Home

The Cemetery is "Home" for me.

Meeting

Board Meeting

January 19th, 2013

10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon

Gallops Senior Center

Linwood Playground (Corner of 15th Street and 13th Avenue)

My Angels

Clean Up @ the Cemetery

"Pack some hedge clippers if you choose the road less taken." Empathinc. (Facebook)

Precious are the Dead That Lie There

James Richard Patrick 

and 

Audie Kilgore Patrick

“The centripetal force on our planet is still fearfully strong, Alyosha. I have a longing for life, and I go on living in spite of logic. Though I may not believe in the order of the universe, yet I love the sticky little leaves as they open in spring. I love the blue sky, I love some people, whom one loves you know sometimes without knowing why. I love some great deeds done by men, though I’ve long ceased perhaps to have faith in them, yet from old habit one’s heart prizes them. Here they have brought the soup for you, eat it, it will do you good. It’s first-rate soup, they know how to make it here. I want to travel in Europe, Alyosha, I shall set off from here. And yet I know that I am only going to a graveyard, but it’s a most precious graveyard, that’s what it is! Precious are the dead that lie there, every stone over them speaks of such burning life in the past, of such passionate faith in their work, their truth, their struggle and their science, that I know I shall fall on the ground and kiss those stones and weep over them; though I’m convinced in my heart that it’s long been nothing but a graveyard. And I shall not weep from despair, but simply because I shall be happy in my tears, I shall steep my soul in emotion. I love the sticky leaves in spring, the blue sky — that’s all it is. It’s not a matter of intellect or logic, it’s loving with one’s inside, with one’s stomach.”

                                   - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Neighborhood Views

It has been my self-appointed duty to preserve and protect family photos. The one above was reproduced from a negative in one of those yellow Kodak envelopes.
Front row: Glenda Morris, Danny Hemby and Larry Williams. Standing: Susie Morris. Back row: Verna Patrick Lipsey, Mamie Patrick Riggs, Maude Patrick Griffin, Ola McQuagg Patrick, and Claud Patrick.
The house on the right is where I spent my first years of life.
All of the adults are buried in Patrick Cemetery except for Verna, she is in Riverdale.

Family

Grasping the concept of family seems more difficult in the climate of today. Perhaps the mobility, the media, and class issues contribute to the downfall of family. My family disappeared when my Mother died. I held on to whatever I could and Carole was it for me. Family is not always by blood, it's about common experience. Perhaps for some, those experiences are divisive, too many depressing, catastrophic memories. Sometimes it is felt the best thing is to just let it all go. Carole and I never said, "don't let go." We just held on, through dark and sunny days. We have hurt each other, but forgiveness runs deep in our relationship. I feel lucky to have this shared experience from childhood. Carole and I can reminisce about people only she and I may have a common memory of their existence. We shared our Mothers, each in our own way. We share her sisters and shared my brother, each in our own way. We feel completely comfortable with a quick phone conversation, just to touch base. Sometimes a month or two can pass and we don't call. But, we always do, doesn't matter who calls first. We just talk.

Aunt Verna's Biscuit Pudding (also known as bread pudding)

Aunt Verna always had "Biscuit Pudding," as she called it on her stove. The pecans were from the tree in their backyard and the leftover biscuits from breakfast.

Ingredients:

About 4 cups leftover state bread or biscuits. (French bread works really well)

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 stick melted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup chopped pecans

dash of cinnamon

dash of salt

Chop the bread into small pieces and soak in the milk and eggs for about 15 minutes. Add butter and remaining ingredients and stir well. Melt 1/4 stick butter in a small skillet add batter and bake at 350 degrees until slightly firm to the touch and browning around the edges. Eat it warm with a glass of cold milk.

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.