These days, there are a number of types of chocolate to use in our dessert making. For instance, we use Baker's Sweet Chocolate for making German Chocolate Cakes. A variety of chocolate chips find their way into our candy and cookie recipes. But I like baking with cocoa.

Back in the day, cocoa was cheaper than chocolate baking squares. On a limited budget, cost was everything: almost. I could get more mileage from a box of cocoa than I could from those skimpy chocolate squares. It had a longer shelf life as well. That made cocoa a winner for me.

The Tennessee Corn Referendum will be held on Wednesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 29 from 8am - 5pm. The question on the referendum ballot will be “shall the producers of corn assess themselves at the rate of one cent ($0.01) per bushel of corn sold”. If passed, the funds will be paid over to the Tennessee Corn Promotion Board to finance programs of research, education, market development, marketing, advertising and other methods to promote the increased production, consumption, use and sale of corn products.

Union County High School’s star soccer player, Emma Moyers, broke the school’s scoring record with a whopping 41 goals. The Lady Patriot coach, Drew Richardson, claims that Moyers obtains a great amount of respect from him and hopes she one day would grant him the opportunity of helping mentor future and upcoming soccer players. Richardson also says that Emma has unbelievable talent. He is extremely hopeful that she stays on the path she is walking (or running) now. Moyers is ecstatic to hold the new record. She is most definitely “kicking” her way to the top.

The Union County High School basketball team received a brand new gym floor. The floor replaced the old red border with a fresh new navy blue trim. The floor was designed by the basketball coaches, Roger Murphy and Shane Brown. In a recent interview with the boys basketball coach, Shane Brown said, "It was time for a new one." Coach Brown goes on to later say that it had been over ten years since the floor had been totally redone. A brand new floor and a brand new season for Union County basketball.

What a difference a generation makes. I grew up thinking of November 11th as Armistice Day. After all, it celebrated the end of the Great War, World War 1, as signed on that date at Versailles in that boxcar in France. I still think of it that way.

In order to survive, animals have instinctive reactions to the weather, migrating birds being just one example. By knowing how game animals react in differing weather conditions can up a hunter’s chances of a successful kill.

Deer depend heavily on scent to protect themselves from predators. They usually respond to a strange scent by bugging out before hunters get close. Deer move into the wind to better pick up scents. To take advantage of this, a hunter must move and stay downwind of his prey. This can be determined by the old wet finger trick.

It’s amazing how other people’s words can hit us with such force.

I was out with some lady friends and we were discussing prayer. One friend was one of those people who was as beautiful inside as she was on the outside.

She told us about an experience she had a few years ago. God told her to spend a day in prayer with Him. He didn’t want her to ask Him for anything. All He wanted her to do was to worship Him in prayer. She did and she was so blessed by it. It was an uplifting experience that changed her life. Every woman at that table was touched by her story.

Back before television, when you only needed your ears and imagination to follow a story on the radio, there were card games. Some were played alone, but others needed more players. I remember when we were first married in the late forties, when my husband and I were part of a Pinochle Card Club. There were six couples in our club. We met once a month on a Friday night at one of the group member's home. We were all young couples, most newly married, trying to get started in life. Money was in short supply. We needed a way to entertain ourselves that we could afford.

About 20 years ago, I fell in love with painting and have been trying to turn a flat surface into a three-dimensional picture ever since. Little did I know when this journey started that the greatest joy I'd receive would not be from any painting I might do but would be from the friendships I made along the way. For eight years, 2004-2011, I painted at Dollywood during their Harvest Festival. The management, employees, and craftspeople become your "Dollywood Family".

In an effort to encourage sharing the positive message about agriculture, November 11 – 17, 2018, will be celebrated as “Agriculture Literacy Week in Tennessee”. Tennessee Agriculture Literacy Week will allow everyone involved in agriculture to focus attention toward our vibrant industry through literacy promotions in local school systems. Volunteers are encouraged to contact local school systems and schedule a visit to read agriculturally themed books to school students. Many segments of Tennessee’s agriculture industry have
strong literacy outreach programs.