Goodbye Lie Diaries - Peeper- Smoking Bishop Recipe

Excerpt from The Goodbye Lie:      Leona was at the piano playing Auld Lang Syne. Aunt Noreen and Peeper passed steaming mugs of Smoking Bishop and the scent of the spiced wine filled the room. A toast was raised and cups clinked. 1883 had begun. PAPERBACK AND EBOOK HERE: http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Marie-Malcolm/e/B002ZFSBKE       In Drinking with Dickens by Cedric Dickens, who was the great-grandson of Charles Dickens,  I discovered Smoking Bishop was Victorian hot spiced port wine.  Besides the Bishop, there were other clerical drinks in those times:  Archbishop-claret, Cardinal-champagne and Pope-burgundy.        We served Smoking Bishop at a holiday party and got a chuckle out of seeing one of our guests tip the pot to get the last drop - and we’d made a double batch!  There are variations of Smoking Bishop, but this is the recipe we used.       As with all alcoholic drinks, moderation is key.       Enjoy,      Jane Marie

Smoking Bishop Recipe- a GBL Fave

You’ll need: 

• 4 whole washed, unpeeled oranges
• 2 tablespoons whole cloves
• 1 bottle dry red wine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks.
• 1 bottle port wine (red wine and port wine combined should equal 4 to 5 quarts)
• 5 to 6 quart slow cooker or large pot for stovetop cooking

Stick the whole cloves into the oranges.  Poke the oranges several times with a fork so the juice will seep out while cooking.  Place the oranges in the pot. 

Add  the red wine, sugar and cinnamon sticks.

Cover and cook on low or simmer for 3 1/2 hours.  Add the bottle of port. 

DO NOT BOIL at any time.  

Heat the mixture for another half hour to warm the port. 

Serve warm straight from the pot.

Garnish with extra orange slices or wedges and individual cinnamon sticks, if desired. 

Serves 10.  This recipe is easily doubled.

*******  

The Goodbye Lie Diaries:
1880s
Fernandina, Florida

Grandmother

Peeper

Peeper writes:     Yes, Miss Jane,  I did pass cups a Smokin' Bishop around Dunnigan Manor with Noreena. I never want ta do a thing with her.  I only dun it 'acause  Santee Claus hadn't yet come and I wanted me a pair a new shoelaces, so I had ta be nice.  Miss Ella got me the shoes ta go with 'um, but I didn't ask.

                      Happy New Year All!

 Reprinted from our original

GraciousJaneMarie.com website

Merry Christ Christmas

     Many years ago, I learned a rub-out painting technique. You fill a section of the canvas with solid paint then use Q-tips to slowly remove the paint and develop your picture.  Mine is painted on a wooden board and encircled by a straw wreath. To me, the babe in the manger with the chipmunk, lamb, redbird, bunny and donkey looking on, is sweet beyond measure.  I hope it reminds you of the love radiating from the Christ Child into all the world.  Merry Christmas everyone.     
                                                         - Jane Marie

2017 Annual Christmas Letter

Somebody else's Christmas Cactus

     Here is another of our annual appalling          

appealing family Christmas letters.  Hope your year was filled with events and quotes as great as ours!

 

Mother tried out for the community theater production of Little Mermaid.  She will play the coveted role of seaweed.

 

Auntie instructed Son to put up the trellis for the wedding ceremony.  He readily agreed, adding, "What’s a trellis?"

 

Uncle asked, "Who was the last one to brush?"  “Brush what?” came the reply in unison. That happened in May.

 

Father warned: "Don't go in there.  He's got The Crud and he'll take us all down with him."

 

The doorbell rang. "Who ordered this kind of pizza?  I hate mushrooms so I ain't paying.  Granny, it’s for you."

 

"Who wants a white Russian?"  “I don't, but I'll take a furry Frenchman."

 

Uncle Tree-tree talks into the TV clicker and replaces the batteries when he can't change the channels. It keeps him busy and away from the garbage can.

  

It rained so hard the apple pie was good.

 

Father cut the grass and his toe nails, in that order. 

 

Cousin Skin bought a ticket and wore a sneaker.

 

The pool was not cleaned this year.

 

“Anybody got any TUMS?”

 

A feather was on the sidewalk.

 

Ants carried off the cat food.

 

Mother sewed on a button then removed the blood stains with her spit.

 

Brother got a new one.

 

The cat coughed up a pickle.

 

The timer on the sprinkler got reset.

 

The oven burned the chicken. 

 

The repairman made two trips to plug in the toaster.  He wears a uniform and is Father's nephew.

 

Friday's newspaper was thinner than the bacon.

 

Sometimes we didn’t dry the dishes.

 

The stairs still need watering.

 

The chimney smells funny.

 

Merry Christmas
from all the crew and characters at
Gracious Jane Marie and
Amelia Island Novels Blog

Quick Beef Stroganoff

     I heard somewhere, "It is better to wear out than rust out."  And I agree, but our lives do often seem hectic and we may forget a thing or two. (That's why there are sticky notes in my world. )

     One thing we must remember to do is feed the family- like they would let us forget?  So, I am always on the look-out for quick and easy recipes that are delicious.  This Beef Stroganoff has been around our house for a couple of decades. Give it a try! 

Quick Beef Stroganoff

Brown and drain any grease:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• Garlic powder to taste
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely (optional)
• Flat noodles or pasta            

Add, stirring over medium heat until hot clear through:

• 1 can “healthy” mushroom soup (regular is fine, too)
• 1 cup regular, non-fat or light sour cream
• 1 three ounce can of mushrooms, drained (or larger can if you love mushrooms) - fresh mushrooms taste even better, but should be added with the onion so they can be cooked through
• 2 tablespoons ketchup           
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Serve over flat noodles or pasta.

P.S.  This recipe was first posted on my Gracious Jane Marie website a long while ago.  It's so good, I thought you might like seeing it again or discovering it for the first time.

Enjoy!
            Jane Marie

The Goodbye Lies - Peeper-Perfect Purity Almost

Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida 
Present Day

   Jane Marie writes:   My friend, Johanna Eversole, showed me this photo of a Great Egret she'd taken here on Amelia Island, Florida and let me share it with you. She and her son occasionally cast a net for shrimp.  This beautiful birdie, she kindly calls Freddie the Freeloader, watches for them and accepts any of the tidbits they offer. Not only is this creature pure and perfect, but smart. 

Here is a link for more info. 

***

Fernandina, Florida                                         

Late 1800s

     Grandmother Peeper writes:  I seen one a them birds aflyin' the other day.  I admit to it.  It was a pretty thing, but sure as a croakin' frog can wake the dead at night, them egrets fly high up and let loose, if ya understand my meanin', and it always lands on the clean clothes ahangin' on the line.  That's the way of it.

The Goodbye Lie Diaries- What are they?
     Through the magic of electronics, the characters in my Goodbye Lie Series set on Amelia Island can talk to me from the late 1800s and I to them.  It makes for some interesting conversations.- Jane Marie

Carnival Cruise Anniversary

     My husband, Bruce, and I recently celebrated our anniversary and decided to go on a cruise. Can you say An Affair to Remember?  (See complete movie here on YouTube.) -That wonderful Cary Grant movie with several scenes set onboard a cruise ship ... I didn't want to drive to a distant port of departure because we'd have to drive home that same distance, tired and worn, from said cruise.  Happily, we have a terminal nearly in our back yard.  Actually, it's little more than half an hour south from Amelia Island, in Jacksonville, Florida. We also had the luxury of being dropped off and picked up by sweet friends. Very lucky us.  So, we hopped on board and off we sailed! 

Elation's stern passing under
Jacksonville, Florida's
Dames Point Bridge upon departure. 

     We took a 5 day sail on Carnival's Elation to the Bahamas.  It was just great. The food, the service, the maintenance,  the near-Broadway style shows, my favorite part, were all wonderful. Oh, plus 24 hours of pizza, ice cream and room service. Sigh ... Talk about pampered

Yes, Virginia, the Caribbean water is that blue.

just a cool interior shot

    

Nassau, Bahamas   

Darling towel animals greeted
us each night on our bed.

We won!  We won!!!

This little birdie fought the wind and
rode on the flagpole for miles. 
What a view he had!

smooth sailing all the way

Remember I wrote the ship was well

maintained? This greased pulley

impressed me and made me feel safe.

a full moon, too

so romantic

Jane Marie, Bruce and Queen Victoria 

And to all, a good night ...

PS - Have I mentioned, my next novel,

Amelia Island's Sand and Sin, takes place, in part, aboard a cruise ship? - Jane Marie