Ruth Fertel's Plaquemines Parish Oyster Dressing, a recipe

Ruth Fertel was the founder of Ruth's Chris, one of the most successful franchise restaurants ever. The story of her life is mesmerizing. Born and raised in a Plaquemines Parish river town, she was a memorable Louisiana character. Here is one of her favorite recipes.

Plaquemines Oyster Dressing

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Horny Turtles

Yes, it's what you think it is. About a month ago, I noticed these turtles outside my office, going at it in broad daylight. For shame! Does wildlife have no decency? Oh well! Maybe there will be a bunch of new baby turtles come spring.

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Marilyn's Holiday Prime Rib

When she was much younger, Marilyn worked as a waitress at a restaurant on the pier in Long Beach, California. The chef could cook like no other, and he also had a temper. Once, when someone sent a steak back to the kitchen for the second time because they didn't think it was done enough, he tossed it in hot oil and deep fried it before sending it back to the person that had complained. Another time, when Marilyn walked into the kitchen when he was in an unexpected snit, he threw a butcher's knife that stuck in the wall by her head. Though the chef was a bit sensitive (to say the least!) she learned his secret for cooking prime rib to perfection. Here is a pic of the one Marilyn cooked us for Christmas.

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Merry Christmas

Ate too much! Drank too much! Too much fun! Merry Christmas everyone!

Mayans, Doomsday, and the Black Cup of Oklahoma

Sun Sign

Black Cup

Ancient Mayans seemed to think the world would end on December 21, 2012. Though accomplished astronomers, the Mayans missed on their prediction. Perhaps a slight adjustment in the universe occurred. We’ll likely never know.

A similar civilization existed in the Midwestern part of the United States, from settlements near the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. These early Americans built large villages along the main rivers beginning around 800 A.D. The Spiro Mounds in eastern Oklahoma is one of these settlements.

Thousands of artifacts, including intricately engraved seashells, have been collected from Spiro. Anthropologists call the early Americans that populated the settlement Mississippians. One of the artifacts found at Spiro, and at other Mississippian settlements, is the black cup. During rituals, Mississippians would drink strong, highly caffeinated teas from the black cup until they vomited, ridding their bodies of evil and facilitating the ability to predict the future.

In my paranormal mystery novel Bones of Skeleton Creek, gumshoe Buck McDivit meets Esme, a mystic healer, and possibly the last Mississippian. With her help, he takes a dream walk and visits the Great Spirit. They puff a cloud blower and drink from the black cup until Buck gains insight into the mystery he is trying to solve.

Today is December 21, 2012. The world hasn’t ended, at least yet. It doesn’t mean the ancient Mayans, Incas, and Mississippians didn’t have considerable knowledge about the world as we know it. It simply means the asteroids, or whatever celestial objects were supposed to collide with our planet became somehow shunted by a millisecond or so.

Many of the heavenly secrets discovered by the ancients are lost forever. And then again, maybe not. I'm going to fire up my own cloud blower and slug a few shots of strong coffee from my black cup. Maybe by tomorrow, I'll make a few predictions of my own.

Born near Black Bayou in the little Louisiana town of Vivian, Eric Wilder grew up listening to his grandmother’s tales of politics, corruption, and ghosts that haunt the night. He now lives in Oklahoma where he continues to pen mysteries and short stories with a southern accent. He is the author of the French Quarter Mystery Series set in New Orleans and the Paranormal Cowboy Series. Please check it out on his Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBook author pages. You might also like to check out his website.