Roukos Live: A Night at Old BC

Two days before Thanksgiving, Lawson stopped me in the hallway and said, "I need to let you know that am singing in the Christmas concert next weekend--December 8th."

"Hold on a minute," I replied before I went into the bathroom to clean out my ears.  When I returned, I said, "Now what did you say?"

"I'm singing in the Christmas concert next weekend at the cathedral."

So I had heard correctly.

"You?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Music is going to come out of your mouth?" The last time Lawson sang was--well, I've never heard Lawson sing. In church, Lawson stands during the hymns, patiently listening until the music stops. Here's a picture of Lawson singing:

"Yes," he said. "Believe it or not."

"What provoked you to sign up to sing in the Christmas concert?" There had to be more to his decision than holiday spirit.

"I need extra credit for my biology class."

That's when I stopped asking questions. Instead, I put December 8th on my calendar and looked forward to Lawson's musical debut.

In the week that followed, Lawson went to school, attended lacrosse practice afterward, and did his homework. Never did he mention choral rehearsals. When I asked if he'd practiced that day with Father Ronald, the answer was always no. I asked him, "What are you going to sing?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I guess I'll find out when I get there."

I thought, This ought to be good. "What time do you have to be at the cathedral Sunday?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "I think around 7:00 that morning."

"So you're singing at the 8:00 Mass?"

"No, it's a Christmas concert."

"I think you need to call Mills and find out when you should be there." Mills always has the answer.

"I'm pretty sure it's 7:00."

"Call Mills."

"Mom, I know what I'm talking about."

"Call."

So Lawson called. No, I take that back. He texted. "Mills says we have to be there at 5:00 pm. The concert's at 7:00."

That sounded more like it.

So after a weekend of crossing the state for BC's game in the GHSA AA semifinals and a Lawson family reunion, my son and I ventured downtown for a night of Christmas hymns. Stephen opted out. He wasn't interested in waiting two hours for a concert when football was on TV.  "Besides," he said, "he hasn't practiced a bit for this thing. I don't want to go listen to that."

I couldn't argue with his logic, but I just had to see Lawson performing live. It might be my only chance.

So in the two-hour space between arrival and curtain time, I walked downtown's Broughton Street with Carmen, mother of Mills. Then we found seats near the front of the sanctuary for the big performance.

First of all, the cadets filed in, seniors first, in order of rank, and they looked so distinguished in their Class A uniforms.

And the cathedral itself is beautiful, as you can see from the photo above, so the ambience alone made the evening worth it. The concert included musical selections on the organ, a few songs by a soloist, and some carols by a local barbershop quartet. But the BC boys sang most of the songs. Some selections featured the BC chorus alone, and then others included additional boys from the religious studies classes (and, I suppose, the biology classes).

Still skeptical, I envisioned Lawson mouthing the word watermelon through every hymn, but he surprised me. If he was faking it, he did a pretty good job, but I dare say the boy was actually singing!

To the left of Lawson is Mills. And to the left of Mills is Harrison Hughes. All three boys sang like adolescent angels. And then there was the kid to the right. He was having none of it, which made me wonder why he showed up at all. Look at how he didn't even bother to read the music. I wanted to sneak up to the front of the church and whisper, "Just mouth the words elephant shoes," but I thought I'd be too conspicuous. So there he stood, waiting patiently for the concert to be over. I wonder if he's going to get extra credit in biology for standing there.

Was it the Mormon Tabernacle choir? No. But still, the concert got me in the Christmas spirit, and I got to see Lawson sing. Few people will be able to say the same.

Check out the video of the live performance on YouTube!

Football, the Farm, and Family--Otherwise Known as a Big Weekend

As I type this post on a Sunday morning, I look back on the last 48 hours and wonder at how they zoomed by so fast--almost as fast as a thousand folks from Savannah (the Remlers included) zoomed up I-16 to Barnesville Friday afternoon. For that's how the weekend started--with a  mass road trip to watch the Benedictine Cadets take on the Lamar County Trojans for the GHSA AA semifinal football playoffs. The winner of that match would compete for the state title on December 14th at the Georgia Dome, and BC fans across Chatham County trekked across the state to cheer the team on.

We group text messages spoke of our anticipation as Buttimers, Remlers, Kings, and Lowenthals kept track of their progress:

• "The rest stop in Laurens County is clean."
• "We're in Twiggs County."
• "Where can we eat dinner in Barnesville?"
• "We're ordering pizza to take to the stadium."
• "We stopped at Five Guys in Macon."
• "We're already at the game. Stands are filling up!"

The Remlers had a quick bite at Subway before heading over to the athletic complex to find a parking space. And boy, were we glad the Buttimers warned us of the fast-growing crowd on the visitors' side of the field. It's an odd experience driving four hours away from home and then running into everybody you know. We arrived an hour and a half before the game (good idea because still we had to look for seats), and there we found the Buttimers, Thompsons, Bergmans, the Sharpleys, the Stricklands, the Mahoneys, and the Saunders. The Kings and the Lowenthals showed up shortly after that. We sat with the Irelands, and behind us was Deb Antosca, BC's principal. It was a social event rivaling the St. Patrick's Day parade. By the time game time approached Savannahians in maroon and gray were creeping up the bleachers looking for places to sit down.

"I've got one seat next to me," I called to someone in the aisle.
"I need three," he replied, holding up as many fingers.
"Well, I've got one here."
"But I've got me, my wife, and my dad," he persisted.
"Wait, let me check," I said before turning to peer and the six inches of empty metal bench to  my left. "Nope," I replied. "It's still just one seat."
He moved on.

At kickoff, the field was surrounded by spectators from both sides, their only option to watch the game on their feet.

And the noise! I don't know where I've been to miss this nice little trick, but it never occurred to me to put coins in a milk jug to make noise. I can just imagine people all over Chatham and Lamar Counties chugging down their 2% Borden so they could make what has to be the most obnoxious noise maker in football history. Those who really planned ahead showed up with cow bells. When the Cadets had the ball, the visitors' side of the stadium sounded like a stampede of dairy cows on their way to the feed trough. And when the Trojans had the ball, the stands across the field looked like the spectators were shaking white balloons.

Both teams played hard, and they played well. That was a nail biter of a match. In fact, I watched every moment of that game closer than I've watched any Georgia game in Sanford Stadium. But at the end of the game, Lamar County scored a field goal in the last two seconds, and the contest ended with a score of 10-7. That was BC's toughest game yet, and while they could have hung their heads and slunk back to the locker room, they gathered together in front of the crowd and sang the school fight song, which I thought was pretty good sportsmanship.

As the crowd milled out of the stands and back to the parking lot, I listened to commentary about the play. "They should have seen that fake field goal coming." "They gave it up at the end." "They just didn't play to win."

I said nothing, but I couldn't help feeling a little frustrated. It's really easy to sit on our fat butts in the stands, chomping on boiled peanuts and snuggling up in our BC maroon blankets and then say our boys didn't play to win. I might be a voice alone here, but this is the way I see it:

Those boys are only fifteen to seventeen years old. Ever since they got out of school last May, they have been on that field practicing, even in 100 degree heat. And when school started again, they were still on that field after school Monday through Thursday, practicing so that when they got home they could hardly hold up their heads to do their homework. They've played football every Friday night for the past fourteen weeks, accruing a record better than any BC team in history--thirteen games in a row. Looks to me they did play to win. They played their hearts out. They just didn't win Friday night.

And that's fine with me because even though they won't be playing in the dome next Saturday, they can finally take a break and they can spend a few months not risking injury for our entertainment. When those Cadets went home Friday night, I hope they did so knowing that that crowd of about 1500 in the Lamar County Stadium was a testament to how proud everyone is of them. They had a great season.

Family Fun at the Farm

With football season officially over, the Remlers drove down Highway 341 to Hawkinsville, where we spend the night at the camp house.

The next day, the extended Lawson family gathered at Rena and Johnny's camp house for the annual Lawson Christmas reunion. We ate good food, shared photos from the year's events, caught up on what's going on with our families, fished, played, and generally had a good time. I picked up the following news and interesting facts about my relatives yesterday:

• Dawn Taylor is a baby fanatic, and mothers everywhere have to keep close eyes on their little ones when Dawn is around. Fortunately, twins Stella and John Peterson allowed her to get her baby fix.
• Stella and John know how to walk but got few opportunities to do so because of relatives scooping them up and planting kisses on their heads.
• Asher Lawson and Jean Peterson are pretty sharp anglers. Unfortunately, Jean was not quite ready to hang up her pole when it was time to go home.
• Even though Helen Revell is the same age as Davis, it came as a bit of a shock to learn she's already in college.
• In a few months, Lawson Remler will have a cousin with the same first name.
• Bops, Nan, Harriet, and several other relatives share my gross enthusiasm for watching gruesome medical videos.
• Rena and I have been reading the same books and didn't even know it.
• Susan and Sammy have recently returned from a wonderful trip to Italy. 
• Greg McKenzie (the younger) is a sophomore in high school, even though he looks like a senior and presents himself like a college graduate. He did not play football this year, but really enjoyed running cross country.
• Sydney and Gretchen have gotten sewing machines, and I am already planning a sewing camp where we can make some fancy pants!
• Jane Revell brought her friend Matt Oliver to the reunion. He's a resident at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, so maybe we'll get to see more of Jane when she comes to Savannah for a visit.

Every year we have this reunion I leave it resolving to keep up with my relatives more closely in the next calendar year. I did the same thing yesterday, and I think that will be my new year's resolution. We're too fun of a group to only see each other in December.

Thanksgiving: Yes, It Was Blogworthy

While sitting by the campfire Friday night, sister in-law Betsy Hunsicker asked about the Thanksgiving weekend in Hawkinsville: Was it blogworthy?

Few Thanksgivings aren't.

And several T-Day elements made this holiday worthy of online posts:

The Prodigal Son: We haven't seen Davis Remler since August, so it was great to have him back in the house for the week. Even Lawson was glad to see him. That arrival alone was worthy of an online announcement, but there was much more.

The Hunting:  Davis, Ben, and Lawson spend much of their time out at the farm stalking deer, hogs, squirrels, ducks, pretty much anything on four feet or on the wing. Although Davis and Lawson had no luck, Ben came home with a cooler full of duck breast and venison. All I can say is I'm jealous. I wish Davis hadn't hunted the whole time with a cross bow because he saw a twelve-point buck that could have been dinner from here until July 4th, but because he didn't have a gun, the stag got away.

I've had some requests to refrain from publishing photographs of dead wildlife on the Remlerville blog, so out of respect for those readers, the following image has been doctored up:

The Good Food:  Our crowd easily eats its way through two turkeys: one smoked and one fried. It's hard to decide which one is better, so to avoid the confusion, we simply eat our way through dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, spinach casserole, fresh-baked bread, ambrosia, and lots of assorted desserts. And after all that, nobody really cares which turkey was better. Nobody starves to death at this family gathering.

The Birthdays:  In addition to giving thanks for all our blessings, several relatives made wishes on birthday candles this weekend: Hannah Taylor turned 14; Laken Hunsicker turned--wait a minute--is it 17? I think it's 17. And Ben Remler turned 23.

Nieces and Nephews:  It's always fun when cousins can get together and play, and it's also fun to see how much all the nieces and nephews have grown. I think Lawson wins the prize in the growth category, but Courtney wins the prize in the survival of the first semester category, and Garrison wins the prize for cuteness. Sydney the beauty queen is always Miss Congeniality, while Gretchen wins the Grand Marshal award, while Jackson won Fishapalooza. Asher wins the award for best fishing hat, while Annie and Charlie earn recognition for coming the greatest distance. Elizabeth wins the prize for the best story about an encounter with a state patrolman.

The Good Fires: The Lawson clan can't survive the weekend without burning something, and we had a fire going all weekend. The pinnacle of the occasion is the Friday night wienie roast, where scores of frankfurters and marshmallows bite the dust for the pleasure of our tastebuds. By the time the evening's over, everybody smells like smoke.

The Fantastic Football: So that Davis could make it to his plane on time, the Remlers had to depart after that wienie roast and head back to Savannah. One drawback of the weekend was that we missed the playoff football game between BC and Calhoun High School. Fortunately, we listened to it on the way home, so we heard the Cadets put a hurting on their opponents. It certainly was Black Friday for the Calhoun Yellow Jackets. 

But those weren't the only yellow jackets that got stung over the weekend. How 'bout them Dawgs, coming back in the second half to beat Tech in double overtime? We heard that splendid outcome on the radio as well.

A Comfortable Trip Home: And even though Davis wasn't especially excited about making the trip back to the cold state of New York, Delta made his trip a little more bearable by upgrading his ticket to first class. Again, a little jealous. Delta's never upgraded me to anything other than the exit row. I asked Davis if the flight attendant brought him a shrimp cocktail. He said no, but that his seat was mighty comfy.

Good way to end the holiday.

So, yes, Betsy. The holiday was blogworthy, and we're glad you contributed to its success. We hope you and your family (often simply referred to as "and them") have a comfy flight home too--one more blessing to be thankful for.

Chariots of Fire? Well, Maybe Chariots of Spark

It's been months since I posted to the Remlerville blog. In fact, I had to look up my username and password before I could update with this post. When I did, I noticed that my last post was about end of the school year Momdom. Then a whole summer went by, during which I taught summer courses and worked on a second novel and got my older son back to college and got my younger son started in high  school, and before I knew it, Halloween had passed me by, and we're looking at Thanksgiving.

But now Remlerville is back! And we recharge our online saga with a report on Lawson's most exciting high school venture to date:  the big chariot race.

Lawson takes Latin. His teacher, Shelly Roberts, recently assigned a group project for which the boys had to construct a chariot for a replica Roman chariot race. Of course, she didn't expect the boys' chariots to look like this:

But she did want them to show some creativity in their construction. As she gave her instructions, she showed her students some examples of projects that showed acceptable effort, and some projects that showed no effort. During her slide show, she said, "This is one of the worst examples I've seen."

Lawson immediately recognized that example as the chariot his brother used a few years ago. Knowing he had to outshine Davis, he immediately got to work. 

His group consisted of Mills, Zack, and Cameron. But all the chariot assembly took place at our house. The core of the vehicle was the body of a shopping cart, while the wheels came from a cart donated by Hogan's Marina. With some 2 x 4's, card board, spray paint, zip ties and one little hobby horse, the boys fashioned a chariot, which I  must say outshone Davis's by a long shot.

At race time, parents gathered for the big event. I was actually surprised that so many moms and dads took time off work to see the contest. But then I saw the chariots arrive, and I realized why everyone was so interested. There was some real creativity displayed on the track at Benedictine Military School:

Because of the size of the chariots and the number of competitors, the race had to be run in two heats. Lawson was in the second heat. One boy had to sit in the chariot and "drive" while the others had to push or pull. Zack was the charioteer (is that even a word?), while Lawson and Mills pulled. Cameron pushed. The parents cheered. And took photos. And laughed. One chariot came apart at the starting line. The boys took off, and the chariot stayed put. But Lawson's team's chariot--let's call it the Chariot of Fire--ran all the way around the track. They placed second in their heat, which I think was pretty remarkable, considering their back wheel fell off.

I still think Zac wins the prize for the best helmet. I wish I had a photo. They used a broom to make the brush on top. His tomahawk looks pretty menacing also, but I think that's from the wrong continent.

Even though Team Lawson had a horse for their chariot, another team had a horse head mask:

It creeped me out a little bit in a Godfather kind of way.

I still haven't learned what the winners won at the end of the race. But I do think all teams deserved an A for their effort in putting together their chariots of…well…spark.

Here's the race, for anyone who wants to watch it: 

Baloney Stew

This morning as I was browsing posts on Facebook, I happened to find a link to a blog by Jen Hatmaker. Many thanks to Kathleen McCarthy for posting the link, because I've just found some excellent reading material. Before reading further, please check out "Worst End of School Year Mom Ever" and laugh while you identify with Hatmaker's underwhelming mom skills.

Actually, she looks like a woman who has it all together.

School is out for the Remler family, but reading Hatmaker's post reminded me of our own end of school year project, one that didn't quite make it off the ground at home or in the classroom. It was the dreaded recipe assignment.

Note to teachers everywhere: Please do not assign your kids to cook. If you do that, what you're really doing is giving parents homework. Take note: We've passed grade school. Please don't make us relive it.

Actually, the recipe assignment is a chore for kids younger than fifth grade. Once they get to be Lawson's age, they can pretty much prepare the dishes on their own (depending on the recipe), but guess who gets to go to the grocery store? Guess who gets to buy all that food? Guess who gets to make sure the middle schooler doesn't destroy the kitchen with boiled over pots, broccoli stalks down the disposal, and milk spilled in the cracks between the cabinets where it can fester and make the kitchen smell like the bottom of a McDonald's dumpster?

Mom.

So this year, Lawson's social studies teacher gave out an assignment requiring students to 1) pick out a recipe that reflects their family culture and 2) prepare that dish and bring it to school for the class to sample. The recipe was due one day. Then the teacher was going to assign students certain days to bring their prepared dishes to the classroom.

Lawson could have made a Lebonese dish, but I don't know how to make tabbouleh. That's Stephen's side of the family, and I couldn't help noticing that he got really quiet as soon as Lawson brought up the recipe assignment. My side of the family is as white bread as they come. And I don't know how to make white bread either.

On top of that problem was the fact that this project came home close to the end of the school year. Like Jen Hatfield, I was done. Actually, I was done with being a school mom around October 15, 2006. So Lawson and I decided to tackle this recipe project from a different angle. We reconsidered the term family culture and defined it not as ethnicity or nationality, but what it means to be a Lawson. Then I pulled out the cookbook of the First United Methodist Church of Hawkinsville, Georgia and showed Lawson his grandfather's recipe for baloney stew.

"You can tell your teacher it's been in the family for generations," I said.

Here's the recipe Lawson took to school:

Baloney Stew

3 lb. balogna

2 med. onions

1 med. bell pepper

1 can LeSuer peas

Tobasco sauce

6 carrots

1 large can Niblet's corn

2 med. cans stewed tomatoes

2 large Idaho potatoes

Worcestershire sauce

1/2 stalk celery

Dice bologna into 1/2" blocks; symmetry is important and attention to this detail will enrich the flavor of the stew. Place bologna blocks into a large pan, cover with non-flouridated spring water and soak at low heat. Meanwhile, slice carrots into little round pieces about 3/8" thick; cut celery into little pieces (size not important); and reduce potatoes to bite-sized chunks. Stir carrots, celery, and potatoes into pot with meat. Cut onions (peel if desired) and place in pot. Cut bell pepper into 9 pieces and place on top of onions. Add corn, tomatoes, and peas. If you have any okra, put that in too. Fill pot with water; add some Wooster sauce and shake the bottle of Tobasco 2 or 3 times inside the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a while, stirring infrequently. Stew is done when it feels right. Serves 22 ladies, 8 men or a dozen small boys. Note:  If stew is too thin, throw in a couple handfuls of Cheerios and some grits. Cheerios will thicken it up faster, but grits will give it more body.

This one was obviously not too thin, because I see no Cheerios or grits.

 

As Lawson's teacher sorted through the students' recipes, she found Lawson's and gave it a quick read. She said that his dish would be "very interesting" to try out on the day he brought it to school. I can't help noticing that Lawson's recipe sampling day never came. I think his teacher was done with school too.

So, Jen Hatmaker, you're not alone. Mothers of the world unite, not only at the end of the school year, but sometimes at the beginning and middle too. If your kids ever have to cook something for school, you're welcome to borrow the Baloney Stew recipe.

Puddified

As mentioned in a previous post, Sabra and I have been cooking recipes from the Back in the Day Bakery cookbook, written by Cheryl and Griffith Day and edited by my friend Amy Paige Condon.

I first bought this book a year ago when it came out because 1) I just love the star brownies in that store (unfortunately, the recipe is not in the book), and 2) I knew Amy had edited it, so I wanted to lend my support not only to local business owners but my friend as well. I have enjoyed the recipes in this book so much that over time I have purchased several copies to give as gifts. The most recent copy went to Sabra.

Before I gave it to her, I flipped through the pages and inserted Post-It notes on the recipes I'd baked, making note of some of the alterations I'd made to appeal to Lawson's tastes and my odd electric oven. Upon receiving the book, Sabra immediately began flipping through the recipes, and because she had a bottle of Grand Marnier at home (as well as all the other ingredients), she decided to start with the rice pudding recipe.

She did not know that I had recently made Grif and Cheryl's 'nana pudding the previous weekend for Mother's Day. Once we started discussing our pudding coincidence, we decided to write posts about our Back in the Day experiences and post about them. These posts are for readers who have the cook book or plan to get it. I will not reproduce the recipes because I don't want to infringe on Grif and Cheryl's copyright. I also want them to sell many more copies of their book. So readers who don't have the book can get it on Amazon, at Back in the Day Bakery, Shaver's Bookseller, Barnes and Noble, and many other fine book sellers.

Read on.

'Nana Pudding as prepared by Nancy Remler

First, I'll start with my experience making banana pudding. I wish I had taken a photo. But at the time I made it, I didn't realize I'd be blogging about it. Stephen and Lawson were delighted that I was making it because it's their favorite dessert when they eat lunch at Hawkinsville's Steak House restaurant. They're accustomed to the kind with vanilla wafers.

Grif and Cheryl's recipe calls for shortbread cookies, which, of course, I made myself.

I wish I'd taken photos of those too. I never really cared much for shortbread, but I'd only had the store bought kind. You know the ones--they come in those round tins and people give them out at Christmas. They'd always struck me as kind of bland.

But not Cheryl and Grif's! They're a pan of buttery goodness. The only two things I'll mention about making the short bread is that 1) next time I'll make the cookies a little thinner so that it's easier to break through them with a spoon while eating the pudding and 2) the recipe makes more than enough for the pudding, so I can save the left overs in the freezer and eat them with jam on another occasion.

The shortbread is especially easy to make, and I'd recommend that recipe to anyone who needs to make a nice, summery dessert pretty quickly. These cookies will go perfectly with fruit. The pudding, on the other hand, takes more time and is a little more complicated. It's not difficult. Anyone can make it. But the timing is different from what Cheryl and Grif specify in the cook book, so if you plan to make this pudding, make sure you have plenty of time to do it. I started this project on Saturday afternoon, and I finished it Sunday morning.

One of the reasons it's so time consuming is that Grif and Cheryl's estimations of timing are much shorter than my reality (Read on for Sabra's similar experience). For instance, when  I tempered my eggs and then added them to my cream mixture, I whisked them in a double boiler as the cookbook directed. The recipe says the thickening process will take "five to seven minutes." Actually, my custard thickened in about 35-47 minutes. I didn't think I'd ever have pudding!

I thought about adding corn starch to the mixture, but it already had five tablespoons. How much cornstarch should a pudding need?

Finally, the pudding thickened--not as stiff as I'd hoped, but stiff enough. My feet had begun to hurt from standing over that stove. And I also thought the refrigeration process would help thicken the dessert as well. So when the recipe told me to put the pudding in the fridge for "three hours or overnight," I opted for overnight, just to be sure.

Fortunately, the pudding turned out well, as did the whipped cream and the shortbread. It made  a splendid dessert to take to my friends' party. The only drawback to it was that once all those people started dipping into it, the pudding got a little soupy. But it was still delicious!

Rice Pudding as prepared by Sabra Lawson

I read Cheryl's introduction and followed her suggestion of preparing all of my ingredients first.  

Nancy's note:  How studious of Sabra to read the introduction first! I skipped right over that part. Maybe if I had read more carefully my banana pudding would not have been so soupy. I've got some reading to do.

 

I measured everything out and put most ingredients in their own little dish, unless they were going into the pudding all at the same time.  For example, I measured the raisins then sprinkled the 1/8 tsp of freshly shaken out of the bottle nutmeg on top of them.  I also combined the vanilla, orange zest, and the  tablespoon of Grand Ma.  I used Kroger brand basmati rice.  Oh!  I did not have any normal sugar, so I made the recipe with light brown sugar.  

I realized about half way through the recipe, that the 2 quart sauce pan I was using was going to be too small, so I had to transfer the pudding to a dutch oven.  I followed the times in the recipe very carefully, using the kitchen timer on my new microwave.  

Having never made rice pudding before, I was not sure how thick it should be when I poured it into a heat proof bowl to cool.  (I used a rectangular baking dish)  The pudding did seem a bit soupy, but I'd been stirring constantly for 5 to 7 minutes over low heat, so I poured it on into my baking dish, placed plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin form forming, and began cleaning my mess, as good cooks do, while waiting for the pudding to cool.

About 2 hours later, I was all set for a serving of delectable rice pudding, but alas, my pudding had not puddified at all!  It was the same soupy consistency that it had been on the stove, but now it was cold!  I dumped it back into the dutch oven, added some corn starch, and heated that stuff up!  Medium heat!  And stirred constantly until it was, indeed, thickened.

That did the trick!  After dinner, the rice pudding was still warm, but puddified and delicious!  Just like Mom used to make!  Martin loved it and asked if I would make it again.  Of couse, I will.  I had to buy 2 pounds of basmati rice!

Nancy's note:  Many thanks to Sabra for coining a new cooking term:  puddified. It's better than Stephen Colbert's term truthiness. I think puddified should go in the urban dictionary. 

Chocolate Pudding as prepared by Nancy Remler

I've got more photos for this one. I highly recommend this recipe because 1) chocolate should be its own food group and 2) it does not require thickening pudding over a double boiler and therefore does not take the better part of an hour. It's not complicated at all. I realized at the last minute that I had only four ramekins, but my Fiestaware tea cups served well in a pinch.   

I used Ghirardelli chocolate, which I chopped up with a regular kitchen knife. I did not have to switch my creamy mixture to a Dutch oven as Sabra had to. My four quart sauce pan served well.

 My only challenge was adding the eggs. The recipe instructed me to whisk six egg yolks lightly in a medium bowl and then pour them "in a slow, steady stream into the chocolate-cream mixture, whisking constantly." Okay, Cheryl and Grif, two things had me stumped. First of all, egg yolks do not pour in a steady stream. Slow, yes. Steady, anything but. They're sticky and lumpy. Secondly, if I'm going to pour all the egg yolks into the chocolately-cream mixture, whisking the entire time, I'm going to need three hands: one to hold the egg bowl, one to whisk the cream mixture, and one to use a rubber spatula to guide those egg yolks out of the bowl and into the sauce pan. Readers, if you decide to make this recipe (and I hope you will) figure out this three-handed trick first. It'll save you some stress. 

Fortunately, I managed. Because there was no double boiler involved, the mixture thickened well before I added it to the ramekins. Then I got to give those little dishes a hot water bath before putting them in the oven. I had no idea pudding baked! But it did, and when it came out, it was just as Cheryl and Grif had described it. I chilled it for several hours before serving it. 

This dessert is a chocolatey cup of heaven. The consistency might be unusual to those who have never had home made pudding. This is not the Bill Cosby pitched Jello pudding. This is thicker, denser, more chocolatey. Fresh whipped cream on top enhances the flavor. Because of its consistency and rich flavor, the servings shown above are actually a little large. This afternoon, I ate half of one and got full. So be prepared for that. But if you make this pudding and serve it to friends, you'll be the most popular cook on your street.

So now Sabra and I are puddified! 

Our next blogging/baking venture:  bars. Stay tuned! 

Roukos Live: Lawson Graduates

Tuesday night was Lawson's big night: graduation. And for that, Lawson and his buddies decided to break out the bow ties. Who knew the event would be such a fashion statement for the boys? But in order to appreciate the significance of Lawson's new outfit, one must know how he came to get it.

Back in October, when Lawson was confirmed, I had planned for him to wear the same thing Davis wore: a jacket I'd purchased at the Goodwill for fifteen bucks and one of Davis's shirts. Unfortunately, I didn't get Lawson to try on those clothes ahead of time, so when he was getting dressed for the ceremony, nothing fit. Thank goodness Stephen stepped up to the plate:  "Go get a shirt and jacket from my closet."

And that was when we realized Lawson might be the youngest person in our house, but he's also the biggest, because he filled out that jacket more than Stephen did.

Fast forward four months, when we got a contract on our house and had to move out in thirty days. We did a major purge of closets and book cases. One weekend, Lawson and I sorted through the abundance of clothes supplied by cousins, friends, and other relatives. Lawson was supposed to grow into them, but while we weren't looking, he had actually grown past them. Lawson's friend Brennan had stayed the night that weekend, so as we purged, we said, "Brennan, could you wear this?" He ended up taking home three laundry bags of clothes, and we're so glad he could use them!

I took Stephen's sport coat and put it in his closet. Later that night, Stephen emerged from said closet, holding said coat and asked, "What's this?"

"It's your jacket," I said. "It's been in Lawson's closet."

"This isn't my jacket," Stephen said.

Oops. I'd given Stephen's jacket to Brennan and put the Goodwill jacket in Stephen's closet.

So when it came time for Lawson's graduation, we spend one day during spring break at the Men's Wearhouse, where we bought some sport coats--one for Lawson and one for Stephen. Lawson got a nice navy one, and for Stephen we got a tan one similar to the one we'd purged. We also got a great sale price!

And while we were shopping, Lawson said that he wanted to wear a bow tie, so he bought two of them.

When Lawson returned to school, he came home bearing a set of instructions saying that the boys had to wear a shirt and tie but no jacket was required. Great. We considered returning the jackets, but then we decided Lawson and Stephen could wear them on other occasions, and then Lawson decided he was going to wear his jacket to graduation anyway. And he looked so handsome!

My favorite line here: "I always look good."

So Brennan Jones, enjoy that dinner jacket! Sometime soon, you and Lawson can go on a double date to a nice restaurant and wear your fancy clothes.

As it turned out Mills and Drew also wore bow ties, and all those guys looked so dapper!

Graduation began with a Mass followed by the distribution of the diplomas. I was lucky enough to get an aisle seat on the side Lawson and Mills sat on, so I got lots of good video for this installment of Roukos Live: 

The students did the readings, and I think they did quite well, considering they'd had about five minutes to practice and someone had put about fourteen volumes of scripture on the lectern for the readers to sort through. Drew and Mills came through like cool professionals. And Claire was brilliant!
Pardon the shaky video. It's kind of hard to sit still in church.

Then Mrs. Newton, Mrs. Butler, and Monsignor Costigan awarded all the diplomas:

Of course, a graduation ceremony would not be complete without a cluster of family photos taken at the front of the church! Lawson was roasting in that cap and gown, and he was starving. But he patiently allowed us all to pose with him on his big night. 

And now Lawson and his friends are officially in high school! Congratulations! Stay tuned for more Roukos live installments as we watch Lawson Roukos Remler progress through ninth grade.

SACURRITY!

In Remlerville, everything happens at the same time. Before anything else, I want to shout out congratulations to two high school graduates, Courtney and Carson. Have a great summer, and enjoy your journey to LSU and Ole Miss (respectively)!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. Four Remlers went four separate ways over the weekend:

• The Empire State finally departed Montauk, so Davis is now on his way to New Orleans. When we heard from him this afternoon, the ship was just off the Bahamas.
• Stephen played a golf tournament at Crosswinds golf club with Brother Bob, nephew Ben Bob, and other nephew Justin.
• Lawson went to Charolotte, NC to the famous Carowinds, thrill capital of the Southeast with the eighth grade of St. Peter the Apostle School. 
• I went to Atlanta to visit Sabra and Martin in their new house and also got to see a great comedy show and a strange woman's minimized breasts. Yes.  Read on.

I can't tell you much about Davis's journey because our access to him is so limited. In fact, I've told you everything I know in the first bullet above.

The golf tournament was rained out, but we still hope it raised a lot of money for the Calvary Day School scholarship fund.

Lawson returned home from Carowinds at about midnight last night. Because Stephen had taken Lawson and Mills Thompson to the drop off at six o'clock Saturday morning, Mills's mother picked them up last night. Lawson spent the night with Mills, and he still has not come home, so I haven't gotten a report from him. All I know of Carowinds at this point is what I can gather from the following photo:

 Photo courtesy of Kristi Lowenthal

Lawson's wearing his favorite camouflage visor, which makes him a little hard to see. He's also hiding behind a stuffed dinosaur, but you can probably make him out if you look at the back row, second from the right, between Mills Thompson and Anna Price. What do you think, devoted readers? Looks to me like he had a good time. I'll get a full report from Lawson if he ever comes home. He seems to like life at the Thompson household. 

And then there was my trip--my first road trip in my new Honda CRV:

I just love it! It's roomy, and it gets good mileage, and it's a comfortable drive. 

Once I made it above the gnat line, I took a side trip to Indian Springs because I had to do a little research for a story I'm writing. I thought I knew how to get there, but just in case, I turned on the GPS in my trusty iPhone 5, which took me around my behind to get to my elbow, and it took me the back way into the Indian Springs park, which had me driving on a red dirt and gravel road, which kicked up orange dust all over the back of my new car! 

Next time, I'm reading a map. 

Upon arrival at Indian Springs, I visited the spring itself as well as the visitor center and picnic area. I would like to have visited the museum, but it was closed. Boo.

The stone building constructed as a WPA project. 

The spring

The visitors' center, historic home Idlewild, which is on the 

National Register of Historic Places.

  I don't know why this wedding dress was in the visitors' center, 

but I thought it was pretty.

 After my side trip, I found my way back to the interstate by driving through Jackson, Georgia, and even though I was tempted to stop at the Fresh Air Barbecue, I resisted the urge because I knew Sabra was expecting me. 

Sabra has a new house! And it's lovely. She has a fabulous kitchen with granite counter tops and beautiful cabinets. And I envy her gas stove. I haven't cooked on gas in almost ten years and I miss it. 

Her breakfast room looks out into a forest of beautiful hardwoods, and she has a new dining room table that matches Auntma's old break front.

She and Martin are so happy in their new home, and I am looking forward to coming up again for another visit.

We would have been content to sit around and admire their new home, but Sabra and I had shopping to do, so we spent part of Saturday afternoon at Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville. We browsed Dillards, and while we were in the lingerie department checking out the SPANX, another lady was shopping for Wacoal bras. She disappeared into the fitting room and a few minutes later reappeared, hands on hips, chest out. "I don't know if you noticed my boobs earlier," she said to me, "but do these look smaller to you?" 

I've put that question on my list of things I'd never thought I'd have said to me. I replied with a definite "Uhhh..."

She continued. "This is supposed to be a minimizer bra. It has the underwires on the outside instead of the inside. Do you think it's working?"

Really. She was asking me about her bosoms. I'd never met this woman before.

"Well," I replied. "As you said, I have no point of comparison, but I do think that bra is a good fit for you." I thought that was a pretty good reply. Apparently she did too, because she went back into her dressing room, at which point I found Sabra and said, "Quick! Let's go look at shoes!"

 After our shopping trip, we went home to get Martin because he had bought me and Sabra a mother's day present: tickets to see comedienne Anjelah Johnson. Devoted readers might recognize her by her alter ego, Bon Qui Qui:

Not famil? The take a look at the following video before reading further:

The show took place at the lovely Cobb Energy Center, which I had never heard of, even though it's been around for the last several years. That just goes to show that I don't get around Atlanta much when I'm up there. But I'll be sure to check out more shows at that venue because it's mighty nice.
Our seats looked right out over the stage, and we enjoyed Anjelah Johnson very much until SACURRITY showed up and said we were in the wrong seats.

Rude.

Martin tried to talk some sense into him, but he said we had to get up and move to the complete opposite side of the auditorium. Sabra told him, "I will cut you," but he made us move anyway.

Fortunately, just as we were out of our seats, he looked at our tickets again and said, "Oh, no. My bad. I was so wrong. You are in the right seats."

Thought so.

We sat back down and had a great time.

Sabra and Martin

Thanks, Martin, for a wonderful Mother's Day gift! 

And now, I want to alert devoted readers to upcoming special themed posts for Remlerville: 

• Roukos Live

• Back in the Day with Nancy and Sabes  

Roukos Live:  Last spring, Sabra and I came up with the brilliant idea of shooting a series of videos starring Lawson Roukos Remler. We named the show Roukos Live, and we thought said videos would become YouTube sensations, much in the same way that Bon Qui Qui has been. Unfortunately, the life of an upper middle schooler has made it difficult for Lawson to produce the videos with the frequency that Sabra and I had planned. So I think it's going to be up to me to make such episodes happen. First, I'll have to learn how to edit video. Please be patient with that, but while I'm learning, I'll put my amateur Roukos Live short videos and posts on Remlerville, starting with Roukos Live: Lawson Graduates. Stay tuned.

Back in the Day with Nancy and Sabes: Lately I have thoroughly enjoyed preparing several recipes from the Back in the Day Bakery cookbook by Savannahians Cheryl and Griffith Day. I think I've bought about six copies of that cook book to give as gifts. The recipes are just yummy! But they also take practice. When I went up to Atlanta, I gave Sabra a copy, and she's already started trying some recipes out. So we decided to share our experiences on Remlerville. Of course, we won't publish the recipes, as we think Cheryl and Grif deserve to sell more copies, but we will write about our successes and challenges as we try to reproduce what Cheryl and Grif have mastered and sell repeatedly in their Starland District store. So some upcoming posts will be co-authored by the postess with the mostess, Sabra Lawson. Check back soon for our first post:  pudding!