A Love Story

Thank you, my seester, for sending me this valentine. Although I do like to get valentine cards in the mail from my girlfriends and my sister, Jim and I don't "do" valentines, just as we don't "do" Christmas gifts and anniversary gifts for each other. We both feel the same way about that: we both want to be loved and cared for by the other every day. I would rather have a little surprise gift on any ordinary day, than on a mandated occasion. I want him to say "I love you" in the middle of the night, when we both just happen to wake up for a second, you know, when one of us has snored too loudly or something like that.

I love it when he fixes me a cup of coffee with just the right amount of chocolate Coffee Mate. I love it when he picks me up a scratch off lottery ticket when he is at the store. I love it that he will eat all my gluten free stuff without complaint, and that he gets it that I can't eat stuff like biscuits and donuts anymore. And he always thanks me for cooking dinner by saying "Thank you, my love." And when I ask him to do something for me, he says "Certainly, my love."

Yeah, it is a mushy thing, but how else can I tell you about the guy I love. And now, for those of you who don't know, here is how we met:

I was a divorced mom with three teenagers, going slowly out of my mind. I had bought myself a new lawnmower for my 39th birthday, but it was missing a bolt on one side of the handle from the day I brought it home from the store. A couple of months later I got so fed up with the handle that would not stay up, that I jumped in the car and went to the hardware store that my brother in law managed to buy a bolt to fix it.

When I walked into the store, my sister's husband was standing there talking to this guy. Alan looked at me and said, "Look what the cat dragged in." and the guy said, "Why are you talking about this nice lady like that?" to which Alan replied, "She is my wife's sister, so it's okay." and the guy said, "all the more reason to be kind to her." (ooooh, I liked that) Anyway, the guy waited on me and got the bolt for me and I went home to finish mowing the lawn. I did not even know his name.

So, when I got through with the yard, I called my brother in law at the store and asked if that guy was married. He said no. Then I asked what his name was, and Alan said "Jim." So, I told Alan to give Jim my phone number and tell him if he was interested in going out to dinner to give me a call. And he did. 16 years ago. On our first date we went to a state park to go for a walk. Hmmm, we did that yesterday, too.

And now, for your viewing pleasure:

A Day In The Life Of A Volunteer Camp Host

So, just what is it that a volunteer camp host does? And why do we do it? Here at Unicoi State Park in north Georgia, we are required to work 24 hours per week. The things we do vary from week to week, depending on what they need done. Most often, we do the normal campground duties, like cleaning out fire rings at the camp sites. We are amazed at the number of people who burn their trash in their fire rings. It is hard to believe that they enjoy the aroma of burning plastic. We wind up cleaning out all the leftover paper and plastic debris, so that the next person who uses that site won't get toxic fumes in their wieners and marshmallows.
We also pick up all the trash left behind. All of this rubbish came from one site. I know to some people it doesn't look like a lot, but if everyone left this little bit behind and it wasn't picked up, the campground would soon look like a dump. And no, those cigarette butts don't break down and disappear. They are still just as ugly to see next year when you come back if someone doesn't pick them up. And what about all those little bare feet running around next summer? If they stepped on those bottle caps it could ruin a nice vacation.
One of the camp hosts does a site check twice a day to document which sites are occupied and by whom. We give this information to the front desk at the lodge, so when they have new arrivals they will know which campsites are available, and so that they will know where each guest is camping in case they need to contact them.
The is always a project list of little things that need to be done. Here, Jim is attaching colored reflectors to the sign posts so that campers will know what color campsites are available on each road in the campground. The sites are color coded to designate what utilities are available and/or how long a of a camper will fit into the site.
In the camp store, called The Trading Post, there is always something to be done. Keeping the t-shirts folded and neatly stacked, stocking shelves, and sweeping the floor are things that need to be done every day.
The volunteers who are assigned to the trading post also ring up sales, give out trail maps and hiking information, and directions to other points of interest in the area. We meet a lot of people who come in for the day or to camp with us over the weekend.
The park hosts a huge arts and crafts show every year. The show takes place in a couple of weeks. Getting ready for it means a lot of very important, but little, tasks need to be done. We stuff envelopes, make name tags, and prepare parking passes for the show.
Although not a part of our official duties, we like to help guests when they need a hand. This young couple, Brian and Jude and their cute little dog, Russ, hiked down the mountain from Anna Ruby Falls, a 5 mile trip one way. It was getting late in the day, so Jim and I drove them back up to their car at the top of the mountain. They are a very interesting couple--she is from England and he is from Atlanta. They are getting married soon, and going to the Phillipines where she is going to teach in a British school there. Cool!
We do a lot here, but the Georgia State Parks give us a lot of perks, too. In addition to that spiffy black hat Jim gets to wear, and a certificate good for five free nights of camping at any Georgia State Park, we get a very nice full hook up site. We use the Toro cart to get around the park while we are on duty.
We get to use the laundry facilities free of charge to wash our clothes, and we get a 50% discount at the lodge restaurant, where the buffet features fried trout every night of the week. And, oooh, that dessert bar is quite yummy, too.
Best of all, we get to work with all the nice people who are on the paid staff. This is Scott and Ellen. Ellen is the person we go to with any questions, and who assigns the jobs we do. We have already signed up to come back next winter. They have five camp host spots here, so if anyone wants to come, let me know, and I'll send the info on how to sign up. Oh, and did I mention that we get to live in this beautiful place for a few months, where most people only get to visit for a day or two?

A Walk In The Park

Yesterday was a beautiful day in north Georgia, so we decided to go for a hike. We didn't make it the entire 5 miles--but we did make a 3 mile round trip of it. Smith Creek Hiking Trail starts in Unicoi State Park and ends up at Anna Ruby Falls on U.S. Forest Service property.

This is where we started our hike, off an old forest service road.
An earth and log stairway down a steep slope. The trees are flashed with blue paint to mark the trail.
Isn't it amazing how this tree hangs on to the hillside with those enormous roots?
I wish you could hear the water bubbling along in Smith Creek. This was a lovely spot to rest and just listen to the forest.
This tree was cut just enough to clear the trail. It must have fallen during a storm we had here last month.Jim found these feather remains of a large bird--probably an owl or a hawk.
A beautiful fungus growing out of a decaying log.
I wonder if these lovers are still together? They left their mark here years ago on the side of the trail.

And The Winner Is...

Jim and I have been looking for our next job since before Thanksgiving. It is not an easy task, let me tell you. We first have to decide where we want to go, then decide on a second choice of place to go. Then we look at all the places where campground jobs are posted that we know of:

Workamper News, a magazine to which we have a subscription
Coolworks a website dedicated to cool seasonal jobs
Happy Vagabonds, another website that has listings for jobs in campgrounds
Work@KOA, which is exactly what it sounds like

There are many more, but these are the main ones I use. Anyway, this year, we wanted to go to Arizona or Colorado, but it has not worked out that way. None of the job offers we got had enough money attached to even consider. So, even though it was our second choice, after everything has been said and done, we have decided to go to work at Water's Edge Campground at Table Rock Lake in Kimberling, Missouri.

We have never been to Missouri, except to drive through it once when we were making a delivery to Cedar Rapids, Iowa back when we were driving for a living. But, from the pictures of this place, it looks beautiful. And, my friend Wanda says she has been there and it is very lovely. Now, I have to get online and find out where all the farms are so I can start planning my days off!

Mexican Seafood Soup

When Jim and I were working in south Texas, one of our favorite restaurants, Las Margaritas, served a delish soup made with a white fish and shrimp. I asked Margarita for the recipe several times, but she wouldn't share it. I want to believe that it was because she was one of those cooks who "just knows how" to cook something, and really didn't have a recipe for it.

After we left Texas, I experimented for months, trying to reproduce that soup. This is as close as I can get without driving for three days.

Mexican Seafood Soup

Olive Oil
3-4 stalks of celery, coarsley chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 (or 3 if you dare) jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
3 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
3 medium potatos, washed and cut in chunks
3 cubes Shrimp bouillon (Caldo con sabor de camaron) w/ 1 cup water
OR 16 oz seafood stock
6 cups water
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 shakes of tabasco sauce
1 bunch fresh cilantro if desired
1 lb tilapia or other firm white fish, cut in bite size pieces
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 avacado, peeled and sliced
1 lime

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven. Saute the celery, onion, garlic, and jalapenos until the onions are clear. Add tomatoes, cumin, basil, red pepper, tabasco, carrots, and potatoes. Put the bouillon cubes in 1 cup of water in a microwave safe container. Microwave for 4 minutes, until the water is boiling. Stir well to make sure the cubes are dissolved. Add to the dutch oven. If using the seafood stock instead, add it now. Add the rest of the water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover the pot, and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the fish and shrimp, cover, and simmer another 10 minutes. Slice the avacado and squeeze lime juice over to prevent discoloration.

Ladle the soup into bowls, add a few slices of avacado, and a squeeze lime juice. Serve with corn or flour tortillas.

Or, just drive down to Pharr, Texas, walk into Las Margaritas, and order a bowl.

A Visit With My Friends

Phyllis and Wanda are my two best friends in the world. I have known them for more than 16 years, having met them when I worked at BellSouth in Atlanta. We used to go to lunch together every day, sharing our joys and our heartbreaks over some of the best food in the south. We always went to Mary Mac's Tea Room at least once a week when the weather was nice so we could walk it off coming back up the hill on Ponce De Leon to West Peachtree Street.

I was the first one of us to become a grandmother, so when Michael made his entrance into the world in San Antonio, they made the road trip with me over those 1,000 miles to go hold my grandson for the first time. How could you NOT love friends like that?

Here we are at the Riverwalk in San Antonio in October, 1996.
(Phyllis, Me, Wanda)

When Jim and I sold our house and hit the road, I was worried that I would never see my friends again. I shouldn't have worried about it though, because these girls have shown up in some interesting places. I don't see them as often as I would like to, but they are just a phone call or an email away. And we still sort out all the worlds (at least OUR worlds) problems whenever we get together.

Here we are sneaking across the border to Mexico in 2004.
(Wanda, Me, Phyllis)

They came to visit us on Saturday at Uncoi State Park in Helen, Georgia. Not a very long road trip, but they do live a couple hours away. We went to lunch at the lodge, where they have a buffet three times a day. After that, we acted like tourists in Helen, going to Nora Mills, Mark of the Potter, Serendipity Stained Glass, then coming back to walk around town looking in all the shops. Dinner was at the Troll Tavern, right down on the Chattahoochee River. (mmmmm, German bratwurst platter!) All too soon it was time to say goodbye, but not before we made plans to meet again at least one more time before we Jim and I leave here at the end of March.

Here we are after lunch at Unicoi Lodge on Saturday
(Wanda, Me, Phyllis)Yeah, we did let the guys come with us. Here they are, checking out the trout in the Chattahoochee at Nora Mills.

Rick, Jim, Jeff

A Recipe Contest

I am a member of a yahoo group called "Healthy and Wheatfree". Cheryl on that list invited me to enter my Banana Muffin recipe in a recipe contest on her website, Harris Whole Health. The prize for the baked goods category is a $50 bag of products from Bob's Red Mill. That is a prize worth getting, since I use a lot of Bob's Red Mill stuff. So, if you love me, click on over there and vote for me by March 20th. And if I win, next time I see you I'll bake up some of those muffins. And yes, this is shameless self promotion.

I have also entered my Chicken, Garlic, and Chard recipe, so you can all vote for that one, too. The prize for the Main Meal category is a bag of goodies from Heartland's Finest.

Here are the links to my recipes:

Banana Muffins
Chicken, Garlic, and Chard

Click on the name of the recipe above, it will take you to the webpage where you can vote. To vote, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on the stars to rate the recipe. If you want to enter the contest, any recipes do need to be your recipes, or a recipe that you’ve changed to make gluten free, allergen friendly or healthier. The deadline to enter is February 20, 2008. The deadline for voting is March 20, 2008. Let the games begin!

Another Muffin

A while back I posted the recipe for Cranberry Tangerine Muffins. Tonight I made a banana version of them. Here is the recipe, basically the same one from before, just changed up a little bit. If you are casiene and egg free, then leave out the egg and substitute soy, rice, or coconut milk for the regular milk.

Banana Muffins

¼ cup butter, melted (you can use olive oil)
1 cup buckwheat flour
½ cup brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup milk
½ tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten
3 bananas
1 of those individual serving cups of applesauce

Melt the butter and set aside. Mash the bananas and mix with the applesauce. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Mix the egg, milk and vanilla together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in all the liquid ingredients. Stir quickly to combine, but don’t worry about if there are lumps. Fold in the fruit mixture. Spoon into muffin pans that have been sprayed with Pam, or line with paper baking cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 28 minutes.

What An Exciting Thing!

This is Mama on the left, and Lilly on the right.

Back in December, I was the Guest Babe Of The Month over at 7 Babes A Blogging. As the guest blogger, I had to write at least one post per week. While I was trying to figure out what to write, I went to my mother's 80th birthday party. I came home from that party and wrote A Tribute To My Mother. (this site is now defunct, sorry) I didn't think much more about it, until this week.

On Sunday, Mama called me and told me that she got a phone call from her niece that she has not heard from in 44 years. Susan, my cousin, is the daughter of Mama's sister, Lilly, who died in 1963 from an aneurysm. Susan was 12 years old when her mother died, and went to live in Oklahoma with her paternal grandmother, and never saw her relatives in Michigan again after that. She said she has tried for years to find them, but did not ever know any last names except for Grandmother Brouch, Mama's mother.

Susan's husband has been searching the internet off and on for several years, and Saturday night he googled "brouch michigan" and one of the sites that came up was 7 Babes A Blogging, the site where I was the guest blogger for December. When he clicked on that link and found my post, he knew right away he had found the right family. When he showed it to my cousin and she saw the pictures of Mama on that post, she said they looked so much like her own mother that she knew it, too. So, they looked up phone numbers for Strouds in Douglasville, and the first one she called was Mama.

When Mama called me, she was THRILLED! She was so happy. She did not know I had written about her. Mama told me that she had often wondered over the years what had become of her sister's children. Then she asked me, Did you really write a tribute to me? and I said yes, and she said, "I never knew you felt that way about me." Well, gee, she IS my mother!

So, Susan called me last night and she thanked me over and over for writing that blog, because she has found her family after all this time. She also told me that she has been trying to duplicate her mother's stuffed cabbage all her life, and now she knows that she has found the right recipe.

This is not the first time our family has been reunited through the internet. Back in 1979, my youngest brother, Bobby, died in an accident. At the time of his death, he had a six month old daughter. After he died, his widow would not allow any of us to visit with her child, and we lost track of her. Earlier this year, my sister joined MySpace. She decided to do a search to see if maybe our niece was a member there. Sure enough, there she was. And since she had a very unusual first name, we knew it was her. She was in the Air Force, stationed in Arizona.

When my sister contacted her, she was delighted to find out she had such a large family, and when she came home to Georgia to visit in July, she was the guest of honor at a party to introduce her to the whole gang.

My sister also found our older brother's two children from his first marriage. They are both living in California. While they have not visited us, yet, we do keep in touch with them through MySpace. I think we have found everyone now. How Exciting!

Owen, The Rock Star Baby

Owen is our newest FabGrandson. We have three now, but since he is the newest one, he is the one we get the most pictures of at the moment. He has so much hair that even though he is only 15 weeks old, he has already had his first haircut! My son and his wife, the parents of this fabulous child, have taken to calling him "the rock star baby" because no matter what they do, his hair sticks straight up on top os his head. I think he looks sort of like a baby Einstein.

Here he is at 12 weeks, just discovering his feet. I LOVE this guy!

Another one at 13 weeks. He looks so serious here.

15 weeks. I'm still in love.

Gluten Free Cranberry Tangerine Muffins

One of the yahoo groups I am on is one where you can make a post telling what you have on hand, and other people can suggest recipes to make with it. One day last week someone posted that they had been given a bunch of oranges and wanted to know what she could do with them to use them up before they went bad. Someone then posted a recipe for a quick bread, where they put the whole orange, peel and all, into a food processor, chopped it up, and added it to the bread batter. MMMM, that sounded so good, except that 1. I can’t eat wheat flour, and 2. I am allergic to oranges. But, I CAN eat tangerines, and during the winter months I buy them by the bag.

So, this morning I decided to make an “Experimental Breakfast”. Here is the recipe for what I made:

¼ cup butter, melted

1 cup buckwheat flour

½ cup brown rice flour

½ cup tapioca flour

¼ cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon (more or less) Chinese Five Spice Powder (or cinnamon, if you prefer)

2/3 cup milk

½ tsp vanilla, orange, or lemon extract

1 egg, beaten

½ cup frozen cranberries

1 whole tangerine, peel and all

Melt the butter and set aside. Put the cranberries and the tangerine in a food processor and process until the tangerine peel is well chopped (I did cut out the stem end that was black). Mix all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and pour in all the liquid ingredients. Stir quickly to combine, but don’t worry about if there are lumps. Fold in the fruit mixture. Spoon into muffin pans that have been sprayed with Pam, or line with paper baking cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 21 minutes.

This recipe made 12 muffins for me, this may vary depending on the size of your muffin tins.

I have to say, that I was a little leary of using the whole citrus peel, but by gosh these were delicious!

I have to give credit here to the cookbook that I used as a guide for making this, after getting the idea of it from the yahoo list. It is “Allergy-Free Cookbook” by Alice Sherwood.

I checked it out from the library and I am thinking about buying one. She has some really good recipes in there and shows adaptations for every one of them for nut free, dairy free, egg free, and gluten free versions. The pictures in it will make you drool!

What a Good Haircut Should Look Like

A few months ago, while we were still in Pennsylvania, I wrote about the horrible haircut I got at a little shop in Gettysburg. I showed you the pictures of that hack job. I couldn't go anywhere without a hat for about a month.

The first thing we did when we got to Georgia was make a beeline for our daughter's hair salon. Becky always makes me feel so special, and she always does a good job on my hair. So, just for the fun of being able to show you what a good haircut looks like, as soon as we got home from her shop last month I had Jim take a couple of pictures. What a wonderful difference!

This is the front:

And this is the back:Thanks, Becky!

I Am Famous

Yeah, so last week I was sitting in the lobby of Unicoi Lodge, where they have wireless internet service, doing some surfing on my laptop, when this lady walks up to me and says, "Excuse me, but are you FabGrandma?" Of course, I said I was, but I was shocked that someone would recognize me. It was a weird feeling, but weird in a good way. I felt flattered that someone would not only read my postings here, but actually remember what I look like from my picture.

So, yeah, you are reading THE Fabgrandma!

Unicoi

Just a couple of pics I wanted to share. The first one is a resting spot on the lake trail at Unicoi State Park. This was taken on January 6, 2008, in the north Georgia mountains. It was 70 degrees! What a beautiful day.


This was also on the lake trail at Unicoi. I was trying to a picture of our shadows on the water. What do you think?

I Have Been Tagged, So Here Ya Go...

Froggi Donna at From The Lily Pad, one of my rver friends from the Escapees forum, has tagged me for a blog tag. To play, you have to do this:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Share the 5 top places on your "want to see or want to see again" list.
4. Tag a minimum of 5 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Acck! Was my fist thought when I saw that I was tagged. I really don’t like to be tagged, because it makes me have to actually think. So, to satisfy this tag, here goes:

Five Random Weird Facts About Me: (Ha! Those who know me well probably are thinking anything I could say about myself is weird)

1. I like cheese and I like broccoli, but I hate cheese on broccoli. I also do not like broccoli casserole or green bean casserole.
2. I was once searched by the Secret Service while I was wearing a bathing suit.
3. I am afraid of spiders and once went to a laundromat to wash clothes because one was in front of my washing machine.
4. I have to make my own bread because I can not eat wheat. The gluten free bread available already cooked at stores tastes like cardboard.
5. My husband tells people I have such a heavy southern accent that I can make his name into three syllables, and his name is Jim.

The Top Five Places I Want To See:

1. The Grand Canyon (I did go there once about 10 years ago, but I really want to go again.
2. Yellowstone National Park
3. Alaska, but I probably won’t ever get there.
4. I want to go to Cabo San Lucas in my RV. I want to go next winter. I want to go with Charlie and Lynn and Russ and Liz and Gary and Faye, hint hint hint.
5. I want to go to Washington State and drive down the Pacific coast to San Diego.

And now, I am tagging:

1. That guy from The Camping Machine Blog

2. Marye at 7 Babes A Blogging

3. Playing With Soap, a lady who makes lovely soaps and blogs about it.

4. Michelle at One Day and One Coffee At A Time

5. And just for meanness, Ken, who has to post on his MySpace page

There you have it, my answers and the people I have tagged. I am done.

It Must Be Karma

We have been planning to go to Alabama to a National Forest Service campground to work as volunteers for some time now. We have had this planned for months, and even confirmed with them last week. The only thing is, we got an email from the volunteer coordinator at Payne Lake telling us that we would either have a site with water and electricity but no sewer, OR a site with sewer and electricity but no water. We have been trying to decide for a couple of weeks which would be easiest to handle.

In the meantime, Jim's Mom called and asked us to come up to Unicoi State Park for a little while to be close to them. Unicoi is the park where we have volunteered for the last two winters, in north Georgia, in the mountains. Since we have been there before, we know what the volunteer responsibilites are so it wouldn't be hard for us to do it again. But, the day that Jim's Mom called, I hung up from talking to her and called the volunteer resource contact at Unicoi and reached her voice mail. Since we had not heard back from them we just assumed they didn't have a need or a space for us there. We were both wanting to go to Alabama, but also wanting to go to Unicoi because that would be the right thing for us to do.

Today, we got a call from Unicoi saying that they do have a volunteer space for us. And Ellen, the resource person, said that even though she has had other people call wanting to volunteer, we were her first choice, since we had been there before. So, tomorrow we will be going back up to Unicoi until the end of March.

Now, the karma part. We have been applying for jobs out west since before Thanksgiving, and had not heard back from anyone. Not ONE. Until about 10 minutes after we agreed to go to Unicoi. Then, the phone rang and it was a park near Bryce Canyon in Utah. As soon as the man started telling me they were "very interested in hiring us" I told him that we had had a change in our plans since I sent the application last week. We would not be able to come the first week of March because we had just committed to someone until the end of March. And he said, "That is even better for us, because we don't need you until the first week of April" Is that Karma or what?? We don't have a confirmed job yet, but we are closer than we were before that phone call. As soon as we get a firm offer, I will post a link to the place. It is gorgeous!

Dang!

Sigh....Make that a BIG SIGH....I just realized that we ate the last of our yummy Utz White Corn Tortilla Chips. They are the best corn chips ever, but, alas, they are only available in Pennsylvania. They taste delish and are gluten free for a gluten free FabGrandma.

If there is anyone out there reading this, who is in Pennsylvania, who would like to make me very happy, you can do so by sending me some more of these loverly chips. I know, I am just too easy to please.

Hammy Ham Ham

When I was growing up, we always had ham on Christmas Day. My mother cooked it on Christmas Eve, and it made the house smell wonderful. We always got to have ham sandwiches on pumpernickle bread for dinner on Christmas Eve. When I was a kid, I used to think it was a such a special treat—the very best bread in the world, with a good smear of mustard, and that sweet juicy delicious ham fresh from the oven! I can still feel the mustard smeared on my cheek after the first bite. But when I got older, I finally figured out that we had those sandwiches because Mama did not have time to make anything else. That did not make the memory any less sweet, though, and I still yearn for a ham on pumpernickel whenever I smell ham baking in the oven.

When my own three children were young, and I was the one in a frenzy on the night before Christmas, I started a new tradition. Instead of spending all my time in the kitchen away from my three very special guests, I made a cocktail party for them with all the grownup hors dourves---sausage balls, raw veggies and dip, a cheese and cold cut platter, olives, pigs in blankets. And I got out my real crystal wineglasses and served up punch or koolaid. We all got dressed up in our best clothes, put on music and danced, even when the oldest of them was only five years old. The first year that my son was in the Air Force was the first time I didn’t make the traditional party for them. After Christmas, my son, who was home on leave, said, “It just didn’t feel like Christmas without our party.” I truly didn’t know it meant so much to him. I am wondering if he is doing this for his own children now.

The reason I am having these rememberies is because I bought a ham this week. I cooked it yesterday, but not before I made a loaf of gluten free pumpernickel bread. Well, not REALLY pumpernickel. I used Bob’s Red Mill Hearty Whole Grain Gluten Free Bread Mix. I add four tablespoons of brown sugar to the mix because I don’t like the taste of it if I don’t. It turns out a very dark, spicy, nutty bread much that tastes a lot like pumpernickel. And unlike the last time I made it, I actually used two 8” X 4.5” loaf pans. The result was two beautiful, if small, loaves of bread.

So, what is a two person household going to do with a nine pound ham? Well, the first night we had baked ham, collard greens and bread. The menu for the coming week looks like this:

Ham and Potato Casserole
Leftover Collards
Bread

Bean Soup
Ham Sandwiches

Ham Salad with Rice and Peas

Macaroni and Cheese with Ham
Pear Salad

Homemade Vegetable Soup
Cornbread

Ham Omelettes
Stir Fried Squash and Peppers

There are also four ziplock bags of ham scraps and fat trimmings to be used to season soups and other dishes later on. I would say that this $9.00 ham purchase was a real bargain!

Here is the recipe for my Ham and Potato Casserole

4 or 5 medium red potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 cups cubed cooked ham
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon thyme
1 small can evaporated milk
enough water to make 2 cups when added to milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup tapioca flour
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 8 oz container of fresh mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

Spray a casserole dish with olive oil. In a large bowl, mix together the potatoes, ham, salt and pepper, thyme. Cut up the mozzarella cheese into small pieces, and add to the potato mixture. Mix well, pour into the casserole dish.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the olive oil. Add the onions and cook until they are transparent. Add the tapioca flour and stir well. Add the sour cream to the evaporated milk and water, stirring to combine. Pour into the saucepan with the onion mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Pour over the potato mixture in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Take out of the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Note: The sauce will not look like a white sauce made with wheat flour—it will be less thick and clearer. But it will taste very good.

Chicken With Salsa and Rice

This dinner is so quick, easy, inexpensive and good--all the best reasons in the world to try it. I'm telling ya, it does not get any better than this.

Chicken with Salsa and Rice:

6 pieces of chicken, skin removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 jar of your favorite salsa
1 jar of water
1 cup of uncooked rice

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Salt and pepper the chicken pieces and brown them in the olive oil. Pour in the jar of salsa, the water, and the rice. Stir to distribute the rice in the pan. Cover and simmer until the rice is done, about 22 minutes.

I made this tonight with an Apple Salsa from a farm market in Pennsylvania. Side dishes were black beans and pear salad. How simple is that?

Chicken Corn Chowder

I found a really good deal on chicken the other day—only 89 cents a pound for leg and thigh quarters. The only catch was that you had to buy 10 pounds of it to get that price. Those of you who know me know that I live in a tiny little travel trailer and have a tiny little freezer. That 10 pounds of chicken just about filled up the freezer. So I have been cooking chicken just about every day for the last week. In order to not have the same old thing day in and day out, I have been trying new things. The chicken of the day for today may be the most yummy thing made with chicken, EVER! If you have a gluten freedie that you feed, or even if you don’t this should be on your menu soon. It tastes like love in a bowl.

Chicken and Corn Chowder

2 cups cooked chicken, diced
6 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery rib, diced
3 shallots, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 ½ cups frozen creamed corn or 3 ears fresh, scraped off the cob
2 oz evaporated milk
¼ cup sour cream
1-3 tablespoons potato flour (or regular wheat flour if you are not gluten free)

Put the chicken, broth, corn and potatoes in a dutch oven and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. In the meantime, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the onion, celery, and shallots and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the onion mixture to the dutch oven. When potatoes are done, add the evaporated milk and sour cream. Add flour and stir until desired thickness is achieved.

This is very good served with buttered gluten free bread or cheese toast.

For an interesting variation, add a couple of roasted, diced poblano peppers with the onions. Yuummmm!