Funny how people remember the same thing completely differently.

Mike:  I like my okra the way G'ma Opal used to make it.  Battered and deepfried.

Uncle Jim:  I like my okra the way Mom used to make it.  Stewed with
tomatoes, and with a little hot pepper added.  Yum!

Laurie:  I like my okra the way G'ma Opal used to make it.  Pan fried with
cornmeal, flour, salt, and pepper.  (Though I don't turn up my nose at okra
any old way it's cooked.)

Uncle Jim typed out a couple of recipes for me and brought them to Peeta's
Birthday Party last night.  At the bottom of the recipes he wrote this:

These Recipes were written by Grandma Hattie Chappell Simon, and saved
into her White Ribbon Cookbook.  (Her cookbook is not in as good a shape
as the one pictured above.)

Cottage Pudding
1/2 cup sugar.  1 cup milk
1 pint flour, 2 tablespoons
melted butter.  1 teaspoon
soda.  2 of cream tartar.
2 eggs.  A little salt.
Little ginger or cinnamon.
Bake 1/4 hour in small pan.

Gingerbread
Mix one cup molasses with
one cup sour milk.  Mix and
sift 2 1/3 cups flour, two
teaspoons ginger, 1/2 teaspoon
salt and 1 3/4 teaspoon soda.
combine mixture and add 1/4 cup
melted shortening and beat
vigorously.  Pour into a shallow
pan and bake 25 minutes in a
moderate oven.

I am going to try them when I get a chance.

I also saw one, as we were flipping through the pages in Uncle Jim's
yard, for Burnt Sugar Cake.  Now, I just made a burnt sugar cake last
weekend from a recipe in Tyler's Wooden Spoon Cookbook.  It was
pretty yummy, though Debby said it wasn't exactly like her mother's
recipe.  So, I am hoping to get both her mother's recipe and the one
from Grandma Hattie, make them both , and then I can compare all
three of them to see which is the yummiest of all.

Today Kent and I toodled over to Mammoth Springs, Arkansas to
visit a friend from church and her husband.  Deryl and Sybil recently
moved to Mammoth from Mississippi, and they have just finished building
a beautiful home on the banks of the Spring River.

Sybil made the most delicious stew for our lunch and rounded it out perfectly
with bread and a salad.

I asked her for the recipe and she was happy to send me the web link for
it. Wow!  I don't think I have ever attempted to cook something as complicated
as this recipe looks.  I am very impressed.  I am also determined to wow my
family and friends with this recipe sometime...not sure when, but sometime.

In case you want to attempt it for yourself, the link to the stew, which is called
Daube Nicoise is here.

Later the gang came for dinner and Mike broke a tooth.  He didn't chomp
down on anything, it just happened.  Poor guy!  That'll mean a trip to our
favorite dentist.

We had such a dry end of summer and autumn that we haven't seen many
mushrooms.  Well, part of that is the fact that I haven't had a chance to
go hunting them.  But, mostly it is from the dry weather.  Yesterday though,
on a walk to our house, Kathleen, Colyn, and Peeta found some puffballs
and gave them to me as a surprise.  Tonight I sauteed them in olive oil and
butter.  Kathleen ate them and thought they tasted like mashed potatoes.
That's odd!  Colyn and Peeta wouldn't even take a bite, but the rest of us
enjoyed them.  Wild 'shrooms are so yummy.

If you live where the temps are in the high nineties
and low hundreds, the best advice I can give is to go
jump in the river. A nice cold spring-fed river is
best. Today we can't, but tomorrow we'll be there!

Second on my list of cooling off options is to make
Tropical Splash. I created this drink years ago to
accompany High Five games, but it fell by the wayside.
However, yesterday, after walking to get Max (Joel's
dog), I was so hot that I dug out the recipe and mixed
up a batch. It is great!

Tropical Splash

1 (6 oz) can frozen lemonade
1 (6 oz) can frozen limeade
1 (6 oz) can frozen orange juice
10 frozen juice cans of water
1 (or more) banana/s
vanilla ice cream

Combine the 3 juices and 10 cans of water in a blender.
(It won't all fit in the blender at one time, so really,
combine them in a huge container and then pour into
the blender as needed.) Put one banana into blender for
every blender-full of juice. Blend on high until frothy.
Put 1 scoop (or two) of ice cream in desired number of
glasses and fill to the top with the juice.

Enjoy!

As promised to Chrysalis:

And yes, it is rather scrumptiously delicious!

BUTTERFINGER ICE CREAM CAKE

1/2 cup vanilla wafers crushed
1/2 cup saltines crushed
2 Butterfinger candybars crushed
Mix and spread in 11x13 pan and bake 10 minutes in a
350 degree oven and cool.

1 large box French vanilla pudding
2 cups milk

Beat and let thicken in refrigerator.

1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream

Soften and mix with pudding. Spread this on top of
the cooled crust.

1 medium Cool Whip.

Soften and spread on top of the ice cream mix.

1 Butterfinger candy bar crushed.

Sprinkle on top of the Cool Whip. Freeze. Thaw
30 minutes before serving.

We're having birthday party tonight for Tyler,
so I have to get cookin'.

On the menu:

Toasted Ravioli
Pasta House Salad
Pasta with Blue Cheese Artichoke Sauce (recipe to follow)
Peaches (from the freezer)
Lemon Pie
Chocolate Pie

If you're in the Mayberry neighborhood tonight consider
yourself invited!

Pasta with Blue Cheese Artichoke Sauce
(adapted from Southern Living Cooking
School Cook Book)

1 (12 oz) package noodles
1 (13.75 oz) can quartered atrichoke hearts, rinsed
and drained
1 (8 oz) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1 TBS olive oil
2 c milk
2 (1.25) packages creamy garlic Alfredo sauce mix
1/4 c crumbled blue cheese
1/4 c chopped pecans, toasted
1 tsp basil
Garnish: crumbled blue cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.
Saute artichokes and mushrooms in hot oil till tender.
Whisk together milk and Alfredo sauce mix. Bring to
a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, whisking often, 2
minutes or until thickened. Add artichoke mixture and
blue cheese, stirring until cheese melts.
Drain pasta, and place in a large serving bowl. Pour
blue cheese sauce over pasta; toss to coat. Sprinkle
evenly with pecans and basil. Garnish with blue cheese.

Makes 4 servings. (I'll double it at least.)