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Where do I start? A long time ago, there was an itinerant Presbyterian preacher and his wife and 4 daughters, Betty, Teasa, Deedy, and Wee Wee. They would pack the four girls and all their possessions in the car and ride through Texas spreading the Word. In 1936, this preacher took his wife and girls to Itasca, Texas to become Director of the Presbyterian Children’s Home (I believe it was actually called an orphan’s home back then). Well, the four girls grew up, and three of them married Presbyterian ministers and the fourth, being a bit of a slacker, married a lay Presbyterian who worked at the Home. Anyway, over the years, those girls had a total of 14 children, one of which was LJ. He eventually married me, which is how it is that I’m writing this.

These 14 cousins along with their spouses, significant others, and assorted cohorts have kept in touch and close all these years. Back in 2003, they started having cousins’ reunions at a wonderful B&B in Glen Rose, Texas called Country Woods Inn. We just got back from this year’s reunion, and it was a resounding success - again.

We started as we usually do having a picnic lunch on the grounds at Grace Presbyterian Village in Dallas where the two remaining daughters, Deedy and Wee Wee, live. Sadly, the other two daughters and all of the spouses have passed away. This year, there were 12 of us who could make the trip. We came from Wisconsin, Colorado, Washington, Florida, and, of course, Texas. After we ate our sandwiches and brownies, we piled into cars and made the trek to Glen Rose.

Country Woods Inn is a wonderful place with a big Main House on the property which has 4 B&B bedrooms with private baths, a large living room, dining room, and kitchen. On the property are several other small houses, most of which have been divided into 2 sides to rent. This year we rented the entire Main House, the Saddle House, and the Farm House. We always get the Main House so that we can use the kitchen and large patio to do what we do best, eat and drink.

Upon arrival, we started upacking food and drink in the kitchen, and you would have thought it was for a group of 12 for a week! Assorted chips, dips, veggies, fruit, cookies, brownies, cheese (from Wisconsin, of course), soft drinks, wine, beer, vodka, and tequila for margaritas. When we come to party, we come to PARTY! Then we ensconsed ourselves on the patio and proceeded to reunite. As the laughter was just beginning to get raucous, cousin Dan rolled up in his 1955 Greyhound Scenicruiser Bus. It was just amazing!

Saturday morning, we all gathered in the Main House for Breakfast. I brought my traditional Southwestern Breakfast Casserole and Judy brought tons of fresh fruit. Mary and Kalleen brought coffee and cheese from Wisconsin and Al brought juice. We feasted, and then proceeded to prepare the bus for the journey. At 11:00, we all piled into the Scenicruiser and took off for our Hawkins history tour. We first drove to Hillsboro where we had the BEST Mexican food at a little local place called Montes Cafe. This tiny place pushed tables together and welcomed us with open arms. After mounds of chips and salsa, enchiladas, tamales, chalupas, migas, and a sampling of just about everything else on the menu, we boarded the bus and headed to Itasca.

We went past the grandparents old homestead they had nicknamed “Hilltop” on the way to the Home. At the Home, we got out and roamed the grounds. It was fascinating as an “outlaw” to this bunch to eavesdrop on the reminiscing. The Home has a swimming pool and horses to ride, and, as a child, LJ thought it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t be an orphan, too. It was his considered opinion that they had all the fun. We took the traditional photo of the cousins arranged in order of age, and then headed back to Glen Rose.

That evening all of us invaded a local restaurant in Glen Rose for dinner. It was there that things started to get really goofy. The restaurant specialized (as all good rural Texas restaurants do) in chicken fried steak. A missing word on the menu started it all. Under House Special, it stated, “4 oz. hand battered, fried with mashed potatoes and dinner salad.” Someone immediately figured that we were having fried hand for dinner. About that time, a waitress who was cleaning a nearby table ran her hand between the seat and the back of the banquette and let out a loud yelp. Something had stabbed her. Martha opined that that’s where the restaurant got the hands.

We started getting really giddy over Texas street signs. We imagined cactus prancing across the road at “Plant Crossing” and at the sign warning about “Loose Cows” Martha wanted to know how they knew they were loose. (Red stockings is the give-away.) At this point, Donn, a REAL Texan, said he was getting embarrassed. I was trying to keep from spitting up when an “outlaw” from Colorado via Detroit was asking the waitress to explain the difference between a hamburger and a hamburger steak. I can tell you, if you don’t know, it has to do with buns and sweated onions. I’m just happy the restaurant let us finish our meals instead of tossing us out.

I feel privileged to be a part of this big, loving group of folks, so incredibly diverse and yet all from the same uniquely wonderful gene pool.

Recipe of the day: Mom’s Southwestern Breakfast Casserole
1 1 lb. loaf French bread, cut into large chunks
1 lb. sausage, browned and drained well
1 can green chiles
1 8 oz.package cream cheese, cubed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
12 eggs beaten with 2 cups milk

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with Pam. Layer all ingredients in the order given. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

I’m married to a pacifist. An animal loving pacifist; an animal saving, animal loving, real blue pacifist!  But he’s no PETA nut.  He loves a good steak.  When we take walks on the walking trail in our neighborhood, he counts the rabbits.  Our best walk was a 26 bunny night.  He gets a little irritated when we see a bunny up ahead, and further up is someone walking a big dog.  He knows the dog will scare the rabbit away before we get there.  I never know whether to count that rabbit or not.  We saw it, didn’t we?  I think it counts.

He’s always on the lookout for birds.  His father was a serious birder and counted for the Audubon Society.  When he passed away, we found his “life list” which contained over 500 varieties that he had seen.  So over the years, LJ learned to recognize countless varieties of birds.  Since we’ve been married, I’ve learned to recognize, oh, maybe 5.  But he keeps pointing them out to me.  I just know we’re going to run off the highway one day when he spies another hawk at the top of a telephone poll.  “Look, look, it’s a Red Tail Hawk! Did you see it?”  By the time he’s voiced the question we’re way past the hawk and I didn’t even see brown, let alone a red tail (which it really doesn’t have, I’m convinced).

One of the best things he does is save animals from each other and that bitch, Mother Nature.  We have billions of earth worms in our neighborhood.  I don’t know why, but sometimes when we go out for our walks, there will be dead earthworms all over the sidewalk.  Well, occasionally there will be one desperate earthworm, barely squirming on the cement.  You can almost hear him like The Fly in the movie, “help me, help me… .”  Anyway, LJ will carefully scoop the little fellow up and toss him back into a yard, smugly satisfied that he’s just saved another creature from the bitch.

Scout & Zooey

The one thing that is totally unsafe in our house is a gecko.  And the little tiny ones come in some way (we haven’t figured that out yet) and are gecko patties before they know what pounced.  Scout and Zooey play with them until they don’t move any more and then leave them in the floor for me to find and throw away.  Well, the other night, LJ saw a big gecko, probably 4 inches long, way at the top of the wall in our foyer.  The ceilings are 18 feet in there, and this sucker was at the top.  LJ grabbed a fishing pole and a couple of bath towels and rousted me from my “Archie’s chair” to go on a save the gecko mission.  We wound up forcing the gecko off the wall (he fell actually), and LJ threw a towel over him.  He escaped the first towel, but I was a hero with the second one and LJ was able to scoop the little bugger up and throw him back into the night.  He was so proud.  He came back in the house grinning and exclaiming that it didn’t even lose its tail.  Wow!

In honor of the animal kingdom, today’s recipe is vegetarian.

Baked Eggplant with Mushrooms

1 peeled eggplant, cut into ¼ inch slices (about 1 ¼ lb.)

Cooking spray

1 cup chopped onion

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 8 oz. package mushrooms, sliced

black pepper

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2/3 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat broiler

Arrange eggplant slices on a baking sheet coated with Pam.  Broil 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.

Preheat oven to 375 ° .

Heat a large non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat; add onions and next 4 ingredients (onion through mushrooms).  Cover and cook 7 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.  Increase heat to medium high.  Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates.

Spread half of mushroom mixture in bottom of 1 ½ quart baking dish coated with Pam.  Arrange half of eggplant slices over mushrooms. Sprinkle with pepper. Top with half of tomato sauce and half of mozzarella.  Spread remaining mushroom mixture; top with remaining eggplant.  Sprinkle with pepper and top with remaining tomato sauce and cheeses.

Bake, uncovered 5 minutes or until cheese melts.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

4 servings.

I blatantly stole the title of today’s post from Blackie Sherrod, a former sports writer for the Dallas Morning News.  I beleive the statute of limitations has run, however, and he won’t mind.  It just seems very appropriate to this post.

I haven’t blogged for awhile.  No excuses.  I have been busy, though.  We went to the Great State Fair of Texas on opening day again this year.  We’ve been doing that for some 20 years.  The weather was wonderful and the fair was fun as always.  We watched dogs catch frisbees, and fools fall from many stories high strapped into a sort of bungee contraption.  We ate, as always, but Kim (who could have been nicknamed stretch as a child) won the consumption title.  She had a Fletcher’s corny dog, roasted corn on the cob, orange sherbet on a stick, ice cream drumstick, and Jacks’ French fries.  Winnah!!!!

We took a weekend trip to Lake Murray, OK.  That was the weekend we were supposed to go to Crystal Beach, but Ike nixed that.  Anyway, Lake Murray is a lovely lake in Oklahoma with the lodge built in the 1950’s.  There are cabins all over the several acres surrounding the lake which can be rented.  It’s really beautiful and has been a lovely way to relax and enjoy nature for many years.  The sad part is, the good people of Oklahoma have not found it in their hearts to designate any tax dollars to keep it up.  So the lodge is falling down around its ears, and many of the cabins have been boarded up.  The decision has been made to privatize Lake Murray park.  The plan is to tear down the lodge and the old cabins and rebuild newer, brighter, better for bigger bucks.  We’re told it will cost “somewhat” more to stay there in the future but all will be great.  I think it’s a shame.  The people who used to go there and enjoy the state owned playground will no longer be able to afford it.  My  political statement of the day is that people who always vote against taxes are voting against themselves; they’re just too short sited to see it.

We’re spending the weekend at our lakehouse on Cedar Creek Lake.  It is so wonderfully relaxing to get away from the Metroplex.  LJ and I have discussed the fact that it’s just physically impossible for us to be uptight and worry about work and such when we’re here.  Everyone should have such a respite.

4 chicken breasts, skinned and boned

1 tablespoon oil

salt and pepper

1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons light cream

1 teaspoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

¾ cup unsalted chicken stock

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot

1 small tomato, seeded and chopped

1/3 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

Heat oil over medium-high heat in skillet.  Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and saute until cooked through.  Transfer to plate and keep warm.

In a small bowl, stir the yogurt and cream into the cornstarch mixture.  Set aside.

Add garlic and shallot to skillet and saute for 1 minute.  Add stock and lemon juice to skillet, and stir to deglaze pan.  Boil slowly for 3 to 4 minutes until liquid has reduced slightly.  Remove from heat and stir in the tomato and yogurt mixture.  Add cilantro. 

Pour sauce over chicken and serve.