Category: Commentary

My week was not as busy as some have been lately, and I enjoyed an afternoon visit from my grandson and part of his family on Thursday! We had a very enjoyable time together, he soon will be stationed in Florida, so I am enjoying their company now, while I can. They brought hamburgers, ‘fries, and tea for our lunch and we totally had a wonderful day. My days for the next two weeks are full, it seems as if each day something new is claiming my attention and I have to tend to it. Sunday afternoon and evening, my neighbor invited my sister and I over for an afternoon of games with she and her mother who was visiting. The three of us started out playing dominoes and when my sister came, we switched over to Rummycube. Great company and a fun time for all of us!
In our area, Mother Nature seems to think that spring has arrived, even though there are still a few days until the first official day of spring. The Texas Mountain Laurel is sporting a beautiful purple coat, and the fragrance is out of this world. The Indian Blankets are blooming along the roadsides, the mesquite trees and huisache are finally wearing green, wild verbenas are beginning to show their lighter purple and the wild phlox are in full bright pink bloom. The pecan trees however, as well as the Sycamore in my brother’s yard both realize it is still winter and they are biding their time to bud out.
Friday is St. Patrick’s Day, a day the Irish and the “wanna be” Irish celebrates. “Erin go Bragh”, shillelagh, shamrocks, green ribbons, scones and Irish stew will be the order of the day. Over the years in reading different books and articles, I’ve come across the (slightly comic) Irish cop (usually in Chicago, sometimes in New York), telling someone to straighten, “Before I lay me shillelagh up alongside your head”.
When it comes to stories about St. Patrick, legend and truth are totally intertwined. The young man who was to later become St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, was born in Wales around AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and due to lack of required scholarship, he almost didn’t get the job of Bishop of Ireland. Until the age of 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that time, after a raid on his village, he and other young men were sold into slavery in Ireland.
During his time of captivity, he learned the Celtic language and also moved closer to God. After six years of slavery, he was able to escape and went to Gaul. There, he studied in a Monastery under St. Germain, Bishop of Auxerre for twelve years. While he was in training, he became aware that he was being called to convert the pagans to Christianity. He was ordained as a deacon, then as a priest and finally as a bishop. Pope Celestine then sent him to Ireland to preach the gospel.
St. Patrick is best known the world over, for having driven the snakes from Ireland. Different tales tell of his standing upon a hill, using a wooden staff to drive the serpents into the sea, and banishing them forever from the shores of Ireland. One legend says that one old serpent resisted, but the Saint overcame it by cunning. He is said to have made a box and invited the reptile to enter. The snake insisted the box was too small, and the discussion became very heated. Finally, the snake entered the box to prove he was right, whereupon St. Patrick slammed the lid and cast the box into the sea. The legend of the shamrock is also connected with the banishment of snakes from Ireland by a tradition that snakes are never seen on trefoil and that it is a remedy against the stings of snakes and scorpions. While not the first to bring Christianity to Ireland, it was Patrick who encountered the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan ritual.
The custom of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day came to America in 1737, when it was celebrated publicly in Boston for the first time. The Irish have their own language (Gaelic) and their own names for the foods they eat, and believe it or not, corned beef and cabbage is not a traditional Irish dish. So, what are traditional foods? One could start the day with a dish or porridge with a topping of cream or honey, followed by a full Irish breakfast fry, consisting of sausage, bacon, fried eggs, fried tomatoes, black pudding, white pudding, toast and brown soda bread. In accompaniment, there would also be a large pot of fresh tea, marmalade and honey.
Some more items that are considered traditional Irish recipes (those that are at least fifty years old), soda bread, oatcakes, gingerbread loaf, seed cake, basic scones, porter cake, Irish whisky cake, Irish omelet, oatmeal bacon pancakes, and Irish stew. This stew is traditionally made of lamb or mutton, potatoes, onions and parsley. Frequently, lamb or mutton neck bones, shanks and other trimmings were the basis for the stock. The root vegetables, turnips, parsnips or carrots, add further flavor and thickening power, as well as filling sustenance.
Yes, I know Irish Stew made with short ribs is not a meatless Lenten dish, but it fits the column! Serve it on Sunday or as your main dish for the day.
Irish Stew
4 to 5 pounds short ribs
7 small red potatoes
6 carrots
2 medium onions
Salt and pepper
1 cup flour
3 cups water
3 beef bouillon cubes
½ cup cooking oil
Dissolve bouillon cubes in water and place over medium heat until just under boiling. Keep hot on low heat. Season meat with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and brown a few at a time in oil. Place in a large Dutch oven or roaster and set aside as you add more meat to the skillet. Fry onions in same pan with ½ cup of the flour left over from dredging the meat, until lightly browned. Add to ribs. Add water in which you have dissolved bouillon cubes, cover and cook about 1 to 1½ hours. While meat is cooking, peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Peel carrots and cut into ½-inch chunks (or use baby carrots and leave them whole). When meat has cooked the 1 to 1½ hours, add the vegetables and cook an additional hour, or until the vegetables are tender.
Now, here is a recipe which is truly Irish.
Oatmeal Raisin Scones
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chilled butter (do not substitute)
1½ cups oatmeal (either old-fashioned or quick cooking, but not instant)
½ cup raisins
1 cup buttermilk
Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on top
Preheat oven to 375ºF Mix together, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut chilled butter into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oatmeal and raisins. Add buttermilk and mix with fork until dough forms a ball. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead 6 to 8 minutes. Pat dough into ½-inch thickness. Cut into 8 to 10 rounds or shape into large circle and cut into 8 to 10 wedges. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Scones are similar to the biscuits we eat. The “biscuits” that are eaten in England and Ireland are the equivalent of what we know as cookies!

According to the calendar, spring officially begins March 20th! At the time I am writing this, it really looks like a spring day. Friday afternoon when I came home from town, I came what is considered the back way because you don’t have to go through town to get back to my home. At the crossroad, about two miles or so from my home, the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush were blooming profusely. These were the first that I had seen so far this year in anywhere near what could be considered profusion. Maybe I’m just not going to the right places! The Arizona Ash trees and elm trees around my home are beginning to leaf out, and the Anaqua trees are totally white with blossoms, however, the mesquites and huisaches aren’t showing even a little bit of green. This past week we saw some bad weather, with your area getting a lot worse than mine did. I have a few small limbs down, mostly off the old Arizona Ash trees in my front yard, and lots of small sticks from the same two trees. From what my daughter has told me, the wind in your area was over 60 MPH or more. It was not that bad here, just enough to keep me awake and going from window to window to check on things, not that it did any good! And there wasn’t enough rain to measure.
As far as I know, no one to my knowledge, has seen Purple Martins flying around and I haven’t had any “mud birds” or bridge swallow trying to build their nest on top of the light on my patio nor on my front porch. I guess we can consider that spring is here…unless the weather changes and we get a late freeze, which can happen, after all, we live in Texas; and Easter, even in April can be cold, wet and messy. (My birthday is in April, and I have seen it pretty cold around that time.
Now, how about a little weather lore and some old adages?
If you find no dew on the grass early in the morning, it will rain within 24 hours. Over a period of time, this has been proven true more times than not. My uncle told me about it many years ago, but, of course, sometimes you have to be outside before sunrise to check it! And many times, I just slide my hand over the gate, just to see!
An old saying states; “Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning, red sky at night, sailors delight,” which is another prediction for stormy weather.
Lots of pink or white blooming thistles in the fields are an indication of an impending drought, and since I didn’t come to Devine in February, I didn’t get to check the acres of them that grow each year between Floresville and Pleasanton. “Turkey track” clouds in the sky forecast rain within three days.
Purple sage blooming predicts rain. And last but not least, according to folklore, sighting a “Scissortail” swallow, is said to be a truly sure sign that spring has arrived. The mesquite trees and other trees can freeze back, but when you see one of these birds, spring is truly here. Weird as it sounds, this old adage does seem to be true. I watched it several years, especially since moving to this area and the temperature has never gotten down to freezing.
Here are a couple more meatless dishes for you to try, for the ones of you who are on “meatless” Fridays!
Chiles Rellenos
1 large can whole California green chiles*
2 eggs, beaten well
Monterey Jack cheese, cut into pieces ½ inch square, and 1-inch shorter than the peppers you are going to stuff.
Drain canned chilies and pat dry. If they have any seeds and pith, remove them. Stuff each chili with a piece of the cheese. Lap one side of the pepper over the other to close. Roll very generously in flour, dip into the beaten egg and then back into the flour, repeating twice. (You want to coat them just as if you were frying chicken). Deep fry in heavy skillet until brown on one side turn over gently and brown the other side. Serve either plain or topped with enchilada sauce, or a ranchero sauce and sprinkled with cheese. (The sauce for the Cheese enchiladas, that was in last weeks’ paper works well with this! *If you are interested in using fresh chiles, you will need the large green Ancho chiles, and will have to check on-line, as to how to prepare them for this dish. This is the “I’m in a hurry for dinner” version.
The following dish is really delicious and works well with the easy-peel shrimp that you can purchase at most HEB stores. Over time, I have found their seafood to be really fresh and good in most recipes. The good thing about this dish is that you can use the small to medium shrimp that are not as pricey as the large or jumbo shrimp are.
Shrimp Pasta Primavera
½ cup chopped green onion
½ cup green or red bell pepper cut into strips
½ cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
½ cup margarine
1 package (8-oz) cream cheese, cut into cubes, and at room temperature
¾ cup milk
2 cups, small to medium, peeled, de-veined shrimp (tails also removed)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 package spiral macaroni (7-oz or 8-oz), cooked according to package directions and drained well
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Sauté onions and bell pepper in ½ cup margarine, add cream cheese cubes to pan, along with milk; cook and stir until cream cheese is melted. Stir in shrimp and Parmesan cheese and cook until shrimp are pink and done. Cook and drain macaroni, toss with 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, add to cream cheese/shrimp mixture and stir together. Serve hot, along with salad and hot rolls or bread.
Now, to get ahead of the game, here are some desserts, if you would like to try something you haven’t made in a while for your Easter dinner, or make it now, if you didn’t give desserts up for Lent
Lemon Meringue Pie
(1 baked 9-inch pie shell)
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups water
3 eggs separated
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
¼ cup lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)
1 teaspoon lemon extract
6 tablespoons sugar
Combine sugar, salt, flour and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir in water with a wire whisk and cook over moderate heat until mixture becomes thick and clear, stirring frequently. Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl; add a little of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks. Stir yolks into the hot mixture, and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly. (If you want this filling to be a prettier yellow color, add a few drops of yellow food coloring). Remove from heat and blend in butter, lemon juice, zest (if used), and extract. Pour into baked pastry shell. Cool slightly, and top with meringue made by beating egg whites with 6 tablespoons sugar until stiff enough to hold in peaks. Begin beating the egg whites and add sugar one tablespoon at a time until you have your stiff peaks. Brown in hot oven 425ºF about 5 minutes, cool thoroughly before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Wow! Didn’t the month of February fly by? Of course, it being three days shorter than most months, could have something to do with it, couldn’t? The weather can’t seem to make up its mind as to what season it is. Our mornings are cool enough for a sweater or light jacket and by noon, you’re shedding layers. The morning fog is sometimes stupendous, when you get up in the morning and can’t see your car, that is parked less than fifty feet from the house, you have a fog! It is not an unusual occurrence for me to be unable to see my brother’s house (across a hay field) in a fog, but usually I can at least see an outline, but not some recent mornings. With another three weeks (officially) of winter to go, we still have the chance of colder, damp, messy weather. The first day of spring is not until the 21st of March, and I have seen it freeze well into March. It doesn’t matter that trees are leafing out. It has been in the 60s each morning for several days and my elm and Arizona ash trees are beginning to sprout leaves already and I noticed, on the way home from church this morning that the blue bonnets were thick in several places. It amazed me that San Antonio made it completely through Stock Show time without rain or freezing weather, this is very unusual. I’ll believe spring is here when I see the first Scissortail Fly Catcher. That is what Mr. Alfred Brieden told me was the real harbinger of spring, not pecan trees or mesquite trees leafing out!
When is the last time, or have you ever baked a cake from ‘scratch’? When I was growing up, cake mixes didn’t exist. All cakes were baked from ‘scratch’, meaning that you got out a mixing bowl, a big spoon to mix the cake batter with and your ingredients. Until after the years following WWII, many homes did not yet have a mixer, and everything that needed mixing was done with a spoon! Times have changed, haven’t they, and aren’t we glad they have? The first cake mixes came out in 1947, after the war years, and bearing the Betty Crocker label.
A cake from scratch is not hard to make. It just takes a little longer than a box mix. My two favorite recipes for yellow cake (which means you used whole eggs to make it, rather than just the whites of the eggs), were from my mid-1950s Betty Crocker Cookbook. These were two cakes that Mother had also used frequently. This cookbook gave two methods of mixing, the older, “cream together…” type and the newer, “mix together…” type. Both made wonderful cakes. Each page also has several variations of each cake, using the main, or “key” recipe and then adding nuts or fruit to the batter. Both of the following recipes are from this Betty Crocker Cookbook. I have used this one many, many times for birthday cakes and they never last long, it is truly my go-to recipe if I am baking a cake from scratch!
Light Golden Cake
2¼ cups, sifted Softasilk® cake flour
1½ cups granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1½ teaspoons flavoring
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch round or square cake pans or a 9X13 pan; set aside. Sift the dry ingredients together, stir the flavoring (usually vanilla extract) into the milk, add the shortening to the dry ingredients, along with a little over half of the milk/vanilla mixture; beat 2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and the 2 eggs. Beat 2 minutes longer. Pour into prepared pans; bake until cake tests done. Frost as desired.
Here is my favorite recipe for enchiladas during the Lenten season. They are cheese enchiladas from a recipe my Mother used to make for a main dish at supper time for a meatless Lenten meal.
Cheese Enchiladas
SAUCE:
2 tablespoons butter, margarine or cooking oil
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 or 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons Gebhart chili powder
1 can (16-oz size) tomato sauce
½ cup water
1 small can diced green chilies
Cook onion, green pepper and garlic in butter until soft. Add flour, salt and chili powder; stir until smooth. Add tomato sauce or tomatoes, breaking tomatoes up with spoon or fork (can use the ‘recipe ready’ type if desired), green chilies and water. Cook until thick and smooth.
1 pound shredded cheese (can use American, cheddar, or the pre-shredded type that is seasoned for tacos)
1 medium onion, chopped
10 to 12 corn tortillas
TO MAKE ENCHILADAS:
Dip tortillas into sauce to soften or soften by heating ¼ cup oil in heavy skillet and dipping them briefly into the hot oil, or soften by heating a short time in the microwave.
Spray a rectangular pan with non-stick spray and spread a small amount of the sauce in the pan, just to coat the bottom. Spoon a small amount of sauce onto a tortilla, add some cheese and onion and roll up. Place each enchilada, seam side down onto sauce in baking pan, as you finish rolling it. Repeat until all tortillas are used. Top with remaining sauce and additional cheese. Bake at 350ºF about 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through.