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PAGE 2C
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017
The end to a great character
One of my favor
ite characters ever and
one that readers
have unfailing
ly enjoyed is my
friend. Poet, the
scion of a cot
ton family who
speaks in lyrical
tones and has
always been inter
estingly uncon
ventional.
For Poet, life
has never held
rules. Let me
clarify. He is hon
orable. kind, smart, and
filled with integrity so
he doesn't cheat or lie
and he takes pride in his
word.
But for years, I have
watched with fascination
as Poet colored outside
the lines and took his
cue from no one but him
self. Perhaps I even lived
vicariously through him.
He was brave about his
choices and obedient to
his restlessness.
He did what he wanted
when he wanted. Often
were the days that he'd
climb into his truck, take
off with a trail of farm
dust scattering behind
him and wind up wher
ever he took a notion. He
answered to no one. He
always made sure that he
owed nary a soul, though
he does like for others to
owe him either in money
or favors. Some of my
most enjoyable times
have been the adventures
with Poet for he’s always
game for anything and
he has a beautiful way
of expressing himself in
rich Southern language
so he’s terrifically enter
taining.
His observations are
wise and summed up in
wit.
One night out at dinner,
the conversation turned
to a Southern politician
whom I hold in admira
tion while Poet
teeters, skep
tically, on the
center line. We
debated and I
defended. We
were sitting in a
booth that didn't
have a partition
between us and
the adjoining
booths. The
group of four
dining behind us
got up to leave
and one of the men came
over and introduced him
self to Poet, reminding
him that they had met
previously.
He said, “I couldn’t
help but overhear your
discussion. You know
that I'm his nephew,
right?”
Cool as cucumber,
Poet drawled beautiful
ly. “Yes, indeed, I am
well aware of that. And
a fine man he is. We’re
all the better for him hav
ing served so honorably.
Please, relay my kindest
regards to him. And tell
him my contribution is in
the mail.”
As he walked away,
Poet’s eyes widened.
“Did I say anything that
would have sounded dis
paraging to such a fine
man and humble civil
servant?” I nearly went
under the table, laughing.
Another time, he
showed up at a confer
ence I was attending
that was being held in a
hotel/casino. He wanted
to play blackjack so I
followed him to the table
and watched in admira
tion as he coolly, assur
edly played the game.
I have no card sense. I
don’t understand cards so
I can’t play them though
he tried to explain. After
a while, he laid his hand
on the table and, with
nonchalant panache,
instructed the dealer.
“Color me out.”
“Color me out? What
does that mean?” I asked
as we left the casino.
“Just another way of
saying ‘deal me out.'”
See, Poet has a way with
words that makes him
memorable.
Because of his answer-
to-no-one style and pen
chant for living life on
his own terms, I have
considered him to be one
of the South's greatest
characters in modern
times and he has given
me lots of material.
And then, without a
word to anyone, he up and
married. Tink laughed as
he watched the conver
sation between Poet and
me for I was taken aback.
It felt like my favorite
character in my favor
ite book had been killed
off. He’d never have that
same devil-may-care atti
tude again.
“Be happy for him,”
Tink said.
“The Tarleton twins
have died,” I responded
glumly.
“Who?”
“Gone With The Wind.
Killed in battle. Charac
ters I loved.”
Tink rolled his eyes and
Poet laughed. I slumped
lower in my chair.
“Now. he's just like the
rest of us. He’s ordinary.
He used to be exciting.”
So, I’m in mourning.
The rambling, adventur
ous Poet has been col
ored out.
Ronda Rich is a
best-selling Southern
author. Visit www.rond-
arich.com to sign up for
her free weekly newslet
ter.
TAKING CARE OF YOUR PRIMARY ASSET
Know your limits
Well past your
40th birthday, you
have finally arrived
at the gym — thank
goodness!
You’ve been
meaning these past
few years to get
started and today
you have at last
“pulled the trigger.”
The initial goals
are to get in shape,
feel better and,
hopefully, look better.
Now, what is the best way to begin?
If you were an athlete in the past,
would the old training methods be the
way to go?
Maybe yes and maybe no. If you
were starting from scratch, the choices
are more open-ended.
It seems the mantra of the moment is
to push your limits, to “go for the gold,”
so to speak. But does that model fit your
needs?
In the beginning
Just as with any new venture, goals
need to be set. In the cardio arena, what
is your exercise of choice and how long
and/or how far are you planning?
In the strength training domain, which
discipline will you choose — weights,
boot camp, plyometrics. etc? If it ends
up being resistance training, how many
pounds do you envision handling two or
three years from now?
Making those decisions at the outset
is challenging and they most likely will
be modified as you progress through
the months ahead. Seeing (and feeling)
how your body reacts, gathering new
information through discussions, and
reading articles that draw your attention
will help you analyze your workouts
more effectively.
Reasonable expectations
Let's fast-forward a couple of years.
If you have stuck to your plan, your
physicality has taken quite a leap. You
indeed are in pretty good shape, feeling
better and looking better.
If you haven’t already done so. reeval
uation of your previous goals is now in
order.
Let’s first look at the cardio compo
nent of your training. Do you antici
pate increasing your efforts or staying
with the status quo? I cannot offer a
definitive answer to that question in a
sentence or two because each program
needs to be analyzed on its own merits.
There are a lot of moving parts. But. I
would want to add a cautionary note if
you are of the higher intensity persua
sion.
Cautionary tale
Research is beginning to surface that
very high levels of cardio done frequent
ly may not have the positive results
desired by us baby boomers. Check
out the YouTube video by Dr. James
O'Keefe titled “Cardiovascular Dam
age from Extreme Endurance Exercise.”
The focus of this presentation is that
someone over 40 committed to running
more than 20 miles a week, in the years
to come, may actually be causing dam
age to the heart.
Remember that recovery from intense
exercise takes longer as we age. Not
allowing a 40-plus-year-old body to
fully recuperate from a challenging
effort is a long-term recipe for potential
problems.
Ultimately, you need to do your own
research.
Weighing in
When it comes to strength training,
dedicated increases of iron lifted over
the years can allow us to reach levels
that are impressive to the average Jane
or Joe.
Multiple advantages ensue. One of
my clients recently sent me an arti
cle reporting that lifting weights can
“reduce the odds of death for any reason
by 46 percent over those who did not,”
a distinct plus.
Having started a weight lifting regi
men after the age of 50, over the course
of those initial three years, I developed a
very respectable level of strength.
As I progressed through that third
year, a realization began to surface.
Something in the back of my mind start
ed to step forward and say, “How much
do you really need to lift?”
See Almand on Page 3C
COOKING WITH JOYCE
Remembering my dad’s recipes
I collect a lot of cook
books and love local,
individual or church cook
books.
My two most recent
purchases were from two
women from Barrow
County.
Mrs. Caro
lyn Jackson's
cookbook, titled
“Nanny’s Sun
day Lunch &
More,” can be
purchased at
Anne’s Flow
er Shop and
Wendy Watson
Parks’ “A Life
time of Mem
ories One Dish
at a Time” can
be purchased
through Wanda Harris.
Both are worth purchas
ing.
If you have a church
cookbook for sale or a
personal cookbook locally
please contact me.
These are my favorite
ones and I would love to
add more to my collection
of about 200.
As I write this column I
have thoughts of my dad,
Johnnie Baker. My dad
would have been 87 today,
Feb. 22.1 lost my dad back
in 1998.
My dad was one of the
first people that introduced
me to cooking as a child.
One day a week I would
stay with my dad while my
mom worked and my older
brothers were in school.
Dad and I always had an
adventure in the kitchen.
He’d always tell me before
we started that if whatev
er we cooked was good,
we’d save it for the others
to try but if it wasn’t any
good we would throw it
away and not tell anybody
about it.
I loved my days spent
with my dad.
Needless to say I was a
daddy’s girl. He taught me
many things about life that
I’ve never forgot. He was
one of the hardest-work
ing men I ever knew. I
guess that’s where I got
my work ethics from.
In today’s column I'm
going to share a few of the
recipes that I remember
my dad making over the
years.
Salmon Patties
Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) can Salm
on
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
11/2 tsps. grated onion
3 tsps. sour cream
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Directions:
Drain Salmon. Remove
skin and any bones pres
ent. (This was always my
job.) Mash with a fork.
Add remaining ingredi
ents.
Divide into 8 patties.
(Flouring your hands
makes it easier.) Fry until
golden brown in hot oil.
Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
(my dad didn’t believe in
using all purpose
flour)
1 stick of butter
(about 1/2 cup)
1 cup granulat
ed sugar (my dad
would say white
sugar)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsps. vanil
la extract (had to
be Watkins brand)
1/2 cup milk (as
dad would say real
milk, no 2% stuff)
2 1/4 cups fresh blueber
ries (usually home grown,
too)
oil to grease muffin pans
(never use liners)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375
degrees. Grease each
muffin tin with oil. (Dad
usually used Crisco out of
a big can, as I remember.)
In a bowl beat the butter
and granulated sugar for
about 2 minutes. (Proba
bly better to use an electric
mixer but dad did it by
hand.)
Add the eggs one at a
time, scraping the sides of
the bowl and beating well
after each addition. Beat in
the vanilla extract. Batter
may look a little grainy but
that is OK.
Gradually, add the flour,
alternating with milk,
beating until combined.
Add the berries to the bat
ter and fold gently with a
fork until evenly distrib
uted.
Do not over mix and
as dad would say, “don’t
burst the berries you want
them to stay whole.”
Spoon the batter into the
prepared muffin tins; they
will be very full. Sprin
kle top with a little extra
sugar. Bake for about
30 minutes, until lightly
golden and knife inserted
comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool a
few minutes. Run a knife
around the edge of each
muffin to free it from the
pan if necessary. (Have a
big glass of milk ready to
enjoy,)
Fried Dried Peach Pies
Ingredients:
1 container of canned
biscuits (10 total)
flour for rolling biscuits
6 ounces dried peaches
(these were ones we dried
in the summer)
water
11/2 cups sugar
Crisco (for frying)
Directions:
Take the peaches and
put them in a saucepan
(boiler as dad would call
it) with enough water to
cover the peaches. Cook
the peaches until they are
soft. (They would be hard
and stiff to begin with.)
Remove from heat and
add sugar and mix thor
oughly.
Cook another 15 min
utes. Watch closely so that
they don’t stick to the bot
tom of the pan.
Stir occasionally so you
rotate the layer on the bot
tom. Remove from stove
and mash with a potato
masher. Set aside.
Add Crisco to a black
skillet. (Can use any kind
of skillet, dad always used
a black skillet for his.)
Take a rolling pin or a
glass if you don’t have a
rolling pin, sprinkle with
flour and roll biscuits out
thin.
Place a couple of spoons
full of the peaches in the
middle and fold top over
so that it meets the bottom
of the biscuit. Crimp edges
with a fork.
Continue with all the
biscuits and peach fil
ing. Cook in hot oil until
brown.
Place on paper towel to
drain.
Store in airtight contain
er. Good hot or cold.
Southern Cornbread
Ingredients:
1 large egg
11/3 cups of buttermilk
(don’t think about using
sweet milk as my dad
called regular milk)
1/4 cup oil (scoop of
Crisco is what dad always
used or left-over bacon
grease)
2 cups self-rising corn
meal
Directions:
Heat oven to 450
degrees.
Coat the inside of a
black skillet with Crisco
or bacon grease. Place in
the oven until hot about 5
to 10 minutes.
Beat eggs in a medium
bowl. Stir in milk, oil and
corn meal. (If you used
Crisco you had to melt it
in the oven first, there was
no such thing as a micro-
wave back then.)
Mix until smooth.
Batter should be creamy
and pourable.
If too thick add 1 or 2
tbsps. of milk. Pour into
prepared skillet. Cook
20 to 25 minutes or until
golden brown.
Joyce Jacks is a cook
ing columnist for the Bar-
row News-Journal. Send
comments to Georgia-
gir12424 @ yahoo, com.
/^^^xConsidering
M R buying or
19 0, / selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
joyce
jacks
Hg&fvSjd
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