Corey and Lorena From New Jersey and “Act Naturally”

        You remember Cory and Lorena from New Jersey?  They are on an extended stay in the South and gonna be here about a month. They came for the Darin and Brooke Aldridge festival and looked up me and Marfar.

        They’ve got ’em a new 5th wheel type rig and parked here in Harvey County for a few days. Bluegrass people have a sixth sense of where the best places are. I’m always amazed at their intuition. Cory and Lorena are only about a mile upstream from Indie’s cabin on the river. Indie always said it was the best spot in the County.

          They invited us over to jam tonight.  We cooked some chops on the grill, and split open a cantaloupe. I sat back and picked Cory’s fine Deering banjo and watched the birds fly and the water rush along. The river was slow a few weeks back, but we’ve had some good rain. The weather was perfect and I didn’t pull on a sweat shirt until dark thirty.

       Cory and Lorena are gonna be at MerleFest. I’ll have to tell Ted and Irene Lehmann about them.  Isn’t New Jersey up there near New Hampshire somewhere? I bet they’d enjoy getting to know them, ’cause wherever you go bluegrass folks are kindred spirits.

        I’ve heard from my publisher. Out of superstition I’m not gonna name ’em yet, but I grow more confident every week. Right now they are on a final line edit to check for periods and commas, so it is close.

        They told me a newspaper man who liked bluegrass got wind of the project and asked to preview it.  He liked it so much he wanted to render a quote for the jacket. That tickled me ’cause I’d never met him before. I don’t know what he’ll say, but I figure I’m a  doctor and this man writes for a living. If he says I write okay for a doctor, that’s good enough for me.  If he likes it, I musta done something right.

        Really though, I’m just like Buck Owens. All I know how to do is act naturally. I ain’t Hemingway. I’m just good old Dr. B, and it’ll have to do.

Dr. B

Advertisement

Mississippi Momma’s Famous Chocolate Cobbler (Laps in Seven)

        Some time back Smitty from Mississippi sent a chocolate cobbler recipe.  One of my readers, Ms. Cindy, couldn’t find it and asked that I re-post it.  It was a hit with her Sunday School class (and also Ranger Dog; see below) so I got Smitty to send it to me again.  I call it ‘Mississppi Momma’s Chocolate Cobbler,’ but in the interest of full disclosure she got it from the piano player at church.  Smitty not only sent it, but remembered he posted it in the comments around July 4th, and found it in my archives.

        Here it is.  Oh and after the recipe; the rest of the story. 

2 sticks of margarine placed in the pan the cobbler is going to be made in, melt the margarine in the oven

Mix all of this stuff in a bowl
1 1/2 cups of self rising flour( got to be Martha White ain’t it?)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3/4 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Mix all this good and pour into the pan with the margarine

Next Bowl of real good stuff
1 cup of sugar
5 tablespoons of cocoa( now we are talking)
mix together
sprinkle over the flour mixture you have in the margarine pan

Then 1 1/2 cups of water over the whole thing

Time to bake, I love this
350 degrees for 30 minutes
or if you have a hot oven, according to Momma, 325 for 35 minutes, that’s what makes her momma.

        Now for the rest of the story:  Keep in mind this is a physician bluegrass fiction blog. The above is a real recipe.  And even though the following is fiction, it is a true story.

        Last year Ms. Cindy had some folks over to dinner and served up the cobbler for dessert.  All the guests loved it.  After everyone left, Ranger Dog leaped up on the counter, snatched the bowl in his jaws, and took off to the rec room to watch Rin Tin Tin re-runs.  He was getting ready to do his best imitation of ‘Laps in Seven.’  Now that is a bluegrass dog, ’cause as all my friends know Sam Bush was inspired to write the number when he heard his dog lapping up water in perfect time.  (Was it 7/8?) 

        Well, Ms. Cindy took the bowl away from him right away even though there was only a little bit of chocolate left.  (The guests had all but licked the bowl clean themselves.)  She called the vet to be sure, and they confirmed that not only is chocolate bad for dogs, but once they get a hold of it, they tend to crave more.  

        The vet’s office was so impressed with Ms. Cindy’s concern for her dog they hired her!  Everyone came out good except Ranger Dog is still trying to figure out how to get into that chocolate, but Ms. Cindy’s quick action saved his life.  

        Anyway, y’all try the chocolate cobbler.  I had some when I was in Mississippi and it was excellent, so I can recommend it from experience.  Just keep it away from the family dog; they’ll snarf it up if you aren’t careful.

Dr. B