At South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, donors can donate every 56 days and can help save up to three lives with each donation. STBTC is encouraging all blood donors to make donations throughout the year to help ensure patients receive the blood they need, when they need it.

Upcoming local blood drives scheduled:

Tues., Oct. 29 – 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
Calhoun ISD, 525 N. Commerce, Port Lavaca

Wednesday, October 30, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Seadrift Lions Club
202 Railroad Ave., Seadrift

My neighbors Parker and Patty are always telling me how proud they are to be a part of Port O Connor, Texas. They say it is a great community and so friendly. The kids and grandkids were here for a visit last weekend and Parker and Patty took them to the Community Rummage Sale and a crazy thing happened. All the family came to shop. The grandsons found some fishing gear they wanted, one granddaughter wanted books and the other wanted some jewelry. The son and daughter in law found some Christmas décor and a few bake sale items they wanted, but Parker thought he hit the jackpot. He found a big box and filled it with things he loved. He had found several shirts, some fishing shorts, a few nets, fishing equipment and some tools he wanted to buy. He brought them over to the area where everyone was supposed to pay and started showing his fantastic finds to Patty. He pulled a blue shirt out of the box and said the small tear in the sleeve would not bother him when fishing. Patty laughed and said he could not buy the blue shirt because she had donated it out of the back of his closet just the week before. He pulled out some wrinkled shorts, a monogrammed sweatshirt, a green colored t-shirt and a weatherproof jacket to show them to Patty. One by one she held them up, looked at them and said, ‘yours, yours, yours… I told you I was cleaning out the storage and the closets. ‘The show and tell continued for several more items with the same results. The shorts with the sticky zipper, the jacket with the broken button, the net that was just like 4 others in the shop were all culled by Patty from Parker’s own private collection of too much stuff in too little space. When all was said and done, Parker bought one hammer and a fishing lure, and returned 15 other items to the racks and bins at the rummage sale where they had been placed for sale after Patty donated them. Parker paid the family shopping bill and left muttering to his family about how Patty should never have gotten rid of all those things, there was nothing wrong with them, and if he lost a few pounds he could wear those shorts and jeans again soon. His son and daughter in law just laughed as they all climbed into the truck handing Parker a cupcake with sprinkles. Just as he bit into the delicious treat Patty opened the door and exclaimed that she baked those cupcakes for the bake sale and she sure hoped he paid the ladies for them before he ate one. Guess Parker knows what he likes.

Catfish and Wild Rice Soup

As a lifelong fisherman, my first memories are of catching bluegills and catfish. What a great fight those whisker bearing devils put on when my bobber disappeared. Of course sometimes a Red Eared Terrapin or a soft shelled snapper would surprise me, but the catfish were a great memory. Whether its channel, Opelousas, yellows or blues, catfish are fun to catch but are also great table fare. The list of ways to prepare catfish runs the gamut like a Bubba Gump Shrimp story, but when my wife’s parents started raising blue catfish we got busy trying out several ways to cook them. This version of Catfish and Wild Rice Soup originally came from The Catfish Institute website, and I simply made some changes to my liking. It is wonderful and we make it often, feel free to substitute with Tilapia, trout or your favorite type of fish.

Makes 6 servings

1 cup wild rice
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon of your favorite Hot Sauce
2 pounds U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish Fillets, blackened and then cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups light cream or milk (whole milk will work fine and has a few less calories)
1/4 cup dry sherry ( have a little bit left to drizzle in the top of each bowl when serving)
3 tablespoons of Texas Gourmet’s Sidewinder Searing Spice
very thin lemon slices
3 tablespoons of freshly cut green onion chives

Preparation:

1. Place rice in a colander and rinse under running water; drain.

2. In a medium saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil; add rice. Return to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 45 to 55 minutes or until rice is tender. Drain.

3. In a large kettle or Dutch oven, cook onion, celery, and garlic in butter or margarine until tender. Stir in flour. Add chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.

For the catfish, brush the filets with melted butter, then dust the filets with Texas Gourmet’s Sidewinder Searing Spice on both sides. In a seasoned black iron or heavy skillet with med. high heat , cook the filets turning them carefully so they don’t get torn apart (or as little as possible) after they are cooked through and have a good rich color remove them from the pan and allow them to sit for a couple minutes to cool slightly. Now, cut them into bite sized pieces and place them in the pot with the other ingredients. Return to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

4. Stir in cooked wild rice, light cream or milk, and dry sherry. Heat through.

5. Garnish each serving with a slice of lemon and a tablespoon of chopped green onion chive ,(then I like a dash of Sherry on top. )

Bon Appetit!
Bryan Slaven, The Texas Gourmet

* Texas Gourmet products available online at: www.texasgourmet.com

St. Patrick Church Annual Fund Raiser

St. Patrick Church in Seadrift will hold its annual Turkey Dinner and Fund Raiser on Sunday, October 27th at 11:00 am. There will be a raffle, bake sale, egg rolls and rummage sale. The plates will be $8 with turkey, homemade dressing, sweet potatoes & green beans with all the trimmings.

The rummage sale will start on Saturday, October 26th at 8:00 am.

The Seadrift Lady Pirates played Stroman Lady Vipers on September 19th 2013 at Seadrift School. The 7th grade Lady Pirates beat the Lady Vipers in three. The scores were 25-20, 19-25, and 15-12. Peper Jennings, Karley Gregory and Cierra Harper each scored one point. Karsen Pittman and Haley Bales scored 2 points each. Gillian Vasquez scored 4. Anna Sachtleben scored a total of 8 with one ace. High scorer was Rebecca Barrerra with 14 points and 2 aces. The 8th grade Lady Pirates also beat Stroman in two scoring 25-19 and 25-21. Abby Morgan and Krislyn Key scored one point each. Abbi Luna scored 4 points. Torri Mikolas scored 7 points with one ace. The high scorer was Kellie Blevins with a total of 16 points with two aces.

The Seadrift Lady Pirates played the Patti Welder Lady Panthers at Patti Welder on September 26, 2013. Seventh grade Lady Pirates beat the Lady Panthers in two scoring 25-20 and 25-14. Karley Gregory and Karsen Pittman scored two points each, Rebecca Barrera scored four, Gillian Vasquez scored six. High scorer was Anna Sachtleben with fifteen points and three aces. The eighth grade Lady Pirates suffered their first loss in three. Scores were 25-18, 23-25, and 14-25. Victoria Gilliand scored three points,Torri Mikolas scored four, Abby Morgan scored five, Krislyn Key scored six, Abbi Luna scored eight points with two aces. High scorer was Kellie Blevins with thirteen points and one ace.

The Seadrift Lady Pirates played Cade Lady Bulldogs October 10,2013 at Cade. The Lady Pirates had a good showing against the Cade A teams. Seventh Grade scores were 12-25 and 8-25. Gillian Vasquez and Rebecca Barrera scored one point, Heather Glover two, and high scorer for the match was Haley Bales with four points. Eighth grade scores were 12-25 and 8-25. Kellie Blevins scored two points, Layne Blevins scored three, and high scorer for the match was Abbi Luna with five points.

Lady Pirates Volleyball Schedule

Oct. 17 Howell A Home
(Parent Night)

Oct. 21 Stroman A Away

Oct. 24/26 District Tournament Away
7th Grade at Travis
8th Grade at Stroman