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It’s new year’s eve, and I’m finishing out the year exactly where I want to be - with LJ at the lake. It’s sunny, in the 50’s, and just beautiful. I’ve been pondering the year soon to be past, and like the others, there have good times and not so good.

We started the year on a very sad note, with our life-long friends Dot and Neill English dying within one day of each other in January. It was unexpected, untimely, and heartbreaking. They were only in their 70’s, and it was ironic that they died one day apart. They were inseparable in life; it’s only fitting that their end was the same.

In March, we celebrated my brother’s birthday with him and his wife here at the lake. It was a lovely weekend and made me very aware of how it seems Steve and I grow closer each year. It’s nice to have that kind of relationship with a brother.

April brought a huge thrill for LJ and me. One of our favorite jazz singers, Stacey Kent, and her husband, jazz saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, came to Edmond, Oklahoma. They headline Ronnie Scott’s in London and Birdland in New York City, and here they were coming to the University of Central Oklahoma of all places! We grabbed reservations and hightailed it. And they did not disappoint. They put on a beautiful show, and we met them and got CD’s signed after the show. If you’re not familiar with them, I highly recommend them.

In May, we took one of the trips a lifetime to Italy with LJ’s sister, Janet. We went to Rome, Tuscany and Bellagio. It was a beautiful journey and it was really good to spend it with Janet. I loved Rome, but San Gimignano and the surrounding area is still my favorite. I will say, though, that my only disappointment with Bellagio was that I didn’t run into Mr. Clooney. I’m sure he’s disappointed, too.

June brought our 39th wedding anniversary. We spent it at the lovely W Hotel with dinner at Lola. I still can’t believe it’s been that long. In some ways it only seems like a few years. I’m ready for many more.

October was a huge month. First, you know if you read this blog that October brought Hurricane Ike which wiped out Bolivar Peninsula and Crystal Beach. It still makes me tear up to think about it. However, we went with the Barnetts to Lake Murray, Oklahoma and had a wonderful time with them like we always do. We’re already talking about trying to get back to Galveston next year even though Crystal Beach is gone. And finally, we had the Hawkins cousins’ reunion at Country Woods Inn in Glen Rose. What a blast. And what a month!

November brought the best news of the year - the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Even though the economy is tanking and the Middle East is teetering on annihilation, there is hope for the future.

I am finishing the year bittersweet. We spent Christmas with my family in Kansas City. While it was really wonderful to be with my Mom and my sisters and their families to celebrate, it is just too difficult to witness how Alzheimer’s destroys a human being from the core out. My Dad is no longer a person I know. It is painful to have your father ask what your name is and whether or not you finished college. I can only hope that this doesn’t drag on for long. As he said when we were there, “I am lost.” I don’t think he’ll be found again on this earth.

But life goes on, and tomorrow will be a new year. It will bring good and bad as it did this year, but it always brings new hopes. And that’s what keeps us all going. HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE.

My favorite new year’s dinner, Chili and Cornbread.

Beef Chili

3 T. vegetable oil
3 lb. ground chuck
3 yellow onions
8 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno
1/2 cup chili powder
2 T. cumin
1 T. oregano
2 t. coriander
1 1/2 cups lager beer
2 1/2 cups beef broth
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 can kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can pinto beans (rinsed and drained)

Brown ground chuck in 2 tablespoons oil. Drain thoroughly. While meat is draining, saute onions, garlic and jalapeno in remaining oil. Add meat back to pan and add remaining ingredients (through beans) and stir completely. Simmer over low heat for at least one hour or more if desired.

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.

Today I am just very, very sad.  Hurricane Ike landed on the coast of Texas Saturday morning and laid waste to a huge stretch of coastline from Louisiana to South Texas.  It’s devastating for all those who live there, but it’s a bit of a personal loss for me, too.  Every year for the last 6 or so years, LJ and I have been going to Crystal Beach with our best friends, Kim and Keith.  Crystal Beach is on Bolivar Peninsula, and according to the report in the Dallas Morning News today, none of the businesses only a few of the houses survived the storm.  NONE of the businesses!  Think about it.  That’s a community wiped out!

In years past, the four of us would rent a beachfront cottage from Swede’s.  We had our favorites - Herman’s HIdeaway, Rhea’s Retreat, the blue one I can’t think of the name of right now.  

LJ on deck at Crystal Beach

We had a routine, being creatures of habit the four of us.  We would arrive on Thursday and have a huge, juicy burger at Bob’s.  We’d go the grocery store and load up on food, and then go to Milt’s for freshly caught shrimp.  Thursday night was always a shrimp boil and beer on the balcony overlooking the gulf.  What a way to kick off a long weekend!

Friday we would take the ferry back over to Galveston and just knock around.  The ferry rides back and forth between Bolivar and Galveston were a huge part of the fun.  You never tire of watching the dolphins leaping gracefully out of the water.  In Galveston, Kim and I would go to the antique stores and we’d stop in the beach shops and buy T-shirts and flip flops and other trivia we didn’t really need.  Right now I’m wearing my Flo-Jo flip flops I got in Galveston a couple of years ago.  Friday night was always steaks cooked outside on the grill.  Nights on the beach just listening to the water are hypnotic.  LJ and Keith would stay out way after Kim and I would hit the sack.

Saturday nights we always went to Stingeree for dinner.  They had the BEST killer margaritas ever!  And great seafood.  There is something to be said for overindulgence.  Overindulgence in moderation is a good thing.  (I’m sending that to Martha Stewart.  Do you think she’ll thank me?)  Our last night on the beach was always bittersweet.  We’d had so much fun, but we knew we’d come back the next year.

Until now.  I’m really afraid Crystal Beach is gone.  Even if it does come back, it will be years, and it will never be the same.

No recipe today.  Just boil up some shrimp and eat it with red sauce.