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How do you pronounce this famous American condiment? It probably depends on where you’re from – kinda like the different pronunciations of ‘Pee-Can’, ‘Pa-Con’, or ‘Pee-cOn’ . AND we Louisianans love to make fun of Yankees saying ‘Cray-fish’ instead of ‘CRAW-Fish’ as God intended.

Anyway, February’s National Geographic had a big article on “How Ketchup Made Food Safer” by Deborah Blum. She belives that we don’t really know where the name came from but, perhaps, from a 6th century Asian sauce made from fermented fish and called “Ke-Tsiap” (Ga- Aaak!). She reports that our “Ketchup” first came on the market in the late 19th century but it was a thin sauce made from tomato scraps and thickened with anything from ground pumpkin rinds to apple pumace and dyed a deceptive red or put in colored glass containers to hide the appearance and condition of the contents.

As a person gets older history becomes more important in their life. Many people are most interested in a certain phase or time period of history while others like the accurate facts of history. Then there are others that have an interest in all phases of history. Today’s article will please those individuals who like snips of history in many categories. The following facts about DeSoto Parish cover the period from its beginning to the present.

I. Governor Alexander Mouton, father of Gen. Moulton of Battle of Mansfield fame, in 1843 created DeSoto Parish from Natchitoches Parish and Caddo Parish. Roughly the north half of DeSoto was from Caddo and the south half from Natchitoches.

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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.

While trying to decide what to cook for a Saturday dinner Susan and I agreed on Healthy, Simple, and Something we could cook together. While knocking several ideas around she asked me if I had any original recipes that I created that would fit the bill? After thinking a minute I remembered one I’d done back when I lived in Baton Rouge and suggested my Basil Lime Trout. She suggested a real Caesar Salad side and adding a Chardonnay we were on!

In considering local history our neighbor to the south is a must for us to consider. Sabine Parish has been a good neighbor to DeSoto since 1843 and the founding of the two parishes. Sabine was organized two months before DeSoto and it was taken solely from Natchitoches Parish whereas DeSoto took the southern half from Natchitoches and the north from Caddo Parish which was organized in 1838 from Natchitoches. There was some exchange of property with Sabine that straightened the southern boundary line of DeSoto.

If you stop and think about it treasure comes in many forms. I’ve told you about the two dreams I had about finding treasure and you may remember that after the first one I did find a child’s hidden treasure box of keepsakes – not a chest of gold or pieces of eight but surely a treasure to the little kid who buried it back in the day. In fact the old penny and nickels that were in the box were valuable to me because I collect coins and the Buffalo Nickel is my favorite of all!