My Favorite Things

To keep things lively in our programs, we sometimes add some interesting rhythms to our songs. A song that has been a crowd pleaser is "Sixteen Tons", complete with hammer and spike. Until yesterday, it was not fully understood what a feat this is. Upon close inspection of the "rhythm instrument", you'll see that the actual spike used is about the same diameter as the head of the hammer. To get an authentic sound, our own "steel driving man" has to hit that small target with force and hit it precisely. It just rings out as accompaniment to the rich bass solo.

But yesterday, the steel driver missed one time. It's entirely possible--just maybe--that there is a chair with a dent in it, neatly stacked among the others from yesterday. We don't think we're going to look. We really don't want to know.

After our program at Buncombe St. UMC, we were treated to the definitive Southern lunch--fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, lima beans and homemade yeast rolls. Some in our group have roots that run deeply into this Southern soil. And others are newly Southern. But all of us know that any church dinner worth attending will have macaroni and cheese on the table. It's an absolute favorite.

For those of you from other parts of the globe, you need to know this version is unlike what you find other places. No cheese sauce here. (And heaven help you if you show up with mac and cheese from a blue box!) Old timers called our upstate SC version "macaroni pie". Besides church dinners, you'll always find macaroni pie at family dinners, holiday dinners, funeral dinners, and even the occasional picnic.

Anyway, we just want you to understand how much of a favorite this dish is. If you would like to make this macaroni and cheese, just email the Yesterukes at <yesterukes@gmail.com> and ask for the recipe. This particular recipe has been passed down through several generations of cooks right here in upstate South Carolina and has made an appearance on hundreds of dinner tables. And it tastes just like what we enjoyed yesterday.

Next time we'll talk more about ukuleles and less about food. Promise.

My Favorite Things, sung by Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music, 1965