A Cup Of Joe

A Cup Of Joe

Joe DiMaggio was great for baseball, but bad for coffee.

The man who got a hit in 56 straight games in 1941 and married Marilyn Monroe, could do no wrong in the eyes of most people. I agree except for one thing: he killed the percolator.

Prior to 1972, most American households used a percolator to brew their morning beans. But, that year, two bad things happened. Richard Nixon was re-elected, and the Mr. Coffee drip brewing system debuted.

I’m sure there will ...

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Family, Food, Home Cooking, Life

The Chicken Fried Stakes

 

There is a short list of things in the South that you’d better know how to do correctly or someone will quickly say, “Bless your heart.”

Making a good chicken fried steak is near the top of that list. There’s a lot at stake when it comes to claiming you make a good one. Pun intended.

For the most part, cooks south of the Mason Dixon Line know how to make a decent chicken fried steak. Those who don’t, know which restaurants ...

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Family, Food

The Pioneer Skillet

The Pioneer Skillet

My momma’s skillet and this columnist are featured in the fall issue of the Pioneer Woman Magazine.

Well, it used to be my momma’s skillet. She gave it to me when I left home almost 40 years ago.

And there it is on page 72 of Ree Drummond’s new magazine.

If by chance, you aren’t familiar with Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman), she has built a media empire that grew out of a blog she began writing in 2006. It chronicles her daily ...

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Family, Food, Home

I Love You, Too

I Love You, Too

You can always tell from the timbre of the voice of the person on the other end of the line when bad news is coming.

A thousand things go through your mind during the milliseconds between the realization that what you’re about to hear will change your life forever and receiving the rest of the message.

It was my father. He asked if I was sitting down.

My mother had just left a couple of hours earlier from a visit with my wife ...

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Family

Life Lines

 

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” – John Lennon, “Beautiful Boy” 1980

I recently glanced at the calendar and discovered that somehow, I got old.

I don’t mind birthdays. As a matter of fact, having them is quite preferable to not having them. It’s just that most folks, regardless of our age, never feel old. We may be old, look old, and act old, but inside, we don’t think of ourselves as aged.

In my head, I’m still ...

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Faith, Family

Are We There Yet?

Lying on the deck behind the backseat and staring upward through the rear glass of a Buick gave a kid the perfect view of the sky and clouds. A cloud could look like a bear one moment, and a crocodile the next.

Family road trips of the 1960s and 70s obviously did not have safety at the forefront, but boy, were the car rides memorable.

No family I knew had enough money to ride in airplanes to their destination. So we, and ...

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Cars, Family

The Years of Sears

The Years of Sears

I stood patiently waiting to pay for my socket set. There was a couple in front of me who, with the help of an employee, were thumbing through a sale flyer. Whatever it was they wanted to buy, it seemed that it was in the flyer but not in the showroom.

“I know I have some in the back,” said the clerk.

The three then left the register area and headed that direction.

There was one other employee in the tool department. He ...

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Family

Cutting Out

Cutting Out

If I ever find a bottle with a genie in it, I’m using all three wishes to have someone else mow my yard.

I know, you’re thinking that I should use one of my three wishes for a permanent genie lawn boy and the other two for a winning lottery ticket and TV news with no arguing. But, I’m fairly certain that even an eternal genie would tire of mowing my yard. It’s fairly large.

When I was a kid, I couldn’t ...

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Family, Home

Hair, There, and Everywhere

Hair, There, and Everywhere

I saw something this week that I hadn’t seen in almost 50 years. At first, I stared, puzzled, at the photo my aunt had posted online from her antique shop. I recognized the item, but just couldn’t place it. Then it clicked.

It was a barber chair booster seat.

The long, heavy metal base supports a frame that, in turn, supports a small round seat, which, in turn, once supported the bottoms of boys while they got their hair cut.

I used one ...

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Family

The Formica Dinette Set

The first time I saw the red Formica dinette table, I wanted it. It reminded me of the aqua colored one that resided in my childhood home. I tried to buy it from my neighbor. Twice.

But my neighbor wasn’t interested in selling it. Over the period of a few years, he and his wife would have garage sales. They always had nice items they were offering, but that red Formica dinette table and its matching four chairs weren’t something they ...

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Family

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John is an author of two books, Write of Passage and Write of Passage Volume II. You can learn more at thecountrywriter.com

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