Wordless Wednesday

Todays word is Aprils fools day or still life.... Go by and see Dixie for a list of people who have joined in or to join yourself http://frenchlique.blogspot.com/

Cajun Red Beans and Rice - Redbeans and Rice tradition

Tammy over at Pig Lickin' Cookin' asked me to tell my recipe for redbeans and rice, and Penni, over at Penniwig's asked me about the Louisiana tradition of having Red Beans and rice on Mondays, I looked it up and this is what I found. Now, we have always used sausage. I didn't get to make this yesterday as I was under the weather...so since I already had them soaking DH made them for supper tonight. I will eat some tomorrow if my mouth isn't to sore.
Red beans and rice is a delicious and popular Louisiana dish, traditionally served on Mondays using the ham bone left over from the previous Sunday's ham dinner. Red kidney beans are most often used, but many purists feel the flavor is too strong and use the small South Louisiana red beans.
According to "The New Orleans Cookbook", baked ham should be used rather than country ham or smoked ham. They also recommend pickled pork or salt pork (if using salt pork, eliminate other salt in the recipe).
An excerpt from "The Picayune Creole Cookbook""In all the ancient homes of New Orleans, and in the colleges and convents, where large numbers of children are sent to be reared to be strong and useful men and women, several times a week there appear on the table either the nicely cooked dish of Red Beans, which are eaten with rice, or the equally wholesome White Beans a la Creme, or Red or White beans boiled with a piece of salt pork or ham."-The Picayune Creole Cookbook, 1900

Here is the recipe I use.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice
1 pound red kidney beans, dry
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
5 ribs celery, chopped
As much garlic as you like, minced (I don't like a lots, I use about 2-3 cloves)
1 to 1-1/2 pounds mild or hot smoked sausage sliced on the bias
1/2 to 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1 or 2 bay leaves
As many dashes Crystal hot sauce or Tabasco as you like, to taste
A few dashes Worcestershire sauce
Creole seasoning mix, to taste; OR,
red pepper and black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Soak the beans overnight, if possible. The next day, drain and put fresh water in the pot. Bring the beans to a rolling boil. Make sure the beans are always covered by water, or they will discolor and get hard. Boil the beans for about 45 - 60 minutes, until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Drain.
While the beans are boiling, sauté the Trinity (onions, celery, bell pepper) until the onions turn translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally. After the beans are boiled and drained, add the sautéed vegetables to the beans, smoked sausage, seasonings, and just enough water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for 2 hours at least, preferably 3, until the whole thing gets nice and creamy. Adjust seasonings as you go along. Stir occasionally, making sure that it doesn't burn and/or stick to the bottom of the pot. If you can ... let the beans cool, stick them in the fridge, and reheat and serve for dinner the next day. They'll taste a LOT better. When you do this, you'll need to add a little water to get them to the right consistency.
Serve generous spoonfuls over hot white long-grain rice, with good French bread

Dentist visit

Just wanted to drop a note and let y'all know I did make it to the Dentist, of course I didn't want to hear what he had to say, even though I knew it before he said it. Mr. Nobe (that's all that was left) had to go. No saving it. It seems decay had slipped into the tooth under my expensive crown.. and had cause the tooth to decay clear to the root without us even knowing it. Sneaky little bugger. More bad news the two teeth on either side both with crowns, was gone too no saving them. But they could wait till next week, now to get to work on the big problem...we had to pull this one, but no it couldn't be that easy, 2 1/2 hrs later and 6 stitches I was on my way home with one heck of a tooth ache, antibiotics and pain pills plus 1 big decision to make. And it will cost me right at $6,000. OK Picket looks like I am going to have to put a panty on my head and rob that 7-11....lol...gheez. I will be hiding in the house for the next 3 weeks. With 2 front teeth missing. I'll even scare the Easter Bunny away. Hey maybe I should tell the Bunny that all I want for Easter is my two front teeth...lol...
I'm headed to bed my pain meds have me loopy...giggle no telling what I'll say if I keep typing. Ohhh, it even hurts to smile..
Bye

The Simple Woman's Day Book

FOR TODAY Monday 3/30/2009

Outside my window...The sun is just coming up, the air is nippy and the Blue Jays are fighting with 3 Squirrels over who’s going to eat at the bird feeders, Blue Jays are winning…lol…, a Wood Pecker is setting in the big pine, just sitting, that’s so unusual, maybe he’s waiting to see who’s going to win this fight….lol.. it is so green outside, everything is just springing to life. I love this time of year,

I am thinking...I am not a happy camper this Morning, how much is my broken tooth going to cost to repair? How can he fix a tooth with a crown on it that broke off even with the gum…and on the front no less…and how can biting down on a soft roll cause a tooth to break….and why does something like this always happen on the week-end?

I am thankful …..That at least it wasn’t the tooth my partial hooked too, just right next to it.

From the kitchen...for breakfast it’s hot coffee, a slice of butter pecan cake with butter rum sauce over it. Every now and then DH likes something sweet for breakfast instead of breakfast foods. For supper, Home made Cajun Red beans and sausage over rice and a big glass of sweet tea.

I am wearing….blue jeans, hot pink T and white socks…..

I am going…to have to call my Dentist and tell him I’m coming to see him, I’ll not running around all day or week with a tooth out in the front of my mouth, no way Hosa

I am creating...I am painting a glass block to list on Ebay and making a special shower gift. Will show y’all when I finish…it’s so cute.

I am reading...The Bible from front to back, again, you miss so much the first time around.

I am hoping...to get this tooth fix and not have to rob a bank to do it…lol…

I am hearing...Outside the cars whizzing by, it’s a mad dash on Monday morning trying to get to school on time.. college kids,…lol…..the Blue Jays Squawking, they are noise boogers. The water in my Fish tank bubbling, it needs to have water added.

Around the house...Need to add water to the fish tank, clothes need folding, floors need sweeping as usual, oh so much to do.

One of my favorite things...the still of the early morning just as the sun is rising.……

A few plans for the rest of the week: First and foremost get this tooth fixed, start painting on the shelves and medicine cabinets for the new make over in the bath. Go to the grocery store then to the flooring store and pick out new flooring for bath and bedrooms. Hope
the new fronts moving in won’t be as bad as the last one.

Here is picture thought I am sharing....How did he do that?

Hope you have a great day. don't forget to check out the other daybooks for today

Blue Monday

It's time again for Blue Monday over at Smiling Sally's. Can't wait to see all the pretty blue items that our friends have to show.

Today I have a few different items to show you, the first is an

Italian Rooster Pitcher I bought about 9 yrs ago when I first remodeled my Kitchen, it was a pitcher and it was made like a chicken...what more could I ask for, and oh yes it was blue...perfect. Next is a Hall's Tea Pot that I bought about 8 years ago off of EBay, I love the way the little hook on the top helps keep the lid in place.

Now these little cuties, I recieved when DH's Aunt died, she had lived in DH Mother's house after MIL passed in 1988, untill she passed away 10 yrs later in 1998. When we cleaned her stuff out of the house nobody wanted any of it, her son and GD said just take it to the dump, nothing worth keeping...really, there was no way I was dumping all of her lifes memories in the city dump. I just loved the little pig cookie jar. I think she had gotten it at a yard sale, she loved yard sales...she was a lady after my own heart,..lol..anyhow when you lifted the piggies head to get a cookie it would, snort at you..lol..and make piggie noises. The other one I have no clues as to where or when she got it. It is a smaller cookie jar and it seperates at the waist. I know she had owned it for years, I remember it at her old house when DH and I first Married in 1961. So I know it's old. It looks like a mouse dressed up in farmer's overalls holding a shovel. And he is wearing a blue shirt. So he fits in today...

This next item is a nice size Soup or Stew bowl with lid and spoon. I found this a couple of months ago at the OutReach Ministries in Brookhaven for $2.25. I just thought it was so neat. It looks like some one made it, but it is glazed on the inside real well and will come in handy when I serve my homemade veggie soup.

Well that's it for todays Blue Monday, I hope you enjoyed my offering and will come back to see me.

For more Blue Monday Posts please visit Smiling Sally by clicking here.

What a beautiful Day the Lord has made...

This week we have had some terribly unusual weather, last week we had temps in the 80's, flowers blooming, trees turning green, birds singing....that all changed this week, the sun would try to shine but then clouds would form, it would be so humid and clammy, then when the sun went down the storms would roll in. Rain, thunder, lightening, high winds, we had lots of flooding and destruction from winds, then the next morning here would come the sun, and it would start all over again, it has been cool the last couple of days and last night no bad weather, this morning the sun was shining bright and the temps were in the 40's. It was a beautiful day. Spring is on the way again. Isn't this much like how our lives go? When we leave God, (the sunshine) out of our lives the dark clouds roll in. But his light can protect us from the storms the clouds bring.. I live in a small rural area of Mississippi and this morning on the way to Church, I took some pictures to show my friends in blog land the 6 mile drive I get to make every Sunday, God filled my path with Beauty...it gives me joy to know this will be the last sight I will see when my soul leaves this earth...what a beautiful place for my body to remain, because I know my soul will be in a more beautful spot.

What a Heavenly place to rest.

Good Sunday morning

Remember to Thank God today for all of the Blessings he has bestowed upon you. The air we breath, the rains and snows of the past week for without their life giving moisture our beautiful flowers would not grow. With out the darkness and storms we would never appricate the beauty of the sunshine when it comes.

Have a blessed day. For today is the Day the Lord has made.

I'm expanding and growing hopefully for the best....

I have decided that trying to do my regular blogging and my painting on the same blog is too much and confusing. I am a busy, very TALKATIVE lady...lol..and doing so many post each day about a little of this and a little of that, some of my painting has gotten buried...so I decided to separate them...this new blog is to show what I am working on and maybe even a pictorial of how to's thrown in every now and then. I hope you will come to visit me and also my other blog...I appreciate my friends, I have been made quite welcome in the 3 mos. I have been blogging.
Thanks
Molly
PS there is a link at the top of this blog to my new blog....

Pink Saturday and some Molly memories.

My friend Beverly of How Sweet The Sound is hosting a PINK SATURDAY. Be sure and check out all the other pretty pink items over at her blog...

I have a large collection of Collector's plates, for awhile I was buying ever plate I saw, never thinking, now, where am I going to put this one...oh, well I'll worry about that later, welllllll later came and I had to worry about it...I had run out of wall space and plate racks...so as I know we all have to do sometimes I had to make the tough decision , which ones stay and which ones go....my decision...NONE.... go. I had to store some away but I just couldn't part with any of them...lol..I did keep a few out, ones that had special meanings to me like this first one...it is a treasured gift from my very sweet Sister, she found it in a Thrift Store and instantly thought about me and her when we were little, she being the oldest was always tying my shoes or comb my hair...that is until I got old enough to take care of myself... we never had pretty dresses like these, (now don't get me wrong, Mom made sure we had nice enough dresses, but never anything that frilly) and I was a blond where this child is a brunette, but the though was the same...the plate is titled "Sister's Love Forever" how very true.

There is a lot of pink in this one

Ok this next plate is called Crystal's Creek, I bought this one because it reminded me of my sweet little Mo-Mo...same hair, same love and curiosity for nature and the same chubby cheeks. If you look close you'll see the pink hearts on her little blue shorts set.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my little pink plates and also my siggy is pink....

Tom Turkey and the Tom Tom drum

Tom Turkey and the tom tom drums
We moved back to Brookhaven in the late Winter of my first grade year, Dean was in the 3d, but for some reason the Brookhaven School system decided since we moved from another state….(mainly that sinful city of New Orleans …lol…Brookhaven was a real prude city back then)…, so late in the year we would have to repeat those grades again. That wasn’t any fun but at 6 yrs old I don’t pay as much attention as Sis did being in 3d grade. But we survived, we had each other.
We had fun during the summer and ran free and did all the things kids did for entertainment, back in the 50’s and a few things other kids didn’t do…lol…we’d catch lightening bugs, made animals out of Maypops, ( thanks Penni for reminding me of these) have you ever spent hours making your own toys to play with. We had a whole farm yard full of maypop cows…lol…as much fun as making clover necklaces….
Granny had an old Tom Turkey, Oh my he loved to strut and let everybody know who was boss… that barn yard was his, hey that was fine with me, he could have the barn yard, but he decided he wanted the whole 90 acres along with front and back yards with the front lane thrown in to boot....we called him Demon and man that sucker would make the Devil himself run for cover, he was bad, mean, evil, sneaky and cunning Even Granddaddy’s old English Bull dog that loved to hunt snakes ran for dear life from this thing, he was huge, he had to stand 7 feet tall, his eyes were red and his talons were like switch blade knives, and a good 12 inches long, You walk outside the safety of the front yard and you’d hear those wings flapping and those giant feet stomping the ground , have you ever hear a turkey stomp the ground, not a pretty sound.... sounded like war drums, boom, boom, boom, you wasn’t sure if it was Tom beating the ground or just your heart beating from fear and your life would flash before your eyes and the first words you’d scream was OH CRAP RUN-N-N-N-N-N-N and you could hear the ping of those talons popping out like a switch blade knife and cold chills went up your spine…all you could do was run for the picnic table in the front lane and pray you made it before he did…I still carry scares on the back of my legs were I didn’t run fast enough…Dean’s theory was all she had to do was out run me…this was one bad dude, the only person he didn’t scare was Granny and that was probably cause she was as mean as he was…now when I said his eyes were red, I wasn’t joking, he was solid white with beady red eyes, first Albino Turkey I ever saw. Granny had to keep him locked up in a stale next to the corn crib and when you had to go in the corn crib to get some corn to feed the pigs you better make sure you didn’t get close to the left wall cause he was going to get you with them switch blade claws, through a crack in the boards.
He was so sneaky, we would ease outside and look for him, ahhh, he’s nowhere to be seen, breathing a sigh, thinking he’s locked up, lets go play and when you got just far enough away from the front porch to not have a snowballs change in heck to make it back to the door, he’d ease out from behind the corner of the house and stomp those big feet and the chase was on….once we made it to the table, he'd strut around and around it with those tail feathers spread and gobbling all the while, like he was daring us to run, well now our Momma didn't raise no fools, we weren't going no where, neither was Spot who usually made it to the table with us. Granny would have to come shoo him away so we could get down, as long as she was there he wouldn't run us, oh but he wanted to you could feel those beady eyes staring, hoping she'd leave while we were still far enough away from the door... she should have baked him for Thanksgiving, but as ornery as he was he'd probably been to tough to eat or gave us all food poisoning....Lord I hated that Turkey and didn’t grieve one bit when he passed in his sleep, I couldn’t help but laugh, I wonder where the Devil was hiding when he came through Hell’s gate and started stomping those big feet….ping..ugh oh there goes them claws...lol...

Old Demon live for many years, too many. And he never mellowed with age if anything he got worse. Sometimes I wish we’d took a picture of him….Na, he’d probably scared the camera to death. This picture is of Momma and Dean on the old picnic table. LOL..Momma looks like she is hunting for Demon...

Next time The passing of a great man and sorrow at the farm house, we had to say good bye to our beloved friends.

walking with in the sprial giveaway....

Dina over at Walking in the Sprial is having a 100 post give away....$50 value - Garland Gift Set comes with an orange spice fruit garland, plus a half pound bag of potpourri, a matching votive candle, a glass candle holder, a lamp ring, a garland wall hook, and a 1 oz bottle of scented refresher oil.

check it out at:

http://walkingwithinthespiral.blogspot.com/2009/03/100th-post-giveaway.html

I've reopened my Etsy Store ....

Several folks answered my post about selling my painting some suggested I listed it here for my blog friends to see and others mentioned Ebay, I do sell on Ebay...haven't since Christmas...but my best sellers on there are my Chicken items, so decided not to list my lady...someone else asked if I thought about Etsy, I do have an Etsy store but never had much luck with it, but here goes...I said why not give it a try and announce it to my blog friends, that way more folks will know it's there and someone in blog land might run across this post and check it out. I am planning on putting my Rooster breadbox and other items on Ebay soon, but I will announce it first.

Hope you will check out my Esty...

Check out my listing at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5735333

Friday's Family Foto

Disney World for a week....

Deborah over at http://picturespotspens.blogspot.com/ is hosting Favorite Family Foto. You get to see lots of family photos, hop on over and check them out.

My family Foto today is of my Grands, Mo-Mo, & Red Man, this past week was Spring Break and their Mom and Dad took them to Disney World, they were so excited when they found out they were going, then disaster struck, the week before they were to go, Red Man got sick with a very bad sinus infection and ran a fever of over 103, he had to go to the Dr. for shots and meds. 3 different times that week. He hates shots but he was even willing to take one if it would get him well. I had told them to just leave him with me, well you know how that went over...lol..like a ton of bricks, he was so worried. Thank goodness by the time they were ready to leave Sat he felt a little better, unfortunately time they got down there their Mom was sick, but like all Mom's she drug on with a fever for the first 2 days, But all in all, a good time was had by all. They took 335 pictures so I just picked out a few to show...lol..don't think I could load that many.

They got autographs from everyone and even had supper with the Princesses. Mo-Mo was in hog heaven...lol...

Be sure and visit Deb and check out the other Fri. Family Fotos

Bella Signora...

Want to see what I did last night?...Well I was painting away yesterday evening on my red and white bread box, when I heard a little voice calling me, I looked up and this little plate I bought about a month or more ago, in Clinton, was sitting on the shelf starring at me, from out of nowhere, just out of the blue, this picture jumped in my mine...now this is how I roll...lol..I can be working on one think and something else will call to me saying do me now and I usually obey...pitiful isn't it, don't even have a mind of my own.
So I put my breadbox to the side and started working on this. I got it all painted even posted it on a group forum I'm in...but knew it needed something else, so I went to the on-line Translator and typed in pretty lady and clicked on Italian...wa-la Bella Signora popped up how pretty is that, just rolls off the tongue
Ok, Ok here it is...what you think? Pretty enough to sell or hid in the back of my closet? EBay or my blog?

Vintage Thingie Thursday

Well look a here it's Thurs. all ready and that means it's time for vintage Thurs at Colorado Lady's place...

Tonight, because of all the bad weather we're having the loss of lights is heavy on my mind, I just hate it when the lights go off...lol..I am a 65 year young Lady who has never once in my entire life slept in the dark...ok, ok, so I'm a big chicken,...lol...but now remember I was raised in New Orleans where there were street lights at night that shown bright into the house. When we moved to the farm house, we had electric lights, some of the first in our area, I must say...and we always had a night light for Shirley, then I got married and we lived in town, street lights again

:-) , then the kids came along and we keep a night light on for them, by then I was hooked...the lights go off and I freak out...lol..DH knows to find that lamp quick. He keeps a flash light by the bed....poor D, he puts up with alot.

OK, you say, what does this have to do with VTT, well my VT is my kerosene lamps, 4 of them to be exact. The are very old so they fit this post just fine....This little beauty belonged to my MIL, she had it ever since she got married in 1938, you can tell these are used because I need to clean the soot from the last outage...This one belonged to my Mom, I remember using it when I was a teenager. She gave it to me right after I had Chuck, before she moved to TX.

This little pair I bought in the late 70's, when a local Drug Store was selling out and they were marked down to 75% off, see I've always been a bargin hunter. These hung on my bedroom wall for years until I knocked the one on the right off while dusting them and broke the base. (can't you tell how lopsided it is) believe it or not that heavy base broke when it hit the floor, but the globe landed on the bed and didn't even crack. I decided to paint them and just use them for decoration, but if I get desperate enough I will use the one on the left to see by...lol...

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY VINTAGE THINGIES! SEE YOU NEXT WEEK! FOR MORE WONDERFUL VINTAGE THINGIES VISIT COLORADO LADY!

A little sad commentary about today's movies....

Has anyone else noticed how vulgar the movies of today have gotten. DH and I don't watch much TV. Mostly DH watches Fox News, Hunting Channel or RFD TV. And I paint or blog. Well a week ago I got a letter from Direct TV saying that since we had been a "loyal customer" for 10 yrs, they were going to give us Show Time free for 3 mos. OK, since we have it free why not take a look and see what's on. We did watch a movie Sunday Evening, called 3:10 to Yuma, it was pretty good, a lot of fighting but I can handle that, after all I raised 3 boys...lol...DH liked it. But tonight we turned to a movie and the listing said it was a Comedy, it had Robert De Nero in it. Should have know better to watch it...Well the first 3 mins. I counted the F--- word 14 times. We turned it real quick, I'm no prude and I have lived in the real world, but this just makes me sick, our kids watch this junk...it was, according to the preview about a man who'd , had a stoke and had to take singing lessons from his gay neighbor, to build his lungs and get his speech back. F---- wasn't the only word thrown around in that 3 mins, we watched, the language was plain raunchy. DH is now watching the RFD channel and I'm on the net.

Just wondered if anyone else felt the same way I do.

Talk to y'all later.