LAKE JUNALUSKA NOVEMBER 2010








My November plans took me to Lake Junaluska, NC as soon as I had finished the stained glass adventure in Ripley. WV.  I left around noon on Friday and arrived at Lambuth Inn late in the day.  I was assigned to a tine tiny room. Since the hotel is over 100 years old, the rooms were built for the haves, and have nots.   I did request a change since only 13 rooms were rented.  It really paid off as I was given a huge room with couch and two queens and lots of room.  That made me happy as Derma Lambert, my friend since before my freshman year at Duke,arrived.  We talked until the wee hours.  I could never remember all we said. The big room helped.  Lake Junaluska is property of the Methodist Church.  For residents of North Carolina, no matter what denomination, it is a historical site.  We know people who have spent many very wonderful days and nights at this location.  It was a perfect setting for the Elderhostle / Road Scholar that Drema and I were attending.



From the Porch







Lobby with lovely period decor.

On Sunday we had a delightful breakfast and decided to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a relaxed ride.  We went to Cherokee and I showed her Smokemont. Cherokee is so sophisticated when compared to the place I knew in the 60's.   I know that my daughter does not remember, but when she was young, her Dad and I took her there almost every year to camp.  We had a little puptent.  Later, we had a pull recreational trailer and went there with her Grandmother.  Such fun to remember the cold showers, cooking on an open fire and hearing strange noises while sleeping.

The parkway worked its magic as it always does.  The beautiful roads that are designed for the car to putt along at 35 miles an hour.On the way back, we stopped at roadside to buy from this vendor.  I could not help but take a picture.  It sure validated that he was a life long farmer and many nuts came from his own trees or farming.

The program included a segment on the life of the Confederate Soldier.  Our speaker kept our interest for five days.  On some days he  dressed in the blue.  Almost made me not listen and become quite sick.  "snicker"  He is one of the reenactors of Civil War battles.  The knowledge he has is to be very envied.  His session was first in the morning and everyone was at attention.  The "Yankees" were polite and did not discuss the war too much.  But I have to recall my grandmothers mother who was a small child immediately following the war.  She told stories to her daughter, Nannie who told them to my grandmother and TO ME.  When I was very small, she was still sharp as a tack and would entertain us for hours with the stories.  It is unique for people living today to have such a personl rememberance of the Civil War.  Although not first hand and I do not know who actually came to Rockingham county, all the pain of Sherman's army was told with great emotion.   Later I found that my Grandfathers side of the family did suffer as well.  His great grandfather was a moonshsiner and spent part of the war in prison because of selling the stuff to the Yankees.

Our second session was done by Dr. Cole who is a long time Mark Twain impersonator.  He is one of the top five in the US, and had pictures with Hal Holbrook.  He was apresident of Dekalb College in Georgia until his retirement when he returned to his beloved North Carolina.  He would be discussing Mark Twain, and all of a sudden he would go into character and have us so pleased to feel that we were listening to the man himself.  I saw Hal Holbrook in New York and Dr. Cole was everybit as good.  I have put all the books on my iPhone for listeneing.  He sure stimulated my interest. 

The third segment was that of the songs of the mountains.  The lecturere brought her instruments, took us through the different stringed ones that were in so many homes in the mountains.  Although nationally known, she chooses to stay in her beloved mountains and let us know of the beauty of the songs of the mountains.  I remembered most of them.  Grandaddy would sing these songs and makes me now think that his roots were certainly in southwest virginia and in the hills.  I tyried to make a list of all of the songs, but they were too numerous.  On the last night, she and her husband who played guitar, gave a concert.  I had many tears.  A terriffic experience.  A little more about Ann  Lough.She is a nationally known traditional musician who performs and teaches at schools, workshops and festivals throughout the East and Midwest. She holds a bachelor’s of music education from Murray State University in Kentucky and a master’s from Western Carolina University. She will receive her doctorate soon. Anne is particularly respected for her artistic, sensitive style of playing of the Appalachian dulcimer, a unique string instrument. Her music has been features on a PBS Christmas special and in educational videos.  I knew her name was familiar.  She teaches at my loved JC Campbell folk school.  I had heard her there.

hammered dulcimer



mountain dulcimer



It occurs to me that I may be the one of just a few people in our family alive who remembers Grandaddy singing these songs, or singing  with his four brothers.  The spiritual and mountain songs live in my memory.

My week at Junaluska was truly wonderful.  Old friends, great food, the last few days of fall, learning and remembering.....







Cross at the Highest Point



CEDAR LAKES, RIPLEY, WV STAINED GLASS

 

Lucky me!  I left Cleveland on October 24 heading south.  My travels would take me first to and Elderhostle / Road Scholar week in Ripley WV, one at Lake Junaluska, NC , then into Raleigh to visit my sister and work at the Art of the Carolina Event, and then after visiting return to Cleveland.  Trying to get back before the white begin to blow.  I managed to all of that.  I do what to share with you about my Elderhostle / Road Scholar.programs and hopefully get you addicted.  The programs are very low cost for a week of food, learning and friendships.  My first one was in Ripley WV at a 4H facility.



Our Studio



Stained glass has always fascinated me.  The beauty of glass excites  me.  This was an excellent opportunity to learn the skill.  I had attended a Road Scholar program there in the spring for watercolor and this gave me an opportunity to return.   The accommodations were terrific and the food more than good. 



Getting ready to solder the pieces after copperfoil...



I have dibbled a bit in glass work.  My grandson  and I went to an Intergenerational week in the mountains of North Carolina at the JC Campbell Folk School.  We learned how to make kaleidoscopes and that of course involves a large bit of glass work.  My interest was peaked, but I had not had a chance to learn.  When I was learning about watercolor at Cedar Lakes, people had told me of this awesome instructor for glass.  Now it was my chance to learn.

A circle cut in glass is not easy..









From inside our Studio...Tin and glass piece in window



I did not get too far in making finished and pretty things, but I got the basics.  I came away with five light catchers, a hanging piece, and a beveled star for Christmas.  I hope to keep going and learning in this area.  My daughter is also interested.





















THANKSGIVING 2010 FINALLY DONE

Such a wonderful day.  Nothing better than spending the yesterday and today in the kitchen with my daughter and seeing two wonderful guys eat with zest.  Now I am back in my half house, resting, relaxing, and trying to remember to eat reasonably.

Our table was beautiful.

I have only a couple of other Thanksgiving thoughts, then I promise I will leave this subject and go on with life. I will skip all this rambling next year as I have already bored everyone with the details.   I was laughing to myself today remembering how to cook a bird.  It happened when my daughter did  the perfect bird.  The evasive Turkey day prize.

 How do you cook a turkey?

• Plain Cooking.....  Thaw and rinse.  Truss legs.  Salt and season skin.  Inject breast with butter and seasoning.  Place in 500 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Then lower heat to 350 and cook until done. 
• Dressed up turkey..... Thaw and rinse.  Butter  utside.  TAKE AN OLD T SHRIT FROM A STRAY man, making sure it is clean PUT IT ON THE BIRD. Size of T is dependent on how many pounds the turkey weighs.  My first husband was a 4x and the bird usually weighed 25 pounds. The T fit the bird,  Butter Tshirt.  Cook until done at 350.
• Bagged Turkey....  Thaw and rinse.  Butter and salt outside.  Place in a paper bag from grocery store.  A big brown bag,  you may not be able to find this anymore.  Cook until done at 350 degrees.
• Baking Bag Turkey.  Buy baking bags and follow the instructions.
• Fried Turkey   This is too dangerous to give directions.
• Grilled Turkey.  Seems this is new, I havent seen this method before so look it up.
• Boiled Turkey.  Happens in some countries like Arabia.  Meat is boiled ( chicken, turkey, goat, lamb), in lots of spices.  Rice is cooked in the same very large container after meat has cooked off the bone.  When done, dump everything on a very large platter ( at least two feet in diameter).  Sprinkle toasted pine nuts over rice.  Eat with fingers.  No utensils.
• Smoked Turkey.  Follow smoker directions or buy one.
• Beer bottle.  Use a large can of beer with about 2 inches discarded, Bake turkey in vertical poistion with beer can placed upright into the cavity.
• Grocery Store cooked.  Most stress free method.  If you are already stressed, making this meal and cooking the turkey will make you out of your mind.

Well the day is gone and Christmas decorations will come be sorted and put up on Sunday. . Leave any turkey hints under comments.  We just can never know enough about Turkey cooking.

THANKSGIVING 2010 .... THIRD PERIOD

Pinehurst Hotel

After my divorce from Joe and after my move back to North Carolina in 1980, Thanksgivings became a really mixed bag. The first one I remember was at the old Pinehurst Hotel.  Very traditional fare but prepared with lots of butter!!  Men still hanging around waiting fore a tee time in their nickers.  Such pretense.  But the old white rockers on the porch and mint juleps were wonderful. 

The Carolina hotel, now the Pinehurst Resort, opened in 1901. It immediately served as the center of all activity at Pinehurst, surrounded by lush grounds, perfect for enjoying the warmth of the day.





Then there was the Thanksgivings in Saudi Arabia.  The food was different, the people didn't care about this day, for sure.

 I remember one holiday that was spent flying to the Asir on the western coast of Arabia.  I was sitting in view of a group of men and the stewardess came with a tray of boiled eggs, in their shell. I was not prepared for what came next....they popped them into their mouths, shell and all, and in  a few minutes, out came the shells which were spit upon the floor.  God love Saudi.  Later that day we had a meal in what used to be the Kings get-away.  Nine courses and five hours later, I was too tired to even sleep. 



Gladstones'



Memorable was the Thanksgiving spent with Leah at Gladstones on the Pacific Highway in Malibu about noontime..  Oysters Rockefeller.  I can still smell the salt air. But by six we were hunting somewhere that had old fashioned Turkey.  No such animal in LA. That visit also included the Chippendale's and the Christmas pageant at the Crystal Cathedral.



Ralph would laugh to remember Thanksgiving at the Seaside in Oregon.  This marks the end of the Lewis and Clark trail.  Don and Vicky Hansen, the Fitzpatricks' and the Greenlaws' had a buffet second to none.  Alas, we had dozens of families, kids and spilled cranberry sauce.  We have laughed so much about that day. After we had gotten the spilled cranberry sauce out of our finery.

A year or so later.

Another place to remember...and I hope you have the opportunity to visit, is Harts in Meredith New Hampshire.  Reading about the history is fun...http://hartsturkeyfarm.com/html/history.html  They make everything Turkey and bird day brings out the best.  Of course, I would tease Ralph, it wasn't a southern meal, but it would do.

As Ralph and I settled into our first home, Franny, Eleanor, Leah, Don and my new grandson shared wonderful meals.  I loved cooking for all of them and setting a fancy table.  Eight years of Bird days were spent in our homes in Raleigh.  Every year we shared the warmth, love and way too much food. 

As the 21st century got firmly underway, I shared more times with my sister.  One very terrific Thanksgiving was spent at my Niece's home in Maryland.  Of course, the conversations were wild, the stories unbelievable and the food was soooooo good.  Outside of the traditional, was the most delicious beef I have ever eaten...cooked by Nancy.  This year I have had to take a rain check.   The last two years have been Ohio Turkey days.  Great food last year. By her request,  I tried to teach Leah the art of old fashioned dishes, and of course the stress was out of sight.  This year we will have it perfect from turkey to pecan pie. 

WE WISH YOU ALL A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING.

THANKSGIVING 2010 ... MAKING OUR OWN MEMORIES

The Thanksgivings after the seventh grade were spent in a brand new house that sat on the same land as the one that burned.  They were not much different except the house was a small cottage.  No dining room but everything was new, convenient and wonderful.  Turkeys still came from the woods and food still came from the wonderfully canned goods   High school years blended into college ones and the excitement of going home for the holidays.  That didn't really last too long because just a couple of years would find us still on campus when everyone else was going home.  We had a "Charge To Keep" and staffed for the holidays.  On these occasions we had all the traditional fare in the Hospital cafeteria.  Except for the nursing students the Duke campus was absolutely dead.  The traditional fare turned into institutional turkey, dressing like I had never tasted, none of the delicious pickles, and the pies didn't hold a candle to Grandmothers.  My boyfriend was home enjoying and here I was ..... working.

Marriage was soon to follow. On one particular Thanksgiving I had begun to work in the Emergency room.  One of the residents had been sent a smoked turkey.  The staff let it sit out for hours.  I had a healthy helping and very soon after I went home.  In just a few  the agony of food poisoning set in.  My hubby took me quickly to the Emergency Room.  I was given a real dose of Compazine, I think.  We had been scheduled to take off and visit his mother in Charleston, SC.  Since there was nothing for me to do but sleep under the influence of all the drugs, Joe started to drive in that direction in our little MG sports car.  I shall never forget dreaming that a huge semi had turned over and white turkeys were flying everywhere.  It was months before I told anyone thinking I was hallucinating   Yes, there really was a bunch of loose white turkeys just south of Durham.

Our first cooking of the Thanksgiving turkey was a real story of its own.  I started my search for a live turkey and one of our neighbors found one for me and delivered it.  The only place to keep it until my lucky husband came home.  Little did I know that he was clueless as to how to fix the bird.  The first exciting thing was that the turkey didn't mind him and fled the foot locker the first chance he had.  Our beautiful new trailer was spread with you know what.  Our married student friends settled into a laughing contest as they watched the decapitation, hanging, and scalding.  I never lived down this episode, but the food was wonderful  I discovered Mt. Olive pickles, tried successfully to make my own cranberry sauce but I did have to buy the rolls that were not nearly so good.  I added over the year some recipes from my husbands' family.  Sweet potato ...well cannot remember the name, but maybe you will.  You grate a huge bunch of sweet potatoes, cook them with a ton of sugar and add some spices.  A pudding like concoction that is wonderful.  I soon tired of the grating and this recipe left my memory. 

 I was introduced to Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix in the sixties and was addicted.  No longer saving stale bread, trying to get it just right.  But I did add my own water chestnuts, onions, celery (like the old fashioned stuffing I was used to), and some oysters when we were rich enough.  All the other stuff was wonderful.... celery stuffed with cream cheese and olive, spiced little red apples, and a bit of eggnog.

The years went by and our small family had Thanksgiving pretty much the same way with the addition of friends and Joes' employees that were far from home. I can still see the buffet with sweet goodies, the table laden, and folks we had met along the way.  Family was far away.  I became famous during this time for Southern Pecan Pie.  Yummmmm!

THANKSGIVING 2010 -- Early Memories

Seems impossible to me that Turkey Bird Day is here again.  My daughter and I were going over the menu this afternoon and my mind was flooded with thoughts and the past Thanksgiving Dinners.  I thought through the yeas from my childhood, in my first marriage, away from home places, my second marriage.....the foods I have had, the people, and the places of my Thanksgiving.   You may kinda question why I am spending time on my blog with all that is going on.  I will deal with all other things in other blogs or emails.  Tonight I am concentrating on Thanksgivings over the last 75 yeas.  This post deals with the first thirteen of them. All in the same home.

Before I begin the descriptions I need to remind you that some of these years were during World War !!.  In those days sugar was rationed and we didn't have the sweets that were usual.  The other things were pretty much the same because we grew and canned all our vegetables, killed our turkey, and had a friend who supplied all the eggs.  For some of you it might be fun to look up President Roosevelt's comments about Thanksgivings in these yeas. They are very enlightening.  I may be important to remember that President Roosevelt set the day we now celebrate in the late 30's. Before then it had been the last Thursday of November.  The reason FDR did it was to extend shopping. I thought he was a Democrat??  See stamps at the bottom for sugar, gasoline, shoes.....

Of course I cannot remember in any detail the first five or six Thanksgivings but I do remember the ones with Grandmother and Grandaddy.  The table was always set in the dining room, not the kitchen.  The best linen and dishes found their way to the table.  Grandmother would spend many hours before the day polishing silver and washing up the best dishes that hadn't been used since last Christmas.  Yes.  Only for use on Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter.  We lived in the same house until I was in the seventh grade when it burned to the ground and a new one was built on the same site.  The dining room table was large and it was not unusual for it to have too many adults for kids to eat there.  We were set a table in the kitchen, of course.  The house was a kind of lodge built in the twenties.  The dining room had a huge floor to ceiling cabinet along one wall, there was wainscoting all around and on one end of the room were windowed doors overlooking the lake.  There were numerous antiques in the room:  a sideboard, a side table, a large desk and the table and chairs.  The appliance pictures are authentic.

The menu was all about turkey, just like everyone else, I guess.  One thing about the turkey was that Grandaddy always killed one for us.  Wild birds were right close by and were numerous.  He spent months before hunting out the perfect bird.  One of the Thanksgivings was special in this regard.  He came home with two birds.  He swore he got them both with one shot.  Just as he let fly, the second bird put his head in way to the shot. I sue didn't see this happen.

  We would keep the turkey alive until the day before cooking time.  Grandaddy would hang the bird on the clothes line, cut off his head, and run to keep from getting showered with blood.  Soon as that was over, the bird was dunked into a huge tub of boiling water, feathers were plucked, the bird was gutted, the giblet cleaned, and the liver retrieved and all the pinfeathers were burned.   Then to the kitchen.

A few days before the important day, Grandmother had been busy getting the table lines out and the final dishes and silver gotten ready.  She would have the sweet potatoes cooked and in the fridge waiting for final ton of sugar and spices, vanilla and baking.  The jello salad would be in the refrigerator, having been made a few days back.  It was so good and so tempting.  My fingers found their way into the long rectangular glass dish more than once.. Stale bread was toasted and cut up for the dressing.  This of course was before the days of Pepperidge farms wonderful bag.  The bread would be wet after the Turkey had been baked and the drippings were divided between the dressing and the gravy.  Careful attention had been given to the deviled eggs which had to be very fresh, made only  a few hours before the meal.   Plenty of celery sticks were prepared and getting crisp in the refrigerator.  Cranberry sauce came in a can.. yes Ocean Spray.  I know that my other grandmother made hers, but it was jelly at our house and canned.

Pickles of many types were waiting in their special jars.  None of them were made in Mt. Olive or some other processor.  These pickles had  been made in the late summer by Grandmother, Aunt Bessie, Aunt Mary and others who dropped into the farm in Wentworth to help with the canning.  The best pickles were the bead and butte ones made by Aunt Bessie.  But we also loved the sweet little ones and of course the pickled peaches. (I cannot make them and cannot find them in stores today.)  Canned vegetables were plentiful and had been canned when the pickles were made.  We always had wonderful green beans (casseroles were not in vogue yet).   The turkey was moist and wonderful, especially the leg.  To this day it is my favorite part.   We had  yeast rolls made in cloverleaf fashion by grandmother using cakes of yeast.  Creamy gravy made with drippings from the turkey, chopped boiled eggs, and seasoned perfectly.

As if this was not enough.... the dessert was a work of art.  Made several days before, three things were always there: FRESH coconut cake, a couple of pecan pies, and pumpkin pie.  Sometimes there were extra ones, depending on the mood of the day.