Columns

Henry David Thoreau once said “Our lives are frittered away by details. Simplify, simplify.”

Those of you who know me know that I do not take myself seriously. In my writing, I like to express my thoughts and opinions about two important things that affect all of us big time. Our health and happiness, are subjects I do take seriously.

We are making great improvements in most of the areas of health. We are losing ground in diabetes and obesity.

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Governor Greg Abbott wrote an op-ed featured in the Houston Chronicle that expressed his commitment to reining in skyrocketing property taxes. This issue is a top priority of the Governor's special session call.

Everything is bigger in Texas - including, unfortunately, your property tax rate. In fact, Texas has one of the highest effective real estate tax rates in the nation. Only Illinois and New Jersey beat us. Let that sink in. Illinois. And New Jersey. That's unacceptable.

Texas is still the envy of the nation. With our strong economy, overall lower costs of living and high quality of life, Texas remains the best place to raise a family, build a business and create greater opportunity for all.

Correction

In my column last week, the address for the Geranium House Tea Room should have been on the corner of Wood St. and Old Tyler Hwy. in Athens.

Serving breakfast foods any time of day

Good day, readers! Have you had breakfast yet, or are you eating it as you read the newspaper?

As for me, well, I’m a steadfast breakfast eater. During all the stages of my life, I have eaten breakfast nearly every single day.

With the primary function of breakfast being to reboot the metabolism by providing an energy source to fuel the body for its daily functions and activities, we can do so by eating a variety of different types of food. Some of the most popular breakfast foods consist of cold or hot cereals, biscuits, breads, meats, doughy cakes particularly pancakes and waffles, and potatoes, mostly fried home-styled and hash browns.

Mexican food tops my faves list

Do you have a favorite type of food? Well, Mexican food tops my list of favorite cuisines with Italian food and down-home country cooking racing neck and neck for second place.

While recently surveying my pantry for needed grocery items, I felt as if I were being watched. And, indeed, I was. An entire basketful of sprouting potatoes had dozens of eyes staring right at me!

The perfect excuse

Many moons ago, I had a sales organization and we sold motivational books on records including a portable player. It was fun and profitable.

Luther T. was a below-average salesman and had an excuse for everything he did or did not do. People would attend our meetings just to hear his latest excuse. His excuses were complex, creative and well crafted. He was a master of excuse presentation.

Here are several of my favorites:

“You all know my beloved spouse, Ima Jean. Well, she thought she had pneumonia, but the intern doctor gave her a subscription and it turned out to be a runny nose.”  You must admit this is an unusual excuse for being late.

“Luther Jr. would have made a touchdown, but nearly had a compounding fragment of his kicking leg when he dropped that ball, because it was tossed flappity by that skinny kid whom is of short height.”  That is one complicated convoluted excuse for being late.

Canton Herald July 13, 1961

Mr. and Mrs. David Norman will celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary on July 16, 1961.

Column 16 of The Inspired Cook for the Canton Herald

                Summertime is the perfect time to teach your children an essential life skill that they can utilize for the rest of their lives—how to cook. With this knowledge, they not only can improve the quality of their lives but also their health.

                Research shows that children who help cook family meals are more inclined to eat a more healthful diet. Another benefit of helping to cook involves their eagerness to try new foods, which should please many parents.

Old habits are hard to break and switching to good habits is even harder. In one of my college classes we talked about habits. All right handers were told to put their pencil in the left hand. Left handers switched to the right hand. Next, we wrote our name on a paper as fast and as neatly as we could. My writing was awful. My name looked Chinese. Now here is the shocker. We graded each other’s papers for the grade to go on our record for the day. Nobody gave an A or F. Only B’s and C’s.

Bad work was not called bad work. It was “politically correct.”

Canton Herald, June 29, 1961

Such a Special celebration is scheduled Tuesday, July 4^th by the Canton Fire Department after a barbecue and picnic at the Canton City Park.

According to Chick Chaney, program chairman, two baseball games are being scheduled. One game will be played between the local boys’ team and out of town team. Chaney told the Herald that the firemen are trying to arrange a white-colored girls, 10 to 15 years of age, game also.

There will be a barbecue dinner served chuck wagon style beginning at 5 p.m. and lasting until 7 p.m. Music will be furnished during the barbecue by Blake Martin and his Westerners.

T. D Brown, fire chief, said that there will be pony rides for the children beginning at 1p.m. in the afternoon along with boat rides for the adults.

Best Baked Beans

With family reunions, picnics, and Independence Day fast approaching, I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite recipes, which would be perfect to serve at any of these occasions.

I created it 38 years ago. Simply called my best baked beans, they are the best I’ve ever eaten. Everyone who has eaten them has loved them, too. No brag, just fact.

My inspiration for creating it came from a recipe an old cookbook. The original recipe called for using dried beans, which was too time-consuming in my opinion. Therefore, I chose to use canned pork and beans instead. By the way, Van Camps is the only brand that I recommend using.