Selkie Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hm-m-m-m?? Anti-inflammatory? Sign me up. I do like root beer. It is the only soft drink I ever have and that's only a couple times a year. Rethinking the sassafras part now as an herb. Gonna go look this up. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Selkie I was just looking around for a supplier of the root and discovered that it got swept up in the carcinogen scares of the 70s but from what I can tell it takes more than normal human consumption to cause adverse liver effects so common sense is apparently the key. I did discover that there's a company who make sassafras tea concentrate that sells at walmart with FDA approved levels so it went on my grocery list. There are sources for the fresh root but if a concentrate is available and organic enough, I'll be grateful for not having to put my hands thru making it fresh in the early morning. It's kind of exciting to find something I know and love that could be of assistance to me now. Considering all the dire side effects of what the doctors prescribe for me, I'm not exactly worried about a root that my ancestors used with no adverse issues. Tracy has been having some excellent results with turmeric for inflammation so that's an option too. Anything natural is better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 ..... Considering all the dire side effects of what the doctors prescribe for me, I'm not exactly worried about a root that my ancestors used with no adverse issues. ...... Anything natural is better! Our planet was created with everything it needed for us to survive. If we could just wrap our heads around that concept and eat seasonally and regionally and use from the earth and give back to the earth, we'd be in better health and well being as humans, animals, plants, and as an entire planet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I also use okra, and very little of the file; just enough to give it a characteristic taste. Gumbo aficionados (read: all of Lloyd's relatives, their friends and relatives and THEIR friends and relatives) leave the filé out of the pot but sprinkle a bit over individual servings as it's dished up over rice. Sometimes I remember to do it, sometimes I don't. Either way, yummmmmm. I just made the roux and it's cooling in the pan. The house has a fragrance of toasted flour. (The roux for my recipe is 1 C vegetable oil and 1-1/4 C flour. It takes about 25-40 minutes of constant stirring to get it to the rich, dark color and flavor I like. Some folks stop when it's peanut butter colored, but I like the deeper flavors better.) I'm about to get L moving so we can go down to the open air seafood market for the shrimp and blue crabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I'm a rare (or oddball:D) Southerner who doesn't care for gumbo and have never made it,so I'm not familiar with file`,but the sassafras tea concentrate is intriguing-I'd love anything that helps with my pain! Will be watching for your verdict on it,Deb! Way back when I was still married we often boiled fresh shrimp and I used something called crab boil. But in it's dry form it would make me sneeze and sneeze unmercilessly whenever I would put it in the pot. My rarely sweet ex-husband discovered that the crab boil came in liquid form so he picked up some for our next shrimp boil. We never used the dry stuff again and I would use that liquid stuff to spice up all sorts of non-seafood dishes after that! Holly,Kathie-have you ever used the liquid crab boil? I haven't boiled fresh shrimp in a decade or more,so I haven't bought any of it in awhile... What I was up to today is that my dear mother surprised me with a fresh catfish dinner from a restaurant in the bayou,where she had lunch today with her senior citizens group. It was a great lunch and enough left for supper-Yum!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I admire all you chefs that can make these wonderful southern dishes - I love to eat them, but have never even considered making them. When we lived in Memphis there was a restaurant called "Gridleys" that had the most awesome seafood gumbo I've ever eaten. I'm sure there will be some in Heaven! - or maybe that's where they imported it from. I'm a bit put out with WA cuisine - there are ethnic restaurants on every corner, so much so that it's hard to find a good, simple, meat-and-potatoes diner, but I have yet to find the wonderful Southern cuisine. Why do we import weird things from all over the world but can't share the dishes from the southern part of our own country? We don't even have a Cracker Barrel here! Of course, they would have to import the chef also, because the "Yankees" don't really make good gumbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Back to the subject of sassafras - isn't that what they used to have in the old west, and serve at the taverns to people who were underage or who didn't want whiskey? When you look back through history it can get rather amusing, or frightening, to see what people did without knowing the dangers involved. Like the "new" beverage, Coca-Cola, containing that wonderful pick-me-up from the Orient - cocaine! And when women used to take arsenic because it made their complexion so pretty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Back to the subject of sassafras - isn't that what they used to have in the old west, and serve at the taverns to people who were underage or who didn't want whiskey? When you look back through history it can get rather amusing, or frightening, to see what people did without knowing the dangers involved. Like the "new" beverage, Coca-Cola, containing that wonderful pick-me-up from the Orient - cocaine! And when women used to take arsenic because it made their complexion so pretty! I think you may be thinking of sarsaparilla,CJ:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarsaparilla_%28soft_drink%29My sons are Coca-Cola employees and it's really something to imagine what it started out as! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Women using arsenic to keep their complexions pale goes back to Ancient Rome, at least! I make my roux with butter and just as it begins to go golden I whisk in the flour (equal amounts of each) and whisk it until it turns a nice tan, and then start adding liquid until it's the consistency of cold cane syrup, and then I add the roux to my stock and pour it over the meats and veggies (my holy trinity and other veggies got processed with the stock this time). We just ate our first serving of this batch, and it was up to snuff. I haven't used the liquid crab boil, Kat; I don't use the dry, either. I season shrimp according to whatever I'm making, and both DH & I love the unadorned flavor of fresh shrimp. Back when I was a newly wed and just getting going in the kitchen on my own we briefly lived where I had access to 12-count shrimp; those bad boys ere HUGE for shrimp! After I shelled and deveined them I butterflied them, soaked them for ten minutes in soy sauce and sprinkled them with a light dusting of Jamaican ginger and broiled them, and served them over steamed rice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I think you may be thinking of sarsaparilla,CJ:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarsaparilla_%28soft_drink%29My sons are Coca-Cola employees and it's really something to imagine what it started out as! Oh, you are right, Kat! Got them mixed up. Oh, well, hand me some more whiskey and I'll think much more clearly! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Oh, well, hand me some more whiskey and I'll think much more clearly! <taking out a fifth from under the cabinet and handing it over> I've been in a tequila mood lately. It's been such a huge craving that I had a virgin margarita the last time we went out for mexican food but it wasn't the same. A lot of the meds I'm on have nasty interactions with alcohol so I've even had to turn down rum balls this week. I've never been a regular drinker but there are times when I really miss a glass of wine or a nice mixed drink. Of course that doesn't apply to virtual drinks and it's the time of year when we pass around the Green Apple Pucker and egg nog so let's lift a glass of that and toast good friends! I just finished my grocery list and as soon as Bruce gets home we'll head out to take care of that chore. Frankly, wild horses couldn't drag me into any kind of store between now and next Monday! Christmas eve is full of last minute shoppers frantically trying to get it all done and the weekend will be crammed with people making returns or spending gift cards. I don't do well in crowds so we'll just go tonight and then spend our holiday weekend quietly puttering around the house. I think tomorrow I'll put on a big pot of 15 bean soup (which is why I had to have a bone-in ham), and make cornbread. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Yum - I love cornbread. It's a fav around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlPiper Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Crazy busy at work awarding (and problem solving) the December graduating class. We work until 5 tomorrow and then the university is closed for about a week. After work tomorrow I'm playing a surprise gig for a young lady who called about her just-diagnosed terminally ill father. Let's hope the pipes cheer rather than depressing him! Found out the other day I have to have a molar pulled Monday then Tuesday the first anniversary colonoscopy to make sure the surgery worked. I should have that hollow-cheeked and ribby model look on Wednesday (HAH!) Wishing all of you a happy holiday, good health and a prosperous new year. From what I've been reading here we could all use it! Light that candle in the corner, please! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Oh now I'll have to make some jalapeno cornbread to go with our gumbo tomorrow. I had the most incredible, lovely surprise yesterday; a copy of Ferd & Millie Sobol's book, Miniature Furniture, arrived in the mail, a SIGNED copy! I kept wracking my poor elderly brain to think who could have sent it; today the front endpaper came unstuck from the cover and out fell a bookmark and a note, from the Sobols! They had heard that I'm a fan (actually I am fanatical about my admiration for their work!) and thought I'd enjoy the book. Enjoy? I've just scanned the pictures briefly and each eyeball gained ten pounds! Talk about eye candy! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I had the most incredible, lovely surprise yesterday; a copy of Ferd & Millie Sobol's book, Miniature Furniture, arrived in the mail, a SIGNED copy! I kept wracking my poor elderly brain to think who could have sent it; today the front endpaper came unstuck from the cover and out fell a bookmark and a note, from the Sobols! They had heard that I'm a fan (actually I am fanatical about my admiration for their work!) and thought I'd enjoy the book. Enjoy? I've just scanned the pictures briefly and each eyeball gained ten pounds! Talk about eye candy! So it turns out that Santa is really real after all, holly !!! Wowzers .... you must have been one really good girl this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie2 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Busier day than I anticipated here today. I did laundry, cleaned house, baked a cheesecake and I forget what all else I did. I was just informed that I am suppose to bring stuff to a little Christmas Eve get together. I had already baked bread but apparently that was not what I was expected to provide. I am so exhausted I am going with the bread and that's all! Peace and Love 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Full day here. Baked several dozen cookies in the morning, got Lloyd's Kindle set up, made the roux, went to the open air seafood market for shrimp and crabs, stopped at Sears to get a phone to replace the one that L bounced on the tile floor this morning, shopped for the rest of the gumbo ingredients, set up L's new phone, chopped up the onions, bell peppers and celery, green onions and parsley, dispatched the crabs and cleaned up the kitchen. Had a visit from cousin Gloria, so I she went home with her mini Christmas tree and dome. I'm tired. Got my assignment for Christmas dinner - a green salad. I guess they figure I can't mess that up. I offered to bring the gumbo. You probably heard that swooshing noise this afternoon. It wasn't the tornado, it was a collective intake of breath while they worked out how to prevent me from bringing a key part of the meal without being rude. Too funny. I knew they'd never let me do something that important, but I like to pull the chain now and then. Tomorrow I get to clean the crabs and shrimp and cook the chicken. All components will then be ready to go as soon as Lloyd gets back from the store with a bigger gumbo pot. I was busy boiling crabs when I realized how many ingredients are going into the gumbo and that the really big pot is in Missouri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Busier day than I anticipated here today. I did laundry, cleaned house, baked a cheesecake and I forget what all else I did. I was just informed that I am suppose to bring stuff to a little Christmas Eve get together. I had already baked bread but apparently that was not what I was expected to provide. I am so exhausted I am going with the bread and that's all! Peace and Love Sounds to me like somebody needs a lump of coal in his stocking,Roxy! LOL You always tire me out,dear friend,just reading about all you do in a day. Me? I got up,ate a catfish lunch my mother brought me and rested the rest of the day away-oh,I took a load of towels out of the dryer-and forgot to fold them until just this minute! Whoops! Holly,I'm so happy for you-and what a nice gift! Mr.Sobel is a genius with miniature furniture. One of my nephews does some very,very amateur,basic carpentry(one of my grandfathers was a very good carpenter and he's the only decendant of him who inherited any of it). But,anyway,I showed him some of Mr. Sobel's work in a Dollhouse Miniatures Magazine years ago and I'll never forget his reaction;he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing was miniature,was just speechless with admiration. Enjoy your book! Kathie, your salad assignment cracked me up and I can totally relate. In my family I am the coleslaw maker. It was given to me to do one year because it was fairly cheap to make and I think they figured,like your kin,that I couldn't mess it up and if I did it,at least it wasn't a main dish. Awful funny the first time,when both huge bowls I brought (2 slightly different versions) were almost empty in a very short time. We don't have many big gatherings anymore,but for awhile there I was the coleslaw designee! LOL Hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 You all are so busy! Things are rather quiet around here. Kids won't be coming so it's just the three of us - Mother, DH and me. I thought DH would want a big dinner on Christmas day, but he said he wanted oyster stew That has become traditional for Mother and me for the holidays but I thought he would want more. So oyster stew it is! I use my grandmother's recipe and we all love it. Pecan pie for dessert will help tamp it down. Since our kids live in the Midwest, it's easier to get together in the summertime - and not fight the weather over Christmas. Oh, I almost forgot to wish you all a Merry Christmas Adam! When our kids were little and listening to Bible stories, they knew all about Adam and Eve. So when they learned that the day before Christmas is known as Christmas "Eve", their logic figured out that two days early would be Christmas Adam, since he was created first! Makes sense, doesn't it? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 That's a really cute one CJ. Love it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Kat, American Miniaturist briefly ran occasional tutorials that Ferd and Millie did, describing in detail how they made a couple of their pieces, that I have saved for when I feel brave enough to try. Since we moved we have had the youngest with us at Christmas, until this year, when he came for Thanksgiving, instead. We have some friends who are active with the USO at NAS Pensacola so we though it would be fun to share the holiday with the sailors and Marines who are stuck here away from their families for Christmas. I know I mentioned this before, but I'm very excited for this opportunity to meet and greet some of these wonderful service folks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 CJ, will you share your grandmother's recipe for oyster stew? Despite the oil spills, nice plump fresh oysters are relatively easy to find here. Love the Christmas Adam story ... kid's logic cracks me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Happy Christmastime parody of Good Vibrations. I thought it was pretty good. On the right side of this blog there's a link to Flu Ride, a parody of Sleigh Ride. I'll have to check out more of Boxcar Oakie's blog when I get a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Oh Holly. Oh my goodness, what a wonderful gift! I know how much you admire the Sobol's work so to not only receive a signed book but one specifically for you from Ferd Sobol himself...........oh hunny, that just makes me grin all over for you. And I love that you'll be at the USO tomorrow. That'll be a Christmas to remember. CJ, I'll be laughing all day about Christmas Adam. That's adorable! It made me literally laugh out loud. Grazhina, I'll have to go listen to the parodies today. Christmas giggles at parodies are one of my fave things. Selkie, I'm just happy to be able to make decent cornbread again! After 15 years in Denver, I still couldn't get cornbread to come out proper at the high altitude whether it was with my tried-and-true scratch recipe or even a box mix. One of the first things I did after we moved was to make cornbread again just to see if I could and it came out good as ever. I never had trouble with high altitude baking with anything else, just the cornbread. It was a sad, dark time for Bruce. LOL! It got down close to freezing here last night, something Arthur and the Itises don't much care for, so I think no plans will be made today......instead I'm gonna hang out online jingling bells and being silly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I'm making cheese toast for lunch, since were having gumbo again tonight (with cornbread; thanks, Deb!). After two days' storm complete with tornado watches and flash flood alerts it's supposed to go down to freezing this afternoon. And my feet still aren't quite touching the ground yet; I've been trying to read the text but with all the pictures it's slow going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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