Author: The Plot Twisted
Cooking Without Photos – Ham Chowder
Alma, Arkansas will always hold fond memories for me. It was our pit stop on the way to visit our Oklahoma cousins. Home to everyone’s favorite ice cream, Braum’s! And when you need to shop but also love being surprised…A to Z has it allllll!!!
Did you know Alma was first called Gum Town? Settlers came to the area around 1835 and Gum Town got its’ name because of the huge number of gum trees in the area. When it was incorporated in 1874, the new name of Alma was chosen.
Early on Alma produced huge numbers of cotton, strawberries and hay. Once they discovered how well spinach and mustard greens grew, Alma quickly became the Spinach Capital of the World! They even have a statue of Popeye the Sailor Man in front of their Chamber of Commerce building. And their water tower is painted to look like a gigantic spinach can😆😆 I kid you not! It’s fabulous!
Today’s recipe comes to you from, “Feeding The Flock: Women First For Faith, First Baptist Church Alma, Arkansas”.
Since it’s been so yucky lately, I wanted to make some sort of new soup. I’m just a soup kinda lady! This recipe didn’t disappoint either!
Couple of things:
This is a great recipe to make in a Dutch oven. Perfect actually.
I doubled the recipe because I was feeding more people.
It doesn’t say what to do with the celery. I put it in when I put in the potatoes. You could also sauté it with the onion too. It’s up to you really.
Nothing was mentioned about any corn. I feel like you can’t go wrong adding a can into the mix.
Don’t add your salt until AFTER your ham has cooked. You may not need much.
This soup is excellent! I served it with oyster crackers, but cornbread would be a great choice too. Hope you like it! Yum!!!
Cooking Without Photos – Buffalo Chip Cookies
This week we make a stop in St. Francis County in Hughes, Arkansas this week.
First off, I love this cookbook even more because it is compiled by the band. Gah! My heart!
Being in close proximity to the Mississippi River, Hughes was a prime location for farming. Primary crops included cotton, corn, strawberries, grapes, raspberries and sweet potatoes. With the arrival of the steamboat on the Mississippi River, agriculture thrived.
Between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the mighty Mississippi changed its course. Where Hughes was was once in the prime location for trade, they then became further from the river and it made trading much more difficult. Thankfully, the railroad arrived in 1916 and Hughes was once again a bustling town.
Around the same time that the railroad arrived, landowners saw the need for growth in their business districts. Several of the larger farms donated pieces of land and businesses began to grow.
Sadly, between and flood in 1927 and a terrible drought a few years later, many Hughes residents moved out and did not return. These factors coupled with The Great Depression era are the main reasons that Hughes went from being a smaller city to a small community that they are today.
Like most small towns, Hughes’ school is at the heart of their community. I believe I found this week’s cookbook, “The Best Of Hughes” in Hot Springs. How it arrived there, I’ll never know.
While flipping thru pages of recipes, coupled with random facts about their town, a cookie recipe caught my eye. Buffalo Chips 😆. That sounds terrible! We gotta try these!
Whooooop, nothing about this recipe is hard! Just do it! One thing, this recipe makes A LOT OF COOKIES!! I cut the recipe in half and it made 3 dozen. Also, to avoid buying two packages of baking chips that you’ll use half of, I bought a package of chocolate chip/ peanut butter chips and it was the perfect amount. Perfect combo of salty and sweet! Enjoy❤️
The Plot Twisted 