HARVEST PUMPKIN HOLLOW...WARM SUGARY APPLES WITH RAISINS AND PECANS!

The star of the fall season will always be

The Pie Pumpkin!

A vibrant orange with a perfectly plump, round body!

And....

always, always presented on Mother's Johnson Brothers Platter!

One of my favorite recipes featuring this little pumpkin

is one I invented back in Dothan

when the children were small!

It makes your home smell incredibly good

and

it is a perfect centerpiece...

that is before your devour it's autumn yumminess! 

THE HARVEST PUMPKIN HOLLOW

1 (5-7 lb.) pie pumpkin

2 T. oil

2/3 cup raisins

2/3 cup dried cranberries

4 apples, chopped 

2/3 cup pecans or walnuts

1 t. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup brown sugar

Cut the top off the pumpkin, carefully preserving the top and stem.

Clean out the pumpkin inside, including the seeds.

Rub the outside of the pumpkin with a damp paper towel and then dry.

Now rub the pumpkin with oil.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the fruits, spice, and brown sugar

and

carefully spoon the ingredients inside the pumpkin.

Place in a preheated 325 degree F. oven, 

on a baking sheet, lined with foil.

I place the top beside the pumpkin.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. 

Simply beautiful and delicious!


It's Foodie Friday!
http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Back To School....The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...or Is It?

Where are you going my little one...little one?

Baby Robbie and Me in Dothan

Oh lord..remember that song? Makes me cry every time I hear it! So true, so true! As the Divine Miss M and I were talking this morning, she commented that she was looking back at grandson Luke sitting in his car seat, and he just looked so big. He was chattering away about something, probably a digger, a cherry picker, an excavator or a brush-hog.....that child is obsessed with construction equipment and can describe every machine known to man. That's why he was Bob the Builder last Halloween. Anyway, she said, "Where did my baby go? It seems he was just a baby in his little crib last week, and now he is going to preschool!" Oh yes, my dear...been there, done that! Four times over.

Robbie at Walnut Creek Private School

Pre-K

Back Row far Left with his hat on

The last one to leave the nest was Robbie. I had Robbie at the age of 35. We always said it was like having two families. Robbie hates it when I say that but, we really did start over. Miss Melissa was a senior in high school when Rob started to kindergarten, and "the boys" were in middle school. Can you imagine that? We had all those ages of children under one roof...all of those back to school clothes, shoes, school supplies, sports dues....how did we do it all?

Robbie and Me on Mother and Daddy's Porch in Jackson

So it was probably the hardest to let go of the last...at least I think it was. Maybe it was hard to let all of them go...but yes, I think it seems we had a harder time with the last baby..perhaps we are still holding on! It goes by in a  flash! Enjoy your toddlers, your kindergartners, preteens and even those stinky teenagers. You'll be singing that song, "Where are you going my little one, little one" before you know it! 

Darling and Rob High School Varsity Soccer

Rob Aggie Senior Ring Ceremony Texas A and M

Rob and Me in Kennebunkport

Bake these "Scrumptious Apple Pie Muffins" for your back-to-schoolers!

They always received rave reviews from Robbie!

 Topping

 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Muffins

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

 1 egg
 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

 1 teaspoon baking soda

 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup plain yogurt

2 cups shredded and peeled Granny Smith apples
1 t.  cinnamon

1/8 t. nutmeg

Walnuts

 Topping: In a small bowl toss together sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon until crumbly; set aside.

Muffins: In a large bowl whisk together brown sugar, oil, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda and salt. Stir oil mixture into flour mixture alternately with buttermilk or yogurt.  Fold in apples, mixing just until combined.  Spoon into greased muffin cups filling 3/4 full. Sprinkle topping over evenly and place walnut half in the center. Bake at 350°F. for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and tops spring back.

 

"If you bungle raising your children,

 I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."

Jacqueline Kennedy

Meet Me at Mildreds!

Was it the creamy mashed potatoes speckled with chives, or was it the sweet onion in the squash casserole? It was quite possibly the crispy fried chicken, cornbread and the "tastes like Mom's" meatloaf slices. Oh yes, and her banana pudding that brought back memories of Sunday dinner at Grandmother's house.

 I would say that discovering Mildred's felt like time stood still in the deep south...a more gracious and gentler time!

Noel Baxter Dowling built a home in Dothan, Alabama, in 1901 at 401 North Alice Street, which eventually became the home of his daughter Cora Lee Dowling and her husband, Richard Hawthorne Ramsey.  Mr. Dowling died, and his wife, Lizze Wells Dowling preferred to live at the family's house in Pinkard, Alabama.

 Richard Hawthorne Ramsey came to Pinckard for work on the Midland Railroad.  His father, David Wardlaw Ramsey was a veteran of the Civil War who trained at Tulane University as a doctor after the War and then became a Baptist minister.  The church at which he preached was on the property that was once part of a large plantation owned by Joseph Richard Hawthorne, his wife’s father.

Cora and Richard Hawthorne Ramsey raised their four children, Richard Hayward, Joseph Robert, Cassie and Francis, in this house. Their son, Robert Ramsey remembered driving the cow from his parent’s house in the 400 block of North Alice Street to his grandparent’s farm in Pinckard .

 Cassie Ramsey lived in this house until the 1960's and retained ownership until a few years before her death. She had sold the home to her nephew, Richard H. Ramsey, III. Richard renovated the home in 1988 and converted it to his law office. Mildred purchased the house in June of 1996. The home on 401 North Alice is now Mildred's Restaurant.

Mildred's uses the original room layout of the home which provides several cozy dining areas, each with its own personality and decor. Julie's room is light and bright with a whimsically decorated fireplace mantle. Gene's room was previously the law library and is more masculine with mahogany paneling and dining tables. Lena's room  glows with light reflected from its warm wallpaper and two walls lined from floor to ceiling with Mildred's extensive collections of tea sets, china and other porcelain collectibles.

A Maine House Mosaic

Estelle's Southern Tea Cakes

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Dough should be soft. Roll dough out onto a floured surface until approximately 1/4-inch thick. Cut dough into desired shapes and bake on a slightly greased sheet for 10 to 12 minutes

"I am a writer who sings a song of the South.

My heart beats in unison with its people;

my soul is soothed by the sighs of the wind

as it drifts through the needles of the arrow straight pines

 standing sentinal against the back drop of a cerulean sky."

Sharman Burson Ramsey