Once, about 15 years ago, our family was invited to a Frogmore Stew Supper, as a thank you for hunting privileges… But that was my only experience with this unique supper that goes by dual names.. Frogmore Stew… Low Country Boil..

For the last several years, my parents have attended a customer appreciation supper out on the eastern shore- that boasts of the same event.. Fresh seafood.. Meanwhile, their oldest daughter, stays at home with the chopping crew and tries not to think about what they are getting in on..

I tried to do a bit of research on the history of the event.. As always, there is a variety of tales.. My favorite says that a shrimper in the town of  Frogmore on St Helena Island, SC was running low on food, so he threw a variety of potatoes, sausage, and corn in a pot.. He did have plenty of shrimp (lucky fellow) so he added those to make the dish stretch some.. And realized that these flavors went together splendidly..

Whatever the story is- I love history lessons- especially ones like this.. 🙂

We were so blessed by everyone’s sacrifices last week- putting their own agendas on hold- and helping clean up our catastrophe- that we wanted to do something.. So Mother suggested hosting a party.. Through this entire experience, We have seen God’s Hand in everything… Little details.. e.g: When Mother called her cousin, Marilyn, to see about renting Rushville Retreat, and the possibility of her helping with the event, Marilyn was quick to consent. Mother told her the unusual idea she had for the menu and Marilyn laughed and said “I’m fixing that tonight for 30 people, that shouldn’t be a problem..” Marilyn’s family really helped out.. Even creating special signs to direct guests into the park.. 🙂 Silos leaning in the direction they should go..

So things fell together rapidly, and by Saturday night, we had the tables covered with brown paper, the pots boiling and the guests en route..

Having never hosted a party like this- especially not for 200 people- it was a learning curve..

Frogmore Stew:

In a large kettle boil 4 lbs of potatoes in 4 qts of water, 2 tsp salt, 2 Tbs of Old Bay Seasoning for 10 mins

Add 2 lbs of Kielbasa sausage, cut into 1.5 in pieces- Cover and cook 10 more minutes

Add 8-12 ears of fresh corn on the cob- also broken into chunks.. Cook 5-7 minutes.

Add 4 lbs of shrimp- last but not least 🙂 cooking a few minutes until shrimp are pink.. Serves approx 15

We chose to go the casual, more authentic route, by spreading the food in the middle of the table, allowing guests to reach in and help themselves, finger food.. We provided cocktail sauce, sour cream, butter, and salt and pepper, lots of napkins and of course, sweet tea.

The one thing that we didn’t handle quite right, was evenly distributing the food… So the Brother-in-law and some of the kitchen help wandered among the masses “pilfering the crowd” attempting to even things out a little.. 🙂

And everyone was great sports… We ended the evening with pie, Shenandoah Family Farms soft serve ice cream, and coffee.

So that’s it. The chapter closes a week and a day after the initial excitement. We’ve learned a lot. God works miracles and people are very, very kind.

To quote the Brother-in-law- as he sank into a chair after finishing covering the pile of silage- last Sat night.. “The only thing that could’ve gone better about this experience would’ve been IF the silo hadn’t gone over..”

Blessings on your week,

Kendra

Bonus Pics:

We started soybean harvest this past week..

The sunrises and sunsets have been incredible recently

And it’s all over… In about 30 hours after we first  discovered we were losing our silo, we have a little pile of concrete to bury and a 50×150 pile of silage. But that did not happen by itself. 100s of man hours. Machinery rolled in. Torches were lit. People saw what needed to be done and slaved away. Food poured in. Everyone worked together.

We look at the empty spot at our barn and our hearts are full. It’s hard to imagine how generous people were with their time, talents, machinery, food.. We are so blessed. We could’ve never ever done it alone. Thank you!

The ingenious decision of the day was when someone brought a soil screener and set it up beside the pile… Sifting out countless chunks of concrete.

The four-wheeler became the on site ice cream truck.. Our 85 yr old neighbor man brought ice cream and pop and distributed it among the workers.. 🙂 People helped out where-ever they could.

Above all, we feel like God has moved for us in so many ways- sparing our barns, working out glitches in our herd caused by this excitement, and helping our Farm Manager to return.. (Detroit went MIA Friday morning.. Silly dog- perfect time for a vacation.. Somehow he returned this morn- and we are thankful..)

So we look forward to the week ahead of us, rejoicing in the goodness of God, thanking Him for protection, and for surrounding us with an incredible community that doesn’t think twice to help out when the chips-or silage- is down..

Blessings, Kendra

My phone rang, it was a report from the top of the silo: “Ok, Kendra, finish cutting that load and come on in- that’s all we need..”  As I cut the last load, my mind went to the post, I’ve been attempting to write.. SAFETY..

Several weeks ago, early Monday morning, as I was slowly waking up, my mind was rolling over what all needed to be done that week and I had this sudden feeling- this very well could be my last week. OK..  And it  kept running through my head at random times the rest of the week… “if you knew this was your last day- what would you do differently?” It was crazy-it just kept continuously showing up..  Finally I told Emily “Hey, this is random- but if I die- I just wanted you know I had a premonition…”  and she said “this doesn’t creep me out at all”…

After I survived the week, I was laughing at myself with some family, and Aunt Elva said “But you know, that’s something to always keep in your mind- whether your day entails driving down 42- where a car could cross the median and hit you head on or whatever- Life has no guarantees!”

This time of year-we are especially conscious- Everyone is working long hours. Equipment is huge. Loads are heavy. Safety is the first priority. We remind everyone to “be safe”. Reminders are shouted over the CB as we move from one job to the next. Phone calls “hey, be careful on that hill..” It’s texted back and forth- even becomes  snapchat advice.. 🙂 You can’t be too careful!

Earlier this week- the farm where we were cutting, had a silo unloader that stripped the cable- so they got a crane in to lift it to the top of the silo, while we filled it. It seemed a little pricey, but the farmer said “what is safety worth?” The irony of that statement is that while they were removing the ridge cap at the top of the silo, it broke into pieces and fell down and smashed the hand of an onlooker.. “what is safety worth?”

Obviously, God is in control and it didn’t hit the guy on the head- or the damage would’ve been extensive.. But that got me thinking.. We say “be safe” but really- it’s up to the mercy of our Heavenly Father… No matter how “safe” you are, God still calls people home.

The conclusion, as I followed that last load into the silo, is to live life- like this is your last day.. Carefully- yet zealously.. ” For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind..” 2 Tim 1:7

Upon arrival at the barn, I saw immediately something was wrong.. The guys that were supposed to be up leveling off the top of our silo- were chasing cows in our barn..

All blog post ideas fled, as I parked the chopper and ran to join the work. In summary, the 24X80 stave silo, that we had constructed on our farm in ’92 was going over-FAST-towards our back barns. We were on borrowed time to move our girls to safety.. They were so disoriented- and didn’t understand the urgency of the situation- but after we all almost lost our voices- they were safe..

That’s when I noticed Father wasn’t with us. I should’ve known.. He had fired up our JCB and was on a race against time and gravity, to change the fate of our barn.. Back and forth and back and forth- slamming the bucket into the opposite side of the silo- shattering the staves- creating a new weakness.

He worked relentlessly for an hour. Meanwhile- a few phone calls resulted in our lane becoming a high traffic area- as people rolled in to help.. And the whole time- my wrecking ball Dad- slamming away..

At one point- we could tell it had changed courses, but it looked like it was heading for our dairy.. Julia and Sherman moved their entire cow medicine cabinet to safety..

As onlookers- it was hard… Standing there knowing things were gonna be shattered. Yet they weren’t yet.. So we prayed desperately. We waited. We offered advice on “what he should do..” Even got out a range finder to guess where she’d land.. Meanwhile he kept at it- back and forth, back and forth.

Suddenly, it moved. Somebody shouted “it’s going” and Father roared out of the way- hallelujah. And we stood there and watched as 1000 tons of fresh silage, hours of labor, tons of concrete and steel whistled to the ground.  But none of us where thinking about the loss.

Our concrete giant had missed our dairy barn by an inch. Everyone gave a jubilant shout and ran into the dust to see things up close.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or just keep cheering- pretty sure I did all of the above.. Aunt Kathy gave me a hug and said “God is Good”  “ALL the time”…

So now the fun continues. I was so blessed by the volunteers who came last night-slaving away to create a path for the milkman to be able to pick up milk this morn. And I know today is gonna be even more incredible. There’s no way to clean this up without man hour after man hour.  Bless those who are here with their sleeves rolled up.

And so- no matter where life finds you- whether it’s standing on the top of a silo and realizing that it’s shifting- FAST and you have moments to do something… or its a job a little less risky.. Remember that God is in control and He IS good- all the time..