I would like to dedicate my column this week to those wonderful holiday meal preparers and cooks.

And, what better place can you go for ideas than Facebook?

There seems to be an abundance of fresh, tasty and tempting menus on Facebook these days and they are growing by leaps and bounds as Christmas draws nearer.

One lady posted a somewhat unusual delicacy — bacon-wrapped asparagus — which included three to four asparagus sticks wrapped by a slice of bacon and cooked with butter, soy sauce, garlic, touch of sugar and salt. Circles of cherries were placed on the edge of the crystal serving platter, to add conspicuously to the Christmas theme.

Butter Rolls, a succulent dessert, drew several “Likes” and “Comments” from many avid posters. These sweet rolls look like over sized rolled biscuits resting in a pool of sweet sauce, which contains melted butter and sprinklings of pastry sugar. It’s just right to cap off a hearty Christmas dinner.

A Creole delicacy, known as West Indies Salad, fits right in with the holiday season. But our abundance of crab meat along the Gulf Coast makes this meal at our fingertips all year round.

A four to six serving includes one pound of fresh lump crab meat, four ounces Wesson oil, three ounces cider vinegar, four ounces ice water and salt and pepper. Next, you spread half an onion over the bottom of a large bowl, cover with separated crab lumps and then add the remaining onions, salt and pepper. Finally, you pour oil vinegar and ice water over all of the mixture, cover and marinate for two to 12 hours, and toss lightly before serving.

Now one thing to consider when you eat this salad is knowing when to stop. In other words, it’s like trying to stop eating peanuts. It is so good, you want to keep on eating.

The first time I had this meal was at the home of a Cajun friend in Golden Meadows, Louisiana. His mother was blessed with the ability to cook just about anything. She was literally the very best. I suppose that is why I enjoyed working flood claims in that part of the country. That was the friend, by the way, who made a specially flavored “Cajun Meal” he sold to offshore drilling rigs for those hearty workers. It was unlike any regular meal. It contained a tad of spice, which brought out the Cajun touch.

One of the things I notice about these Facebook menus is the use of color. Take the Red Velvet cake, for instance, or the green sauce-like dressing for green salads with dotted red cherry tomatoes.

Then, of course, most of these Facebook menus are simply down to earth old fashion meals. These contain turkey and dressing, sweet potatoes, ham, green bean casserole, corn on the cob and oven cooked cornbread — the type of meals we have been eating all our lives. So, if you are trying to come up with something a little bit different for your holiday cooking, then take a look at Facebook because you will get a “world of ideas” from this website.

Now let’s take a look at news from years gone by. In 1964, the Herbert Barnes ECHS football stadium was dedicated. A group of inmates from Fountain, led by Mr. H Lawley, contributed to the erection of the stadium, which cut down of the cost of labor. Work was also announced on Atmore’s new city hall and Greenlawn Hospital that year.

In 1964, the T-33A Jet Fighter was permanently installed at the Atmore Airport access entrance. That plane had been flown by Canoe native Captain William Crumey.

Lee Roy Wiggins, Curtis Forester and some others received approval to begin construction of the Walnut Hill Water System. It was also the year the McCullough School burned.

Two local young men won first place awards showing grand champion Herefords. James Hall won the award from ECHS FFA and Mike Godwin captured top honors for Ernest Ward High School FFA.

Kimbrel Cunningham, who was active in Boy Scout work for many years, received the “Silver Beaver” award, for outstanding service to the Boy Scout organization.

Wow, how ironic! Saban stays at Alabama and Gus Malzahn is thrown into the mix as Texas’s next coach … No one knows yet who it will be, but a media outlet in Arkansas says Jerry Jones is pushing for Texas to grab the “Gusbus.”

His fast break, quick huddle offense is what most colleges look for these days. Apparently the old conservative coaches like Saban and Mack Brown are taking a back seat. So my alma mater, the University of Alabama, is stuck with the old conservative, Nick Saban. But, you know, I have never heard one complaint.

Next week, I will have more news from days gone by.

 

You can email Lowell McGill at exam@

frontiernet.net.