I'm going to try something new.....

All my life people have told me I am a wonderful baker. I get compliments on every dessert I take to any gathering. People will ask me to make a certain item for them and I do. Recently, a friend of mine wanted 2 dozen of my brownie cookies. She took them to her work and when word got out about how good they were, even the plant personnel were sneaking into the office to see if there were any more cookies. 

Her co-workers wanted to know how much I charged and I gave them a price and now they are getting ready to order a bunch of cookies. Got me to thinking, I should start selling my desserts. Obviously, I will have to determine the price based on where I have to drive to meet them or if they come pick them up. Here's are some pictures of the ones I think people would buy. Would love to hear your thoughts?

Brownie cookies

Reese's peanut butter brownie trifle

Orange cream cookies with orange icing

No-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies

Cinnamon sugar donuts

Monster Cookies

Cinnamon swiss chocolate frosted cookies

Molasses cookies

Peanut Butter cookies

My famous chocolate cake with a family recipe for the frosting.

Lemon Sprite pound cake

Reese's peanut butter fudge

Brookie (brownie and chocolate chip cookie mixed together)

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Sunday's in the South

A lot of people do not view West Virginia as "the south". But I am here to tell you my hometown was small town with southern manners and traditions. We were located in the southwest portion of the state and bordered with lower Ohio and Eastern Kentucky. So despite what some people say, we were Southern to the core. Offer somebody a glass of unsweet tea from my hometown and you will get my drift. Today I want to share with you a typical Sunday as I was growing up.

(Daddy and my cousin Nancy)

As she was every day of her life, Mom was up before everybody else and fixing breakfast. Mostly homemade biscuits, bacon, and fried eggs. I remember her making bacon gravy but not every morning. Sometimes on Sundays, it was homemade pancakes from scratch fixed in the same iron skillet she had just fried bacon in. 

There were four of us kids and Mom and Dad. So there was a lot of hectic craziness on Sunday mornings because it was a hard and fast rule that we get up, eat, and get ready for Sunday School and church. Mom & Dad didn't drive so we didn't have a car. We walked a little over a mile to the church every Sunday...rain, shine or even snow. 

In spring and summer, after church we would walk back home and my Aunt Frances and her seven children, my Aunt Dee Dee, my Mamaw Eden and most weeks my Uncle Charlie and Aunt Louise with their twins Mary & Carey would come home with us after church. 

The women would gather in the kitchen and make fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, peas, and/or corn. Usually there was gravy and sometimes Mom would open a can of Franco American Meatballs in Brown gravy for me because back then, I didn't like chicken. (SHOCK)

Dessert was always something Mom had made on Saturday. It varied but we had such things as chocolate cake with chocolate icing (like the one I always make), spice cake with caramel icing, cherry pie, apple pie, graham cracker pie or banana pudding. 

And there was always sweet tea or Kool-Aid.

The afernoon was spent either playing baseball or badmitton in the yard or taking a long walk in the woods behind the house. 

We loved Sundays. 

Mothman, Chief Cornstalk and the Silver Bridge

Like many other older towns across the United States, Point Pleasant in West Virginia has its fair share of historical tales. A mixture of legend and truth. Some I believe, some I'm not sure of and some I'd rather not know. One story that has stood the test of time and believed by many, young and old, is the story of Mothman.




But first, we must travel back in time to Chief Cornstalk, reported to be one of the most powerful indian chiefs in his time. After the American Revolution he was trying to create a treaty of a sort to keep his Shawnee tribe on their Ohio side of the river. But due to several problems as he tried to create diplomatic negotiations, Chief Cornstalk was arrested and held at Fort Randolph in Point Pleasant, WV. His son arrived to visit. Meanwhile 2 members of the fort were out hunting and ambushed and killed by a Native tribe. The people of the fort were enraged so Cornstalk and his son were shot as retribution for the attack. Legend says as he laid dying, Cornstalk placed a curse upon the land.

“I was the border man’s friend. Many times I have saved him and his people from harm. I never warred with you, but only to protect our wigwams and lands. I refused to join your paleface enemies with the red coats. I came to the fort as your friend and you murdered me. You have murdered by my side, my young son…. For this, may the curse of the Great Spirit rest upon this land. May it be blighted by nature. May it even be blighted in its hopes. May the strength of its people’s be paralyzed by the stain of our blood.”

Fast forward to 1966 when the first "sightings" were reported of a great winged creature with large glowing eyes. On November 12, 1966, five men who were digging a grave at a cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia, claimed to have seen a man-like figure fly low from the trees over their heads. This is often identified as the first known sighting of what became known as the Mothman.

Shortly thereafter, on November 15, 1966, two young couples from Point Pleasant, Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette, told police they saw a large grey creature whose eyes "glowed red" when the car's headlights picked it up. They described it as a "large flying man with ten-foot wings". 

These sightings continued for a year until December 1967. On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed under the weight of rush-hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. 

Two of the victims were never found. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure of a single eyebar in a suspension chain, due to a small defect 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) deep. Analysis showed that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than it had originally been designed for and had been poorly maintained. 

Pictures soon circulated of a strange bird like creature or spirit perch on top of the bridge. Was it a coincidence or was Mothman there to warn of impending doom?

Was the collapse of the Silver Bridge due to Cornstalks curse? Did the Mothman ultimately have something to do with it or was this unexplained phenomena sent as a warning? According to reports,  Mothman sightings precede several catastrophic events over the next several decades. 

I remember the Silver Bridge collapse. I had just turned 11 two days before it happened. I was sitting in the floor with my cousin playing bingo when they interruped local programming the the news. I remember it was cold and I was thinking how freezing the water must be and feeling so sad about the whole thing. It was a long time after that before I ever felt safe crossing a bridge.

That is why the story of Mothman and Chief Cornstalk has always been of interest to me. You can google it and there are many, many stories about the connection between the two and the disasters that plaqued that area for over 200 years.

Faith Filled Friday

For many years, my Friday posts were always about Faith. I wanted to start that segment back up because I really enjoyed writing it. Whether you have faith in God, faith in mankind, faith in family and friends, whatever you place your faith in, it is one of the most positive impacts you can have in your life. Do I always have faith? As much as I like to believe I do, I'm like everybody else. I strive for it, but I don't always keep it as strong as I want. It's my belief that faith is achieved by having hope. When you have hope and faith together and sprinkle that with your dreams and goals, it can be a powerful thing. 

Sometimes we put our faith in others and when we are hurt or let down, we find ourselves struggling, overthinking, and yes even stressing over things we have no control over. Only we realize in the end that we were worried about nothing. How many wasteful moments of our life do we lose happiness or peace by worrying about things that are not even happening? 

I have the dearest friend in the world who knows my mind better than I do. He can tell when I am overthinking things. He calls me on it and sets me back on course. He is constantly encouraging me to dream BIG. It's in my darkest moments when I start to despair and he pulls me back to the reality that I cling to my faith and know, it's okay. I can have my moments and my crazy thoughts. But I can't park a camper and live there. 

Those times are the times that I am most aware how much I need faith. Faith is that unshakeable, unquestionable mindset that lets you know everything is going to be okay. It's that feeling that can keep you focused and keep your eyes on the journey not just on one specific moment in time. So have faith and cling to your hope and dream big.