Family Recipe Friday - Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Rice

While this isn't an old family recipe, it has become somewhat of a staple in my household these days. And perhaps those are the recipes I shoul be recording here. The recipes I utilize frequently, for the sake of my grandchildren. [???] Perhaps one day they will look back and say..."I wonder how Grandma made her red beans and rice so tasty?"

Perhaps. And if so... dear grandchildren, here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

1-pound dried red kidney beans [soaked overnight in salted water and drained]

1-pound polska keilbasa, sliced into 1/4-inch slices

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2-stalks celery, diced

2-cloves garlic minced

1 large can petite diced tomatoes, drained

4-cups white, long-grain rice, cooked according to package directions

2-tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:

In a large cast iron pot [I use a 6-quart cast iron Dutch oven], over medium heat, put oil, bell pepper, onion, celery, and garlic. Sautee until vegetables are opaque. Add sausage and cook until done. Add tomatoes and heat through.

Add beans and enough cold water to cover completely.

Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat to simmer.

Simmer over low heat in cast iron pot for at least four hours.

Test beans for doneness. [Beans should be soft inside, yet maintain a firm outer skin.]

When beans are done, cook rice according to package directions.

Serve beans over a bed of rice, adding some of the bean broth for flavor.

Serves 8.

Treasure Chest Thursday

I was sitting and thinking the other day about my travels throughout Europe when I was younger, and maybe, I thought, turning some of my photographs from those trips into a book for my children, who are now all adults. [Gasp... take a breath here!]

Such as...

Bavaria - 1980

Berlin  - 1980

Dechsendorff Lake - 1980

My oldest son Chris is in the stroller.

Amsterdam

Barcelona

Carthage

Nuremburg

Corinth

Paris

Erlangen

Florence

Eze

French Riveria

Frankfurt

Our apartment in Furth.

Freihung

Grafenwoehr

The colliseum at Delphi

Ibiza

Pisa

And there are so many more! Almost as many as of my year long jaunt across the US in 2005!

They might be of interest to my children or grandchildren one day.

Many people comment on the travels I have made, but what few have come to know is that it was all done on a military wife's budget! While stationed in Europe, I took ITT tours at a vastly reduced rate, and often stayed at hostels and cheap inns. Believe me, there was nothing glamorous about my accommodations! But the memories are such wonderful ones, simply for the sights I have seen!

My jaunt across the US? It was as a navigator and bookkeeper for a truck driver! Most of those pictures were taken from a moving truck using high speed shutter settings on my camera! LOL

Still, I do wonder... will one of the children consider a book of my travels a treasure one day?

Perhaps I WILL print that book after all!

Wordless Wednesday - 3 Faudree Sisters

Left to right: Clyde and Zenna Zane [Faudree] Baker; Mary [Faudree] Bean; Veda [Faudree] an elvin Certer; Richard Carter

October 1967

Tombstone Tuesday - The Baker's

BAKER

ZENNA Z.                    CLYDE F.

1900-1971                      1895-1980

Clyde F. BAKER was born 26 Mar 1895 in Monroe County, West Virginia to Isaac Thomas BAKER and his wife Nettie Irene CARPENTER BAKER. He was the eldest of at least 5 children born to the couple.

On 25 Sep 1925 Clyde married Zenna Zane FAUDREE in Centennial, Monroe County, West Virginia. [Centennial was a small community located half-way between present day Sweet Springs and Gap Mills on State Route 3.]

Zenna Zane FAUDREE was born 06 Feb 1900 in Sweet Springs, Monroe County, WV to Stephen Ledford FAUDREE and his wife Elizabeth CARNEFIX FAUDREE. Zenna Zane was the 9th born of 10 children to the couple.

Frank and Zenna Zane had four children: Clyde V. [1926-2000]

Elmer [b. 1928]

Hazel

and Zenna Zane [b. 1936]

Zenna Zane died in 1971 in Ohio, and Clyde followed her in 1980.

I remember this dear couple so well! When we visited with Zenna's sister, Veda, and my grandmother Mary, in Bumpass, Virginia. I can remember that Aunt Zenna had very sparse hair! [So did my Grandmother!]

In Oct 1967 I took a picture of the three sister's together, using my very first camera, a Brownie!

Left to right is my Grandmother Mary FAUDREE BEAN, in the center is my Aunt Veda FAUDREE CARTER and on the right is ZENNA ZANE FAUDREE BAKER.

Here's a cropped photo showing Uncle Clyde and Aunt Zenna Zane together. They were the absolute sweetest couple!

Zenna Zane and Clyde BAKER are buried here at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Barberton, Summit County, Ohio.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun... Delayed Until Monday!

Okay, so not only was I sick on Saturday, but I also worked a full shift at my job! So, today is the first day in many that I've even got on the computer!

Many thanks to Randy Seaver for our Saturday Night Genealogy Challenges! Here was this past Saturday night's challenge!

Hey there, genea-lovers, it's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!!
Your mission, if you decide to accept it, is to (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) How old is your great-grandfather now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ahnentafel (ancestor name list). Who is that person?

3) Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook or Google Plus note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandparent, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!

Okay, so I chose my great-grandfather William McHarvey Bean, who was born 26 Aug 1832 in Monroe County, [West] Virginia. If alive today, he would be 179 years old!
Dividing great-grandfather's age by four, I get the number 44.75 or rounding to the nearest whole number 45.

Number 45 in my Ahnentafel is Nancy Holsapple. My gr-gr-gr-grandmother. Here is what is written:

45.

Nancy HOLSAPPLE was born 1792 in Monroe County, Virginia. She died 1868 in Mt. Pleasant,

Iowa. She was the daughter of 90. Phillip HOLSAPPLE and 91. Elizabeth CARNIFAX. She married William

 CARNEFIX in Monroe County, VA.
I know that Nancy was the mother of 11 known children. Her son George was killed in a battle in Virginia during the Civil War and left my great-grandmother fatherless as a new baby. Nancy's ancestry leads us back to German heritage.

Texicanwife's Job History

Taking a cue from Randy over at Genea-Musings I thought I'd fill in my readers with my somehwat scattered and checkered employment and work history, in honor of Labor Day!

As a fresh 16-year old,  I had my first job working for B.F. Goodrich. I actually pieced together life raft floors from rubber sections. I put two halves together, and cemented them in place with a special rubber cement glue. The job was short-lived. I had lied about my age to get the job, saying I was 18, when in fact I was 2 years younger. Needless to say, when the powers that be found out, I was immediately let go, and found myself without employment!

A few short weeks later, I found myself an Avon Lady. I went door to door in a rural community selling Avon products. While I didn't earn a lot of money, I was able to keep groceries on the table with what I made, and continue my education so that I could graduate from high-school a full six months ahead of my class. [I had quit high-school in order to get married at that ripe age! I was so in love!!!]

Next, I worked a full summer as a dairy hand, along-side my husband, on a big dairy farm. I schmucked and slopped and slushed, and milked! I herded. And I shoveled [no explanation needed for that one!] I would have to rate this my absolute worst job of all time!!! Dirty. Nasty. And definitely smelly! [I never take a drink of milk today without thanking God for the dairy farmers!!!]

A few months later my husband joined the military and we began to travel the world. I didn't re-enter the work force until five years later, when I was a mother of three. I worked for a photo laboratory for nearly a year. I sold photo processing plans to military families. Nearly a year later I found myself expecting baby number four, and knew I couldn't afford a sitter for four children! So, I resigned myself to be a stay at home mother and raise my children, even though financially it was never easy!

Before I knew it, I was now the mother of five children! Yes, five! So, I decided to take on a Tupperware career. And in Tupperware I worked my way up to manager, with 9 dealers working beneath me. I drove a Tupperware wagon [a special Oldsmobile station wagon that Tupperware purchased for their managers.] And I loved the attention and status I had! Still, the income was iffy, and fluctuated with the economy. I decided I needed something a bit more stable.

Saving my income from Tupperware, I went to nursing school and became a geriatric nurse. I found a real niche in working with these elders who so needed love and attention!

I was a nurse practitioner for 13 years, when my health failed and I was diagnosed with lung cancer. My doctor insisted, after I beat the odds, that I quit working for a while. The treatment left me with a compromised immune system, and I still fight those problems today!

In 2001, I decided I wanted to work full-time in genealogy. And I began studying that. It has been my true passion! However, in October of last year, with the economy in a down-swing, my clientele dwindled off, and I could no longer afford to run a business. And I began searching for employment once more.

Now, in my fifty-something's, and having worked for myself for nearly ten years, I was no longer able to go back to nursing without committing to a full year of school again, in order to re-learn and catch up on the changes in that field! And as I began applying for other jobs, I found a silent enemy in this country. One of age discrimination. If you are of a certain age... you better grab the first job you are offered!!! Keep looking for what you want... but take that first offer, because it might be a long while waiting for another one!

From October 2010 until April 2011 I received only the barest acknowledgements of my job applications and resume's. And then in April, one of those giant retail chains [I won't mention which one], decided to give me a job as a people greeter. It's not a glamorous job. And it only pays the barest of wages. But it is a job! And they were willing to hire me on when no one else was giving me the barest chance of employ! And for that I'm grateful!

If I went back into the field of nursing, I'd be making ALOT more money. But as I said, I'd have to go back to school for a year. Not something I want to do at this age. And while this is not my dream job, I hang on hoping I can one day transfer into a different department and get something a little more suited to me!

No, I haven't had a great career history... but it's colorful to say the least! And while I may not be where I'd like to in my current employ, I know there are better days yet ahead!

What jobs have you had?

Are there any that were unusual?

Sentimental Sunday - Where Angels Tread

Many moons ago, I lived in another country. With another husband. And while living there, after having had a single child, I gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl.

Those twins are now grown adults. Over the age of thirty. And occasionally they ask me what life was like while living in that far away place where they were born.

One of the many sights that individuals would come across while traveling the German countryside are these saint memorials. Here, a traveller can stop and light a candle to the saint.

Here is one such memorial that sat not far from the German farm house where we lived when the twins were born, in Freihung.

I am sorry, but I cannot tell you to which saint this marker is dedicated. I can tell you that it was weather worn, and no engravings were still discernible. Many of these memorials had small statues of the saints in the little niches carved into them. However, this one did not. Although, on rare occasion, you would find a lit candle gloing from the niche as we walked or drove by. A clear reminder that someone was praying for a specific reason.

I am sure these bring great comfort to the individuals who frequent them. Not being of the Cathoic denomination, I can't say that I truly understand. But I did find a great comfort that I was amongst those individuals who relied heavily upon prayer for their needs, while I lived there, so far away from my family and friends. And I can truly say, I never felt alone, simply knowing there were believers among us.