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.

Finally Completely DONE!

The floors are finally completely done!!  Since Andrew was off this past week and his dad had some time, he drove out and installed the shoe moulding!  While he was here we also got him to fix the doors to the guest hall that didn't close after the floor installation and got him to help put grout between the hardwoods and the tile.  And we are done with the floors folks!  There is nothing floor related left to do (minus rugs, but I just can't figure out what size, shape, color, style of rug I want).  Oh and while we had the paint out I touched up the trim in the kitchen and a few other spots.  Now we have the whole weekend to watch football, golf, and NASCAR (read: take lots of naps!).  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Grumps!

Here are a few from the carpet, then hardwoods in progress for comparison....

Grady and Corrie McGinnis

A little family history - this is a picture of my great grandparents on my dad's side.  If I had been a boy, I would have been named for this handsome fellow that looks just like my dad.  (They are all short...notice the rolled pant legs...)

If you want to compare, here is a picture of my dad at a similar age...

One better...

This is Grady (on the left, orange cap - pictured above on the right) with his son, my grandfather - Papa George (on the right)... super interesting note - Papa George always wore coveralls or overalls...seems like "father like son," huh?

This is my great grandparents sandwiching their children in age order...

I am going to do my best with the names (MB, Mom, Dad - help me)...Grady, Herbert, Henry (called Mac, the reason Dad requested to be called Mac by the grandkids), George (my grandfather), Ruby, Alma, John, Dan, Christine, and Corrie.

And I will leave you with this beauty...

Right to left - Allen (Dad's oldest brother), someone I don't know, Dad and the beauty on the right - Mom!

Shower, Family, and a Bull

Tucker and I loaded up Friday afternoon for a trip to GA while Andrew headed to AL to meet the "boys" for "Guy's Golf Weekend."  The purpose for my trip was a baby shower for a childhood friend and the chance to see another expecting friend whose shower I missed, plus seeing another unexpecting friend and seeing Mom and Dad.

The shower was wonderful and it was great to catch up with old friends.  Tucker went with Mom and Dad to a 1 year old birthday party.  I am told he had at least 12 hands on him at all times and he was a saint.  (That's my good boy...) 

When I returned from the shower, I noticed a bovine standing on the RR just down the street.  Come to find out it was a 2200 pound bull...and its owner (and pretty much their whole family was out of town).  After watching the owner's brother and brother-in-law and Dad try to load the bull in an open pasture and busting a gut from laughing so hard at the attempts...the brothers decided they had to go watch the UGA game and they would come back with the older brother - the owner - the next day. 

The bull ended up at M & D's for the night while Mom's horse was moved to the pasture where the bull should have been.  FYI - that is about a 5 foot tall fence - and that sucker was mean.  He charged everyone (hence the busting a gut).

Tucker had too much fun and did not take his regular 6 hours of naps on Saturday, so he was one sleepy puppy by half time of the UGA game.  Actually I think this was about the time UGA had 3rd & 57.

Then Sunday, MB, Hugh & John showed up for the day - so there was even more excitement including the 5 hour process of waiting for the bull to get hungry enough to walk on the trailer to get his food...the owner decided he would rather wait it out then get charged. 

Then Tucker and I packed up and headed back to Mississippi...

Steve Jobs Quote

A friend posted the quote below as their status of Facebook in tribute to Steve Jobs.  While we are not an Apple/Mac family, I vividly remember using an Apple computer in primary school and we both use phones that are in response to the iPhone.  So when I read this I couldn't help but think he hit the nail on the head with this statement...

 "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it" - Steve Jobs.

I believe I speak for both of us when I say - we are blessed, we are there.  Now, don't let me fool you, we aren't exactly there, but we are to the point that we can see the end.  Once Andrew is in private practice accepting eggs and milk for payment and I am herding goats we will be "there" but that isn't now...and for now, this is it.  I love what I do - I love helping a small community get the funds necessary to repair their water system or to build a new road for an industrial park that will bring 200 new jobs or to help write land use/zoning ordinances that protects the community's interest but allows them to grow in a healthy, smart way.  Andrew loves helping people, helping them understand their illness, helping them get well, helping them stay healthy, and watching kids grow.  We are blessed and I pray that others may had this joy as well.

Landscape 101: Wax Myrtle

Need a 20 to 40 foot landscape screen?  Want a quick growing tall bush like tree?  Go get a Wax Myrtle...

Want a nice foundation plant?  Want one that will never grow taller than your roof?  Do not get a Wax Myrtle...

The point of this post...we have three wax myrtles in our foundation landscape.  I have to cut the dang things every other month otherwise they would be taller than our house.  I hate the dang things - I can't believe they were planted at the front corners of our house.  So here is what happens...

This was mid-way through the trimming...I had cut the sides and had started on the top. 

  Mostly finished...there are trimmings in the trash can that appear to be part of the bush and a tree way off the distant that looks like a missed branch...I promise these are not part of the bush.

And for the best part - I really want to trim these again - a serious deep cut - this winter because by December they will be just as tall as it.

Visit from Megan!

I am still so excited!  Megan made it out for her first visit this weekend!  We had such a lazy weekend that it isn't even funny - but really that is just what we wanted.  We watched football, saw some of the Jackson sites, chilled in our pj's, hit up the 50% sale items at Ann Taylor, ran into Kim (who didn't tell me she was in town - still kinda sorta hacked at her...she could have joined us), ate Kiefer's, and drank a little wine (and some beer)!  It is my turn to find the cheap tickets to Gainesville (aka Gator Town) for a visit now!

And in case anyone was concerned, Megan and Tucker became best buds within minutes.  He would not leave her side...and well she encouraged it...see...

This is what we call texting and ear rubbing...for Tucker it is a must.