Where Am I?

Guess!

Come on!...pplleeassee. Pretty please?!

You'll never guess because it is beyond human fathoming.

Okay, I'll give you a hint:

Did it help?? Any guesses? Mmmm...fried moonpies.

Yes, deep fried oreos were involved.

This fancy schmancy hand stamp was required. No, it is not a ping pong paddle.

You can be more creative than that. Think! Use that gray matter!

Give up?! Man, you really stink at this guessing thing......I'll give you a hint.........

I give good hints. Yes, that's right. The National Cornbread Festival. Jealous, yet?

This last weekend we took it upon ourselves to attend the National Cornbread Festival in neighboring South Pittsburg TN. Natalie came up for the weekend...who wouldn't?....(okay, all of you out there with corn allergies are off the hook).... cornbread goodness as far as the eye can see. Its a no brainer.

A rare brother sister bonding moment. I've got the crazy pictures on my hard drive if you want 'em. But since I want to remain Natalie's favorite sister in law I refrained from posting.

Two faces so stinkin cute that they conned me into buying a little bitty teeny weeny coke for $1.50. Such a sucker.

Mountain Cove Bluegrass - I'm pretty sure I glimpsed a tear in several eyes as they played Rocky Top. You missed it, but the guitar player took his Tennessee hat off and held it over his heart. Hilarious!

Yes, folks, its true. The proof is in the pictures.

How about one last picture? You all know how I love pictures. Useful for so many things...like blackmail perhaps?

I'm sure she's available for your next family gathering, birthday party, or VBS.

Anyway, it did decide to rain - well, maybe that's a bit of an understatement - it monsooned outside all weekend, but we did find a rainless window on Saturday morning to join in the festivities. AND...I met almost all of my cornbread-related life goals :)

1. Cornbread T-Shirt...check! "Cornbread - A Taste of the South"

2. Eat as many Deep Fried Oreos as possible...check! (Nat and I are still waiting on our cholesterol to come back down...we like to live on the edge.)

3. Quick walk through the carnival avoiding any eye contact with all over-zealous carnival workers selling overpriced chances to win a goldfish....check!

4. Eat vast amounts of cornbread...oopps. I knew we'd forget something in all of our giddy excitement.


Until next year,

Mandy

I Took The Plunge

That's right folks. I did it. I just jumped right in...with both feet. I was feelin' froggy so I jumped.

Completely reckless of me I know.

So, whatdaya do? Glad you asked.

Some people jump out of airplanes...really crazy people hang glide or climb mountains. The truly odd collect rare species of dead bugs or spend their spare time orienteering (a.k.a. getting lost on purpose and seeing how long it takes to find their way out of the wilderness ...they've obviously never met me...I could get them lost way faster.)

I, however, choose different obstacles. The truly terrifying. The absolutely perilous. The pinnacle of thrilling....

(drumroll please....)

I roasted an entire chicken the other night!

(crickets chirpping)...

What?! Did you hear me?!

You snicker?! You roll your eyes?! You don't think that's truly harrowing?!

Well, you've obviously never looked a de-feathered, headless, chicken in the body cavity and tried to figure out what to do with it! I was very innocently strolling through the meat department last week and happened upon a chicken sale and I don't know what to tell you, but my wild side took over and the next thing I knew I was handing over my Ingles Advantage card.

I brought him home and put him in the fridge. Every time I opened the door to grab a pudding cup or a diet coke- there he was. Just sittin' there. Waiting. What in the world do you do with a WHOLE animal?! I've never roasted a whole anything!

Maybe it has to do with the fact that it requires you to put your hand in a body cavity...which in my opinion never sounds like a good idea. Come on...you've seen CSI.

Maybe its because we don't eat all our leftovers or something. Anyway, it was eerily similar to the trepidation preceeding baking a Thanksgiving turkey..which I've also never done. :)

So, last Thursday I took him out....and stuffed him with onions, garlic, lemon, and salt. Then I ever so carefully (or competely recklessly..depends on your feelings about salmonella and the consumption of animal fats) mixed together butter, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and rosemary and rubbed that under the skin and all over the outside. Don't forget...we're living on the wild side here people.

Ummm....excuse me. You're drooling on your keyboard, again.

Finally, I gracefully (translation: did not burn myself) popped him in the oven at 450 for 75 minutes and then let it cool on the stove top...I served it with oven-baked sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli (had to make up for all that butter somehow!). Delicious. Completely victorious. The gold medal is mine....and so is the drumstick.


Mandy ;)

P.S. There are no pictures accompanying this post because we ate first and asked questions later. Besides, I may not be a member of PETA but I still don't condone the posting of poor meatless chicken carcasses on the web. ha! :)

Herb is Here

I'll go ahead and apologize for being a blog slacker...Go ahead! Smack my hand. Send me to the corner! Put me in time out....I deserve it.

Procrastination's normally not my game but life's not just that exciting lately folks. We haven't been sitting around watching paint dry or grass grow or anything. I guess I could have written about my leaking kitchen sink, the fact that my floors are begging for a good mopping, or that there is evidently an entire spider family building cobwebs in my bedroom window - but I don't suffer from insomnia and I bet you don't either. Cruel and unusual punishment that would be.

Nevertheless, we are so glad that spring has finally sprung here in the valley. Everything is fresh and new. The mountains have transitioned from muddy brown to vibrant green in a matter of days.

The whole thing kinda reminds me of that scene from Bambi when the forest wakes up from a long winter's nap and the birds are going crazy and everybody is "twitterpated" according to the owl....

What do you mean you don't remember that?!

Epic childhood Disney action. Shame on you! My favorite blanket as a teeny tiny was covered in Bambi, Thumper, Flower, and all their friends...sigh....the good old days.

Focus, Mandy.

Sorry.

Anyway, I decided to celebrate this vibrant new season by starting an herb garden. No, we are not going to have the "Is it HUH-ERB or ERB" battle. I don't care how you say it. I just like to eat 'em. I love fresh food (especially in summer) and fresh herbs make EVERYTHING taste better so I thought I'd give it a try.

Because herbs tend to be very invasive when planted with other stuff I decided to start with some planters. Now I'm just sitting here, tapping my foot - waiting for them to sprout. According to the seed packets I've got another 7-12 days to wait...Have I told you lately that patience is not one of my virtues?

Just ask Kevin (well, only if you have an hour....or maybe 50 years...sheesh).

Our project this last weekend included planting a vegetable garden and working on our front flower beds. Kevin was outside tilling up the dirt for me like a pro. Such a sweetie! Besides, he knows that the chances of me hurting myself using a self-propelled tool with blades is most likely 100%.

More photos to come!

Mandy & Herb

This is where herb lives...on the back steps. You'll see that Basil and Cilantro are quite cozy in the upper left. The Chives and Oregano haven't joined the party yet...waiting to make a grande entrance. But Rosemary and Parsley are shyly introducing themselves in the bottom left planter. Can't wait.