Uncle R and I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal yesterday with his two lovely sisters and their families. In years past when Mama & Papa were still with us, both sisters, their spouses, their children and… soon grandchildren, would gather for a huge family meal at Mom & Pop’s home in Huntsville, Alabama. The center of holiday activity was Mama’s bustling kitchen with opening oven doors, simmering pots on the stove & china handed out of cabinets and spilling past football games on the den TV and balls being tossed out in the front yard.Everyone tended to bring a signature dish or addition to the meal, but Mama would always outdo herself by cooking for days before Thanksgiving, preparing mountains of savory mashed potatoes and gravy, her signature huge bowl of dressing, broccoli casserole, creamed corn, squash casserole, Kentucky Wonder home-canned green beans, turnip greens, freshly-made cranberry sauce laced with orange slices, onion casserole and her creamy smooth cranberry Jell-O salad. Then various family members would bring their own offerings such as fresh rolls, ice chests of tea & soft drinks, or a specialty dish that they were trying out. For years I liked to add my seester’s own yummy sweet potato casserole and my own pumpkin pies.
Papa dearly loved pumpkin pies and nothing made me happier than rolling into Huntsville the night before Thanksgiving, leaning in close to his Old Spice scented cheek and whispering in his ear that I had made him a batch of pies. One holiday he was especially pleased to hear that Uncle R and I were unloading 13 pies made into the wee hours of the night before. It sounds like an outrageous number of pies but in those days we might have 25 or more people at the table and would need enough to feed everyone. And then again, Papa always liked to hear that there were extra pumpkin pies in the freezer waiting for Mama to add to his evening meal.
This year I made the sweet potato casserole again and also brought 2 store bought pumpkin and one sweet potato pies. Our talented JenMo brought three homemade apple pies and niece JulSmi brought a pecan pie. Needless to say by the end of two turkey meals I crept off to bed last night, hoping that one day in the future I wouldn’t feel to painfully full. It was amazing, though, for sure!
I hope that my precious Pamela’s Girls had a wonderful day yesterday! I am thankful for so many blessings that the Lord has graciously and freely given and the Pamela’s Girls are special gifts in my life for whom I am very grateful.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3:15 & 16 (New American Standard Bible)
With love from Auntie J
Saturday afternoon we met Nana in Bishopville so she could keep Baby B for the night to keep her mind off Granddad Bass. After we met her, Daddy L ran in the grocery store and found this cupcake Barkley in the bakery... Isn't it adorable?
Then we went over to a friend's to hang out Saturday night. It was nice sleeping in a bit Sunday morning before we headed back to Columbia to meet Nana, Uncle Rhett and Baby B for lunch. After lunch, we went to see Granddad Bass and then we spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out his old apartment. Unfortunately, Nana forgot to charge Baby B's dvd player, so it was an extremely long day keeping up with Baby B with no Dora or Mickey relief.
It was also a VERY long ride home since Baby B's nap hadn't been worked into the day and it was dark and he had no entertainment. I finally resorted to letting him watch Dora clips off youtube on my phone. Whew... that was a brilliant idea! This is a photo and video of him laughing at the little tiny clips of Dora... I don't know what parents did without modern technology:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V12jwXi3e7A
As we approach Thanksgiving, I am thankful for God's hands and that He always gives us the foundation we need!
Happy Thursday Pamela's Girls!
Love,
~Mommy M
It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built.
Luke 6:48
Sometimes your week starts off slowly – creeping out from the bed slowly, trying not to think about how late you decided to stay up to watch the end of that movie or check just ONE more e-mail… and yearning for that first cup of coffee. But then again…sometimes your week starts out with a little jumpstart of excitement as it did for my office this past Monday morning.
One of our writers, Marcel, notified our office with an early Monday morning call that he was going to propose to his long-time girlfriend and country recording artist, Jessica Andrews, IN OUR PARKING LOT! Marcel had arranged with a local nationally known DJ, Gerry House, to play a song over the radio that he had specifically written as a “proposal song”. He told Jessica that he had a meeting at our office and would she come with him. As they drove along the song played and as it finished, he pulled up to our office, got out her out of the car, went down on one knee and popped the big question as he held out the ring.
Of course we all had our noses pressed against the office windows staring out and as they hugged in happiness, we all knocked on the window, waved and gave the thumbs up. They came in after that – Jessica all glowing and somewhat flustered and Marcel in a humorous combination of happiness, relief and terror - and we all congratulated them and exclaimed over the beautiful engagement ring.
Follow this link to watch a video that a friend of Marcel’s made of this fun event!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2BwBpzwE14&feature=youtube_gdata_player
With love to my romantic-hearted Pamela’s Girls,
Auntie J
I've also been busy working on Christmas gifts for friends sold on She'll Paint Anything. Thank you for all of your support Pamela's Girls!
Have a wonderful week!I’ve dealt with all sorts of “wildlife” while working in the music business over the years, whether it involved lining up musicians for recording sessions or - these days - working with songwriters and… even more dangerous…. song pluggers!
But seriously, there was one chapter in my life that was fraught with bureaucratic non-profit woes (which SanFran S may be able to understand) but had the wonderful upside of having some of the most memorable experiences with animals that I am sure I will ever have. I had the opportunity to hold river otters when they were still babies, scratch coyotes behind the ears, have large birds of prey swoop so closely over my head that I could feel the soundless & gentle rush of air down through my hair and – as you can see in these photos – run with a cougar cub across a winter meadow.
Just before construction on the Grassmere Wildlife Park - where I worked then - was finished, I had the awesome experience of meeting the celebrated wildlife artist, Charles Fracé. During the Park’s history, we hosted many wildlife art exhibitions and one included nothing but the startlingly real works of this amazing painter. It was difficult to believe, as you stared closely at the paintings, that the fur was not soft and real and that the water not really wet or rocks not actually sharp and hard. (I have included a photo of Mr. Fracé here with the first director of Grassmere.
In our own art collection, Uncle R and I have a print signed by Charles Fracé and I love that it is a cougar. It reminds me of the exciting afternoon that I had “babysitting” a cougar cub, who sat on my desk and swatted at my phone when it rang. I finally took him outside and we ran across the rolling meadow grass on a crisp winter afternoon.
In present day I am thankful to be working back in the music industry – the industry that brought me to Nashville – but I am also grateful for the other paths that the Lord has lead me down over the years and the sweet friends that I made and remarkable moments that I had the blessing to be a part of along the way.
Happy Saturday to my Pamela’s Girls!!!
Auntie J
The picture of us in at the front door which is located inside the Wynn Hotel.
I know that Uncle R and I probably worry our seester, CiCi, with our slightly exotic food tastes… and maybe SanFranS worries her a bit with “interesting food choices” too! (HA!) But it is true, that Uncle R and I dearly love to try different ethnic foods and international tastes from around the world. But, when I first came to Nashville years ago there weren’t many choices. My love of sushi began – not with restaurant choices – but with what my friend, Keishi, would make when a “fresh tuna” shipment came in at a local international market or a “care package” arrived from his mom filled with Japanese pickles, spices and teas.
For years good Mexican food has been a favorite for Uncle R and me with frequent visits to the most authentic stores that we can find in our city. La Hacienda restaurant on Nolensville Road - along what is often fondly called Nashville’s "Avenue Of The Americas” - is always a good choice and sometimes our church group gathers there together after the 6pm Sunday service. I am including a photo here of our pastor nervously peering down the table at an “interesting” dish that Uncle R ordered.
Still farther down Nolensville Road is La Terraza. Uncle R and I visited there recently and since we hadn’t been there for awhile we had to order our old standards – Carne Asada (tender slices of charbroiled sirloin steak served with a salad and avocado slices) for me and for Uncle R his beloved Filete Perla (fish fillet and chopped shrimp baked in a creamy sauce with onions, bell peppers and tomatoes). It’s pretty exciting when the Filete Perla is served, because they cook it in a little packet of tin foil and bring it to your table with a happy little flame sprouting from an indentation in the center. People around us always stare and Uncle R likes to remark; “It gives a WHOLE new meaning to (the phrase that you usually hear in a Mexican restaurant) ‘the plate is hot’!” You can’t really tell much about the flame in the photo… but it’s pretty impressive to see!
Nearer home we sometimes pick up some freshly made ceviche and bring it back to our house to have for a Saturday lunch with sliced avocados and maybe a handful of chips. One day when we stopped by to pick up a batch we decided to try the little taco stand out front and see what kind of Tacos Auténticos with chorizo they might make for us and found that they were delicious!
But there are some other interesting international food choices in Nashville these days too. For several anniversaries and birthdays we have chosen a Turkish restaurant on the west side of Nashville called Anatolia. We have a good friend who works there as a server and there have been some of our visits that we have asked him to just “bring us what looks good in the kitchen!”… We love to do that and have had the opportunity to try grilled lamb dishes, perfect baked salmon with dill weed, creamy house-made Turkish ravioli – a pasta stuffed with seasoned ground lamb and served in garlic-yogurt sauce topped with melted hot butter sprinkled with red pepper and mint.
Several years ago our friend, Lillybah, introduced us to Vietnamese restaurants here in town and a nutritionist additionally informed us that the Vietnamese specialty, pho soup, is actually a very healthy meal choice. It is a big bowl brimming with rice noodles; broth and chunks of whatever meat might be chosen. On the side you are offered bean sprouts, lime, basil, jalapenos and sometimes mint to add as you wish.
In our own neighborhood Uncle R and I have recently found – of all things – a Bosnian restaurant. We had heard about it – passed it and wondered about what they might serve – and finally gave it a try. We were thrilled with the welcoming & talented chef, her lovely & helpful assistant and the fresh, tasty & interesting food that was placed in front of us. We have been back to Café Bosna several times and Uncle R – ever his adventuresome self – keeps trying interesting dishes; paprika chicken, tiny & delicate stuffed bell peppers in a savory brown sauce and night before last, lamb stew. I, however, am stuck on the first thing that I tried there – a spinach and feta omelet. It is the best omelet that I have had since the luscious one that I dined on in Paris. This amazing chef also whips up crepes from scratch and so I had to try the “Nutella Crepes” (pictured here)…. Yummm….
Uncle R and I have also been delving into the world of Indian cuisine this past year or so and just this past evening we tried a new Indian restaurant called Shagor just down the road from us in Mt. Juliet. We had a hot curry, basmati seasoned rice, vegetable curry as a side dish and tandoori chicken, all washed down with some iced chai tea.
There are also Ethiopian restaurants in Nashville and we have been very curious… but perhaps not quite brave enough yet… to give them a try… (gulp!)… Someday…
Love to the Pamela’s Girls,
Auntie J
