Our Kind of People

One of my first encounters with an early pioneering family in the black upper class was meeting members of the aristocratic Syphax family from Virginia. . . . the history of [this] family can be traced back to Maria Custis, the mulatto child of First Lady Martha Washington's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. "Custis fathered Maria with Ariana Carter, one of his female house slaves," explained Syphax, a well-to-do, retired real estate broker who lives in Virginia, "and when Maria asked her father, who was also still her owner, for permission to marry Charles Syphax, a black slave who worked for her father, he released both from slavery, gave her a wedding in the mansion, and offered her and her new husband fifteen acres of the Arlington estate...."

Our Kind of People by Lawrence Otis Graham, pp 8-9

Handle with Care

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

page 119

When Mom called me down to dinner that night, I moved with all the wild and crazy enthusiasm of a death row prisoner heading to an execution. I mean, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that nobody in this household was happy, and that it had something to do with the lawyer's office we'd gone to. My parents had not done much to mask their voices when they were yelling at each other. In the three hours since Dad had left and returned again, since Mom had cried into the mixing bowl while whipping up her meat loaf, you'd been whimpering. So I did what I always did when you were in pain: I stuck my iPod headphones in my ears and cranked the volume.

Law Enforcement Appreciation Week

The Seguin Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association provided lunch for the Seguin Police Department today - a small act of appreciation for all the SPD does for Seguin.

ALMOST A MEAL CASSEROLE

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef - browned, drained

1 cup chopped onions

28 ounces canned tomatoes - chopped

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups potatoes - diced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

10 ounces frozen corn - thawed

10 ounced frozen lima beans - thawed

1 large bell pepper - cut in strips

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine browned and drained beef, onion, and tomatoes with liquid, Worcestershire sauce and salt.
2. Spoon into a greased 3-quart casserole.
3. Layer the potatoes, flour, corn, lima beans and green peppers on top.
4. Cover and bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 minutes
5. Sprinkle with the cheese and continue baking, uncovered, for 30 minutes longer.

[Very good for preparing ahead of time. To reheat, place foil loosely over top and reheat in oven for about 20 minutes.]

Where is he going?

he looked so very very weary . . .

Work on the Justice Center Continues

The Book of Qualities

Worry

Worry has written the definitive work on nervous habits. She etches lines on people's foreheads when they are not paying attention. She makes lists of everything that could go wrong while she is waiting for the train. She is sure she left the stove on, and the house is going to explode in her absence. When she makes love, her mind is on the failure rates and health hazards of various methods of birth control. The drug companies want Worry to test their new tranquilizers but they don't understand what she knows too well: there is no drug that can ease her pain. She is terrified of the unknown.

by J. Ruth Gendler