MY ANNUAL BAKING MOMENT

Hello again, Blogging Pals! I do hope you are preparing for the Feast of the Bird! My preparations are simple: Wear pants with an elastic waistband.

Alright. Those of you who know me well are fully aware that cooking is NOT my forte'. In fact, the spousal-unit probably cooks more than I do (when you live in the South, you grill all year round!)... and generally better than I do. There are, however, a few dishes I have been making for a number of years and one or two that have actually become somewhat traditional. This is one of those traditions... Sweet Potato Pies at Thanksgiving.

It all begins innocently enough. I wake up... it's drizzling outside... perfect day to bake, right? Sure! Let's just wash up those pie plates that have not seen daylight since November of last year. That was a good start! Let's see. What do we do next? Oh yes! Boil the sweet potatoes (keeping the recipe VERY close at all times!).

While those 'taters boil, let's start pulling out the rest of the ingredients. Here are a few of the "Paula Deen-style" items that comprise the pie-making! (We won't discuss the sugar levels of this little dish!)Okay. While the 'taters boil, we can get those homemade crusts made. Plenty of time. Let's get started on those.

This is the part where I hark back to my Project Manager days! One of the PM classes I attended had an exercise wherein the instructor kept getting in one's face and barking, "PERCENT COMPLETE?!?!?!?" One was supposed to make a snap determination on the progress of the "project" and bark back with the number. *chuckle* I really had fun watching some of my classmates throwing back large numbers... nearly 100%... when they had barely begun the exercise. With that in mind, I offer up the following:

33%!!!!!!!

67%!!!!!!!

100%!!!!!!! Ready to Receive!!!!!!!

I will spare all of you the painful details of the mashing of the Sweet Potatoes and all of the mixing and folding that is involved in making the filling. Likewise, I will not bore you with the combining of brown sugar, butter, chopped pecans, and flour that creates a heavenly topping. Instead, I will show you Pies #1 and #2 going into their "tanning salon."

Now... just in case you are thinking I am cheating and using some prepared filling or purchased pie crusts (a SIN!), I will show you the spousal-unit's contribution (and it was a MAJOR one!) to the pie-making marathon. I don't think I would have made it if I had to face washing all of the pots, pans, bowls, measuring devices... let's just say the dishes! Note that the drainboard holds only about half of the total!! (Thank you, honey!!!)

Finally, about eight hours later, all pies are baked, cooled, and ready to be parceled out. (You don't think I KEEP one of these around, do you? Remember the elastic pants we talked about earlier? I don't want to buy bigger ones next year!!!)
(The little casserole dish is for my friend, Debbie, who has to eat gluten-free.)

That's my story for today. I wish each and every one of you all of the turkey (or other item of your choice) and fixin's you can stand. I hope we all can remember to be thankful for our good fortune. And, I hope you don't expect to make it to my "parcel" list next year. I'm not making more pies!!

Until next time...

LA CUISINE DE BEAUREGARD!!

Welcome back, Blogging Pals!! Hope you are well on your way to preparing for that Turkey feast on Thursday!

What better way to prepare for an upcoming Thanksgiving holiday than to attend a food festival! Yes, indeed. Gives one the opportunity to rethink that traditional roasted (or fried) turkey and dressing. Be careful! You might find something you like even more!! I attended the first one of these last year. It was not very organized and not something I felt of enough interest to share with you. The city, merchants, and organizations did a MUCH better job this year and I want you to join me there.

The whole premise here is you purchase a "ticket" for $5. This ticket entitles you to a taste of their specialty from each of the entrants. There were 10 entrants this year so there was a great variety of things to eat!! We were treated to Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (which not everyone thought was good but it was!), Bar-B-Qued Turkey, Spaghetti & Meatballs (which I wasn't really clear on since that isn't a typical Cajun/French dish!), Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya, Gumbo, Shrimp Creole, Pork Bar-B-Q, Chili, and a couple of other items that escape me right now. Now the key is you MUST taste all of the entries in order to vote for your favorite. Each booth has a highlighter-wielding person who will highlight the entry you are tasting. If you don't taste them all, your vote will not be counted. Besides, why on EARTH would you want to miss one?!?!?!? This will be the best, most varied, $5 lunch you ever had!!

Here we go... to La Cuisine de Beauregard!!

I arrived early in order to catch some photos before the crowd showed up! (You know Louisiana folks will show up for food, right?!?!?) This is the street scene (the block cordoned off for the festival) at 10:50 a.m. The festival ran from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. It hasn't even started yet!

There are always opening "ceremonies" to endure. These, however, weren't bad at all! We started with the introduction of the "celebrity chef" who would be providing a cooking demonstration in the Pavilion a little later. (Sorry, I don't know who he is but the web site I provided you earlier indicates he is Joe Heacook of Sowela's culinary school. Great last name, huh?)
The young lady holding the microphone is Erika. She is the wife of one of the entrants. She sang our National Anthem, a cappella, in such a way that the day looked better when she was done. What a marvelous voice with which she has been blessed.

It is rare for any event in the South to begin without an invocation. This was no exception. The pastor who delivered it did an excellent job. Even with all of the people who had gathered by now (this was 11:15 a.m.), you could have heard a pin drop during the prayer. A resounding "AMEN" from the crowd followed.

At last!!! It was time for the ceremonial "Cleaving of the Sausage" to get this thing officially started!! This was one BIG ol' sausage to get things going! I hope you can spot it as the young lady holding it is wearing a dark top which tends to hide it!

Martha Lou (the "May-uh's" wife) was good-natured about the whole thing. The cleaver was embellished with purple/green/gold ribbons (those are Mardi Gras colors in case you are uneducated in things Louisiana) and certainly capable of doing damage to anything it might strike. Martha Lou wielded it with aplomb and relish, striking a surely fatal blow, and kicking off the festival with laughter and good cheer!!

Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners provided some excellent zydeco music under the bandstand canopy. The early dancers enjoyed lots of room but the area in front of the bandstand was shoulder-to-shoulder by 1:30 p.m.! (Everyone wanted to taste first, dance later!)

As luck would have it, I only took pictures of about five of the ten entrants' booths. I took them for aesthetic reasons but, as luck would have it, three of them were the top finishers!!! I will tell you my vote was for the second place winner (the shrimp creole was EXCELLENT!) but everything was good. Here they are in first, second, and third place order:

The Butt Brothers had a terrific Bar-B-Qued pork product. I didn't ask too much about it, though, as I had attended high school with one of the "chefs" and old prankster reputations die hard!! It was the first place winner.
(If you can't read the writing, it says: "THE BUTT BROTHERS...first we rub it... then we spank it... then we slowwww cook it." The bottom states "FORMALLY THE CRACKLING BROTHERS" and I am not going to make the spelling correction for you. :) It's their sign.)

This guy, attired in Mardi Gras beads, got my vote with his excellent shrimp creole. It was the second place winner.
Finally, one of our local judges, Kerry, picked up third place with his Red Hill Farm Chili. Can you tell his school loyalty?
(The apron reads: "LSU Certified Tailgate Chef.")

I hope you enjoyed our stroll through La Cuisine de Beauregard. It was a beautiful day, cooler than it has been with a lovely breeze. I know I completely enjoyed myself.

Until next time!!

FLY OR DRIVE - IT'S FUN EITHER WAY

Hello again, Blogging Pals! Welcome back!

I am now behind on posts. I have fodder for too many sitting on my desk. Let's get a little closer to caught up today, shall we?

On Saturday, November 7th, there were 3 events I attended. You have already read about the Methodist Bazaar. You won't read about the Open House at Zachary's (a gift shop) although I enjoyed it. The third event we will visit today. It was a Fly-In/Drive-In at the local airport.

We started by driving onto the airport grounds (about 1/2 mile from the house!).
Note that the Beauregard Regional Airport is at an elevation of 203' and operates on frequency 122.8 in case you should wish to fly in some day.
The spousal-unit is a licensed private pilot so you will note FAR more photos of airplanes than automobiles but the following are just a sampling of what was actually out there. I believe about 50 airplanes were flown in from different areas. There were probably about 25-30 automobiles. I hope you can enjoy the photos.

The Stearman twins were fabulous to see!!


I wasn't sure about this one until the spousal-unit explained it is an amphibious plane. (Makes sense with all the darned water in this state!) The props push the plane through the air rather than pulling it which is how most planes operate. The best part? You can land it on the water, pop the canopy, walk out on the wing, do your fishing, then head home!

Most of the planes were single-engine, two-seater types with some exceptions. If you have a crowd to move, this one would come in handy!
Now I know some of you are going to have a field-day with this one!! Yes, it does kinda' look like a Redneck Monster Truck with wings! That is not exactly accurate, however. This is a pontoon plane... another flying machine capable of landing and taking off on the water. Does it really HAVE to be that high in the air before it ever leaves the ground? Well... I don't know. But it makes for good humor!
Then there were just a couple of really good-looking planes. It's kind of like house-shopping. While the guys are typically evaluating the structural soundness and mechanical worthiness, I am generally looking at the aesthetics. Sigh. So shoot me. I can't help it. I will pay attention to the OTHER things but only AFTER the aesthetics have wowed me! These would meet that criterion!


Finally, a plane of beauty. A plane that was an integral part of providing us with the freedom we enjoy today. A plane that many fine airmen of WWII flew with a purpose. If you haven't figured it out, I love the WWII planes more than anything else.

Okay. Enough planes (although I have as many more photos as what you have viewed with me today!). For those of you less thrilled with winged flight, I have chosen two of my favorite automobiles that were at the show.

Note the LSU Tiger head on the grille of this 1929 model!! :)
And... one of my "muscle car" favorites... a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396. They don't sound like THAT anymore!!!
Alright. Enough. I have gone on too long!! I hope you enjoyed this little tour of a very nice event. And, if you're interested, the airport we visited was the Beauregard Army Air Base during WWII. While Wikipedia shows it as DeRidder Army Airbase, the correct name was Beauregard Army Air Base.

Thanks for dropping by! I love hearing from you!

Until next time...

METHODIST LADIES BAZAAR AND TOMAS, EL MUSICAL

Hello again, Blogging Pals!! Great to have you back!

Okay. Just a quick post about a couple of things I did last weekend.

The ladies of the Methodist Church here have an annual Bazaar. I have never attended one but I was in search of a knitted scarf like one my friend, Susan S., was wearing when we went to lunch last week. She told me they would be available at the Bazaar which was all of the impetus I needed! I awakened early on Saturday in order to get there early (it started at 8:00 a.m.!) so the selection would be large. When I entered, the first sights I encountered were my pals, Marty and Helen, in positions of high authority! These gals were busy at the minute I saw them and remained so when I "checked out" with Helen (yes, I counted my change!)! There was a LINE to check out of this place!! Amazing. Hope they did well. A few of the offerings:

Cakes, Pies, Casseroles, Jellies, Jams, Cookies!!!!!

The "Kiddy" Corner:

Elizabeth Anne knitting a Prayer Shawl:

And finally, the Christmas stuff!!

I did score two very lovely knit scarves for myself as well as a Louisiana Pecan Cake that Helen made! YUMMMMMMMY! I also got some Mayhaw Jelly for my aunt. Google it. :)

The other fun thing this past weekend was attending "Tom Sawyer, The Musical" which was put on by The Impromptu Players, our local theatre group. It was quite well done considering the number of actors needed and their ages! Obviously there were a gaggle of young'uns since this was based on the "Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn" book. The lead roles (Tom, Becky, and Huck) were played by 13-year olds who did a GREAT job and sang pretty darned well! It was great fun watching them. There were a bunch of other young'uns in period costume who were in the background but also fun to observe. The adults did a fine job as well. The two leading roles (Judge Thatcher and Aunt Polly) had very lovely voices with Aunt Polly really shining in her role. Injun Joe was played "to the hilt" by someone I did not know but found out from one of my fellow attendees that he was typically very quiet and very reserved. He sure stepped out of THAT for his role! :) At any rate, having lost my ability to attend local theatre in Austin, especially my fave troupe, Different Stages, it is nice to have something to which I can look forward here.

So... that's enough for the evening. Have a little work to do this evening. I'll tell you all about that later.

Until next time!!!

QUEEN OF THE 25-MINUTE INTERVIEW

Heidy-Ho, Blogging Buddies!! Good to have you back!

Alright. Let's talk about the employment situation here. I remain unemployed with only a few folks actually contacting me about my resume'. You would be amused at some of the job opportunities I have actually applied for... only because there is a dearth of opportunities here and I'm really willing to do nearly anything rather than nothing!! :)

But... last week was a HUGE week in my employment pursuit! I had two... yes, count them... TWO... interviews last week... AND... I am actually qualified for either job (well actually, I'm a little overqualified... but what I mean is I understand the jobs and have done something similar in my life in the past). This was a bonanza for sure! One interview was last Wednesday and the other was last Friday. Now here is what I refer to in the Title of this post.

The Wednesday interview was about doing something I have quite a bit of experience with in the past. There were two interviewers, both of whom had my resume' at hand. I did point out early on I had experience in the field but it had been prior to the beginning date of my resume' (I figure no one needs more than a 15-year history of employment). Both parties made note of this information. The only questions they had relative to the job was 1) had I read the job description (yes), and 2) was there anything I felt like might be a problem (no). Beyond that, we talked about the town, everyone's history there, who "our people" were, and generally chatted about the folks we knew in common. The interview began at 9:20 a.m. and ended at 9:45 a.m. My 25 minutes there was done. They have "several applicants" and will be finishing up interviews and talking about a decision in the "next 3-4 days" which I take to mean the end of this week since we had a weekend in between and it always takes longer than is expected. We'll see.

The Friday interview was in an environment I am not familiar with but the job itself was one I have done nearly my entire working life... essentially, customer service. The interviewer was young but very astute and easy to chat with. In this case, we had the entire LIST of standard interview questions to roll through (I don't think Behavioral Interviewing has made it to this company yet). We determined my Strengths, Weaknesses, etc., and my interviewer was kind enough to provide me with a very extensive and informative description of the job (the ad in the paper had nothing except job title and where to apply!) as well as the environment. There was discussion about those things, as well. Finally, we did chat about "our people", growing up here (my interviewer had moved to Houston but had returned with family so we had the Texas connection going), and the circumstances that had caused each of us to return. I did gain some hope there as the interviewer indicated a desire to hand off my resume'/application to the regional supervisor for consideration in the event there was something at that level that might be a good fit. Of course, that also makes me feel as though the position I applied for is not going to offer much and the interviewer knows that. Sigh. Oh well. Very pleasant interview... that began at 11:30 a.m. and ended at 12:05 p.m. Yep. My 25 minutes there was done.

So, my Blogging Pals... I remain unemployed (but my yard is really looking great!) but, as always, hopeful. I will let you know if I hear something positive from either of these places. If you don't hear, know that my status has not changed. :)

Lots to come! There was a Fly-In/Drive-In this past Saturday at the Beauregard Regional Airport. Lots of great pictures for you! There was the Methodist Women's Bazaar (where I scored two VERY cool knit scarves, a pint of Mayhaw jelly for the aunt, and a Louisiana Pecan Cake that I can't wait to get into!). A few pictures there. Sunday afternoon, I attended the matinee performance of the Impromptu Players' latest; Tom Sawyer, The Musical. No photos here, just some comments.

Until the next post...