JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time

Road Trip Day 2 -- B.B. King Museum & the Delta Blues

B.B. King Museum, Indianola, Mississippi

 

Road Trip Day 2 -- Kool-Aid Pickles in the Mississippi Delta

Susan Puckett's wonderful book Eat, Drink, Delta (UGA Press) is a great guide to the foodways of the Mississippi Delta area.  From this source I learned about Kool-Aid Pickles or Koolickles.  Convenience stores in the area sell the doctored jumbo dills in big jars near the checkout line.  I was curious but dubious.  All that food color couldn't completely dampen my curiosity, so I gave them a try.  They are actually rather good, much to my surprise.  I expected a chemical processed taste.  If I closed my eyes, however, the fruit and acid brought to mind the chutneys I ate in India.

 

My pickle-loving boy took an adventure bite but didn't care for more.

Buddies + Sprinkler + Mud Pies + Popsicles

 

Buddies + Sprinkler + Mud Pies + Popsicles

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

I love it when a series of photographs can tell a story.  Below is my favorite mini-story from our summer play day.  It stars my own stinkbug as the dastardly villain who learned the delicious power of putting a kink in the garden hose...

 

 

 

Thankfully, Leo thought a face full of water was hilarious.  
A good time was had by all.  Thanks, Camp Rainbow buddies!

 

Posts About Camp Rainbow:

Explanation of Camp Rainbow
Week One:  Careers and Jobs -- Restaurant and Bank
Week One:  Careers and Jobs -- Pizza Parlor
Week Two:  Native Americans
Week Three:  Wet and Wild (water creatures and wetland habitats)
Week Three:  Wet and Wild -- Home Aquarium
Week Four:  Natural History (mud pies and fake rain count, right?)

     

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Summer Joys #13 -- Mud Pies!

Last Friday Afternoon of the Summer

Crown Beach Sand Castle & Sculpture Contest

Cicada Killers

Summer Joys #14 -- Lightning Bugs

 

Fireflies
A Poem by Marilyn Kallet
(Click HERE for link)

In the dry summer field at nightfall,

fireflies rise like sparks.

Imagine the presence of ghosts

flickering, the ghosts of young friends,

your father nearest in the distance.

This time they carry no sorrow,

no remorse, their presence is so light.

Childhood comes to you,

memories of your street in lamplight,

holding those last moments before bed,

capturing lightning-bugs,

with a blossom of the hand

letting them go. Lightness returns,

an airy motion over the ground

you remember from Ring Around the Rosie.

If you stay, the fireflies become fireflies

again, not part of your stories,

as unaware of you as sleep, being

beautiful and quiet all around you.

 

 

 

Fireflies are less common these days, which make me sad.  Click the link for more information:  http://www.firefly.org/why-are-fireflies-disappearing.html

Exploring summer joys to soak them up...

#1 -- The Beach

#2 -- Ice Cream

#3 -- Seafood

#4 -- Sudden Rain Shower (and playing in it!)

#5 -- Thunderstorm at Sunset

#6 -- Lemonade
#7 -- Early Evening Light
#8 -- Rainy Evening 
#9 -- Garden Tomatoes & Homemade Pizza 
#10 -- Baseball Game
#11 -- Wadin' in the Creek

#12 -- Queen Anne's Lace
#13 -- Mud Pies!

#14 -- Lightning Bugs

   

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Summer Joys #5 -- Thunderstorm at Sunset

Summer Joys #10 -- Baseball Game

Summer Joys #8 -- Wadin' in the Creek

King Cake

Mardi Gras is tomorrow!

I get a kick out of learning about other cultures through holidays and food.  When I worked at a public library, I used to thumb through the big reference book Folklore of World Holidays to come up with an excuse (and a theme) for treats to share with staff in the break room.  Now that Eli is old enough to be my "partner in crime" for such shenanigans, I've had fun tracking down picture books that explain holidays and recipes to go with them.  Last month I found Timothy Hubble and the King Cake Party by Anita C. Pireto and Mimi's First Mardi Gras by Alice Couvillon and Elizabeth Moore.  Dull and chilly February is a great time to host a king cake party!

I was tempted to do a real party and enjoy having lots of buddies over, but I was a little daunted by the recipe for king cake.  It has quite a few steps and if you over-bake it even slightly, it gets too dry.  This year we hosted just a small group of regular buddies to come be our king cake guinea pigs.  Our first step was to share the two picture books in advance with them so the kids would understand what a king cake party is all about.  

On the morning of our party, Eli helped me get the yeast going.  While he was at school, I kept my kitchen timer close at hand so I could keep track of when to punch down the dough and then when to make it into an oval rope to slide into the oven.  It was actually easy.

  

Time-wise it was a squeak, but I sprinkled on the last bit of colored sugar just before heading to pick Eli up from school.  It turned out well!  I wish I'd been able to find liquid purple food coloring, though.  Mixing blue and red made for a fairly somber shade.  

 

The kids didn't mind the dusky color.  They were just happy for homebaked treats.  And since they had already learned that a king cake contains a bead, bean, or tiny plastic baby as a prize, everybody's first action was to poke a finger in to search... 

      

  

Ta dah!  Usually the baby in your piece of king cake means you get to host the next party.  Just before serving, though, we slid sneaky little babies into the bottom of each slice so every kid would get one.  (Party stores usually carry tiny plastic babies in the baby shower section.)

 

As the preschooler party silliness commenced, babies were used as icing spoons...

 

Babies went swimming in chocolate milk...

 

Why, those goofy Mardi Gras babies even did wild rumpus dances!

  

A good time was had by all!

 

One Mama's Two Cents:
The king cake was easier to bake than I thought, so hopefully we'll expand our party next year.  I'll purchase brighter liquid purple food color on the web so our sugars shine a bit better.  (Ugh.  I try to steer clear of food coloring, but sometimes you just gotta use a little.  All things in moderation.)  The cake is fairly messy because of the sugar sprinkled over the top, so an outdoor party may be best for younger kiddos.  If you do your own party, let the kids know in advance that king cake is really more like cinnamon bread with glaze rather than the type of cake they get at birthday parties so nobody is disappointed.  We told our friends beforehand, but some of the kids were still a little taken aback.  However, most of them soon licked their plates clean!

I used a recipe I found in Louisiana Cookin' magazine (vol. 17, issue 1, Jan/Feb. 2014), but I doubled the cinnamon for a little more warm flavor.  
A comparable recipe can be found at Allrecipes.com.  (Click HERE.)  I discovered that there are mixes for king cake and many local bakeries produce them for the Fat Tuesday.  Although it is too late for 2014, mail order king cake is also a possibility.  My magazine listed the top king cakes bakers in Louisiana and several deliver -- Ambrosia Bakery, Gambino's Bakery, Haydel's Bakery, and Manny Randazzo King Cakes.
 

 

          

              

 

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More Winter Weather Warnings...

  

What a fierce winter this has been in the South!  And it isn't over yet.  Our area forecast this week calls for a "one-two punch" of snow and ice.  I'm thankful that crews cleared out branches around the power lines in early autumn for our neighborhood and nearby roads.  That will help.  But if the ice piles up thickly on the lines themselves, I'm guessing they'll snap under the weight and we'll be without power.

We chose our new house partially because we felt it would keep our family safe in bad weather.  We have a basement in case of tornadoes and natural gas service that will allow us to cook and stay somewhat warm in winter power outages.  (The gas oven won't work because the lighter and internal thermometer take electricity, but the stovetop will work.)  Our main heat will not run because the blower is electric, yet our gas fireplace has a key rather than an electric starter, so it will give us a warm spot.  The trouble, though, is that one gas fireplace cannot heat a whole house.  This morning I drew up a plan to keep us as warm as possible in case the electricity goes off for several days...  

While living in a huge and drafty old house near the Smoky Mountains during my graduate school days, I discovered that simply covering up doorways with blankets or plastic can make a big difference.  Close off the areas you don't need to keep the main living space much warmer.  Thus this morning I went to the hardware store for two heavy duty tension rods, two extra long heavyweight shower curtains, and two sets of curtain rings.  Now we can lightly seal off the dining room and master bedroom.  (The heavy duty rods can also support hanging a blanket if we need extra insulation.)  

   

We have a hallway that I also needed to close off, but it is too wide for a tension rod.  I got a large dowel along with hardware needed to install it horizontally near the ceiling and some clip rings that will allow me to hang a tarp from it.  My plan isn't foolproof, but this will help hold more of the fireplace warmth in the living room and kitchen area.  We'll put mattresses on the floor and live mostly in this one space if we need to do so.

Below:  The dowel is installed at a diagonal so that the doorway from the kitchen is open.

  

The dowel hangs by a decorative hook and a hardware eye.  It drops into place easily, which is nice if the power goes off in the middle of the night.

 

Floating curtain rings with clips allow me to hang a thick blue tarp that we have ready. 

  

This morning I also dug through my emergency supply box to see if we were up to speed:

• Battery-powered radio
• Flashlights and lanterns (with batteries but also some crank models)
• Extra batteries
• Crank-powered light/radio/phone recharger (USB connector)
• Lightsticks (to save on battery use but also so Eli can have non-battery light with him at night in case the power goes out while he's sleeping)
• Lighters/matches
• Backup camp stove with small propane tank.  (For warm meals when the power is out, a fondue pot over a lit can of Sterno/denatured alcohol is also an option as is an outdoor barbecue grill.)
• Firewood for our patio fire pan
• Nonperishable foods including some items that can serve as cold meals -- canned goods, rice n' beans, cheese, crackers, peanut butter, shelf-stable milk, etc.  (If you have a pet, make sure you have food for them too.)
• Bag of rock salt or sand for slippery driveways/sidewalks
• Tarps, old towels, and buckets in case pipes burst, limbs fall through your roof, or other wet, messy emergencies
• Several gallons of drinking water in jugs

 

Other details?

• I'm working getting caught up with the laundry tonight so we'll have plenty of warm clothes.
• I walked around the house to make sure the insulation on our outdoor faucets is still in place and checked for any tree limbs that might come down in a dangerous way.
• I filled the car gas tank.  (I'm told that less air in the system helps winterize the car.  Also, if a power outage is a long one, we may also need to turn on the car to repower electronic devices or warm ourselves up.  And once we start driving again, we may find hazards that leave us idling on the road for a while.)
• I juiced up our computers/phones and will make sure they won't run down as long as we have power.
• If you need prescription medicines, make sure you have enough to last.
• I'm told that if the power goes out, water service in some locations will be a problem because of system pumps.  Just in case, I fill the bathtubs with water for washing and flushing toilets.
• We've got plenty of books and games.  If the power stays on, we've got DVDs too.  I also made sure we had the makings for hot chocolate, snow cream, and candy-on-snow.  (Click on the links for recipes.)

We've got some more winter crafts we may try.  Want some ideas for winter recipes to make and projects to do if you're snowbound?  Click HERE!

 

Ready as we'll ever be!

  

(The pictures are from this weekend.  We visited Snow Mountain at Stone Mountain for some snow and sledding fun.)

  

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Ice Day

Carl Sandburg's House

One of my favorite places is Connemara, the home of the late poet
Carl Sandburg in Flat Rock, North Carolina.  It has long been a beloved weekend escape -- a taste of the mountains close enough for a day trip.  
In times of heartache or yearning for an adventure to stir the senses,
I'd hop in the car and head that way, letting myself meander.  I'd hike mountain trails, stop at bridges to wade in the clear water, explore tiny towns, and poke along in antique stores.  Already soothed of soul and awake to nature, I'd then arrive at the peace that is Connemara. 

Because of our time living in California, it had been years since I last traveled those roads.  Then Brian was going to be busy during the last Saturday in August and the annual Apple Festival in nearby Hendersonville was calling my name.  Time to show Eli this special place.  

We arrived just as a glorious summer thunderstorm was about to break...

 

You enter the site through a patch of woods...

 

Then you come to a small, quiet lake.  The hill above it goes up and up.  Sandburg's huge old white house sits at the top, still more hills and Big Glassy Mountain as a backdrop. 

 

 

A winding gravel path leads to a foot bridge and up the hill... 

 

 

 

 

We had umbrellas and shoes that could get wet, but the thunder was constantly rumbling and booming.  We sought refuge in the house.  The upstairs is open for tours, but we hung out in the gift shop at the bottom.  Sandburg wrote many poems for kids too, so we read some aloud while listening to the rain come down.  And then to the little covered porch for a snack...

 

Carl Sandburg's wife was a goat farmer and part of the charm of their farm is the old dairy that still is home to a few goats.  If we couldn't reach the barnyard until the rain passed, at least we could buy a square of goat's milk peanut butter fudge.  Mmmmm. 

 

As the storm began to lessen, we explored a little around the base of the house, its towers and chimneys equipped with lightning rods.  The building is so tall and solid that it felt good to be near it.  It has weathered many a storm.  It brought to mind the feeling of walking next to my dad when I was a child, safe and nicely small by his side.

The close grounds and flower beds...

 

 

 

 

 

Then the storm drifted off towards other mountains and we were off to the barnyard...  

 

More tomorrow...

Click HERE for the next post about Connemara.

 

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Rainwashed

A few raindrops came down.  Pitter pat.  Pitter pat.  All that pollen dust dampened to paste.  An hour went by with nothing more than a darkened sky.  We waited, peering out the windows while we ate supper.

Then, thankfully, the dark clouds swirled again and a real downpour rinsed the whole world.

 

Yellow pollen lace around Georgia red clay puddles...

 

Yellow pollen swirls along the pavement... 

 

Streams of yellow pollen... 

 

And finally whole yellow pollen rivers... 

 

 

Then the rain slowed and stopped.  The sky lightened a little bit, giving a last bit of brightness to the evening.  Everything was rainwashed and sparkling...

 

 

 

The jumbled clusters of wisteria dripped...

 

 

Yesterday a friend from Belgium told me that wisteria is called "blue rain flowers" in Dutch.  Perfect.

  

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Adrift in Pollen

It is definitely spring because we are slowly getting buried in yellow dust.

 

This vehicle has been sitting still for several days.  Just so you know --
the car has shiny black paint job.

 

This time of year you can tell who parks in a garage and who doesn't by the tell-tale thickness of the pollen layer...

 

Be careful what you touch...

 

And that works in reverse.  At some point, Eli must have touched the side of my car with his snack-greasy hands.  Now the pollen is sticking to the residue...

 

The smoked glass top of our landlord's patio table...

 

If you pour a little water on things, the pollen swirls...

 

It even floats in clumpy rafts...

 

Here is the main culprit -- the pine trees.

 

Don't believe it?  Just give a branch a shake...

 

But there are so many other things blooming right now, that I swear sometimes the very air has a yellowish-green haze.

 

 

  

 

 

 

I'm sure by next year the pollen will be annoying.  Even if you don't get hay fever, after a while it feels like it sticks in your nose!  But after four years away from Georgia, clouds of spring pollen flying when the wind blows makes me shake my head in amazement and wonder.  And thankfully there are heavy rains predicted tonight to help wash the world clean again.

Click HERE for a good page for kids about pollen.

Click HERE for information about local pollen counts.

 

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Fishin'

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

Surely the ghost of my grandpa was standing on the bank grinning.