Andrew and His Boys

All dogs love Andrew.  He is the dog whisper - has been his whole life.  While in med school, he trained Bailey (his parents' black lab) to duck hunt.  They spent hours working together and even had a few successful hunts!  Bailey is the most well behaved, well mannered dog ever.  On the other side of his hip is the dog that is semi-boarder line worst behaved dog in the family (only the lap dogs are worse).  This picture was taken right after we got to Macon on Friday/Saturday morning.  Bailey greeted us at the car and never once left Andrew's side.  Tucker loves his daddy much more than me so of course he stayed on the other side.  We even slept with both dogs in the room.  Tucker had to sleep beside Andrew (on the floor of course) and Bailey (the dog that actually does what you say, when you say it, and will stay there until you tell him otherwise) had to sleep beside me on the floor.  We figured Tucker won't share his bed and didn't want to deal with a dog feud at 4am.  It was hilarious all weekend - I would be fussing at Tucker trying my best to get him to do something (he is and has a hard head), and I would look over and Bailey was already doing what I was begging Tucker to do and I wasn't even talking to him.

Two reasons for posting this - one - in case you want to compare Tucker to a "large for the breed" lab and two - to share just how much dogs love Andrew and how much they love him.

I am pretty sure the only thing to have made this picture any better for Andrew would have been to have Annie (the chocolate lab that was already upstairs to avoid the monster dog) and Maggie (his family's lab when he was younger) in the picture with him.

Crazy Weekend, Again

Here is the run down - Andrew, Tucker and I went to Macon this past weekend for two reasons...1) I had a wedding to attend and 2) Andrew skipped the wedding and celebrate GT Homecoming/Clemson (smack down). 

The wedding was wonderful (except I was the oldest Phi Mu there...and whew...that hurt).  Below is a picture of us with the bride.  Ready for this - this is my Phi Mu family, minus the one on the end...that is the bride's sister (who is an active Phi Mu, but not in our family). 

for the heck of it - here is the family in Oct 2005...

Lindley went as my date since Andrew skipped out and we had a blast.  It was great to finally see her again!  Lindley is married to Andrew's best friend, Gary.  When all of us were dating, Lindley and I were informed that we better like each other because we had no choice but to friends...I think it worked out okay!

 

Andrew reports that the game was a blast and so was the company!  He enjoyed all of it so much that he had to spend the night :)!

Tucker thoroughly enjoyed his visit with Bay and Ann but missed Grandma and Grumps.  He did get to see Mac and CC though and was shocked and thrilled.  Mom and Dad took Andrew and I to lunch on Saturday at our favorite semi-Macon place - Grits Cafe in Forsyth...YUMMMMMY!  They claim I have a birthday this week - I have decided that since I can't remember how old I am already there is no point in adding another year, 26 sounds grand.  Don't tell me I haven't been 26 in two years please ;) !  Thanks for lunch Mom and Dad!  And thanks for letting me tag along while y'all went shopping.  And thanks for walking my dog.  And thanks for my gift - y'all are wonderful!

Then on the way home on Sunday we stopped to visit Natalie and Jason.  We had an amazing lunch and enjoyed our time with them.  We miss those two - even Tucker, he told us so. 

In case you couldn't figure it out - the reason we have 72K miles on my 2009 car is because we love family and friends - and we don't mind the drive at all.

Recipes

Here are a few new favorites...

MB and Hugh gave me this cookbook for keeping John while the had a weekend in the Delta

As noted on the cover, the girl (about college age) won Master Chef last year and is from Mississippi!  So far both recipes I have tried have been very good.

 (You can click the pictures for a larger image) 

Rather than following her recipe for the chicken, I simply coated chicken in the BBQ sauce, then baked.  I served it with a little extra sauce.  Super yummy - sweet, spicy - a hit.

(Click for larger image)

This granola has been wonderful.  I have been adding it to my daily yogurt cup, yummy!  I didn't have any maple syrup, so I subbed half the called amount in amber honey and half in molasses (yes I have those two random things, but not maple syrup).

Then on to cooking club for October...all the dishes were really good including my strange Sweet Potato Surprise Balls (think: ball of sweet potato casserole with a marshmallow in the center, rolled in corn flakes, then fried), but here are my favorites.

 This is the source - Southern Sideboards by the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi.  It is out of print now so retail it is expensive.  However, you can find it on Amazon for less than $10.  I love this cookbook.  For you Georgia folks, it is very similar to A Taste of Georgia but not so similar that you don't need both.  Andrew and I have learned that MS food has Cajun/Creole influence while GA has Low Country influences.

 Several others in cooking club grew up on this recipe or discovered it prior to having at club - but y'all these are wonderful...and for a quick week-night, no fuss dinner - leave off the bacon.

 AH-MAZING.  Super quick (minus needing to sit overnight) and easy to throw together.  That says 2 cups of sour cream...I get carried away with my notes.  I left out the celery salt for the chicken we are having tonight because I hate celery and don't own any celery salt and really don't want to spend the money on it.  However, I did not notice it in the recipe Anna made, so I don't think it is that strong.  For those of you that like things "kicked-up-a-bit" you could add red pepper or Texas Pete.  Anna said she just mixed up everything in a ziploc then tossed the chicken around in it - then left it in the bag for the overnight chill, making this even easier for clean-up.

 Super yummy.  It was a bit spicy to some, so you can cut down on the red pepper if you wish.  Also you could cheat and use "pre-made stuffing" and just add green onions, red pepper, mushrooms, and cheese.

Very similar to ambrosia, but even better.  I think it is because my wonderful grandmother has started using the short cut with premade "dressing" aka whipped cream or something like that - but who can fault her when she is cooking for 20 most Sundays right?  Anyway - it takes time and some elbow grease - but a homemade custard is wonderful!!! 

More Random Pictures

 I love this view.  If only I could build a house on the #7 red tees at Lake Caroline with the entire fairway as my backyard...but then I couldn't play this hole, so maybe not...but I love it.  I also love that one tree that is starting to turn orange - it's fall y'all!!

 "Mom, I am NOT sitting in the chair.  I am sitting on Daddy!"  "Honey, can you stop taking pictures and get this dog off of me?" 

"Mom, so you will stop acting like Daddy and scream at the TV, I am going to block your view."  "Tucker you're right.  I don't want to watch the terrible game.  Instead, I am going to make fun on how your spots line up with the your spine and how you actual watch TV."

Do A Little Jig

I discovered (remembered Andrew had it) this video of John doing a little jig to the music on the TV.  Unfortunately, I said something to him and he stopped...but I just love that he hears music and starts shaking it like his momma!

Fair 2011 Edition

Andrew and I made our yearly trip to the fair last week.  Here's the run down...

Walked the midway while discussing food and ride options

Stopped on the way for a funnel cake
Visited the kids area to scope it out for John next year (HINT MB)
Stopped at the biscuit booth for a biscuit with local sryup

Walked back down the midway
Rode our one ride for the year - the blizzard or something like that
Went inside to see the antique cars and found some local honey
Bought some dark/amber honey (so much better than store bought honey)
Went to Penn's to share a chicken-on-a-stick and a plate of fried pickles ("borrowed" picture below)

Attended The Band Perry concert.  They are natives so it was really packed - and they were super good!

Bought a candy apple and a caramel apple while heading to the car.

All in all - we ate plenty, enjoyed our one ride, and thoroughly enjoyed the free concert!

Highway 80 Strategy - Action...

If you don't know - I worked for nearly 18 months on the Highway 80 Strategy for the City of Jackson.  Yes it is a pipe dream, but without a dream you have nothing.  Anyway, when we finished I honestly thought it would sit on a few desks at the City and collect dust or become a door stop.  It seems that I was wrong.  The City Council has started implementing our recommendations...starting at the top...land use and zoning.  Since September they have adopted the amendments to the land use plan, thoroughfares plan and zoning map and ordinance.  Here is the link to the most recent article on the project. 

No joke - when I applied to grad school, my personal statement started with a paragraph about how I would attend board meetings with my granddad before I even started school and how I have since learned that the decision that board made 20 years ago determined the way my little, two traffic light hometown looked now as a 7 traffic light town with a Lowes, Super Walmart and (the ultimate) a Chick-Fil-A.  It still has the same look and feel that it had when 10,000 people lived in the county - and I wanted to help other towns for this very reason.  And now - I am doing that...I have realized that dream.