Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL Aunt Ozelle's It’s a sure thing that when family gath ers at my house for Thanksgiving dinner, there will certainly be a hot, gooey dish of homemade macaroni and cheese on the table. It is my Thanksgiving spe cialty, leading my brother-in law to nickname it “Ronda’s macaroni and cheese,” though it really isn’t mine because I secured the reci pe long ago from my Aunt Ozelle, one of the family’s best cooks. In the past few years, I have made it on tele vised cooking shows, given it to magazines that asked for my favorite recipe and posted it to my web site where it won rave reviews from those who tried it. In short, I have shared its glorious glory across this nation. Many years ago, when Aunt Ozelle gave me her rec ipe for what we call Glorious Macaroni and Cheese, she was specific about one ingre dient. “It calls for one cup of Gentlemen - don’t clean up too much I woke up one recent Saturday morning ready to clean. That’s about as common as me waking up ready to dance. Most Saturday mornings, I wake up ready for more sleep. But for some reason I .still can’t fathom I wanted Len Robbins Columnist airpub@planttel.net to clean up that particular morning. My wife and fam ily were out of town. For the first time in seemingly forev er, I had the house to myself. History shows my M.O. on such occasions is that I five like a complete slob until 22 minutes before my wife is scheduled to be home. Then I feverishly straighten up the massive mess I’ve made, fin ishing in a fury and jumping on the couch as she walks in. But Saturday, my mood was different. I vacuumed. I washed clothes. I painted the trim around the windows that I was supposed to have com pleted in 1999.1 washed win dows. I scrubbed toilets. I did some electrical work. I was a man possessed - although at one point, while wash ing dishes, I was wearing an apron, which places my man hood in serious doubt. I cleaned and straightened and organized and rear ranged from sun-up until sundown, only electrocuting myself twice. The next morning, I awoke LETTER 1 From page 6A Mayans had their own meth ods; they would offer human sacrifices. For thousand of years primitive people sacri ficed and prayed to their rain gods for rain. More recent ly, when I was a young lad, hanging a dead snake on a fence was sure to make it rain; at least that’s what I was told. All of these actions had the same effect: none. Rain is caused by special weather conditions that when working in proper concert cause rain. If prayer could change the weather, we would not have droughts, floods, hurricanes, -fK® PROFESSIONAL W 59 AUTO REPAIR, BILL BREWER, JR. * • Engine Diagnostic & Repair • Time Belts, Tune Ups & Heating Repair • Charging & Starting Diagnostic Repair •Japanese Import Specialist ASE MASTER MECHANIC 300 Smith Drive (478) 988—8686 p -S ;' W m ay o n naise,”she pointed out then added, “I always use Duke’s.” She shrugged in her casual way Ronda Rich Dixie Divas where she tosses her hands up and purses her lips tightly together. Since Aunt Ozelle is wedded only to the law and gospel of the scriptures and little else, I paid no attention to that directive. After all, she didn’t act like it was a very important detail. She gave me every reason to believe that any ol’ mayo would do. So I bought expensive may onnaise because I wanted to make the best possible dish. Although Glorious Macaroni and Cheese, with a pound of sharp cheese, sauteed onions and pimentos and cream of mushroom soup - the übiqui tous ingredient of Southern cooking - claimed whatev to the horror of what I had done. It was then that I real ized that in my cleaning fer vor, I had forgotten one of the many life lessons taught to me by “The Andy Griffith Show” - you can clean too much. In one episode, Aunt Bee goes out of town and right before she comes home, Andy and Opie have the house spotless. But then Andy real izes that if everything is per fect, Aunt Bee will be disap pointed, because she wants to feel needed and believes that Andy and Opie can’t do without her. So, moments before she walks in, they have to mess up what they’ve cleaned up. And while I don’t think my wife would be upset if the house was spotless, I don’t want to set a danger ous precedent - her expect ing this every time she leaves for a couple of hours. So I went to dirtying. It wasn’t hard. In fact, it was a lot of fun. I made some popcorn, stuffing as much as I could in my mouth - letting whatever I couldn’t fit in my mouth fall on the floor as I walked around the house in boots that I had just traipsed through a mud puddle with. I read three Sunday newspa pers and left parts of them strewn throughout the house. I found a wet, smelly dog on the street and wrestled with him on the living room rug. I didn’t go back and unwash the windows or scrape off the paint. No, you have to find a happy medium - clean up just enough to show an effort, but not so much that there is no room for improvement. tornadoes, etc. All our crops would be bumper crops, and all would be well in the world. Now, if the governor would pick a spot around here, let’s say the Houston Home Journal office in Perry, and a time window of, let’s say, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Sunday and have it rain at least one inch on that property within that window; he could then join forces with Pat Robinson who can change the path of a hurricane with a prayer; or so he said years ago. They could both get richer by controlling the weather as their hearts see fit; for a price’ of course. Walter Huckeba, Perry glorious macaroni, cheese Glorious Macaroni and Cheese 1 8 oz. box of Elbow Macaroni 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup 1 cup Duke’s Mayonnaise 1/4 cup diced pimentos 1/4 cup onions diced 1 pound cheese grated Cook macaroni. Saute pimentos and onions light in three tablespoons of margarine. Add all ingre dients and mix together in large bowl. Salt to taste. Pour into greased casse role dish. Bake for 25 min utes on 350 degrees. Courtesy of Ronda Rich and Aunt Ozelle er fame it has through me, mine has never tasted nearly as good as Aunt Ozelle’s. Sometimes - though not always - when folks bragged on my dish, I would say, “If you think mine’s good, Gentlemen, rememberyour lessons from Andy - before Peebles Take an Extra 10 0/ ° Off Everything Regular Price and Sale! 110 1 56183 OPINION you oughta taste my Aunt Ozelle’s.” I couldn’t figure out the difference then last year as I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner and setting out the ingredients, it hit me like a bolt of lightning. “Duke’s mayonnaise!” I exclaimed to myself. “That’s it!” I rushed to the grocery store only to find that they had put Duke’s mayonnaise on sale and sold out of it. I was soon to discover that the brand has a cult following in the South. Somehow, I had missed out on that. To another store I went, bought the last jar on the shelf and went home to make it with the mayonnaise devel oped by Mrs. Eugenia Duke of Greenville, SC in 1917 then sold by her to the Sauer Company of Richmond, VA in 1929. Over the years, not one ingredient has been changed from Mrs. Duke’s original recipe and it is still made in a plant in Greenville. you do something foolish like clean up. Wednesday Only! —.Pre i ■ ■ Thanksgiving ia Savings Prices effective Wednesday, November 21 only! ‘Excludes cosmetics, fragrances, formaiwear rental, gift cards and previous purchases. Interim markdowns may have been laken. Selections vary. Closed Thursday, Thanksgiving Day Open Early Friday at 7am for Our After-Thanksgiving Sale! Plus, Get a $ lO Holiday Gift Card with any SSO purchase thru November 23. Valid on your next purchase November 24-26. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2007 ♦ Not to one soul did I men tion the change in mayon naise brands, really not thinking it would be much of a notice anyway. However, it caused quite a stirring around the table. Aunt Kathleen spoke first. “Oh my goodness! This Glorious macaroni and cheese is better than ever. It’s out of this world.” “This is wonderful,” Mary Nell commented. “Is some thing different?” “Ronda, this is the best you’ve ever made,” mama said. “This is delicious.” I set down the pitcher of sweet tea on the counter Michael Proscia Organbuilder fR .* '■ - * 168 Barr Ave. Bowdon, GA 30108 770-258-3388 I Prosciaorgans.comM Repairs & feßßlWnjifl Rebuilding « Reasonable 1 Rates pHS ' All Repairs Warranted and folded my arms. “I can’t believe you noticed. I changed mayonnaise. I used Duke’s like Aunt Ozelle does.” Now, Dukes’ is the brand I 1 of choice for all my cooking because a smart Southern woman figured out how to make mayonnaise with an undeniable kick. Thanks to Mrs. Duke, it’s going to be another delicious Thanksgiving at my house. Hmmm. I can taste it now. Ronda Rich is the best selling author of What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should) and The Town That Came A-Courtin’. 7A 155537