Lisa Carter's Blog, page 18

Peanut Butter-Banana Sandwich #recipe—Southern Style

Beloved of Southern folk—a quick, lunch staple

1. Slice then mash 1 banana.

2. Add a tablespoon of peanut butter—this is to taste.

3. Mix—here’s where it varies from Southerner to Southerner.

I add a tablespoon of mayonnaise into the mix. Why? Because that’s how my mother and grandmother made it. My aunt Grace doesn’t add this step. So again, this part is up to you.

4. Spread mixture on bread or just eat as-is off the plate.

Enjoy.

For more recipes and photos from Beyond the Cherokee Trail, visit https://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/beyond-the-cherokee-trail/.

Trail of Tears 7 minute #video

Great visual synopsis of what happened on the Trail of Tears. And better yet? Introduced by Wes Studi. The beauty of the Snowbird shines despite the human injustice.

For behind-the-scenes photos of Beyond the Cherokee Trail, visit https://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/beyond-the-cherokee-trail/.

Blackberry Jam #recipe

I can’t tell y’all how much I love blackberry jam. No trip to the North Carolina mountains would be complete without a purchase of local blackberry jam.

Until my next Great Smoky fix, here’s a freezer jam recipe, sure to please.

Blackberry Freezer Jam

Makes about 6 half pints

Ingredients:

3 cups crushed berries( 6, 6-oz containers)
5-1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
6 Tbsp Real Fruit Classic Pectin
6 freezer containers or 8 oz half pint glass jars with lids and bands



Directions:

Rinse blackberries just before ready to start. Crush a single layer at a time with a potato masher. If using a food processor, chop fine. Place mashed fruit in a large bowl. Add sugar and mix thoroughly. Let stand 10 minutes.
Combine water and pectin in a small saucepan. Bring to a full boil and stir constantly. Maintain rolling boil for 1 minute. Continue to stir.
Add pectin mixture to fruit mixture. Stir for 3 minutes.
Ladle jam into clean freezer jars or plastic containers and leave 1/2 inch space at the top. Cap with jar or container lids and let jam stand in refrigerator until set, but no longer than 24 hours. Jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks or kept frozen up to 1 year.

Enjoy. Great with buttermilk biscuits or toast.

For more photos and recipes from Beyond the Cherokee Trail, visit https://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/beyond-the-cherokee-trail/.

 

 

A Travel Guide to My Favorite Graham County, NC Places

You’re almost in 4 states—NC, TN, SC and GA

Plan a trip to remote Graham County, North Carolina. You’ll be glad you did.

The Fontana Dam near Tapoco where scenes from The Fugitive were filmed—be still my heart. Harrison Ford once trod here.

The Cherohala Skyway—location of Walker’s thrilling if fictional ride with Linden

Lake Junaluska, also film site for Nell.

Be sure to get the map from the Graham County Tourism office

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more behind-the-scenes photos of Beyond the Cherokee Trail, visit https://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/beyond-the-cherokee-trail/.

Strawberry Jam #recipe from Coast Guard Courtship

Just in time for strawberry picking season���where I live always the first few weeks in May.

Strawberry Time

Ingredients:

1 quart ripe strawberries
4 cups sugar
3���4 cup water
1 box fruit pectin (I use Sure Jell)
glass jars or plastic containers and lids

Directions:

1. Jars/containers must be thoroughly clean���I boil to make sure. Then must be completely dry.

2. Rinse strawberries, pat dry, stem berries.

3. Crush berries.

4. Measure exactly 2 cups of crushed berries in a large�� bowl. Add and stir sugar into mixture.

5. Let stand for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

6. Mix water and pectin in a small pan. Boil on high heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute.

7. Remove from heat and add to fruit/sugar mixture. Stir constantly for 3 minutes till sugar is dissolved and not grainy.

8. Fill containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of top

9. Cover immediately with lids.

10. Allow to stand at room temperature 24 hours. Can be frozen for up to 1 year. Or left if fridge for 3 weeks (if your family doesn’t devour it before then). Thaw frozen jam in fridge before use.

Your homemade strawberry jam is now ready to use. You will never go back to store-bought again.

Happy jamming.

For more recipes and photos from Coast Guard Courtship, visit https://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/coast-guard-courtship/.

 

Rice Krispy Treat #Recipe

Ian’s little boy comfort food at the funeral wake of his beloved father. Prepared and made for him by the kindhearted Hilary Munro.

Basic recipe���

3 tablespoons butter
1 package (10 oz.)�� miniature marshmallows
6 cups rice krispy cereal

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

The sky’s the limit on yearlong rice krispy treat creativity���Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

For more recipes and photos from Vines of Entanglement, visit http://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/vines-of-entanglement/.

Why I Write Native American and Southern Fiction

I’m often asked why I write Southern and/or Native American fiction.

The truthful answer is���I don’t know. I’ve just always (we’re talking my earliest memories as a preschooler) had this interest in Native American cultures.

Perhaps it began with the arrowhead collection my tobacco farming grandfather amassed from plowing the fields in Eastern NC. Or, that unfortunate incident at Tweetsie Railroad (a Wild West NC mountain amusement park) that involved a train robbery and Indian attack on my highly impressionable mind when I was three year’s old. But that’s a story for another day.

I’m lucky to live in North Carolina because North Carolina is home to the largest population of Native Americans east of the Mississippi. I’ve known various members of the Cherokee, Lumbee, Haliwa-Saponi and Coharie tribes throughout my life���childhood, teen years, college and as an adult in professional and personal capacities. I’ve always been fascinated by their culture. Admired their persistence and perserverance against overwhelming odds to survive and thrive. Television has reduced Americans to a mind-numbing blandness. Southerners���and Native Americans���do not fit into that cookie cutter mold. And I love that. We are unique and proud of it.

So when my in-laws retired to Colorado, not far from the Four Corners region, guess where I wanted to go? Yep. The Navajo Reservation; the Ute History Museum, etc . . . You get the picture. And yes, my family (read teenaged children) make fun of me early and often.

Here is a map of the North Carolina tribes���future story ideas? Well, you never know . . .

 

For more photos from Vines of Entanglement and on the Lumbee, visit http://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/vines-of-entanglement/.

Southern Iced Peach Tea #Recipe from #VinesofEntanglement

One of my favorite iced peach tea brands

I like this brand, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Laura Mabry’s simply perfect refreshment for hot Southern afternoons.

Brew 6 tea bags in coffeemaker or pot. Pour into gallon pitcher with 1 cup of sugar or to taste. It is important to pour the peach tea into the pitcher with sugar while the tea is still-hot. This is the secret to perfect Southern sweet tea every time.

Fill your pitcher or glass with ice. Garnish with peach slices. Enjoy.

For more recipes and photos from Vines of Entanglement, visit http://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/vines-of-entanglement/.

Fragrances from #VinesofEntanglement

Of course, the primary fragrance, which holds such bittersweet memories for both Laura and Jon in Vines of Entanglement, is honeysuckle. And Jon also enjoys the strawberry fragrance of Laura’s hair.

Here are a few of my favorite honeysuckle- and strawberry-inspired products.

Nothing says summer like strawberries.

Reminds me of my own youth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I utilized this product as inspiration during the writing of Vines of Entanglement.

For more photos from Vines of Entanglement, visit http://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/vines-of-entanglement/.

Lady Grey Tea and #VinesofEntanglement

It was always a tea party at Tapestries whenever the ladies gathered with their latest needlepoint projects.

My personal favorite brand of Lady Grey���ever since I first went to Europe in high school

Laura’s violet-studded tea set perfect for tea parties at Tapestries Needleworks

 

 

What’s your favorite kind of tea? Favorite brand?

Do you have a special tea cup that creates a special moment for tea time?

 

 

For more photos from Vines of Entanglement, visit http://www.pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/vines-of-entanglement/.