Old Bogs, Thank You Paula Deen, And Other Musings

I've been sitting here for some time now on my throne...going back in time. Back to the Julie/Julia project....reading the actual blogs that Julie posted as she was making her way through THE BOOK. I figured since we're neighbors it would be fun to take a peek at it. She is right...Julia taught a lot of us to cook....I know the first time I fixed one of the potato dishes in her revolutionary cookbook it seemed to take longer than it should've ...but the time after that...PERFECT!! The potato and onion soup might have been quite as creamy like you know potato soup usually looks like...but "YUM!" That was the first dish I prepared out of the book by the way.....Ahh memories! Practice practice will eventually produce the yummy sauce for some poulet' sautee' dish in the future...and yes butter is better....margarine is just gross! LOL Moderation is the key! LOL Well that and plenty of Tae Bo sessions...which I might add I still have to do before I fry the chicken for our supper....which leads to my next cook that I have to thank...Paula Deen taught me how to finally fry chicken with a decent crust on it! Her Southern Fried Chicken is fool-proof....love it! Her (well now mine) Chicken Brunswick stew recipe that I found a couple of years ago on the Food Network website is so good you will make "the face" that everyone makes when they take a bite of something and the goodness just explodes in your mouth and you can't wait to take another bite! I saw the character who played Judith Jones in Julie and Julia make that face when she tasted the recipe out of Julia's cookbook when she prepared it at home....and of course the YUM is perfectly acceptable! Paula's first cookbook and THE BOOK are on my shelf here in the kitchen and I peek in them often to make sure I remember the amounts of this or that for recipes that I prepare regularly. Between the two of them....and how my sweet Mammaw always fixed her special eggs for breakfast when I was growing up ...I think I am becoming a better cook. That's what happened to Julie Powell I think in her year-long journey that despite the tears and fights and things that life in general throws at us from day to day...she experienced all that great food and learned a lot in the process. Once we all got our hands on her book and or read "My Life In France" which I highly recommend btw...her magnum opus that she and her two friends put together so long ago experienced a rebirth as copies flew off the shelves. Whether she thought much of the project or not....when she heard about it...I think she would have been honored had she lived to see what it came to be....and appreciated how people once again wanted to learn how to cook from Julia.

The overcast afternoon is drifting away and my chicken pieces are snug in the Frigidaire coated in seasonings...waiting to be coated with self-rising flour, etc, fried and enjoyed. Meanwhile...I see my Billy Bands and the chosen workout for the day sitting here on my island reminding me that I need to get at it. Another week starts tomorrow and also reminds me to make sure I have enough ones for lunch money....and mentally I have started a list of things I need to get done before Friday....an away game...SIGH....two hours away...which means post-midnight pick-up surely! UGH! Poor hubby! Of course a long weekend will give us time to recharge our batteries. Won't that be nice! Now what can I cook for Labor day??? LOL....I'll keep you posted! Loveyameanit..Queenie

Conversations Around The Supper Table

That's right ya'll...in the South we eat supper....not dinner...Dinner is term used for Sunday after church or a special meal cooked for a holiday, etc. Supper is done and I am enjoying it as I converse with you ....my cyberfamily in that ginormous void in cyberspace. A steak and a salad is the fare of choice on most Saturdays around our house. So what went on today ......hmmmm well Saturdays are pretty much more laundry, more cleaning, more facebooking.....LOL Today was the big Glen Beck rally in DC....From what I have read of the festivities they had a great turnout and speakers said some wonderful and heartfelt things that in some cases as I read them I got blessed!!! Taking our country back and regaining the honor that it has held since all of those in uniform and those who founded it forged the building blocks that held it together more than 200 years ago.....one speaker said he can see people turning back to God that sadly turned away ....that we as a nation need to pray ...not just on our knees but on our knees so our children will see our example and hopefully follow suit! Today wasn't about politics it was about standing on the spot where a late civil rights leader stood and told throngs of people that he had a dream.....the speech writer and longtime attorney of that man was there today and said that he would have been honored by what he saw going on. I am so glad to see people who may have been silent for some time finally speaking up and saying ....we will not continue to allow the blocks that are the foundation of this nation be broken apart or changed. 

I heard a wonderful song on the car radio the other day and when they put it up on iTunes I am going to download it and listen to it often.....it said that only two people have ever died for me A soldier and Jesus....and it went on about how each endured terrible horrors and after it was over ....oh it is just what we need to hear right now. James Otto sings it....and it is beautiful!!!

August is about gone and Labor Day is almost here...wow this month went by fast didn't it??? Don't forget Sept 11 ....Remember. It's been 9 years since the day that changed our world forever....the images are painful to watch but you know something...I think people need to be reminded so they don't forget.....Evil brought those towers down .....and the power of Love and the Lord Jesus himself will help us stand against Evil and win....Remember how the bible turns out??? Evil is banished forever....WE WIN.  Don't let evil bring this country down....turn to God and ask him what you can do to bring goodness and honor back again....and watch Him move in ways that you could never imagine. He's waiting for you ......Ask Him.

Loveyameanit, Queenie

Getting To Know Me...In Case You Haven't the Foggiest Notion Who I Am....

"You better come on in my  kitchen" line comes to mind from the Keb Mo tune....It's only me Queenie...that's how my cyberbuddies know me...well most of them know me by the name my mama gave me too...but just the same..it's nice to see you...hope you'll stop by often and visit with me ...I've got some extra stools for you to sit on here at my kitchen island....where I spend a lot of my time..unless there's something else I really need to be doing instead. My hubby calls my stool my throne....well all right! A queen should have one don't you think?? Like the song goes...(I) she is the queen of my doublewide trailer..." minus the polyester curtains and the redwood deck! LOL No we have the concrete block foundation so no tornado is going to uproot this baby! ( Thank you Tim Wilson for the inspiration for that last sentence!) I live in the testosterone jungle ...yes that means I am the odd girl out! As the description of me says...I am a conservative Southern gal who cooks, cleans, .........and refuses to wear funny hats and ugly clothes...but I will grow things in the dirt!!  Oh I do a lot more than that ....LOL We'd be here til Rapture if I kept going....As it is the weekend the most common phrase that will be coming out of my mouth will include the words.."Turn it down!" at least 50 times a day! I'm tickled to be here and anxious to see you stop by when you have a moment between loads of wash, diaper changes, or even if you are waiting for you favorite Facebook App to load...multitasking is not only allowed in cyberspace..it is virtually the norm! Oh, one more thing....I do possess a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and I thank her for showing me how to make a ham or a pork roast taste so much better than the way I used to make them....however I will not do as Julie Powell did ...and try to cook my way through it...But I loved that movie so much!! Meshing the two stories together like Nora Ephron did was a great idea! I still say Meryl Streep got hosed when she didn't win the Oscar..AGAIN...but I did see Blind Side and Sandra Bullock did do a great job...but Meryl you deserved it...and all those other years you didn't win you deserved it too! All right I know when I am rambling on way too much....I've got my Tae Bo DVDs sitting to my right ...so that means it is time to get to work at something else I love...and for those who've never tried it...it's time you did because it works...inside and out! Loveyameanit...Queenie