Roy's Workshop by frances robson

Good afternoon on a hot Friday afternoon. Ya'll come on in the house and have a glass of tea. At least it is not in the 90s today but it is so dry. We haven't had rain in several weeks and we are having to water our citrus trees a lot for some are loaded with fruit. I don't want a hurricane to come through but would like a good frog strangler or maybe it will pour cats and dogs. Where in the world did we get these terms from? It would be a mess if this really happened. Can't you just see dead frogs everywhere after the rain had strangled them or being overrun by cats and dogs? We have some interesting descriptions don't we?

A friend of mine who is taking classes for his masters degree called me last week with an interesting request. It seems he is taking a class in linguistics and needed to interview someone from South Alabama for the professor said we talk differently than other Southern states. Now I almost took exception to this for I don't think WE talk differently, just other folks but I agreed to talk for him. It's seldom that someone WANTS me to talk so off I went.

Todd had several questions prepared for me to answer and he wanted to record my answers. Well, I know I sound really countrified on tape which is why I avoid it even for a message on my phone. I just know I don't sound like that for it is kinda bad. To please Todd, for he is so cute, I said OK and he began to question me about Camden, AL, other places we had lived, my family and lots of other personal questions.

Being a Southern Lady, I had no problem talking about where I grew up and my family for we all do that rather well. He was a little surprised to find out that my family is from Mississippi and we have lived in Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama so my accent may not be a true "South Alabama" accent but it's close. I didn't absorb a lot from the other states but heck, it's not a dime's worth of difference in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia accents. North Carolina strays a bit over on the coast and especially the outer banks. Their accent is almost English but different. It is definitely different from lower Alabama.

It was kinda funny. As I answered the questions and got wound up and talking, I began to lapse right back into that soft, Alabama drawl that is like honeysuckle and wraps itself around the speaker and the listener - sweet and aromatic and binding. Once you hear a Southern accent you have to like it and if you don't, you have a problem.

Through the years I have changed a little bit for as I became "edjicated" and began to teach school, I tried to clean it up a little bit so people could understand what I was saying. When I went off to college in Montevallo, AL, many moons ago, they thought I sounded "funny" so I tried to clean it up a little but it didn't work. I have kept that Wilcox County drawl but when I try, I can speak little plainer but I really don't think dropping all my Rs and word endings is too bad. Sounds good to me. I just wonder what that professor is going to say when Tod plays that tape. I can hear him now saying how country and southern and that's alright for I am both.

How do you like my "Santa Claus" above? Roy loves to work with wood and refinish furniture and that little, white rocker was our mama's when she was a little girl. Someone put "new" rockers on it at some point but they are rockers taken from another rocker and were cut down to fit this one. It was probably Granddaddy Burt for if it almost fit, that was fine - just nail it on. He was not exactly precise at times with his building and repair. I sat in it and our children and grandchildren have rocked in it.

It has been down in the shop and I wanted it cleaned up for our great-grands and Roy does a much better job than I do. He was hoping to take it apart, strip it, re glue and paint. He found that he couldn't do that so he is stripping, tightening joints and repainting for us.

He is also painting a wooden bench that Grandaddy Burt built many, many years ago. While helping daddy add onto our house when I was a little girl, he built a carpenter's bench to use. When they completed the rooms daddy kept the bench and I brought it here to refinish and put in our sun room. It is rough, beaten up but I love it for Granddaddy made it and we used it for many years in the yard and on the carport at mama and daddy's. When I get it in the house, I will take a picture and share with you.

I fixed a good and quick dessert yesterday and thought ya'll might like it also. It is baked apples in the microwave and I don't have a recipe all written out with measurements for I didn't measure but I will do the best I can and being exact it not necessary. So, here it is and enjoy.

Microwaved, Baked Apples

1 apple for each person plus 1
brown sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg - freshly grated
lemon zest
fresh lemon juice
butter

I used a pie plate to cook these in and it worked well. Cut the apples in half, core out with a small spoon or find that a serrated grapefruit knife does a good job. Place the apples, cut side up, on the pie plate. Put about 1 tsp. of brown sugar in each half, sprinkle with cinnamon, grate nutmeg over each half and put on a small tsp. butter in each half. Grate lemon zest over the buttered apples, and squeeze lemon juice over all of the ingredients. 1/2 lemon will be enough for you just a little bit of the tartness is what you want not lemonade.

Cover with plastic wrap or I have a microwave cover which does a good job. Microwave on high for about 4 minutes and check to see if butter and brown sugar have melted and joined forces and the apples are tender but not too soft. You want a little crispness but not much.

To serve, place 2 halves in a bowl and top with whipped topping sprinkled with a little cinnamon or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on each half. Just use whatever you have or serve it alone. It is better when warm but refrigerate leftovers and reheat later.

I used the Splenda brown sugar for it has less calories but I did use real butter. Freshly grated nutmeg has become one of my favorite spices and the freshly grated is so much better.

Apples are coming in now and this would be a quick, easy and delicious way to cook and eat apples. Try it and let me know.

The picture below is the moon early this morning before it set for the day. It was so pretty, I just had to take a picture to share with you. God gives us such awesome beauty.

Got to go sweep and mop the kitchen for it is a lot dirty. You can eat most anything you want off the floor.

Ya'll have a good weekend and be careful going home.

Nuff Said,

The Georgia Peach

Morning Moon by frances robson