Monday, May 26, 2008

West Virginia Slaw Dog!

A true southern West Virginian hot dog is a wild and wonderful creation founded in the Huntington to Charleston area. These heavenly delights aren't common to those of us north of the Mason-Dixon line. The "Hillbilly Slaw Dog" begins with a dog placed in the center of a bun. Mustard is then carefully squirted the length of the dog. Chili sauce is spooned atop the mustard. Then the key ingredient is added "coleslaw". The creamy sweet cole slaw is liberally added and then sprinkled with chopped onions. This unique combination promises to tantalize even the most stubborn of health food diners. Catsup, Ketchup to us Heinz lovers, is NOT permitted as it taints the taste with an acid flavor. To be a true West Virginian Hot Dog the dog must included sweet creamy cole slaw! This recipe is perfect to offset the spicy, hot chili sauce...
West Virginian Sweet Dog Slaw
  • 1 head of cabbage (shredded)
  • 1/4 cup sweet onion
  • 1 C mayo
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/4 C apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon celery seed

Mix shredded cabbage and onion in large bowl. In a small bowl, mix mayo, sugar and vinegar, celery. Pour sauce over cabbage mixture and mix thoroughly. Chill. Add to hot dog!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Hummingbirds and Fairies...


Whimsical beauty of hummingbirds is ethereal and fairy like.

Their feathers glow in the sun's iridescent light.

As fairies leap and bound behind our closed eye lids,

so do the hummers as they take flight.

Humming birds and fairies take special delight

dancing into our hearts and souls then taking rapid flight

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Roses and their color's meaning!



Hello,
Not exactly a recipe but I love the "Rose"and decided to share a little. This is a little history of the rose and the meanings behind the colors. The meanings have changed through time and can carry a different meaning when coupled with a different color or even flower.
The rose began as a simple but perfect flower in the dawn of creation. Roses had five petals – they remained 5 petaled throughout pre-history. The simple, single, sweetly-scented rose is the essence of the rose – a thing of beauty – a joy - hardy- healthy protected by thorns. This variety is what we call today the "Wild Rose". In Crete , there are Frescoes dated 1700BC illustrating a rose with five petaled pink blossoms. Discoveries of tombs in Egypt have unveiled wreaths made with flowers, including the rose. The wreath in the tomb of Hawara dates to about 170 AD. This is a representation of the oldest preserved record of a rose species still living.I personally feel that God has given a history to the rose that runs similar to that of the human race.
Throughout the history of civilization, no other flower has been so immortalized and woven into daily life as the rose. Poetry to music, from festivitivals to wars, Mother’s Day to Valentine’s Day, and birth to death, the rose has held a unique symbolic role. The symbolism alone has filled more than a book or two. Below is a simple chart of the meaning of the colors. Please note that Black and Purple roses are not naturally grown though I could have missed a new variety.
Red Love, beauty, courage and respect
White Purity and innocence, silence or secrecy, also reverence and humility
Pink Appreciation,"Thank you", grace, perfect happiness, and admiration
Dark Pink Appreciation, gratitude
Light Pink admiration, sympathy
Yellow Joy, gladness, friendship, delight, the promise of a new beginning
Orange Desire, and enthusiasm
Purple/Lilac enchantment and desire
Black, Death
Red and White Given together, these signify unity.
Red Rosebud A symbol of purity and loveliness
White Rosebud Symbolic of girlhood
Thornless Rose Signifies "Love at first sight".
Single Long Stemmed Rose, Passion, Love Forever
Now for my nickname~
My initials are S.L.K. ~Silky, Soft~How my children and friends describe me, Rose~The simple Biblical meaning and what the flower has meant to me.
God Bless,
Silky aka Sheri
The links are for an Organic Cookbook!

Friday, May 16, 2008

It Flits in flight and always delights~The Monarch Butterfly!


Living by the Ohio River I get to delight in the fluttering wings of the Monarch as they fly by and sometimes land upon bright flowers. Declared the official butterfly of West Virginia on March 1, 1995. Its loyalty to the Ohio River banks always fascinates me. It brings the banks alive with its wings and orange colours. The monarch butterfly is sometimes called the "milkweed butterfly" because its larvae eat the plant. In fact, milkweed is the only thing the larvae can eat! If you'd like to attract monarchs to your garden, you can try planting milkweed. Once the larvae transform into the winged orange and black insect it sips nectar from flowers. At summer's end, migrates south to Mexico. The butterflies that you see in the spring are the great grandchildren of the ones that lived in Mexico during the winter.Click on the above/below banner to find out how to attract butterflies to your yard!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Mother's Day

Most countries celebrate Mother's Day. On this day, it is common for Mothers to be lavished with special attention from their children and loved ones. But it hasn’t always been this way.
Only recently named “Mother's Day,” the highly traditional practice of honoring of Motherhood is rooted in antiquity, and past rites typically had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones. Societies tended to celebrate Goddesses and symbols. The actual celebrating of Mom for Mother’s Day is a relatively new occurance. The maternal objects of adoration ranged from mythological female deities to the Christian Church itself. Only in the past few centuries did celebrations of Motherhood develop a human focus and not until the 1900s was it an accepted holiday in the USA.
The earliest historical records celebrating a Mother deity is found with the ancient Egyptians, who held a yearly festival to honor Isis. Isis had a stern, handsome head crowned by a pair of bull horns enclosing a fiery sun orb. Isis’ brother-husband Osiris was slain and dismembered in 13 pieces by their jealous brother Seth, Isis re-assembled Osiris’ body and then used it to impregnate herself. She gave birth to Horus, whom she was forced to hide amongst the reeds so he wouldn't be slaughtered by Seth. Horus grew up and defeated Seth. He then became ruler of Egypt. Thus Isis became as the Mother of the pharaohs.
The Mother and Son imagery of Isis and Horus, in which Isis cradles and suckles her son, is similar to Mary and baby Jesus.
Julia Ward Howe Howe initially worked to have a Mother's Day made a national holiday in the United States but was unsuccessful. Unless she personally funded the ocasion it didn't seem to work.Despite the decided failure of her holiday, Howe had nevertheless planted the seed that would bloom into what we know as Mother’s Day today. A West Virginia women’s group led by Anna Reeves Jarvis began to celebrate an adaptation of Howe’s holiday. In order to re-unite families and neighbors that had been divided between the Union and Confederate sides of the Civil War, the group held a Mother’s Friendship Day.
After Anna Reeves Jarvis died, her daughter Anna M. Jarvis campaigned for the creation of an official Mother’s Day in remembrance of her mother and in honor of peace. In 1908, Anna petitioned the superintendent of the church where her Mother had spent over 20 years teaching Sunday School. Her request was honored, and on May 10, 1908, the first official Mother's Day celebration took place at Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia and a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The West Virginia event drew a congregation of 407 and Anna Jarvis arranged for white carnations, her Mother’s favorite flower, to adorn the women. Two carnations were given to every Mother in attendance. White carnations are used to honor deceased Mothers, while pink or red carnations honor Mothers who are still alive. Andrew's Methodist Church exists to this day, and was incorporated into The International Mother's Day Shrine in 1962.
This little country church still holds the charm to invite Moms' to enter and worship!
Mom's need to be appreciated all the time so click on the link below to lavish her with special recipes from famous restaurants...
https://paydotcom.com/r/43498/slkernik/18151561/