Aaron Has a Close Connection to God

When Aaron was  5 years old, our family got a false positive result on a pregnancy test. My OB/GYN told me on a Friday afternoon that I was pregnant. Aaron was elated. Then, when the Dr. called back on Monday to say that there had been a mistake, Aaron was devastated. He wanted a baby sister so badly. The kindergarten teacher said that Aaron had cried at school because there was no sister on the way. A few weeks later, I was in the kitchen cooking, and Aaron came into the kitchen and said, "Mama, I want a baby sister." I was frustrated and couldn't understand why I was having trouble conceiving. I turned around with my hands on my hips and said," Aaron, I've done everything I know to do. You just need to talk to God about it." Aaron left the room and came back a few minutes later and said, "I talked to God about it. He said next Tuesday'll be just fine." Little did Aaron know that he would have 2 baby sisters before it was all said and done! Guess he has a special God-Connection.

- Angie

Fishies

In case you guys didn't notice, on the right side of the page there are fishies swimming (and their colors even match the blog!). If you hover your mouse in their "aquarium" then they will follow your mouse. If you click in the "aquarium", it will drop some imaginary food for them and they eat it up. It's really cute. Just thought I'd point out why we have fish over there.

- Caytie

How to Post

 When you log into blogger.com/blogspot.com a page that shows the above ^ should be there. You can click the orange button with a picture of a pencil on it (highlighted) to immediately make a new post or you can click the label that says "The Southern Sisterhood" (also highlighted) and it will take you to a page that looks like the below image. You can click the button on the top that has a picture of pencil on it to create a new post, or to the left below that (not pictured) is an orange button with white text that says "create new post".

To finish a post, press the orange "publish" button, which is to the right of the box that you type your post's title into.

I should see some of you in December (or maybe before that) and I can give you a hands-on lesson about some of this stuff. Mom, I will see you in January and I can do it then OR Abi or Aaron can show you how to do it, if you'd like.

- Caytie

Caytie and Her Silkies

Caytie loved, "silkies'" when she was a little one. She would hold anything satiny with her left hand and suck on the 4th and 5th fingers of her right hand consecutively. Many pajama pieces would disappear. I would go the Bobbie's, (the sitter and adopted family member,) and she would be wearing my satin p.j.'s. One piece at a time, her wardrobe was provided. Once, Bill and Shelia took the kids to Captain D's after church for lunch. They ordered their meal and sat down. All of a sudden, they looked and there was a pair of my B.A.D.'s (big ass drawers) in the middle of the table. Once I went to pick up chips from the Golden Flake plant for Craig, and his very kind and cute supervisor brought them to the car or me, and there was panties, panties everywhere. I was never able to convince him that they were Caytie's silkies. He thought i was just some kind of wild woman, but I SWEAR they were Caytie's.

- Angie

Summers on the Screened Porch

 We had a screened porch at Granny and Pompaw's house that was created because Granny had TB, twice I think. Anyway, I remember taking a nap on the screened porch with Pompaw one day. I was about 4 or 5 years old. It was summertime. Probably hot as blazes, but I didn't know. We had no air-conditioning or fans at Pompaw's. Hot was the norm. Anyway, I peed all over Pompaw, but he never moved. I remember waking up and thinking,"Awwww, he loves me so much that he didn't want to wake me up." Truth of the matter is that he was probably terrified that, "the terror," would wake up. As my sisters frequently point out, my childhood behavior was less than stellar. God knows how many times he got peed on. Lord knows what that mattress must have smelled like.

Pompaw the Prince

Oh,  I think I'll just start with the time I was napping during the church service @ Bethel Baptist in Ridgetop while lying in Pompaw's lap.   We were in one of the back pews while the antique pastor, Bro. Miles was giving quite a moving sermon.   During those days, the preacher was just under God on the religious totem pole, so he had everyone's attention.  As I was dreaming away, uneffected by the stirring message, I pooted (evidently loudly).   No one saw anyone but Pompaw, as I lay sleeping.  I never wondered until now what  the poor pew neighbors did, but I woke to see many shoulders shaking with laughter.  Well, Bro. Miles was not amused, and reprimanded the congregation for losing their dignity during the service.  That's all I remember,  but sweet Pompaw took the "heat" for my poot and never mentioned it. 
Tee Hee,  Sister Rita

Photos from October 2012 Florida Vacation

Uploaded for Rita, by Caytie

Angie and Caytie

October 2012, Florida Vacation

Angie and Caytie on the beach.

Summamabitch

When I was three years old, I was banned from a Baptist daycare center because I called a little boy a "summamabitch". When Angie asked me why I called him such a thing, I looked her right in the eye and told her: "Because he was being a summamabitch."


I don't recall this story, so my mom tells it better than me. It's mostly here as an example. :)

Barbecue Baskets

As eaten October 2012 Florida Vacation
 
Ingredients
cooking spray
1 (10-ct) can buttermilk biscuits (9-12 oz)
1 (12-oz) container cooked shredded barbecue chicken (or pork)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 10 cups of a 12-cup muffin pan with spray.

1. Place each biscuit in one muffin cup. Press each biscuit down into bottom until about 1/4-inch thick, then press up side of cup to form the crust.
2. Divide chicken evenly into biscuits; top each with cheese. Bake 20–25 minutes or until edges are golden and meat is thoroughly heated. Serve with baked beans!

Sweet Northern Cornbread

As eaten on October 2012 Florida Vacation

Served in muffin-form.

• 1c yellow cornmeal (NOT CORNMEAL MIX)
• 1c all purpose flour
• 4t baking powder
• 1/4c white sugar
• 1/4t salt
• Mix or sift the dry (above) ingredients together well.

In separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients (below) well and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until fully combined. The batter will be lumpy.

• 1t vanilla
• 1/4 honey
• 1 egg
• 1c milk

 Then, add:

• 2T melted butter

Mix again and pour it into a greased 9"x9" pan, baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes or until the center of the corn bread springs back when lightly touched. For muffins, I think I did about 15-18 minutes.

Shortbread Cookies

As eaten October 2012 Florida Vacation.

• 1/2 lb. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 c. confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Cream all that stuff ^, then add 2 cups of all purpose flour. Stir till it's a stiff dough.

For vanilla bean flavor I added seeds of 1 vanilla pod to the mix, and for lemon I removed the vanilla extract and replaced it with lemon juice as well as adding roughly a teaspoon of dried lemon zest.

Spoon this out onto wax paper and shape it into a log about 16-18" long. Chill it in the fridge 'til it's firm, about 30 minutes. Slice it about 1/2" thin and bake them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes, or until the edges start to become golden brown. Cool them in the pan for about 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Don't consume/touch 'til fully cooled or they may crumble on you.

Logically, this would make roughly 30-something cookies but I've never counted.

- Caytie

Recipe: Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon

As eaten on: October 2012 Florida Vacation

Preheat to 350 degrees F, serves 6-8 as a side dish. Fewer as main course.

• 1/2 pound cavatappi (corkscrew) or penne pasta, cooked to al dente.
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups whole or 2% milk
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/3lb bacon, fried til crispy and crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces sharp shredded cheddar (I used Kraft 3 cheddar with a touch of Philly cream cheese)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup bread crumbs

 1. Melt 3T butter in large pot, add flour and mustard powder to mixture and whisk 3-5 minutes, making sure there are no lumps.

2. Add milk to roux, and stire til mixed. Add onion, bacon, and paprika. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

3. Temper in the egg. Fold in 3/4 of the cheese, salt, and pepper and stir till mostly melted.

4. Fold cooked pasta into cheese sauce and pour into 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

5. Melt 3T butter in microwave safe bowl and stir in bread crumbs. Sprinkle mixture over macaroni.

6. Bake 30 minutes or until macaroni and cheese is thoroughly warmed and bubbly, and topping is a deep golden brown. Let it rest outside the oven for 5 minutes before serving, or it'll burn your tits off.

- Caytie

Welcome to the blog, family!

      I'm tired of all of you asking me for my recipes, so I made this blog to put them on (just kidding, kind of).

     It was really fun to get ALL of the girls together in Florida, but let's face it, how often is that going to happen? Maybe once a year or less, right? I made this blog to provide a bit more of a connection between all of us, so that we can have "family time" without actually having family time. This blog was created for swapping stories, remembering fun times, sharing recipes, storing photos and documenting parts of our family history. Here comes the boring part: in the next couple of paragraphs I'm going to explain to you how you can post your own memories/recipes/etc. or browse those posted by others. If you're not interested in participating, I won't be offended. I had fun making it, and that's good enough for me.

     I sent you an invitation to be a moderator for this blog: that means you are free to post anything to it that you like at any time you like. If you are a member of my family and I didn't give you "moderator" access, let me know and I'll make it happen. When (if) you approve of the invitation, it may ask you to make a google account if you don't already have one. I'm fairly sure you can make one using your current e-mail, but if you can't then it's super easy to make one and you don't have to use it for anything but this blog if you don't want to.

     When posting a recipe, please include where/when you served it to family members (if anyone in the family has tried it) or whose recipe it is, that way we can differentiate duplicate recipes. I'm sure there's more than one recipe for chocolate cake in our family, but I may want to make Angie's German chocolate cake and not Nan's. On the right side of the page, there should be a button that says "labels". Click that button, and in the text box include descriptive labels one word at a time, separated by a comma,  that will help someone find your recipe more easily. Also include the label "recipes", which will make your recipe show up when someone clicks "recipes" on the navigation bar. For example, in my "Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon" recipe, I included the following tags: macaroni, cheese, bacon, recipes.

     When posting a photo, please include your who/what/where/when's that are applicable. Who is in the photo? What are they doing? Where was the photo taken? When was it taken? This makes record-keeping a little bit easier. Who knows, maybe in a couple hundred years somebody will open up our blog and want to learn about our family. When you make a picture post, label it "pictures" so that when people click "pictures" on the navigation bar your photo is included. If you want me to add photos for you, e-mail them to accio.caytie@gmail.com.

     When posting a record, include every detail possible. Records don't have to be photographs, official documents, or death certificates (though these are certainly welcome), but if you found out something pretty neat about your great-grandmother, post it. We're only human, and our memories will not be sharp forever. Writing about your ancestors and family tree preserves it for future generations to see. When posting a record, please include "records" in the labels. It ensures your post shows up when someone clicks the "records" button.

     When posting a memory, write it as if you're writing a story. If you have the time/writing ability, include as many details as you can. Small details may seem silly and mundane to you, but if I open up this blog in thirty years and I want to try to remember these stories, knowing that Jill was wearing a blue and purple bathing suit or we were at Elmo's eating crab claws (instead of "at a restaurant"), might spark my memory. When making a memory post, label it "memories" so that when someone clicks the "memories" button on the sidebar, your post will be included.

    Miscellaneous posts are just that: anything that doesn't apply to the other menu items. If you'd like to suggest a menu item to add to the list, let me know and I'll make a label for it. When you make miscellaneous posts, label them with "misc" so that the post shows up when someone clicks the "misc" button. 

     On EVERY SINGLE POST  you make, please sign your name at the bottom so we know who posted it, please!

     For some of you, all this may be confusing. If you want me to post photos/information for you, that's totally fine but I encourage all of you to make use of this blog. If you e-mail me 500 photos that you wanted to be seen on the blog, understand that going through those will be a very time consuming task. If you forget to label your posts and I notice, I will label them for you. I will also add pretty graphics/art to your posts when appropriate if you'd like.

Here is a crappy-looking "how to post" picture for you guys! Click the image to see the full-sized version of the picture.

- Caytie