A Quilt Block and An Eggplant

I shared on my facebook page about getting this quilt block that my Aunt Lattie had made.  My cousin, Karla, had sent several of our family members an email ASKING if we would like a piece as a pillow or as a wall hanging and I said that I would.  This is absolutely beautiful and reflects BOTH my Aunt and my cousin wonderfully!

Karla is one of the most down to earth people that was ever born.  She is laid back and is so talented.  She and my cousin, Ron, have raised 5 BRILLIANT girls who are and will continue to be great members of society.  She taught School for several years, but because of my cousin’s job as a Civil Engineer that moves him around the country, she has focused on her family and church.  I am thankful that she was kind enough to do this for me.

Aunt Lattie was the OLD MAID of our family until she was 51!  I NOW own that distinction, but I won’t be giving up my Title like she did…LOL…She married Uncle Otto, whose wife had died and had a son that was nearly grown.  Uncle Otto was the kindest, most gentle soul that God ever placed in our life.  He spoke softly and his eyesight failed him greatly, BUT to see him sit and play the piano always touched my heart.  Aunt Lattie was blessed to have him for her husband and he was WELL worth the wait for companionship.

Miss Nellie, Uncle Otto’s Mother, came to live with them in her later years.  I LOVED to go over to their house because she LOVED me…don’t ever underestimate a child KNOWING WHEN they are loved!!  She was JUST LIKE Uncle Otto in being such a sweet, quiet and STRONG lady.  She would play the piano and I would sing…I loved those moments.  I have a cake plate that belonged to her and I cherish it!!

This sucker is HEAVY...I would say 10 lbs, but I'm probably being DRAMATIC!  It is the American Block Pattern...

Aunt Lattie and Uncle Edger had always lived together and had taken care of their Father in his later years…All four of the children FOUND the house for them to live in so that he would always have a roof over his head. 

Aunt Lattie had worked at the Woolen Mill in town that would make blankets for the war.  She LOVED to visit the local jewelry store on the square, Downey’s, to find odd-and-end treasures.  SHE had a passion for pretty pieces of glassware.  I have MANY of the pieces that she had and they are very special to me.  Mrs. Downey would call Aunt Lattie whenever she had a mismatched piece of china and often, Aunt Lattie would buy it.

Crocheting, Quilting, Sewing, and Word Search Puzzles were always a big part of my Aunt’s Life.  She made doilies~~I remember her working so hard to get them to fit on a metal ring…She was ALWAYS busy with her hands.  She was a depression-era child, so she kept EVERYTHING…When Daddy and Mother were cleaning out her house after her death, they found medicine bottles with stack of coins, separated by denomination and boxes of things you always hear about~~rubber bands, string, sugar packets AND every single piece of clothing she owned had a Kleenex that had CAREFULLY been folded into a square about 2 inches!!

When Aunt Lattie died, Aunt Polly made sure that I got a piece of Fostoria that had belonged to Aunt Lattie…My Grandmother (Mother’s mother) had given it to her because she would often take Granny to work and this was payment for her kindness…KINDNESS ALWAYS MATTERS!!!

I loved going to visit because there was always something being made and I found it funny that she watched GOLF!!  Of course, the MAIN reason I LOVED to go visit was because she had an ICE MAKER…it made one inch ROUND pieces of ice (flat on the back) and it was perfect to crunch!!  I was also fascinated that she would take the EXTRA pieces and place them in a plastic bag…EXTRA ICE…THAT NEVER happened at my house AND we had to FILL up those crazy metal ice trays AND not to mention, I was ALWAYS pinching my hand or finger in those things!  UGH…To this day, my favorite DRINK PLACE is the one with the BEST ICE and in my area, Sonic has the BEST ICE…it’s a GIRL Thing…=)

I can’t mention my Aunt without THINKING of her baby brother, my Daddy!  On Friday, I went to the Farm Stand to buy Veggies!! I got tomatoes, 2 GREEN tomatoes, squash, okra, beets, turnips, Pink-eyed peas (I had never had these, but MOTHER and DADDY were VERY picky about their PEAS!!), cucumbers (I LOVE these and so does Charcoal) and 2 eggplants.  My Daddy LOVED eggplant.  We laughed about that because he would NOT eat squash, UNLESS it was fried and he didn’t  eat “STRANGE” food as a rule…he was a Meat and ‘taters guy!  He was not a fussy eater, but he just liked what he liked and seldom EVER complained about anything that was placed before him!

On Saturday night for Supper, I had what I am referring to as the DADDY MEMORIAL PLATE.  I prepared eggplant, the pink-eyed peas and a LARGE Tomato, that was a little ripper than I liked it BECAUSE DADDY LOVED tomatoes and he wanted them RIPE!!   That eggplant was the best eggplant I have ever had. 

Eggplant is an acquired taste and is one of those things that you like OR don’t like.  Most of the time, it has a bitter taste and can almost make your mouth itch…LOL…WHICH makes it hilarious that Daddy would like something like that!  IF you can find one that has JUST been picked, it makes all the difference in the world!  I had heard on a cooking show a few months ago, that IF you soak the eggplant in cold salt water, it will draw the bitterness out…SO soak I did…I peeled it and cubed it and let it soak for over an hour.  I drained it and placed it in a pan, cut up one sweet onion, added a VERY small amount of water, a little salt, and placed the top on the pan.  It came to a boil and I turned the heat to LOW and cooked it for 20 minutes.  I removed the top and cooked out all the excess water.  I mashed the eggplant fairly well.

Mother taught me to remember “recipes” (they were seldom written down) by number…Eggplant is 5 (and 5 is the most popular number…LOL).  I added about one tablespoon of butter and then threw in some cheese that I had~~I had Colby jack~~and tempered an egg to add to it.  I put it in an oven-safe dish.  I added half of the mixture and threw in a layer of cheese.  I had Parmesan~~it was good, but it was a little tough…next time I think I will just make sure I have American or Cheddar cheese on hand!  I poured the rest of the mixture on top and crumbled about one half of a sleeve of saltine crackers on top (THIS is a typical SOUTHERN TOPPING) and placed about 3 Tablespoons of butter on top of this…I placed it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes UNTIL the crackers were nicely browned!  Took it out and let it set a few minutes BEFORE I ate it…It was AMAZING!!

The boys and I LIKED IT!  =)

SO the 5 ingredients in Eggplant are:

1.    Eggplant

2.    Butter

3.    Egg (tempered or it will COOK stringy)

4.    Cheese

5.    Saltine Crackers

TECHNICALLY, you could say this is a 7 because the eggplant was cooked with onion and salt!  BUT for some reason, that didn’t count!

I say this SO MANY TIMES, but WHAT a LUCKY girl I have been…I KNOW I am BLESSED, but I just like to say LUCKY GIRL…ROFL…I had a family that was/is CREATIVE, that can Cook and most of all, that LOVED ME and made SURE that EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life, I was told!  I HOPE that you have lived YOUR life KNOWING that YOU are LOVED…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte