It had gotten SO dry down here…the trees were bribing the dogs!

It had been SO hot and dry, the birds were pullin worms outta the ground…usin potholders!

I was tellin Deb that it had been SO dry, I saw our neighbor Skeet feedin his chickens crushed ice to keep em from layin hard-boiled eggs.

Her response, “If Skeet’s brains were made of gasoline, he wouldn’t have enough to ride a motor scooter around the inside of a doughnut.” I left fore she could start on me!

Anyway, tonight we’re supposed to have another couple good batches, and we’re sure needing all we can get.

Well, the grow area is planted, and irrigated! YES! We like 1-1/2 rows, but that for the black tomatoes. They’ll be out there too, before long. The start off is just about behind us, and I gotta tell you guys again…I’m havin a ball watchin this stuff grow. It’s a little different, but we’re getting the hang of it.

Changing gears, we sure hope all ya’ll are doing fine. We’d seen where there were some areas that had been having some really nasty weather, and we hope you, and all your loved ones, are all in good shape.

Today’s recipes come from a book very similar to our last post’s recipes. They were from “White Trash Cooking,” while these come from… “White Trash Gatherings!” I think I recognized some of ole Deb’s people in this one…. “GATHERIN!” LOL!

It was written by, Kendra Bailey Morris, and published by Ten Speed Press. We’ve used some of her recipes before, and have gotten a kick out of her book, plus some pretty dern good recipes. Get ya one!

Miss Motley’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken With Torpedo Gravy

• 1 frying chicken, cut into pieces
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Flour
• Salt and pepper, as much as you’d like
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup shortening
• Paprika
• ¼ cup water
• 1-1/2 cups evaporated milk, more1-1/2 cups whole milk
• Reba May’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes (below)
• Angel Biscuits (below)

Make sure your chicken pieces are all the same size, and are all on the small side. If the breasts are too large, cut em into halves. Two to three hours before you plan to fry, rinse the chicken and put it into a large sealable plastic bag with the buttermilk. Store in the fridge until ready to cook.

Take a brown paper bag and put enough flour to easily coat the chicken in it. Add salt and pepper, as much as you’d like. Remove your chicken from the buttermilk and put it in the paper bag. Shake your chicken up good and get ready to fry it. Save your flour mixture foe making gravy later on.

Melt equal parts butter and shortening in a cast iron skillet. Have your heat at medium to medium-high, but be careful not to burn the butter. When the pan is hot, drop your chicken in the pan and brown on each side. Sprinkle paprika on each side along with salt and pepper the way you like it. Cook for about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium –low, add the water, put a lid on the pan, and steam the chicken for 15 to 20 minutes. Take off the lid and continue to cook the chicken on each side to crisp it up again. Place the chicken on a rack to drain.

Scrape up the little crispy pieces from the bottom of the pan. Add 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons of the flour mixture from the paper bag. Stir, scrape, and cook for about 3 minutes. Add equal parts of the evaporated milk and the whole milk to the mixture and stir real good. You should have about 3 cups of liquid. Bring up to a low simmer. Continue stirring until your gravy thickens (the secret to a first-rate gravy is good drippings and fast stirring). If you find your gravy is getting too thick, add a little evaporated milk. Add salt and pepper the way you like it. Serve up your gravy with a mound of mashed potatoes and hot biscuits.

Reba May’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Peel and cut enough potatoes into chunks for your group. (I always make a little extra, so there will be leftovers for next-day tater cakes). Cover your potatoes with water and cook until tender. Save your potato water to use when mashing.

Heat your mashing liquid, which should be half evaporated milk, half potato water, and a big chunk of butter. Using your potato masher (NO electric mixers!), smash the potatoes and add enough hot liquid to make them fluffy. Add salt and pepper the way you like it. Pile the potatoes in a big bowl and make a well in the top of your potato mound. Add a generous spoonful of butter into your potato well while your potatoes are good and hot. Let it run down the sides like a tasty, buttery volcano.

I gotta tell you guys, while I’m posting this…I’m slobbering at the mouth!

Angel Biscuits

• 1 package active yeast
• 2 tablespoons very warm water
• 5 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 egg white, whisked

Turn your oven to 400. Grease up a baking sheet.

Dissolve your yeast in a bowl with warm water. Let it stand for about 5 minutes, or until foamy. If it doesn’t foam too much, use it anyway. Your biscuits will still be delicious. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a big bowl.

Cut in your shortening using 2 knives. Make sure you have small grains of shortening. Now, add your buttermilk and yeast mixture. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead gently for a minute or so. Don’t worry if your dough is a little sticky. And be sure to go easy on the flour.

Roll out your dough to about an inch thick and cut your biscuits with the open end of a clean tin can or with a biscuit cutter. (My Granny once told me; avoid twisting off your, can or biscuit cutter when you’re cutting up biscuits as it can keep your biscuit from getting a good rise). Brush the tops of each biscuit with a little egg white. Put your biscuits on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Heavenly!

Reba May’s Next-Day Fried Tater Cakes

Take your cold leftover mashed potatoes and shape em into ½ inch thick cakes about the size of a Ball canning jar lid. Dip both sides of the cakes lightly in flour. Fry over medium-heat in shortening in a cast iron fry pan till both sides are browned and crispy. (Cast iron fries up the best cakes). Season them with salt and pepper the way you like!

We planted a row of cabbage and broccoli to see if it just might come in before it gets too cold. Down here you just never know. Dale asked to plant a row or two of collards and we told him to plant whatever he liked.

He’d told us earlier that he didn’t particularly care for mustards. I replied, “Really…that’s the main reason for planting them…cause you don’t like them!” He just laughed and said that sounded just like me!

A quick story on Dale. Deb and I had gone to a good friend of ours in Apopka last week. She’s my best friends Mom, and honestly she is just a doll! Deb and I both love her to no end and she is one fine, fine lady.

Well, what we had done was make lunch for her, and took it to her. Now this isn’t because of her being not able to fend for herself or anything, cause Mrs. C. is a go-getter. She gets along great, but we really enjoy visiting with her, so we asked if we could come and do lunch, and we did.

So, Deb and I cooked a couple prime rib roasts, a BIG ole pot of peas, and a pot of rice. We also brought her several quarts of different types of canned peas, some fresh cut okra, and some pickled okra. When we arrived she had a sqaush casserole (it was primp by the way) , and cornbread. My, oh my, did we eat good.

On our way over, we stopped by my Mom and Dad’s and dropped enough of all of it for their supper as well. Mom was like THANK-YOU!! We had to go right by, so we saved her from cooking that night too.
Anyway, by the time we had gotten everything cooked that morning, we were already a little late. So, we asked Dale when he came up for lunch, would he cleanup Deb’s kitchen some.

Dad-gum people, when Deb walked inside after Dale had gone home she hollered for me to come in and look at something. I thought Dale must have broken something of Deb’s and I was like, “Uh-oh!”
I went in and Deb says to check out her stove and even the microwave. People…it was unbelievable. Both were absolutely immaculate! They looked as if they were brand, spankin new! I told Deb, “Dern, the man is one heck of a maid, ain’t he?”

Now ole Deb will have em both lookin good when sure turns in a cleans them, but DALE?? I gotta tell ya…if there’s any of you “he” females out there, this guy would make you one heck of a housewife!!
So, the next morning Deb sits Dale down and talks with him while I was getting another cup of coffee. Actually I had gone to the bathroom, but Deb told me to tell you I was getting some more coffee. What’s up with that??

Anyway, I came back outside and deb was just a laughing. I look at her and dale, and Dale tells me Deb had a mean streak goin on. He told me when she came out that she told him they needed to talk.
She had told him that with winter coming on the grass was slowing down, the garden was slowing down, it looked like our paving business was slowing down, and this meant less income coming in. With this being the case it looked as if we probably weren’t going to need Dale’s services outside.

Well, ole Dale was like, “Man, I hate to hear that cause there’s not much of anything going on in our area workwise, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Deb said that she too was sorry, and hated there wasn’t anything going on outside either, BUT, don’t sweat it cause the dern kitchen looked so good, that she was taking it upon herself to move him INSIDE! He’d be furnished an apron and cleaning supplies, and his job description now was… “housekeeper!”

Ain’t she mean?? Had that guy all shook up…and thought it was funny! One thing about it though. Next time she asks him to clean her kitchen in a pinch…he better do it right, cause now she knows just how well he can do it.

I told Dale he put the noose around his own neck, and from here out…he better perform! Dub’s a heck of a lot easier to work for than Deb, and I believe Dale’s seein it already. I thought it was funny, cause Dale just took some pressure off me as well. Awwwww…life is good!

The recipes today come from the cookbook, “At My Grandmother’s Knee,” and was written by, Faye Porter. It was published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee.

Well, let’s quit gabbing and fire off the cook stove…ya ready?

Creamed Chicken on Cornbread:

• ½ stick of butter
• 2 tablespoons minced celery
• 1 tablespoon minced onions
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups diced cooked chicken

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute’ the celery and onions for 3 minutes. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Add the broth, cream, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken. Simmer until heated. Remove from stove.

The Cornbread:

• 1 stick butter
• ½ cup self-rising flour
• ½ cup self-rising cornmeal
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• ½ cup of buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the butter in an 8 inch cast-iron skillet and place in the oven until melted. Remove from the oven (do not allow the butter to brown.)

In a medium bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, eggs and buttermilk. Add the melted butter and stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture into the hot, cast-iron skillet.

Bake for twenty minutes, or until lightly browned. To serve, slice the cornbread into 8 slices and cover with the hot, creamed chicken.

Kelly Simms

Franklin, Tennessee

Grannie’s Mac ‘N’ Cheese:

• 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
• ½ stick of butter
• 2-1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup of milk
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• ¼ cup minced onion
• 1 tablespoon paprika

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain the macaroni well and return it to the pot you cooked it in. Add the butter and stir until completely melted. Add 2 cups of the cheese.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with the milk. Stir in the mustard and onion.

Pour the egg mixture over the macaroni and stir well. Pour the macaroni into a lightly greased 8 inch square baking pan. Top with the remaining half a cup of cheese and sprinkle the paprika on top.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and browned.

Lisa Glasner

Nashville, Tennessee

Mamaw’s Strawberry Pudding Cake:

• 1 box (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup water
• 1 box (1.5 ounces) instant vanilla or lemon pudding
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups mashed strawberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 12 maraschino cherries, halved

Preheat the oven to 350

Add the cake mix, eggs, oil, and water to a large bowl and miz well. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 13 x 9 inch glass baking pan.

In a small bowl combine the pudding mix with the milk and beat until all lumps are gone. Pour the prepared pudding over the top of the cake batter.

In a separate small bowl mix the mashed strawberries with the sugar. Spoon the strawberry mixture on top of the pudding mixture.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is firm, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cake completely. Before serving, spread the whipped cream topping on top of the cake and decorate with the maraschino cherries. Refrigerate any leftover cake.

Alison Harris

Murfreesboro, Tennessee