|
Ask Granny |
8-03-98 Ask Granny
Hello my friends, I wish you well. It’s been too long since I talked to you,
but I keep missing deadlines and the old "Hey, I’ve got a whole week now to
write a column" imp perches on my shoulder and then suddenly I’ve missed
another deadline! One of these days I’ll get organized- Lord willing.
I didn’t go down to the garden for a good long while because of all the rain
and I didn’t feel good—and the grass just kept on growing. As a matter of
fact all that rain seemed to be on the side of the grass—water grass, Bear
calls it. I called it a few names myself when I saw the onion row. I told
Bear if he would teach me to use the push lawn mower I would mow where it
was needed around the long planting row, mow down the Iris rows etc.
Ferocious frown. " That would ruin the mower, cutting down all that stuff."
There is also the possibility he didn’t trust me with his mower, since" I
don’t know how to mow." I told him to just leave it alone and nephew J.W.
and I would do it later.
Well, he used the big riding mower on everything that was even the least bit
grassy. Cut it down short. I must say it made the garden look neat . I’m
sure the strawberries, asparagus, mini rosebushes, winter onions and so on
will appreciate another chance to compete with the weeds and grass on equal
terms- those that survived the haircut. The sage plants? I probably didn’t
need 3 plants anyway. Hey- he left the tomatoes and peppers, so it’s not all
bad news. Look at the work he saved me!
I’ve been buying a few veggies at the Farmers market and they sure are
great- if pricey. A big pot of green beans sure goes good with a pone of
cornbread and a big glass of tea. Add a few sliced tomatoes and you have a
feast. I know you’re not supposed to use meat grease to cook with but I
figure you can save up your fat calories for something that special, right?
If I was in a good granny mood I would just use some of the ham bouillon
granules bought in a big plastic container at the store. I guess it holds
nearly a cup. You don’t have to use any grease and you might want to adjust
the salt. Mama always added a little vinegar and sugar to green beans after
they got tender then she cooked them down low. I never saw her use white
vinegar but that’s all I use.
Have you ever made German style green beans? You just cook the beans then
make a sauce of sugar, vinegar, some chopped onion you’ve fried and a little
flour to thicken it. Fry up a few slices of bacon to crumble on top. You’re
supposed to fry the bacon, fry the onion in the drippings then mix in all
that grease but we know better then that, now don’t we?
Here’s a few answers to questions from the E-mail Trail. Yes, Granny knows
how to thump a watermelon and tell if it’s ripe or not. I’d have to show
you. There are other ways; See if the little curl is brown that’s located
near the stem. Turn the melon over gently and see if the light area on the
bottom has turned from white to yellow. The skin should be velvety, not too
shiny or too dull. If you’re not going to eat the whole melon get a skinny
one, cut the end off and give it to your husband- who’s only concerned with
the taste anyway. Get a plate ready and cut off a generous slice for
yourself. Lay it on the plate and cut all around the red part. Put the rind
aside to make watermelon rind preserves. Cut your slice of melon in squares,
grab a fork and eat watermelon the Granny way! When you get through just
cover the cut end of the melon with plastic wrap and stand it on end in the
fridge till needed. See why I wanted you to get a long melon? If there are
swimsuit wearing kiddoes around just cut a slice of melon, cut it in half,
trim down the sides of the rind and leave them a handhold on the bottom.
I have never tried telling the temperature by listening to a cricket chirp,
but I have the method written down. So far I’ve never been able to find the
formulae and a cricket at the same time! You count the chirps made in 15
seconds and add 40-or 15 seconds and add37- or 14 seconds and add 40.
Depends on which old grandpa you’re talking to. This is supposed to get
within 2 degrees 90% of the time. Of course there is this little known
fact-crickets on the ground will give a different temp. than those in a tree
or in a cage. Just in case you want to do this right you can go to a bait
shop and buy a cricket and get a dandy cricket cage at an import store for
only a few bucks. Or you can do as I do as I do—listen to Bill Hall and save
all that money.
You know you’re watching T.V. anyway to see just what all they can do in
Washington to get out of actually doing what they were sent there for in the
first place. With all the back stabbing, backbiting, accusations about stuff
that’s private business in the first place, and so on it seems to me they
try to do all they can to bring down the country. It never fails when there
is some crisis in the world that we try to help solve that some mud will be
raked up in D.C. to blacken the name of the United States. And repealing the
line item veto- so maddening.
And another thing, while I’m on my soap box( Lye soap of course!) I think us
big kids ought to be given the right to vote on whether we have the lottery
in our state. While in Kentucky to buy their tickets (Or almost any
neighboring state) most folks fill cars on the cheaper gas, buy cigarettes
and groceries. They get their taxes alright, but they go about it in a
different way from TN. As a matter of fact, I think we should be allowed to
vote on a whole bunch of things—at least get our opinion in print in large
numbers. Letter writing is the best we can do right now. The politicians
usually send you back a form letter and I’ve heard that one letter is
considered as more than one opinion, also. No, nobody asked my opinion on
politics—it’s a "freebie!"
I hope all of the folks who think you can keep others from buying lottery
tickets just by causing them a little trouble and costing Tenn. all that
money don’t spend a lot of time trying to change my mind.
but you can pray at me all you want to - I'm sure I need it. If you
need any help |running your world" or have a favorite recipe or tip to share
you can write me at 1417 Lakeview tr, Clarksville, TN 37040 or e-mail me at