Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 49, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 23, 2006 Page: 4 of 26
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H Hains Countu Leader
TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2006
n
Kitchen
cents
by Donnie Durch
“Is this a joke?” Norma
Rohrbaugh questioned, with
eyebrows raised and eyes wid-
ened, when I invited her to be a
Kitchen Scents’ guest. “Some of
my friends put you up to this,
didn’t they?” she asked. Stifling
a laugh 1 explained that my fea-
tured guests don’t have to be
cooks, they just have to be people.
“Well, I have cooking stories, but
they’re all horrible,” she quipped.
Get ready to grin, folks,
because here are some of them:
Shortly after marriage, Norma’s
husband of now-14 years, Ron,
told her his favorite pie was rhu-
barb, and she could find it in the
produce section. After confessing
to friend Rosalie Crawford that
she’d never made a pie, Rosalie
advised her to use any fruit pie
recipe and substitute rhubarb for
the fruit.
Off to the grocery store Norma
trotted, where she admittedly has
major phobias, and bought what
she thought was rhubarb: It was
rutabaga. “The recipe called for
two cups of fruit, and I told Ron
it took me all day to chop it
up,” she said with a grin. After
sampling a bite, Ron said, “You
made me a turnip pie.” Later he
told people that he didn’t have
the nerve to leave a bite; Norma
said she thought it was actually
pretty good.
She also liked her sesame
chicken, but it was made in a
typical “Normafied” fashion.
Somehow Norma came up with
a recipe for the dish, and the zany
lady bought sesame seed buns
- lots of them. “I picked and
picked all those little seeds off the
buns,” she shared. Ron came in,
saw the buns, and wondered why
they looked so tattered. A call to
her sister informed Norma that
companies actually sell “already
picked-off’ sesame seeds in small
jars.
As for the reason she can’t
cook, Norma explained that her
mother was a wonderful cook
who wanted no one else in the
kitchen. Mom once gave Norma
a jar of homemade jelly. After
sampling it, our guest told her
mother she didn’t want any more
because she got tired of chop-
ping the sugar on the top. “That’s
paraffin,” her mother explained.
“What’s that?” asked Norma.
“Wax,” said Mom.
As goofy as Norma is in the
kitchen, she’s twice as wonderful
in the garden. The Rohrbaughs
live on Lake Fork, and Norma is
famous in the Alba-Golden area
for her iris beds. She credits Ron,
who previously had a beautifully
landscaped yard in Arlington,
with teaching her to learn tech-
niques of good gardening from
books. The most important thing
is to prepare the soil correctly,
she said. Ron uses a fine-mulch
landscape mix to which he adds
manure.
Norma’s face was aglow as she
told me about her irises. There are
so many different varieties, such
as the new space-age. Maybe
the beards go up or down or
maybe they’re tall or short. Irises
are wonderful xeriscape plants
(native to the area and need little
attention), and Norma said people
don’t believe her when she says
the only time they need water is
when she plants or divides them.
Other favorite xeriscape plants
include coreopsis, lantana, purple
coneflower, garlic and day lilies.
Now to the photo. Nonna is
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active in the Iris Garden Club in
Golden, and last October during
the Golden Sweet Potato Festi-
val, the club entered a float in
the commode race. Norma sat on
the float’s “throne” while Shirlee
Perkins (left) pulled and Mag-
gie Lundy (right) pushed. “We
won and when Shirlee passed
that finish line, she turned loose
and off 1 went into the wild blue
yonder,” Norma added. The club
won The Golden Throne award,
and Norma's friends who made
the trek from Longview to watch
the race now call her "The Queen
of the Latrine.”
Meanwhile, First Baptist
Church of Alba and the wonder-
ful people there are also a big
part of Nonna’s life. She’s one
of several ladies who volunteer at
Wood Memorial Nursing Flome
to paint residents’ fingernails.
“I’m the one who’s blessed by
it,” she added.
Norma's had several careers.
She was a beauty operator for
25 years, was a florist (right up
her alley), sold hospital prod-
ucts, and worked in the Pier One
warehouse. And she went from
working on the stealth bomber to
selling children’s shoes at Foley’s
- talk about diversity.
Back to the kitchen where she’s
a nervous wreck. When Norma
takes food to gatherings, she’s
positive people take itty-bitty por- •
tions because they’re scared of
her cooking. The mixer winds up
on high speed and throws icing
and mashed potatoes all over the
ceiling. Weed eating is no better:
she turns it up instead of down
and winds up in rose bushes.
To know Norma is to love her.
Admittedly, she said her sense
of humor has been her salvation
all her life. The petite ball of
fire confessed that she’s the only
person she knows who’s gotten
lost in Alba. Her laugh is infec-
tious, and I certainly left with a
smile on my face. That’s no joke,
folks.
(For obvious reasons, Norma
asked the Leader staff to provide
recipes. The last thing she 'd ever
want is to make readers nervous
about eating one of her concoc-
tions. )
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Hoppin’ John
2 c. dried black-eyed peas
1/2 lb. salt pork, quartered
2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped green pepper
1 bay leaf
2-1/2 c. water
1 c. uncooked long-grained rice
1- 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
few drops of hot sauce
Sort and wash peas; place in a
large Dutch oven. Add water 2 inches
above peas, and bring to a boil. Boil 1
minute; cover, remove from heat and
let stand 1 hour.
Drain peas, and return to dutch
oven; add salt pork and next 3 ingre-
dients. Cover with water; simmer,
covered, 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until peas
are tender and water has cooked very
low. Remove salt pork, if desired. Add
2- 1/2 cups water and remaining 5
ingredients to peas. Cover and cook
over low heat 20 minutes or until
rice is tender Discard bay leaf before
serving. Yield: 8 side-dish servings.
Spanish Rice
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 c. uncooked long-grain rice
2 lg. green peppers, chopped
2 lg. stalks celery, chopped
2 med. onions, finely chopped
2 tsp. cumin seeds, crushed
1 to 1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
6 c. water
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
Heat oil over medium-high heat
in a heavy Dutch oven; add rice and
next 8 ingredients to Dutch oven,
and cook until rice is browned, stir-
ring often. Stir in water and tomato
sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to
medium; cover and cook 25 minutes
or until liquid is absorbed and rice is
tender. Yield: 8 side-dish servings.
Dirty Rice
2 c. uncooked long-grain rice
1 qt. water
5 chicken wings
5 chicken gizzards
5 chicken hearts
5 chicken livers
1 lb. ground hot pork sausage
1/4 c. butter, margarine or bacon
drippings
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 c. choppea green pepper
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
Cook rice according to package
directions and set aside. Combine
water and next 3 ingredients in a
Dutch oven: bring to a boil. Covet;
reduce heat, and simmer 20 min-
utes, add chicken livers, and cook
10 to 12 minutes or until tender
Drain, reserving 3/4 c. liquid; remove
meat from wings; coarsely chop wing
meat, gizzards, hearts, and livers.
Set meat aside.
Brown sausage in Dutch oven,
stirring until it crumbles; drain and
set aside. Melt butter in Dutch oven;
add onion, green pepper, and celery.
Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or
until tender, stirring often. Add sau-
sage, chopped meat, and reserved
liquid. Bring to a boil; covet; reduce
heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in
cooked rice and parsley. Serve warm.
Yield: 8 main-dish servings.
Southern Pralines
2 c. sugar
2 c. pecan halves
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
Combine first 5 ingredients in a
large heavy saucepan. Cook over low
heat, stirring gently until sugar dis-
solves. Cover and cook over medium
heat 2 to 3 minutes to wash down
sugar crystals from sides of pan.
Uncover and cook to softball stage
pr until candy thermometer registers
234 deg. stirring constantly. Remove
from heat and stir in soda. Beat with
a wooden spoon just until mixture
begins to thicken. Working rapidly,
drop by tablespoons onto greased
waxed paper; let stand until firm.
Yield: 2 dozen.
This is a candy you want to stay
with as it cooks. When it’s cooked, be
ready to beat mixture with a wooden
spoon just until it loses its gloss;
then drop mounds quickly onto
waxed paper
Microwave Directions: Combine
first 5 ingredients in a 4-quart
microwave-safe bowl, stirring well.
Microwave at HIGH 12 minutes, stir-
ring every 4 minutes. Stir in soda.
Microwave at HIGH 1 minute. Beat
with a wooden spoon just until
mixture begins to thicken. Wbridng
rapidly, drop by tablespoons onto
greased waxki paper; let stand until
firm.
2
It’s a boy.. .and another boy
Twin boys Ty and Trent Kirby
were bom March 30, 2006, at
Hopkins County Memorial Hos-
pital in Sulphur Springs.
Trent weighed 5 lbs., 3 ozs.
while Ty weighed in at 4 lbs.,
12 ozs.
Proud parents are Tonya and
Tracy Kirby of Emory. Also wel-
coming the twins home were big
brothers Junior and Bubba and
big sisters Summer and Cora.
N.E.T.O. Menu
May 30-31
Monday: Holiday
Tuesday: Chicken spaghetti,
seasoned corn, engiish peas,
bread, cookies.
Wednesday: Meatballs and
gravy, mashed potatoes, sea-
soned carrots, wheat bread, pud-
ding.
Grandparents are Patsene
Kirby and Chuck Kirby of Arp.
Great grandmother is Mary
Kirby of Emory.
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MATTRESS
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Hill, Earl Clyde, Jr. Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 49, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 23, 2006, newspaper, May 23, 2006; Emory, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth766971/m1/4/?q=music: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rains County Library.