Clay Pot Pilgrims

I look forward to November, when I can bring out my clay pot pilgrims again. Mother and I worked together about ten years ago to make these cute Thanksgiving figures. Every year, I display them on the mantel, along with other autumn decorations. The instructions for making them (see patterns above) are as follows:

Male pilgrim requires 5 clay pots. Female pilgrim requires 4 clay pots. Instructions are for 2-inch clay pots. larger pots may be used.

Supplies:

9 (2-inch) clay pots

Tacky glue or hot glue gun/glue sticks

White and black felt

Craft paint (black, white, flesh)

Black poster board

3/4 inch wooden beads, or same size styrofoam balls

Gold cord

Gold rickrack (optional)

Spanish moss

Clear acrylic sealer

2 artist brushes (one large for painting pots; one small for painting features)

Small basket with flowers (optional, for female)

Directions:

Paint pots (see diagrams above)

Step 1: Male #1 Solid black

#2 Rim black; rest of pot flesh

#3, #4, # 5 Solid black

Female #l Rim black, rest of pot flesh

#2, #3, #4 Solid black

Step 2: Glue pots together according to diagrams above, being sure to insert 4-inch black poster board circle between pots 1 and 2 for man's hat. (Note: we found pots adhered to each other better when we inserted black poster board, cut to pot size, between each pot layer. )

Step 3: Cut four 2 and 1/4 by 3 and 1/4 inch pieces of black poster board. Roll into cylinders, forming 1-inch circles. Glue seams together. After glue sets, flatten one end of each roll. With seam side underneath, glue cylinders at sides of each pilgrim for arms (felt may be used instead of poster board, especially for female if you use basket). Glue bead or styrofoam ball (painted flesh color) in ends of cylinders to form hands.

Step 4: Decorate pilgrims by painting facial features and gluing on collars, hat bands, belts, buckles, bows, aprons (note: we enlarged the apron pattern to make it a little longer), etc. Glue Spanish moss for beard on male, and hair on female. A small basket can be added to the female.

Step 5: Spray figures with acrylic sealer.

Green Tomato Crop

My husband and my mother (the green thumbs at our house) decided to try something different in the veggie garden this year. Mother read in one of her gardening books that the tops of tomato plants can be planted to make a late crop...instructions: lop off the top foot or so of healthy plants (ours had reached about five feet in height), remove the bottom leaves, plant them, and water them liberally.

Hubby and Mother feel they waited too long...late July...before trying this experiment. Mid-July would have been better, because August was blistering hot and dry in our state. Hubby watered the plants diligently, but they nearly perished anyway. Once the rain came, the plants perked up, but the fruit was small.

Because a killing frost is forecast for this week, Mother decided she should go ahead and pick the tomatoes green and fry them for lunch today. Fried green tomatoes are a delicacy here in the south, but we don't serve them very often at our house, since they don't conform to our diet plan. They sure were good, though, and here's Mother's recipe for them:

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

Quarter small tomatoes, or slice large ones. Sprinkle salt on the tomatoes and let set for 30 minutes. Coat tomatoes with a mixture of 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup cornmeal, 1 teaspoon seasoning salt, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon basil, and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Fry in about 1/4 cup Canola oil. Drain tomatoes on paper towels to remove some of the oil.

See You Again Next Year

Thanks to warm temperatures recently, some of the plants in our yard are putting on another color show. The clematis vine (right) has bloomed several times already this season. But we thought the rose bush that produced the speciman above was done for the year. Instead, it put on one more bloom. The zinnias, like the yellow one above, have been blooming for quite a while now. Very cool night time temperatures are predicted this week, though, so I imagine we'll see the last of these flowers soon...until they visit again in 2008.

Halloween Costume, Chili Recipe, and Crustless Pumpkin Pie Recipe

My husband spared no expense in designing his Halloween costume this year. A few puffs of breath and he is instantly transformed into a "leaf blower."

Since we live a few miles outside of town, Halloween around our house is pretty quiet. It has been several years since trick-or-treaters have knocked on our door, partly because the kids who live near us are now too old to trick-or-treat, and partly because the businesses downtown, and various churches, hold events for the kids.

Our concession to Halloween is brewing up a pot of chili, and baking a crustless pumpkin pie for dessert. Here are the recipes, both of which are diet-friendly:

Chili

1 lb. 96% fat free ground beef
1 package of onion soup mix
2 cans of Mexican style tomatoes and juice
2 cans of ranch style pinto beans
1 (1 lb., 10 oz.) bottle of spaghetti sauce - traditional, garden combination, or your favorite
3 tablespoons of chili powder
1 to 2 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of Mexican seasoning (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 and 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (in a jar)
Pepper to taste

In large pan (we use a dutch oven) sprayed with cooking spray, saute' ground beef and minced garlic until all the pink disappears from the meat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer about one hour.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin, or 1 and 3/4 cups of cooked, fresh pumpkin
1 (12 oz.) can of fat free evaporated milk
1 cup of Splenda sweetener
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup egg substitute

Mix ingredients together thoroughly and pour into a 9-inch glass pie dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, or until a knive inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean.

A Colonoscopy? Yikes!!

For several years, my doctor has urged me to submit to a colonoscopy screening, but the very idea made my toes curl. My husband has had it done twice now, both routine, and both revealing no problems. My son and daughter-in-law have had it done, as has my stepdaughter...no problems with any of them. But I am a coward and preferred to put it off as long as possible.

Now, I'm pretty diligent about taking care of my health. I eat right, and exercise, have annual physical exams that include Pap smears, mammograms, bone density tests, and so on. I submit willingly to blood work and immunization shots. But I absolutely cringed at the thought of a colonoscopy.

This year, though, I decided I should get it over with. So all last week, I followed a low-residue diet that shunned popcorn (which I dearly love), as well as corn, seeds, and nuts. I don't like being hungry, so I dreaded liquid-diet Sunday, the day before the procedure.

I stayed in bed until around 9 a.m. that morning, and then watched DVD's most of the day, so I wouldn't have to expend much energy. I found that the fruit juices I drank satisfied my hunger.

At 3 p.m., the fun began. I took the prescribed four laxative tablets. And at 5 p.m., I mixed a prescribed laxative powder into blueberry Gatorade, and started drinking it. The whole idea is to clean the colon, and boy howdy, did it ever!

I could have no liquids after midnight, but I wasn't hungry or thirsty anyway. At 7 a.m. Monday, I was at the clinic, where I was prepped for the procedure. I was nervous, despite being told that the Sunday prep was the worst of it.

It's true, the Sunday prep was the worst of it - and that wasn't horrible. Once I was given the medication to make me sleep, I was aware of nothing until I got back home again (the medication produces amnesia...several hours of it for me).

I'm pretty sure the procedure was more of a trial for my husband and mother than it was for me, because the amnesiac state caused me to repeat questions endlessly, sort of like a brief attack of Alzheimer's Disease. It's a wonder my husband's eyes didn't roll permanently up into his head.

By the way, I got the all-clear from the doctor who performed the procedure. And next time, I won't be such a coward.

Kermit the Frog, and Others

Last Saturday, we traveled to our state's capital city to see an exhibit of the world of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets of Sesame Street. I was disappointed that Big Bird wasn't there, but other Muppets and Fraggle Rock characters were on display.

Of special interest was the original Kermit the Frog puppet, fashioned by Henson from his mother's discarded green spring coat. Bert and Ernie were there, too. The exhibit also included scripts, storyboards, photographs, television and movie props, and sketches and doodles, as well as TV excerpts of comic commercials and experimental films created by Henson in his early career.

Henson was a fantastically talented artist, who died suddenly and too young in 1990. But his work and legacy continues to fascinate, entertain, and appeal to the child in all of us. Two and a half hours at the exhibit flew by like minutes.

Or as Kermit would say, "Time's fun when you're having flies."

What's For Supper?

We wanted to go out to eat tonight, but my husband, my mother, and I had trouble deciding which restaurant to patronize.

"Chinese?" I suggested, but 85-year-old Mom said no, because she's not a fan of seafood, or spicy foods, so it's a problem for her to find much to satisfy her at a Chinese restaurant.

"Mexican?" No, food's too hot.

"Italian?" We just had Italian last Friday.

"Okay, then where would you like to go, Mother?"

"You choose," she said, "I'll eat anything. I'm not picky."

So we ended up at Catfish Wharf.