I do a little cooking for a family with three young kids. They are always on the go and they enjoy finger food – especially sweets – cookies and the like. Recently I saw a recipe called Apple Cups that looked interesting and I tried it. It was delicious, the kids loved it and it was amazingly easy to put together. You might consider a batch of Apple Cups for a picnic or event this summer. They … [Read more...]
The Furi Sharpener System
I cannot sharpen a knife. If I ever need a really sharp knife, I’ll go out buy a new one. New knives are sharp right out of the box, but I have never been able to put a keen edge on an old knife. Daddy could. About once a month, he’d get out an old whetstone with three sides and methodically sharpen every knife in the kitchen. More than once, I cut myself just opening the knife … [Read more...]
Citizen Burger Bar
I don’t like to go to Downtown Charlottesville. I’m always afraid that if I stand still, someone will think I’m a statue and throw a tarp on me. I also don’t like the fact that there are approximately 15,000 cars trying to squeeze in one of the 50 available parking places, meaning it costs you ten bucks to park in the garage. But. I enjoy seeing performances from the Charlottesville … [Read more...]
Covesville, USA
By Sherman Shifflett Covesville. It’s where I grew up. Covesville, Virginia (County of Albemarle) is located in a valley on Route 29, southwest of Charlottesville, near the Nelson County line. The area was originally settled by Scots-Irish immigrants from the Shenandoah Valley in the mid-1700s, though little of the early settlement remains. The road here was once the … [Read more...]
A Bluebird and A Flag
We were on hole 16 at the Spring Creek Golf Course when I stopped to admire a beautiful water garden in someone’s back yard. There was a series of pools cascading down the hill, bordered by rocks and adorned with flowers. There was a small American flag at the bottom. While I was observing, a male bluebird flew down and landed on the tip-top of the flag. What grace, I thought, and how amazing that … [Read more...]
A Beautiful Yellow Weed
We were somewhere near the Pulaski exit on I-81 when I saw a large cluster of brilliant yellow flowers along the side of the highway. They were magnificent, yet, like many beautiful things in nature, they were just weeds. They are common mullein, a species native to Europe, Africa and Asia, but introduced to America. You wouldn’t imagine such a beautiful bloom on such a strange plant, but the … [Read more...]
Summertime and the Catfish Are Biting
Catfish bite when it’s cold and when it’s hot. They are a very cooperative species, they’re good to eat and they ate hitting everything in sight right now at Lake Orange. Each year, the Game Department stocks this Department-owned lake with catchable size catfish – not fingerlings. The cats grow fat and sassy with all the shad and sunfish available and often reach sizes of 10 pounds or more. … [Read more...]
Learning to Cook
When I was a sophomore in high school, I enrolled as a day student at Greenbrier Military School in Lewisburg, WV, about a mile from our house. As a day student – a town boy I was called – I did not live at GMS and eat my meals there, but I did everything else – classes, drills, parades, etc. The corps of cadets assembled each morning at 7:30. It took me about ten minutes to walk to school – and I … [Read more...]
Grilled Yellow Squash
When squash comes in, it really comes in. Four yellow squash plants will produce enough to feed the Washington Redskins defensive line, with enough leftovers for the special teams. You pick two and by the time you get to the house, three have taken their place. It is a prodigious garden vegetable. Fortunately, I love yellow squash , which I think has a better flavor and is more versatile … [Read more...]
Queen Anne’s Lace
Since I noticed and identified what I believe to be a Butterfly Weed a few weeks back, I have been watching along the roadsides in my recent travels. There are some beautiful plants in nature, many of them considered weeds. One such plant is Queen Anne’s Lace. There seems to be a bountiful crop this year. Yesterday I saw a ten-acre field almost entirely covered with the delicate white … [Read more...]
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