Lifestyle

Rossie Harlan’s lateral roots plunged right through the floor and spread out into Franklin County’s sandy loam. His taproot burrowed deeper into clay and cracked the limestone underneath. If he’d still had his hair, that curly auburn shag I’d seen in photos on the wall, I might have pictured branches, autumn leaves, and a swivel- headed barred owl, chatting up its neighbors all night long.

You see posters of wildflowers in stores, homes and offices. Rick Vanderpool of Lubbock did them.

On a long weekend, five youth and three adults from Scouts BSA Troop 6271 in Mount Vernon completed a 19 mile canoe camping trip along the Sabine River in preparation for their upcoming trip to the Buffalo River in Arkansas this summer.

Although the robin is considered a harbinger of spring, the warmer weather brings another bird to the Northeast Texas area: the Eastern bluebird. The Red River chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists began their annual data collection and reports of bluebird boxes at Langford Lake.

When your tastebuds are craving a little Tex-Mex, but you are cooking for a crew, what do you do? Well, this Texas-sized, tortilla-ladened favorite, Tex-Mex Shepherd’s Pie, will be the hook you are looking for! This deal-of-a-dish is filled with South-of-the-border flavors and comes with layers of cheesy glorification and crunchy, munchy satisfaction that will be ringing everyone’s dinner bell for sure. Can’t you just hear it, we mean, taste it?! Follow us now and join the Tex-Mex Shepherd’s Pie revolution. Your gang is sure to love it too!

Key Club members presented a $1,000 to the Mount Vernon Elementary School Parent- Teacher Association PTA to support their efforts in serving the teachers, staff and students of the school. The presentation was made at the PTA’s general membership meeting Thursday, April 20. Those Key Club members and PTA officers in the photo are, left to right, front row: Frankie Cooper, Betsy Gekiere, Elizabeth Bailey, Summer Corry, Kassi Thompson, Jennifer Burton, Carrie Kuykendall, Savannah and Austin Phillips; and back row: Katon Trantham, Dusty Goodman.

The secret to delicious cabbage is simple: cooking it softens and sweetens it, making it much more delicious. The question then becomes how best to cook it to capitalize on this awoken flavor. Fried Cabbage has a tasty answer in the form of pan-frying the cabbage with savory onion and garlic while also bringing in some rich butter and bright bell peppers. Then everything gets a coating of zesty and spicy Cajun seasoning, which is guaranteed to get your tastebuds excited. Fried Cabbage is the secret side dish weapon that turns the vegetable portion of the meal into the favorite part!

I’m not sure how a tomato became the symbol of sewing in the South, but it did. My mom, and every other mom I knew in Ashdown, Arkansas, had a pincushion in the shape of a tomato.