EZ BBQ CHICKEN

According to the Amelia Island's Mark of a Man short excerpt, I expect Clover's preparation of BBQ Chicken takes longer than mine and he must stand over a blistering fire. Oh, it must be so worth it. Read below:

Amelia Island's Mark of a Man excerpt:

   “Marie is in a mood lately but she’s foraged for colored glass bottles and will fill them with wild flowers for the tables, last minute, so they don't wilt too much. We’re lucky so many plants have recovered from the storm in time to have a few new blossoms and enough greenery.  And this afternoon, we’ll fashion a pretty bouquet for Winnie from three white rose buds off my struggling climber, some ivy and fiddle-head fern and tie it all with Marie’s blue hair ribbon.”

   Pat couldn’t remember when his mother was so excited about something. It was good to see.
   “Oh, here's another surprise for everybody, including Clover. Peeper found time to make him a red apron from a tablecloth and stitched Love Chef across the chest. Butter thinks it's a fine idea, so he'll wear it. Anyway, he and Butter have been working on the barbecue since early this morning."  
   “I can smell Clover’s chicken clear up here.”
   "It's always so delicious."
   "He'll tell anybody who asks that his secret is burning black jack oak he gathers just off the island somewhere. Ya know, I can't decide if I like his chicken or pork better.  It's the best in the county and ... 

Clover inspired me to create my own BBQ chicken. We're all so busy and this is hands free, once it's prepared.  The best part, next to being so easy, is that it is simply delicious - if you like chicken and KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, that is.

Jane Marie's EZ BBQ Chicken

You'll need:

Slow cooker

Chicken- skinless, boneless, 6 to 8 tenders or breasts, according to how much chicken you want to produce

1/2 cup KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce- original flavor or your favorite BBQ sauce

1/2 cup water

Place rinsed chicken in slow cooker. Mix the BBQ Sauce and water. Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on high for 3 hours. Reduce to low for 2-3 hours.  (Times depend upon how hot your cooker gets. My newer cooker is half again as hot as my old, original pot. Just make sure the chicken is cooked through.  While chicken doesn't take that long to cook, you want sauce to permeate throughout each tender or breast, so reduce the heat to low.  Don't scorch, of course.) Shred when cool enough to handle. Serve on your favorite buns and pass the BBQ sauce!

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The Goodbye Lie Diaries

Clover

1880s

Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Clover writes:  Thank you, Miss Jane.  I'm happy my kind of cooked cluck made you try your own.  Makes me wanta go out hunting some black jack oak right about now.

"I Love Lucy" Live on Stage

When I  found a TV station running consecutive episodes of I Love Lucy, one per day, I felt it my duty and pure pleasure to be versed in what is the most American of entertainment. I watched them all. With so many of my personal Lucy moments revealed here, you know I had to see "I Love Lucy" Live on Stage, when it came to Jacksonville, Florida.  It was too close to Amelia Island not to miss.

I hadn't read anything about it because I wanted to be surprised.  I guessed, since it was a television show, there might be those huge, rolling TV cameras on stage. I was right.  The show was a 1952 recreation of the filming of two episodes before a live audience with commercials throughout.  Complete with high hanging applause sign that flashed on and off, giving us our direction, the stage was divided in half by two sparkling gold curtains, which slid back like shower curtains to reveal Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's living room on the right and Ricky's club band on the left. 

Everybody knows how being in showbiz is a driving goal of Lucy's and it's included here.  From singing off-key with Fred, Ethel and Ricky to jitterbugging like  a loon due to having distorted vision from unexpected eye drops, you were transported to a time when entertainment was wholesome.  

An announcer wisecracked and stirred the audience throughout.  And the commercials were a favorite for me, with all the actors, except Lucy and Ricky, playing multiple parts, singing and dancing and gyrating in colorful clothes of the decade.  Brylcreem ( a little dab'll do ya), Chevrolet (see the USA in your Chevrolet) and Alka-Seltzer (with Speedy, himself) were pure nostalgic.

Cuban-born Euriamis Losada, who played Ricky, and Thea Brooks, who played Lucy,  were convincing actors. I feel disloyal saying this, but Losada was as good-looking as Desi Arnaz and a much better singer.  When he let go with Babalu and pounded on his conga drum, the audience went wild. Brooks, in her curly red wig had more than massive shoes to fill.  Her delivery, body language and crazy dancing mimicked Lucy's very well.  We all just wanted her to wear Lucy's face.  Impossible, but that would have made the show perfect.

If the "I Love Lucy" Live on Stage traveling company comes to your area, try and see it.  The long trailer outside the theater reads:  LIVE AND IN COLOR for the very first time!  - and is it ever.  

Happy St. Paddy's Day! - GBL Diaries- Michael

Michael Dunnigan

1880s
Fernandina on Amelia Island

Michael Dunnigan writes:
Ah, behold the shine on that large shamrock. Mother Rose would be lovin' the sight of it on her own front gate. Thank you, Miss Jane, for the hangin' of it.  And happy Saint Paddy's day to you all!

Through the magic of electronics, the characters in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie trilogy are able to communicate to us from their time in Victorian north Florida in The Goodbye Lie (GBL) Diaries. Michael Dunnigan is the patriarch in the series, where each novel focuses on one of his grown children.  His patience is sometimes short-lived, but his love for his family is unlimited.

Ebook and paperback format available at book sources everywhere.

Baked Swiss Steak Recipe

No matter if you're attending the world famous Amelia Concours d'Elegance ( https://www.ameliaconcours.org/ )car show on a pretty day or fighting the snow and ice where you are, this is a family-filling wonderful recipe to try. I’ve known Sandy Welsh for many years, and in that time, she’s given me several wonderful recipes.  She’s one heck of a good cook!  Thank you, Sandy.                                                     Jane Marie  PS  I'm sure Grandmother Peeper or Miss Ella from my Goodbye Lie Trilogy novels has a version of this recipe, but I haven't asked them yet.  I'll add it to the list.

 

You’ll need: 

• 1 pound of boneless sirloin steak or round steak
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour for coating meat

For tomato gravy: 

• 1 or so teaspoons all purpose flour for thickening tomato gravy
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 14 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice (Sandy suggests using Hunt’s petite diced tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots (Sandy suggests chopping baby carrots because they are sweeter)
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Cut the meat into four serving size pieces. 

Combine flour and salt.  Coat the meat on both sides. 

Brown the meat on both sides in a skillet.  Transfer the meat into a greased, shallow baking dish.  Set aside. 

To skillet drippings, add tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, Worcestershire sauce and a teaspoon or so of flour for thickening.  Bring to a boil, stirring an additional 2 minutes.  Pour over the meat.

Cover and bake at 350°F for 2 hours or until the meat is tender. 

Serve with or over mashed potatoes, buttered noodles or rice.  Serves 4.  

NOTE:  The tomato and vegetable mixture can easily be doubled for extra gravy. 

reprinted from original graciousjanemarie.com website

A Lucy Moment - What Does It Mean?

It was a gray and nasty day and there I was, signing books at Books Plus in Fernandina.  I looked out the rain streaked window to see one of those roadside snipe signs, which read: OKS.  Hmm, thought I.  Could it stand for Oklahoma State, Old Kings' School, Odd Key Store?  Then the wind blew the other way and the bent sign straightened out to read: BOOKS.