Why Recipes?

Family and friends have asked me why I post recipes on Patrick Cemetery Blog.  My first response is these are not just any recipes.  Many people buried in the Cemetery prepared and ate these foods.
My second response is a little more involved.  My Grandfather had eleven brothers and sisters and I witnessed many funerals during my childhood.

The only constant materialism in my life has been Patrick Cemetery.  A place that was mine and no one could take away from me.  Now, in my later years, it has become more than a place to go, it is a piece of land that needs attention.
So, I post these "special" recipes and a few stories and photos I am compelled to share in hopes others will have an interest in that little piece of ground.

Souse

Homemade souse is not for the eye, but the palate. It requires long cooking and handling. Here is a recipe handed down from the Patrick women.
There are variations to this recipe, but this is the simple one I remember and use.

Ingredients:
3 lbs pork neck bones
2 lbs pig ears
2 tablespoons dried sage
3 leaves fresh sage rough chopped
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Just cover the neck bones with water and boil until the meat falls off the bone. Let cool and de-bone. Save all the juice. Make sure you remove all the bone fragments, for health reasons. Chop pig ears into small cubes and add de-boned meat, ears and all the seasonings to remaining juice. Make sure you keep enough liquid in the pot so the meat won't stick. Bring to a boil and cook till the skin on the ears is tender. The gristle will not get tender. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate. Slice and serve with pepper sauce, mustard, or suit your taste.
If you want a bologna-like product, cool and grind in a blender and poor and let set in the refrigerator.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients
31/2 cups Martha White Self-rising Flour
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup buttermilk
Pour flour in large bowl and place all of shortening in the center of the flour.
Pinch and knead shortening into flour
Add milk slowly while pinching and kneading. Continue util it is slightly sticky and pinch it into 8 - 12 biscuits
Bake 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees until a crusty brown

New Year's Clean-up

Before

After

Gann Fencing and Landscaping were enlisted.

Straightened up the Cross

Two graves covered with dirt in a lot with the name Howard on the entry stone.

Patrick Family Red Slaw

O

This is a slaw that is used on barbeque sandwiches and is especially good on left-over turkey and ham. All the amounts are approximate. I don’t measure, much like my Mother never measured. I don’t remember seeing any measuring devices in her kitchen. A teaspoon, a coffee cup and perhaps a Mason jar were enough. Aunt Verna kept her slaw on the kitchen table in a glass candy bowl with a lid. It had the small tear-drop handle and a fluted base. You can store in the refrigerator if you prefer.

One-half shredded Cabbage (You can use a stainless steel hand grater, but I prefer a sharp knife).

One-half cup ketchup

One-half cup white vinegar

One-quarter cup Trappey’s Bull Sauce (Louisiana Hot Sauce if you can't find Bull Sauce)

Teaspoon each salt and pepper (I use closer to two teaspoons salt, but salt to your taste)

I mix the ketchup into the cabbage first and then add the vinegar slowly. Then add rest of ingredients and taste. I don’t like it so soupy it soaks into the bread. Please adjust the amounts to your own tastes.  It gets better after a couple of days.

They have a version of this slaw at Smokey Pig on Linwood Blvd. in Columbus and they use a tomato-style barbeque sauce in theirs. I have often eaten a sandwich of just slaw and two pieces of white bread. 

Helen's Scrambled Dog

No one puts ketchup on a hotdog.  - Dirty Harry

Scrambled Dog Recipe

(Served in the Patrick Family since anyone alive can remember)


Helen’s Chili

Composed to taste and consistency desired.  Amounts are only suggestions

Hamburger 1 lb boiled in 2 quarts water

Chili Powder ¼ cup (hot or mild to taste)

Garlic 3 cloves

Salt/Pepper to taste

Boil the meat in water, stirring well to prevent lumping

Add chopped Garlic, salt/pepper, chili powder

Simmer till you get a nice soupy consistency

Scrambled Dog

Saltine crackers
Hotdog (The only wieners I use are Sunnyland)
Bun
Mustard
Onion cbopped
Pickle
Composing the Scrambled Dog

Place the bun with mustard and wiener in shallow bowl
Add chili till it pools in the bottom of the bowl.
Top with onion, crushed saltines and sliced pickles

There should be just enough chili for the bun and crackers to absorb the soup so you can eat it with a fork, not a spoon.

Facebook group

Patrick Memorial Cemetery Facebook Group is scheduled to be archived. Notice says members will not be updated and will have to be added.