Extra Credit Questions

[Laurie Verge]

Wow - I really do know a little bit of general Lincoln history!!!

[J. Beckert]

You've been smokin' these trivia questions lately! What have you been eating?

[Laurie Verge]

Crab cakes, hush puppies, cat fish, gumbo, grits, and Moon Pies... I'm mad at myself right now because Lindsey is doing a Booth Tour today, and I forgot to give her money to get me some Virginia peanuts and Pecan Logs.

The last bathroom stop on the tour is at one of the last Horne's Restaurants known to man, I think, and they have every form of junk food and junk trinkets you can think of. They also make milk shakes the old-fashioned way with the 1950s green machine and the metal cups that give you two huge servings.

[RJNorton]

Who made this observation about Abraham Lincoln?

"He reached forth one of his long arms, and took a small Bible from a stand near the head of the sofa, opened the pages of the holy book, and soon was absorbed in reading them. A quarter of an hour passed, and on glancing at the sofa the face of the President seemed more cheerful. The dejected look was gone, and the countenance was lighted up with new resolution and hope. The change was so marked that I could not but wonder at it, and wonder led to the desire to know what book of the Bible afforded so much comfort to the reader. Making the search for a missing article an excuse, I walked gently around the sofa, and looking into the open book, I discovered that Mr. Lincoln was reading that divine comforter, Job."

[Laurie Verge]

I'm going to blow my winning streak here, but Dr. Gurley of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church? I am saying that because Lincoln often sat in the parlor off the main nave of the church rather than in his pew. I have sat on the sofa in that parlor and can imagine him sitting there and reading Bible passages.

[RJNorton]

Terrific guess, Laurie, but it wasn't him.

[J. Beckert]

Elizabeth Keckly?

[Laurie Verge]

Joe - That was my first guess; and if you win, the war is back on!

[J. Beckert]

You're on. I just ate my last two Moon Pies and I'm trying to figure out what a hush puppy is.

[RJNorton]

I am sorry, Laurie, but Joe is correct. Elizabeth Keckly made the observation in Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.

[J. Beckert]

The Moon Pies worked! Start runnin' you little Rebel! I've discovered your Rebel "brain food".

[Jim Page]

(04-06-2013 04:20 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  I'm trying to figure out what a hush puppy is.

Hey!

Hush puppies are round bits of fried dough that you give the dogs/puppies instead of the fish, oysters or shrimp or whatever else you are frying!

I love 'em. Some of the best-- unfortunately, no longer available in the Washington, DC, area-- were offered at the Chesapeake Seafood House restaurants years ago. They also had wonderful gumbo served in a coffee cup.

I've tried for years to get my wife, Patty, to include bits of onion in her delicious hush puppies but, for some reason, she considers that an affront to true Southern cooking and refuses to do it!!! She also won't include oysters in her Thanksgiving turkey dressing/stuffing. She'll sometimes make a small amount for me that includes oysters, but she also considers that non-traditional Southern fare.

--Jim

[L Verge]

Joseph had a lesson in hush puppies when he ate at Capt. Billy's on Sunday after the conference. He asked what they were, and I explained the cornmeal dabs that were fried and thrown to the dogs who were begging in the kitchen. At that point in time, I think he said they were good. They would have been even better if they had brought butter to dip them in (or even honey).

Speaking of "dogs," who can tell me what a dog-trot is from olden days?

And, I agree about the hush puppies at Chesapeake Seafood House. I cried when that chain closed down! I love steamed shrimp and you could get them there already peeled! What a luxury - especially for someone like me who hates the feel of anything under my fingernails. I would not last two seconds in a Chinese torture chamber.

I have to agree with your wife about oysters in the stuffing - even though I think it was probably very fashionable during the 19th century. I'm just a sage, onion, celery, and secret spices girl myself when it comes to stuffing. BTW: Do Yankees call it stuffing or dressing?

[LincolnMan]

My thought goes to Billy Herndon-but that can't right! Maybe John Hay, then?

[Craig Hipkins]

(04-06-2013 06:34 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Joseph had a lesson in hush puppies when he ate at Capt. Billy's on Sunday after the conference. He asked what they were, and I explained the cornmeal dabs that were fried and thrown to the dogs who were begging in the kitchen. At that point in time, I think he said they were good. They would have been even better if they had brought butter to dip them in (or even honey).

Speaking of "dogs," who can tell me what a dog-trot is from olden days?

And, I agree about the hush puppies at Chesapeake Seafood House. I cried when that chain closed down! I love steamed shrimp and you could get them there already peeled! What a luxury - especially for someone like me who hates the feel of anything under my fingernails. I would not last two seconds in a Chinese torture chamber.

I have to agree with your wife about oysters in the stuffing - even though I think it was probably very fashionable during the 19th century. I'm just a sage, onion, celery, and secret spices girl myself when it comes to stuffing. BTW: Do Yankees call it stuffing or dressing?

Laurie,
They call it stuffing. When I first came south a number of years ago someone asked me to pass the dressing and i was looking for salad dressing!