Food Friday, Nacho Cheese

I just came in from sitting on the back porch, and as I was getting up to go inside, I smelled a “wiff of the past”, as I like to say, that took me back to the days of working in the Woodshop at Opryland.  It was the exact smell.  Funny how just a wiff of something can transport you instantly, to another time and place.

Tuesday was National Taco Day, and since the cornbread was already in the oven, and EVERYONE knows that cornbread is not a food that waits, I didn’t make any Taco’s.  I could lie and tell you that I have made Fajita Friday at my house, but alas, it was on Wednesday.  LOL

I DID, however, add a bit of Mexican to my day on Tuesday by having a “splurge” item that I bought on my last grocery shopping day.

Nacho Cheese.

Who knew the memories that little tasty treat would conjure.

Instantly, I remembered Bob and Daddy laughing at “that is NACHO CHEESE.”  Those two guys loved cheese more than anyone I ever met.  I smiled as I remembered the laughter.

As soon as that memory past, I was transported to the MANY Nashville Sounds Games that I attended with Mother and Daddy.  It was our “outing”.  I can’t count the number of times I drove home from working in Nashville, to fly into the house, change clothes and go get in the back seat of my 1985 Buick Skyhawk and ride with Mother and Daddy to the game.  Whew, amazing what we could do when we were younger.  LOL

My brother worked at the Sounds as the Clubhouse Manager, and often, it was the only way that we got to see Brian.  It sure didn’t hurt that we got free tickets.  I laughed as I remembered Miss Dot telling us that we didn’t have to ask Brian to get the tickets, because he asked her!  She was a jewel, and the office manager.  On top of that, we got FREE parking right outside the gate.  We laughed as the parking guy just waived us through. 

Once there, and walking up that STEEP hill, we would make our way to our favorite seats so we could watch the normal characters.  Red, the Beer man, would always come and say HI to us—NONE of us drank beer.  We would catch up for a few minutes with small talk and a few laughs.  I can’t remember the other Beer guy who always came to greet us.  I do remember that he would help Brian clean the cleats after the games.

We would spot, Chuck, a health-challenged young man whose Mother made certain he was able to get to all the games.  He was also a David Lipscomb supporter.  He would catch us up on where Brian was.  We would spot him and wave.  If we were lucky, he would get to come say HEY, or occasionally ask me to run an errand for him.

There were people that we didn’t know their names, but we certainly knew their familiar faces.  The people watching was spectacular on some nights.

It didn’t take long for Daddy to paste that silly grin on his face and disappear into the crowd.

I KNEW what was coming…the first round was a Hot Dog for Mother and Nacho Cheese for me and Daddy.  Of course, I ate mostly the chips, so Daddy could have more cheese!

Usually, a bit after the “first round” was over, Daddy would disappear again.  He would return later, with a plastic baseball cap filled with chocolate soft serve ice cream.  Yes, that was the REAL reason for wanting to go to the baseball games.

We watched for Nashville “celebrities”.  The bass singer of the Oak Ridge Boys was a part owner, and at several games.  There was always a BUZZ when he was there.

As I ate my Nacho Cheese and chips, I was thankful, once again, to have lived such a blessed life with a funny family who loved to laugh.  I hope that both of my brothers are still finding stuff to laugh about and that they also, have some good memories~~sometimes, that is all that is left. 

Charcoal and I sure do laugh…well, I think most of it is Charcoal just looking at me wondering WHAT THE HECK??!!

I am enjoying this beautiful weather we are having in Middle Tennessee.  The humidity is gone and the heat is bearable.  I find it funny how 55 in October is SO cold and how 55 in January feels like a heat wave!

Perspective.

My prayers are with all who are in the path of the storm.  I saw a post on FB that asked that since Haiti had been prayed about, that we not forget to pray for America…sigh

One of the MANY great things about PRAYER is that God hears every single one and that there is absolutely no praying TOO much for one thing versus another.

We are so blessed in America to have access to most everything that we need.  We have people with resources that can help others, without feeling one tinge of missing something.  We have safe places to go during a storm.

Most of us have NO CLUE what it is like to live in a shack…to be without the basic necessities of life…to have to bundle your ROOF on the ground, because if it disappears, there are no resources to replace it…no credit cards to INSTANTLY purchase what you want, much less what you need…

Oh, how thoughtless we can be!

PRAY for ALL people fighting storms—not just hurricanes, but the storms in their lives.  We have no clue what some people face, and PRAYER is the one thing we all can do and it will be heard.

As I laugh about memories of a luxury like NACHO CHEESE, I pray that the food of life will be available to every mouth…

I pray that the food of the spirit will be shared with every soul…

I wish you peace that passeth all understanding…

May we have the eyes, ears, hands, feet and mouths of Christ.

…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte♡

One of my most favorite Fall recipes:

Pumpkin Bars

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

2 cups sugar

2 cups Pumpkin

4 eggs

1 cup oil

Sift dry ingredients, including sugar.  Add slightly beaten eggs, pumpkin and oil.  Beat with a Wooden Spoon (do not use the mixer).  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes in 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1 inch pan (a jelly roll pan).

Frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese

¾ stick butter

2 tsp milk

1 tsp vanilla (or lemon juice)

1 ¾ cup powdered sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

Blend cream cheese and butter.  Add rest of ingredients.  Spread on top of pumpkin bars while they are still warm.

OR Powdered sugar icing:

 ¾ cup butter pinch of salt

2 tsp lemon juice

1 ¾ c. powdered sugar

1 cup pecans, optional