Decorating Eggs

Hail! Yes, I said hail. That was the weather as we prepared to dye our Easter eggs. It was one of those scary storms, high winds, heavy rain and marble-size hail. Of course, while we should have been taking cover, we were outside on the porch watching the action and taking pictures.

After the storm, it was egg-dying time. Even Kenny got in on the fun!

60 Years to Celebrate

On February 11, 1949, Bettye Jean and Clyde got married. On February 14, 2009, family and friends gathered at the barn to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Mama and Daddy looked great and we all have a wonderful time reminiscing. Sixty years ago, Mama was living in Panama City and she travelled to Rome for the weekend. It was during her visit that Daddy asked her to marry him. She called home to ask for permission and the rest is history. Betty Mathis was her maid of honor for the wedding. It was a double wedding ceremony that will always be remembered as a special time. Today, we honored them with a gathering at the barn. The day was cool, but the barn was warm and the food was tasty. Enjoy these pictures of this special day.

Payton's Chicken Stew

Payton was last year's winner of the Quail Hollow Souper Bowl. This year, he had two entries. A favorite of the competition was his Chicken Stew. This simple recipe packs a lot of flavor. It is sure to become a family favorite!

Payton’s Chicken Stew

1 – 28 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
¼ cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 ½ # boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cups diced onion
2 cups frozen lima beans
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 large bell pepper, diced
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
Lime wedges

Put tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cumin and oregano in a slow cooker. Stir to blend. Add chicken and vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours, or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and pull into shreds using 2 forks. Return to cooker. Serve with bacon and lime wedges.

Souper Bowl at the Barn

Souper Bowl 2009 Winners
Dale's Taco Soup and Kitty's Turtle Brownies

While the world was celebrating the Super Bowl, we headed to the Barn for our own Souper Bowl. The 2nd Annual Quail Hollow Souper Bowl was held on January 31 in the Barn. Friends and family gathered for some friendly competition. This year's event was expanded to include desserts. The weather was cold - just right for enjoying an evening of good food.

This year's soup competition had an international flair with recipes from Mexico, South Africa, Italy, and the good old USA. Eight different soups were entered and all were delicious. This year's winner was Dale's Taco Soup!
Now for the desserts. The 8 entries were yummy. My favorite was Alice's Key Lime Cheesecake. But in the end, chocolate was once again the favorite in Kitty's Turtle Brownies.

The evening ended with talk of next year's entries. So now we have a year to test and perfect our entries for next year! The winning recipes will be posted soon!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

Granny's Cookbook

Several years ago, Kenny's mom and I started work on a scrapbooked cookbook of her favorite recipes. Granny gathered the recipes while I hung out at the local scrapbook shops looking for just the right paper and scrapbook for the project. Work began on the computer, typing the recipes using cute fonts. This was the easy part, well kind of easy considering the number of fonts I purchased. Next came the task of finding suitable pictures. A search of the pictures I had collected over the years and a look into Granny's stash resulted in some great photos. Copies of the pictures were made at Target, lots of copies since I planned to create multiple cookbooks, one for every family member.

With the recipes, photos, and a variety of papers - all color coordinated - I set out to create the pages. The progress was slow and even with weekly scrapbooking nights at Dale's, I couldn't seem to get the past the many decisions - which paper to use, the layout of the page and selecting just the right picture for each page. I would frequently pull out the project and sit and look at the 3 pages finished.

With Granny's 87th birthday in July, I knew that it was time to finish the cookbook. My goal was to have the cookbook completed in time for Christmas. The format changed from a scrapbook to a digital book, thanks to Blurb. I finally realized that I am not a scrapbooker but I do love working on the computer. I had previously tried some of the online sites for booking making, but Blurb was unique because the BookSmart software is installed on your own computer and you don't have to upload your pictures to a website and be online to work on your book.

After many hours of work, the cookbook was completed just in time for the deadline for Christmas delivery. When the books arrived, I was thrilled with the quality and proud of what will be my first of many books from Blurb. This was a labor of love and honor for Granny, a wonderful mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who feed her family well with delicious Southern foods.

Christmas 2008

Today the was the end of our wonderful Christmas celebration. There are no presents under the tree, the house is a wreck and the frig is full of leftovers. This is often a sad day, but for me, my heart is full of memories of spending time with family and friends. Too often we can become caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season and fail to take the time to enjoy the little things. Things like watching Reeves open his Christmas present from us and begin planning his trip to Monster Jam. And Cash's excitement with the Lightning McQueen motorized car as he learned to use the remote to speed across the floor. And playing games with Maggie. These are times that are special and will be remembered for years to come.

This year's family celebration started on Christmas Eve with dinner at Quail Hollow. After dinner, we enjoyed the Christmas Communion Service at Newnan Presbyterian Church. On Christmas morning, Terri and Payton served a delicious brunch with Breakfast Burritos as we watched Reeves enjoyed his presents from Santa. After brunch we went to Peggy's to visit with Granny.

But this was just the beginning of our Christmas celebration. On Friday, Kacy, Judi, Jason, Sherri, Maggie, Reeves, Doug and Melody joined us. Saturday began with brunch and was followed by a shopping trip to Ashley Park. I loved taking Maggie and Cash to the new candy store and we all selected a bag of our favorite candies. One observation, Kenny and I filled our bag with chocolate treats while Maggie and Cash selected the taffies, gummies and other sugar treats.

After shopping, it was time to get ready for dinner in the barn. Judi and Kacy provided the appetizers of Redneck Caviar and Cheesy Sausage Dip. Payton cooked the turkey and Crawfish Dressing while Kenny and I made the Dressing with Giblet Gravy, Cranberry Casserole, and Pannetone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce. Peggy and her family brought Baked Ham, Hash Brown Potato Casserole, and Green Beans. Lisa's treat was a Sausage Roll. For dessert, Judi made her almost famous Apple Pie and Terri baked one of the family's favorites, Bourbon Pound Cake. As you can tell from the pictures below, a good time was had by all!

Matthew and Barbara

Last weekend we traveled to Charlotte to visit for a family visit. It was our first visit with the newlyweds, Matt and Barbara. This is just one for the beautiful pictures from their July wedding in Mexico. Thanks Mike and Pam for the hospitality!

The County Fair

The fair is in town!

The county fair brings back a lot of fond memories. My first fair experiences were at the Coosa Valley Fair in Rome, Georgia. With our free ticket in hand, we headed to the fair to enjoy the rides, games and exhibits. My mom was a local garden club member and she worked hard on the floral arrangements she exhibited. I spent my time on the midway, riding the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Scrambler and the Mad Mouse.

Years later as an Extension Agent in Newnan, I was in charge of the women's exhibits. We worked hard to promote the fair and encourage participation in the crafts and food sections. For several days, a group of dedicated ladies assisted as proud women, men and children completed the registration process and anxiously awaited the judging.

When the fair opened, I spent many long hours in the 4-H Food Booth while my coworkers were in the barn with the 4-Hers getting ready to show their animals. It was a family affair and everyone had a great time.

My experiences with the Coweta County Fair landed me a position on the planning board of the Georgia National Fair. In the late 1980s, Georgia state representatives Larry Walker and Henry Reaves started a plan for a state fair to promote Georgia agribusiness. The result was the Georgia National Fair held annually in Perry, Georgia. I loved the trips to Perry through the backroads of middle Georgia to assist with the Exhibit Hall.

As things happen, my role with fairs has changed. Now we are the grandparents, taking two of our grandchildren to the fair. It is an annual event. Kenny and I watch as Callie and Reeves enjoy the rides. After the rides, we feast on the fair food and stroll through the barn looking at the animals and watching the 4-Hers as they show their animals.

Clydean

This is definitely not a "Reserved Pageant!" Thanks to all the men that made the pageant a success. Can you guess which one is my dad?
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Camp Coggin 2008

Camp Coggin is a special time at Quail Hollow. Our grandchildren take time from their busy schedules to spend time with the old folks. This year started with Granny's birthday party. All of the 7 grandchildren - Bou, Mitchell, Sydney, Callie, Reeves, Maggie and Cash - were here. Maggie and Cash, we hope you will be able to join us next year!

Redneck Surfing!

A new sport was created at Quail Hollow --- Redneck Surfing! Take some innovative teenagers with a lake and a will to do something crazy and you have Redneck Surfing. Watch for Redneck Surfing in the 2016 Olympics!

Granny's Birthday Celebration

Kenny's mom turned 87 on July 17th. On the July 19th, all of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren gathered at our barn to celebrate. Everyone had a great time swimming at the Fairbrothers (thanks Tonya and Scooter), riding the trails, fishing, eating and talking. I loved watching the children as they created and renewed bonds with their cousins of all ages. We have to do this more often!

Fish Tales

After several days of fishing and stories about the "one that got away" we finally had fish for dinner.

Fun in the Sun!

A trip to the beach is the ultimate summer vacation. I love the hot weather, the sunshine, the water, the seafood... I love it all! And this year's vacation lived up to all my expectations. The Florida Keys are unique. The lifestyle is very casual and slow. There is no traffic, no amusement parks, no putt-putt, and no Internet. The first three were definitely not missed, but I must say, it was very hard to be separated from the world. The only place in Marathon with free wireless access was the public library. After 2 days off-line, I used the handy GPS to find the local library. Unfortunately, the library is closed on Mondays, but you can access the wireless from the parking lot. If someone had been serving coffee in the parking lot, I would have sworn we were at a local coffee shop. The Monroe County Library even has access to power outside in case you have a low battery! I quickly found out that this was a hot spot for those suffering from cyberspace withdrawal.

Our home for the was nothing spectacular, but it had everything we needed - a pool and a boat dock on the canal. We also had a lot of wildlife in the form or iguanas. They were everywhere and some were HUGE! They loved to hang out at the pool with us.

Thanks to Payton and Terri, we had a boat for the week. One night we took the boat to Sparky's for dinner. It was the perfect evening. The water was calm so the boat ride was great. Sparky's is a dockside restaurant that has delicious meals - the best we had during our stay. We started out with the tasty Artichoke and Crab Dip served piping hot. I ordered crab cakes and they were yummy. Reeves ordered his favorite sushi but the best meal of the night was Terri's Shrimp and Bacon Pizza. After dinner we cruised home at sunset to the sounds of beach music and danced on the deck. It was a night to remember.

Dancing with My Favorite Men