Low Country Boil on the Plains

It was a beautiful day on the Plains yesterday for the Auburn/LSU ball game. The weather was perfect, and we had lots of shade under a big Magnolia tree. It's always fun having Casey and John there and all of their friends and family around. (We missed you, Anna and Zach!)

We did a Low Country Shrimp Boil in the afternoon before the game -- and it was so good. Actually, it was easier than grilling -- thanks to Tyler's big pot and cooker! Yum! (I've added the recipe here.) John's sister Dana and his mom Kay stopped by with Dana's kids Lang and Landon. They have grown so much -- and it was our first time to see Landon. They are both so cute!

Although we had to suffer the agony of defeat, it was a close game and Auburn played better than I had expected. We were on our feet almost the whole game - and I'm hoarse today from yelling too much! But games are fun because we've gotten to know the people who sit around us over the years and it's like family up there -- did I mention that we sit on the TOP row of the upper deck? Oh well, War Eagle anyway -- as we used to say in the 70's!

Since it was 2:30 a.m. when we got home (I hate those night games) -- we took it easy today to recouperate! And it's back to work tomorrow.

LOW COUNTRY BOIL

18 little red potatoes, cleaned
2 lbs. Polish sausage, cut up into sm. chunks
1 doz. 3 inch ears frozen corn
4-5 lbs. raw shrimp in shell

Prepare a large pot of salted water and add 1 pkg. Zataran's Crab Boil. Bring to boil. Add little red potatoes, boil 6 minutes. Add corn and sausage. Boil 12 minutes. Add shrimp, boil 2 minutes, remove and drain. (This works good if you have a strainer pot to go inside the big pot; then you can just lift out to drain.) Pour pot contents into big tub or container.

Recipes

Since the recipes didn't show up that well in the previous post, I'm going see if they do better in a new posting. So here they are -- Chicken Kabobs, Salad Dressing and Eclair Dessert:

Lynn Isler's Chicken Kabobs

1 cup water
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons instant coffee
¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ¼ teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 ½ teaspoon oregano
1 ½ teaspoons thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¾ teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 boneless chicken breast halves
2 medium red onions
2 red bell peppers

Soak 20 wooden skewers in water for one hour. Combine water, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, sugar, coffee, pepper sauce, garlic, black pepper, paprika, rosemary, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, salt, bay leaves, ketchup and oil. Bring to boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Line a broiler pan with foil. Cut chicken, onion and red bell pepper into one inch pieces. Alternating, thread on a skewer. Place on broiler pan. Baste the kebobs with the sauce, covering both sides. Broil four inches from heart for 8 minutes. Turn over and broil until chicken is done, about 5 minutes. Baste all over with sauce again. Cover with foil and reheat by baking on 350° for 30 minutes before serving. Makes 20 kebobs or about 8 – 10 servings.

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

ICING:
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 stick margarine
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix icing ingredients together and bring to a rollin boil. Boil for one minute and remove from heat. Let cool while mixing filling.

FILLING:
2 small boxes or 1 large box of vanilla instant pudding
3 cups milk
8 ounces Cool Whip
1 box Graham Crackers

Mix pudding and milk with electric mixer. Fold in Cool Whip.

In 9" x 13" pan, layer cracker squares and half of the filling. Repeat with a second layer of cracker squares and filling. Top with a final layer of cracker squares. Pour icing over crackers. Refrigerate covered.

Peggy Miller's Salad Dressing

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
3/4 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon celery seed
3/4 cup vegetable oil (or Canola oil)

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, dry mustard and paprika. Using a small hand mixer, slowly add the oil to the mixture, beating until it is well blended. (It will thicken but will separate a little if refrigerated.) Shake before using. If refrigerated, take out before time of using - as it will shake better.
I use this with salads using fruit- strawberries, oranges, grapefruit. Enjoy!!!(You may like white vinegar or even balsamic, but I prefer the cider.)

Ladies' Night Out

I know I'm a week late -- but last Monday night, our Scattering Seeds Women's Mission Group at Hartford Baptist held a dinner for the young and new women in our church. It was so well attended, and everyone had a great time! View the slideshow of the photos below . . .

Anna, did our invitations for us. She is a free-lance graphic designer in Atlanta and does fantastic work. You can view her website Anna Hatcher Design

Everyone in Scattering Seeds volunteered and worked so hard. Susan Brannon and Lynn Isler coordinated the meal of Chicken Kabobs, rice, salad and Chocolate Eclair Dessert. It was DELICIOUS! I've included some of the recipes at the end of today's blog.

Barbara Hughes and Connie Walker directed a skit on the history of Hartford Baptist WMU through the decades with the assistance of Barbara Rosser and Laura Sorrells. It was complete with decade-appropriate props -- and so funny! The took good-natured laughs at several of us!

Then Dr. Betty Faulk presented our devotional on "Everyone needs a fat lady," talking about her first 'mentor' and about finding your mentor and mentoring others. She presented such a thoughtful message in a humorous way. Patricia Guilford and Susan Bailey discussed a new mentoring program Scattering Seeds would like to begin and asked the women present to write 'yes' on their info sheets if they were interested in participating. We had 45 'yesses' -- which was fantastic! It was a fun night and everyone had a great time. Thanks again to all the "Seeds" -- what an inspiring group of women!

A Busy Week

It's hard to believe it's already the middle of September. It's true what they say . . . the older you get, the faster time goes by.

Well, Auburn's offense tried to lose the ball game against Mississippi State last night, but thanks to the defense, we ended up winning 3-2! This photo of our friend Rob Byrd looks like he's finally converted from being an Alabama fan -- but apparently someone played a trick on him! Good thing for him you can't see his face very well!

War Eagle!

My friend and co-worker Janet Henderson went to the Auburn game Saturday and took this photo of the "Eagle." Great photo, Janet! I just wanted to share it with everyone.

A Quiet Saturday

I'm posting some more of the photos of my new curtains and carpet. The have really brightened up the room - and the new blinds in the dining room look great!

I just finished watching Auburn win against Southern Miss. We decided to skip going to the game this week and chose the TV viewing instead. Auburn's offense looked much better this week and was able to at least move the ball, even with the fumbles and interceptions. We'll be planning to cook for the next home game against LSU in two weeks!

It's been a good football weekend! Hartford beat Kinston last night at home -- our first win! The Bulldogs are struggling this year -- but it's always great to see our niece Jessi cheer! I look around at the games and feel so OLD! I just don't know any of the kids any more!!!

The other night I watched the old movie "Father's Little Dividend" with Spencer Tracey and Elizabeth Taylor. That is the original of "Father of the Bride II," and if you haven't seen the original version, you need to. Since our daughter Casey informed us of her pregnancy a few weeks ago, it gave me new insight into our feelings of impending "grandparenthood" and the funny feeling you get when you know your child is going to have a baby! Of course, we're extremely excited about getting to be grandparents -- our first time -- but you feel so old thinking about your children having children!!! And then I watch commercials with babies in them and think about getting to love on our grand-baby soon!

This is one of life's exciting changes! I admit to being a bit down lately about being overloaded at work. But getting to make some changes in the decor at home and this exciting anticipation has helped to put things into perspective.

Tonight we'll have our weekend staple for dinner -- Oak Grove shrimp! I've missed it the past couple of weeks, and no one fries shrimp quite like Mrs. Jean at Oak Grove. We like to call it the Oak Grove Mall -- but it's just a little country store converted to restaurant about a mile from our home. The decor isn't chic -- but the food is great!!! And the fried shrimp is our favorite -- and only $9.95 for a whole fry dinner including home-made french fries, the best tartar sauce around and cole slaw.