Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting: http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO
Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/
Dear Reader,
Today and tomorrow my husband and I are moving our son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons back into their home that caught fire on September 26th. It looks fabulous and next week I'll share some photos of our two grandsons' bedrooms. My husband and I had a lot of fun decorating them.
From my Skunk Bean Email Bag:
"Suzanne, my family has been invited to a friend's house for a birthday party next weekend. This friend grew up in Wisconsin and the mandatory game at her family functions is Euchre. I did attempt to play last year, we had fun...but it was crazy!
I'll be taking some of your Skunk Beans along, the story about how this dish got it's name and some extra Dear Reader Online Book Club flyers. Best wishes to you and your family. Glad to hear they will be home soon!"--Donna Hudson
The Story Behind Skunk Beans...
I was looking through some old recipes I'd found in my mother's kitchen cupboard after she passed away, when I discovered a folded piece of paper with the heading, "Beans for Skunk Party." Instantly I was smiling, because I realized how the Skunk Beans got their name.
Almost every other Sunday evening the Tindell clan (including my dad, his four sisters, and Grandma and Grandpa Tindell) got together to play some serious Euchre. The kitchen in Grandma Tindell's house was so small that when the table was pulled open to seat everyone, you could barely walk around it. But that didn't matter. Get out the blue and red chips, which represented pennies--it wasn't about the money--it was all about winning the game and could you "skunk" your opponents in the process.
Euchre isn't a complicated game, but until you've played awhile, the table talk can sound like a foreign language. "Fishing out, dead-set legend, the ribbit, farm hand or no ace/no face, follow suit, trump, and skunked--which means that you and your partner lost the game without scoring one single point. Rumor has it that in some Euchre circles a team that gets skunked, also gets a "bum run." (If you and your partner get skunked you must run about a predetermined route--naked!)
I was just a kid, who sat by herself in the living room watching The Wonderful World of Disney alone, because none of my dad's sisters brought their children along, and there was a wall between the kitchen and me, so as far as I know no one ever did a bum run. But I do remember my mother frequently taking Skunk Beans to the Sunday evening Euchre party.
The Skunk Bean recipe is in my book, Muffins and Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life. If you'd like to give a unique holiday gift to family, friends or co-workers this year, book club reader Kathy Fletcher has a creative idea. And I'll send you an autographed bookplate, bookmark and letter and 30 recipes (included in Muffins and Mayhem) to go along with it. Read about Kathy's idea, go to: http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com:80/node/17092
Four authors would like to say hello today. The AuthorBuzz link is right after my column.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com
AUTHORBUZZ: Authors love to hear from readers. Meet an old favorite this week, or get to know an author even before you take their book for a spin. Four authors who would love to hear from you and you can enter to win a $100 Victoria's Secret gift card. Kate Carlisle/THE LIES THAT BIND: A Bibliophile Mystery; Candace Calvert/CODE TRIAGE; Lena Meydan/TWILIGHT FOREVER RISING; Maggie Arana & Julienne Davis/STOP CALLING HIM HONEY AND START HAVING SEX! Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Comments