I must admit, the last few months have been difficult. When Life gives you Lemons, well- you just try to make the best of it…right? But when a Southern kitchen has lemons, there’s no doubt you will get some of the best dishes in the region! With our close proximity to Florida’s citrus crops- oranges, key limes and lemons! And let’s not leave out Texas! We love to get those Texas Ruby Grapefruits! Lemon is a key ingredient in elevating our abundant seafood, lemon juice is prominent my favorite seafood cocktail and barbeque sauces,. Lemon perks up poultry too! My grandmother made a chicken stew that she called Lemon Butter Chicken- which relied on very few ingredients, in fact if you change just one ingredient- it changes the whole thing! She often used a whole hen or plump chicken salted and peppered, then surrounded it with peeled and quartered potatoes, squeezed the juice of at least four lemons, poured about a quart of water in the pot and added chunks of a whole stick of butter and ran it in a 350ºoven until the chicken was ‘falling off the bone tender’! Mimi claimed it would cure anything! After years of making this chicken- I can attest that it does make us all feel better! And in the last few months, it surely made me feel better! My only substitution is bone in, skin on chicken breasts. The ultimate comfort food. 
And my, my, my! who can imagine Life without Lemon desserts! Meringue Pie, Lemon Ice Box Pie, Lemon Curd filled Shortbread, Lemon glazed Pound Cakes are wonderful and of course we always add a bit of lemon juice to Key Lime Pie when we substitute Persian Limes for Key Limes! My great aunt Mary Sue made a cake that we all knew as Lemon Cheese Cake, you might find this cake in very old cookbooks but it will be a rare find- this is a moist white layer cake, filled and coated with Lemon Curd. It is truly delicious. Then, I must add- Lemon Squares- literally from the cradle to the grave- at almost every important occasion you will find these moist, sweet, tangy bites at afternoon teas, wedding and baby showers, birthday parties, on dessert buffets and of course, funeral food- we love our Lemon Squares. Best of all they are truly easy to make with no special equipment or ingredients.
Lemon Squares
Preheat oven to 350º *Lemon Squares have two steps of baking.
- For the crust-
- 1/2 cup of softened Butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup of Sugar
Combine crust ingredients- do not overwork but do mix well and mash into an 8×8 square glass baking dish. Bake 15-20 minutes, checking after 12 minutes- do not overbake! This is a half baked crust.
While crust is baking- make Lemon Filling_
- 2 eggs
- Zest of 2 medium lemons
- 3/4 cup of Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of Flour
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
- 3-4 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice (must be fresh squeezed!)
Mix Filling ingredients well. Pour into half baked crust. Bake at 350º-18 to 20 minutes until settled-(may take longer) Bake until no fingerprint remains when lightly pressed but be careful not to overbake. Cool. *Some sprinkle with powdered sugar while it hot, some wait until it is cooled, but I find it is better to do both! Sprinkle powdered sugar while it is hot. Let cool completely. Then dust with another round of powdered sugar. Cut into squares- for parties or teas cut into small squares- think tiny! Or if for family- cut Lemon Squares any size you like! Enjoy!
Do you remember that part about – when Life gives you Lemons? Well, we try to make the best of it- right? No one wants to be around ‘whinin’ and cry-nin’ all the time! However, since the citrus color is certainly right and since I did ‘graduate’ last week, I wanted to share a little news with y’all. In mid January, a tumor was found on my carotid artery. The size of the tumor and the location made surgery risky for a person of a certain age… a-hem, like me. I was relieved by two things,
- First I do not have a cancer, this is a Carotid Body Paraganglioma, a tumor on my carotid artery, you can google it darlin’…and
- Second- I was a candidate for radiosurgery, which I finished last week!
One of the reasons I am sharing this with you, is that I want you to know that my writing might not have been up to par every time, however, writing for Camellia’s Cottage- has been a wonderful diversion. It has kept up my spirits to think about fun, funny and lovely things to share with you! And…I am so very thankful for my husband and family who were so supportive and for so many who prayed for me without fail for the last four months. I wrote a prayer or two and shared them with you during this lemon-y life experience, which included the loss of two very dear friends, illness and hardship for some who are so dear and my own precious mother is in a difficult recovery from a stroke and fractured hip. 
And still, I wanted to write, in this sweet territory, Camellia’s Cottage. For the Radiosurgery, I was fitted with a special mask for these treatments. When I laid on the table for a treatment, the mask was snapped securely to the table. Since I am claustrophobic, I was worried about how I would endure- I repeated a special Bible verse from 2 Thessalonians 3:18 ‘Now the Lord of Peace Himself shall give you peace always by all means…’ And very often, I would think of y’all, what I would write next or better yet what you would comment back to me! I am in the waiting period now- in six weeks, I will be tested to see how successful the radiation has been. I have every reason to believe it will be! I am very thankful for the doctors, technicians and staff of UAB Medical Center, Kirkland Clinic and the Hazelrig- Salter Radiology Center. Right here in Alabama we have a first class Medical Center and University! I agreed to be photographed for teaching purposes, since this type of vascular tumor is seen only about 5-6 times per year at UAB and less than 50 in the entire Southeast. It gave me a sense of purpose that perhaps my tumor would help in future treatments. I came away from this rich life experience with a new appreciation for the quiet courage of the patients and families who are going through their own radiation treatments. Last Friday, the staff presented me with a graduation certificate, the mask is mine to keep.
They snapped my photograph and I left the center to the applause and congratulations of the staff ! I felt like a star! I wanted to celebrate with one of my favorite desserts, the Lemon Squares! Today seemed like the day to share my news with you, maybe you need to make a pot of Lemon Butter Chicken or a batch of Lemon Bars to celebrate the lemons in your life. Oh me, what can I say except…. * All photographs are obviously mine, please excuse my typos, you have my permission to gasp, giggle or even laugh outright at my Neon Citrus Mask! And, I have every reason to believe I will be writing for years to come! Always remember …
I Love y’all, Camellia
An Irish Blessing
Big Momma is a Southern Icon. She’s the matriarch. Big Momma is a force of nature without blinking a charming eyelash- she’s cool, calm and always and forever collected. She’s the hand that rocked the cradle while the menfolks ventured forth to trailblaze, fight, lead or evangelize. Big Momma may be beautiful but she is no simpering Southern Belle. She sails through troubled waters with the dignity of the QE2. When everyone else is jumping ship, Big Momma is bailing water. Big is a misnomer, my unofficial polling suggests Big Momma isn’t necessarily a ‘big’ woman at all- she may be small of stature but all Big Mommas are statuesque in character, generally having considerable but quiet influence.
She is connected to her family, her children, her husband and often beyond the core family. She firmly believes that people need to be seen about, taken care of- tended to- therefore her arms embrace the many instead of the few. Big Momma is defined by her character and her expectations. She expects her brood to do better than their ancestors, she expects good grades, good behavior and expects her own to have some gumption. Big Momma doesn’t put up with cheap or low morals which has always led to a bad reputation. She stresses that- a bad reputation doesn’t stop at the offender, it reflects poorly on the entire family. Her standards for herself are high; starched and clean- smelling of an intoxicating blend of talcum and lemon verbena, not a hair out of place- Big Momma has at least one high quality dress, one good winter coat and sensible walking shoes. She sees no use in a man looking seedy- it’s a bad reflection on his wife. Her husband may own the sawmill, but Big Momma runs the family business. That sawmill owner may have originated the phrase ‘Go ask your momma’… Never skittish, healthy as a horse, never thought about flying the coop-Big Momma is the hen who rules the roost. She runs the laundry, the garden, the store room, the land and the hen house. Big Momma is always in charge of the sick room- she relies on her own blend of home remedies, blames the full moon or the barometric pressure. 
I don’t do a lot of movie reviews, however, I hope you’ll go see the blockbuster movie, Hidden Figures. One of the main characters is played by Alabama’s own Octavia Spencer. It is the story of three of the human computers and unsung heroines of NASA’s Space Program. And while it is not set in Alabama, Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville was a big part of America’s Space story. Hidden Figures is one of those gaps in history, a hidden space-filled in now on the big screen with a charming cast and a disarming story every one should see at least once. I feel blessed to have known a few hidden figures who worked for NASA in the early days; one close friend’s father worked toward sending chimps up in the fledgling project and more- and I knew a man who loved to tell the story of being on the team who designed the…uhmm, well the way the astronauts relieved themselves on long flights! I’ve been told since childhood -as the airplane was landing in Huntsville, passenger and brilliant scientist Werner Von Braun remarked, ‘It looks like we’re landing on the moon’. The flat red clay soil was dotted with cotton farms and not much else up at the neck and shoulders of North Alabama. Now, the largest concentration of engineers in the entire United States live in and around Huntsville. I wonder what Dr. Von Braun would think as a Saturn V Rocket pierces the blue sky marking the Space Center and home to America’s Space Camp for aspiring children, along with Redstone Arsenal, NASA, Space X, the University of Alabama at Huntsville and a multitude of engineering, aerospace, technology and scientific communities dot the landscape that he once thought looked like the moon. It’s one of those Hidden Spaces we call home. Down in the Southeastern hip of Alabama is another Hidden Space- called Tuskegee University. The University, once called the Tuskegee Negro Normal School or Institute was founded on July 4, 1881 in a one room shanty. It’s first teacher was the pre-eminent Booker T. Washington, whose intelligence and fundraising abilities brought Tuskegee to the attention of wealthy industrialists such as Henry Ford, who made regular endowments. It could also be argued that one of America’s favorite foods originated through Tuskegee’s scientific and agricultural studies. George Washington Carver worked at the Institute with peanuts as a crop rotation to replenish soil stripped of nutrients and the result was Peanut Butter! You may have heard that singer Lionel Ritchie’s parents were in the professional community at Tuskegee and you have surely heard of the famous World War II Tuskegee Airmen, who received their flight training there. What you might not know is that Tuskegee is the only Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the United States to have an Aerospace Engineering Program. It was my honor to stay at Tuskegee for a 3 day conference right on this amazing campus- to me, it is one of those hidden spaces I had never experienced firsthand. Tuskegee University and Huntsville’s Space Center are places I hope anyone who visits Alabama would tour. The science for the space program began before I was born, but national awareness of the Russian designed Outer Space Surveillance Satellite known as Sputnik was very much a part of my early years. While we may have sat outside at night watching for Sputnik in lawn chairs, the truth is Americans were afraid. With World War II just behind us, the atom bomb had become part of the nervous system of the entire world, bomb shelters- air raid drills, getting under our desks at school, horns blaring occasionally and men wearing hard hats going off to Civil Defense Meetings kept us in a state of fear. Society was changing-the Missile Crisis in Cuba so close to our southern border states, racial tensions were running high, whole communities were grappling with fear and change, especially in my grammar school years. The shoe banging dictator of Russia, Nikita Khrushchev threatened America and were broadcast on Huntley/Brinkley’s scary news nightly. A young President Kennedy had announced the improbable dream of sending a man to the moon.
Camellia's Cottage 