:00

Hillbilly Vasectomy

After their 11th child, a hillbilly couple decided that was enough, as they could not afford a larger bed.

So the husband went to his veterinarian and told him that he and his cousin didn't want to have any more children.

The doctor told him that there was a procedure called a vasectomy that could fix the problem but that it was expensive. 'A less costly alternative, ' said the doctor, 'is to go home, get a cherry bomb, (fireworks are legal in hillbilly country) light it, put it in a beer can, then hold the can up to your ear and count to 10.

'The hillbilly said to the doctor, 'I may not be the smartest tool in the shed, but I don't see how puttin' a cherry bomb in a beer can next to my ear is gonna help me..

''Trust me,' said the doctor.

So the man went home, lit a cherry bomb and put it in a beer can. He held the can up to his ear and began to count!

'1'

'2'

'3'

'4'

'5'

At which point, he paused, placed the beer can between his legs and continued counting on his other hand.

This procedure works in Arkansas , Missouri , Tennessee ....and Washington DC .

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know I'm ate up with these stupid hillbilly jokes but you wouldn't believe how many family and friends keep sendin' 'em to me! I can't help it! I hope I don't offend anyone, It's all in funnin'.

I want to share with you a wonderful award I received from a very nice fellow blogger.

The Chickenista over at her blog bestowed upon me a Lemonade Award. If you have never visited the Chickenista, please go on over and visit a spell with her. She is a great blogger with a very good sense of humor. She's always got somethin' fun to read and she writes about how much she appreciates her chickens.

As a recipient of this special blog award, you are suppose to bestow it upon 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude. Since I feel that all the blogs I visit and all the bloggers who visit me are very special people with great attitudes and gratitude, PLEASE take this award so that I can show you how much I appreciate all of you. You deserve somethin' for readin' my hillbilly jokes!

Love you all.
Rebel

BAD LUCK, GOOD LUCK

2009-03-14T16:30:00.002-05:00

Okay so it was Friday the 13th yesterday and I walked around on egg shells, all day, like I'm afraid of bein' seen. If the power who is in charge of bad luck sees me, Wham! Some horrible, ill-wind, hoodo jinx was gonna get me. Everybody knows that bad things happen to good people on Friday the 13th. It's a very stressful day and what's worse we had Friday the 13th two months in a row! Now how does that happen? One of my friends said it had somethin' to do with leap year? I don't think so. I tried googlin' to see what I could find out and it wasn't much help, so I asked CD and he thought a minute, I could tell by the steam comin' out, and he said it would probably happen again around 2015. Now how he figured it out without takin' off his shoes and socks, I'll never know. But back to what this post is really about. I had good luck yesterday. First I had bad luck, not yesterday, three days ago on Tuesday, and then on Friday the 13th my luck changed for the better! Here's my story,

We replace our hot water heater about every 4-5 years. We live in an area with lots of lime stone and have ridiculously hard water. Now I drain my water heater periodically like I'm suppose to but, alas, we can't get our water heater to give us longer service. Soooo, the last time our water heater quit on us, five months ago, we decided it was time to shell out the really big bucks and buy a water heater with a longer warranty time. We bought a really nice one with a 30 year warranty. I suggested that maybe we go with the one that had a lifetime warranty and CD said that a 30 year warranty was a lifetime warranty to us. I don't know where he thinks he's goin' but I plan on bein' here longer than 30 more years! Anywho, we bought this nice big time name brand water heater from a nice big time name home improvement store.

We felt very reassured in the product we bought since we have owned more than one of their washin' machines through the years and I have a dishwasher right now that is the same name brand and I have always been happy with this company. BUT tragedy struck on Tuesday of this past week and after only 5 months of faithful service, kaput, no hot water was comin' forth from the faucet! We have a friend who is a handy man type and he checked it over and said it could be the computerized circuit board or the heatin' element and we should call the well known companies warranty center. My husband was on hold for 45 minutes! I went online to the address listed in our owner's manual but it was not a valid address. Hmmmm. I finally found a place on their website that had nothin' to do with the warranty but I emailed anyway to see what I could find out. I still have not received a reply from the company.

In my search for a new contact for the warranty I stumbled upon some comments made by fellow, no hot water, people like us. I was in shock over what I learned. There are hundreds and hundreds of unhappy people out there who have had their water heaters quit while under warranty with no satisfaction in gettin' their water heaters fixed or replaced and like me, there is not even a way to contact the company. Not all the complaints were aimed at my brand of water heater, it's pretty much all water heaters. Our friend said there are only about 3 companies that make water heaters even though there are several different names out there. So they are all pretty much affiliated. Great!

So I called the number from our owners manual the next day and after bein' on hold (it's a electronic voice that comes on and says hold please) for 35 minutes I hung up. When my husband got home from work we took turns holdin' the phone while bein' on hold for 70 minutes! At this point I was just ready to take the water heater back and go buy a new cheap one. Our friend, who deals with this kind of stuff all the time, said that the home improvement store would not be able to take the water heater back without an authorization from the well known hot water heater company. I'm wonderin', how do I get that when they won't answer the phone and they've shut down the link to the repair center? Now remember this is not just happenin' to me but to lots of people.

So, my hubby went and bought another water heater, he thought he had to have hot water. I told him we were NOT goin' to fix the broken one, I WAS goin' to get it returned. Our friend said, 'It's not goin' to happen.'

The associate that I spoke with at the home improvement store said that they could not take back the water heater without a return authorization from the factory. I told him about not bein' able to get in touch with the company, he gave me a phone number but it was the same one I already had.

Aggggh! I was so frustrated by this point.

Later that evenin' I called the home improvement store again and spoke to a different associate. I've learned if you don't get satisfaction the first time, try again. Our friend just laughed and said, 'They are not gonna take it back.'

I was told the same thing by the second associate as the first. He asked if I wanted to speak to the night manager. YES, please. She said their hands were tied and she had to have a return authorization.

Okay now, I'm really startin' to get mad here. The next mornin' I called the home improvement store and asked to speak to the manager again. I figured that if I'd spoken to the night manager the night before they must surely have a day manager and this manager was probably the BIG cheese in the department. When he got on line I went into this big spill about how I couldn't get in contact with the factory to get a authorization number and further more I thought he probably knew there would never be an authorization number! I went on to say that we purchased a lot of goodies from them, and we do, we live in an older home that we have been remodelin' through the years. I wasn't rude, just firm. When the man was able to get a word in, he just said, 'Bring it back.' That's all he said, just bring it back. So we did!

So on Friday the 13th the expensive well known name brand 30 year warranty water heater went back to the well known home improvement store.

I'm thinkin' now that maybe Friday the 13th isn't such an unlucky day. I'm also thinkin' that if you know you are in the right, hang in there and keep at it until you have completely exhausted your options. And then, Still don't give up if you know you are right.

Our friend says that the next time he needs help with a return problem, he's havin' me handle the situation!

WHAT I WANT

2009-03-11T12:42:00.009-05:00

Well, we've been havin' another round of winter here in the Ozarks, just like a lot of you folks are. I don't know about you, but I'm kinda gettin' tired of all the teasin' that Mother Nature keeps handin' out to me. And I'm a person who likes Winter! But I've finally had enough. I woke up this mornin' to 20 degree temps out there and I knew, without a doubt, that I want this,

Oh boy, do I really want this,

And this

Ohhhh, and this,

What are these? I just know I want 'em.

And I happen to be pretty sure granddaughter wants this

And I know I can hardly wait for this,

I want this part, too.

See the minnow? He wants it too.

I especially want this.

I'm full of wants, how 'bout you?

Youn's come back dreckly now, ya hear?

Rebel

HOW TO GET A MAID OR HOW I TRICKED MY HUSBAND INTO EATIN' A 'WONDER FOOD'

2009-03-09T18:52:00.006-05:00

Hey, I'm glad to be back. Sorry I haven't posted anything in a few days. It was great to have a day off for Housewives Day Off and I took an extra couple of days and visited with an old friend. The bad part is when I came back to my life, I had to play catch up and you know what that is like. In my next life I'm gonna have a maid!

Wouldn't that be too cool? I mean you could spend all your time doin' what you want to do. I would still do all the cookin' and outside work and my maid could clean the house and do the laundry. Woo Hoo! I wonder what a person has to do to get one of them thar maids? Is it somethin' you can ask Santa Claus for? I'm a good girl Santa, honest.

I still live in an area where the grocery stores give away dishes when you buy a zillion dollars worth of groceries from them and one local store still gives green stamps, although recently they just updated to computerized cards that keep track of your purchases. Now if I can just talk someone into givin' away a maid! I'd rather have a maid, I already have more dishes than I know what to do with. So I guess I will just have to keep bein' the maid in my life. If anyone knows how or has any ideas to get a maid PLEASE let me know, as long as it doesn't get us thrown into the pokey!

Anyhoo, I have a good recipe for you today. Did you know that the vegetable Kale is a veggie we should eat everyday? You didn't? Well, I didn't either. I read online a few months back that it is one of the 'wonder foods'. How do they keep comin' up with this stuff? Anyway I decided that we would start eatin' Kale at least once a week and once I got CD convinced to eat it we would be full of all those good for you vitamin's and mineral's, that you get when you eat any of the 'wonder foods'. The trouble is, CD said he didn't like Kale and he wasn't goin' to eat any of it. I asked him if he had ever eatin' any Kale, I was pretty sure he hadn't 'cause I've been feedin' the man for over 30 years and I've never served him any. He said he couldn't remember when but he just knew he wouldn't like it. Men! I swear they are worse than a little kid sometimes. So I cooked up a bunch of Kale, not really knowin' how to fix it but I figured since it was a green, fix it like you would greens. Throw in some ham or bacon and some grease a little garlic and red pepper flakes, boil it up real good and yummy is on the way. Good with beans and cornbread. The only problem, CD says he doesn't care for Kale. Sooooo, back to the drawin' board and figure out a way to fix Kale so the man of the house will eat this 'wonder food'.

I decided to incorporate other foods he likes into the recipe and maybe a little subterfuge. I'm sneaky that way. You learn it when you have kids, right?

This is what I came up with and I call it Kale Crostini.

This stuff is good. Even if it wasn't a good for you food, I would still fix it. And CD would still eat it. He likes it! He likes it! I'm still not sure he knows it's Kale he's eatin'. I thought it wise not to discuss it.

You are gonna need 1-2 bunches of Kale
Bacon or Ham, chopped, about 4 ounces
Garlic, minced, 2-3 cloves or more if you're worried about neck suckers
Red pepper flakes
Canola oil
1 teaspoons rice wine vinegar, maybe a little more to suit your taste
Salt and pepper to taste
French or Italian loaf of bread
Butter, softened, the real thing here
Mozzarella cheese, I like usin' whole milk and you can slice your cheese or shred it

This is the Kale cleaned and chopped.

You can either worsh your Kale before trimmin' and choppin' or after. I like to trim and chop than worsh. I'm spellin' wash like it's pronounced in these here parts.

Fold the Kale leaf in half down the center and cut right up beside the vein.

Just cut that vein right out of there. Please disregard my old cuttin' board. I love the old thing and I know it has a lot of knife marks on it but it's the one I like to chop veggies on.

Rough chop the Kale. Worsh it up in a colander and drain well.

Now you are gonna need a large skillet. I use a wok that I've had for years. It makes cookin' a big batch of anythin' a lot easier. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat over med-high heat and you are gonna pretty much stir fry your Kale. And mercy, does it ever cook down. You start out with this huge pile of chopped greens and end up with about 1/4 of what you started with. If you don't have a large enough pan you can cook in batches, just try to cook it evenly.

Push the cooked Kale to the side or you can remove from pan, add your chopped ham or bacon pieces, fry till cooked and then add your minced garlic, fry this about 45 seconds. Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes, the amount depends on how much heat you want. You might start out with 1/4 of a teaspoon and go on from there. It's just a personal preference.

Stir this all up and add your vinegar. I really like usin' rice wine vinegar but any white will work but the rice wine is the best tastin' with this dish. Add about 1/4 cup of water and add your salt and pepper, cover and simmer about 20 minutes on low heat.

While your Kale is simmerin' slice up some French or Italian bread. Now the amount will depend on how much Kale you started out with and how much you will put on your bread slices. I'd say start with 8-10 slices.

Butter one side of each slice.

Toast both sides of each slice. You need firm toast here so you'll want a medium to dark brown.

Slice or shred your Mozzarella cheese.

When your Kale is ready, drain well. Put your cooked Kale on top of the buttered side of the toast. The amount is personal again. I put about 2- 3 heapin' tablespoonfuls on. Just make sure you've got the edges of the toast covered well and make sure your Kale is not drippin', it needs to be drained well.

Place your cheese slices on top of the Kale and pop these puppies under the broiler.

Keep an eye on your Crostini so that the cheese does not burn but get it nice and brown and bubbly. Serve 'em up warm. IF and I mean IF you have any leftovers you can put 'em in the fridge covered and just warm 'em up in the microwave and they are still good.

I have even served these at a party. They are really good. Fix 'em for your loved ones and friends and you'll see what I mean. And the great part is you'll be doin' 'em a favor servin' 'em a 'wonder food'.

But PLEASE do not tell my husband that he's eatin' Kale. Believe me when I tell ya, if he knew, he would never touch one again, even though he likes 'em. He's like that, yes he is.

Let me know how you like my Kale Crostini.

NEVER CHOKE IN A RESTAURANT IN THE OZARKS!

2009-03-08T11:48:00.002-05:00

Two hillbillies walk into a restaurant. While having a bite to eat, they talk about their moonshine operation.

Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough. After a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in
Real distress. One of the hillbillies looks at her and says,
'Kin ya swallar?'

The woman shakes her head no.
Then he asks, 'Kin ya breathe?'
The woman begins to turn blue and shakes her head no.

The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress, yanks down her drawers and quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his tongue.
The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm and the obstruction flies out of her mouth.
As she begins to breathe again, the Hillbilly walks slowly back to his table.

His partner says, 'Ya know, I'd heerd of that there 'Hind Lick Maneuver' but I ain't niver seed nobody do it!'

This was a joke told to me by a good friend, another hillbilly.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR HOUSEWIVES DAY OFF

2009-03-03T18:00:00.008-06:00

In honor of Housewive's Day Off, whadda ya mean you didn't know it was Housewive's Day Off day? March 05 is Housewive's Day Off day. Never heard of it? Well, you have now! And in honor of this glorious day, I gotta fix Thursday's food today so I can have tomorrow off.

What I'm gonna have for breakfast is one of my family's favorite breakfast foods, breakfast casserole. Now when I got this recipe from a friend years ago, I think it had a name somethin' like Potato Crust Quiche or somethin' like that, but we have gotten to where we call it plain ol' breakfast casserole. My son loves this dish and when I fix it I have to make two, one for him and one for the rest of us. I'm not kiddin', he eats a whole one himself. Not at one settin' but about every hour through out the mornin' he goes back into the kitchen and gets another piece. He's a growin' boy, don't ya know? I usually make it for holiday's and special occasions (like son's birthday, it's what he orders).

Now since tomorrow is a special day, Housewive's Day Off, I'm gonna fix just one (son's not gonna be here) for me and CD.

This is an easy dish and you can fix it the day before and cover it with foil and heat the whole thing up in the oven or put it in the microwave, either the whole thing or piece by piece. That way for your day off, Thursday, you don't have to cook breakfast.

The ingredients you are gonna need to fix this day's off breakfast are:

1 regular size bag of shredded Hash Brown potatoes or
1 regular size bag of shredded frozen Hash Browns, thawed and you must squeeze the water out of the thawed frozen hash browns.

1/4 cup butter, the real thing, melted. Sometimes I use a little more butter, about another 1/8 cup
1 1/2 cups diced ham or sausage
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups grated cheese, your choice but I usually use sharp cheddar
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

I am usin' sausage today for my 'day off ' breakfast casserole. Fry your sausage, stirrin' and crumblin' it up as it cooks. Drain any grease off and set aside when fully cooked.

Line a 9 inch pie plate with the tators that have had all the water squeezed out of them if you are usin' thawed frozen hash browns. That's why I like to use the fresh hash browns that I find in the cooler section at the grocery store, there's no squeezin'. If I'm gonna be doin' any squeezin', I don't want it to be hash browns. i gotta stay nice now 'cause tomorrow is a special day for us housewife's.

Press those tators real good like into the pie plate and drizzle the butter over 'em. Pop this into a 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Now CD likes a good brown on his tators so I leave 'em in 'till they start brownin'.

While the tators are brownin', in a bowl, mix together the sausage, onion, green pepper and the grated cheese.

In a smaller bowl beat the eggs with the milk and add the salt and pepper.

Now here are my hash brown tators out of the oven. If you don't want them this brown you can take 'em out sooner.

Put your meat and cheese mixture in the pie pan on top of the tators.

Pour your egg mixture all over the top of the meat mixture.

Pop this bad boy back into the oven that is now set at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until knife stuck in center comes out clean.

And voila! You now have breakfast ready for your day off on National Housewife's Day Off! Now remember you don't have to let it get this browned. My husband likes burned food. He really does.

Now I'll have this for breakfast and again for lunch with a salad and then my husband is goin' to be takin' me out for dinner, even though he doesn't know it yet.

I hope you have a wonderful day off from house work, I certainly am plannin' to, and I hope you like this breakfast casserole, it's mighty good vittels.

SNOW 'N TROUT

2009-03-01T20:22:00.001-06:00

We had a beautiful snowfall yesterday. It snowed all day and it was absolutely gorgeous. I love snow and especially at this time of year, because it doesn't usually hang around that long. And though it was a great day to sit in front of the fireplace and watch the snow fall, it made for very slick roads. Interstate 44 for shut completely down in our area of travel. We could get to Springfield okay, lucky for hubby goin' and comin' to work, but if you wanted to head east to Lebanon, forget about it, and it was shut down all day. Today, though the temps did not get above freezin', the sun shone so strongly that most of the snow is gone.

The snow and below freezin' temp's did not deter a race of people that come to our area at this time of year. It is a hardy race of humans, they have been know to withstand any weather that Mother Nature wants to throw at them. This race is know as 'Trout Fishermen'.

Trout season started today at Bennett Springs. It runs from the first of March to the end of October.

Here are some pictures of these fools, sorry, I mean 'hardy fishermen', taken today in below, I mean way below freezin' temp's. They said they had ice on their fishin' lines.

Each year at the openin' of trout season, about 3,000 people show up to stand next to another fool, sorry, I mean 'hardy fisherman', to cast their little fly out there and attempt to catch one of these:

Now I like trout but I can't imagine tryin' to fish when 3,000 other fools, sorry, I mean 'hardy fishermen' are castin' their lines in right next to each other. I mean you can see how close everybody was to each other. And these pictures are just showin' a small area of Bennett Springs.

One good thing, they said the trout were bitin'. They said that no sooner did you cast out, your fly was hit and you were haulin' 'er in. Now that sounds good, and good eatin', let me tell ya.

Bennett Springs Park is a beautiful place to visit even if you're not fishin'. There are trails to walk and it is also a fish hatchery so there's fish to see and they sell feed for you to toss out to 'em. CD and I love to run down there on Sunday mornin's to eat breakfast at the old dinin' hall, and then we walk one of the trails. Our granddaughter likes to go too, she likes to feed the fish.

The springs origin is attributed by the Osage Indians to an earthquake caused by the creator's displeasure with the tribe.

The first white settler's came in 1837 and built the first of several Mill's at the falls. Through the years Bennett Springs was home to grist mills, flour mills and saw mills.

Bennett Springs is located in the Spring Valley of the Niangua River. Water comes up from a spring that pumps out over 100 million gallons per day. The spring basin is 50 feet in diameter and divers have gone down 80 feet in depth and 13 feet in length before the water's velocity becomes so great that they can go no further.

These pictures were taken this past summer at the end of June.

The pictures of the trout were taken at one of the hatchery tanks.

This is a walkway that runs beside some of the hatchery tanks and there are different sizes in each one.

Toss a handful of food in and they go into feedin' frenzy mode. The top of the water here is usually smooth as glass, the fish have it churned up tryin' to get the food. Granddaughter says they act like a bunch of sharks. She says she would not want to fall in there. I wouldn't either!

This is a picture I took from above the falls lookin' down to the bridge below the falls.

The bank is steep in this area so they built steps for the fools, sorry, I mean 'hardy fishermen' to get down to the water. Really cool steps.

Here's below the falls lookin' back up.

Brave fool, sorry, 'hardy fisherman' standing on that slippery wall.

Brave. I mean when you're walkin' across a place like this, not only is the water force tryin' to sweep you away, but it's slicker than snot!

This is back up from the falls. It's much more tranquil and peaceful here.

Back up the spring from the falls. I like this picture. I could be one of those fools, sorry, 'hardy fishermen' out there. I love to fish.

Back up the spring it is like a different place. So calm and you can fish here too. You can actually stand on the bank and see the trout swimmin' around, the water is crystal clear.

Isn't this a neat buildin'? I always thought this was a gauge house but my hubby said he didn't think so. I bet I'm the one who's right!

There is a pavilion built up above spring for sittin' and eatin'.

The town that was first built in this valley was known as Brice. There is still a church and a couple of other buildin's that I think was part of the town.

Here are some old pictures of the old mills, there are no mills left here, the last one burned down in 1944.

An old picture of the settlement of Brice.

More old pictures of some of the mills built on this spring.

Here's a picture of the old mill stream leadin' to the mill in the distance.

Here is an old picture of the dinin' hall. You can still eat here and they have great food, some of the best fried chicken and fried trout.

Here's an old picture of the spring hole. You can see it in the back ground.

Here's another old picture of the spring hole. The Indians called it "Eye of the Sacred One".

Well I hope you've enjoyed my pictures of Bennett Springs State Park, I hope you get to come and visit some day. It is such a pretty place and the fishin' is great. I promise I won't call you a 'fool'.

Here's one more picture of one of the old mill's race wheel. I love this picture. It just makes me want to be there.

Youn's come back dreckly now, ya hear?

Rebel

CAN YOU HEAR THE FROGS?

2009-02-26T19:07:00.004-06:00

Whoa, rain is beatin' against the windows and they're rattlin' from the wind blowin' against 'em, I think we're havin' a Spring time storm here. We've got a tornado warnin' in the county just east of us. It was windy and cloudy here all day but the temps were in the low 70's so it was pretty nice out.

I went for a walk around our hay field, earlier in the day. I mow walkin' paths around it all summer and it makes it easy to walk all year long, and I could hear the frogs carryin' on. I love that noise. It's a good Spring/Summer sound The tree frogs and cicadas are two of my favorite summer time sounds. I also like the little brown shell of a body the cicadas shed after comin' up from the ground. My granddaughter loves to look for them and she puts them in a box or bucket and saves them. She's funny.

I love the sound of kids playin' outside in warm weather and the sound of lawnmowers, other than mine, off in the distance, and the smell of fresh cut grass.

I love the smell of fresh cut hay and there is hardly a prettier site than a freshly cut hayfield with bales of hay sittin' out across it.

There are so many memories, things we do or sounds we hear that we associate with Summer. What are your favorites? What makes you feel like Summer has truly arrived?

GOT CAUGHT!

2009-02-25T18:28:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything new. I thought we were goin' to avoid the flu bug this year but, alas, it caught my hubby.

Now I don't know about your husband's, but when mine gets sick he acts like he's dyin'. I take good lovin' care of him, I drop everything and am at his beck and call, but I have to admit, he's a big baby!

I've always said that when, if anyone in the family is gonna get sick, I'd rather it be me or if it's gotta be someone else, the kids. Not the hubby. He moans and groans and acts like nobody is ever as sick as he is. It's kinda funny comin' from such a big man guy. He's always the tough one and he rarely whines about anythin'. I usually have to get on to him about lettin' a cut or scrape go without doctorin' it. But let him actually get down sick......

So, I guess, since he rarely carries on about anythin', he's entitled.
I guess.

THE HAUNTED CRESCENT HOTEL

2009-02-18T23:15:00.000-06:00

I'll never forget the first time I saw the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was in 1967, I was just a kid and we drove to Arkansas to see the 'Christ of the Ozarks'. The more than 67 foot tall statue sits atop Magnetic Mountain overlookin' the Victorian town of Eureka Springs. It is in the park of the amphitheater of the 'Great Passion Play'. My mom had been wantin' to go see the statue since they had erected it the year before.

Now, as impressive as the statue is, I only had eyes for one thing. The Crescent Hotel. The mountain we were on top of was above the town but on the next mountain over sat this huge buildin' that looked like somethin' out of a movie. I remember askin' my Dad a million questions about the hotel and I begged for us to drive over to it so I could check it out. I was told maybe another time. I never forgot it.

This is an old picture taken when it was first built. Pretty impressive, huh? Especially sittin' out in the middle of Hillbilly Land, USA.

I think this is probably what it looked like when I saw it in the '60's.

This is a view of it today lookin' from the mountain 'The Christ of the Ozarks' sits on.

This is a current photo of the 'Grand Old Lady of the Ozarks'.

She has 78 guest rooms, a 4th floor bar with a balcony, a ballroom, crystal dining room, and many other rooms such as a rec room. Oh, and yes, a morgue.

And she's haunted.

She's touted as bein' 'America's Most Haunted Hotel'.
The Sci-Fi channel's Ghost Hunters has an episode where they visited her, and they got some ghostly apparition on film.

Before any of this ghost stuff was talked about, my husband and I stayed at the Crescent in 1979, my first visit. It was beautiful. I love old places and the Crescent did not disappoint me. There was a little room off of the front entryway that held the museum of the hotel with pictures galore. It told how it was built from 1884 to 1886 by the Eureka Springs Improvement Company and Frisco Railroad.

The first 15 years it was an exclusive year round resort hotel caterin' to the rich and famous. People traveled from all over the country to take in the waters from the town's natural springs, to hopefully ease and cure ailments. Business boomed from 1902 to 1907, but the latter part of 1907, the hotel closed when the waters were found to not have curative powers and the springs lost the interest of the wealthier class. The next 60 years were not good ones for the Crescent.

In 1908 the hotel opened as a college for young women. After the school closed in the 1920's, the hotel was reopened as a Summer resort.

In 1937, the hotel was turned into a cancer hospital. I remember sayin' to my husband, "Ooooo, I bet this place has some ghosts. Can you imagine how many people have died here?"

The hospital closed, in 1940, after it was discovered that the doctor who opened it was practicin' without a license.

The Crescent Hotel reopened in 1946 and has slowly been restored through out the years by various owners.

We have stayed at the Crescent six times through the years, sometimes goin' by ourselves or with friends and family. One particular time we went with my brother and sister-in-law. We stayed in connectin' rooms and sat up half the night playin' cards and havin' a blast.
About 3 o'clock in the mornin', SIL and I decided we had the munchies and were goin ' to go to the lobby and hit a vendin' machine we had seen earlier. We had rooms on the second floor, and as we're walkin' down the hallway I'm tellin' SIL the history on the place, about it bein' a girls school and one of the girls supposedly hangin' herself (I was tryin' to scare SIL, and it was workin'). I told her it had been a cancer hospital and LOT'S of people had died there. When we got to the lobby there was one young guy workin' the desk, we said hi and went on to get our goodies.

Now this place is totally quiet. Nothin' goin' on anywhere. No other people about. We're back on the second floor headin' to our room at the opposite end of the place, I bring back up all the ghosts who must inhabit the place. About this time, directly behind us is this noise. I don't know how to describe it except it was like an evil ugly monster makin' some kind of unearthly sound.

My SIL and I both let out blood curdlin' screams. I mean BLOOD CURDLIN', and we ran, both of us screamin' down the hall to our room. About the time we get to the door, we're hearin' my husband laughin' his _ _ _ off. He was the monster in the hall. About 10 minutes later, after I finish beatin' on my husband, we looked out into the hallway. No one was up and about, no cute guy workin' the desk upstairs checkin' on us, nothin'. Now I know there had to be some people sittin' straight up in their beds . I happen to believe this is when all the ghost stories started. hee hee

Now when you stay at the Crescent Hotel they give you the option of takin' their haunted tours. The rooms of 218, 202, 424 and 419 are suppose to be their most haunted. There is suppose to be a nurse who walks the hallways and a cancer patient who introduces herself to guests and housekeepers. I think that most of the hauntin's are suppose to be connected to the cancer hospital period of the hotel. The man who operated it was evil, they now know. Some say he did experiments on poor sick people sufferin' from cancer.

There are legends of dozens of human skeletons secreted in the walls somewhere within the place and jars of preserved body parts. These have never been found.

I haven't been there in a few years and when I stayed there last the haunted tours were not offered. I had a friend and her husband take the tour but nothin' happened. You get to take the tour around midnight to add to the spookiness.

Would I stay at the Crescent again after hearin' about all of the ghost activity. You betcha, in a minute. I love the place. And hey I figure, as loud as my SIL and I screamed that night, we probably scared some ghosts. I have some pictures I took years ago and when I dig them out I'll post 'em. But it may be a while, they are really packed away.

They say whatever the reason for the strange happinin's, the Crescent Hotel remains one of the South's most visited spots.

It also remains haunted.

Rebel

'BEST COOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD'

2009-02-17T15:48:00.000-06:00

If you have memories like mine about your Grandma, then you know what I'm talkin' about. There is no food like Grandma's. Most of my memories of Grandma are of her in the kitchen, performin' only the magic that Grandma could do. Now my Mom was a great cook but there was just somethin' about Grandma's food. Maybe it was the fact that she always made your favorites when you came to stay. Now that I am a Grandma I do the same thing. When my Granddaughter comes to stay she has favorites that I know I need to fix while she is here. She was here this past weekend and I made some of her all time favorites (she informs me these are her all time fav's, but she has many more she says).

I love the fact that when the yungin gets here, one of the things she quickly asks is , "Gamaw, you got sum'ndeet?" I love it! I'm a Grandma and I can give her wonderful memories of Grandma's cookin'. In her eyes I am pertneer the 'Best cook in the whole wide world'. And that is one of my favorite parts of bein' a Grandma.

I thought I'd share some of her favorites with you.

This salad, I made one Sunday when we all got together for dinner. My Granddaughter was four years old and that itty bitty girl just about ate her weight in this salad. The next time she was over she wanted to know if I had any California salad. It took me a few minutes to figure out what she was talkin' about. My daughter and I never could figure out why she called it California salad, I think it was because she was enamored with the state of California at the time.

So here is granddaughter's California salad.

We'll make the dressin' first. You are gonna need:

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup ketchup
1 T. sugar
1 T. rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. black pepper

In a screw top pint jar combine oil,

ketchup,

lemon juice,

sugar,

rice wine vinegar,

paprika,

salt and

pepper. I like to use fresh ground black pepper.

Put lid on jar and shake until creamy and well blended.

Get you lettuce greens ready in a bowl. About 10 ounces.

Crunch up about 2-3 handfuls of corn chips.

Sprinkle about 3/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese over top.

Drizzle dressin' all over the top. Toss all ingredients together.

Now you have a California salad. It is really good. And addictive. Just ask my granddaughter!

This next dish is the only way Granddaughter will eat corn. And it is only eaten at my house. Her mom fixed it one night but Granddaughter said it just didn't taste the same and she didn't want to hurt her mommas feelin's, but she didn't really care for it. What a hoot! My daughter fixed it exactly the same way as I do. That's too funny.

We call it Indian Corn and I've been fixin' it since I was in high school.

For this recipe you are gonna need:

4-6 slices of bacon

1 green pepper or 1/2 green and 1/2 red pepper

1 bag (10-16 ounces) frozen corn or about 4 cups fresh off the cob

2 T. canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

Fry your bacon strips crisp. Remove bacon and crumble and set aside. Save 2-3 tablespoons bacon grease in the skillet and to this add 2 tablespoons canola oil.

Chop up your sweet peppers.

Add peppers to grease/oil in skillet and fry over med-high heat about 5 minutes or until crisp tender.

Add your corn, crumbled bacon and the salt and pepper. Continue cookin' until corn is hot, stirrin' frequently. With the frozen and fresh corn you will need to cook about 10 minutes.

And we are now to the Ham and Cheese Muffins. They are really biscuits but granddaughter calls 'em muffins. Who am I to argue with an angel?

These are sooo good.
They are even great cold, so they make a good travelin' snack.

You are gonna need:

2 cups flour

3 t. bakin' powder

1 t. salt

1/2 t. bakin' soda

1 to 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

1/2 cup mayo (I always use the real stuff)

1 cup finely shredded or chopped, cooked ham

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup milled flax seed

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Mix 1 cup buttermilk, mayo, ham and cheese together in small bowl.

Add buttermilk ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just to moistened addin' more buttermilk to make soft but firm dough.

I use a small ice cream scoop to dip out the mixture but you can use two spoons.

Place on cookie sheet. I line pan with parchment paper because these things stick, bad.

Bake 16-18 minutes or until 'muffins' are browned in a 425 degree oven. See how the cheese is melted and runs off from biscuit a little? Just break off these baked cheese parts and the cook or granddaughter gets to eat these and nobody else is the wiser.

Now they are gonna be sneakin' these out in their pockets so you may want to make a double batch.

I went to my granddaughters school to eat lunch with her one day and afterwards I went back to her classroom to meet her teacher. The teacher said, "I'm so glad to finally meet THE BEST COOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!"

Yep, that's my granddaughter's opinion.

TRAIL OF TEARS PART 2

2009-02-12T15:10:00.004-06:00

After Tuesday nights devastatin' tornadoes, today is a little quieter. A small, is there such a thing, tornado touched down in Springfield. Nothin' like what Lone Grove, Oklahoma experienced. Those poor people. The death toll right now is at 9 but there are still people unaccounted for. My blogfriend Darlene who lives about 3/4 of a mile away from the hardest hit area, has a few pictures on her web site if you'd like to check it out, go on over there. Please pray for Lone Grove.

We drove over to my daughters in Springfield yesterday and drove past some of the damage. We saw a business in her neighborhood that had fence post driven through the walls of the buildin'. I guess 'tis the season is here. The last two years we have had twisters go through my neighborhood and destroy homes and take lives. I've never been afraid of severe weather but when it hits that close to home, ya get a little tense.

Well, I'm postin' the rest of the Trail of Tears pictures. I probably should have made three posts out of this because there are a lot of pictures. I so want you to see everything there because it is so neat and I know it won't be there forever. From some researchin' I've done, I have found out the land is for sale.

I have googled about this place and not found much info but one of my loyal readers and friend Mary gave me the location of some web sites to check out. Thank you Mary, it helped a lot.

When I have referred to this place as an amusement park, it wasn't really a park with rides and such. Rather a place, a lot like several places in MO, that you can go to and walk around and see the sites and maybe there would be a gift shop and good food available. But actually, Trail of Tears was a memorial built by Larry Baggett, a local of Jerome, Mo. It was a tribute to the Cherokee Indians plight.

In the Spring of 1838, more than 15,000 Cherokee Indians were forcibly removed from their homes. They were required, or rounded up if you may, by the US Army. They were forced to leave their ancestral lands in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. They were held in concentration like camps, then they were placed on a death march to Oklahoma. The march lasted nearly a year. Nearly 1/4 of their members perished along the way. They died from cold, hunger and illness.

The Cherokee called the march, Nunahi - Duna - Dio - Hilu - l or Trail where they cried.

So now these pictures show what is left of Larry Baggett's tribute to the memory of one of our saddest times in our American history.

When I came up over the crest of the hill, here's what awaited me.

How cool is this? A stone buildin', octagon shaped!

I looked back over the hill behind me. Doesn't it look like he's chargin' at me? Maybe protectin' his area.

This sign says:

The east, west Osage, Kickapoo Indian Trail. From Vedigess River in Okla. to St. Louis, MO.
Later the pioneer's moved it north 1,000 feet.
Looking south you now see old 66 and new I-44.
Reference book First 200 years.

And behind the octagon shaped house is a larger house.

Old rustin' wheelbarrow just sittin' where Mr.Baggett probably left it. He died in 2003.

Back up the hill I saw this.

The eyes were like little windows with red glass in them. I didn't dare venture inside, but I sure wanted to. It was big enough for kids to go into. I'm sure that's what he built it for.

This was out back too.

This is more of the big house.

Call me crazy but I wanted to go inside sooooo bad!

I want a glassed upstairs room! I could so have a glass roofed bedroom. Can you imagine how cool at night this would be?

This is another buildin' back from the main house.

There's CD standin' in the doorway. WHAT has gotten into the man? He is always holdin' me back and tellin' me to be careful and we're gonna get caught and I turn around for a minute and he goes out there and goes inside for like 5 minutes.

I'm standin' back at the house hollerin' for him. I was gettin' worried. He finally came out and told me to calm down. Ha, I'll calm him down!

You do have to be very careful when you are out in areas like this and for him to just go in there without sayin' anythin' to me, well..........

I said, "I'm goin' in", I meant the big house.
He said, "No way in _ _ _ _.
I said, "You went back in that old rickety barn lookin' thing."
He said, "Yeah, but you're not goin' in a closed up, probably locked door, old house, where we don't know what's in there or what condition the floors are in."

Know it all man! I hate it when he's right.

Over the crest of what had once been a yard was the bank of a pond with a little house sittin' on the bank.

On further inspection, I think it is a dog house.

There's still a little water in the pond or I should say ice.

Neat old stone wall.

Here is a gate way in the old stone wall. I wonder what it use to look like on the other side and where it went to.

Lookin' back down the hill at the entrance to this enchantin' place.

I love this tee pee at the bottom of the hill.

NO, he is not doin' what it looks like he's doin'! I liked this picture and never saw what it looks like what's goin' on until I put it here on my post.

CD said, "Well take it off."

I said, "I can't, I don't know how." hee hee

Can you see the water comin' out of this guys mouth?

The first time we came here I just assumed this was suppose to be Mark Twain, all dressed in white like he normally is. This is actually a self portrait of Larry Baggett. He was an extremely talented man, wouldn't you say? I am sorry Mr. Baggett that you lost your hand.

Goodbye Trail of Tears Memorial. I will never forget you.
Rebel

ANOTHER TRIP TO 'TRAIL OF TEARS'

2009-02-08T23:34:00.000-06:00

Hey neighbor! Hope you've had a great weekend. I've had a very long, but enjoyable one. My daughter went to Vegas to help celebrate her best friends wedding, so Thursday I drove 45 minutes to pick granddaughter up after school, in Springfield, then on to her house to pick up my grandpup ( my granddaughter informs be this is my relationship to him ), and then 45 minutes back home.

Well, let me tell you. My grandpup is like havin' a two year old. And havin' a two year old when you're not use to havin' a two year old, well just let me say, I AM POOPED. Grandpup Clyde is a handful.

He never rests. He never slows down. He aggravates Sadie (yorkie) and battles constantly with our kitten, Skitty. I was kinda glad to take him home but now that I'm back home I kinda miss him.

I meant to get this post out Friday but I'm sure you can figure out why I didn't. So even though I've got to go rest so that tomorrow I can mop all my floors I'm gonna do a quick post.

We went back to The Trail of Tears old amusement park on old Route 66. If you remember we went last summer and everything was grown up and we couldn't really get back in there to see things because I'm sceared of snakes, ticks, chiggers and MOMO.

We went two weeks ago and it was a beautiful day.

This guy had water runnin' out of his mouth and ice too.

See the red in the background?

It's this old buildin'. I'm not sure what they would have used it for. Last summer you couldn't see it for all the vines. I didn't even know it was there.

This was so cool. Water comin' out of the guys mouth and ice was hangin' off of him. I guess the water use to make the wheel turn.

Here's the gazebo. I'd like to have this table and rock seats at my house. Somebody would probably just run over it with a tractor though.

Hmmm, kinda interestin'.

Hoochie Mama! She would have been stolen a long time ago if she hadn't been set in stone. Don't you think she's a hoochie mama? I mean I kinda thought this was a family type place, and back in the 60's and 70's no less.

I'm not real sure what this is suppose to be. Had red glass in the little windows. Maybe the hoochie mama lives in there.

Here's where water runs through. Hard to tell what it was suppose to look like. I'm sure this place was beautiful in its day. A lot of work was put into it. And wait till you see the house. I'm not gonna show it till next time. Yeah, this is a two parter!

Rock walled fences all around the place.

Terraced rock walls. I bet a lot of flowers and plants grew there. I'm just thinkin', I really don't know. I searched on the web but never found any pictures from back then.

Here's that Indian girl and Buffalo again. They're still runnin' and she's still holdin' onto his tail.

More terraced walls. I wish you could see it in the real. Much more impressive. You just know some major time and effort put into this place.

Cool shot lookin' back down to the entrance.

Up near the top of the hill, was a lane that branched off and you can see another Buffalo.

Hope you enjoy lookin' at the winter time pictures of Trail of Tears.

If I knew how to link to a previous post I would do that for you but since I don't know how and I'm too tired to try and figure it out, just check out on the right hand side under labels, Trail of Tears. You can go there and compare what I saw last time durin' the summer and what I saw this winter. If anyone wants to tell me how to link to an older post I would forever be grateful and I'll name my next child after you.

Goodnight and I'll post the rest of the pictures later. Too cool, what's at the top of that hill. I had no idea.

LATE AGAIN!

2009-02-05T01:30:00.004-06:00

Well, I've gone and done it again. I've been very remiss about postin' awards and prizes I have received. I honestly do appreciate the awards and prizes and don't want anyone to think I don't. So ......

I received an award quite some time back from Jodi, over at It's about food family and life. She honored me with A Lovely Blog Award. Please check out her blog, I know you will enjoy it. She does a Movie Madness Monday that is a lot of fun and posts lots of good recipes. She shares adorable moments with her little girl and she is just a very sweet person. Go on over and visit a spell with her.

Thank you Jodi, and forgive me for takin' so long to write this post.

I received another award just last week from Tardevil over at Confessions of a 40-Something Mama Queen. She honored me with the Nobelpris Mom Award. She said this is an award that comes over from Norway and is suppose to read:

This is an award for being a wonderful Mom
You do fantastic work
Be proud of your accomplishments

If you haven't ever visited her, be sure and go check out her blog. She has a great blog and she's always got somethin' fun goin' on. She has a new I Wonder Wednesday that's great.

Thank you Tardevil for givin' me this special award.

Susan over at Raisin Toast had a I Pledge To Make A Difference giveaway on Election Day. She gave away a t-shirt with the Pledge of Allegiance printed on it, and I WON! Too cool!

Susan has a great blog and she has some awesome giveaways. Go check out Susan's site.

Thank you Susan!

I just won some Josh Ritter music from Muddywaters over at The Greasy Skillet. So mosey on over and visit with Muddywaters, he'll make you laugh and he posts some really good recipes.

Thanks Muddywaters.

Well I think I got everybody but wait, I just remembered
I got tagged by Lynette over at Crazed Mind. I've never been tagged before but I love readin' other peoples posts when they've been tagged. I really enjoyed readin' about you, Lynette. It's so fun to get to know new things about people you blog with.

I am suppose to provide 25 random things about me, Oh boy, I better be careful so I don't get censored or give the wrong impression.

1. I am a rebel, really. As a senior in H.S., I caused the whole H.S. to walk out. My Mom was so proud.

2. I have known my husband since 4th grade. I knew I wanted him way back when.

3. I knew the sex of my first child before she was born and I bought everything for a girl (drivin' everyone crazy. My Mom said, 'you're gonna be sorry) before her birth. They didn't do ultrasounds at that time.

4. I am a true middle child, third of five kids.

5. I drive a jeep.

6. Neither of my parents are livin'.

7. I am 5' 2 and 1/4 inches short.

8. I am a book worm.

9. I use to be addicted to coffee. Now I drink chicory, all day long.

10. I love to fish.

11. I was born in Yakima, Washington.

12. I knew the sex of my second child before he was born, and bought everything for a boy before his birth. I wouldn't let my doctor do an ultrasound. It was too new and I didn't want my baby to be a guinea pig. Even though I do like pigs.

13. When I first lived away from home after H.S., two men came into my house and held me and friends at gunpoint for a couple of hours while they were hidin' from the police.

14. I have over 200 cookbooks.

15. I love snow.

16. I am still best girl friends with my H.S. best friend. My husband is my best friend. He makes me say that. But he really is my best friend.

17. I have had several ESP episodes throughout my life. I don't like tellin' people this, because now you think I'm some kind of kook, don't you? Admit it!

18. I was on our local School Board for 6 years. This totally blew away people who knew me back when.

19. I love wine.

20. I baked cookies for Jefferson Airplane/Starship (60-80's rock band). They said my peanut butter cookies were awesome.

21. I broke my toe leapin' out of bed while dreamin' a spider was leapin' at me. I hate spiders.

22. I found out I was related to my husband, right before I married him. His great-great uncle was my great grandmothers cousin. Or somethin' like that. I know, hillbillies. We like to keep it in the family if we can.

23. I am really, seriously addicted to chocolate to the point I have to stay away from it because if I eat ONE piece, I go on the awfullist binge. It's not pretty.

24. I love to travel and go on road trips.

25. I wear a size 7 shoe but a size 9 feels so good, I buy a size 10! I have a solid foundation.

Now, that was fun.

I know I am suppose to pick other bloggers to present these awards to and pass them on but I feel that everyone who reads my blog deserves an award! So please everybody take any of these awards on my blog. You deserve them, you are all such great bloggers.

I am also suppose to tag 5 people to post 25 random things about themselves.

I tag:

Mary at My New 30

Muddywaters at The Greasy Skillet

Jal at JalsKitchen

SuzyQ at SuzyQ's Ramblings

Petals Yoga at Petals Yoga

Mary at Adventures in Housesitting

I know, I know, that's six not five.

Well now I'm caught up.
Youn's come back dreckly, ya hear?

Rebel

DID YOU LOSE SOMETHIN?

2009-02-02T01:26:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago CD and I took a little drive east on the old Route 66. We decided to check out the old Munger Moss Sandwich Shop, which is now a bar and eatery called Elbow Inn. It is located outside the old town of Devil's Elbow. We had passed by last summer and the place looked packed with people, and it looked like it was mostly bikers. I don't know if you are aware of this or not but anyplace bikers like to hang out and eat is usually a good sign of a great place to git some good vittles. So we'd been wantin' to go back and try out some of their grub.

I took my camera in with me because I figured a place this old would probably have somethin' interestin' to snap some shot's at. Little did I know.

As we walked in the door out of the bright sunlight I was a little blinded, I still had my sunglasses
on and it was very dark inside. Which brings me to a question that has puzzled me for years. Why are bars so dark on the inside? I've always wondered that. Is it because if they git you in there and if you don't know when it gets dark out you just might spend the night?
But back to my story. As I walk in, I take off the glasses but I stop immediately in the doorway because I still can't see any thing and CD is comin' in behind me and bumps into me and then he's tryin' to get me on in through the door and by now my eyes are adjustin' and I'm startin' to be able to see and I stop. Dead in my tracks. My mouth drops to the floor and then I start laughin'. Loudly.

This is what I saw.

Bras. Bras hangin' from the ceilin'. Lot's of Bras hangin' from the ceilin'.

Evidently this is the thing to do if you are a biker chick. And I mean no disrespect, honestly. It's just somethin' that got started and I guess they can't stop. I mean, there are a lot of bras hangin' in this bar. Maybe 200 plus. Seriously.

I didn't get very good pictures, sorry about that, so you can't tell but each bra has a name on it and the date she pulled it off and they hung 'er up there, the bra not the chick.

There were itty bitty bras and bras with a cup size to be envied and then there were some honkin' big breasted bras. Now, I don't know about you but I think that would have to be mighty uncomfortable, sittin' on the back of a bike, bouncin' down the road with no support when you're a cup size EEE. But I guess they were proud to add their contribution to the cause.

Anywho, the place was great, and the food was delicious. I mean really good. We had the ribs that were prepared with a dry rub and smoked and then you had barbecue sauce you could put on 'em and it was really good. The meal came with fries, coleslaw, beans and Texas toast. We were stuffed.

There were so many neat things to look at besides the bras. I took some pictures while we were waitin' for our food.

This rattlesnake skin was above the juke box. I forgot to ask the waitress if it was locally killed. Good thing I know rattlesnakes don't have ribs or I woulda been worried.

This is a picture of a picture hangin' on the wall. The Munger Moss Sandwich Shop was built around 1929 on the bank of the Big Piney River, it was a favorite stop for motorists travelin' on Route 66. When the highway was realigned through the Hooker cut, in 1946, the Munger Moss moved to Lebanon, MO. The new owners renamed the old buildin', Elbow Inn.

Not a very good picture because of age, but you can kinda see what it looked like way back when.

This must have been when it was operatin' as Munger Moss.

And this is what it looks like now days.

You can see the old steel truss bridge in the background that goes across the Big Piney River and on into Devil's Elbow.

They had the flag hangin' across the road.

This is a beautiful old bridge and I hope you get to come to the Ozarks to see it some day.

Just be sure to stop and check out the sites at the Elbow Inn Bra, I mean Bar, and maybe you'll even want to make a contribution to the cause.

And before you ask, NO I did not make a contribution.

Rebel

ICE ANYONE?

2009-01-27T10:05:00.003-06:00

Here's what it's doin' in my neck of the woods, right now.

This is ice not snow and you can't tell but it's comin' down out there as I write, I just took these photos.

Some people have more than us. Fun, huh?

NOT!

WHERE DID I PLANT MY BAYAM CALALOO AND MY KIWANO?

2009-01-26T00:30:00.004-06:00

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

Written by the poet Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Early 1900's. This sets the tone for a gardener's New Year

January. Bleak, frigid temps, barren.

This is how I usually see January. It's after the hustle and bustle of the holiday's. It's purty much a let down. It's hibernation time and one of the boringest (is there such a word?) times of the whole year!

I feel like I'm waitin' for somethin'.

Spring, but that's still a couple of month's away. Even if the Ground Hog doesn't see his shadow, it's still gonna be a little while. No, I definitely feel like there's somethin'......

And then it happens! I go out to the mail box and there it is!

My first GARDEN CATALOG! That's it. That's what I've been waitin' for.

No more drudgery. No more bein' bored. No more, 'woe is me'.

I can dream in color once more!

I can plan my garden for this year! Oh, happy me, happy me.

When I start receivin' my garden catalog's it fills me with hope and excitement for the growin' season ahead. I enjoy lookin' through my garden books, makin' my lists, checkin' 'em twice. I can start figurin' out my plantin' schedule and what I'm gonna grow this year.

There is somethin' I can recommend to you, if you don't already use one. A garden journal.

A garden journal is a great place for all of your gardenin' information and all your thoughts and ideas. You can list the seeds and plants you grow or purchase, when and where you have planted them and how they grew,

or didn't.

I use to put my plants in the ground and use the little markers the greenhouse put in the pot, to mark what kind of vegetable I was gonna get. Markin' my plants like this was such a joke. I have a cat that loves to chew on those little plastic tabs. I went out one day after plantin' my garden a couple of years ago and everyone of the little tabs I had so lovingly put in front of their little namesakes was either gone or layin' askew.

One of my sisters was always askin' me what kind of pepper or tomato she was eatin', 'cause she really liked it, and I'd always say, "you're eaten a green pepper" or "you're eaten a red tomato".

Now I draw my garden out in my journal and label everything there. I cut out pictures of new items I haven't tried before and paste the picture to a page and make notes about the plant.

You can write in a garden journal like a diary, keepin' track of dates and observations. You can note weather events that may affect your plants as well as record dates that you fertilized your plant's or applied pesticides and so on.

If you keep an up- to- date journal, you have an excellent record from year to year to help in diagnosing problems or successes.

Sometimes I cut out pictures of how I want my garden to look. I pretend that I will keep every weed pulled and every vine tucked, every row hoed.

Ha! I can dream, can't I?

Now, if you've never put in a vegetable garden, let me tell ya, it doesn't have to be big to put out a lot of food. Here's a couple pictures of my corn and green beans from last year.

These rows were about 24 feet long, three rows of corn and two rows of green beans. I put up 14 bags of corn and about 50 pints of green beans. Plus we had fresh beans and corn to eat during the growin' season.

CD and I don't put out very much of any one thing, just a good variety of several veggies.

So you can see that a garden journal is a good thing and it's not just for vegetable gardens. You can benefit from keepin' a journal for your flowers too. And it's great to keep track of an orchard.

So let's all have a happy growin' season this year with our diaries for our garden's.
R.

SUNSET

2009-01-23T21:56:00.001-06:00

So last Sunday we were sittin', watchin' football when I notice the room had a pink glow, my livin' room is facin' west. I looked out the window, jumped up and grabbed my camera (I leave it sittin' on the dinin' room table) and out the door I went.

These are straight out of the camera shots. I did not use photo shop because I don't own photo shop or anything else. It was just a really beautiful picture perfect sunset. I used different setting's and kept takin' 'em as the sun went down.

I just had to share 'em with you.
R.

THE OLD STAGE COACH STOP

2009-01-21T00:16:00.001-06:00

One day while CD and I were out road trippin' this past summer on the old Route 66 highway, we drove to Waynesville. It was a beautiful day for taken photo's and checkin' out history. Waynesville has a lot of that goin' on for it. It was a hotbed durin' the Civil War.

Waynesville is located in scenic Roubldoux Creek Valley, and it became the county seat of Pulaski County in 1843.

Pulaski County was organized in 1833. It was once roamed by Indians and French trappers. The county is part of land surrendered by the Osage in 1808. Southern pioneers were early settlers. They were attracted by the counties many springs, wooded hills, caves and the Big Piney and Gasconade Rivers.

The town of Waynesville was a stage stop on the St. Louis to Springfield Road. This road was later called Wire Road for the telegraph line strung durin' the Civil War. This road was a former Indian trail and traveled by French explorers in 1719. Cherokee Indians camped here on their 1837 'Trail of Tears' removal to Oklahoma.

Here's one of the old trestle bridges on the Mother Road, purdy neat, huh?

This is the old Stage Coach stop in Waynesville.
It was originally built of logs in pioneer days. Used as a stage coach stop and a tavern of rest for travelers headin' to the west.

In 1862, during the Civil War, it was used as a hospital.

After the war ended, it was remodeled and again used as a hotel for another half century.

We were there on a Sunday and everything was closed down but I looked through one of the windows, the whole time CD is tellin' me I'm gonna set off an alarm and we are just across the street from the police station. He was thinkin' about drivin' off and leavin' me when I went around back and rattled some doorknobs.

He just about had a conniption fit when I went up the stairs (they were roped off) and wanted him to take a picture of me (HE WOULDN"T). You'd think he'd be use to me draggin' him into tight spots after all these years. But I was able to get a decent picture lookin through the window. It shows the old log walls.

This is the current Courthouse and is a really neat and beautiful buildin'. This one was built in 1904.

I just love this bell tower.

Durin' the Civil War the Confederate Flag was raised at the Courthouse in the spring of 1861. Not this one, the courthouse buildin' before. In May 1861, the Union soldiers came to town. On June 7, 1862, the Confederate flag was cut down. I bet that was a long turbulent and bloody year. Union troops built a fort on a hill overlookin' the courthouse square to guard the military supply road to Springfield. The county suffered guerrilla raids and skirmishes for the rest of the war.

The Civil War brought about fierce division among the people of Pulaski County. Neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother and even members of the same household would disagree.

The end of the war found the county in chaos. Bushwhackers were runnin' rampant.

Prejudices and hatred were finally put aside and reconstruction began. After the war, immigrants began to come to this part of Missouri to settle. Most of those settlers were from southeast Kentucky, Tennessee, east and West Virginia.

I just love this old street clock that was out front of the courthouse.

This buildin' reminds me of some I've seen in California.

They've add on in recent years, but I really like the old part.

This is just beautiful country out here and with all the history connected to it, very interestin' to check out. I hope you will get a chance sometime to come to this part of the Ozarks, you won't be disappointed.

Rebel

BEST WISHES

2009-01-20T02:23:00.005-06:00

Good luck President Obama.
My prayers are with you and the American people.

Together we can make a difference.

THAT OLD HILLBILLY MUSIC

2009-01-18T00:42:00.009-06:00

I recently found some information on the Weaver Brothers and Elviry. They were a family who pioneered hillbilly humor.

Most people have long used the stereotype of the hillbilly for entertainment. Many think that this all started at Silver Dollar City and at the Branson Music shows. But it actually got its start in vaudeville with one of the most popular groups out there that entertained across the nation and even overseas with homespun hillbilly humor and old-time country music with homemade instruments. They were known as the Weaver Brothers & Elviry, and the two brothers who started the group up were from Ozark, Missouri. This is a small town between Springfield and Branson.

Their great-grandfather built a mill and the first courthouse in the area. The home he built in Ozark before the Civil War is still standin' and is the oldest home in town.

His son Leon, who went by the stage name of 'Abner', was born in the house at Ozark in 1882. By the age of 12 he set out on his own to perform in medicine shows. He played the mandolin, guitar, fiddle and was the first to use a hand saw as a musical instrument. At 19 (1901)he became part of the largest traveling show in the country, Doctor A.B. Christy's Travelin' Medicine Show.

His younger brother, Frank, went by the stage name 'Cicero'. He was born in 1891. He and his brother 'Abner', started their vaudeville act in 1904, when Cicero was 13. They called their selves the R-Can-Saw Travelers.

'Cicero' never spoke on stage, he did pantomime and was the inspiration for Harpo Marx. He played the banjo and a one-man-band apparatus.

In 1917, 'Abner' married June, 'Elviry'. She was born in Chicago but grew up in Springfield, Missouri. She joined the act in 1923, as their sister, 'Elviry'. Her humorous poker-face made her a favorite with audiences. She and Leon divorced in 1927, but they stayed friends and she stayed with the act. 'Elviry' was also the business manager for the group. In 1928, she married 'Cicero' and was with him until he died in 1967.

The Weaver Brothers and Elviry played the vaudeville circuit makin' the princely sum of $700 a week. They later were earning as much as $5,000 per week as their popularity grew. That was an enormous amount of money back in those times. We're talkin' about the time period of the Great Depression.

They even started addin' family members to the act. They called their selves, The Weaver Brothers & Elviry and the Home Folk.

They shared the stage with George Burns and Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Al Jolson, Will Rogers and a stilt-walker named Archibald Leach. Now do you recognize the name? He later became know as Cary Grant. They played in New York, Chicago, Boston, London, Paris and Stockholm and thousands of other towns and cities.

In the 30's they started to appear in movies. Their first "Swing Your Lady," and it co-starred Humphrey Bogart and the bit player, Ronald Reagan. It's world premiere was at the Gillioz Theatre in Springfield, MO on Jan. 14, 1938.

They appeared in 13 films altogether. They worked with performers like Roy Rogers, Alan Ladd and Roy Acuff. They quit makin' movies in 1943.

The Weavers continued to live and perform in the Springfield area. In 1935, 'Cicero' and 'Elviry' bought the Heer's mansion, which overlooks the James River between Nixa and Springfield. Many famous people have lived and visited this mansion through the years. Heer's Department Store in Springfield was a landmark for years.

They continued to work on radio and were on KWTO's "Korn's-Krackin". Abner played with the Ozark Jubilee Band , there was a national Tv show that got its name from it. He appeared with area musicians, Slim Wilson, Bob White, Willie Wells, Jerry Osborn, Lennie Aleshire, Doc Martin, Zed Tennis, Googoo Rutledge and BoBo Pike. Later this program had more famous people appear on it such as Willie Nelson and a young man who went by the name of John Cash.

The Weaver family also contributed to Springfield theaters, the Mulliken, Landers and the Gillioz, and one of their younger brothers later worked as the projectionist at the Springfield Drive-In Theater. Oh boy, could I ever tell you some teenage stories about that drive-in! I cried when they tore it down in the 90's to put up an office complex. Lot's of good times there.

While the Weaver Brothers and Sister Elviry are not well-known today, they were some of the most successful entertainers from the Ozarks and entertained people worldwide.

We do have some local hillbillies that have made it big in the entertainment field, I'll do another post to list 'em all, cause there's a lot, but just a couple, Kathleen Turner, John Goodman, Don Johnson and oh yeah, Brad Pitt.

Mustn't forget that home boy. He went to Kickapoo H.S. where one of my girlfriends attended school. She thinks, she sorta, kinda remembers him. He comes to town a lot, his mom and brother and other family members still live here. I've never been able to catch a glimpse of him but I personally know a girl who knows a guy who knows a girl who's brother's old girlfriend's family had him and Jen to supper one night when they were here durin' the holiday's. And I know that last Christmas, not this past one but the one before, he and Angelina came to town durin' the holiday's.

Well I hope you enjoyed readin' about some of our famous ol' hillbillies. Some of the information I found about the Weaver's was written in a local paper by Paul Johns.

Sorry the pictures weren't better quality, there's just not that many left out there of this musical family.

Rebel

WINTER SUPPER

2009-01-16T13:28:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd share with you what we had for supper last night. I just love bakin' on cold winter days. Not much else you can do. I certainly don't want to go outside and I'm tired of cleanin' house. I was so busy at the holidays and the last couple of weeks that I've taken off this week. I decided this week I would read and watch a couple of movies I've been wantin' to see, and bake some bread.

Didjya ever get the hankerin' for some home made bread but didn't want to go to a lot of trouble? Well, I've got the perfect recipe, doesn't take long and is so easy AND you don't have to knead it!

Now I know a lot of people don't make bread because they don't think they can. But bread is probably one of the easiest things to make. Don't let kneadin' bread intimidate ya, just get smackdab inda middle of it and you'll be surprised how much you'll like workin' that dough over. I've never met a homemade bread I didn't like. Even if it comes out sunk in the middle or dry from too much flour it still has that great yeasty bread flavor. So I don't think you can really make uneatable bread. Just ask your man.

But today I'm gonna show you how to make French Bread that you don't need to knead.

You will need:

1/2 cup milk
1 cup boiling water
1 package yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 - 1/2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt

First we're gonna mix up the bread dough.

Scald milk in saucepan. My pan is clean, it's just stainless steel and has water marks on it. I promise I do not cook in dirty pans! Add 1 cup boiling water. Cool to lukewarm.

Combine flour, 2 teaspoons sugar and salt in large bowl, make well in center.

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Add yeast mixture, oil and 1 tablespoon sugar to milk.

Pour in milk mixture.

Mix to form a soft dough. Do not knead.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. I set my bowl on my stove where it is nice and warm while I prepare the rest of my supper.

Now while that is risin' lets make up some oyster stew. You can keep this simmerin' on the stove or dish it up and put in the ice box and you can reheat when it is time to serve.

You will need:

1 - 8 ounce can of oysters. If you are lucky to live in an area where you can use fresh oysters, go for it. But if you're like me, landlocked, just use the canned ones on the shelf, it will still be good.

1/3 cup thin sliced celery

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup sherry

3 cups milk

2 cups cream

salt and pepper to taste

Saute your celery in the butter in a large deep pan. Cook the celery about 5 minutes stirrin' frequently. Drain your oysters, savin' the broth. Add oysters to the celery and butter mixture and heat 'til oysters start to curl.

This is the type of sherry I use when cookin'. The drinkin' kind gives a much better flavor than cookin' sherry. But either will work.

Add the broth to the pan of oysters, celery and butter. Add the Worcestershire sauce and add the sherry. Slowly stir in the milk and then add the cream. Salt and pepper to taste and then heat over low heat.

Tarnation this is good stuff!

Now we'll get the Cornish hens ready. Have you ever had these little chickens? Well they are dem near about the best tastin' and this is one of the best ways to fix 'em. Now if I had these cute little chickens runnin' around my farm, there's no way I could chop off their little heads and eat 'em. They's be my pets and part of my family. And I haven't 'et any family member, yet. Since I can buy 'em frozen and all ready to cook, I've got no problem enjoying 'em. They are mighty tasty.

You will need:

2 rock Cornish hens for this recipe

salt

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sherry

1 large clove mince garlic

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

They come packaged like this, all 20 ounces of 'em, in the freezer section of grocery store. Thaw in ice box and take out of plastic and rinse inside and out in cold runnin' water. Let drain and pat dry with paper towel.

Place breast down in foil lined pan. This is about a 10"x 6" dish.

Sprinkle chicken with salt.

Add the chicken broth and cover tightly with foil and bake 45 minutes.

Now mix up the glaze. Combine honey, soy sauce, my kind of cookin' sherry and minced garlic in small bowl. Set aside.

After 40 minutes bakin' time, remove chickens from oven and carefully remove foil, watch out for the steam.

Baste the chickens with the honey/ soy sauce/ sherry glaze ingredients. Turn chicken's over and baste breast side and bake breast up. Bake uncovered, basting every 5 minutes, 30 minutes longer.

Don't these look good? Just increase your glaze ingredients for cookin' more than two chickens.

You can put off the second bakin' of the Cornish hens until your french bread dough has risen. It will all be ready about the same time.

With my oven bein' on it made it warm enough for the dough to be ready in 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down.

Divide dough in half. On heavily floured surface, I put wax paper down and flour on it, pat our your bread dough into two rectangles, one at a time I roll divided dough up into two long french loaves.

Place on greased or parchment lined bakin' sheet. Let rise until almost doubled in bulk, about 30 to 40 minutes. You can finish bakin' your Cornish hens now.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temp. to 350 degrees and bake 15 minutes longer. If you want to make one large loaf of french bread, only roll out one and bake same temps. just increase the second time to 30 minutes instead of 15.

This bread is so good with butter smeared on it or just dip it in olive oil with herbs added to oil.

Add a baked potato and a salad and you have a complete, great meal. It only takes about 3 hours from start to finish. It's a good meal.

Let me know how you liked my supper on this cold winter day.

Youn's come back dreckly, ya hear?

TRAIL OF TEARS

2009-01-11T01:23:00.008-06:00

Well, I spent a lot of time this past week bakin' and cookin' and I had pictures of it all and some really good pictures of area stuff goin' on. I was messin' around with my camera Thursday night and I formatted ,unwillingly, and lost every photo on my camera! I was so mad at myself. Have you ever done that?

So, I dug out some photos I took this past summer when CD and I took a road trip down the old Route 66. I love drivin' that road and I feel very privileged to live near the grand old Mother Road. It has so many old towns along the way and some of them are now ghost towns. It is a piece of our past from a simpler time. A time when the great American dream was in its prime.

These are photos of an old amusement park called 'Trail of Tears'. I remember seein' signs for it when I was a kid and it was probably built in the 60's.

These are some old houses. Probably livin' quarters or old shops.

Now this was a very hot, humid, muggy day and here in the Ozarks when it is a very hot, humid, muggy day, the color is sucked out of every thing. That is why there's no color in the sky and there is an overcast to every thing.

Here are a couple of old buildins' back in the tree's. Lot's of growth so that means lots of chiggers and ticks and snakes, so that means I don't venture off the beaten path.

This was back a ways down a path (other people come here too and they've made paths). It is dark in them woods, you can see the shadow from me havin' to use my flash. I was too busy lookin' for snakes and MoMo to worry about doin' anything with my camera but puttin' it on cruise.

This is a stone arch over the path. Most everything made here is made from local stones. I think MoMo lives back in there.

Here's a better view of arch.

There's also a rock wall that runs along side the path leadin' to arch.

Here's an old buildin'. We thought it might have been a restaurant.

Out in the open is this spout that had water runnin'. Strange. Must have been an artisan well or somethin' for water to just run out of it like that.

Here is a neat gate runnin' up the hill. It was padlocked and we didn't climb over. Too much work involved and I like to be able to make a fast getaway if needed.

Another old house.

I guess this is where the gift shop was located. We didn't go up and look in windows because the porch looked like it was rotted.

Neat split rail fence.

Then we came upon this part of it. My favorite part. Everything in this area made out of rock and water was runnin', coming out of stone fountains. Where was the water comin' from and how long had it been running? Where did it go to? My husband said I had too many questions. I'm just curious like that. I always want to know why and where. The sign hangin' off the arch says Trail of Tears.

Somebody broke the hand of Mark Twain!

Water was pourin' out of this guys hands.

An old fountain and pavilion. Water is runnin' everywhere.

Here's another pavilion with stone seats.

Up on one of the hillsides we saw this Indian girl pullin' the tail of a buffalo! Very brave Indian girl.

Here's a stone tepee with a stone wall around it and it looked like water was in it along with the tall grasses.

There was also another building back up the hill back in the trees but the path wasn't beatin' down leadin' up there.

Closer view of the tepee.

Rock gateway leadin' out.

Here's a look at a house back up in the woods. It looked like it was made out of rock too. It really caught my curiosity but there was no way to get closer. And I just wasn't in the mood to meet MoMo.

Another buffalo.

A photo of arch as we were leavin'.

I want to go back before Spring so I can explore a little farther. We could tell there was a lot more but just couldn't get to it.

Hopefully I'll have more photos to show you of the Trail of Tears amusement park. How anyone could name an amusement park after such a sad time in our history, beats me, but that's just the way it is, sad though.

Rebel

MoMo?

2009-01-05T14:25:00.003-06:00

One of the stories that I loved as a child, partly because it scared the dickens out of me, was the story of a monster my Grandpa saw one dark night.

Now my grandparents spent most of their lives bein' born and raised in an area located deep in the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri. Today you can drive in this area and there are houses fairly frequently but it is still the type of country you wouldn't want to be out walkin' through on foot in the night. In these parts we would describe the area as bein' woolly and boogery.

As a young married couple, my grandparents lived on a farm with their firstborn, my dad's oldest sister. The time period was about 1920.

One night after milkin' the cow, my grandpa was walkin' back to the house. It was dark and grandpa was carryin' a lantern. He could just make out somethin' on the path in front of him and he said he actually smelled it first. He slowed his walkin' and proceeded with care. As he got closer it looked like a large animal on all fours just standin' ahead on the path. Grandpa started to worry it might be a bear. He raised his lantern up to get a better look and that's when the creature raised up and stood on it's two back feet. It had long dirty yellow lookin' hair all over its body and it looked like a man in stature, just bent over. Grandpa said the creatures face looked like pictures he had seen of apes and he said it smelled awful. He looked into the creatures eyes and met the look of a human.

Grandpa stood still and the creature stood sill, with both lookin' at each other. Then the creature dropped back down on all fours and ran off into the woods.

When grandpa got back to the house, grandma said he was as white as a sheet and was shakin'.

A few days later when he and grandma were at church, grandpa related the story to some of the men there. They started laughin' and teasin' grandpa about his 'monster'. They decided to get a huntin' party up and search through the woods for Denzil's monster.

I'm sure there was moonshine involved and lots of tom foolery goin' around. After all most of these men had grown up together and known each other all their lives. They changed their tune however when they found a place back in under a rock overhang that looked like somethin' had been usin' the area to bed down. There was old dirty yellow hair layin' on the ground with leaves and grasses for a bed. There were small animal bones layin' about.

Grandpa, nor anyone he knew, never did see his 'monster/ape man' again. But he said he was always on the lookout.

In the early 1960's, my family lived on a farm near a small community about 25 miles southeast of Springfield. One summer day a boy of about 12 years, who lived on a farm about 8 miles east of Springfield, was out in the woods in the blackberry briars. He came upon a hairy ape type creature eatin' berries. It had long light brown hair all over its body. The description he gave was exactly like the thing my grandpa had seen, except for the hair color. The boy even described the creature as smellin' somethin' awful.

Needless to say everybody in neighborin' communities was nervous and scared. My mom said we weren't allowed to go traipsin' out in the woods and we had to be in the house before dark.

This state of anxiety went on for about 2 weeks with everybody speculatin' about the ape/monster. I guess the county sheriffs department was kept mighty busy with phone calls every time somebodies dog barked. They put out a news release sayin' that the 12 year old boy had made up the story. My folks said, no way.......they thought the authorities just wanted to calm people down. We never did hear anythin' else about this 'monster'. After a while folks calmed down and forgot about it.

In the early seventies, in Branson, before it became the country music mecca it is today, it was a small quaint town. A girlfriend and I started spendin' weekends down at the lake and goin' into Branson to explore. There was a museum and lookout tower on the outskirts of town on the road to Silver Dollar City. This museum was called The Jesse James Museum. In the front part of the museum was a gift store but the back part housed the museum. You had to pay to go through the museum and at the roped off entrance was a hairy man type stuffed creature in an early 1900's suit. There was a plaque that told how this creature had been trapped in the area back at the turn of the century and was sold to the Ringling Brothers travelin' circus. The creature lived about 20 years in captivity and when it died, they stuffed him and he eventually made his way back to Branson.

The Jesse James Museum was torn down years ago and I don't know what happened to the hairy man.

A few months ago I thought about what my grandpa and the 12 year old boy saw and the stuffed hairy man in Branson, and I started lookin' up on the internet to see what I could find. Low and behold there is a lot on there about MoMo, the Missouri Monster, described just like the creature my grandpa saw.

So the next time you're out at night keep a look out......in this day and age he might have traveled and he could be in your area.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

2009-01-02T22:47:00.001-06:00

I love the holidays but they make for a busy time, so I am a little glad they are over. Now it's time to get back in the routine. I have been remiss in my bloggin' duties. I won three different contests and received a blog award and never mentioned anything about any of 'em. I thought I would wait until I received my winnin's so I could show you, but one of my prizes is a photo of my choice and I can't choose. Too many good ones to pick from. So I am goin' to tell you what I won.

First at Bayou Woman's blog I won a photo of choice. If you have never been to her blog, go check it out and you will see why I am havin' such a hard time. She lives a life that I envy. She lives on the bayou and she gets to fish every day if she wants. AND she has a tree house! Actually since her home has been ravished twice by hurricane's she is havin' the house raised. I hope I can make a decision soon and be able to show you my winning photo. Bayou Woman if you read this please don't think I have forgotten. I still want my picture!

The next contest was actually a drawin'. Over at a give away a day, Liz was featurin' a bird pebble from Letterfest.

I am a lover of rocks so this really appealed to me. The cute little bird is engraved into the rock. You can use it as a paperweight or like me, just lay it on a coffee table. I can't imagine the time that Liz must put into her blog keepin' up with a give away a day. Go check it out, she has some great prizes. Thank you Liz for pickin' me!

My next prize hasn't arrived yet. It is coming from Peggy's blog over at hidden haven homestead. She makes her own soap! And lucky me won the drawin', so I will be gettin' a bar of her new spring fragrance. I can't even imagine makin' your own soap. You need to check out her blog and her extended family. Go. Give yourself a treat.

Well as you can see I have been very lucky. I feel very fortunate to be the recipient of these fine gifts.

Some thing else I have been very fortunate to receive is a blog award. Maybe you have noticed it in my sidebar. It is a Butterfly Award and it was bestowed upon me by Muse from a divas hammer. She has a wonderful gift of rhyme and her blog is a work of art. Very talented lady and I am greatly honored that she would even consider me for this award.

To accept this award there are a few things I have to do.

Put the logo on my blog.

Add a link to the person who awarded me, see above.

Nominate outstanding blogs that I follow.

Add links to those blogs, see below. And leave a message to those nominees on their blogs.

I nominate

Mary over at My New 30.

Jodi over at It's about food family and life.

These two ladies have great blogs and they both helped me out when I was just startin' up and havin' problems.

And Liz over at Mabel's house. Her blog makes me smile every day. And I've fallen in love with her dog Mabel.

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to post all this, I apologize and blame it on the holiday's. I hope you will go and check out all the blogs I've written about, they are all great.

Rebel

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-12-31T12:37:00.001-06:00

I would like to wish you and yourn a Happy New Year!

I pray for all of us in this new year. I pray for our country and our new leaders. I pray for the men and women who are sacrificing so much for our country. I pray for an end to hunger and tyranny. I pray that no child has to live in a world where terrorism is a fact of life. But most importantly, I pray for Peace On Earth.

May God bless you and your family in this New Year.

Have a safe and joyous New Year's Eve!
Love, Rebel

CASHEW CHICKEN

2008-12-30T14:15:00.001-06:00

Okay, I'm gonna share with you a Springfield, Mo original. David Leong created this dish in 1963 in Springfield. He was the chef at a local supper club and he wanted to come up with a dish that would appeal to the locals. Since fried chicken is a staple in these parts, he used it as the base of his now famous dish. It became so popular that he was able to open his own restaurant, Leong's Tea House. His brother later opened Gee's East Wind and David's Cashew Chicken was featured there too. David's son now prepares the dish at a new restaurant in Springfield. David has passed on but his famous Cashew Chicken lives on.

Now I have checked in other states when on vacation and I have not found it prepared like this anywhere else. A few years back, when we were vacationin' in Florida, my son was home sick and he needed, I stress needed, a fix of cashew chicken. I went to a Chinese food drive thru and ordered their style of the chicken dish, not realizin' that it was goin' to be nothin' like what we were use to. When I got back to the room with every ones order, let me tell you, there were very disappointed kids and hubby. It was prepared like a stir fry and there was a lot of leftovers.

Cashew Chicken in these here parts is a top favorite. It doesn't matter if you go out to eat it or go through one of the many drive-thru's it is immensely popular. It is right up there with pizza and hamburgers as a favorite of kids and adults alike. When we want to just go and pick up somethin' or have CD bring it home for supper, the choices are usually , hamburgers, pizza or cashew chicken. That's what it is like here in the Ozarks.

Now this is an easy dish to prepare but there are a few steps to it. I'm gonna start out with my fried rice recipe. We like fried rice with our chicken but you can use just plain cooked rice.

Fried Rice

4 cups cooked brown rice
It is best if you have cooked your rice and let it cool in refrigerator until ready to fry. It isn't soggy when prepared this way.

4-6 slices of bacon cut in pieces

2 eggs

green onions, chopped on the horizontal, about 1 cup

1/8 to 1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil ( optional, but very good when added)

canola oil

Put your bacon pieces in a skillet and brown over med-high heat. Dip out browned bacon pieces leavin' grease in skillet. Set bacon aside. Add about 1 teaspoon canola oil to skillet with bacon grease and pour grease/oil into a cup, set aside.

Stir your eggs, well, in a bowl.

Pour the eggs into hot skillet that bacon was fried in with about 1 teaspoon of canola oil.

Cook and stir eggs breaking up till cooked, over med-high heat. Pour bacon/canola grease back in pan with eggs.

Put about 1/4 cup of the chopped green onion into the skillet.

Add your cooked brown rice to skillet.

Add your soy sauce startin' with 1/8 cup. You'll add more to taste. It's kinda personal taste here.

Add fried bacon pieces and sesame oil and mix all ingredients well over low heat. Continue fryin' and stirrin' occasionally till hot. You can add a little more canola oil if needed, just not too much, you don't want it to be greasy.

Taste and add more soy sauce if needed.

Cover rice and keep heat very low or turn off, heatin' back up before servin'.

Now we'll make the sauce.

Oyster Sauce:

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 tablespoon soy sauce

4 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with a little cold water

I usually use canned broth or boullion cubes dissolved in water.

Measure out your corn starch in a small bowl and add cold water and stir 'til dissolved.

You can find oyster sauce in the oriental section in most grocery stores.

Add your oyster sauce, corn starch mixture, sugar and soy sauce to your broth.

Stir well to get it all mixed over med-high heat.

Keep stirrin' constantly and you will notice the broth thickenin' and slowly startin' to turn color.

And here you have it........oyster sauce.

Now please, if you taste don't think, what???? What's so great about this sauce? Let me tell ya it may not be anythin' special by itself, but put it on that fried chicken and you are gonna be hooked.

Now for the chicken

1 - 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 pound fixes enough for 2 people, 2 pounds for leftovers or 3 pounds like I make so there is enough for more than one meal plus snacks!

2 cups flour

salt and pepper, for seasoning flour

oil for fryin'

small bowl of water for dippin'

1-2 cups salted cashew pieces, browned lightly in skillet with small amount of canola oil.

Chunk up your chicken into large bite size pieces. Do not cut in uniform pieces. Chicken pieces need to be irregular to be authentic.

Dredge chicken pieces into seasoned flour and then dip pieces of floured chicken into a bowl of water and then back into seasoned flour.

This second dredgin' is absolutely necessary for crispy fried chicken.

Put floured pieces into hot oil in deep pan or deep fryer and fry for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Place on paper towel lined plate to drain.

To assemble:

Place fried rice on plate, place fried chicken pieces on rice. Dip about 1/8 or more cup of oyster sauce over top of chicken and rice and top with green onion and cashews sprinkled over.

Or you can do like I do and place it all separate on your plate. Add an eggroll and you have Springfield, Missouri Cashew Chicken.

This is a great New Year's Eve Supper. I hope you try it and please let me know how you like it.

Rebel

IT'S ALL OVER BUT THE CRYIN'

2008-12-28T23:06:00.006-06:00

It feels good to be back, seems like I've been gone forever. I love Christmas but it seems like it gets harder and harder for me to keep up. We have the whole family here for Christmas Eve and it takes a lot of time cookin' and cleanin' and shoppin' and wrappin'...........

You know, I'm sure you do it too. I must confess, I didn't get very many decorations out and up this year. Shame on me. We have a beautiful 11 foot tall tree for our living room, but I only put up the 7 foot fiber optic one this year. It is a lot easier to deal with. I didn't put any of my other 6 trees up. I didn't put any outside lights out. I didn't bring down my Santa collection from storage. It's not that I wasn't in the Christmas spirit, I was, truly. I just kept procrastinatin' and before I knew it, it was Monday and everything needed to be done in two days!

On Christmas Eve, one of my sisters took me aside and asked if everything was okay and was I feeling alright? "Yes, I was just lazy this year."

The last few years I have done so much to get ready, that Christmas is here and gone and I feel like I didn't get to enjoy or savour it. So this year I did less decoratin' and more enjoyin'.

We had lots of fun and I hope you did too.

My daughter and granddaughter spent Christmas Eve night, as they usually do, and we opened our gifts to each other on Christmas mornin'. Our favorite gift that granddaughter received and which was enjoyed by all, were a pair of Moon shoes. We laughed and laughed at her jumpin' around all over the place.

I want to show you some of the photo's of her in action. Now remember when lookin' at these photo's that she is jumpin' and her feet in Moon shoes are completely off the floor.

My dad use to say after all the presents were opened and the floor was trashed with all the wrappin' paper and kids were all scattered about enjoyin' their gifts, that 'It's all over but the cryin'. Watchin' my granddaughter jump around in her Moon shoes is makin' me laugh so hard that I'm cryin'. Maybe that's what he meant.

Hope this made you smile a little.

Rebel

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-24T14:14:00.004-06:00

From our house to yourn,

A Very Merry Christmas!

SOMETHING FOR AN AMERICAN SOLDIER

2008-12-22T00:04:00.002-06:00

Well, Christmas is just about here and I know everyone is very busy, I know I am, but let us remember the men and women in service to our country. If you would like to do something special this Christmas for our soldiers, go over to Jodi's blog and check out her Sunday, January 21st post, Send A Song To A Soldier. Billboard is offering to send music downloads in your name to a soldier in the Army. It takes about 10 seconds and I'm sure it would make someone very happy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Rebel

Winter's Here

2008-12-18T10:44:00.003-06:00

Ok, so they were forcastin' all kinds of gloom and doom here the last couple of days. We got a lot of gloom but not much doom, at least in my neck of the woods. Springfield, where my husband drives into work, got a little more than us.

But we did get enough ice that when I stepped out on the deck steps, the next thing I knew I was at the bottom, AND my butt never touched the ground! Don't ask me how that worked. It just about gave me a heart attack though. From now on, I'm goin' out the back porch way. It's concrete but it has an old cistern under it and it keeps the concrete warmer so that nothin' stays on it for long. Safer for less 'graceful' exits.

But the ice and lite snow are pretty. I know, I know. I need to get my bench and chairs in.

It's hard to see but there are bird feeders in there. I can see them from my kitchen window.

Here's my icy deck.

I love my little red barn/chicken house. It looks pretty with snow.

Rebel

NINE TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR SANITY WHILE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

2008-12-15T22:11:00.002-06:00

The 'most wonderful time of the year'. Makes you wonder sometimes, huh? All I'm sayin' is it can get mean out there! Throngs of people all goin' to the same area malls and stores as you. All wantin' that same parkin' spot as you. And have you ever noticed, it seems like everyone wants the same exact items you want. The same size of clothes you need to shop for. There will be 20 items of every size but not one in the size you are lookin' for. Sometimes when you get around all these other shoppers do you just want to run in the opposite direction? I know I do. And sometimes I do just that.

I rode into Springfield last Saturday with CD on his way to work. When gas was really up there we would do this to save money, and I've kinda gotten into the habit, if I need to go to the big city I just wait and go in with him on Saturdays, because he's just there for part of the day. I wasn't even thinkin' about what day it was. Saturdays must be the very worst this close to Christmas. Every family that lives within 100 miles of Springfield, comes to town to shop, plus all of the 800,000 people that live in Springfield. It was a nightmare. I told my husband if I tried to ride in with him on another Saturday before Christmas to please shoot me. He said he would.

Before givin' up on the possibility of shoppin' sanely, consider these ways to keep your sanity while checkin' everyone off your holiday gift list.

1. Comfort is the key. The right clothes can ensure your comfort and make shoppin' more enjoyable. Dependin' on where you live, it could be rather chilly when headin' out. But avoid wearin' a bulky winter coat. Stores crammed with shopper can be stuffy and hot, and you'll end up havin' to lug your coat around. Instead, leave the heavy coat in the car and wear a light weight jacket into the store. Also be sure to wear comfortable shoes. Athletic shoes are probably the best.

2. Take breaks. If you've planned a day of marathon shoppin', be sure to schedule breaks in. An hour long lunch, a coffee break with a friend or catchin' a movie. A simple pit stop now and then can rev up your energy level and help you continue shoppin'.

3. Don't shop on an empty stomach. It's harder to concentrate when you're starvin', so make sure to have a bite to eat before settin' out. Pack some granola bars or other easy go snack in case of a snack attack in the throes of shoppin'. Especially remember to keep hydrated. Those climate controlled stores can dry you out quickly.

4. Avoid peak shoppin' hours. Try to shop during meal time hours, especially early mornin' and the supper hour. When kids are out of school or on weekends is prime time shoppin' hours. So try to avoid these times.

5. Split up shoppin' tasks. Families can divide the shoppin' list among their members and shop separately, then meet up at a designated time. This will allow everyone to spend fewer hours in the stores.

6. Leave the baby at home, if possible. Infants and toddlers can easily become overwhelmed and irritable when holiday shoppin'. Rather than contend with a major meltdown that requires you to exit the store pronto, hire a sitter or ask a family member to care for the kids if possible. You know how tired and stressed shoppin' in crowds can make you, just multiply this ten fold and you can get an idea what it does to a child. No wonder there are so many cryin' and fussin' kids in the stores. Poor babies!

7. Take a road trip. If shops close to your house are always over-crowded, map out stores or outlets that are off the beaten track. Then make a day of takin' a scenic drive and shoppin' at places that aren't as busy. Who knows....you may make it an annual tradition that you enjoy. My mom, sisters and I did this years ago when my mom was still with us. We always planned an early Christmas shoppin' trip to Branson. Man! I wouldn't even dream of shoppin' in Branson at this time of year now. It's grown way too much. Way too many people.

8. Invest in a shoppin' cart. Anything with wheels will do, a small metal or a canvas one will work. Look for carts that fold up and fit in the trunk of your car. This simple tool would be great for totin' around all of your loot. It also frees up your hands for browsin'.

9. Shop early. Try to shop all through the year for items that you know family and friends would enjoy. If you're really ambitious, you can wrap them early too. Come December, you'll have a gift for everyone and an entire month for rest and relaxation, or bein' able to have time to do your holiday cookin'. Make this your shoppin' resolution for next year.

Hope these tips help. I heard about 'em on t.v. and thought they made good sense, so I thought I'd pass them along.
R.

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY?!!!!

2008-12-14T19:05:00.003-06:00

Over at the Steamy Kitchen, Jaden has an amazing giveaway. She has 7 items so far listed to be given away and she is goin' to add more. You just need to tell her what photo you have that you would like to be put onto canvas, in her comment section. Go on over and check out the giveaway and check out her blog, it's amazin'!

THINK UNIQUE WHEN WRAPPING GIFTS

2008-12-13T19:07:00.003-06:00

Have you ever received a gift and the way it was wrapped just made the present even better. When the identity of a gift is hidden by a well presented package it heightens the anticipation of openin' and revealin' the surprise inside.

It's so easy just to buy the pre-printed paper. It's the safe way to do it. Like someone doin' your thinkin' for you. But if you are lookin' for an interesting or crafty idea for wrappin' presents, here are some unusual ways to wrap up and make your gifts stand out.

1. Gift boxes. They come in all sizes and colors so don't hide them under paper. Make the gift box stand out by decoratin' it. Cut designs, such as a snowflake or a tree or a snowman, using a cutting tool like an x-acto knife. Line the box with colored tissue paper and it will show through and make the gift box stand out.

2. Wallpaper. This can be used as gift wrap supplying a varied color palette and style. It will be a little more expensive than gift wrap, unless you have leftovers, so use it for special gifts, like jewelry or collectibles.

3. Fabric. This can also be a unique gift wrap. You can use it to cover awkward shaped gifts that would not be easy to wrap usin' paper. You can also sew fabric to make gift sacks, stockings or wine cozies.

4. Drapery tassels. You can use these to tie up gifts instead of usin' ribbon. It will really spruce up your package and will look elegant and expensive. And if you shop for them at discount stores, they can be fairly inexpensive.

5. Make the wrapping part of the gift. Use decorative scarves, hair clips, towels and similar items. This has been bein' done for years for showers for brides or new babies. Incorporate it into your Christmas gift givin'.

6. Scrap ribbon. Never throw away pieces of ribbon scraps from sewing or ribbons accumulated from other means. I save ribbons from vases or ribbons that have been made into bows. Just untie and iron flat. Then roll to store. Use these scrap ribbons on gift packages or use a mix of scrap ribbon to weave together so that they cover the lid and bottom of a gift box completely. This will be a unique gift wrap.

7. Shop your 'Dollar Store'. Browse the aisles for other inexpensive trinkets or ideas and use for thoughtful and creative gift wrap.

8. Simple materials. Like brown postal paper stamped with a pattern and tied off with raffia or scrap ribbon will make a unique gift wrap.

9. Be creative. Don't just leave it at gift wrap. Think of clever ways to present the gift to heighten the sense of anticipation. For children set up a treasure hunt by leaving clues that lead to the next clue that leads to the gift. Hide a gift inside something else. A ring set inside a rosebud that has not yet opened. Quite a surprise when the flower opens up!

There are so many things you can do. And you'll see that once you get started you'll come up with all kinds of unique ways to wrap your gifts.

Happy Wrappin'
R.

Fiesta Ware Contest

2008-12-11T21:25:00.002-06:00

There is a great contest goin' on over at Raving Mad Housewife's blog. Check out the color chart of dish colors at Homer Laughlin web site and go to Mad Housewife's blog and tell her in the comment section which color you would like to win. That's all ya gotta do. Good Luck!

FIVE SPICES TO ADD TO HOLIDAY BAKIN'

2008-12-11T20:18:00.004-06:00

It's hard to imagine the holiday season without the aroma of goodies bein' baked, aromas comin' from our kitchens, sendin' delicious smell's throughout our homes. There are certain spices, such as vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, that seem to be the holiday spices.

Bakin' is such an important part of the holidays, and it just wouldn't be the same without these spices. It's hard to find a Christmas cookie or cake or even some candies that don't have at least one of these ingredients in them.

Vanilla - Was brought to Europe by the Spanish conquistadors. Vanilla has a rich flavor and comes in three forms: whole pod, powder, and extract. It is one of the most used flavorin's in the kitchen.

Cinnamon - Is one of the oldest and most used spices in the world. It has a variety of uses and you can find it in most any kitchen. It is made from the bark of a cinnamon tree. Durin' the dryin' period, the bark rolls up into what is known as a cinnamon stick. It is easily recognized by its aroma and adds a warm sweetness to pies, cakes and cookies. It is also used in a lot of meat dishes.

Nutmeg - Is the dried seed of the nutmeg tree. It has a sweet taste and is especially good in puddin's and custards and when makin' French toast. It is best when you grate it yourself from the whole nutmeg.

Cloves - Is one of the earliest spices to be used for trade. Cloves are from Indonesia and are actually dried flower buds. Ground cloves are used for bakin' gingerbread, spice and fruit cakes, nut or raisin bars.

Allspice - Many people believe that allspice is a mix of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg but it is a dried fruit of a small evergreen plant. It is used in cakes, cookies and pies.

You can use a mix of these spices in your cookin' to come up with interestin' flavors or may be used individually. The key is to buy good quality spices that have strong flavors and aromas.

I don't know about you but the smell of any of these spices bakin' in somethin' in my kitchen can bring a whole lot of memories comin' back.

Some of these spices have been around since pertneer the beginnin's of time. And in the last few years I've read about the health benefits associated with certain spices.

Cinnamon can relieve nausea and diarrhea and aids congestion. It is good for circulation of the blood and can warm the body. It helps with digestion and metabolism of fats. It fights fungal infections and is useful for diabetes, weight loss, yeast infection and uterine problems.

Cloves have a antiseptic and anti-parasitic element and can aid digestion.

There are a whole bunch more spices out there with all kinds of medicinal properties to them, and in the olden days people used them for medicine. So just think about this the next time you're makin' up a batch of cinnamon rolls or cinnamon chicken.

R.

SHRIMP ORLEANS

2008-12-10T21:06:00.004-06:00

As a kid I loved shrimp. Dreamed and drooled the thought of shrimp. But livin' in land locked Missouri, shrimp was hard to come by. I still love shrimp but the cravin' for it has been replaced by lobster. I can get shrimp any time I want now but while lobster is readily available, it's not affordable. Sigh, I envy you people who live in areas where seafood is cheap.

I have several shrimp dishes I make and this one is purdy good. I don't know if there are very many versions of it or not. I've never seen it anywhere, maybe my friend Mary over at My New 30, who lives down near Louisiana or my friend Bayou Woman , who lives in Louisiana have a version of this or knows if this version is any where close to the real thing. I don't even remember where I got the recipe, I may have put several recipes together, I'm not sure. But I know I like it and I hope you'll try it.

Youn's will need:

1 teaspoon butter

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 small can mushrooms, drained

1 cup sour cream

1 can mushroom soup

1/4 cup catsup

1/2 pound cooked shrimp

Melt butter, in an iron skillet and add onions and cook till they start caramelizin' over med-high heat, stirrin' frequently and then add garlic.

Add soup, sour cream, catsup and mushrooms to skillet. Mix well and heat over med-high heat, stirrin' frequently.

Add shrimp and mix in well. Continue heating over med-high heat, stirrin' constantly.
Put skillet into oven that has been heated to 350 degrees. Bake about 20 - 30 minutes 'til browned lightly and bubbly.

Serve over cooked, hot brown rice.

So when they come in and want to know if there's sum'ndeet, sit 'em down and shove a spoonful of this in their mouths. Sure to please and fill 'em up.

Let me know how you like my Shrimp Orleans.

Youn's come back dreckly, ya hear.

Rebel

Winter Weather

2008-12-09T21:35:00.003-06:00

I guess winter is here to stay a spell, but goshdarnit, the cold seems colder than it use to. I reckon I'm just gittin' older. I recollect hearin' earlier in the season that we were suppose to have a milder winter with above normal temps. WHAT'S GOIN' ON? I know that a lot of people here 'bouts follow the 'Old Farmer's Almanac,' I know my folks always did. They planted by the old ways and even fished according to good days to fish in the almanac. I must confess I always get my almanac in January and read through it. It does have a lot of interesting info in there. We also have an Electric Cooperative that publishes almanac information. The recent one we received had some weather lore and superstitions I thought I'd share with you.

Weather Lore

Some say that if it rains on the first Sunday of December, it will rain for a week. Weather proverbs are our attempts to explain and understand our climate. Some are useful, some are ridiculous, but almost all are interesting. Here's another one relating to the days of the month: If it storms on the first Thursday of the month, count the remaining days of the month, add to this the number of days until the New Moon (Dec. 27 this month), and that will give you the number of storms for that season.

Ancient Superstitions

Many ancient vows and superstitions involved food. At medieval feasts, a roasted peacock, with its feathers and head intact, was often common fare. Knights would put a hand onto the roasted peacock's back and make a vow for the coming year, much like our New Year's resolutions. Ancient Egyptians believed that onions kept evil spirits away. When they took an oath, they placed one hand on an onion.

Ember Days

This Dec. 17, 19 and 20 follow the third Sunday in Advent, which makes them Ember Days. The Old Farmer's Almanac notes four annual sets of Ember Days because they are traditionally used for predicting the weather. The weather on Wednesday, Dec. 17, is supposed to predict the type of weather for Jan. 2009. Friday the 19th predicts the weather for February, and Saturday weather (Dec. 20) has something to tell us about March. Ember Days also follow the first Sunday in Lent, the seventh Sunday after Easter, and the third Sunday in September.

Weather Proverbs

If the wind blows much on St. Stephen's Day (Dec. 26), the grapes will be bad in the next year.

Many stars in winter indicate frost.

Between the hours of 10 and 2, will show you what the day will do.

Much sleet in winter will be followed by a good fruit year.

If at Christmas ice hangs on the willow, clover may be cut at Easter.

If the wolves howl and foxes bark during the winter, expect cold weather.

Black clouds in the north in winter indicate approaching snow.

Some of these and a lot of things in the almanac just make sense and some sound pretty wacky. I still go along with the old hillbilly way of tellin' if it's rainin' or not. If the rock is wet, it's rainin'!

But any who, right now it's cold and sleetin' here. The late news is on and they're tellin' about all the accidents and one guy has been killed on local roads. So it's good to be in and warm.

If you have bad weather in your neck of the woods, I hope you and yourn are home safe.
Rebel

ONLY IN THE OZARKS

2008-12-09T00:41:00.001-06:00

I was sent a funny email the other day and I wanted to pass it on. It's so typical of this area.

It seems this guy was over visitin' his elderly mother the other day and she was all worked up about somethin' she had seen when she was drivin' down one of the streets in Springfield. She passed a guy goin' the other way and his dog was hangin' over the tailgate of his pickup. She said the dog was just hangin' there! She was so upset when she got home that she called the police department and told them about the dog hangin' over the tailgate. The officer told her without the license plate number or the make of the truck there wasn't much they could do. She said she didn't get the license number and she hadn't noticed what kind of pickup truck it was because she wasn't lookin' at that, she was too busy lookin' at that poor animal hangin' over that bumper!

This guy did his best to reassure his mom that the dog was probably okay, that someone had finally gotten his attention and the dog was saved. When he really thought the poor dog was probably dead. Not an easy ordeal for an animal to go through.

The guy forgot about the episode but about two weeks later he was pullin' into the Bass Pro shop and this is what he saw.
'

The truck belonged to a taxidermist!

SEVEN QUESTIONS

2008-12-06T00:19:00.001-06:00

I just thought it would be fun to get to know you a little better. I found these seven questions and I hope youn's will play.

1) Does your name have a meaning behind it?
If so, what is it?

2) If you were paint on an artist's pallet,
what color would you be?

3) Who is your favorite artist and why?

4) What word or phrase do you overuse?

5) If the world was only filled with animals,
what animal would you be and why?

6) who is the smartest person you have ever met?

7) What's a fashion trend you followed and
now you wish you hadn't?

Ok, I guess it is only fair that if I want you to answer my questions I should go first.

1) Yes
Rebel is a nickname. When I was a senior in high school, it was the last year
the draft was in effect and I received a notice that I was to register for the draft after my 18th birthday. It was addressed to me and they made out my name to be 'Rebel'. That's when friends started calling me that.

2) I would be green.

3) I guess artist could also mean music artist but my favorite artist artist is
Norman Rockwell.
I love the way he depicts American life so realistically.

4) I have 3 phrases I use too often. Ok, now and that's funny.

5) A horse.
They are so beautiful and wild. I've always loved horses. Also I was born in
the year of the horse.

6) I know it probably sounds dorky but my husband is the smartest person I have ever met. I mean he really is smart. Not just knowledge smart but that man got good common sense. I've known other really book smart people that were down right stupid.

7) Probably ratting my hair. When I see pictures of myself like that I just want
to hurl.

Okay, now do you know me better? Now you need to answer the questions, it's only fair. How funny.

TOO COLD TO GRILL

2008-12-04T22:24:00.008-06:00

Now, I grill year round. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. Hot weather, cold weather and perfect weather. Sunshine, rain or snow and I have even been known to stand out mannin' the grill durin' a tornado warnin'. But for some reason the cold has really been gettin' to me and I could not bring myself to go outside and grill for supper tonight. And this posed a problem because I was fixin' bacon wrapped ground sirloin and I happen to be one of those people who believes the only way to fix a steak is to grill it. But I've come up with a way to cook a steak indoors that I honestly think makes them good.

It doesn't matter what type of steak you've got to cook, I find this works for any cut and makes them taste delicious.

This method is for cookin' 2-4 steaks at one time.

First, heat your oven to about 475 degrees.

Then you you'll need to salt both sides of your steak with garlic salt.

For smaller steaks use smaller skillet, for larger cuts use a large skillet.
You will need to use an iron skillet or a skillet you can put into a really hot oven. I've never used anythin' but an iron skillet so use one if you can because I'm not sure if the steak will come out as tender and flavorful. There's just somethin' about those iron skillets.

Depending on what size of steak you are cookin', you'll use about 2 tablespoons of real butter (gotta be the real thing) for a smaller skillet and 3 tablespoons for a large skillet.
Put the butter in skillet and on top of stove over high heat melt the butter and let butter and skillet get very hot.

Lay your steaks in skillet keepin' heat turned up high to med-high. You are goin' to let your steaks sear on each side. Just raise steak up checkin' bottom until you see it is good and browned.

When you get both sides seared, put the skillet, with steaks and melted butter still in it, into your really hot oven. Close the oven door and don't open for about 15 - 20 minutes. You will need to adjust cookin' time to steak thickness. Twenty minutes is good for a steak about 1 1/2 inches thick and med-well doneness.

Take steaks out and you can check at this point to see if done to your likeness or stick it back in for about 5 more minutes if needed.

I promise you will be surprised how well these steaks taste. So flavorful and juicy and it really is quick and easy. Remember it doesn't have to be a ground steak to work. You can use ribeye or sirloin, any cut of steak.

Mmmm mmmm good.

Let me know how you liked 'em

Happiness is like wettin' your pants,
Every one can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.

I'D RATHER BE IN NATCHEZ

2008-12-04T10:55:00.005-06:00

IT'S COLD! I mean COLD! I'm ready to go down yonder a bit. I know it's warmer in Natchez. I begged my husband, p l e a a a s e take me away from this frigid cold, it's only goin' to get worse. He said, no. The nerve of that man!

I don't want to go somewhere that it's hot, although I would love a cruise in the Caribbean, I just want to be somewhere that the winters are mild.

Natchez, please come git me!

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to make somethin' to warm me up. I know just the thing. Red Beans and Rice, this dish always warms me up. Nice and spicy. Now I make mine a little differently than most, but it suits us. It's a delicious dish and full of so many good for you ingredients. And red beans are close to the most fiber rich legume out there. And you know what they say, more fiber! If you have never fixed or eatin' red beans and rice please give it a try. I think you will be surprised at how good of a dish it really is. Even if you don't care for beans, this has ham and sausage and rice and veggies and........... Well just try it.

Youn's will need:

1 pound dried red beans

1/2 pound sausage such as andouille or some type of smoked or kielbasa, or in my case, all I had on hand was some precooked brawts. I know, brawts? Gotta learn to improvise, the true hillbilly way of life.

1/2 pound of roughly chopped ham

3 quarts (12 cups) or about of water

1 1/2 cups brown rice, uncooked

1 1/2 cups roughly chopped onions

1 cup roughly chopped green bell pepper

1 cup roughly chopped red bell pepper

1 cup chopped celery

2 chopped jalapeno peppers with seeds, be sure and remove ALL of the white membrane.

AND be sure and oil up your hands real good like to keep from gettin' burnt by the hot pepper.

1/4 teaspoon bakin' soda, to stop another kind of burn

1 teaspoon ground red pepper, you may want to cut down on amount if you're not sure you want this much heat. Just taste and add as needed.

1 tablespoon kosher salt to start with and more to season later

2 whole bay leaves

5 cloves minced garlic

Slice your sausage and put into a large pot or dutch oven. Since I used what I had on hand and brawts aren't very spicy, I sprinkled ground red pepper all over the sausage in pan, but you usually won't need to do this or if you want to cut down on the heat a little omit this step.

Brown the sliced sausage real good over med-high heat. Don't worry about the pan gettin' all brown, this helps add flavor to the dish.

Add the ham and rice and vegetables

Continue cooking everything over med-high heat stirring constantly. Get a little brown on it all.

Add 2 1/2 quarts of the water, bakin' soda, salt, bay leaves, and red pepper and bring almost to a boil. Cover with lid and simmer for about 2 - 3 hours, checkin' to see if you need to add more water. It depends on how thick you want the red beans and rice. Most recipes don't add the rice to the cookin' beans, they cook it separately and serve the red beans over the rice. I just cook mine all up together and I like mine a little soupy. After it chills in ice box it is a lot thicker for future warm ups. Please disregard my shadow, sorry.

Serve it up with some corn bread or the way my granddaughter likes it, with fritos. It is good that way.

Iffin youn's need to get a little warmth in ya, try this good and spicy dish.

Red Beans and Rice, yum yum.

Them shore is good vittles.