In case you missed my interview with a firefighter, here’s the recipe for sausage gravy (with a Southwestern twist) that Dave the firefighter shared. When it was his turn to cook at the fire station, Dave satisfied the hungry “troops” by serving this gravy with biscuits and eggs.
Dave’s Green Chile Sausage Gravy (for 10 good eaters)
We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~ Cynthia Ozick
Sometimes I think I spend a good deal of my time living on the eve of one thing or another. Just this side of being a better person. Just this close to remembering my multiplication tables. Finishing a to-do list only to find more items to add to it. If I’m not careful, I even find myself on the eve of thanksgiving – getting close but not quite close enough.
On the Living Better Stories blog, Jeremy Statton recently wrote about being grateful for what we already have:
Anyone can be grateful when life is good. But true gratitude isn’t based on whether or not we get what we want. Thanksgiving is about gratitude for what we already have, especially when it isn’t exactly what we want….
I’m not suggesting that you don’t desire change for your life. Living a better story is all about choosing something better. But I am suggesting that in that desire, you can also be grateful for what you already have.
If you don’t see the value in what you have and who you are right now, you are missing out on right now.
I have to take the time every morning, before diving into the busyness of life, to be mindful of my blessings and set myself on a thankful path. When I start out this way, I notice things throughout the day to be grateful for. And when I skip this important first step, it seems my day is less productive, my mind is muddled, and my heart heavy.
None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy. ~ Fred De Witt Van Amburgh
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving celebration and stay on a thankful path today and everyday.
(From Vinnie Ann “AJ” Jackson)
My mama (Vinnie Arella Jackson) made Kefflins only for Christmas. She would make them the day after Thanksgiving so they would have time to cure. We had them every Christmas and we never knew where Mama hid that crock, because if we had found it, well, there would not have been any cookies left for Christmas day. All these years later, I still don’t know where she hid the crock.
4 cups flour
Cream butter and sugar, add almonds and flour. Mix and knead with hands. Roll into crescents. Bake at 375̊ on an ungreased cookie sheet until lightly browned. Layer in a crock (or a sealed container) with powdered sugar, and seal for at least a month to cure before eating.
We posted this early in the holiday season so you might have a chance to plan ahead and have enough time for your cookies to cure. What’s your favorite holiday recipe?
The best country sayings take truths found in life and add a little twist. Here are a few more I came across while doing research for This New Mountain (see my first list of ten favorites here).
10. I’m busier than a cat covering crap on a marble floor.
(From Vinnie Ann “AJ” Jackson)
Grandaddy Edwards (my mom’s papa) would place these cookies in a sealed jar with a few slices of apple to keep them soft. They would pick up a slight apple flavor. I grew up on these cookies just like all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. There was a bunch of us. Looking back, I think Mama and Grandmama always made this recipe because it makes a lot of cookies.
7 cups flour
Mix and roll out 1/2 inch thick, and cut out cookies with a biscuit cutter. Bake at 375̊ on a greased cookie sheet until lightly browned.
*To make sour milk: add 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to one cup milk and let stand for 5 minutes.
Make a batch and let us know how they turn out for you.
The 4th of July is the day Americans celebrate the anniversary of their declaration of independence from British rule in 1776. It is not the day a peace treaty was signed or the day the last warship flying a Union Jack left its eastern shores. It is instead the day attributed to the action of 56 British subjects (and American colonists) signing their names to a document declaring their independence. It was the culmination of years of dissatisfaction sparked by the desire to determine their own destiny, to be free from oppression and tyranny, and to choose how to govern themselves.
It was not an easy choice for the signers of the Declaration of Independence to make. Their signatures would be a test of the importance of their stand, evidence of their treason. War actually began in 1775, not for independence, but as a revolt against British interference with the constitution of one of the colonies – because of their choice more sacrifice would be required, even more blood would be shed.
Everyone’s independence day begins first with the desire to be free from the influence, control or determination of another. But simply wanting to be independent is not enough. Freedom does not happen without courage and conviction, and the willingness to fight for what one believes.
The 4th of July has become a day to barbeque and watch fireworks. I hope it is also a day to truly remember and celebrate independence – won by the bravery of our forefathers who stood their ground and fought, and died, for what they believed was right. Americans, and others in the free world, still fight and die for that, and for the rights of others to be free.
Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable – a most sacred right – a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Happy 236th Birthday, USA.
(From Vinnie Ann “AJ” Jackson)
Some people who like to fry food rely on an appliance like a Fry Daddy to set the oil temperature. Others use a thermometer to judge when the oil is hot enough or they toss in pieces of battered goodies to test it out. If the oil isn’t hot enough, though, the batter slides right off into the grease. But when it is ready, the batter is sealed to the food and cooks to a golden perfection.
If you’re one of those people who tests the oil until the samples cook up just right, there is a better way – and there has been ever since the invention of wooden matchsticks.
Years ago, my sister Jeane and her husband used to fish for catfish with their neighbor and friend, Frieda, who grew up in the bayou of Louisiana. The know-how to use a matchstick to test the readiness of hot oil had been handed down to Frieda, and she taught Jeane the trick. I rely on this same matchstick test whenever I get a hankering for fried anything.
You’ll need wooden matchsticks (not paper) and oil for frying. Heat the oil in an appropriate pan until you think it might be hot enough, then drop an unused (unlit) wooden matchstick onto the top of the oil. Watch closely. The striking end will flare up briefly when the oil is hot enough, and die out right away. Remove the matchstick from the oil before frying your chicken, fish, fries, or whatever’s on the menu. And don’t worry about catching the oil on fire with the match, the tiny flame doesn’t stay lit.
I love tempura-battered veggies, what’s your favorite fried food?
I found at least a hundred useful country sayings while doing research for This New Mountain. I included about two dozen of my favorites as part of the book’s chapter headings. Here are a few others that were new to me when I came across them and, like most good sayings, are still stuck in my mind like flies on poop:
The last saying is on the top of my list at the moment, mostly because it’s a very practical piece of summer advice. It also conjures up a visual that’s hard to get out of my brain.
10. Never kick a cow patty on a hot day.
What’s your favorite saying that hits the nail on the head?
Cate Macabe 