Lost on Route 66

Tonight, I finished the last edit of Lost on Route 66, a compendium of the winning stories from Gondwana Press’ Route 66 writing contest. I have to say, I’m blown away by the results.

Many of the winners are published authors. Many teach writing. I have never been so happy than by the results of this contest. All the stories are very good, but some are no short of wonderful.

I probably read every story at least fifteen times. The poetry is incomparable and a couple of the stories make me cry every time I read them. The one thing I learned, the old road embodies almost unexplainable passion.

Will Gondwana have a second annual Route 66 writing contest? I don’t know. I have never subjected myself to so much work before, but the results, I think you will agree if you read the book, were worth it.

Eric'sWeb

Spring Oklahoma Sky

Here are a couple of recent pics. One is my pug Princess, licking sugar water from a hummingbird feeder, and a picture of the Oklahoma sky.

Eric'sWeb

Indian Tacos - a weekend recipe

My good friend and fellow University of Arkansas student Mike Howard and I visited Oklahoma City during the fall of 1973, looking for a job. The State Fair was in full swing and it was the first time I ate an Indian Taco. It wasn’t my last.

There are three things you must always eat when visiting the Oklahoma State Fair at Oklahoma City – tamales from the Little Axe Church, State Fair cinnamon rolls, and an Indian Taco. All three qualify as Oklahoma comfort food. Here is my version of Oklahoma’s famous Indian Taco.

Fry Bread
· 2 cups flour
· 4 teaspoons baking powder
· 1 tablespoon sugar
· ½ teaspoon salt
· 1 cup milk, warm

Directions

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add warm milk slowly and mix into soft dough. Roll out dough with a rolling pin, about ½ inch thick, and then cut into pieces slightly smaller than a large cast iron skillet. Fry in hot oil, flipping once, until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Indian Taco Filling

· 1 lb. ground beef
· Salt and pepper to taste
· ½ tablespoon cayenne pepper
· ½ tablespoon cumin, ground
· ½ tablespoon paprika
· 1 medium tomato, diced
· 1 cup lettuce, shredded
· ¼ cup ripe olives, sliced
· 4 ounces, shredded Monterey and cheddar cheese, divided
· ¼ cup sour cream
· Salsa, your favorite

Directions

In a heavy pot with a tight cover, crumble and brown ground beef with salt and pepper. Drain and add mixture of cayenne, cumin and paprika. Heat and set aside. Layer fry bread with beef, tomato, lettuce, olives, cheese, sour cream and salsa. Enjoy.

Eric'sWeb

My Dad was born in Trees City, Louisiana, just after the First World War. An honest-to-God boomtown little remains of the once bustling town. My brother Jack and I are moving my dad, a World War II vet, to the world-class veteran’s facility in Norman, Oklahoma, so I am reprising my story about my last trip to Trees City.
The last time I visited northwest Louisiana, I visited Trees City. The town was founded by the legendary oil finders Benedum and Trees. These two wildcatters had moved to north Louisiana after finding large oil fields in Oklahoma. They discovered the Trees City Field in far Northwest Louisiana.

Trees City quickly became a boomtown, complete with churches, honkytonks and a post office. During the height of the oil boom, 25,000 people lived there. Today, it is little more than a memory.

Thick trees, vines and creepers cover most of what was once a thriving city. Permanent steel towers, constructed on site for the drilling of a single oil well, still peek up through the tall trees. Even the post office is gone, located now at the Oil Museum in nearby Oil City, Louisiana.

Benedum and Trees sold their interest in the Field to Gulf Oil for a million dollars, an enormous sum of money at the time. The amount pales compared with the vast riches recovered by Gulf Oil. It doesn’t matter much now. Where roughnecks once toiled to recover Mother Nature’s dark liquid bounty, only ghosts wisping silently over Jeems Bayou still remain.

Eric'sWeb

Bread Pudding With Rum Sauce - a recipe

Marilyn and I collect old New Orleans cookbooks and this week she found Creole Feast – 15 Master Chefs of New Orleans Reveal Their Secrets. This extraordinary cookbook, published in 1978 and written by Nathaniel Burton and Rudolph Lombard, features a recipe for one of my favorite desserts, one I always order whenever visiting the Crescent City.

This recipe is by Austin Leslie, master chef and one-time owner of Chez Helene, a wonderful New Orleans restaurant no longer in business. After being trapped in an attic for two days by Hurricane Katrina Leslie died in September 2005. He was the first person honored by a jazz funeral after Katrina in what was then a largely deserted Big Easy.

Austin Leslie, also known as the Godfather of Fried Chicken, was the inspiration for the short-lived television show Frank’s Place. If you are like me, an aficionado of fried chicken, you really should read the book, if only for his personal description of the absolute best way to cut up a chicken and fry it.

Chicken wasn’t the only thing Austin Leslie knew how to cook; he could also prepare wonderful deserts. I’ve published other bread pudding recipes and every one is slightly different. If you enjoy bread pudding as much as I, give this one a try because it is a good one.

Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce

1 loaf stale French bread
¼ can evaporated milk
1 pound butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ pound raisins
1 small can crush pineapple
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
¼ cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wet the bread and squeeze the water out of it. Melt the butter and mix with all other ingredients. Pour mixture into a well-greased 4 x 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 2 ½ hours. The pudding will rise in the first hour. After an hour, remove pan from oven and stir the mixture to tighten it. Return to the oven for the second hour of cooking.

Rum Sauce

¼ stick butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
½ cup rum

Place all ingredients in double boiler and cook for 10 minutes. Beat until fluffy. Serves 10