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What’s cooking?

Published on April 4, 2022 by Marica

Went looking yesterday in the archives for some to make for Marica Cooks Wednesday. What a find! We both remembered this soup. So that’s what will be cooking Wednesday!

Aha! Would you look at that. I already had a “peasant food” tag.

Recipe: Creative Cooking French Peasant Soup

Published on April 18, 2012

Last weekend we enjoyed a French provincial supper al fresco featuring Creative Cooking French Peasant Soup. (More photos here.) This is a hearty soup, perfect for supper after a day of farm work– and fun to make, too. I especially like collecting items from the garden for the Bouquet Garni.

As you know from recipes I’ve posted previously, Mr. Big Food often includes a bit of commentary from the cookbook where he’s found the particular recipe as he enters it into The Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide. Here’s the introduction to this soup recipe:

Main Dish Soup: French Peasant Soup is a main dish soup which is actually a hearty, healthy meal in itself. It is eaten in vast quantities by the simple peasant folks of France. They accompany it only with a little local wine, French bread and a bit of cheese or fruit.Since this reputable French soup makes such a satisfying, hearty meal, we can hardly classify it as an appetizer, so we have included it here …

This hearty, delicious French Peasant Soup may be made in quantity and frozen in quart containers for convenient use. It is generously filled with pork, white beans, carrots, leels and cabbage.

—The Creative Cooking Course (1982)

We cut the recipe in half and still had some leftover for lunch, and some to freeze.)

CREATIVE COOKING FRENCH PEASANT SOUP

Makes 15 to 20 servings

1 lb package dried Great Northern Beans, brought to a boil in water to cover, removed from heat, covered, stood for 1 hour, drained well
1 lb salt pork, diced, rinsed well, soaked in cold water to cover for 30 minutes, drained on absorbent paper
1 lb cured ham, diced
2 ½ C carrots, scraped and diced
1 C sliced leek bulb or onion
3 C celery, sliced thin
4 C cabbage, chopped
Bouquet Garni
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
½ tsp turmeric
6 C water

Preheat oven to 300*. Fry salt pork in a heavy iron skillet until browned lightly, drain off excess fat leaving a small amount in skillet, add ham and cook, stirring frequently, until browned lightly. Place pork mixture in a large casserole, add beans, bacon, carrots, leeks or onions, celery, and cabbage, add Bouquet Garni, garlic, pepper, and turmeric, and mix well. Pour in enough of the water to cover well, cover casserole, and bake 3 hours 30 minutes. Remove Bouquet Garni to serve.

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Posted in Big Food, Big recipes | Tagged peasant food, soup

Biloxi, and then Mobile

Published on April 3, 2022 by Marica

without my laptop. So, sorry for the silence. Too busy before hand to schedule any repostings, and honestly too busy while traveling to do much posting even if I’d had a more convenient way to do it than the iPad.

Lots of walking. Lots of photos. An old book score. And a new quick project to do this week so that should provide plenty of content.

Wintzell’s oyster sampler is out of this world. This was at the original Oyster House on Dauphin in Mobile.

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Posted in Big Life, food photos, life beyond the gate | Tagged oysters, seafood, SSPP, The Gulf, travels | 2 Responses

Just dandy

Published on April 2, 2022 by Marica

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Posted in Big Life

Big Food Favorite Recipe: Sportsman’s Lodge Lentil Soup

Published on March 27, 2022 by Marica

As many times as we’ve had this, I cannot believe I’ve never posted a photo.

Some notes. If you have giant kettles, this recipe is lends it self to doubling, tripling, etc. We once made this for a soup and sandwich tailgate feeding 120. I believe we offered three different soups. So… (120/3) / 8 = 5; 10C of lentils! Red lentils work well.

Regarding the Fall/Winter Soup Contest. When Daughter C and Miss M lived on the Farm we did this two or three times (one was a Spring Soup Contest). Once a week for several weeks, we’d have soup for supper. We’d each keep track of our thoughts on any given soup, and then rank order them. At the end of the contest, we devised a scheme to convert the ordinal data to integral, did some basic statistics, and declared a winner.

Recipe: Sportsman’s Lodge Lentil Soup

Published on February 8, 2012 

After review and consideration, it is unanimous. This is the current winner in our Fall/Winter Soup Contest. Mind you, they are all delicious. 

I see that Mr. Big Food’s opening remarks give the joke away.

From the old Sportsman’s Lodge in Studio City, CA

SPORTSMAN’S LODGE LENTIL SOUP

Serves 6-8

2 C lentils, rinsed

9 C water

1 ham bone

½ lb bacon, diced

¾ C onion, chopped

¾ C celery, chopped

½ C carrots, peeled and diced

½ C leeks, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

½ tsp dried thyme, crumbled

2 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 Tbsp vinegar

6 frankfurters, fully cooked and sliced

Combine lentils with water and ham bone in a large kettle or Dutch oven, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauté bacon in skillet until transparent but not browned, stir remaining ingredients, except vinegar and frankfurters, into bacon, and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add mixture to lentils and simmer 45 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar and frankfurters, bring again to simmer, remove from heat, and serve.

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Posted in Big Food, Big recipes | Tagged lentils, recipes, soup

Animal Stories!

Published on March 26, 2022 by Marica

Animal Stories

Today’s Kid Blog post at Miss Missy’s School talks about the different sorts of animal stories. (And we learn what “anthropomorphize” means, and what Greek words it comes from.) Many references to classic children’s literature and to some wonderful old books that have fallen out of favor.

While you’re at the site, check out the three-chapter preview of Miss Missy’s School Book I: A Pack of Farm Dogs Starts a School, and discover what makes this book, according to one reviewer, “a book unique in many dimensions.”

Some posts from the Kid Blog at Miss Missy’s School!

#childrensbooks #kidlit #homeschool #educational #missmissysschool #talkinganimals #dogs #family #friendship #cleanandnonviolent #readtogether #learning #classics

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Posted in Miss Missy's School | Tagged children's books, classics, kid blog, Miss Missy's School

Short week

Published on March 26, 2022 by Marica
Short week

Not because there weren’t some good ones but because galleries are still not working.

More at the link below.

Skimmed through The Screwtape Letters yesterday. Highly recommended. Very timely.

Powerline’s The Week in Pictures

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Posted in silliness | Tagged culture, humor, TWiP

Tolkien Reading Day

Published on March 26, 2022 by Marica

was yesterday!

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Posted in Big Life

Recipe: Marica’s Chicken Albondigas Soup

Published on March 25, 2022 by Marica
Recipe: Marica’s Chicken Albondigas Soup

This is a good Springy feeling soup. I actually remember it.

Recipe: Marica’s Chicken Albondigas Soup

Published on March 19, 2021

Marica’s on account of the fact I did not want to make little chicken balls. I adjusted the recipe:

  • Boiled whole chicken, skinned and deboned it and put meat in at the last to reheat it
  • Chopped, rather than minced, onion etc.
  • Increased amount of stock to ~8 cups (used part veggie stock)
  • Doubled amount of cumin and coriander b/c increased stock
  • Threw in 1/2 cup uncooked rice
  • Omitted egg; tossed into the stock everything else that would have gone in the balls
  • Forgot to make homemade tortilla chips as planned

Mr. Big Food– who’s a lover of Mexican food– really liked it!

“Serve with lime wedges and tortilla chips.”

CHICKEN ALBONDIGAS SOUP

1 Tbsp olive oil
¼ C onion, minced
½ jalapeno, minced
1 Tbsp bell pepper, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp coriander
½ lb ground chicken meat
¼ C cooked rice
1 large egg white
2 Tbsp cilantro, minced
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
4 C chicken stock (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)
½ C corn kernels
½ C plum tomatoes, chopped

Heat olive oil in saucepan and sauté onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic for 4 minutes. Add ½ tsp cumin and coriander to pan and cook 1 minute. Remove mixture to mixing bowl and cool. Add chicken, rice, egg white, cilantro, salt, and pepper, and form mixture into small meatballs. In a large stock pot, combine, chicken stock, corn, tomatoes, and remaining ½ tsp cumin, bring mixture to a simmer, and simmer 5 minutes. Add meatballs, and cook 5 minutes or until firm.

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Posted in Big Food, Big recipes, food photos | Tagged chicken, recipes, soup, spring

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine IV

Published on March 24, 2022 by Marica

NOTE! This recipe makes two quiches.

I made half the recipe, and made one addition. I added 5 ounces of cooked chopped spinach as a layer on top of the ham (before the cheese). It was great. It’s also super easy to prepare in stages. Our schedule yesterday was such that I loaded the crust with the bacon through spinach ingredients, mixed the egg mixture and put it in the fridge. When I got home, preheat the oven to 375 (our oven is temperamental), pour egg mixture on top, and we were set.

From Terry Maxwell, Madison County (Pickens), Country Cooking from the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation (1987)

QUICHE LORRAINE IX

Yield: 12 servings

2 9-inch pastry shells, pre-baked 10 minutes at 400o (preferably homemade—see recipes in Desserts section)
4 slices bacon, fried until crisp, drained
1 bunch green onions, minced
1 Tbsp butter
8 oz mushrooms, sliced, sautéed lightly in butter or oil (or use canned, drained)
4 thin slices ham, shredded
8 oz (2 C) Swiss cheese, shredded
4 eggs
1½ C evaporated milk
1 clove garlic, pressed
½ tsp dry mustard
½ tsp salt
Dash ground nutmeg
Dash black pepper

Preheat oven to 350o. Sauté green onions in butter. Layer bacon, onion mixture, mushrooms, ham, and cheese evenly in partially baked pastry shells. Combine eggs with milk, garlic, dry mustard, salt, nutmeg, and black pepper, beat well, pour mixture evenly into pastry shells, and bake 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in centers comes out clean.

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Posted in Big Food, Big recipes, food photos | Tagged quiche, recipes

We survived

Published on March 23, 2022 by Marica

Campus did not fair so well. No damage visible here on the farm, but we haven’t been out and about yet.

Top photo is where I park when I’m on campus.

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Posted in Weather | Tagged spring, tornadoes | 3 Responses

Topic of the Day

Published on March 22, 2022 by Marica

Take a wild guess!

Spring in the Deep South. Went so far as to move the trash bin inside the garage. Serious business.

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Posted in Weather | Tagged spring, The South, tornadoes

Recipe: Buffet Potato Salad

Published on March 21, 2022 by Marica

Recipe: Buffet Potato Salad

Published on March 21, 2013 by Marica | Edit

We’d not had this one before. And now, thankfully, we have! It accompanied Blue Cheese Burgers. 

BUFFET POTATO SALAD
Serves 4 to 6

2 C cold cubed cooked potatoes
4 hard-cooked eggs, diced
1 C cold cooked peas (can use canned)
2 small onions, dice
1 bell pepper, diced
½ tsp salt
1 C mayonnaise
Lettuce (for serving)
Deviled eggs
Tomatoes, cut into wedges (for garnish)

Combine potatoes, eggs, peas, onions, bell pepper, and salt, mix with mayonnaise (saving some mayonnaise for topping salad), and chill thoroughly. Serve on lettuce. Garnish with deviled eggs and tomatoes. Top with reserved mayonnaise.

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Posted in Big Food, Big recipes | Tagged potatoes, recipes, salad, spring

Recipe: Blue Cheese Burgers

Published on March 21, 2022 by Marica

An oldie but a goodie! You are grilling out, aren’t you?

Recipe: Blue Cheese Burgers

Published on March 21, 2013 

These were off the hook just off the grill, and were excellent next day for lunch. We used Roquefort cheese, and of course Mr. Big Food ground a choice cut of beef minutes before assembling the ingredients. Truth be told, we just used onion buns slathered with mayonnaise but that French bread angle sounds great. Served with Buffet Potato Salad.

Spring!

  
BLUE CHEESE BURGERS
Makes 10 burgers

2 lbs ground beef
1/3 C onion, chopped
1/3 C blue cheese, crumbled
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 loaf French bread
1 stick butter, softened
¼ C prepared mustard

Combine ground beef, onion, blue cheese, salt, and Worcestershire sauce, and shape mixture into 10 patties slightly larger in diameter than French loaf. Cut French loaf into 20, ½ inch slices. Blend butter and mustard, and spread generously on one side of each bread slice. Reassemble loaf, buttered sides together, wrap in heavy oil, and place on grill over medium coals for 15 minutes. Grill burgers to desired degree of doneness and serve each between 2 bread slices.

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Posted in Big Food, Big recipes | Tagged burgers, grilling

As Someone Once Said Sunday | Pindar

Published on March 20, 2022 by Marica
As Someone Once Said Sunday | Pindar
Chapter XVIII: Practical and Theoretical of Miss Missy’s School

The “As Someone Once Said” callouts of Miss Missy’s School Book I: A Pack of Farm Dogs Starts a School were a lot of fun to write. Challenging! But a lot of fun. The work begins, of course, with finding just the right quote for the ol’ hippy dog, Gilbert to share with Missy and her pack, given the circumstances. Here, for example, Missy is having second thoughts about the school. So many unanswered questions and heretofore unrecognized problems and considerations!

Perfect, don’t you think? Except that sometimes the perfect quotes were written by people who didn’t really have a place in a children’s book. As I recall, the first perfect quotation for this chapter was by George Eliot. I searched and searched for something about her that would be appropriate for kids and came up with nothing.

Start over!

Turns out Pindar was a much more interesting character than Eliot. If you’re into Greek history, learning about him and his times opens a lot of doors.

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Posted in Miss Missy's School, quotes | Tagged As someone once said, gilbert, Greek, history, Miss Missy's School, quotations

A Favor?

Published on March 19, 2022 by Marica

If you are on Instagram, Missy & her pack and I would surly appreciate a follow and the occasional like and comment!

Follow Miss Missy’s School!

Brought to you this fine Saturday morning by a starving writer just trying to (gawd I hate this word) engage readers and get the word about Miss Missy’s School out there!

Miss Missy’s School dot com where there’s a new Kid Blog post up.

Follow Miss Missy’s School on Instagram! Thanks!

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Posted in Miss Missy's School | Tagged instagram | 2 Responses

TWiP skinny version

Published on March 19, 2022 by Marica

Star Trek below the fold.

Continue reading →

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Posted in silliness | Tagged humor, Star Trek, TWiP

Make it so

Published on March 19, 2022 by Marica

Mixed series. Ehh.

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Posted in Big Life

Maybe they’ll stay a while

Published on March 18, 2022 by Marica

The geese are back!

They were here last year, too but they decided not to stay and make a nest. A guy was doing some tree cutting on the peninsula and they apparently didn’t care for that and went on their way.

I’ve seen the two of them again several days in a row. Today the two were leading

A skein of geese describes a flock of geese as they fly through the air.

a skein of four others. They all descended on the peninsula. I am curious. But I’m not going to disturb them.

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Posted in life photos | Tagged geese, spring

Good morning!

Published on March 17, 2022 by Marica

I have spent some time doing some updates to ye ol’ blog. Still cannot figure out what going on with the galleries and slideshows.

Beautiful day! Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Watch The Quiet Man!

UPDATE: Slideshow seems to be working.

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Posted in Anniversaries & Holidays | Tagged John Wayne

Recipe: Chicken à la King VI

Published on March 17, 2022 by Marica

This was a good one! You cannot go wrong with Claiborne.

Recipe: Chicken à la King VI

Published on March 29, 2016 

It is Fancy Tuesday.

DSCN5099

To my mind, it would be inconceivable to print a Southern cookbook without a recipe for chicken à la king. When I was a child, it was standard party fare, and in my earliest youth, conceivably the most delectable of all main courses. It was served in my home for special occasions, when my mother entertained, for Sunday dinners, for birthday parties, and so on. The French version of this dish is called poulet à la reine, and it underwent a sort of sea change between here and France. I do not know why it seems so typically Southern—Craig Claiborne, Southern Cooking (1987)

Craig Claiborne, as y’all know, was a Mississippian. Born and raised in Sunflower, Mississippi; lived and died in New York City, New York.

Mr. Big Food has two of Claiborne’s cookbooks: The New York Times Cook Book (1961 )and Craig Claiborne’s Southern Cooking (1987). Mr. Big Food commented, as we were picking chicken off the bone, that nothing he had cooked from either of Claiborne’s books had disappointed thus far. But chicken a la king IV was new to us. I am here to report that Claiborne’s chicken a la king is danged good! I think it’s the seasonings that go into boiling the chicken.

I also note with great pleasure that the Piglet in town sells pastry shells. Maybe it’s ’cause us Southern folks are still makin’ Claiborne’s chicken a la king all Fancy Like.

CHICKEN À LA KING VI
6 servings

1 chicken, about 3 lb
5 C water or chicken stock (the latter preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)
1 bay leaf
1 small onion, peeled, stuck with 2 whole cloves
2 whole allspice
1 carrot, trimmed, scraped, cut into large cubes
3 ribs celery, cut into large cubes
Salt “to taste, if desired”
8 peppercorns
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 C heavy cream
Ground black pepper to taste, preferably freshly ground
1 tsp lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed
2 egg yolks, beaten
¾ C mushrooms, sliced thin
½ C canned pimentos, drained, sliced thin
1/8 tsp Tabasco
1 Tbsp dry sherry, optional
6 toast triangles

Cook chicken in a kettle with water or stock, bay leaf, onion, allspice, carrot, celery, salt (if using), and peppercorns, first bringing to a boil, covering partially, reducing heat, and simmering about 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Let chicken cool in stock. Remove chicken, strain and reserve stock, and discard solids from stock. Remove meat from chicken, discarding skin and bones, and cut meat into ½-inch cubes. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a saucepan, add flour, blend with a wire whisk, then add 1 C of reserved stock. “The remaining broth may be put to other uses such as for soups and sauces.” Stir rapidly with whisk until sauce is smooth and blended, then cook about 5 minutes longer, stirring. Add cream and simmer about 10 minutes. Add salt (if using) and pepper, then add lemon juice. Spoon ½ C hot sauce over egg yolks, stirring rapidly, then spoon mixture back into sauce and bring barely to a simmer, stirring, Remove from heat. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp butter in a skillet, add mushrooms, and cook, stirring, until slices are wilted and have given up their liquid, then cook until liquid has evaporated. Add pimentos and Tabasco, and stir, and cook just until heated through. Add cubed chicken meat and mushroom-pimento mixture to sauce, and stir in sherry (if using). Serve piping hot over toast triangles.

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Posted in Big Food, Big recipes, food photos | Tagged chicken, claiborne, classics, The South

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  1. Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage
  2. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie
  3. Recipe: The Frugal Gourmet’s French Onion Soup
  4. A Cross with No Church
  5. Recipe: Taco Peppers in Electric Skillet
  6. Recipe: Little Joe’s Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce NEW!
  7. Recipe: MRS. NEMECEK’S KOLACHES AND FILLINGS NEW!
  8. Recipe: Better Homes & Garden Dill Pickles and Kosher Variations
  9. Recipe: Ancient Roman Bread NEW!
  10. Birthing a Lamb NEW!

Books of the months: Anniversaries and Holidays

  • Why Anniversaries and Holidays?
  • Happy Birthday, President Houston!
  • How Ignernt Am I?
  • Ring Ring … Ring Ring
  • Service to Country
  • Imagine it gone
  • 250 Years Ago Today
  • Amerigo! Amerigo!
  • Every Seventh Notch
  • “The Ides of March have come”
  • Sweet
  • Top of the mornin’ to ya!
  • Give me Liberty
  • Sun & Moon
  • St. Gabriel
  • July & August
  • Chapter 15
  • Lady Day
  • The WWW has failed me, yet again
  • Two Roads
  • Chronicles of America
  • “The Revolt of Islam”
  • Things we missed
  • Cogito, dude.

Hit Parade! 2017

  1. A Cross with No Church
  2. Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage
  3. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie
  4. Recipe: The Frugal Gourmet’s French Onion Soup
  5. Call 662-xxx-xxxx NEW!
  6. Recipe: Taco Peppers in Electric Skillet NEW!
  7. Recipe: Creative Cooking Sausage Lyonnaise with French Mustard
  8. Recipe: Blue Bonnet Café Meatloaf
  9. Crockett’s Victory Garden: Who is Jim Crockett?
  10. Recipe: Randy’s Clay Pot Roasted Chicken with Leeks and Apples

Books of the Months: Science in Your Own Backyard

  • Crappy Old Book of the Month: (late) May Edition
  • Talk about Back Yard Science! Wooo Boy!
  • WARNING!! or not: Science in Your Own Back Yard
  • The Tools of Science, ca. 1958
  • Do NOT Try This with Fire Ants!
  • Science in Your Own Back Yard: The End
  • “The purpose of this book” is simple

Hit Parade! 2016

  1. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie
  2. Recipe: Spicy Frozen Cucumbers  NEW!
  3. A Cross with No Church NEW!
  4. Recipe: Creative Cooking Sausage Lyonnaise with French Mustard NEW!
  5. 4BR, 2bath NEW!
  6. Recipe: Blue Bonnet Café Meatloaf NEW!
  7. Recipe: The Frugal Gourmet’s French Onion Soup NEW!
  8. Recipe: Polish Duck Sausage NEW!
  9. Recipe: Better Homes & Garden Dill Pickles and Kosher Variations NEW!
  10. Recipe: Homemade Pennsylvania Dutch Sausage NEW!

Books of the Months: Horizon: A Magazine of the Arts

  • Sorry Indeed
  • Well, this is outrageous!
  • Crappy Old Books of November: Look to the Past’s Horizon
  • Mermaids
  • At random
  • Sampling 1961
  • Nice boots you got there, hippie

Hit Parade! 2011-2015

  1. Recipe: Jesse Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pie a Pinterest favorite!
  2. They grow up so fast.
  3. Crockett’s Victory Garden: Who is Jim Crockett?
  4. “So Long till Next Year”
  5. Recipe: Blue Bonnet Cafe Meatloaf
  6. It’s not her style
  7. Recipe: Randy’s Clay Pot Roasted Chicken with Leeks and Apples (1/26/19– I remember this! It’s fantastic.)
  8. Recommendation: New Hope Seed Company
  9. Recipe: North Carolina Barbecue Sandwich with Pork Barbecue and Lexington Barbecue Sauce 
  10. Recipe: Brunswick Stew of Old Dixie

Books of the Months: Currier & Ives

  • “The Battle of Jonesboro Georgia Sept. 1st 1864”
  • New York? Cotton? Country Life? Mississippi?
  • Seen in West Point, Mississippi
  • The Great Bartholdi Statue
  • How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood
  • A Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi
  • “The Great Victory in the Shenandoah Valley”
  • “The Battle of Chickamauga, Geo.”
  • Add to Basket
  • Reviews
  • Life in the Country: “The Morning Ride” | Alt. Title: The Unbearable Lightness of the Horse & Buggy Older Model Taurus Edition
  • “Rounding the Bend” on the Mississippi
  • Still Burning
  • “Battle of Corinth, Miss., Oct. 4, 1862”

Books of the Months: American Voices

  • “Scheming”: What a Great Word!
  • Not too good
  • An Audience
  • Fair enough?
  • The Benefit of Law
  • “Who are these people…?”
  • Quite Simply,
  • American Voices
  • “A Future American History Reviewed”

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