War-N and I recently (only a few days ago, Saturday November 29th) went to see Amanda Palmer in Pittsburgh, PA. Not only had I been blown away by her solo album “Who Killed Amanda Palmer” (released in September of this year) but this performance has overshadowed all other shows I’ve seen for the past 5 years. I can’t describe the energy, passion, beauty and overall pleasant feeling I got from this show! Along side Miss Palmer, performing beautifully as she sang and played the piano, were The Danger Ensemble. An incredible troop of performers that added just that much more emotion to an already powerful performance. It was well worth the trip! Despite me feeling old amongst the 18 year-old’s, and having a horrid backache from standing for over 4 hours at the show, I have no regrets! Plus, I had my first good Sex on the Beach (a cocktail) since Steve left Warehouse!! Pineapple juice, baby!

Amanda Fucking Palmer is one amazing lady. And, yes. I do mean lady. She shows more grace on stage, and in her blog, than anyone I’ve seen… ever. She is totally herself and isn’t after anything but making great art. She’s done that and, I’m sure, will continue to do so.

There was a big hub-bub about her so-called-belly (which she sets straight in her own blog) in the video for “Leeds United”. Well, I couldn’t see a damned thing wrong with her beautious belly. I’m on board with exposing more belly love! Go here if you want to share in The Rebellyon!!In fact, here’s my beloved belly as well!

Sure, I’m mean to it sometimes by constantly thinking it could be better. But, I always feed it To quote the incomparable Sophia Loren, “Everything you see, I owe to pasta!”. We should all embrace our individuality and not focus so much on what others expect us to look like. I can only be me. Why would I want to be anyone else? So, I shall give my belly, and body in general, more praise and love it for what it is. Beautiful.

When are people in the “industry” going to realize that people don’t fit into one mold that keeps performing for them without question or substance. It’s like getting a big chocolate bunny at easter and then biting into it only to find it hollow and tasteless. It looked good enough, but nothing was inside. Who wants that? Well, sirs and madams, NOT ME!

So, how does this little story relate to me and/or Hungry Lucy? Well, Miss Palmer has just become such a strong influence in my life now in just these short months of listening to Who Killed Amanda Palmer. I have watched, and greatly admired, all of the incredible videos and it has translated beautifully from music, to video to live performance. How she did it all in such a seamless way, I need to learn!!

The things I have taken from this experience is that I am on the right track for never settling to be someone I’m not. It makes my heart sing, and my voice, knowing that there are strong musicians out there that stand up for what they believe in and aren’t in it merely for financial gain. I admire the hell out of you, Amanda Palmer. Keep it up!!

If you haven’t checked out any of Amanda Palmer’s websites, please go! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Much Love to all, and your bellies!

Christa Belle

Amanda Palmer – main site
Amanda Palmer – album mini-site

In these past few weeks, I’ve had a lot on my mind, and on my plate. The busy party planning days for my Halloween bash are now over. Though it was great, it wore me out! Now, I can relax a bit and enjoy my creativity with writing my book (which is going well, by the way!), my end of year video project and Hungry Lucy music. While my progress is great, I still have an antsy feeling I can’t shake. I think I know what it is, and I hope to remedy it soon. Being October, Halloween and the beginning of a lovely Autumn, I long for days walking about the cemetery crunching leaves beneath my feet and watching the sky.

The cemetery holds many, many dear memories for me. I had been exposed to the Lexington Cemetery since early childhood. My Mother would take me and my sisters to feed the ducks & geese and look at all of the lovely trees and beauty within this hallowed ground. So, I can fully blame my Mother for my love of cemeteries! I’m glad I was never afraid to be in one. That, to me, would just be so sad. And now, to be surrounded by many either way I venture out, I can’t help but crave an adventure in a cemetery a little less known to me. I went to one recently right in Hamilton that I had been wanting to go to for a while. The problem is, I go alone.

I miss the days of my friends and I wandering about, taking photos and chatting the day away. We were unaware of what distances would separate us in the future. Probably better that we didn’t know. Sadly, this separation was my own doing. I’m the one who moved away. Therefore, I feel I took away my chances to be with my dear friends. I know, we all have our own adult lives to lead now. But, I miss the days of carefree adventures with my three friends in Lexington. This time of year, especially, I miss it so much. There are also other friends I have made with a high regard for cemeteries. How I long to go and shoot pictures as I used to. I do go shooting now and I love it, don’t get me wrong. But, there was a magick in it before that seems to have gone away. Now, they simply seem like statues when I look at them. There’s no one to share the moment with as it happens. It’s just me, my camera and endless pictures with no soul. At least, that’s how it feels right now. I hope my mood will lighten and I can just enjoy the day of shooting at the cemetery. It is still a highly pleasurable experience just to be there.

Even though I miss those days, I love my present days, too. But, I never have quite made a close friend here in Cincinnati. I don’t make friends easily. But, when I do, it’s for life! But, I’m rambling and beginning to make no sense. It’s my site, though. So, I can if I wanna!!

I have never felt like I’ve really grown up. I kinda like that. I don’t feel that it’s silly for me to feel this way. Or any other way, for that matter. I always feel like “real” adults think you should push back certain feelings and concentrate on being an adult and all of the responsibilities that come with it. Well, pardon my french, but screw that!! I just want to follow my heart. How can that be bad? My Mother did always encourage me to be expressive. As did Mimi, my Grandmother. So have many others along the way. I will always thank them for that and for allowing me, though a bit reluctantly at times, to just be me. Now, I have a wonderfully supportive husband that does the same. He’s always encouraging me to “go for it” and be as creative as I possibly can be. I’m trying, sweets. I’m trying.

I guess the moral of this blabbering story is that with or without friends to share the moment with, you still have to make your own moments and cherish them. You can’t go back. Only forward. Make the best of it and don’t wish your life away. I know… easier said than done.

Much Love to Everyone,

cb

PS…this picture was taken at the glorious Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, OH.

As most of you know, for those of you who visit my personal site, I am in the band Hungry Lucy. Yes, we’re still around! The band, as it were, consists of myself and my husband, War-N. When we do work together, we work very well together. But, as is the problem with a lot of musicians, we don’t always get to work when we want to. Or, the even more dreaded problem, we’re not inspired to work! But, lately, we have been so inspired to work on music. This all came about by stopping our bi-weekly podcast, Tea with Hungry Lucy, for a spell just to see what came about. Well, something clicked and we’ve been very productive just in the last couple of weeks! This was also due to a computer switch and, in turn, a music software switch as well. We now have our music on a Mac (about bloody time!!) and it’s so much more intuitive. War-N is loving it! So, the lapse in “tea” and a new system has really helped draw out the music. It’s lovely getting to work side by side with War-N again and make the music that we so love!

This has all made me think a lot about dedication to the Muse. I was watching an interview with the great Tori Amos this morning and she said a key statement roughly saying that if you were constantly waiting for the Muse to show up, maybe they didn’t want to perform when you needed them. You have to have the dedication and devotion to THEM. Sometimes one needs to summon the Muse rather than waiting for the Muse to summon them. For more inspiration from the Great Red Goddess, click here and here for the interviews I watched. I’m glad I took the time to sit and listen to her chat about this and that. I always find inspiration in her whether it’s an album or watching one of her live shows.

Another thing that has been bothering me lately is the amount of years that we’ve had between releases. This is the longest amount of time that HL hasn’t put something out to the world. Do people really forget an artist if they don’t put something out for a few years? What is the right amount of time between releases? Do the fans really care about quantity? Quality? These are the thoughts that have stopped us dead in our tracks at times. We’d think “Are we too late? Should we give up?” and the answer always came back “No!”. I was guilty of using a bit of reverse-psychology on War-N time or two. But, it made him realize he didn’t want to stop making music. We just needed some time to gather our thoughts, take some time for our own inner selves and time to re-group.

In taking this time, we discovered that “tea” wasn’t what it was originally intended to be. It became the “War-N and Christa” show and the music fell by the wayside. Tea with Hungry Lucy was becoming a huge chore and felt so forced and empty. The love for the fans is always there. But, when a podcast about music turns to gardening and cooking for topics of the day, it’s time to stop, take a breather and come back with some more, um, what’s the word… MUSIC!! We also discovered that we have no more mystery left in the world of Hungry Lucy. Everyone knows everything about us now and therefore it feels like they have no more drive to want to know more. Ya know? So, we’ll be a bit more absent for a while in order to do what we need to do as musicians.

These thoughts have made me see that without the perspiration of hard work, nothing will get done. It’s ok to think that “if it’s not fun anymore, it’s not worth doing.” But, where will that get you? I can speak about this from personal experience. If you give up because you’re waiting for something, or someone, else to make it happen, it just won’t happen! Without your own devotion to whatever it is, it will sit silent in the corner collecting dust. I, personally, have a lot of projects on my list that I want to do. I am doing half of them and trying to figure out how to go about the other half. I am stubborn, willful and moody. Therefore, I’m best when working on my own. But, there is one exception to this rule and that is with music. Without War-N, Hungry Lucy would not be the great thing that it often can be. I think he is my Muse and I am his. Since neither of us were sending out our summoning waves, neither of us felt inspired. But, now we’ve woken the sleeping Muses and they are singing once again. It’s soft at the moment. But, I feel them starting to find their voices more rapidly now. They are strong, different and amazing. Now, we just need the dedication to make it all happen! We have a plan, we have the music and, best of all, we have each other.

So, if you don’t hear from us for a while, think of it as a good thing. When we do come back, and we will, we’ll have so many new, interesting stories to tell. Plus, we’ll have new music!

Until next time, summon the Muse within you and see what happens!

Much Love,

Christa Belle

Summer is nearly at an end, thank goodness, and I am getting in that creative state of mind. With Autumn comes introspective thoughts, cozy days with endless pots of tea, kitties on the lap and a true sense of self. Though I love the garden in Summer, I also love it when it starts to fade and go to sleep. It speaks it’s last words in crimson, rust and golden hues abound. A gentle reminder that just because the leaves fall, the trees are not dead. They just need time to rest. We all do. So, with that last glorious, colorful display, my thoughts turn inward to writing and reading.

But, before the Autumn starts, the last bursts of bright summery colors make their way to the eye. Sometimes, they hold within their colorful sheath a surprise or two. I had cut a small bouquet of flowers a while back and I arranged it prettily on my kitchen windowsill. As I filled the kettle for an afternoon cuppa, I noticed a little fellow inside the flower gazing up at me. It was a tiny spider, holding onto the stamens of the Lily. Me being me, I quickly grabbed my trusty camera and took a picture of this interesting sight. Then, I released the flower, and spider within, back to the outdoors. Just because it made for a cool picture didn’t mean I wanted it to hang around right in front of me! Spiders do their best work outside, so that’s where he ended up. The flower stayed happily in a vase on the large wooden picnic table in the company of Rosemary pots in my back garden. Although I had put it outside, it was still quite charming and lovely to look at.

Recently, War-N and I had a wonderful surprise guest come to visit. Our dear friend Justin! In that brief visit, I got the chance to really sit down and chat with Justin as I never really had before. He is always a welcome visitor and we always enjoy his company. I felt I could truly be myself around him, as I am with War-N, and it just felt so nice to sit and talk to someone and not feel I had to do anything but be myself. It got me thinking that we (as a people) often try to do too much to be ourself around others. In doing that, we get nervous, bumble around and get all twisted in our own thoughts. Why do we feel such pressure to “entertain” and we feel we must apologize for just being our daily selves? I suppose part of it is upbringing and how we were raised to behave around others. I don’t know? But, I do know that as I get older I feel more and more like I know who I really am. I don’t make any apologies for that, or at least I’m trying not to any longer. I’m simply me and no one needs to know anything other than that. As I continue to dissolve my invisible wall of distrust and shame, I am walking more upright in my own skin. Thank you, Justin and War-N, for loving me for me… and enjoying my cooking! And thank you to all of my dear friends and family scattered all over the world for your kindness and understanding over the years. You never wanted me to be anything but me and I love you all for that! I’m catching up now and enjoying my newfound freedom.

So, I’ll withstand the last hot days of September and prepare for my retreat into my inner sanctum. I look forward to writing more of my “Days with Indigo” book (I’m up to 8 chapters now. Yay!), making skirts, writing music and just enjoying life in general. And on special mornings, I shall settle in, get all cozy and enjoy a few hours with my friend Victoria. I’m so glad she came back into production!!

Until next time, always be yourself.

Much Love,

Christa Belle

In the past couple of weeks, I have been gearing up for many things. I’ve been working on getting things ready for the garden, working on my Cemetery film and preparing for my youngest sister’s baby shower (for which I’m making the cake). This is not including any Hungry Lucy work, so my brain is a bit of a fast track at the moment!

So, I went to the Spring Grove cemetery yesterday to try (yes TRY) to shoot some video and a bunch of pics. As you can see, it was a very sunny day and I got loads of “sun beams” in pics where I didn’t necessarily want them. While I got to shoot pictures, my camera batteries in my video camera died flat. BOTH of them! I got a few panning shots of trees and such, but not much else. As I got lost in the midst of Spring Grove (which is VERY easy to do!), War-N called me on my cell phone. I had a nice little chat and suddenly, mid-sentence, my phone died. Plus, I had to pee so bad!! Knowing this may have scared War-N, I eventually found a payphone (you know they still exist, yeah?) to tell him I was ok. And yes…I found a bathroom, too It’s now 50 cents to make a local call. Crazy!! Now you can’t even tell someone “Here’s a quarter. Call someone who cares!”. You’d have to say “Here’s 50 cents. I’m awfully sorry it costs so much, but call someone who cares!”.

Blah, blah, blah…I went to cemetery #2 near Sharonville. I don’t know the name of it off the top of my head, but it’s one I frequented when I worked in the area. An old friend introduced me to this cemetery, but you’ll find out more about that story in the future film!

Anyway, I used to go here and have lunch in my car and then walk amongst the stones. I wrote a lot of poetry in this cemetery. One in particular I remember being inspired for was a poem called “Perrinne”. I thought it was a very lovely last name that I had seen on a headstone. I’ve always remembered the first line “Perrinne, you soothe me, calm me down. When things have gotten too busy…” and I sometimes go back to that statement and can find calm in the stone of Perrinne. Anyway, they have some of the oldest stones I’ve seen in this cemetery. It’s a blend of old and new stones from plot to plot. You can’t even read some of them anymore. I find this so sad. Even graves aren’t permanent. But whacha gonna do? It’s stone. It does what it wants.

Now I am preparing my seedlings indoors in a flat, in the typical fashion, under a grow light. I hope no one suspects me of growing anything of an illegal nature! We do live across from two cops and they can see my seedlings here in the library from the street. If they insist, I shall show them my tomatoes and peppers!! I had thought about starting other seeds indoors, but the other things I’m growing are all best when directly sowed. These are things such as carrots, lettuces, peas, beans and a few flowers (cornflowers, sweet peas and the like). I must say I’m absolutely dying to get out back and garden like mad! But, I must have patience. That’s the one thing gardening has taught me. As much as I may want to, you just can NOT rush things in the garden. So, I shan’t.

In my “cake trials”, as I have been calling them, I am trying to make the ultimate shower cake. I started with a Martha Stewart recipe straight from her Baking Handbook. While it was “ok” I knew I could do better. So, I replaced the cake base of Martha’s with an elegant White cake recipe. The Lemon Curd layers stayed the same and I made a straight Vanilla Swiss Buttercream instead of my first Lemon Swiss Buttercream. Cake #2 (pictured) was a definite improvement over cake #1. BUT, I still think the buttercream could be much better. It still had too much butter, which made it a bit greasy, and it didn’t have the fluffy whiteness I was hoping for. So, I shall do one more icing trial and hope for the best. I must say. Swiss Buttercream isn’t that easy! I find it wonderfully challenging. I was, however, quite pleased with the white cake I made. It was so light, moist and full of flavour. I also learned that Lemon Curd wasn’t that difficult to make. Guess what I won’t be buying as much at Jungle Jim’s?? So, in a nutshell, the cake making is going very well. We ate that one up real nice!

Ahhh…that’s better. I can’t stand having all of this stuff stuck in a deadly loop in my brain! Best to get it out and talk about it. Meanwhile, at night I’m dreaming about dried-up seedlings, lop-sided cakes that I can’t ever finish icing and a swamp of a garden that spits out whatever I plant. The brain is a weird, marvelous, quirky thing. Mine has certainly had it’s share of activity lately! I love being so busy, but sometimes my brain won’t rest when I need it to. But, it’s worth the weirdness. I’m getting things done! Now, on to a recording session for Hungry Lucy tomorrow. I’m quite excited about that, too!! But first, a grocery shop is a MUST!

May you have a splendid weekend!

With Love,

Christa Belle

Today, January 31st, I feel very much calm and happy. I had breakfast with my War-N and that always makes for a good day!

As we sat and talked, I realized how unusual our relationship really was. I always hear people say how “marriage is hard” and I just don’t know why? I know we don’t have kids, so that is a different scenario. But, to have to “work so hard” to be with the one you love…well that just seems so strange! My Mother once told me that the more time I was married, the more time I would appreciate having to myself. Sorry, Momma. I don’t feel that way yet. I’ve been with War-N for 10 years now and I still feel the butterflies when he comes home. Whenever this “work” is supposed to come into play, please don’t tell me. I’ve avoided it thus far and we are both the better for it!

I think maybe people work too hard to make something work that shouldn’t. “They say” it’s all about sacrifice, compromise and all that jazz. Why? If you aren’t with someone who appreciates all of your quirks, methods and madness, why are you with them in the first place? And before you say something, no. This isn’t a ramble about how perfect my marriage is. I’m simply going through the thoughts in my head trying to figure out what a “normal” marriage is judged by. And I’m certainly not judging anyone else’s marriage. Just thinking out loud on my blog. That’s allowed, right?

I also feel like there’s a difference in “working things out” after an argument and “working to stay together”. All couples have arguments, no matter how big or small, and have to find a resolution. But, to have to constantly find a way to want to stay in the same house? That must be a terrible feeling. Well, I know. I used to feel that way long ago, before War-N. That brings me back to a comment War-N said this morning about how divorce can be a good thing. For example, in the 50′s and 60′s people just didn’t divorce. It was not done! It was looked at as a sign of giving up or abandoning your spouse and family. But, I have learned that it can also be a sign of giving up on yourself if you DON’T get a divorce. Complacency. How terrible!

I think this came about by watching the film “51 Birch Street”. A WONDERFUL film! It’s a documentary about Doug Block and his family. I’ll say no more than that, as it will ruin it for anyone else. I’ll simply say you MUST see his brilliant film and learn everything you can from it!! I certainly have. Not just as a viewer, but as a future film-maker.

So, I hope I am never “normal” (I haven’t been by any standard thus far!) and continue to live in a calm world with my non-normal husband. Life is what we make of it. If someone is always telling you to give in, compromise or not be yourself, where is the life in that? I’m very luck to have found War-N. It wasn’t an easy road at first, by ANY means.Obstacles everywhere. But, as our buddy Clete Francis said, “If we can get through this, we can get through anything!”. You said it, Clete!! I think that’s why we’re such a strong couple today. We learned what we were early on. We embraced it and never looked back!

I hope you, yes you, are happy and know who you are within yourself. That’s the key to finding true happiness!

Much Love to everyone!

Christa Belle

As some of you may know, I recently did a DVD project for my close family and friends. For the last three years, I have done an “end of the year” project documenting events of that year. Well, the one I did for 2006 never got given to anyone, so I decided to make a ultimate DVD set of the years 2006 & 2007. It is now finished and either in the recipient’s hands, or on it’s way to them.

To describe how I felt while editing all of this material would take a long time. I’ll just say I re-learned a few things that needed re-learning. All of the people in my life are so precious to me and sometimes a video is my only way to communicate that. Yes, I communicate my feelings through music, too. But, I feel pictures and video say things that songs cannot. That said, I also made a soundtrack for the “first flush” of recipients to enjoy. Since I wasn’t selling this DVD, I just wanted to make each person a “mixed cd” in Soundtrack style. I know, I’m rambling. But who cares??

So, the design for the cover was very important to me. We had used a technique with Thorn Apple (collaboration band I was involved in) years ago where we decided to print on vellum. The look is very beautiful and ethereal. I went back to that technique and feel it made the picture look like an old Polaroid transfer or something. I LOVED it!! However, some folks couldn’t read the text, as it was a bit faint on the vellum with all that black ink. So, I made a second version on crisp white paper. It’s much more legible, but I don’t like it nearly as much. I gave the first recipients the vellum variety and the people more concerned with the reading the crisp variety. I actually remembered to make myself a copy this time, too! So, I made a vellum version for me

The picture on the front of the DVD is my Grandparent’s old porch in Athens, KY. I was VERY fortunate to go and take pictures before the whole area was torn down. I still miss that porch, place and, most importantly, the people. I often go back to Athens to the cemetery, the old town streets and buildings and just re-connect with my childhood memories. I sit on the rock wall, staring up at the stars and know there was a lot of love here once.

There is also a school in Athens, which I believe will also be torn down, that I made a menu picture on the DVD. I had taken pictures there on a recent trip to Lexington and it was perfect for a Menu backdrop. One more lovely tie to the past. Great!!

I don’t know how this will come out, but I often feel like the family documentarian. I feel like I am preserving my own life as it happens and I can look back on it any time I want, or need, to feel my human connections. I called the DVD set “Laughing through the Tears” because that’s what everyone says they do when they watch my little films. “I laughed, and cried, and laughed some more” and so on. So, the title was born. Plus, it was a line in Steel Magnolias that I just loved. A scene in the back yard where Dolly Parton’s character says “Laughter through tears is my favourite emotion.” I have to agree 100%.

So, I will continue making memory archives and living life as if each day is my last. I’m not going to waste my time “saying” i’m going to do something. I’m going to actually DO it. My wild heart is finding it’s beat once again and isn’t afraid of what’s to come!

Much Love to everyone, everywhere!

Christa Belle

Before you think I spelled it wrong, I didn’t! I made invitations using the art of Edward Gorey, so nyah! I would show it, but I’m afraid I’d be committing some unspeakable copyright infringement. I don’t wanna disrespect the “Ed”, so I shan’t.

Anyhoo, most of the party went according to plan. I didn’t get my menu tags out in time, so there were no labels on the food. But, I think people could tell what most things were, so it was all good. It was a family affair with most of my family attending. The few that weren’t there were missed. Hope they had fun with their other plans Below is War-N as “Undead Priest” and Peter as “Dracula”. Later on, you will see the Devil Woman, too!

I set the mood with a bunch of candles, orange & purple string lights and a few special items, like this picture I was given while on tour with my band, Hungry Lucy. I met this guy, who was in a band also playing that night, and we started chatting about photography. He happened to have his portfolio with him and offered me an original work! I gladly accepted and had him sign it for me. I thought choosing a photo of him, by him, was highly suitable. It marked the occasion nicely. He, Feightner, was such a nice guy and so humble about accepting compliments on his work. It was all stunningly gory, and beautiful. I thought it fit in well with the party and offered a very special touch!

I set three tables with different things. One Vampire table, one Ceremonial table and one Skull table. Each of which are below in corresponding order. I liked the ceremonial table the best just because I LOVED the photos of it!! Plus, I discovered a great way to use napkin rings as votive holders! I had them beside me on the table, before it was dressed, and I thought “Ooooh…that would be nice!”. It was, and I was happy Also a great use of cheesecloth, don’t you think??

Then, there was the food. I made Rabbit Poo, Spider Legs (complete with cheese body), Pond Scum, Plasma Fizzures and everyone else brought many more gross-sounding, but delicious, food! I was so busy that I couldn’t take photos at the time. But, Mummy Carol (Devil Woman in the photos) managed to come through for me as she shot a lot of photos that evening. Thanks Mummy!!

The Rabbit Poo was the most labor-intensive thing I’ve made in a long time. Basically, it’s tiny hand-rolled truffles served in a bed of toasted coconut. You can see a cup of it in the above picture, next to the spider, in the silver muffin cups. I figured the best way to serve them was in a bundle, as I didn’t think tons of fingers on the truffles was a very sanitary thing. Eew!

I’m not including a lot of the pics of other people, as I don’t know if they’d want to be online for the world to see. But, everyone looked so great! My youngest sister, Shara, had the best, most original costume of the night (in MY opinion). She was a Deviled Egg! She had on white scrubs, red devil horns and a tail. She completed the look with a yellow yolk on her belly! Brilliant!! But, here’s me as a Murdered Faerie. War-N did my hair, as I couldn’t get it large enough!

Here’s Dracula and Devil Woman together. Other attendees included a different Faerie (My eldest sister, Angela. We were both Faeries and didn’t know it!), an Undead Swamp Creature, Murdered Al Capone, Tina Turner, Dark Angel, the Pig from Saw, Ghost, Death, a Hot Mummy and my Dad as himself! What a list of visitors, ay?

Then, we put our projector and fabric walls to good use for a background. We played the old movies Nosferatu, Dracula and Frankenstein. We put music to it (a LOT of Skinny Puppy) and it made for a great feel.

Overall, a great night! I, as the hostess, had a few things I wasn’t happy with. But, hey. Whatcha gonna do? Everyone had a great time, so that’s what matters!

Enjoy the pics, even though they are posted rather late, and I’ll talk to you again very soon!

Take care,

cb

When I was a child, I always remembered being fed biscuit after biscuit…usually covered in homemade sausage, or sometimes hamburger, gravy. While I don’t eat sausage or hamburger anymore, I still indulge in biscuits on days when I need to feel more connected to my family. Granny Martin (Clara Belle, who I was named after in part) made buttermilk biscuits by hand more times than I, or she, could ever count. We all ate them happily, greedily and sometimes we had just one too many. Oh well! We were never hungry at Granny’s house

As I got older, I realized how much talent you really do have to have to be a cook for 11 people on a daily basis! I don’t know how Granny did it. Anyway, I got curious on a few of Granny’s tried and true recipes that I had lived on for years and wanted to know how I could make a few at home. One day I asked Momma how she made them. It’s one of the classic responses that you get when asking for a family recipe, “Well, I don’t really know how much she used of this or that, but we can guess.”. Momma did a very good job showing me, here at my home, and my first batch turned out pretty good! Even Daddy liked them! I made sure I had Strawberry Jelly on hand for my Dad Momma makes them often too, so she was the perfect person to ask.

Before we started Momma gave me the facts she did know and the technique of forming the biscuits. Really, they HAVE no form. They are what you call ‘drop biscuits’ and you pretty much drop them in the pan and that’s the shape you get! But, Granny had a special way of dropping the fairly wet dough onto a pile of flour, picking it up, and then sort of tossing it from one hand into the other, from above. I’ve gotten pretty good at that and I think it’s so much fun! Who says you can’t “play” with your food? The trick is that you can’t leave it in your hand so long that it wants to ooze back into liquid form before you get it to the pan. They spread out very quickly, so you have to work fast. The more you can get side by side, the taller your biscuits will be. Momma said Freda, my Aunt, makes one smooth top biscuit! She’s got that technique down pat.

As I stood at my baking counter, watching Momma, it took me back to watching Granny make the very same biscuits. The only difference now is that I didn’t have to stand tip-toe to watch Momma as I did with Granny. The curiosity and wonderment were still there though. It was lovely! We stood, side by side, forming the biscuits. I’d say “How big?” she’d respond “Well, what’s in the spoon looks about right, but add a little more.” We went on and made a large tray of these lovely babies. Thanks, Momma!

Of course, no one’s biscuits turn out quite like Granny’s, but they are all made with the same special Martin Family ingredient…Orneriness!. We’d be damned if we were going to fail at making biscuits!! You can’t bring a Martin down, easily. Now, I make my biscuits in the same bowl that Momma used to showed me how. Yet another form of tradition. I do a few things differently, like using Olive Oil instead of Vegetable Oil, and I don’t use a lot of self-rising flour, so I make my own when I need to. Granny always used White Lily Self-Rising flour, but I don’t. I use half All Purpose Organic flour and half 00 Italian flour and it makes for a very light biscuit. I guess, really, I “Italian’d” mine up a bit!.

Ok. I’ve totally gone around my initial point! So, on this particular day, I was in the mood for some homestyle comfort food. Buttermilk Biscuits are the ultimate for me. Instead of a plate of heavy gravy to smother my pretty butter-top biscuits, I decided to just have them slathered in butter and honey. Can you say YUMMMM?? Plus, it was so easy. I have made them quite a few times now, and it’s just second nature.
There is no real recipe, so you just make however many you think you want and it’s very easy to adjust the quantity as you go. Need more flour, add more flour. Need more buttermilk, add more. It’s really that easy. In total, there are 3 ingredients (5 if you make the flour self-rising). None of them have an absolute amount. But, once you get the feel for it, you never forget.

Something else I like about homemade biscuits, as opposed to restaurant biscuits, you don’t get that nasty “Grease Teeth” feeling after these. Nothing but clean flavour. So many times in “big chain country cookin’ restaurants” I’ve had the saddest biscuits I’ve ever tasted. How some restaurants can call what they make food is beyond me!! I always prefer to eat at home whenever possible. Yes. I am a food snob!

Back to the biscuits… There is a debate on the oven temperature. I usually do 425 F, but sometimes I do 400F. As long as you watch them, it really doesn’t matter. I would stay at least at 400 F though, otherwise they get gummy and bouncy when you bite into them. Generally, they need 15 to 20 minutes to cook.

Earlier that week, I had made yet another Martin Classic ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ and I can’t tell you how friggin’ good they were!! Of course, I made them in a cast iron skillet Granny would be so proud. I sat and ate my non-greasy tomatoes with ketchup (weird, ay? ketchup on TOMATOES??) and could just see my Dad in his t-shirt at the dinner table. I just love when food evokes such memories. But, the tomatoes were from my parent’s garden. They came up for my birthday and brought a bounty with them. I’m gradually cooking the tomatoes where I can. Thanks guys!

Even though all of my grandparent’s are gone now, I can remember them through their gastronomic lineage…or fond foodal memories When I think Vegetable soup, I think Mimi. When I think Buttermilk Biscuits, I think Granny. They were both such amazing cooks, and they are still teaching me today. They always will. “Lord-a-Mercy!!”

Much Love,

Christa Belle

Vrooom!!! As I stated in TWHL, episode #76, I went cruisin’ with Daddy (George) in his rockin’ 87 Chevy Truck that he’s been working on. I had forgotten that I had taken a photo on the last trip I took down to Lexington. So, here it is, in most of it’s glory, sleeping in the driveway of my parent’s house. Ain’t she sweet?!? Actual steel body, no plastic on the bumper and super groovy wheels and tires! Inside she sports a 350 engine with some delicious loudness coming from the exhaust…out the side of the truck. You can see it by the back tire. YUM YUM!!

More later!

cb