Life takes weird turns for us all, and that holds true for my good friends, Ann and Cecil Booth. But while my strange and wonderful events are common, ordinary happenings typical of retired life in Angleton, the Booths are extraordinary people. Which means things sometimes come back to bite them â literally.
Annâs retired, like Nelson and me, but olâ Cecil hasnât quite pulled the trigger on the âsix Saturdays and a Sundayâ lifestyle; his Port Freeport job still beckons him on a fairly regular basis (heâs slowly warming up to retirement notions). But come weekends, youâll usually find Ann and Cecil up in Houston with family, in College Station tending to yard mowing at their A&M retreat or at their latest project up Highway 71 near LaGrange.
There they own a piece of land outside West Point â with dreams of golden years in the not-so-distant future. Cecil has worked feverishly to clear the land and construct a pretty mean, nearly completed barndominium; itâs an on-going project.
Back while barn construction was in full-swing, Cecil took the brunt of the labor, and Ann was quick to help him fetch a hammer here, a tape measure there â you know, complementary roles. And when she wasnât needed in her builderâs helper position, Ann would often don gloves and hat to garden to her heartâs content. Actually, to pull weeds.
That hilly country up the gently sloping terrain along Highway 71âs Bluebonnet corridor is dry as bones; folks in that neck of the woods are always on the look-out for a variety of vermin and critters. Vicious scorpions are at the top of their lists; of them Ann and Cecil have long-time taken note.
One weekend this fall theyâd headed north to work on the barn; Ann grabbed her well-worn gardening gloves and ventured out to weed away. As she always did, my friend pounded her gloves with a clenched fist, lest those pesky arachnids (imagine â kinfolk to spiders!) were to have crawled into the interior of her gloves. Ann is very wise.
With no reaction from any such critter, Ann slid hands into gloves and began her gardening chores. A pull here, a tug there ⦠our petite powerhouse was in her element. One tough weed proved a challenge, and Ann forced her thumb down to make the retrieval. instantly, a sharp, agonizing pain tore through that digit and fairly charged right up her arm â as though a white-hot needle had been thrust between her thumb and nailbed.
Ann threw that glove off in a knee-jerk reaction, probably said something no one will ever know or believe in a month of Sundays and ran into the barn for some first aid and a little Cecil sympathy, receiving more of the former than the latter.
Telling us of her memorable outing, I couldnât help but realize what I already knew. Ann Boothâs not one to belabor a point; she wonât exaggerate or play drama queen in relating an adventure, and I sure admire her for that. But for all her efforts to be aware and take sensible precaution, sometimes life just creeps down a finger of your glove and waits to surprise you with a bold, deliberate reminder of its unpredictability â and its wrath.
Like a good pal, I sympathized with my friend, Ann. My heart hurt for her; so did all my fingers. When I got home, I put my own garden gloves into Zip-Loc baggies ⦠and we donât even have scorpions down here. But we have spidersâ and you know how much I love them.
1 (16-ounce package) Little Smokies
Cut each bacon strip in half widthwise. Wrap one piece of bacon around each sausage. Place in foil-lined 15-by-10-inch baking pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 400 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until bacon is crisp and sausage is heated through.
8 ounce sharp Cheddar cheese
1 pound fully-cooked ham, chopped
4 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 8-ounce can sauerkraut, drained
1/2 cup Thousand Island dressing
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine ham, cheese, sauerkraut and dressing. Cover; microwave 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, until cheese is melted, stirring once. Serve on rye bread or crackers.
4 boxes chopped spinach, drained
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 packages Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not for dip)
1 jar Hormel real bacon bits
Large-sized flour tortillas
Mix all ingredients; spread on tortillas. Roll up and refrigerate overnight. Cut into bite-sized pieces.
Cheddar Ranch Chicken Strips
1 packet ranch dressing mix
3 cups Cheez-Its crackers, finely-crushed
Slice chicken breasts against the grain into strips. Place into bowl; add buttermilk and ranch packet. Stir until well-coated. Cover; refrigerate at least one hour. Place pieces of marinated chicken into a baggie of cracker crumbs to coat; place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping halfway.
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
Wash, stem mushrooms. Dry thoroughly. Mix sausage, cheese and soup mix together. Spoon mixture into mushrooms. Bake at 350 degrees covered with foil 30 minutes.
Pineapple Cream Cheese Ball
2 packages softened cream cheese
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained well
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
Combine first six ingredients; roll mixture into pecans to coat; chill. Serve with assorted crackers.
Hope these help with holiday gatherings! Much love.
Patti Lanier Bludau is a resident of Angleton. Her column appears each weekend and Wednesday in The Facts. Contact her at [email protected].
