Columns

History is in many forms and today’s article takes on a whimsical form yet is about one of our true icons of the mid 1900’s — Burma Shave. They introduced in 1925 a different and unique method to advertise their products. Originally a liniment and aftershave made from “Ingredients from the Malay Peninsula and Burma”. It grew into the top shaving creams through a series of road side signs that entertained the children and adults all over America.

Stuffed Onion

Bombs

Doesn’t the name of this recipe just scream out at you?! It did to me especially when I learned they were wrapped with bacon. One reading and I knew I had my next column. Thanks to Charlotte Huff Miller for posting this to me on Facebook and thanks for all the positive comments by others attesting to how good they were gonna be.

Her recipe from “Best Bites” asks you to combine 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1/3 cup of chopped onions, 1/2 tsp. of chopped garlic,? cup BBQ Sauce, a tsp. of salt & pepper and 2 lbs. of ground beef in a large bowl.

Mans field of old would not be recognizable today. The transportation was by horseback, buggy or wagon and people did not travel to Shreveport or other distant places unless it was absolutely necessary. Logansport, 22 miles in distance, was a two-day affair. Many of the people would get up and leave by wagon to pay their taxes in Mansfield, which was the Parish Seat and ladies would shop for dress material, lace, etc. After shopping they would return to a campground just west of Attwood’s on the left side of U.S. 84. Reading one account of the family camping told of Dr. Stribling (built the Milton Baker house now the home of Sue Baker) stopping by for coffee. The campers would cook breakfast and be on the way back to Logansport by six o’clock.

The old saying “Everything Has A Reason” which is true with a lot of the towns, rivers, bayous, etc. Most of our places in our parish are named from early settlers, Indian folklore and legend. DeSoto Parish many believed to have been named for Hernando DeSoto the Spanish explorer actually was named for Joseph Marcel DeSoto of Bayou Pierre.

Holiday ‘Reefs’

Now that the holidays have passed I am doing what many are doing — putting up the decorations for next year. My Mother always said that it was unlucky to leave them up past New Years’ Day and I use that impetus to get myself started on the packing up. Surprisingly it’s not as bittersweet as it should be because I don’t put up as many things as I used to … No outside house lights, no big decorated trees or Christmas villages and Manger scenes.

Waiting is one of the hardest things to do. We’re good at busy. We can plan, prepare, and press forward with determination — but when God asks us to wait, it stretches something inside us, and stops us in our tracks. We don’ t know how to do that very well.

Maybe it’s waiting for healing, an answer to prayer, or a new direction when life feels uncertain. Waiting can make us restless because it feels like nothing is happening. But more often than not, something is happening — it’s just happening underneath, where we can’t see it yet.

Nature understands this truth far better than we do. After the harvest, the fields rest. Trees pull their energy inward. Seeds lie buried beneath the soil, quiet but full of promise. From the outside, it all looks dormant. Yet inside that stillness, life is quietly gathering strength for what’s to come.

For some time it has been my desire to write an article on the outstanding athletes of the city of Mansfield and of DeSoto Parish. With the encouragement (and request!) of the Mansfield In Motion Committee presently under way the following article is attempted.

Start Where You Stand A new year always stirs up good intentions. We dream of change — getting organized, simplifying our homes, tending a garden, maybe even slowing down enough to truly enjoy the life we already have. But sometimes, those dreams feel so big that we never quite start.

The truth is, you don’t have to do everything at once. You just have to start where you stand.

Maybe your kitchen is cluttered, your schedule packed, or your garden is still a dream scribbled on a notepad. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with it all. Instead, it helps to start with one small thing. Clear one drawer. Say no to one unnecessary commitment. Buy one packet of seeds.

It’s easy to look around and think we’re behind, but real change never happens overnight. It begins with a small shift in thinking — a choice to move forward even if it’s one step at a time.

Epiphany Feast

Or Three Kings Day is normally around two weeks after Christmas Day. In England and Europe it is also called Twelfth Night and commemorates the day when most scholars agree that the Magi or Three Kings (of Orient “Or”) visited the Christ Child. I first became aware of this mainly Catholic Holiday when I lived in the New Orleans area. I’d been curious of my eccentric neighbor’s Christmas lights still being up and was informed by old Mr. Jimmy that lived behind me that he was probably leaving them up until Epiphany weekend. Hmmm, sounded very “convenient”, but being the new guy I decided to withhold judgment.

Sure enough Epiphany weekendcameandwentand my weird neighbor’s lights were still up. Now, I didn’t want to be a smart aleck (but I kinda am) and when I saw Mr. Jimmy picking up in his yard I worked my way over to ask about the lights. He shrugged and smiled and offered that maybe he was gonna wait until … Easter. What?!

Christmas Loot!

Remember when you were a kid at Christmas and how excited you were about Santa coming or wondering what kinda presents you had waiting under the tree? Well, that’s sorta how I felt last weekend but I first want to report in on the Baked Chicken Tenders and Catfish recipes we talked about last week.

Brenda Hall and Trever Montgomery both told me they were gonna try these because they sounded so good and healthy because they weren’t fried. I found on the Baked Tenders that they needed to be cooked in a hotter oven (on broil @ 500) and a little longer (10 to 12 minutes). And after trying the catfish I thought that dusting them with just plain cornmeal adding only salt and pepper didn’t get them spicy enough. The one fillet that I had sprinkled with some Crystal Hot Sauce before dusting tasted the best.