A Lifetime of Fiscal Cliffs

Francesco Santalucia - bigstock.com

When I think about the fiscal cliff looming in front of our country... and I have to admit I try to think of it as little as possible...  it makes me realize how many times my personal finances have faced the same issue. 

The United State's fiscal cliff may be a bigger drop, but I'm here to tell you that when you are young, pregnant with your first child, going to college, working full time, and headed toward your own fiscal cliff, it feels much more personal.  

There is really no telling how many of these fiscal cliff fiascos I've managed to avoid over the years.  Moving out of my parent's home, getting married, and starting a family...  A divorce, single mom, buying a new house for my little family... a second marriage, building a house from scratch, starting a business... Each time, when things felt truly hopeless, that's exactly when they worked themselves out.  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

The one thing that gets me through these difficult times is faith.  I worry, I cut expenses, I agonize over the budget, my husband and I enter into our own committee talks about budget cuts to make...  But it's the faith that gets me through.  I read my bible more.  I pay closer attention to the promises God gave me. And I pray.  These are the times that I'm on my knees earnestly asking for guidance... help... solutions. 

And, because I know putting your faith in God works, this is my wish for our country.  That as a people, we can come together and get past this fiscal cliff with prayer and faith.   Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philipians 4:6   

Of course, when faced with fiscal problems of any kind, spending less is never a bad idea (for a country or a household).  One of the first things I always cut is eating out.  It simply costs less to eat at home, and when you live as far out of town as we do, it saves considerably more with fuel and those convenience trips by the supermarket, too.  But cooking at home every day can be time-consuming so I always turn to easy, time-saving recipes like these:

Busy Woman's Roast

1 (3-pound) roast
1 can cream of chicken soup (also good with cream of mushroom or cream of celery)
1 envelope Lipton's Dry Onion Soup Mix
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, seasoned salt and black pepper

Place roast on a large sheet of aluminum foil. In a small bowl, combine soup, onion soup mix, Worcestershire and seasonings. Spread over roast. Seal foil well so gravy doesn't leak out. (I usually stack two pieces of foil.) Bake at 200 degrees for 8 to 10 hours. Put it on the morning and it's ready by dinner time.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter

Peel sweet potatoes and cut in circles about 1/2-inch thick. Cover with warm water; stir in baking soda. Soak 10 minutes; drain in colander and rinse. Combine sugar, salt and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan; bring to a low boil. Add potatoes and continue to cook, stirring syrup over potatoes, until syrup is thick and potatoes are done. Melt butter over potatoes, stir and serve. Serves 3 to 4.

Southern Style Greens

3 1/2 to 4 pounds collard, turnip or
mustard greens (or a mixture)
1/2 pound lean salt pork or smoked ham hock
1 tablespoon sugar
3 beef bouillon cubes
8 cups water
1 tablespoon margarine
Salt and pepper

Wash greens repeatedly until all grit is removed–it will take a lot of washing. Drain. Remove and discard large stems. Combine pork, sugar, bouillon cubes, water and margarine in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil 5 to 10 minutes. Add greens. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until greens are tender.

Sweet Aunt Marie and Sweet Potato Pie

Eating watermelon at Aunt Alice's house
with Rebekkah (right).  ~1980.

My middle name is Marie—Sheila Marie. A name any good Southern girl can be proud of and I always have been proud of the name. Why? Because it came to me by way of my favorite aunt—Alice Marie.

Aunt Alice was just the kind of woman any young, and somewhat rebellious, girl could look up to. For all of my childhood, she remained unmarried. But best of all, she had her own house! Going to Aunt Alice’s house as a child, was akin to the wonder of going to Disney World. There were no traces of a man in the house she owned. Everything was hand-picked for a girl.

My cousin, Rebekkah, and I are less than a year apart in age so we often spent the night together. We had many great times over the years, but the best times were when we spent the night together at Aunt Alice’s house. Why? Because Aunt Alice has a small foot.

There were racks and racks of shoes in Aunt Alice’s closet and each one was just about small enough for a little girl’s foot. Close enough in size that we could do a great job imagining the shoes were our shoes. When I put those shoes on, I was transformed. I was wearing them to work as a secretary in a big office with a boss, or on an exotic date with a man that adored me… anywhere I wanted to go because, like Aunt Alice, I was GROWN and single and owned my own house.

If you get right down to it, Aunt Alice probably gets partial credit for my current occupation—cookbook author and cookbook publisher. She instilled in me, while I was still very young, a love of cookbooks. Aunt Alice also fostered my love of cooking. She makes the best sugar cookies in the world and when you are at Aunt Alice’s house, it doesn’t matter how big the mess becomes, we’ll just clean it up later.

Aunt Alice with Rebekkah.  1978

Aunt Alice gave me first cookbook – a Brand Name Recipe Book that was hardcover with a jacket. The first recipe I ever cooked from it was Porcupine Balls. At around 11 years old, I was amazed when, after following the recipe step by step, a great-tasting dish emerged. My life was changed forever. Okay, maybe that is a bit melodramatic, but, in truth, from that day forward, I had a love of cookbooks, and recipes, and yes, cooking. I still own every cookbook Aunt Alice gave me over the years and each one is still among my favorites.

Aunt Alice and I also share a love a sweet potatoes. Each year, when the season is perfect, she buys a case of sweet potatoes and I always get to share in the bounty.

There are so many delicious things to do with sweet potatoes – bake one in the oven and smother it in butter then maybe add some cinnamon and sugar on top, slice another into skinny chips and deep fry them, shred one into a cake to make it super moist, or make sweet potato casserole. My favorite way, by far, is to make a home-made sweet potato pie!

Aunt Alice and I agree that best sweet potato pies are “sweet” not spicy. I can appreciate a hot, spicy sweet potato pie on a cool, fall day sitting on the back porch with a cup of hot chocolate. But, when I’m making a sweet potato pie to please myself, I leave out the spice, and make it plenty sweet with eggs to make it rich and so that it sets to just the right texture.

When perfected, a sweet potato pie, after being allow to properly cool, should hold together when sliced. This allows for ample opportunity to sneak by, cut a very small, bite-size sliver, and savor it for that beautiful moment… before continuing on with the day.

One of our favorite customers, Lisa Luckett, shared her Sweet Potato Pie recipe with us and I’ll share it with you! Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Pie
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup canned milk
3 teaspoons flour or cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter or margarine (softened)
3 eggs
Dash salt
2 pie crusts, baked until bottoms are not soggy

Mix together all ingredients with an electric mixer. Pour into the 2 pie shells. Place on a baking sheet and place in a preheated 350 degrees oven, bake until firm (about 45 minutes or so). Yum!

Submitted by Lisa Luckett, Vicksburg, MS
Lisa says, "This is a very old recipe that my husband's grandmother, Ione Luckett Leist used for years that was given to her by a very dear friend. His grandmother is no longer with us but this recipe carries her memory on with us because it was such a favorite!"


Editor's Note:
The week Lisa sent me this recipe, my Aunt also sent me a case of sweet potatoes... what timing! So, of course, the first thing I made was this pie. It was delicious! This recipe uses less sweet potatoes than my usual recipe, so that the filling is not as thick. But it set-up beautifully and tastes great. I definitely recommend that you try this recipe. -- Sheila