November 2009 • Page 2 of 2 • Deep Fried Kudzu

November 6, 2009May 24, 2023

Buttermilk Pecan Pie

Traditional pecan pie is hard to beat. There’s a part of me, though, that cringes a little at the thought of all that HFCS floating around (even Karo realizes people are getting to be more anti-HFCS – they’ve come out with a product that doesn’t contain any. That’s just ‘regular’ corn syrup now.).

I would guess that the vast majority of pecan pies made during this season are made with Karo syrup, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can use brown sugar like and no syrup in this Imperial Sugar recipe, or cane syrup like in this Steen’s recipe, but I like to make it *really* different and use buttermilk.

Well, the base is buttermilk and it’s sweetened with regular white granulated sugar. I promise, though, even if you don’t like buttermilk you would never realize that it’s an ingredient. If you’re thinking to yourself that this is just chess pie with pecans…you’re right!

Ingredients:

Pie crust (make your own or cheat) – if you’re using the regular-depth pie shells, this recipe will make two pies. If you use deep dish it will make one pie with maybe a teensy bit left over.

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tbsp flour

dash of salt

1 cup buttermilk

couple handfuls of pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325*.

In the Kitchenaid, mix together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy:

Put the mixer on low and add in all the other ingredients except the pecans. Get everything well incorporated but don’t mix more than is necessary.

Put a couple handfuls of pecan halves in the bottom of the pie shell:

Pour the pie filling on top – the pecans will start to float up to the top. Place in the 300* preheated oven.

Start checking on it at 50 minutes – it will be done anywhere from one hour to an hour, twenty minutes. It will need to set at least an hour on the counter to really cool off and come together before it can be sliced. Oh it’s so good!!

November 5, 2009August 5, 2024

Simple Life Farm, Arley AL

Last week I drove to Arley, Alabama where I met Cheryl Patton and her Simple Life Farm. She’s gorgeous.

You know how there are people in the world that are just good for you, because they are such good people? It makes you feel good to have them in your life and the other way around too? Yes.

Cheryl’s farm – Simple Life Farm – was homesteaded in 1890. It’s 40 acres of chickens, donkeys, bees, and goats, plus a white peacock and a guinea hen. She uses solar power and does a lot of common-sense recycling.

One thing I found out is that Cheryl has a business degree from Alabama and left a successful position to come home and live a ‘simple life’. She’s fantastically well-rounded: well-educated, a pilot, beekeeper, *and* a goat farmer.

And she makes rose petal jelly too.

The day I visited, Cheryl was excited over the pair of antique washing machines she had just gotten, and…can you believe?…we decided to try them out and do some laundry. Outside! The setup is washing machine, through the rollers into rinse water, then through the rollers again to be hung on the line.

Cheryl shaved some lye soap and added hot water, shook to combine…

There was something about being out in the sunshine, talking about the old fashioned ways of doing things, and washing laundry with that clean lye soap smell wafting in the air that was just perfection.

Oh, and the donkey named Moses Yoder was doing his part, straightening out our freshly-laundered towels on the line.

This is the inside of Cheryl’s shop, where she makes her soaps:

I brought home some pure beeswax candles that Cheryl makes herself from the bee hives on the farm, a variety of soaps, some using botanicals from the herb garden, goat milk, and one that she picks kudzu for. Of course I had to have the kudzu shampoo!

Cheryl is one of the instructors at the upcoming session of the Alabama Folk School. Her course description:

Individuals will learn how to safely make herbal soaps using sodium hydroxide, essential oils and natural colorants, if desired. Students will also make a natural, soy candle and experience traditional hand-rolled beeswax candle-making. Depending on seasonal availability, students will make a batch of apple butter, learning how to use pressure-canning equipment. And this class wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Simple Life Farm! Each student will make enough soap to take home for personal use or to give as unique gifts, two different types of candles, and apple butter (or other jelly or jam). You will leave knowing how to make simple but beautiful gifts and how to can your own foods.

Cheryl’s farm and shop is open to the public at 10105 County Road 41 in Arley (zip 35541), but it’s very highly recommended that you call before visiting just to make certain she’ll be in: 205/384.6079. Her email is

goatmilk —at— sonet …dot… net

Local boutiques carry Simple Life soaps and lotions, but Cheryl also keeps an etsy store so she can sell anywhere in the US

November 4, 2009August 5, 2024

Dia De Los Muertos

Leslie and I went to the *best* display yesterday at Bare Hands Gallery in Birmingham – all the altars that were constructed for the annual Dia de los Muertos festival. DdlM is translated as ‘Day of the Dead’ and it’s a Mexican holiday held on November 2nd of each year. People make altars to welcome their deceased relatives back, putting things there that would be enjoyable to the subject of the altar (favorite food, flowers, items, pictures, etc.).

The altars will be up at the gallery until November 14th. If you’re *anywhere* close, it’s really something to see.

November 2, 2009August 5, 2024

Nall and JJ

Last month, I visited with Matt Jones at his gallery in Birmingham. I had been wanting to come in for a long time, especially after seeing the giant Nall carpet he has hanging. It really is a carpet. A rug, I mean.

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What was really fantastic that Matt has at his gallery is this by JJ Gaudel. It’s his ‘Tomb of the Tin Man’:

It has scenes on it from the ‘Wizard of Oz’ book, and on his website, JJ says that he painted scenes on this that were largely glossed over in the movie. He says, “…such as the scene in the poppy fields… What do you think Dorothy was getting so sleepy over?” on his website. The tomb opens and Matt showed me that JJ has put a tin man inside of it.

This is another of JJ’s works, part of a collection he calls ‘Dummies with Souls’. I think this one is ‘Leda Maya de Santiago’. That ‘Dummies’ series is fantastic.

These are pics of his paintings at the Renaissance Hotel in Montgomery, paintings that Nall consigned:

‘Black & White Buttons’ oil on canvas

and ‘French Riviera No. 4’ watercolor: