By Sheri Hopkins, Lifestyle Contributor
Hello everyone! Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. If you still have your dad with you, make him feel special and always tell him you love him.
I know y’all get tired of me talking about funerals, but I’m going to be 60 next month, so I have to think about these things. I will never forget when I turned 40. My nephew, Michael Wagoner said, “look at it this way Aunt Sheri, you have lived half of your life and it was the good half.” That is one of the truest statements I’ve ever heard. So when Michael turned 40, I told him the same thing. He laughed, but he said it was true. You young folks remember that when you are out doing stupid things.
I’m going to look at it this way, life begins at 60 and I may just do something crazy. Well, I have already done plenty of crazy things. I will have to try and top them. See how I get down pig trails? What I was going to say is, there is this man that I know, he’s kind of backwards. Meaning not real outgoing and keeps to himself. He was looking at the newspaper one day and seen that one of his cousins had passed away. He decides he needs to go to the funeral. It’s at McConnell Funeral Home in Greenwood. He goes to the funeral and walks in the chapel, and he gets in line to view the body. He notices that he does not recognize any of the people there, but it’s been a while since he’s seen this cousin, so he doesn’t think much of it. He’s waiting in line and gets up to the casket and the person in the casket is female and his cousin is male. He does not want to draw attention to himself, so he views the body and just slowly makes his way to the back of the chapel to the exit. Yes, folks, he’s at the wrong funeral. He was so embarrassed about the situation. If it had been me at the wrong funeral, I would have started talking to someone there and before I left, I would have been invited over to eat with them. I can’t believe he told me he did this knowing I would never let him live it down. Moral of the story, make sure you are at the right funeral and if you don’t recognize anyone there, you might double check before you go and get in life to view the body.
When I pass, I don’t care if a stranger comes, just let anybody that wants to look at me go through the line and invite them over to eat afterwards.
Since it’s blackberry season, I’m doing a blackberry cobbler recipe. My momma and granny always made blackberry cobbler and it happens to be one of my favorites, right after fresh peach. Enjoy and don’t get into the chiggers while picking the berries!
BLACKBERRY COBBLER
1 stick real butter (not margarine)
1 cup self rising flour (not all-purpose)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional don’t use any)
3 cups fresh blackberries or frozen unsweetened blackberries (I like of mash mine a little so there is some juice)
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, put your stick of butter in your 9×13 baking dish and melt while you are mixing the other ingredients. Combine the flour, 1 cup of sugar, the milk and vanilla (if you choose). I use a whisk to make sure there are no lumps. In a separate bowl, put the blackberries and the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and toss till all the berries are covered. Take the pan out of the oven and pour the batter over the melted butter then spoon your blackberries evenly over the batter. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Check it after 30 minutes, bake until a light golden brown. When I remove from the oven, I always sprinkle a little sugar on top while it’s still hot. Get out the vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
