Turkey N Dressing Croquettes with Crankey sauce!

I am one of those people that grew up eating Chicken and dressing an later on Turkey with dressing, twice a year; only at thanksgiving and Christmas Eve dinner with family.  After I graduated from college and was out on my own, I discovered the wonderful world of Morrisons Cafeterias.  It was food nirvana for a single person that was on the run at work all the time and it was a lot better food than fast food places in the mid seventies.  I discovered that Thursday was turkey and dressing day at Morrison's.  I was able to have my favorite dish every week if I wanted.  

Through the years, I have chosen to make dressing for my family anytime they had a hankering for it.  But there has still never been anything like Momma's dressing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her recipe was handed down from her mother Sallie and her grandmother Sallie Pearl Russell.  Lisa and I both can make it but Mom insists that we still don't hold our mouth's right when we make it.  I think she just doesn't want to admit that we both can make it like she does.  

These last few years as Mom as gotten older and weaker, my sister and I and our daughters have taken turns helping her chop and stir and mix and bake that dressing getting those huge pans of dressing ready for consumption at the family gatherings.  She would always make some extra to keep in the freezer for later meals.  I suspect she enjoyed eating it when it wasn't a holiday either.

Being an experimental 'home chef', I like to tweak my recipes and see if there can be a new way to do some of the old recipes.  Today I decided to try and do something a little different with dressing.  One daughter is now vegetarian so I have developed quite a collection of dishes that will fit her menu requirements.

Friday my daughter Erin, the meat eater, asked if I would bake and honey glaze a ham and roast a turkey breast.  They happened to be on sale at the market so I bought one of each and the new cooking adventure began.

I make salmon patties or croquettes a few times a month which got to me to wondering if I could make chicken or turkey and dressing an make it a little less wet and form it into patties like a burger and grill them.  So the Chicken/Turkey and Dressing Croquette was born.  I didn't take step by step photos this time.  I was more concerned if the family would eat these.  I can add those at a later date.


Chicken (or Turkey) and Dressing Croquette

(Step 1)
1 box of Stuffing Mix .
prepare according to package instructions.  instead of water I used chicken broth.
set aside.

(Step 2).
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 lbs. of shredded roasted chicken. (turkey can also be used)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 TBL olive oil
2 TBL butter

in large non-stick skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 TBL. butter.  add onion and celery with a tsp of sea salt.  saute until tender and translucent.  Add the shredded chicken and 1/2 tsp black pepper and stir well.

(Step 3)
Take the stuffing mixture and add
1/4 cup (1/2 a stick of butter)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp fresh rubbed sage
the Chicken mixture
2 Beaten medium sized eggs

Mix well.  it will be moist but should not be soupy. Take a large scoop and pack it full of the mixture.

Step 4
 place the scoop of mixture in a medium hot skillet or grill pan (350 -400 degrees) with 2 TBL oil.  About 4 minutes per side.

Serve with a slab of roasted chicken on top with gravy or with crankey sauce (recipe below)


CranKey sauce

1 jar jalapeno jelly
1 can whole cranberry sauce
3 tablespoons horseradish sauce

heat all three ingredients until well mixed.  will keep for several weeks in refrigerator. Good on chicken or turkey.

 enjoy.  WE sure did!  My husband and daughter said they would eat this again.  now I will make a vegan version for the other daughter!

Flamingo Foodie has left the kitchen!

time to start another year of Flamingo Foodie Cooking Adventures.

We've been eating a lot of soup lately, because its that "time of year" and I just happen to love all manner of soups and stews and breads and I am thankful that my husband Scott and our two daughters know that I call a bowl of soup a complete meal, so long as there is some type of bread to go with it. While I'm big on a slice of bread served alongside dinner, the others are just sometimes 'meh'. And being the procrastinating artist that I am, Of course I wait until about 5 pm to come up with this idea to make some sort of bread! so my options were limited. 

Luckily, this beer batter bread is one you can whip up at the last minute. There are only a handful of ingredients, most of which I have in my house at all times except for the beer and then I have to make a 45 minute run to the next country to buy some.   Nothing like living in a DRY county!  this is a quick bread so you use yeast (because that's what the beer is for!), which also means the prep time is literally just a few minutes. A handful of dry ingredients are mixed together, and then a bottle of beer is stirred in. Transfer the batter to the baking pan, drizzle with melted butter and into the oven it goes. And best of all, when it's done baking there's no waiting for it to cool! Is there anything better than a thick slice of warm bread slathered in butter? DUH!  NO!  

You could make this bread with almost any beer you like so it's perfect to use up those random bottles hanging out in the back of the fridge. I happen to like Sam Addams beers so that is what I will find. The bread will take on the characteristics of the beer you choose so be sure to go with something you like drinking. I love that you could make this bread five times with five different beers and the result would be a slightly different flavor profile every time! Have fun.  ITs relatively quick and easy and doesn't taste at all like a beer.  Its good to eat the whole thing the same day you make you!  I bet you won't stop eating at one slice!



Beer Batter Bread
from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12 oz) bottle beer, at room temperature and unopened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt together until combined. Open the beer and immediately pour it all into the bowl with the dry ingredients (there will be lots of foam, that's ok). Stir the batter until it just comes together - it's going to be very thick and a little lumpy so don't try to use a whisk here. 

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading it into an even layer. Drizzle the melted butter over the top of the batter. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and allow the bread to cool for 5 minutes before turning it out of the pan. You can cut into this bread and serve it warm or wait for it to cool to room temperature - either way, slather with butter first :)

{Note: the recipe suggested this recipe be served the day it was made, but we ate leftovers the following day too. I just popped them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to soften and warm them up.}

A September observation

I went into the Greenhouse this morning to check on the progress of the plants that are in there. It is maintaining a nice little micro-climate in there, so I am pleased. this greenhouse project may just work after all. The transplants from the hot summer sun have perked up and the 'dead' strawberry plants have put out new leaves! I was doing the happy dance.

 As I was mixing up the "food' brew to water them with, I notice an enormous spider web hanging from the ceiling to center support post. I didn't see the gigantic spider that Scott had warned me about. I took my spray mister and gave a few squirts to see the web better and it was beautiful with the water droplets on it. As I was contemplating taking a picture of it, I saw the huge arachnid coming down its 'zip' line. It seems the water droplets upset it. Madam spider yanked in on one strand of the web and pulled it to the center, then she went down and yanked in another stand and added it to the center, one more yank and the whole web collapsed and she then proceeded to glide up the center carrying the silk with her in those enormous legs. It took less than 30 seconds for her to disassemble that web that was 3 foot in diameter! The last time I saw her, she was going to a spot where I could not mess with her. amazing.

I have come to the conclusion that I can find God's creativity in everything I look at.....most of the time.....like in that spider web this morning and the actions of that spider when I sprayed its web so I could see it better. or see the Golden Ratio when I look at the spiral pattern that the sunflower seeds form while growing on that stalk, or observe the symmetry in the way plants grow and the way their leaves are arranged, or watching and feeling the changing of the seasons and seeds sprouting. Then my thoughts turn to people and it's so hard to find God in some of the faces and in their actions that I wonder......I just wonder.....is that a flaw in me or the flaw in them that I cannot see Him in them......just pondering

thoughts on twerking and then I'll hush

My thoughts on Miley and then I'll hush up.

 She is not the first woman to do that disgusting dance. It's a strip dance move if you want to call such a move 'dancing'. The sad thing is people are all up in arms about a young woman that they have watched grow up in the public eye and now she has chosen to go down a wayward path all in the 'name' of 'finding her own way of expressing herself creatively'. And seeing the reaction of the teens and tweens in that audience should be very scary for parents..

 There is a generation that does not see that bumping and grinding and wearing practically nothing at all is not appropriate behavior. This is a generation of young women that do not see that THEY are making themselves into sexual objects and that they are drawing attention (wrong attention) to parts of their bodies all in the name of freedom of speech and expression. call it what you want ; twerking; booty popping; junk in the trunk; bumping and grinding; air sex.......the sexualization of America is flaunted and thrown into our faces on a daily basis. Are you old enough to remember when the playtex bra commercials were not shown using real models but a manniquin? Now is Victoria's Secret models prancing around streets wearing stripper heels ( I have a name for those that is not quite that nice!) and beautiful bras and panties to show off that Brazilian wax job ( I refused to do those in my salon after I did just one!).

 It is implied to women today that if you don't have a Brazilian wax, wear a thong so there are no panty lines, wear french-cut, push-up, water bras to lift and create cleavage, use all these feminine products when you bathe, wear sheer low cut blouses and shorts/skirts/dresses that show your naughty bits when you are standing up....then you are not attractive or alluring.

 Its all about the 'hook-up' and not about finding your soul-mate. Its all about the fleeting orgasmic rush and no thoughts about the feelings of emptiness that will eventually come. the sad truth is that young women (and a lot of old 'cougarish' women) have started thinking like a buck deer in rut.

 what Miley did on national television is shocking but she is a product of her generation and so really stupid advisers! She is not the first to do that booty popping she just happens to be infamous! Look around moms and dads, I will bet your little darlings know how to do that. Not saying they are doing it but they know. As we old people used to say a couple of decades back, the mystery is over!

 Pray for Miley, (she really needs it from the looks of it!) Pray for the young people of THIS nation and the young people of world! the Roman Empire fell because of debauchery. It looks like the US is going down that same path.

And THAT is all I have to say about THAT!

The Community Garden that isn't........

Ok. This is going to be hard to write, but here goes. The garden I write about each day and tend to is my own personal backyard garden. Not be confused with the Community Garden I had so hoped to get started here in Bruce.

For over two years I've worked and plotted and researched the idea of a community garden for Bruce and the Food Pantry. Fresh produce is not a feasibility for the pantry unless we can get it the 'day of'. One day I read about the availability of grant money to get a garden started so I wrote a grant and held my breath. Then I got the word in March of 2012 that BCBS of Mississippi was going to give us $6000 dollars to get a Community Garden going so that people could come together and have a little plot of soil to grow healthy fresh vegetables for themselves or for someone else if they so desired. The kicker was the time limit. We had 6 months to get all the ducks in a row and get it going. I had quite a few folks that jumped on the bandwagon with me that said they would love to help find materials and get the ball rolling.

The first proposed spot I went for, I got shot down, because one of the Grant rules was that it has to be fenced in to keep out the 4 legged wildlife (and perhaps some 2 legged ones too!) but the land owner(s) board members said no fence. I suppose they thought this garden was going to be ugly all the time. But in order to get the grant, there had to be a fence so BCBS said forget that place. Find another.

Another land owner had what would be the perfect spot but it needed to be able to be reached directly instead of driving across the rest of the business property. I could install a fence there but I had to get a huge culvert installed. I could get a culvert and could get the labor to install it, but several other things started happening. I could not get everyone on the same page as far as get the culvert in place. Then, because of an incident with the Zoning Board (of which I am a member) over a variance issue, some things were said and insinuated about not supporting the food pantry. I knew then a garden wasn't going to happen because I am not such a diva that I think I can do it all on my own. The time clock was ticking down.

Grants have time limits and this grant had just 6 months. The time ran out on the gift this community was offered. BCBS called and asked if i was any closer to getting ready for a garden because they had another small community that was ready to get started on a garden. I knew they would use it. So there went the grant.

I had envisioned a Garden that would bring people together from all walks of life. It was supposed to be the beginning of a Farmers Market so that what ever extra that was raised could be sold and those funds would go to the buy food for the pantry. It was supposed to be a garden that provided free produce to those that were too old to work a garden any longer. It was supposed to be a garden where grand parents could bring their grandkids and teach them some of that 'Old Gardening Wisdom' about how to raise your own food. It was supposed to an equal opportunity project for each civic club and each church or each gardening sponsor to work with as they saw fit. It sure would have given a lot of photo ops for the scrapbooks.

So I still have a dream of one day seeing a vegetable garden for this community. I will be more than happy to share my knowledge of garden successes and epic gardening failures I have amassed in my own gardening experiences.

A Community Garden is supposed to be for the Good of the Community, Perhaps someone else can get it going. Like I said earlier, I'm not a Diva.

lend a hand. support your local charities. People you know helping people you know!

The Face of Hunger

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry is an ecumenical non-profit organization that is helping feed the need in Calhoun County. The Food Pantry is a member of the Mississippi Food Network/America’s Second Harvest. St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, Bruce United Methodist Church, Lewis Memorial Methodist Church Calhoun City, Bailey Memorial, Vardaman and the rest of the Calhoun County Methodist Cluster and many wonderful men and women from various prayer groups have come together and distributed approximately 30,000 pounds of food in 2006. In 2005 we distributed 18,000 pounds. The need for more food donations has increased because hunger has increased.

In our area alone, over 400 individuals rely on Our Daily Bread Food Pantry for a box of food once a month. Some are children but over half are retired men and women trying to live on a small retirement check. That 400 is only the tip of iceberg. There are many more that we can’t serve because we don’t know about them and because we don’t have enough to give.

Ordinary people….young and old, male and female, black and white. The face of hunger will surprise you. Many people experience the invasion of hunger in their lives and they look just like you and me. Because the face of hunger looks like us, it is up to us to make a difference. It is a tragedy that anyone in this country should be hungry when the USA produces enough food to feed the world. 20 percent of food in the US is wasted and thrown away. There is no shortage of food in the United States and sadly there is no shortage of people that are ‘food insecure’.

Who are these hungry people? You might be surprised.
There is the child who can’t concentrate in school because she didn’t have enough to eat last night. Her older brother is disabled and he can’t stand to see his baby sister crying because she didn’t have enough to eat, so he gives her half of his portion. He goes to bed hungry and vows that one day he will somehow make sure that he and his sister will have enough to eat.

An elderly woman has diabetes and it is getting worse because she doesn’t get the proper nourishment. Some well-meaning soul brought her a box of doughnuts to eat when her sugar drops. She really needs a jar of peanut butter.

The older gentleman tries to help out the ‘widow women’ he knows by running their little errands but his heart is giving him trouble because he had to decide if he was going to buy medicine or buy some food that was good for him this month. He can’t afford to do both on his small retirement pension.

Everyday people in Calhoun County don’t get enough to eat. It’s happening in Bruce and Calhoun City and Vardaman and all the places in between. It happens to the working poor who have had a temporary crisis or people that are laid off from work or have a devastating sickness that is beyond their control. Often they have already used up what little savings they may have socked away and they are ashamed to ask for help.

The fact remains that they are still hungry!
I can’t predict the stock market or the weather but I can share some facts about hunger that will impact all of us as Our Daily Bread Food Pantry enters its seventh year of operation.

Fact: According to the USDA in January of 2006, more than 38 million Americans are living on the brink of hunger. That is 13.5 million households that are ‘food insecure’.

Fact: Heat or Eat? People face a real dilemma in the winter. Do they heat their house or do they eat 3 meals a day? If they cut back on food then they can keep their homes a little warmer.

Fact: Higher utility rates mean higher utility bills. Even when you turn the thermostat down and only turn on necessary lights, the rate hikes still run up the electric bills. Higher health costs and higher fuel costs all add to the need for food assistance.

Fact: Not all people who need Food Pantry assistance get food stamps nor are they eligible. Most families that do get food stamps get less than $20. That really goes a long way.

Fact: 379 to 400 people rely on a box of food from Our Daily Bread Food Pantry once a month. The majority are elderly men and women who have worked hard all their lives and now they have reached the ‘Golden Years’ and they don’t have enough of the right stuff to eat.

Fact: The 2000 census showed that 19.9% of Mississippians live at or below the poverty level.
The population of Calhoun County is approximately 16,069 people.
18.10% of the population of Calhoun County are below the poverty line.
29.3% of the population of Bruce is below.
25.2% of Calhoun City is below.
24.1% of Vardaman is below.
18.6% of Derma is below.
20.7% of Big Creek is below.
27.3% of Slate Springs is below.
1.1% of Pittsboro is below. (I think someone is withholding the truth about Pittsboro)

You do the math. Our Daily Bread is only able to feed half of these people that have the need. I can dig up more statistics but where hunger is concerned, statistics are only numbers with the tears brushed off.

How can you make a difference?
People feel powerless to help their community or they may just choose to close their eyes and hope that it all goes away. Some might say let some government agency take care of it and we all know how that doesn’t seem to work. People of faith can make a difference. They can band together and take charge and take care of their brothers and sisters.

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry needs your help and you can help in so many ways. Your contribution can be in the form of a monetary donation. You can organize a food drive by collecting our most needed items through your office or church or youth group or community group. You can volunteer at the pantry. Participate on Food Packing night by sorting and packing the boxes for the monthly distribution. Help us with the clerical work once a month. Be here to carry out boxes of food on distribution day or help direct traffic or help people sign up. Help us with our once a year Empty Soup Bowl fund raiser by making soup and selling it.

How can you make a difference? Buy the ‘3 fer’ and ‘2 fer’ deals at the grocery and put 1 or 2 of those items in a bag and give it to the pantry. Help us come up with ideas to raise the funds needed to keep the Pantry up and running. Sacrifice a couple of hours of your time so that others won’t go hungry.

Renewal is always waiting on me.

Written on HOly Saturday of 2013

As I sit here in my little garden, in the early morning quiet of Holy Saturday, I realize that most of my life has been lived in Holy Saturday. By that I mean my life has not been filled with the unbearable pain of Good Friday and I haven’t always had days filled with the unending joy of Easter dawn. Yes, I have had days of great pain and days of great joy, but most of my life has been in between days. 

Like most people, my days have been days of waiting, just as Peter, James and John and the others waited during Holy Saturday. I am always waiting. Waiting to get into college; Waiting to meet the right person; Waiting to have my daughters; Waiting to get a job and then another job and then another; Waiting for things at work to improve and they don’t; Waiting for diagnosis the that I dreaded from the doctor; Waiting for the lab results; Waiting, waiting, waiting, just waiting for life to get better. 

I look around and I see the different kinds of waiting; the wait of despair...where we think/nay we KNOW! that things will NEVER get better, the Lord will not do anything with our situations. Nothing will ever change. That is not the place for a Christian.

The waiting of dread is what made the disciples fear for their lives and retreat behind closed doors on Holy Saturday, cowering in terror of the unknown future. After Jesus was executed they were in danger of being rounded up and executed by the Roman authorities. But then I look at the women disciples who didn't run from Jesus’ side, and they were more hopeful. 

I am not a passive person, but there are many people that are. They just throw up their hands and leave everything up to fate. They don’t have despair but they sure can’t anticipate anything good in their lives either. They just live in the land of “Whatever” . The land of “Whatever” is not where a Christian should be.

As a Christian, I am called to the wait of HOPE. Hope is actively waiting and knowing that, in my lowest and darkest of situations, God is working in my life very powerfully even when I don’t see it. The Holy Spirit is always with the believer. Jesus’ disciples’ dread and confusion after the crucifixion was understandable but we know how the story turned out. We KNOW that Jesus rose from the dead, that God is with us, and nothing is impossible for God, to all His faithful who are called to wait hope.

I am learning to look carefully for the signs of the new life that is always before me… just like that handful of faithful disciples who stood at the foot of His Cross and waited patiently at his Tomb during Holy Saturday. 

I kneel here in my garden with my hands in the earth planting seeds and waiting and watching the sprouts emerge from the dark damp earth and I know that change is always possible, renewal is always waiting, and hope is never dead as long as I have the Joyful Hope of the Lord in my heart. 

Why I like to cook Italian foods......

I am not a southern cook.  I may live in the South, but I cannot fry chicken to save my life.  I don't make a killer potato salad and  I sure can't grill without burning something to a nice charred crisp.  But you hand me a nice fire and a few pots and pans and some onions and other fine veggies and some pasta and stand back.  I will whip up a simple meal that even royalty would eat!

Since I don't have a full time job....(or even a full-time part-time job but that is a blog for another day!)....I try to cook on a very tight budget.  I cook fresh and from "scratch' as much as possible because I want more fresh foods in my body than I do preservatives and fast foods.  My husband and I share a love of food and I have always tried to continue to keep a high standard of cooking for our dining enjoyment.

Tonights dinner was a small bowl of Tomato Bisque soup, a nice crusty Crostini with a slab of melted mozzarella and Asparagus Risotto.

I started with White ARBORIO Rice.  Arborio rice is a traditional Italian rice that is used in dishes where a creamy texture is desired.  RISOTTO is the Italian cooking technique for cooking the Arborio rice.
The rice I found is from the Lundberg Family Farms because it is not GMO rice and I refuse to eat genetically modified foods! Go check out their website.  www.lundberg.com.




;

Campanini Arborio Superfino Rice, 1 lb. (Google Affiliate Ad)

Here is the basic Risotto recipe for the Asparagus Risotto
3 TBLS. EVOO plus 2 TBLS. butter (NOT margarine)
1 large chopped onion (I prefer white or sweet Vidalias when in season)
1 cup of Arborio Rice
1/2 cup of white wine (optional for you teetotalers But if you are going to cook Italian...ADD THE WINE!)
3or 4 cups of hot chicken broth or water.
1/4  cup grated Parmesan cheese.

In a heavy pan, saute' the chopped onion in the olive oil/butter over medium heat until the onion is softened.

Add the Arborio rice and saute for a couple of minutes until the grains of rice are coated.

Add the wine (this is why I cook Italian!) and stir constantly over medium heat until the wine is absorbed.

add the hot chicken broth, 1 CUP AT A TIME, stirring after adding each cup. Add the chopped, cooked and mashed asparagus to the mixture and simmer until the broth is absorbed about 20 to 25 minutes.  The risotto should be creamy and not dry.

Remove from heat, stir in the cheese JUST BEFORE SERVING! and then serve immediately.

I believe you should enjoy this with a glass of fine white wine as well.  And THAT my fellow foodies is WHY I love to cook Italian.  La Vino!

Blogging about food is something I haven't really done before.  But I am cooking so much and have learned so many new things that I want to share my adventures in cooking.

 So from the Cucina Provera (or The poor cook) today marks the beginning of food blogs that I think you would like.

What to do when its the week after New Years, the household budget is tighter than ever before and you start to run out of ideas for a tasty meal, that is healthy, within the budget, and mindful of the waistline?
I started with pasta which seems to be my food love as of late.  I've been taking lessons in Italian Cuisine for the past year and it has expanded my cooking horizons.

 
The first thing I learned in Italian cooking is that most dishes start off with a finely chopped mixture of garlic, herbs, and vegetables such as onions, carrots and celery.  Sometimes a little chopped pancetta or Italian sausage is added as well.  This mixture is called BATTUTO. My Battuto consists of 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped carrot, 1/2 cup of chopped celery, 1/2 chopped sweet pepper, 1 diced and smashed garlic clove, 1 tsp. cracked pepper, 1 tsp, crushed red pepper seeds.

Once the Battuto is in my largest pan along with about 3 TBLspoons of EVOO (extra virgin Olive Oil), it is gently sauteed in the oil with a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness of the chopped onion.  Don't have the heat so high that the garlic starts burning.  You want the flavors to infuse with the oil.  This mixture is called SOFFRITO and it is what is going to be flavoring your dish.  The blandest ingredients become impregnated with the savory flavors and you get a remarkable dish to enjoy! (photo 1)

 While the SOFFRITO is simmering and the flavors are melding together, put chopped broccoli or cauliflower (I used both tonight!) in a large pot of boiling water.  Make sure the pot is large enough to cook the pasta in because you are going to reserve the water.  Yes it will be green from cooking the broccoli but it will give a great flavor to the pasta also.  And its being conservative with your water.  (Photo 2)

After a few minutes, when the Cauliflower and Broccoli are tender, using a slotted spoon dip it out and add to the large pan containing the SOFFRITO.  Stir and mash the veggies in so the flavors will meld with the broccoli/cauliflower. (an option for chopped mushrooms could be added here)  photo 3

 After removing the veggies from the water, let the water come back to a rolling boil.  Add the pasta.  I used curly pasta for tonight's dinner. cook the pasta  al dente according to the package directions. take two large ladles of the pasta water and add it to the SOFFRITO.  This water has starch from the pasta in it and it will serve as a rich thickener and help the veggies stick to the cooked pasta. photo 4

When the pasta has reached al dente stage, drain and add to the SOFFRITO and Broccoli mixture.  Toss together so the pasta is well coated with the vegetable mixture.  photo 5

Throw some crescent rolls in the oven while this is finishing.  serve it hot in bowls with a generous shake of parmigiana cheese and enjoy with a large glass of sweet tea.

My dish doesn't have a name.  Just pasta with broccoli and cauliflower. Enjoy!

The times they are a changing.

It’s that time of year again. The time has changed, the leaves have changed, the weather has changed….I love the Fall season; the smell of wood burning in fireplaces, the burning leaves, the aroma of pumpkin pies and sweet potato pies baking in the oven, savory stews and soups that replace the sandwich meals of summer. The sugar maple in our side yard has been ever bit as glorious this year as it has in past years. It looks like it is aflame in the explosion of reds, oranges and yellows with some green leaves still hanging on to their color deep within its canopy. In fact, last year on a retreat in the Cumberland foothills near Sewanee, Tennessee, I noticed that while the foliage there was a wild riot of color, the forests of these Mississippi hills are just as colorful and vibrant. The Southern States should not sell themselves short when it comes to fall foliage colors. New England and the Rockies might have a longer, more predictable Fall color season than we do, but we do have some beautiful vistas to see. While I was on my retreat, the weather took a rather nasty turn for the worse and the temps plummeted to heavy frost over night. I listened to the wind howling outside my window and when morning came, the only view I had of the mountain vista was a pea soup fog. When I walked downstairs for breakfast I looked out at the parking lot and could not even see van. I noticed a sign in the lobby that read, “Welcome to St. Mary’s. You may arrive in a fog, but you will leave walking in the light.” I chuckled at the appropriateness of it. It was well into the afternoon of the next day before that fog lifted and I could see the brillant blue sky. Sometimes, I think the season of Fall puts me and others into a figurative fog. The weather changes and time changes seem to affect some more than others. The other changes that occur are, we see the anticipation of the national candy night ritual of Halloween and then it’s gone and Christmas is suddenly breathing down our necks. My husband and I have had an enormous Christmas light show for several years that takes him all year to plan and work on. He has to start putting lights up during October and right up until Thanksgiving Day so we can flip the switch that night. I love Christmas, but I feel like we forget about Thanksgiving in the process of all the hustle and bustle of the Santa’s and packages and decorations. I have been making a list of all the things I am thankful for; things like a warm, dry home, good health, my husband and daughters, my sister, my mother, the freedom to worship, the freedom to vote and I can just keep going on. I hope during this changing season, that as you see the leaves changing and the days getting shorter and nights getting longer, that you take the time to reflect on how changes affect you and those around you. It is definitely time to sit down and take stock of all that we have to be thankful for.

Sometimes, Not often enough.....

I have so many thoughts and I don't always put them down. I guess I should save some of my pithy thoughts for posterity, as if anyone but my family would care. And they might not give a rip now that I think about it! Its a cloudy day and looking very stormy outside. so much for my plans of getting out in this nice cooler temp and working in my little garden and getting a couple of the beds ready for the fall planting. I have never tried a fall garden, but this year is the exception. I love broccoli and kale and brusselsprouts. This is the year to keep experimenting with the raised beds and with a green house. If you read this I hope you can understand my rambling ADD thought threads and will run with this crazy flamingo as I hop off on rabbit trails and explore my life in the world as I see it.

Oh and I have a couple of late season watermelons in the garden. I've NEVER had success with growing melons. But these came up "volunteer" and i am letting them do their on thang. It seems to be working. I hope to eat one!

I DID build it I will have you to understand. You are WRONG Mr. President.

I’ve been really stewing about this who “you didn’t build it” thing that President O said. Everyone that knows me, knows how I feel about this administration. I am not a fan in the least. As the child of a small business owner, and as a former business owner, as a freelance artist and an at will contract worker, as an older female that is not considered as employable because I am so close to ‘retirement age’ and have heard the over qualified lie one time too many to count, these are my thoughts on his statement. (And yes I watched his message in its entirety so there is no mistake what I heard him say.) He is wrong, wrong WRONG. He got it backwards. Business owners, no matter large or small, business owners DO NOT owe credit to the government for their success. The government owes business owners credit for its very existence. Businesses empower the government. Most businesses are not enabled by the government. In fact where do you think the ‘bail outs; came from to those that do depend on the government? Yep out of the pockets of the taxes that are paid by the businesses that are not looking for a handout! Business owners do just fine without government and ‘takers’ of society. “Takers” ---you know who I’m talking about. Those who simply want that government check . Think about it Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Taxpayer, your government, all the government employees and all the ‘takers’ of society would not survive without us… without the creators and producers of jobs and products and paying taxes. To make it a bit simpler, business owners, small, medium, large, and mega large, pay ALL the bills for the government. THE BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD BE THE ONES OWED THANKS! Are you still not seeing what I am saying? Then let me draw you an even simpler picture that even an economically illiterate moron can see. I used to own a nail and hair salon before I moved to small town Mississippi. I employed, at one point, 8 hard working talented women. I paid hefty taxes to the state and federal government for many years. So who needed whom? Did the patrons that came to my business need us? No, getting manicures and pedicures and spa treatments are pretty much a luxury item. They could have chosen any of the other myriad of salons on the city we were in. They could stay at home and paint their nails at home. A lot of people DO you know. I—the business owner---could not live without the constant flow of customers. Nor could my trained technicians. We desperately needed their patronage. We had to be nice and show gratitude and on occasion genuflect to the really difficult ones that tried our patience because without customers you cannot stay in business. Every one of my employees in that salon depended on our customers and the way to have customers and to keep them coming back is to keep them happy! When our customers left after each visit, who do you think said ‘thank you”. We the business people said thank you to the customers. When a customer walks out of a restaurant, or hardware store, or any type of store, who thanks who? The business owner thanks us for spending our money in his establishment. Even the most ignorant left leaners and socialists cannot argue with that. Now stretch your little imagination to see that Government is a business. You—the taxpayers---are the customer, the consumer, the patron of the ‘salon’ if you will. The Government can’t survive if you stop paying the salon. The Government is dependent on the taxpayers’ hard work and the taxes that are paid in. If the taxpayers go on strike and stop paying, the government doesn’t get any money and goes out of business. The difference in this little example is that the American business model is a free market capitalist society where the customer freely chooses to spend his or her money at any business they darn well please. It you are a builder here in my little hometown, you can choose to go to one of the two building supply houses. Or you can go where ever you will get the best price out of town. You have a choice in choosing where you want to spend your money. The Government only has one choice of where to get its money. OUR pockets. If it can’t pay its bills, it just raises taxes and legally extorts more money from the taxpayers. So why does this president think we owe him? Why do progressives think we should say thank you to the government? Yes, we need the things like renewed infrastructure, roads, bridges, traffic lights, police, fire, garbage, sewers, hospitals, airports, schools, and national defense. But the president and others (who have never owned a business in their life!) miss a most crucial point -- we the business owners and taxpayers, paid for all of infrastructure and schools, etc. with our taxes. WE business owners, small, medium, large and mega, built it! The Government OWES US the debt of gratitude and a huge apology because with our business taxes, Social Security taxes, payroll taxes, workers comp taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, income taxes and estate taxes (and you thought it was over after you died! Think again because we even pay taxes after we are dead), there would be no money for all those things that this president values. Why would I and other business owners thank you, for things we paid for? Instead of telling us how much we owe, the progressives and takers and socialists should be thanking the business owners and taxpayers. Without taxpayers -- especially high income business owners – we wouldn’t have the money to build roads, bridges, highways, schools or airports. Government infrastructure exists because of the hard work of the American taxpayer. These public schools exist because of taxpaying property owners who pay huge property tax bills and most of us don’t even have children in school any longer. People that rent don’t pay those property taxes. Social Security, Medicare, welfare, food stamps and unemployment insurance ALL exist because business owners are paying into the system. My message to President Obama is this, business owners work harder and smarter and you sir, had better be thanking the Lord God Almighty that we do it and have done or you would be up the proverbial unsanitary tributary without a means of motivation. Business owners are not dependent on the government but the government and every handout addict are dependent on businesses. Like any smart small business owner, perhaps you should suck up and treat us with some honor and respect and (dare I say it) gratitude. You need to learn to say please when you ask for money and thank you when it’s paid. Money doesn’t grow on trees you know. Learn how to treat customers well or they will go away because they will and they are. American business is holding back. No new jobs till after Election Day. Some people are going underground to work to avoid paying 60% of their income to you. Some are retiring like that poll that showed that 83% of physicians are planning on it because of Obamacare. Even your supportive treehuggers are denouncing citizenship to live elsewhere where Americans are treated better. Your customers have gone on strike. The taxpayers are unhappy because we are being turned into slaves and taxed out of business. Pretty soon you are going to be trying to run "your" business without any paying customers and you are only going to be left with ‘the takers”. That is not going to work.

Note to Self: bubble wrap clothes might sell.

Vonda’s views
September 25, 2011

Note to Self: wonder how hard it would be to make myself an outfit out of bubble wrap and duct tape?

My phone tones out in the middle of the afternoon with text messages from my number 2 daughter wanting to know the progress of the mama dog and her litter of 8 puppies. The directive to take photos and post them on face books she can share that ‘HER’ puppies are so cute and fat gets to me. She is not the one that is traipsing outside to feed and water the large brood. But after several mishaps, I have finally passed that torch on to my husband.
The first tumble happened so fast he didn’t even see what happened. But there I was rolling down the incline in the yard, picking up grass and sticks and Lord only knows what else I rolled through before I came to a stop! Covered in mud, (I hope!) I got up and hobbled into the house and pulled off my shoe to see why it was hurting and there was a hole torn in my shoe and a long red scratch on my foot.

The next time I ventured out to feed and water them, I just poured the food over the fence and stuck the hose through the fence to fill their water tubs. I turned and stepped in a grass covered hole that one of them had dug prior to being fenced in.Down I went, this time hurtling head first for a rather large crepe myrtle tree. Not wanting to be knocked out cold with my head hung in this blooming bush gone wild, I twisted and missed the trunk and just missed the block retaining wall! More, muddy clothes, more sore muscles, more interesting bruises to watch grow more colorful!

Note to self: get some Oxy-clean and check on the price of bubble wrap.

The next day I just opened my bedroom window and poured the dog food out the window. The dogs didn’t seem to mind and I didn’t fall!

Daughter number two called and wanted me to drive down on Thursday to pick her up and bring her home since she doesn’t have Friday classes. She didn’t want to wait till Saturday to ride home with big sister. So I said ok.

Before I left, I decided to go to check on the puppies since they are getting quite mobile. I was standing on perfectly level ground right by the edge of my garage. There is a retaining wall and the fence and I was playing with the pups through the fence when I turned and wham! My foot caught on some little something and I fell between the lawn mower and one of the metal forms for hubby’s Christmas displays. This time my arms got the worst of it as I was caught between these two metal immovable objects and I must have severely bruised a rib because it’s rather touchy on the side with the biggest contusion.

I brushed off more mud and drove down to get the daughter who neglected to tell me that I would be waiting till midnight because of her social club stuff. I just went to my oldest daughter’s room, took some Tylenol and crashed for a few hours.
Note to self: you are too old to pull an all nighter!

My husband now is feeding dogs and I stay upstairs and watch from a window. But I can still do stupid really well. I suffer from dry eyes and constantly have to put artificial tear drops in. At night I use a gel in a tube. Tonight I grabbed my tube and it was instant agony! I discovered a whole higher register for my voice. My husband came running into the bathroom and was trying to figure out what was wrong, as I was blindly digging for the quart of eye wash. While washing my eye out Scott saw that I had picked up a tube of oral jel and that was what I had squeezed into my eye!
Note to self: Oral jel is not for eyes and it does not numb them! Please remember where you are putting all these notes because you keep doing stupid things! And bubble wrap goes no sale next week!

Perils of Pauline and learning to refeather the Empty Nest

Anyone remember the Perils of Pauline? Oh I don’t either but my mother always said that my life was like that short of being tied to the railroad tracks by the evil dastardly villain. Yet it does seem that some of the things that happen in my life could come from a page or two of poor Pauline.

For example, one day I was climbing into my big van that looks like its 8 feet off the ground when I dropped my keys. As I lowered my right foot to the ground, my shoe caught the side of the running board and I went down hard on the side of the foot. I didn’t break it but the awful crunchy sound it made told me I was going to be in for a world of hurt. It has been a month now and I still can’t wear any kind of shoe except something that I can lace up tightly and walk flat footed.

Then I was making pear preserves. As I sliced up the 40 pounds of pears I was extremely careful not to slice off a finger. I was successful at that but when I was filling the jars full of the precious, delectable candied pears, I splashed some on my hand and you have never seen anyone with a hurt foot move so fast to the sink and cool running water to get that mess off before it did permanent damage!

We finally got both girls moved to the W and darling husband and I have been working nonstop to reclaim the upstairs of the house and make it a ‘couples haven’. First on my list was the TV room instead of a formal living room. So he now has the perfect (for us) home theater and I turned the den into the dining room since it has the kitchen on one end of it. Then we turned our sights on the bathroom.

This house was built circa 1960 and the bathroom is a lovely shade of turquoise ceramic tile with matching tub, sink and toilet. Now I happen to love that color but it can be a tad iffy to work with. So when all else fails, you take the retro approach. We had to replace the broken faucets because it was not my idea of a good time when I had to use a screwdriver to turn the hot water on and off. and replace the whole drain system. Neither of us likes to take a shower standing knee deep in water either. After pouring several chemicals down the slower than molasses draining drain and trying to get the snake through the blockage, I figured there was a blond hair ball the size of a grown possum in the pipes somewhere.


Our new tub surround was seven inches too short on eat end because they don’t make them as deep as in the ‘old’ days and I have been living with a whole lot of ugly wall for a while since I could not find anything to my liking to cover it with. Removing the walls is not an option either. Who knew that in the 60’s someone would make the Bathroom walls out of poured concrete then cover that with ¼ plyboard and then put the tile or sheet rock up? We have had a tornado safe room all along and didn’t know it!


As luck would have it, Saturday we were in a DIY store and lo and behold they had stacks of glass tiles on sale and they were brown and turquoise mixed. I was so excited. I grabbed up a stack of them and purchased the glue and grout and a sponge and rubber float and we came home. Have I ever installed tile? No but I figured it out pretty quick. I am now looking at a whole lot of pretty, shiny glass tile in my bathroom. I listened all night for the sound of it falling but it is still there and looking good. I think my 1970’s kitchen is next!


Pauline may have had some bad luck but I think mine is turning around.

The Nest is finally empty

August 15, 2011

Well the “Nest” is empty. Our oldest daughter is a senior at the W. She moved back to the dorm last Wednesday. The youngest daughter is now a freshman at the W. We moved her, and nearly ALL of her stuff, to the freshmen dorm on Saturday.


Some people...a lot of people…primarily Moms, fall to pieces on the day their children leave for school or college. I haven’t. Perhaps it has something to do with my age, I was knocking hard on the door of 40 when I had my daughters and now at 58 I may well be one of the oldest moms sending kids off to college. (Except for my baby sis who has a 6 year old and she is barely over the 50 mark!)

My husband and I have worked hard all these years to raise our girls to be independent young women. We think we have succeeded. I was teaching them to cook when they were old enough to do things around the stove and not get burned. They were making scrambled eggs in the microwave by the age of 6 and making Mac and cheese by the age of 7. During our homeschool years they learned a lot of things that they might not think are necessary now but one day they will be glad they know it. But I digress…

When we arrived on campus Saturday, and began to unload the van, there were swarms of helpers and made that part pretty easy for the incoming Freshmen and families. We were interviewed by a WCBI reporter. I had on no makeup and looked like a 59 year old sweathog but I gave the young man his interview. Why us I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I made eye contact. Maybe it’s because we pulled up in a 15 passenger van that was filled to the roof; or maybe we just looked interesting and were willing to talk to him.
He misspelled my name dang it. Oh well. And apparently a lot of people watched it because my Facebook page went ballistic with messages. Ahhhhh our 15 minutes of fame.

After helping Erin and her new roommate adjust bed height and moving furniture around to make floor space, and unpacking and filling out forms, her dad and I left. We stopped and ate lunch and watched a storm cloud blow over. We drove home and resumed our lives. I had a church bulletin to finish and he had yards to mow. When dinner time rolled around we ordered a pizza. When I heard my husband placing the order, I thought to myself, we have not eaten a pizza like that for years. It was a meat lovers with jalapenos, something the girls never liked so we stopped ordering it years ago and only got pepperoni or 4 cheese. With them both gone now I can cook a lot of things that Scott and I have not enjoyed for years.

When I awakened this Monday morning to the cooler temps, my mind thought about all the little projects I want to get done around the house. I am repainting a couple of rooms, redoing a bathroom floor, and turning the downstairs into a separate living space for when they come back. While this is still their home, when they come back it’s not going to be the same for them; Not because I have moved their things downstairs, but because they have had their taste of life away from Mom and Dad. They have had to start making life’s important decisions without our direct input. They have been able to come and go as they please to a certain degree.



It’s not going to be same for another reason too. Scott and I had barely a year alone before our little family grew beyond two people. Now nearly 23 years later we finally have our time together instead of having to plan a date night. That is already very nice. We miss our daughters, but they are standing on the edge of the nest and its time for them to fly like they have been talking about for the last year.

Acting my age and Harry Potter.

August 8, 2011

Well another birthday has come and gone quietly this year. I am 29 for the second time (times 2). Before you run for the calculator app on your phone…that equals 58. Some one asked me if I felt old and I replied no. My secret to not felling older? Well I don’t look at mirrors any longer unless I am just forced to. That way I don’t notice that crazy old woman that appears to be stalking me at every turn. I did put on my new bifocals the other day and caught a good look at her. Mercy but she looks just like me in the far off future!

I have to wonder some times just what the phrase “Act your age” means. What does a 58 year old woman act like? In my mind I am still able to do some of the things I did in my 30”s. I can’t dance like I used to that’s for sure. But I am physically capable to if I don’t turn my foot as I am prone to doing.

When the latest and last Harry Potter movie came out, my husband and I had tickets to the midnight premier. As my ‘luck’ would have it, I turned my ankle that afternoon and tore the ligaments across the arch of my foot. Again. I was in some kind of horrendous pain but nothing was going to deter me from seeing that movie that night.

I wrapped my injured appendage, dug out my personal pair of crutches (I’m a tad bit accident prone!), took some extra strength Aleve and we headed on up the highway to Oxford. When we arrived at 10PM the line was already 4 deep and backed down to Penny’s. Scott and the girls ran on and secured our spot in line as I limped slowly to join them.

An Epiphany struck me as I surveyed the vast crowd of college kids and high school students and young parents with their children. They were in various types of costumes depicting their favorite character from the movies. There I was, this old woman, hobbling up and I heard a kid say that I was doing the best Mad Eye Moody impression they had ever seen. It kind of perked me up. A little later, a columnist for the local paper me came over and interviewed us simply because we were older and I was on crutches and the little blurb was printed.

When the doors were opened and the crowd started in I picked up some speed to get a good seat. I normally want a middle of the row seat but this time I really wanted the aisle. We secured our seats and settled in for the movie. After it was all over and I looked around, I finally saw a few folks that were probably in my age bracket. We quietly acknowledged each other with a nod of the head.

I may be another year older, and lately as I read the obits there are people my age that are passing on, but I am very thankful for good health and a healthy mind. I still don’t know what it means to act my age. I know NOT to dress like my young daughters, which is just wrong on so many levels. But I have lost my middle age spread and we are now the same size which I think is a pretty good thing. I will concede to acting appropriately, what ever that means! But I’m never going to ACT my age. There is too much leeway in that. How about I just keep on being me taking it one day at a time and Lord only knows what I can get into each day.

Summer time and Livings not Easy

June 20 2011
Summer time and the living is easy….
Fish are jumping and the cotton is high….
While out in this oppressive heat this week, the words to that song from the opera Porgy and Bess kept running through my mind and all I could think about is there is nothing easy about Summer time in Mississippi. It’s hot and humid and mosquitoes are lurking to suck my blood. I did see fish jumping out the water while I was at a workshop at Lake Tiak O’Khata but I suspect it was because the water was a bit hot and the fish was feeling like it might be in a frying pan! As for cotton, perhaps that should be rewritten as “and ‘tater’ slips are in the ground”

Porgy and Bess was not exactly a ‘feel good’ opera and did not end well, it still had many messages. Are rich people happier with all their possessions and money or are poor people happier since they don’t have all that extra stuff around that they have to worry about?

I have to look around and wonder about such things myself. Can people really overcome their past and lead a good life, or will other people refuse to accept them. The Lord forgives us when we do stupid things and ask for forgiveness yet “we” tend to be skeptical and don’t give people the benefit of the doubt or even give them a chance.

Working with the local food pantry for over 11 years has opened my eyes to a lot of things. First, there are hungry people living around me. Second, there are people that really don’t give a damn that their neighbor is hungry. Third, no one believes that it could happen to them and fourth, there is always going to be some busybody that will break their neck to call me and tell me I should not be giving a box of food to ‘someone’ because that ‘someone’ doesn’t deserve it and is just lazy and good for nothing.

This coming Saturday I will standing out in that brutal heat with a ice pack under my wide brim hat as I mark off names on my list of the people in the county that will be coming for the small box of groceries that we have gathered. Your local food pantries depend and exist solely on donations of food from individuals. The pantries are all volunteer based. No one gets paid to do it. The volunteer’s work relentlessly looking and begging for canned food drives, and for people to drive to pick up locations to haul back any donations that can be obtained from the Mississippi Food Network. There aren’t any government funds for food pantries. Its all about people taking care of people. If your brother or sister stumbles and falls, you reach out and help them up; Just like they would help you in your time of need.

Times are hard now with high gas prices and food prices going out of control and the cost of living is in a constant state of rising and the job market is not promising at all for the many that are looking.

It may be summertime around here but the living ain’t easy for some.

No Empty Nest Syndrome here. PUSH!!! FLY!!!

June 5, 2011

This past month has been one of the most hectic months I have had in a long while. Our youngest daughter graduated from high school and is standing on the edge of the nest testing her wings.

As my husband and I were sitting on the bleachers at our second daughter’s graduation, my thoughts began to wander. I began thinking back to 18 years earlier when she was born. She was not eager to come into this world but she did finally. She was born a laid back kid and that part hasn’t changed a bit as she has gotten older. Now she is graduated and busy getting her things packed up for her fall semester at the W.

I was a late in life mom, or as my dear doctor liked to remind me, I was an elderly first time mom. I thought he was trying to be cute with me till I read that women that wait till they are past a certain age are called that. So there I was at 36 having my first child who was due on my 37th birthday. And two years later I had daughter number two just 3 days shy of her big sisters 2nd birthday. For the record, I turned 39 right after her birth.

The first real instruction for Motherhood a woman gets is on the delivery table when her doctor is repeatedly saying, “PUSH! PUSH!” And push I did. I pushed those girls through the door to their first pre-school and to meet their kindergarten teacher for the first time; I’ve pushed them out the door so they would not be late for school. I pushed them to go and talk to people first and not wait for someone to walk over to them. Then I had to start pushing them to do the homework, to do the school projects, to be in dance recitals and get up on that stage and just do it no matter if your shoes do fly off your feet!

I thought of times when I had to push them both to get out of bed and get dressed, pushed them to read books, pushed them to write papers and pushed them to tell the truth when a lie would be so easy. I pushed them to learn to think on their own, to make decisions based on what they thought, not on what I told them they should think. I pushed them to stand on their own two feet. I pushed them to learn to wash their own clothes, to learn to cook, to pick out their own things to wear and to brush their hair. I pushed them through the doors of the church from the time they were a week old and going to church was never an optional activity in our home.

It has been very satisfying to me that both our daughters are pretty independent. They still have a long way to go but I know that with all my pushing, they are ready to leave the nest and make their own way into the world. Sure their little feathers are going to get ruffled and clipped but I hope that all my pushing will not have been in vain and that they will look within themselves to find the inner strength they will need to press on. They are strong in their convictions and faith. They have their goals set and are both figuring out just how to achieve those goals.

Other parents ask us if we are starting to feel ‘empty nest syndrome’ yet. I have say no we are not. I didn’t cry at graduation, that’s not my style. I am proud of both our daughters’ accomplishments. They are both like snowflakes, very different, yet somewhat alike on the surface----without the peacefulness!

So from pushing on the delivery table those long hot summers ago, to pushing through school, I feel like they are ready to be pushed out of the ‘nest’ and into the world. It’s not easy, but after the big push comes the reward; my finest accomplishments are going to fly. It’s amazing what God can accomplish in our lives, especially when we push.
Erin's last time being a high school altar server. She is now a W girl.

April and may tornados

May 2, 2011

Well last week was the week that was! Never in the 10 years I have been a storm spotter have I lived through such an eventful weather week. My preference on weather spotting is usually limited to snow. But the last few years I have shown a little propensity to knowing when its time for a storm to spawn a tornado.

While I am fascinated by the clouds and updrafts and bowlines and hook echos and the jet stream, I do not get out and chase down a storm and deliberately place myself into the path of a large roaring funnel cloud. I have never envisioned myself as being the main character in the movie “Twister”.

Years ago I was fascinated by an interesting cloud formation and was outside standing in the bed of the pickup and gazing at its awesome horrible beauty when my mother looked out and saw me. She saw the rotation and knew exactly what was going on and started yelling at me to get my stupid self into the building. We barely made it in when the sucking started and opened all the doors and the whooshing sound was heard. That little whip of a tornado touched down about 3 miles from us and turned over a few cars. I think I was really ‘hooked’ on the hooks after that!

My husband and I were in Oxford early last Wednesday and just missed getting our bumper snatched off by the monster that devastated Pine Flat. The deadly calm and the weird green hue were right there and we raced down 9w. I watched the sky in the mirror and saw nothing but a black rain wrapped cloud. That was a tornado that no one would see until it was on top of them. Seeing the damage the next day was sobering.

On Friday I had to drive through Chickasaw County to go to Columbus to make the yearly pilgrimage to the W to load up one daughter’s belongings and bring it all home for the summer. As we traveled on 8, my second daughter started seeing the debris hanging in the trees that were still standing and then seeing all of the ones that were snapped like they were dry brittle twigs. The awesome and fearful power of the storms that scourged that area became evident.

Living with tornados in the southern states is like no other region. We can have all the sirens in the world blaring out warnings and the TVs telling us to take cover. The hard truth is, in our region, most of the time you can’t see them because of the lay of the land, and the trees, and ours are usually embedded in rain soaked clouds and all we see is a darkness that is touching the ground.

I can only hope that some how, we will all eventually have a storm safe shelter within our homes and that we are not ever again hit by the near perfect conditions that created all the super cell tornado spawning of last week. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say, I don’t want to have to be out looking at those clouds for any other reason other than to say, hmm it looks like its going to storm.