Columns

Five Ways To Help Our Hurting Adult Children

My friend’s son just retired from the military-he had hoped to be promoted one more level, but had been turned down twice. He knew it was time to leave. Jim has a wife and several beautiful kids. He has a lot of people counting on him financially.

Make It Your Own

Some of you may remember me talking about my favorite basic recipes that have resisted changes or additions. It seems no matter what I did to “Bonnie McCullough’s Chicken Enchiladas” or my own Mom’s “Hamburger Hash” the basic recipe always seemed better. However, in today’s NYT Cooking Section Editor Sam Sifton asked the rhetorical question, “How Do You Make A Recipe Your Own?”

Sam’s article was about his attempts to make Tajin Chicken (What?!) Yeah, … I know – but his point was that every time you make the dish and change one little thing like a dash of cayenne, or some chives you are making the recipe your own. I thought Tajin Chicken would be from India but turns out to be a chili-lime seasoning powder from Jalisco, Mexico and, now, I’m gonna have to find some to try!

Mary Lilline Ricks was just 16 years old when she graduated from Mansfield high School and enrolled as a Junior in Mansfield Female College (MFC). She was thrilled to be a student at the first female college built west of the Mississippi River and it was in her own home town of Mansfield, La. Her parents were pleased, too, that she wanted to attend MFC because they really couldn’t afford for her to attend a college in another town. “I was too young to leave them,” she said as she began her sentimental journey back to the days of her youth. “And, anyway, they couldn’t afford to send me anywhere else.”

Are you looking for reliable, easy-care color for the landscape this summer? Look for new and improved petunias that tolerate the heat. Petunias of the past couldn’t handle the heat, but newer varieties have improved tolerance.

The LSU AgCenter Louisiana Super Plants program has promoted two such improved varieties. First is the Supertunia Vista Bubblegum petunia. This is one of the bestperforming petunias in the landscape. In trials at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station, Supertunia Vista Bubblegum was a top performer. The flowers are bright pink and prolific.

The other day I had a conversation about the food for the winter of this area about 150 years ago that stirred my “Historical Senses”. During and shortly after the Civil War hard times for everyone, especially rural and small towns of North Louisiana. The population was largely Anglo-Celtic or African in origin with some Spanish-French along the eastern edge of DeSoto Parish and to Natchitoches. Southward. Corn and pork were the main crops but there were three times more hogs than beef cattle. Irish potatoes and some sugar cane for making syrup. Cotton was by far the major money crop.

Wow! What have y’all been doing since we have had such nice temps all week?! I don’t know about y’all, but I love it. It puts you in a good mood and you can be outdoors and not get hot!

I want to talk about Community Support here in DeSoto parish. We have great support from our community, and that works in both directions. We also support our community. Last week was EMS week. Our

Administrator, Mr. Jacoby Beene, cooked hamburgers and all the trimmings for DeSoto EMS in celebration of the great work this group of people do on a daily basis. They see some very ill and critical people and I’m sure sometimes its gets stressful. Hats off to you DeSoto EMS!

A request has been made that a concise short history of Louisiana and DeSoto Parish be made for reference when needed. A prominent Mansfield person wanted to be sure his grandchildren knew this information. The Louisiana Territory was a large area with New Orleans as a valuable port near the mouth of the Mississippi River. President Thomas Jefferson realized the need for the U.S. to own and control it for its western growth. He sent a representative to France to buy the N.O. area but Napoleon needed money badly to finance the wars the he was waging. He offered the entire La. Territory, which composes about one third of the present U.S. for $15 million. Also the U.S. paid $5 million to U.S. citizens who held claims against France bringing the total to $20 million.

Even though the official first day of Summer isn’t until June 21, it already feels like Summer has arrived here in DeSoto Parish. We have already experienced 90-degree temps and very little rainfall. On a positive note, there has been some 1st cutting hay being harvested for those producers who had adequate winter forages planted. Hopefully, we will receive some much-needed rainfall soon to keep the hay fields growing.

The Catbird Seat

In one of my favorite & funniest movies, the Cohen Brother’s 1987 film “Raising Arizona”, actor John Goodman says, “Relax, little brother we’re sitting in the fabled Catbird Seat.” Webster’s Dictionary says that a Catbird Seat is an enviable position, having the upper hand or a greater advantage. The name comes from the North American Catbird that is a cousin to our Mockingbird. The Catbirds make a mocking song that sounds like a softly mewing cat.

I brought this up because for four years now when I would approach the north side entrance to the Female College Museum I would always look up to the top of the giant old bull pine on the northeast corner of the grounds. This old giant must be at least 250 years old because it was pretty big even back in some of the 1920’s pictures around the College campus.

Today’s article probably should be headlines “Did You Ever Wonder?” Probably most of us from a time to time have wondered about certain things and we just couldn’t seem to find the answer or reason. Natchitoches, the oldest town in the Louisiana Purchase by three years, boasts of Cane River. Was it once the Red River and did it actually flow through the middle of town or is that just a lake? The Red River did once flow through town until the Spring of 1837 when a flood caused the river to cut a new course at Grand Encore leaving Natchitoches with only an old “Chute” or remnant of the river’s channel. St. Denis founded the town three years before New Orleans was formed and continued to live there until he died July 11, 1744. His niece along with a large group came up to Bayou Pierre and made the first settlement in what is now DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.