Thursday, January 2, 2014

Peachy Keen 2014

Well, I hope


Hey, everyone!  I had this post as a draft with just those three words above.  I wonder what I was going to say? Who knows?! I have been a bit OUT of it, so to speak. Made it to the doctor today so I hope my body is heading in the right direction!  Hoo boy, the prescribed medications have a long list of side effects...dizziness, jerky movements, excessive sweating, confusion, etc.  I am a woman of a certain age, how will I tell the difference?

My Dad cooked a wonderful meal for New Year's Day. I was able to make it there and in between coughing, had a great dinner!  Anyone else would have just sipped chicken soup, but that's not my style!   Daddy is the best cook.  (He stayed up very late the night before and watched the college football game between Texas A & M and Florida, with Texas A&M winning a close game, which must have finished just at midnight, so he saw the New Year in.) THEN, he got up early on New Year's Day and cooked the following:

Fried Chicken    (I have to tell you he makes the BEST fried chicken.  He fries it in the blackest iron
                              skillet you have ever seen.  All his iron skillets are very old, well seasoned and are
                              the BEST for frying.  His chicken is perfectly cooked, moist with the most tender
                              crust and NEVER greasy!)

Baked Chicken    (Ditto, for the moistness.  I was able to bring some of this home for Richard...gluten
                              free, don't you know.)

TWO kinds of cornbread...one with cracklings and onions, and one without.

Fluffiest, lightest biscuits in the world!  With a big bowl of gravy!

His big round bowl of macaroni & cheese.    (His secret for this dish...LOTS of cheese! This is the
                                                                          Grandkids' favorite. Very often, with no leftovers!)

Turnip Greens *
Collard Greens*
Turnips*
Rutabagas*
Black eye peas*
Carrots

All of the STARRED items were from his own garden!  He cooked the turnips and the rutabagas together (the turnips were white and the rutabagas were golden.) and along with a piece of cornbread was my FAVORITE.  No, wait, I had to eat a small piece of the fried chicken, that was my favorite...No, wait, I had to have 1/2 a biscuit with gravy over it! The greens! The peas! And that MAC & CHEESE!! ! @$%%$$$  Hey, I didn't mean to hit those keys, but you know I am having jerky movments!
We had our dinner at 1:00 and with so much food that was all I could eat for the whole day! What a feast, it was wonderful.  (With so much food, he wants everyone to take home lots of the leftovers...isn't that great?) 

That meal seems like so much work to me, but he gets so much JOY from cooking.  Who are we to stop him?  Right?  We have tried to ask him if he would prefer not to cook so much, but he enjoys it!
And doggone it, he really is a good cook.  He can do anything really.  When he told me that he found some good chickens to cook for our New Year's Day Dinner, I asked him were they whole chickens and did he have to cut them up.  I was on the phone when I asked him this and there was a slight pause, and he said, "Why, I can cut up a chicken with my eyes closed."

Now, that's not funny to anyone else, I am sure, but it made me laugh!  So funny, just his delivery... always with such perfect timing, he can just turn a simple statement into something that makes me howl with laughter!

Have I showed you this photo of Daddy from the Sunflower Festival this past June?  He walked quite a ways to get to this...they were just pieces of wood nailed together with a wheel, to look like a toy tractor...it was set up for the children.  Good thing they had it there for the biggest kid there!  "Get a picture of me, Kay!"   And you know I did!   




 Well, I hope...  that all of you who read this know how much I love my Dad and how much I wish that great energy and joie de vivre is something that I could bottle and send to each one of you.  I appreciate my friends!  (If you click on that link to joie de vivre, you will see a painting of Falstaff.  I think my Dad could pose for a similar painting!)  Oh! And Daddy is 86 by the way.

Happy 2014.  Well, I hope it WILL BE Peachy Keen!

  I have one of my Dad's favorite singers, Bobby Bare with his great song, "Dropkick Me Jesus".  Enjoy!



26 comments:

  1. Oh- I just LOVE your Dad! What a wonderful inspiration he is to you and everyone around him...AND he cooks!!!!! Wow! I sure hope you are feeling better soon. What a miserable time to be sick- xo Diana

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    1. Thanks, Diana! My Dad is wonderful!
      And this winter, it's hit me hard. No snow YET but it's cold!!

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  2. You know I love your Dad, Kay! And you are so right about the joie de vivre - he could have stood as a model for that painting :-D
    Lovely meal which I would not have minded sharing with you... Although I don't know what ruga-somethings are, must look them up.
    Dizziness, jerky movements, excessive sweating, confusion, etc. - sounds like me on the dance floor, he he (except for the sweating).
    Happy New Year to you, Kay, and Gute Besserung! (Of course you guessed it, that's German for "get well soon".)

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    1. Hey Meike!
      You know I had to look up the spelling of "joie de vivre". (I was right, but I MUST check it!) When I saw the painting on the Wikipedia site, I couldn't believe how close the expression was to my Dad's photo!
      Rutabegas are called swedes in England, I think. I liked them there, but man, let me tell you, from my Dad's garden, they are the best!
      HA! You on the dance floor, that's funny, although, I am sure that's not true!
      Thanks for the get well in German, I will take it in all languages! :-)

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  3. Please - What is/are Peachy Keen? Also - Ruga-whatsits?
    I know how good Southern Fried Chicken is from our visits to Georgia years ago.
    AND I just love the look and sound of your Dad.His smile is so big and happy. Treasure him Kay - miss mine so much.x

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    1. Peachy Keen- American slang, my dear. It means "excellent, fine , worthy".
      Rugabegas! They are called swedes in England, I think they are neeps in Scotland!
      Ah yes, you know good Southern Fried Chicken but my Dad's is the BEST!!
      xx

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  4. What a wonderful feast! I love that kind of food. Hope your cold improves. Happy New Year to you and your family. Aloha from Hawaii.

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    1. Good old country food, my Dad calls it. Nothing fancy, just good!
      Hope you have a wonderful 2014!
      Lucky you in Hawaii! Do you watch the news of the cold winter and say, "Thank goodness, we are not there?" :-) I WOULD!!!

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  5. Hi Kay, hope you are feeling better. I'd heard of all the ingredients in your Dad's meal except 'rutabagas'. Just looked that one up. A Swedish yellow turnip. We call them 'Neeps' here and use them as one of the three staples in a Burns Supper along with Tatties and Haggis as you probably know already.
    Heard the title of that song mentioned in conversation years ago with my mate Alex who is a big country fan but never knew the artist until now.

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    1. Thanks for your well wishes!
      I think I would like the tatties (potatoes) and neeps (rutabagas) but I will let someone else eat the haggis!
      I love that song! Bobby Bare is a country artist that is one of my Dad's favorites, along with Johnny Cash and George Jones. You know, real country.

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  6. Your Dad sure sounds like a great guy! I'd love to try any of those fab dishes he makes. And "Dropkick Me Jesus" is one of my fave songs too -- I still even have it on a 45!

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    1. You would have such a time with my Dad! He keeps up with everything that is happening and with all that he remembers from the past, he must have a great mind to keep up with it all!
      Debra, I LOVE that you love that song too! I once had a priest in a sermon MAKE FUN of that song, and I almost felt like getting up and giving a sermon of my own!! (Sometimes, I have to remember that preachers aren't perfect!)
      And I wish I could write a song like that!

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  7. Happy New Year to you! I so envy you having a Father who loves to cook. My Dad liked cooking, but he's been gone 10 years now and I still miss him, he loved sports and I shared that love with him.

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    1. Happy New Year to you too!
      Watching sports with your Dad, nothing could be any better!
      xx

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  8. Happy New Year! To you, your DH and Son and wonderful Father! He's the kind of cook i would love to trade recipes and secrets with.

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    1. Oh, you would love to listen to him and watch him as he cooks! He has the largest hands, very work-worn, and yet, when he makes biscuits, he so very gently handles the dough with those hands, it is a marvel to watch.
      You are from Louisiana! He would love to know all YOUR secrets! Great cookin' from there, I know!!

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    2. And I forgot to say, a very happy new year to you and your sweet family!!

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  9. Oh my gosh! What a great dad. I'm hungry from just reading this post. I can hardly believe he's able to cook so many different things. Wow! I'm in awe.

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    1. Kay, he is such a great and natural cook, you just wouldn't believe it!
      And he did all this after staying up so late the night before too!
      You can't eat hardly anything else after one of these meals. I can't, anyway!

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  10. Your father sounds wonderful, Kay! And so does his amazing New Year's Eve dinner...I never knew about the southern custom of eating black-eyed peas and greens for good luck on New Year's. We have a custom of eating pork and sauerkraut. My grandmother made pickled pigs feet but I never warmed up to that!

    I hope you feel much much better! And many blessings and much happiness for you and your family in 2014!

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    1. Hey, Kristi! Happy 2014!
      Yes! Peas & greens for good luck, that is a must for New Year's Day! Ha, I am with you on those pickled feet, I'll leave those for someone else!
      Much happiness is wished for you and yours also. Take care. xx

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  11. My goodness, so much food! And it all sounds so delicious. I was almost going to make cornbread tomorrow to go with the remains of our cola ham and eggs but I decided to make sweetcorn pudding instead. You were right by the way, Nigella does say the ham in cola recipe is from the Deep South. I think the corn pudding might be too. x

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    1. Oh yes, but it's a good idea for my Dad to make a lot since he is never quite sure how many people might be coming and also, he sends us home with containers of left-overs! Fantastic! (Including, I might add, a coconut cake that a neighbor made for him!)
      Ham cooked in cola and corn casserole-very much from the South! I see that you call it sweetcorn pudding and I totally get that since it is so sweet! Mmmm, this is making me hungry as I type this!
      Take care, Julie. Hope you have a great year ahead!

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  12. Happy New Year!! Well, Kay, now you've got me hungry after describing all that wonderful food your dad cooked! I could practically taste it... I've been under the weather as well - for over a month now. I hope you feel better soon!! Love, Silke

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    1. Happy New Year to YOU, dear Silke!
      I am sorry you have not been well! I must tell you that I LOVED the photos of you on your cruise! You looked so well and rested! Let's hope you get straight back to that, okay?!
      And I have LOVED LOVED LOVED the beautiful scarf that I won in your giveaway, it is so warm and gorgeous too! Love, Kay

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  13. He sounds like a very fun guy ... and I would love to taste that fried chicken!

    So glad that your Dad is doing so well. Mine is about a year older than that and we are working hard on getting him moved into assisted living here in Wisconsin. He managed pretty well up until the last year but it's time for him to have some help.

    Hope you're feeling better soon, Kay. Meds are such a mixed blessing, aren't they? :)

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