Rex and Ty's Food Blog

     I like to measure the ingredients and lay them all out before starting a new recipe. The other day when Lily was going to be in the kitchen making dinner for us, I began to wonder, as I looked at my spice shelf. What is the most important ingredient or spice that I have? What is used the most? What ingredient is the most important overall? Seems like salt is used in most recipes. But what type? Sea salt, Iodized, Kosher, or Seasoned Salt. What ingredient or spice will make Lily's version of Sweet Pepper Pasta with Sausage special? All was laid out ready for Lily to add in the order the recipe called for. She executed with perfection.       As I watched her grate the Parmesan cheese that finishes the dish, it came to me. The secret ingredient. The one that for me makes every meal special. SHARING ! When finished, I realized that this really good meal, first introduced to me by my Son and Daughter-in-law, was indeed just as good as the time they served ...

      A little over ten years ago I did something very uncharacteristic for me. I fell in love with a face. It was a face on a packet of information. A face that needed help! My daughter had invited me to attend a concert at her church. Her claim was, " a friend of mine sings with this group ". Since I like live music and gospel music I agreed to go along. My granddaughter Lily, not yet one, stood on my lap and bounced with the music. It was a great time of worship.       I wasn't aware of the purpose of the concert. You see the singing quartet was representing Compassion International . This is an organization that helps impoverished children from around the world. They passed around the audience packets containing pictures and histories of individual children that were in need of help. This one face on a packet that was passed seemed to speak to me. Something in my heart said that I needed to help this little girl. But being a hardened skeptic I just pas...

     The last time I went to Tennessee to visit my son and his family I had a secret agenda. I wanted to find something I could make that my grandson Brayden would eat. Brayden has a narrow band of foods that he chooses to eat. I know this is not unusual for children. He eats well but doesn't experiment with new foods very often. His sister Tenley will eat anything you are eating.       Brayden likes hot dogs, chicken nuggets, bread sticks, pizza, macaroni and cheese and also Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal. He does use milk on the cereal but doesn't use condiments with anything else. No ketchup, no mustard, not even sauces? He really knows what he wants and wants it just the way he likes it.       I made it my goal to find something I could make that he would eat. I was armed with my wife's favorite cookbook, Farm Journals Best Ever Recipes from 1977 and picked some simple items to make. I felt sure that I would make that special food he cou...

    I recently tried a recipe that was posted in Grit Magazine. It caught my eye because it was called a Shaker Lemon Pie . It was an unusual looking pie but the thing that interested me was the Shaker adjective. I did not know anything about the Shaker people or sect, until my brother Rodney made some Shaker boxes and showed them to me. He then invited me to come to his woodshop and make some of my own.     Rodney and I got really close after we were older. There is something about sibling relationships. They see you at your best and worst but seem to accept you as you are. Like me, Rodney might have had faults too, but I know where he really was his best. In his woodshop! Rodney made everything you can imagine, picnic tables, cedar chest, fine jewelry boxes and anything else you can imagine. One of my favorite projects he completed was a large cider press. He had reclaimed yellow pine wood from a neighbors' fallen barn for the reconstruction. It was beautif...