Tag: family

An Ode to Mom

~ JodiLea

In case you wondered where the #@!!  I’ve been, or if I flaked out of the postaday2011 challenge, I assure you that you haven’t read the last of me. I spent last week at my mother’s bedside instead of my laptop. I can blog anytime, but mom would soon be gone forever.

This week I have the time to blog, but I am writing something else. An Obituary. Mom passed away on Tuesday, so I am already behind on this assignment.  Sunday’s local newspaper will have one  obit.  I am writing a different obit for mom’s hometown newspaper in West Virgina. She has family and many friends back there who deserve to know.

I knew my mom since I was a little kid, so this should be a snap, right? Ha!

I think the closer you are to someone the harder it gets. Perhaps you know too much and the problem is narrowing it all down. And how much is enough? I could not afford to write all I wanted to in California ($7.00 per 25 characters). West Virginia had a flat rate for whatever you wanted to send them, so guess who will read more and see a photo to boot?

The obits are almost identical. A couple of things were left out and some added to the one being published in West Virginia. I needed to filter out stuff that her kin would not approve of her [women] doing  (i.e.,  gambling, fast cars …).  I also added the High School she graduated from.

Don’t forget about the most important part of an obituary: the survivor list. Why  must we be recognized in an obituary?.  Because we are stuck here without our dearly departed  (who are not going to read the newspaper anyway), and we want everyone to know we’re hurting.

I love and miss you mom!

Nita McGuire
Nita Joyce (Browning) McGuire 1937 - 2011

Cookbook Interruptus

~ JodiLea

Future Cookbook

Sigh. Almost to the desert section, and I discover errors in a recipe given to me. By my mother!

On my recipe card she wrote: “1 can salmon, not drained”.  On her card I find the original recipe says: “1 can salmon (1 pound), drained”. So, which is it? I ask her. She replies that you have to tip the can and drain off the top, but don’t dump salmon into a strainer.

Oh.  She took the card from my hand and crossed out “not” and wrote above it “lightly” and handed it back to me. No wonder mine always came out too runny.

I suspect the salmon cakes is not the only recipe with discrepancies. I make a note to refer to mom’s file box while proofreading the cookbook.  For now, I want to finish adding the pile of recipe cards, magazine clippings, and sticky notes to my manuscript.

What I should be doing is taking a nap because I could be up all night again.  What I am doing is trying to keep up with my post-a-day challenge in the midst of chaos  😉  Since it has already interrupted things, I will pass along the correct Salmon Cakes recipe. Y’all should feel honored.

Salmon Cakes
1 pound can Salmon , lightly drained [tip can to drain off most liquid, but don’t use a strainer]
1 Tbls. Lemon Juice
1 Egg
3 Tbls. Onion , diced
¼ tea. Pepper
¼ cup corn meal (or crushed crackers)

Mix Salmon with other ingredients in a medium bowl.  Mix well. Shape into 10 to 12 ‘patties’ and fry in oil on medium heat, until brown on each side. Mom always said using a heavy iron skillet was the proper way to fry stuff.

Serve with Cole Slaw & French fries. And plenty of  salt!!

Best Road Trip

~ JodiLea

I-5I have always loved road trips. Maybe not the entire trip there and back (when ‘there’ was far, far away). Starting out on a road trip is always exciting, which is good because the scenery is boring. Every road trip begins from the same place – home.

Anywhere you go from Livermore you usually get on Interstate 5. At least for part of the way. Your scenic view consists of black top rolling through brown, sunburned hills. Oh, there is the occasional dairy farm, that you smell long before you see a cow. And ugly oak trees called “scrub oaks”. This scenery is monotonous to me, but maybe it would be interesting to someone traveling from, let’s say, Arkansas.

My favorite road trip (lately) was in 2007. My daughter, granddaughter and I packed up my Honda and set out for Laguna Niguel to spend Mother’s Day with my mom. Our husbands were not invited (they were not upset about that at all). We probably packed enough snacks to feed us for a week if we got stranded in a snowstorm. Which does not happen when you drive through the desert in May. But then, with my sense of direction, we could have ended up in Canada.

The just-us-girls aspect of the trip was enough to make it special. This was also an historic trip because I was driving. Yes, she who gets lost in her own backyard, was driving. I felt so grown up!

The GPS unit I got for Christmas had several different voices to choose from. We decided to use a man’s voice that had a slight Jamaican accent. We wanted a cute, fun voice to come along with us. Oh, he was fun. My granddaughter named him “Sebastian”, after the character in The Little Mermaid.

We had not even turned off my street before he yelled at us. “TURN DE CAR AROUND!!” Sebastian wanted us to take the long way to the freeway. We ignored him. After sulking a few seconds, he recalculated the route and we were on our way.

Sebastian began to grate on our nerves after the first 100 miles. His tone was getting more panicked and loud as the trip progressed. “STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE!” “LEFT TURN AHEAD!” He screamed out directions sounding so damned urgent I would turn at the next turn, which was not yet the correct turn. Causing more screaming.  I must admit that we all thought “TURN DE CAR AROUND!” was funny the first 8 times we heard it.

I have to give Sebastian his due, we made it through L.A. and found my mom’s house.  However, when our visit was over, “Tim” guided us back home with his smooth and easy-going British voice.