Well, yesterday I was makin' a cobbler with left over peaches and ran out of eggs. So I called up Nadine. It was around supper time (5pm). They call lunch = dinner and dinner = supper out here. The large meal of the day is dinner. Not at my house! Anyway, I hopped on my 4-wheeler and took off across the pasture, took down the hot wire gate, got wet as I went across the "criver" (creek/river) and through the woods, tall with weeds and grass. The grasshoppers are thick this time of year and they were hoppin' into the front of the 4 wheeler, on my head, down my blouse - all yellin' "git out of her way, look out, oh shit". Got through the woods then into the back pasture to another hot wire gate that divides our property with Nadine's property. Through another gate then on into a larger pasture where the cows were laid down in the shade of the Hedge and Pecan trees. They didn't get excited. Heck it was to hot to get excited. They just laid there and chewed their cud. Finally arrived at Nadine's little house. It is an old 2 story house with a screened in backporch built on. There is another screened in porch built on the other side of the house where her husband, Bill (deceased) would go to do his smokin'. She calls it the "smokin' porch. She uses it to store her cannin' jars and boxes and cages for her "girls" (her baby chickens).
Well, she had an old wooden framed screen door on her porch near the kitchen - it has on old rusty spring connected to it so when you open it and then let it go as you enter, it slams that screen door which announces your arrival or hits you in your rear if your not fast enough. Her back porch has stacks of egg crates, old tin milk buckets with some old butcher knives in them., her potato fork, 2 or 3 pairs of old worn out shoes she wears in the garden, her chicken catchin' hook, an old shotgun, some old cuttin' boards for cleanin' the corn, 3 white plastic buckets for corn cleanin' times, some old dirty garden gloves with leather undersides for pulling "pig weed" which has thorns. If her back door to the kitchen is closed, you just look in, and generally see her sittin' at her table readin' the newspaper while she watches the news on a small old television which sets on an old white washed table in the corner. I bang on the door and I hear, "Get in here and take a sit, girl." Somehow she always knows who has arrived. A clear plastic hose drapes from her nose and runs through out the house to her oxygen tank. She looks at me, bangs the table marking the place she wants me to sit. "What's goin' on girl? What you want?" Then she laughs.
Nadine has a kitchen that has about 10 different designs of linoleum on the floor. She tole me that when one spot wore out she'd find some and patch it. All of her cabinets in the kitchen are all handmade and have numerous coats of paint on them - white washed. Wooden knobs, linoleum counter tops which are well worn and edged with a metal edge which they did years ago. There is a hot water heater that stands between her kitchen sink and old stove. She has two - yes two refrigerators in her kitchen. One is filled with eggs in cartons and other things she has gettin' ready to make - old bananas for banana bread, her yeast for her buns and bread makin'. I don't know what she has in her other refrigerator but I am sure it is filled. Her kitchen table has an old oilcloth table cloth on it. Plastic table mats with daisies on them, sittin' in position. Lots of mail, receipts, newspapers, medicine bottles, salt and pepper shaker, napkin holder, old scissors and a old parin' knife are all there to be used, when needed.
Nadine tells me which eggs to get and then gives me an extra dozen free - She says, "ther' pullet eggs so use two when the recipe calls for one"(pullets are young hens - they have small eggs when they start laying). She charges $1.50 a dozen for her fresh eggs and I put $2 underneath her salt shaker. She scurries to get change and I argue with her sayin' I must owe her for somethin'. She gets mad every time and says, "hog wash", threatens to throw me out and then winks at me as she gives me my 50 cents. Then she has to tell me all the gossip in town. Her topics cover who is sick, who has died, whose sleepin with who, what kids have gone wrong, what crops are doin' well and when we will get to pick beans at the neighbors this year. She then updates me on when we are goin' to collect water cress in the local stream, how the pecans are lookin' and if we will have a good crop this year, what the almanac says 'bout the weather and then her predictions of what kind of a winter we will have based on the woolly caterpillar she saw the other day. She had to give me the results of the slicing of the wild kumquat. According to Nadine, when you slice it open the seeds make a design which predicts what kind of winter we are going to have - spoons = lots of rain, knives = ice storms, forks = snow. So there you are - Who needs the weatherman on Channel 7. He is always wrong anyway. Well, that is it for today - picked my 2 tomatoes, 1 zucchini and 1 cucumber - ugh! I set my waters to help the trees during this hot time and now projects and chores inside until the sun sets tonight when I will go out again and work the garden, check my vegetables and watch the fireflies.
FARM HOME REMEDIES: Heart burn
Natural honey for my heartburn home remedies:
Two teaspoon of pure, undiluted, unprocessed and unheated natural honey would reduce heartburn and acid reflux irritation if taken after meal because, it is well known for being an antioxidant, antiviral and antibacterial.
Baking soda, lemon juice and water:
This remedy for heartburn and acid reflux is the best in my opinion for temporary relief of heartburn. I would suggest that you perform this over the kitchen sink, as the fizzling of this flood would flood over the glass. First, get a tall glass, put two tablespoon of baking soda. Fill the glass ½ full with cold water. Pour one fresh squeezed lemon juice in the baking soda solution. Try to drink this as quickly as possible, as it is the fizz and water that will relieve your heartburn irritation. Note that this remedy produces sodium in the system.
Chamomile tea for heartburn relief:
Stress is a major cause to heartburn and acid reflux therefore; the relaxing properties of chamomile will help reduce your stress. Add two teaspoon of dried chamomile to about 1 ½ cups of boiling water. Let it seep for about 10 – 15 minutes, then stir and drink.
Organic Apple Cider Vinegar:
This method of home remedy for heartburn is very easy yet effective. Whenever heartburn symptoms occur, simply drink a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar and immediately wash it down with a glass of water. If you cannot find organic apple cider vinegar, regular apple cider vinegar will also work
COUNTRY RECIPES: Santa Fe Chicken
2 cans of corn (do not drain)
1 jar favorite salsa
Mozzarella cheese
1 can black beans (rinsed)
4 frozen boneless chicken breasts
Place corn, drained black beans, jar of salsa in casserole dish (or crock pot), place chicken on top, then cover with lid. Bake 2 hrs in 350 deg. oven or 4 hrs. in crock pot or until chicken is done. Before serving, add mozzarella cheese on top of chicken.
Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoyed - I sure did!
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