A Potato Chip Bag Tutorial For Those Who 'CAN' Eat Just One!

 (Savannah's Owens Thomas House Fine Art Photography by PetitePastiche)

      I don't live there anymore...Georgia, in the southern United States, I mean...but this time of year always makes me think of Georgia. I remember the milder temperatures of September and October, and the way the shadows of the trees danced off of the roads and buildings.

      I get that same feeling when the sun hits my current backyard in just that special kinda way. :-] But unfortunately the sun isn't warming the air in that 'special kinda way' here in Massachusetts right now!....IT'S COLD!!!! LOL

      But I'm not giving weather reports on the blog today ^_^. I'm giving potato chip bag tutorials!! LOL...

      I know...you're saying to yourself: "What????" O_O Let me explain...

      A little while ago hubby saw an interesting episode of "The Chew"...which is a sort of cooking show on television. It was interesting to him because one of the stars of the show, Paula, was showing kitchen tips. And of course now that he considers himself a 'make-shift' chef....Uhhhhh. It's debatable, but whatever! LOL...he was enthralled at tips that could help him out in the kitchen!

      But one of the tips has him now folding every half opened bag he comes in contact with!! LOL...It's a new way to close your half used bag of potato chips (or whatever) so that they won't go stale that fast.

      Here's how it works: You open your large bag of potato chips and, one by one, you eat to your hearts content!...Wait!...I still need to show you the tip. So, you reach into the bag, eat a few, or you grab a fistful, about four ^_^...Then you close the bag back up until the next day!....Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!....O_O Sorry. I digressed!

      Now, in order to close the bag back up, and have it stay closed :-), you fold the top of the bag, from both top end sides, into each other like this...

        You'll have a kind of point...or something close to it...

       
      Then you turn the folded side of the bag toward you, facing you, and you start rolling a tight fold of the bag away from you, from the point all the way down, until it looks sorta like this...

      When you turn the bag to the other side you'll have two pockets of fold on either side...which you will stick your hand in, and fold back over the side ends...
 

      What you end up with is a potato chip bag that's totally closed, and that will stand alone without unraveling to expose your dear, dear, leftover potato chips! ^_^

      In fact, it looks almost like a potato chip bag...or whatever kind of bag...with a 'hoodie'! LOL...
 

      If you haven't done it already, Try It! It's cool!!  ^_^ And I've got all kinds of 'hooded' leftover things in my house to prove it!!! LOL...Now if only they can invent some kind of contraption to make your husband be able to hear you, and watch television, all at the same time!! LOL I'd pay big money for that one! ^_^

      Before I go I wanted to share a different kind of bag...
 

 (LOVE Kitchen Plastic Bag Holder by TheMillersHouse)

      It's a great little 'homey' bag to hold your other bags...your plastic kitchen bags! :-) What a great idea!!!...especially for us, because we reuse the plastic grocery store bags as garbage bags. And we have them all over the place, in every crevice of the kitchen right now. ^_^

      How much prettier would it be to have these little 'plastic bag full' LOVE bags, with the expression "Home Is Where Your Story Begins" on the side, hanging in the kitchen! :-)... Hmmm...I wonder if it would hold an empty potato chip bag?! ^_^ 
         Okay...I'm off to get a Wuglyees boutonniere order wrapped and shipped. YAY! And that's where my story begins today!! :-) ... Have a good day, Everybody!

Down Home

When I say the words "Down Home"
my deep emotions come alive.
My memories of riding in the car,
heading south on I-95.

I pass right on through New Haven,
and the Washington Bridge flies by;
The "New Jersey Turnpike's" traffic
makes me almost want to cry.

But its when North Carolina's
scenes of country life begin
that "Down Home" becomes a feeling
in which I'm comfortable again.

When I'm close to route I-20,
"South Of The Border" is what I see,
and soon I'm "Down Home", feeling Georgia's
southern hospitality.

There are things about the north
that make me happy that I live there,
but the dirt roads of the south
I seem to need like I need air.

People fishing for their supper,
cooking bass and fried catfish;
On Sunday, rocking on the porch
(What's in the north as good as this?!)

From "Down Home" there's 'salmon patties',
'Beanie Weenies', pone and grits,
country music, rock and soul-
everybody's greatest hits.

But I know that what I'm missing
is more than "Down Home" southern pine;
Its the feelings and emotions
of the Georgia in my mind.

Butter Dish......Butter Fly!

 (Fox & Rabbit Butter Dish by JuliaDavey)

       Hubby and I woke up this morning in 'talk' mode. :-) When we're like that conversations can go from A to Z!... Or for people who understand the Bible, from Adam to Armagedon! LOL We didn't go all the way to the end of the line this morning though. We just went as far as Georgia...in the southern United States! :-))

     We got into a conversation about the different 'wording' that southerners use for things. For instance, I said to hubby this morning: "I woke up with a 'crick' in my back." O_O And he jokingly said: "Well, you better call the police!" ^_^

      Then I had to correct him. "No, not a 'crook' (a thief) in my back!...a 'crick'!" LOL He assured me that he knew exactly what I was talking about. His mother, like me, is also from Georgia originally. ^_^ He was just trying to make a joke! ^_^ 

      That led to a conversation about why a 'crick'...in southern lingo (language)...is both 'a twisted or cramped place in the back that causes pain'...and...'a stream of water'! ^_^

     It also led to conversation about other southern expressions, like 'fixin to'. Example: "I'm 'fixin to' go to the store"...Or in other words: I'm about to...or I'm getting ready to...go to the store. :-]

      And it also led to the title of my blog today...about 'butter'! ^_^ Hubby said he was getting ready to go and fix breakfast...at 5 a.m.! And I said: "You 'butter' not!!" Ha! Ha!...Of course, in other English lingo this would be: "You 'better' not!"...but I'm from the southern state of Georgia, Y'all! ^_^ 'You butter understand!' ^_^

     Joking around, hubby said: "You butter 'dish' (distribute information) about that on your blog."...I said: "I sho (sure) butter!" LOL...So there you have it...on Pancake Sunday!...With a crick in my back, I'm fixin to do some  'butter' dish, share a cute item I found on Etsy....

    

                       (Sterling Silver Ladybug Post Earrings by GeorgiaCollection)

     ...and then I 'butter' fly!! ^_^

(Antique Silver Butterfly Locket by ManoCelebrates)

        Isn't language grand!! ^_^ Have a good day, Everybody! :-)

 Poetry

Poetry, the gift of words,
that help you say whats in your heart;
that puts your thoughts of life together,
but pulls emotions all apart.

Poetry, your quiet friend,
that gives your voice a place to land;
that gives the things you'd  never say
a way to jump out from your hand.

Poetry, done to a beat,
a beat of words, said right in time,
without confusion of the music,
but just the rhythm and the rhyme.

Poetry, phrase harmony;
the way a noun and adverb meet;
the way they line up side-by-side,
and all Not needed they delete.

Poetry, the passing thoughts,
and all the others I hold dear,
of all the people and the places
that I've  written down right here.

Poetry, the gift of words,
and putting them together too;
Without the pen and paper
what in the world would my mind do?

Sometimes You Just Have To Go "Home"!

              (The Georgia State Welcome Sign)

         Hubby has been on vacation from work this week, so my typical 'Friday Date Night' is a bit different this week. Reason being?...Every night this week has been like a 'Date Night'! ^_^ We've been enjoying each other's company, eating, playing Scrabble, listening to music, getting chores done, keeping up with our parents, napping, and eating. Wait....I said that already! LOL Well, it bears saying again.....Eating!! ^_^

      So home was our 'Virtual' 'Date Night' destination this week...And since we've been talking about 'home' all week. I decided to tell you a little bit more about my 'Home'...Georgia, my birth State home, I mean. I can't even say the word home without thinking of 'Down Home'. :-)

      Have any of you ever been to the Southern U. S. State of Georgia?! If not, let me tell you the things that bring back memories of home for me...and a few facts that even I didn't know about my home State of Georgia! (You can click on the photos to take you to the links for them too)

        As you can see from the map, Georgia is located in the southeastern part of the U.S...If I were to drive to my hometown from where I live right now, in Massachusetts, it would take me at least 16 hours!! I know because we've driven it numerous times over the years....NUMEROUS!! 

        Georgia, with it's 9,687,653 residents, (making Georgia the ninth most populous state) is known as the Empire State of the South, and as the Peach State...

      Georgia, each year,  is estimated to produce over 130 million pounds of peaches! And even though I'm allergic to the skin of the peach,...or at least I used to be. I haven't tried to touch them for many years now...I still have eaten a few tons of them myself over the years! ^_^ YUM!!!

          Georgia is named after King George II of Great Britain. {Even I didn't know that!}...Atlanta is Georgia's capital, and it's most populous city...Georgia is the largest U.S. state east of the Mississippi River in terms of land area....Georgia is bordered on the south by Florida; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina; on the west by Alabama; and on the north by Tennessee and North Carolina. 

       And if that was all there was to tell you about my wonderful state, it still would be great! :-) But Oh No!! That doesn't even scratch the surface of my poetic memories! Here's what I think of when I think of 'home'!...

      I think of going fishing...bass fishing...I was too little to actually do much fishing myself back then, but I remember going fishing, and having my mother come home and fry up some bass...and bass eggs. (Don't knock it till you tried it! LOL) 

      The most popular freshwater game fish in Georgia are trout, bass, and catfish...

         I remember my mother catching catfish every once in a while. I also remember her having some kind of gloves on, and using pliers, when she was skinning them...yeah, skinning them! ^_^ I also remember that their little whiskers could give you a nasty sting! Here's what I found out about these little 'babies'...

         All catfish, except electric catfish, have a strong, hollow, bonified leading spine-like ray on their dorsal and pectoral fins. As a defense, these spines may be locked into place so that they stick outwards, which can inflict severe wounds. In several species, catfish can use these fin rays to deliver a stinging protein if the fish is irritated. 

        The venom....{Venom?....Really?! O_0}...is produced by glandular cells in the epidermal tissue covering the spines. In some catfish, this protein is so strong it may hospitalize those unfortunate enough to receive a sting...In the Plotosus lineatus, the stings may result in death!...YIKES! Who knew I was that close to 'biting the big one'?!!! LOL

        Good thing I didn't have to see them swimming around that often! I much preferred seeing my catfish like this...

          

          And speaking of 'biting the big one', I also remember these 'babies' from my home state!...

(Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake)

(Copperhead snake)

       Both of these snakes are venomous, but the diamondback is the heaviest venomous snake in the Americas, and the largest rattlesnake. And while not known to be aggressive. He is BIG! (One got up to 7.8 feet long and 34 pounds!) I know! I've been up close and personal with one! O_0...

           A bite from him can kill in a matter of hours...In some cases, minutes!...The copperheads are usually non-aggressive  and their bites are almost never fatal.

      But considering that snakes of all kinds, (including cottonmouth snakes) black widow spiders,  salamanders, frogs, alligators and toads,.....about 79 species of reptile and 63 amphibians known to live in Georgia,...and all kinds of dangerous things, were what we were warned about all the time as kids,...{in fact I remember carrying a stick to tap the ground with whenever I went somewhere where there were bushes}...you can see why danger is a part of my Georgia memory!! O_O

      Something else that's a part of my Georgia memory is the weather. The majority of Georgia is primarily a humid subtropical climate...The highest temperature ever recorded is 112 °F (44.4 °C) in 1952. While the lowest is −17 °F (−27.2 °C) in 1940. It hardly ever snowed when I was a kid! In fact, it snowed so rarely that I remember people making a big deal out of it, making little snow-men in their yards and stuff! ^_^ Those little snow-men only lasted a 'hot second' though. The snow would be gone almost as soon as it hit the ground! LOL

    That has changed in recent years though. You might remember the recent snow storms in the Atlanta area. One blogger talked about it HERE.

     But something I didn't know about Georgia weather was that Georgia is one of the leading states in frequency of tornadoes!...though they're rarely stronger than F1, the info said...I 'do' have memories of little ground dust swirls coming up all the time. Us silly kids used to run and jump in the middle of them so our hair would fly up!...*Shaking my head*

     And with a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, Georgia is also vulnerable to hurricanes! (although direct hurricane strikes were rare during the 20th century) Georgia often is affected by hurricanes that strike the Florida panhandle, weaken over land, and bring strong tropical storm winds and heavy rain to the interior!...WOW! I didn't know that! Maybe that would account for my over-excitement every time there's a hurricane citing!

    But wait! What about Georgia food...besides catfish I mean? ^_^ I have such good memories of homemade biscuits every day, grits and cheese, fatback, fried corn from the cob, collard greens, pinto beans, ham hocks, fried chicken and gravy, peach and blackberry cobbler, okra, pork chops, watermelon, plums fresh-picked from the bushes (and apples too), black-eyed peas and rice (hopping John), sausage, potatoes cooked in every form and fashion...

           ...and...and.....stinky cooking chitlins!...

        Stinky cooking chitlins that I have cooked MYSELF! LOL I don't trust just anybody to clean and cook my chitlins! ^_^ Yes, I do know that they are the intestines of a pig! LOL But you haven't enjoyed a pig unless you have enjoyed a pig like a person from Georgia!! ^_^ I've had the most delicious meals of pig! Pig tail stew, boiled pig ears, pig's feet....YUM!!! :-) {But I like my chitlins boiled, then fried with some onions...just saying.}

     There's lots of things, besides food, that you can love about Georgia too.  And some of them you probably 'have'...and didn't know it! Like, for instance, the fact that hundreds of feature films have been located in Georgia..Driving Miss Daisy...Forrest Gump (the bench Tom Hanks sat on in the main scene was in Savannah)...Fried Green Tomatoes...and Sweet Home Alabama.

      Georgia is also home to Ted Turner, who founded TBS, TNT, TCM, Cartoon Network, CNN and Headline News, among others. The CNN Center, which houses the news channel's world headquarters, is located in downtown Atlanta; The Weather Channel's headquarters are located in the Smyrna area of metropolitan Atlanta in Cobb County. 

        And besides good southern food, good southern movies...and good southern movies made from good southern books ('Gone With The Wind' y'all!!)...

               ....let's talk about good southern music!!...Music in Georgia ranges from folk music to Rhythm and blues, Rock and roll, Country music, and Hip hop...among many other kinds! And have you never heard of Augusta Georgia native James Brown...

         ...The Opera singer Jessye Norman, who is also a native to Augusta. (You can hear her voice HERE).
           What about Atlanta Georgia native, Gladys Knight...of Gladys Knight and the Pips?!...

       How many hours did we pretend to be 'Pips' when I was young?! LOL And what about singers like Otis Redding...Usher...Ray Charles...

         ...Country music superstars such as Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, and Travis Tritt? They all are either natives of Georgia, or have a big Georgia connection.
        And let's not forget Miranda Lambert and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland...

         ....some of the best country voices around (in my opinion!)...     

            (The house that built me)

(All I want to do)

      So that's my 'home'. :-) Not a bad place to be from, or have memories from, huh?! :-) Who needs a 'Friday Date Night' when you have memories like this in your head all the time?! ^_^ ....I DO!! See you next week!! ^_^

Down Home

When I say the words "Down Home"
my deep emotions come alive.
My memories of riding in the car,
heading south on I-95.

I pass right on through New Haven,
and the Washington Bridge flies by;
The "New Jersey Turnpike's" traffic
makes me almost want to cry.

But its when North Carolina's
scenes of country life begin
that "Down Home" becomes a feeling
in which I'm comfortable again.

When I'm close to route I-20,
"South Of The Border" is what I see,
and soon I'm "Down Home", feeling Georgia's
southern hospitality.

There are things about the north
that make me happy that I live there,
but the dirt roads of the south
I seem to need like I need air.

People fishing for their supper,
cooking bass and fried catfish;
On sunday, rocking on the porch
(What's in the north as good as this?!)

From "Down Home" there's 'salmon patties',
'Beanie Weenies', pone and grits,
country music, rock and soul-
everybody's greatest hits.

But I know that what I'm missing
is more than "Down Home" southern pine;
Its the feelings and emotions
of the Georgia in my mind. 

I've Never Told You About This....

       (charms4you)      

            {I want to start this conversation today by just telling you that the photos pictured are not associated with my story. They are things that are for sale on Etsy. You can click on the photos to go to the items themselves.}
         The movie 'Pride and Prejudice' caught my attention some years back, not because of the story itself.....which is extraordinary, by the way-"Thank you Jane Austen"!...but because of the name.
       My childhood started out in Georgia...

         (Mapity)

...a state with a lot of history here in the United States when it comes to slavery and prejudice...It also has wonderful history, in terms of friendly people, southern hospitality and good food. That's what I remember most frankly! 
      The reason I'm talking about this today is because I saw a movie trailer for 'The Help'...

        If you've followed this blog for a while you probably remember that I read this book and commented on it on this blog a while back.
      Just looking at the trailer, brought back a couple of incidents that happened to me as a kid: One being when me and my little friends were on our way to school one morning...walking. In Georgia there were houses where people sold penny candy. But we didn't have time to go to one of them. So we stopped at a little 'house-store'....a tiny '5 and dime' type store... 
       Unfortunately, the lady who ran the store was not very nice. In fact, she was very prejudice and she had a real problem with little black girls coming into her store. I especially made her angry because, being the safety conscious kid I was, I had been carrying my change in my shoe so that I wouldn't lose it.
      As soon as I took my shoe off to get my money, she 'hit the roof'!!! I could tell she wasn't happy with us by the suspicious and condescending look she had on her face prior to this, but I hadn't expected this kind of rage! O_0 She told me, in no uncertain terms...and while using the 'N' word, to go out to the well (it was in the front yard of the little store)...

              (smokeatillyjane)

        ...and wash that money off before I tried to give it to her!!...So I did. I wasn't confrontational,....and I wanted my candy!! I didn't see the bigger issue at that time.
        At another time, after Bussing was introduced in Georgia, I ended up walking across town to a school I had never been allowed to go to before. {I can't remember now why I was walking when I was suppose to be taking the bus. Knowing me it was because I was afraid of confrontations on the bus or something!}

        (CanCanCreations)

       I remember playing alone in the playground, hearing children's racist remarks, and being put in the back of the classroom. It was a very lonely time for me.
      All of that came back to mind when I saw this trailer...    


        But what also came back to mind was how strong I became by the time this period of my life was over. I learned that I was a pretty resilient little kid, and that I could get through just about anything!
      That feeling has grown with the years. I find that I take things...pretty much...in stride. Although my hubby and people who have crossed me will tell you...I do have my moments!! ^_^  
         The biggest boon to my personality,.....and I say this as a matter of fact, not because I'm trying to recruit people... was learning the Bible and becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It's an organization where my color was not an issue, but my faith and my love for God was!...It's the way it should be the world over. And in this organiation...it is!
       I think history is important, and can be extremely entertaining. Some of my favorite movies include my upbringing in some form or fashion...

      (arwdesign)

       Even the mini-series of the movie 'Roots', which I watched with enthrallment back in the 70s,...

            (13thFloorVinyl)

         ...and which made a lot of people really upset!...was very eye-opening for me, and helped me to understand the issues on both sides of slavery. What I found out was that how you look at prejudice, whether a victim of it, or a perpetrator of it,  is not always just a fact of one color or the other. It has a lot to do with the heart.
        I hope I didn't get too 'deep' on you today. I'm just doing what I do when something is on my mind.... ^_^  Whether bad....or good...Yapping away!!

        (Briole)

        Thankfully, most of my Southern memories are very very good!! After all, a place that produced me can't be all bad, right?!! LOL
        In honor of 'The Help'....a little Beatles diddy! :-)



"T"-Town

I came from a small town in Georgia,
where pecan trees and sunshine line the streets;
where plums and peaches grow like nothing,
and where when music plays, you cannot keep your seat.

I love that little town in Georgia,
 and the people who can't  help but holler "Hey!"
Where back-roads just seem to last forever,
and the chickens cackle happy when they lay.

Why did I leave that little town in Georgia,
where swinging quiet on the porch could make your day;
where when it rained, the ground just seemed to flutter,
and the fields were full of horses, cows and hay.

How I miss that little town in Georgia,
where the kids are free to play outside all day,
where the people come together in a crisis,
where they love to sing, and laugh, and dance and play.

One day I'm gonna go back home to Georgia,
and live near the water -  (Oh how I wish!)
And do nothing but lay around and daydream,
go walking in the woods, and catch some fish.

I'm a girl from a little town in Georgia;
the big city couldn't take the country out of me;
"T" - Town will always be the place that I came from,
and the place that's in my heart for eternity.