View of the Governor's house from the beach Christmas morning
Merry Christmas from Alabama!
Christmas Eve Cookin'
And I happily realized the aroma and colors of my my food are, unintentionally, as tropical as the weather today. My Prickly Pear infused vodka is the color of the sunset,although I may have filtered out the magical, medicinal properties when I triple strained it through coffee filters in my paranoia about those invisible spurs. I refrigerated the jelly-like substance left in the funnel and it looks like electric fuchsia jello shots today (I’ll filter again and save that for Betsy’s next visit).
I candied the kumquats given to me by a patient last week, and I will serve them with the fragrant ‘ginger buttermilk’ cake for desert.
The beaten biscuits are All-Kentucky, of course. This is my first attempt without a Biscuit Break and they are not bad…. almost worthy of the Critchfield Country Ham sent to me by Buck and Lane from home. (recipe to follow) “Sister” Strong is the only one who claims to have eaten a beaten biscuit and I hope these somewhat resemble the biscuits she enjoyed in the past.
"Sister" Strong
I am having Christmas Eve Dinner on Strong’s Bayou, “Sister” Strong is cooking quail and I look forward to meeting her. Anne’s mother is a fascinating lady, I’m told she is the first woman from the Democratic party to be elected to the State Senate. Her childhood nickname, “Baby Sister” was shortened to “Sister” as she grew up, and it stuck (typical Alabama!).
When she was a delegate for Al Gore at the DNC a newscaster misunderstood and reported a story about Catholic nuns voting for Gore! I love it!
It’s time to put the Bread Pudding in the oven and start making the Hard Sauce, my house will start smelling like Kentucky in a heartbeat.
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons lard — or vegetable shortening
1 3/4 cups water — up to 2 cups
Its execution is best described by Joanne Pritchett, whose great-great grandmother was a cook on a St. Mary’s plantation: “Honey, every time I know I’m going to make these biscuits, I get myself good and mad. Normally I think about my sister-in-law, Darlene, who ran off with my husband right after Granny Pritchett’s funeral. That was years ago, but it still galls me into making some of the tenderest biscuits around.”)
“It’s very simple. I just sift the flour and salt together in a bowl. Some people, nowadays, like to use Crisco or something like that. But I believe in lard. It gives it that certain taste.
”So then, I cut the lard into the flour with the tips of my fingers, working it real quick. During this step I make believe I’m putting out Darlene’s eyes.
“Then, little by little, I pour in the cold water, until I get a good stiff dough. Put it on a real solid table with flour. Now if your table is weak, honey, the legs’ll fall right off. I’ve seen it happen!
”Depending on my mood, I use an axe or a big old mallet. I make a ball out of the dough to look like Darlene’s head and, baby, I let her have it. Use the flat side of the axe or mallet, and beat the hell out of the dough till it blisters good. Takes about half an hour, but honey, it makes them tender as butter.
“Form the dough into balls, the size of little eggs, and flatten ‘em a bit on the board. Put a few pokes in the center with a fork, then bake in a hot 425øF oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot and put some liniment on your arm, or it’ll be acting up the next day.”
Makes about 3 dozen biscuits
He was flying low, I could hear that, but the clouds were lower and I couldn’t see him. We were almost home from our solitary morning walk on the beach this morning and I could hear an Angel soaring down the coast. He turned somewhere out over the bay and headed back towards Florida.
But suddenly he was below the clouds and, right over my deck, he spun several times close enough that I could even see the blue and yellow underbelly! Breathtaking and Awesome!
I had the opportunity once, when Mike Wall’s son was a pilot and came home for Thunder Over Louisville, to interview some of the pilots from that amazing air show, including the Harrier and a Stealth. I took the boys with me and I have some terrific photos of that memorable day.
But there is something very very special about a private air show viewed from my own front porch. What a terrific Christmas Gift!
While the rest of the country has been covered in snow and ice, we have been blanketed in a thick white cloud of fog.
Early on the beach Tuesday.
View of the sunset from my deck Wednesday
Mr. Ross always puts bows on the gates of the Governor's beach house
For all we lack in traditional Christmas atmosphere, we more than make up for in creativity.
In Lower Alabama palm trees wrapped with lights are as common as pig’s tracks and don’t even rate a second look.
My neighbors, however, have found some unique ways to decorate and/or recycle for the holiday! I absolutely love the sense of humor here!
Save those plastic cups from your Christmas party and use them next year when you decorate. Too funny!
Probably safer than decorating a live 'gator
My own Christmas bottle-tree
What will Santa think??
On my second day of work, when they all noticed I drove a hybrid Insight and had to admit to being a ‘tree hugger’, Jimmy told me this amazing fish story.
Jimmy is our very capable Tech and a really nice guy. He’s a longtime friend of my employers (who also own the Shady Lady, an impressive charter fishing boat) and he often accompanies the Clemons on their outings. The previous weekend they had been out in the Gulf and had the very, very rare experience of seeing dozens of Killer Whales. He’s been promising to loan me the video, but work has been busy and we both forget until we get to the office.
the ultimate 'Shamu' show!
But word of the trip has spread around the marina and last night it was on the local news. Rumor has it that CNN has picked up the story and it will be on this weekend.
WEAR TV only aired a snippet of the video, but it was absolutely astonishing. Their website this morning has a photo and the story, but hopefully another station or CNN will post the video this weekend.
If Jimmy forgets to bring the tape to work this morning I may just follow him home and get it myself this afternoon. I am sooooooooo envious, it’s a once-in-a-hundred lifetimes experience! But, they have promised to take me out someday when the weather improves…. I’ll be happy to just see a dolphin!
The story from WEAR TV
Killer Whales Sighted in Gulf Of Mexico
You’d expect to see them at theme parks and in the movies, but one group of local fisherman met some very large marine mammals in a very *unexpected place.
It’s a sight rarely seen, and seldom video taped.
Capt. Eddie Hall/Shady Lady,
“One of the guys on the boat, Jimmy, had spotted what appeared to be whales!… so we ran over to them and we were right, it was killer whales.”
On October 31st, Captain Eddie Hall and crew witnessed something they won’t soon forget… Approximately 200 killer whales spotted in the Gulf Of Mexico, about 60 miles south of the captain’s home port of Zeke’s Marina In Orange Beach, Alabama.
“There was some of them that would come 2 feet from the boat and dive right underneath the boat, and when they would dive, they would actually wake the boat.”
Most people would have to take a vacation to Sea World In Orlando to catch a sight like this.
Actually seeing killer whales in the gulf is very rare.
So rare, even scientists like Doctor Keith Mullin Of The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration could go for years without seeing any of them.
Dr. Keith Mullin/NOAA Research Biologist,
“We do our own surveys and some years we don’t see any, some years we’ll see one, one year we were quite lucky we saw 3 different groups of killer whales.”
Even our own fishing expert and host of gary finch outdoors couldn’t believe it at first.
Gary Finch/Gary Finch Outdoors:
“In the 30 years that I have gulf fished, I have never come across a school of killer whales.”
But the video is too impressive to deny…
Not only because of the beauty and mystery of the whales, but because of the landmark in the background.
This oil rig provides a positive location for the whale pods, and information like that is valuable when exploring the unknown waters of the gulf.
Have your camera ready… because you never know what you’re gonna get.
Last Updated: Thursday, December 4 2008, 07:23 PM
The WEAR website is: http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/fl/topstory/topstory3.shtml
http://www.wkrg.com/local/article/killer_whales_in_the_gulf_of_mexico/21653/
http://www.weartv.com/players/news/top_stories/wear_vid_5201.shtml
