About Me

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Florida, United States
Southern born, Southern reared. It's a quirky place and we are unique folk... These are my people and these are my stories.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wednesday's Southern-style Recipe of the Week

Blueberry Cobbler


1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening
2 TBS cold water

Prepare a pastry from above ingredients, roll thin and cut in strips.

Mix:

1 cup sugar
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup hot water

in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

In a baking dish, spread 1 1/2 cups blueberries in bottom, then add a few strips of pastry. Add an additional 1 1/2 cups blueberries and top with rest of pastry lattice style, then gently pour boiled liquid into dish. Dot with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and bake for about 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Enjoy!

[Leave a comment on what you'd serve this with (ice cream, pound cake ... what?) or your favorite blueberry cobbler recipe, for a chance to win a book from my bookshelf! Be sure to visit next week to see if you won!]

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Wednesday's Recipe of the Week

Oysters Johnny Reb


1 quart select oysters, drained
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons minced shallots and tops
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 and 1/4 cups bread crumbs
3/4 stick butter
3/4 cup milk
Red pepper to Taste


Butter 1 quart shallow casserole, put a layer of oysters in bottom. Sprinkle with parsley, shallots, salt, pepper, lemon juice, bread crumbs, and dot with butter. Then make another layer of oysters and repeat. Cover top with bread crumbs and dot with ample butter. Just before baking, pour milk all over. Be sure to mix well with oysters. Bake in 325 oven for 30 minutes.

Serves 8.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Monday Musings On All Things Southern

Another "Who Am I?"


I am a native of Virginia, born to an opera singer and a voice coach. I grew up around music but fell in love with acting, which I studied at East Carolina University. I moved to NY to pursue a career on the stage but fell into movies and television programs. My breakout role came in 1994 in a movie in which I drove a bus.

I won an Academy Award for my 2009 performance in a movie in which I portrayed a spunky Southern woman named Leigh Ann Tuohy.

Who am I?



[Congrats to Gayle Scheff who commented last week and won a book from my book shelf! You can win, too!]








Thursday, March 15, 2012

Wednesday's Recipe of the Week (one day late...)

Ripe Tomato Relish


Ingredients & Directions:


3 pt. ripe tomatoes, cut in small pieces
1 large bell pepper, chopped
     or, 2 small seeded hot peppers
2 medium onions, chopped
1-1/2 pt. vinegar
2 cups sugar

Cook until mixture is low, then add:

2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger

Cook about 5 or 10 minutes longer, put in jars and seal.

Makes 3 pints.

(Add this to your next meatloaf recipe! Put a cup of relish in the meat mixture, top with another 1/2 cup and bake according to your recipe. Yum!)

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Tuesday's Southern-style Tunes

Yesterday's "Who Am I?" was none other than Ray Charles. I asked about favorite songs from Mr. Charles's repertoire, and "Georgia on My Mind" was among the top, whether posted at my Facebook page or here on the blog. So I thought I'd post two tunes today: 1) My personal favorite Ray Charles number (even though I'm from Georgia, it's not "Georgia..." but one of the first songs I remember jitterbugging to.






2nd song ... just for you ... Georgia On My Mind ...






Tell me what you think for a chance to win! Or, just throw your name in...you don't have to think at all! :)

Monday, March 12, 2012

Monday Musings on All Things Southern

Another installment of "Who Am I?"


I was born September 23, 1930 to Aretha and Bailey Robinson in Albany, Georgia, but we moved to Florida not too long after that. As a young boy I enjoyed watching men build and rebuild engines. Pretty much anything mechanical. But then a trip to Mr. Wiley Pits' Red Wing Cafe changed the course of my life.

You see, Mr. Pits played boogie woogie on an upright piano. My focus shifted from mechanics to music almost immediately.

My father died when I was ten and my mother died only five years after that, leaving me--at fifteen--alone and, did I mention?--blind. I decided not to return to school and, instead, started playing piano for bands in the Jacksonville, Florida scene. It would take a while for my big break to come, but when it did ... it did.

I ranked among the top 100 greatest artists in a listing made by Rolling Stone in 2004.

I landed in the top 10. I am one of the first African Americans to be given artistic control.

I am called a pioneer in the genre of soul music because of the way I blended R&B with gospel with the blues.

I have a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, located at 6777 Hollywood Blvd.

I appeared at two presidential nominations: 1) Ronald Reagan's and, 2) Bill Clinton's.

I loved playing chess with Willie Nelson.

I have twelve children. At a family dinner in 2002, I handed ten of those twelve checks for one million each (the other two couldn't make it).

Who Am I?


[Leave a comment with your answer and perhaps a favorite song by this artist for a chance to win a book from my bookshelf! Drawing held at week's end.]