Pinto Bean Pie, Miss Oma’s Grape Jelly Meatballs, Burney Papper’s Chili Sauce, Ollie V.’s Gingerbread, and “The Praying Hands”

Hey guys, how are ya’ll today? We hope everyone is doing just great.

Well, today I’ve been back in that dern cookbook, “White Trash Gatherings,” and found a few more recipes I’d like to share with you. I get a kick readin through this cookbook, and it’s about my 4th or 5th pass in it.

It’s really entertaining to read, and if you guys were born in the South, around my time, much of it brings back memories. Good, old, down home memories. I think of my Granddaddy Troy, his wife and my Granny Margaret, and my Mom’s mother, my Nanny Murphy.

Boy, what a different age we live in today. Life was so much simpler then. Don’t get me wrong, life was hard, and you WORKED for what you got…there were no such thing as… “ENTITLEMENTS!!!!”

If there had of been, most would have been too ashamed to have taken them! Don’t get me wrong…people did help people, but it was neighbor helping neighbor. They didn’t need, nor wanted “Uncle Sam” minglin in their business! They took care of one another.

They did love their Country deeply, very deeply as a matter of fact, and didn’t hesitate to respond if duty called, yet their business was just that…THEIR BUSINESS! Once more, Uncle Sam had his place, and it wasn’t tellin them how to live…they wouldn’t tolerate such.

Yet today, we have created an environment of…gimme, gimme, gimme, OR, what’s yours is MINE TOO! It’s expected that we give part of our hard-earned money to people who mainly…just don’t want to work. Get this…it’s expected, and even worse, the ones we’re givin it to, no longer appreciate the fact that we’re doin just that…givin it to em.

Plus, many of the ones expectin, and takin…aren’t even citizens of our Country! What have we come to? What used to be a Nation of achievers, the very best on the planet, is fast becoming a Nation of…YOU OWE ME’S! My thoughts on this…##%**!!…**??!!

Let me get back to these recipes before I DO get angry, and mess around and burn down Miz Judi’s Kitchen by not payin attention to this dad-burned cook stove! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. Okay, okay, I feel much better now.

Take a look at pickin up this cookbook. Again, it was written by, Kendra Bailey Morris, and published by ten Speed Press. Revisit your past, and take a stroll down “memory lane!” It’ll do us all some good!

Pinto Bean Pie

  • 1-1/2 cups dried pinto beans
  • 3 medium, or 2 extra -large eggs, beaten
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 (13 oz.) can evaporated milk
  • ½ stick butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Whipped cream for serving

Cook up your beans in a plain ole pot of water until real tender, about 3 hours at a low simmer. Strain, and reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid.

Turn your oven on 450.

Get out your blender and puree your beans with the ½ cup liquid. Your mixture should look like thin mashed potatoes. Add the rest of your ingredients and mix real good. Pour your bean filling into a 9 inch pie shell and bake for about 15 minutes. Turn your oven down to 350 and cook your pie for another 45 to 55 minutes, or until it sets up. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Miss Oma’s Grape Jelly Meatballs

  • 1-1/2 cups Burney Papper’s Chili Sauce (recipe below)
  • ½ medium-sized jar grape jelly (more if you like it sweet)
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup chopped onion
  • ½ teaspoon prepared horseradish
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper, as much as you’d like

Put your chili sauce and grape jelly in a crockpot set on medium-low heat.

For your meatballs, mix together the ground beef with the rest of your ingredients. Carefully shape the mixture into small balls, taking care not to roll the meatballs too tightly.

Fry the meatballs in a shallow pan of hot oil until they’re brown on all sides. Add them to the grape jelly mixture and simmer until nice and tender. Serve straight from the pot with toothpicks.

Burney Papper’s Chili Sauce

  • 1-1/2 cups white vinegar
  • 1-1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon salt, plus more as needed
  • 9 cups chopped tomatoes
  • 1-1/2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 whole jalapenos, sliced in half
  • 1 whole cinnamon stick and 1 teaspoon whole cloves, tied up in a cheesecloth

Get your vinegar, brown sugar, and salt to boiling in a good sized pot. Add your tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Add the tied up spices. Cook, uncovered, on low heat until thickened (about 1-1/2 hours), stirrin every now and then. Skim off your foam from time to time. For a thinner sauce, cool and puree in a blender. Store in pint jars.

Ollie V.’s Gingerbread

  • 1 cup molasses
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup very hot water
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon allspice

Turn your oven on 350. Grease up an 8 inch square baking pan.

Stir up your molasses, butter, and hot water and add your egg. In another bowl, mix up your dry ingredients. Add your molasses mixture to your dry ingredients and mix everything up real good with a wooden spoon. Scrape the batter into the pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out nice and clean. Serve warm with a dollop of fresh cream.

We hope you guys enjoyed today’s recipes, and we’d like to thank Kendra Bailey Morris once more for her cookbook, “White Trash Gatherings.” Deb and I have enjoyed it immensely!

Before closing this morning we’d like to share with you guys…”Praying Hands.” It was sent to us by our friend Gary, and we felt you guys would enjoy reading about this well-known painting and the story behind it…

The Praying Hands

Many of you would have seen the picture of “The Praying Hands”, which is present in many Christian homes, but would almost certainly not have heard the moving story behind this popular picture. Here is the story.

THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE OF THE PRAYING HANDS

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with
eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the elder children, Albrecht and Albert, had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg . Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils
were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, “No. ..no…no. ..no.” Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg . It is too late for me. Look …look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother …for me it is too late.”

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,” but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love “The Praying Hands.”

The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one, no one, ever makes it alone!

“In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

Proverbs 3:6

The Praying Hands

Thanks Gary, and sendin our regards, buddy!

You guys have a great day, and God bless you and yours. Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

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4 Responses to Pinto Bean Pie, Miss Oma’s Grape Jelly Meatballs, Burney Papper’s Chili Sauce, Ollie V.’s Gingerbread, and “The Praying Hands”

  1. Joanne Edmiston says:

    Since my youth, some 60 years ago, I have had a fondness for Albrecht Durer’s “Praying Hands.
    About 40 years ago, I used to have a framed print of it hanging in every dining-room I occupied and decorated. Somewhere along the way, the artwork was either lost or damaged, I do not remember which…..but I DO remember my sadness at its’ loss.
    The simple, but eloquent forces contained in the sketch never ceased to awe me.
    Thank you for the moving story on how that drawing came into being. It only increases my reverence for it.
    One day, before I pass away, I WILL have another print of it hanging in the dining- room of the last house I will most likely ever own.
    Thank you for sharing the story of this with us.

    • admin says:

      Hello Joanne. We read your comment, and thank you so much. As good as Deb and I would like to take credit for it, sadly…that’s not the case! LOL! It was sent by our good friend Gary, who by the way, is one great guy! All thanks must go his way. Deb and I too have always loved “Praying Hands!” We also had never heard the story behind it, but found it very inspiring. You though, have now gotten Deb and I in gear to find a print of this also. Our place of preference to hang it…our dining room! Now, go get you another print too!

      Thank you so much, and here’s wishing you the very best life has to offer!

      Dub and Deb

  2. Hi,

    My name is Kendra Bailey Morris, and I am the author of “White Trash Gatherings”. I’m so happy you all have enjoyed my book. It really means a lot to me that it’s one of your go-to cookbooks. If you like these kinds of recipes and want more updates on the future of the book, feel free to check out my blog Fatback and Foie Gras http://fatbackandfoiegras.blogspot.com/

    Thanks!
    Kendra

    • admin says:

      Kendra Bailey Morris?? Yeah right! And I’m Judge Roy Bean! LOL!

      Well, hello there young lady! Great hearing from you, and yes, Deb and I do love your cookbook! Takes us back to the times of big family gatherings, big tables loaded down with all kinds of home cooked foods, laughing, and literally…the good ole days! Thanks for the memories, AND the recipes! I did checkout your blog, and have informed all our friends to do so as well. We’ll enjoy this too. Thank you for stoppin in to holler at us, and come back anytime! As we say…the door’s always open.

      Did a post in your regard today, hope you get a kick out of it. Picked at ya a little bit, but shoot, if we don’t like ya, we wouldn’t even speak to ya. Pickin at ya puts you high up on the list! LOL!

      Take care and God Bless!

      Dub and Deb

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