January 30, 2014 The Pope's Red Shoes and Snow Cream

It is the dead of winter.  There is ice and mud on the Cottonwood Trail.  The wetlands are iced with fallen trees and the dead branches and shoots of water plants.  The reptiles are hibernating, but a few birds twitter and tweep their swooping up and down flights across the water.  I am here alone and suddenly the gigantic Great Blue Heron squawks and lifts up just beside me into the sky that is so blue it looks like a Greek postcard.

There is still snow on the ground from the Arctic  blast that came Tuesday afternoon and stopped traffic on I-75, I-85 and I-285 around Atlanta. Children were stranded on buses and many slept overnight in their schools. People left their cars on the highways and walked to stores or churches to shelter. A baby was born on I-285. Eleanor picked up Mathew early. Martin walked home and Ryan's Marta train broke down, the doors refused to open, but soon another train brought them home.

Here we had 2.6 inches also.  I wore my new soft red suede shoes, a size too big to work because of my broken toe, looking just a little like the previous Pope's red slippers.

Here is an old recipe for Snow Cream.

1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 (5.33 oz) can of evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
SNOW

Mix milks and vanilla. Gradually beat in snow until ice cream is of desired consistency.. Serves 5.

from Southern Sideboards of the Jr. League of Jackson, Mississippi, 1978

January 20, 2014 Battle of Blackstock Plantation "The Broken Toe, Sub Zero Blues"

It has been the coldest January I can remember and on Christmas, I broke  my toe and kept walking. On this Martin Luther King day I take Hwy 56 past the SC School for the Deaf and Blind on the left and Boofa's Vet on the right.  It is 13 miles to the intersection of 56 and Hwy 49 at Cross Anchor.  Here there is a Lil' Cricket gas station where I asked Justun Richardson, who was sitting in his truck, how to get to the Blackstock Battleground.  It turns out that Justun is a history buff and not only gives me directions to the Battleground but tells me more of the history of Hwy 49 between Cross Anchor and Union.  There was an old hotel just down the road called the West Springs Hotel to which people traveled from far and wide to drink the water from the sulphur springs there. Justun tells me that he has gone there himself and lifted the cover to drink the water. There was another Plantation at Cross Keys and another battle at the Tyger River at Fish Dam Ford.  He says there was a band of Native Americans who lived here at one time who were made up of peoples from diverse tribes and once his grandmother found a stone bowl in a stream that was made long ago by the early peoples.

I drive up the road toward Union about 3 miles and find the marker for the battlefield on the left and turn there.  I am on Battleground Road and soon I must turn on Monument Road.  I find myself in a group of farms all with the name, "Lawson" on the mailboxes.  I cannot find the battleground today. Wherever it is, there are supposed to be trails and camp sites there.

This road is also the road to a trail head for the Palmetto Trail, but I can't find that either.

William Blackstock had at least 150 acres along this road on the banks of the Tyger River, probably extending along 49 to the little village of Blackstock in York County.  In 1780, the Revolution came to his plantation.  Sumter was defeated in June at Fishing Creek on the Catawba River by General Tarleton. Sumter repelled them at Fish Dam Ford and then on November 20, 1780 again Tarleton returned to do battle with Sumter at Blackstock Plantation.  Although Sumter was wounded and carried off the field in a sling, Tarleton withdrew with about 50 of his soldiers killed and only 3 of the patriots.

The name, Blackstock, is of Anglo Saxon origin and probably means blackened burned tree trunks. The family of Blackstock came from northern England or Scotland.  Tyger, the name of the river, may refer to the mountain lions that roamed the South Carolina Upstate in great numbers in the 1700's or some say it might have been related to the name of a French trader in the area. I personally like the mountain lion legend.

Today there was a break in the very cold weather, but another polar blast is coming tomorrow for the rest of the week.  I drove home past old houses situated in pecan orchards, the trees naked, graceful and bare.

Lucille's Pecan Pie

1 uncooked pie shell
1/2 stick butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 Tblsps milk
1 1/2 Tblsp plain flouur
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans (break up)

Bake at 350' for 30 minutes. If making 2 pies, bake at 325' for 50 to 55 minutes.

Sunday, January 12, 2014 Table Rock State Park, Carrick Creek

Today there is sunshine so I pack up Boofa, water, Nekot cookies and an extra pair of shoes and socks and head for the mountains.

To get to Table Rock, go West towards Asheville on I-26 and turn towards Campobello on Hwy 11 at exit 5. I go past Skunk Hollow on the right and then past "The Junction", a local much frequented "all you can eat" restaurant on the left.   Between Campobello and Gowansville, there are peach orchards with their deep red bare branches reaching heavenward.

The shining rock face of Glassy Mountain fronts the escarpment next.  There is an elite neighborhood on the top with a golf course. Legend tells it that two generations ago, teenagers drove up Glassy Mountain to park
close up under the moon.

There is a Gary Player golf course at the base of the mountains after a few miles.
From I-26 you are driving on Hwy 11, the Cherokee Foothills Trail.  From this highway you travel the land at the base of the mountains so beautiful in its natural bounty without all of the junk of civilization.
There is now and then a tourist attraction such as the pumpkin colored "Pumpkintown Mtn Cafe" open today with pumpkin spiced lattes, sandwiches and salads.

On the right is a pulloff and sign for Wildcat Wilderness Area and a cascading waterfall.  Apple cheeked bearded men are setting up a tent stand for "Boiled P-nuts" in the pulloff.

Now passing the side roads of Heaven Hill, Back Pack, Hiawatha, and Red Bird Hill, leaving Spartanburg County, then Greenville County and finally Pickens county with Aunt Sue's Ice Cream and Cafe on the right.

Directions from the SC Parks and Recreation will tell you that Table Rock is a 45 minute drive from I-26 and will be on your left at Ellison Rd.  I realize that the mountain is on the right, but it turns out that the Headquarters Building is on the left beside a mountain lake. They are closed on Sunday. The park is up a very snaking winding road to the right.

The Lodge built in 1938 is on the left.  There is a Mountain Bluegrass Jam monthly on the 2nd Saturday there from 2 to 6.

Now there is parking above a lake for swimming (it has a diving platform) and boating. There is another fishing lake.  To hike on one of the trails, go to the Nature Center and Restrooms.  There are the following trails:
Carrick Creek, 1.9 miles, Mill Creek Pass .7 miles, Pinnacle Mtn 4.1 miles and Table Rock NRT 3.6 miles.
The Foothills Trail goes 76 miles to Oconee State Park and 96 miles to Sassafras Mountain.

I decide, it turns out unwisely, to take the Carrick Creek trail as the booming, crashing creek passes there in all it's glory  over great gray boulders at the Nature Center.  This deep, powerful rushing water is coming from the heavy rains and snow during the last weeks higher up in the mountains.

Soon I meet people returning from that direction who tell me that the trail is almost impassible, but I go on to see what they are talking about and find that the creek is splashing deeply over its rocks which must usually be a dry crossing. Nearby, a father is patiently waiting for his 8 year old son to walk back over a fallen log from the other side.  "We are going back", he says.

 I decide to cross the creek.  Boofa does not think it is a good idea, but comes along and we get wet.  The trail continues down the far side of the creek until I come to another place where it again crosses the water to continue the Foothills Trail and here it is very deep. I think my trail may come up again on this side  so I  go off trail up the side of the mountain to see if I can regain the trail from up there.   This is not a good idea.  We are slipping and sliding on the wet leaves, tangling in the twisting arms of the rhododendron and mountain laurel until I fall and Boofa gets tangled in the branches and we descend the slippery mountain back to the stream.  This crossing, we get even wetter.  It actually feels pretty good to cool the feet, but only momentarily.  Soon we are sloshing back to the parking lot.

Fortunately I brought the socks and shoes and put them on for the drive home.

I should have taken the Table Rock Trail and I will do that next time.  Still it was a beautiful day.

On the way out, I check out cabins 15 and 16 just below the rock face of the mountain.  They have adirondack chairs around fire pits on patios.  A lovely place to sit out on a chilly night and watch the stars over the mountains.

Saturday, January 11, 2014 Thunder

At 5:00 am there is rumbling, rolling thunder and lightening illuminating the room.

I find a break in the downpour and walk briskly in the heavy fog before Tornado warnings and more rain comes in.

There are huge orange puddles, colored with the iron leached from the soil.  The Lawson's Fork Creek has overflowed far into the forest and is rushing in torrents over the spillway.

The early forsythia has been blooming since Christmas and I have found today that there are the first shoots of daffodils reaching from the ground beside my kitchen door.

"Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire,
I'd side with those who favor fire,
But from what I've known of hate
I'd say that ice is nice
And will suffice"

Robert Frost

Sunday January 5, 2014 Frozen

A cold white day, only one other walker with his dog and the dog is wearing a saddle blanket.  Near the grocery store, a moldering cat is lying frozen in the street.  I find a mud and straw bird nest on the path next to a fly green empty bottle of Jagermeister. Soon, there is an empty bottle of "99 Bananas" and then two cobalt blue SKYY vodka bottles lying in the grass.  There is some torn red and green Christmas wrapping lodged in the branches of a tree, green ribbon blowing in the wind.

The polar vortex blizzard has hit Philadelphia, Boston and New York. Monday night and morning, it will be 8 degrees here.  I am dreaming of sitting on a balcony overlooking the golden marsh with the golden full moon above.

Driving home, I pass the closed Peach and Produce stand, empty now, but then, beside the road, I spot a regal wild turkey, no, a flock of wild turkeys, all large and elegant.  I can see them among the trees quite clearly as the leaves and the undergrowth is gone now.  There are many, perhaps 16 to 20.  Surely, they have been living here but camouflaged in another season, invisible to me.

In the cold, last week, Zack, Shane and James were confined to the house and playing with light sabers, making treasure maps.  Together they jumped up and down saying, "I love this day, I love this day. It is the bestest day!" And so it is.

January 1, 2014 A Cold Walk

Early this new day of the new year, it is cold with a pale blue and white striated sky.  In the upper Mid West, there is a blizzard.  Only a few walkers, an occasional jogger trying to run off the turkey, the dressing, the pumpkin pie, the mashed potatoes, the gravy, the cranberry sauce.  At my house there were a dozen cardinals pecking at the ground, a chortle of a lone bird nearby. I put birdseed in a squeezed orange half for the feathered neighbors.  In my yard I have a deer made out of logs with a cardinal perched in his branch antlers. Inside it is warm with a Christmas tree and leftover wrapping papers.

Today is the day for blackeyed peas and collard greens.

Here is an old recipe for "Hoppin John":

Wipporwill peas or Red Rippers or Blackeyed peas
rice
ham hock

Cook dried peas with ham hock or fat back until done. (Actually you should put the peas on the stove to a boil in several inches of water the night before to soak)
Cook rice separately but not too thoroughly done.
Put rice into peas and steam all liquid into rice.

"Tastes good for a meal with green apple pie"

From Granny's Old Time and Modern Cookbook.

In all of my collection of  old cookbooks, there is no recipe for collards.

Here is how to do it.

Get a big fresh green bunch of collards. Cut out the stems.  Roll the leaves into a bundle and cut round slices.
Then cut again through the slices.  Heat fat back or bacon in the skillet.  Saute the collards in the fat.
Add salt and pepper to taste.  (Garlic is good too).  Add some water and heat. Cover and cook for as long as you like.  Enjoy with the Hoppin John.

Happy New Year