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!