Go Hoos! The Music City Bowl
We had the *absolute best time* at the Music City Bowl in Nashville. Virginia (where Av and both his parents graduated) was playing Minnesota.
We had tickets right on the 50-yard line, and we were in the Club Level, which was really very nice. The club level had its own escalators, concession area, and inside seating so that if you wanted, you could go inside and watch the game from there (or on one of the televisions that was playing the game on ESPN).
Usually we sit in the Virginia section when we go to the bowl game each year, but this year Av's dad had a friend that encouraged him to get the club-level seats. I would have been happy either way!
Here's Virginia kicking:
We were in full regalia. We went to the Virginia party the night before at the Hilton downtown and got these shakers and bunches of other stuff. Av bought me a nice UVA hoodie that I really appreciated, because the weather never warmed up like the forecasters thought it would! Oh - we all wore
the scarves I made, and they were a big hit too!
This guy (below) was our arena section drunk. He kept saying (in the 1st quarter even) "this play is the game!" and was doing jumping-jacks, making his own calls as the referee, etc. He went from Elvis moves to doing the cauldron-stir. Definitely good for some laughs.
The game was super-close, but we won! We had *such* a great time!
Breakfast at the Loveless Cafe, Bellevue TN (near Nashville)
Before going to the Music City Bowl, we had breakfast at the
Loveless Cafe, which is about 15 minutes outside of downtown Nashville. We got there about 8:30am and had no trouble getting a table. Everything was great - look at the tall biscuits they serve (below)!
The interior has signed photographs of country music performers...
Here's the exterior. The cafe/motel looks like it's getting built-up a little too much - there's now some sort of a barbecue hut next to this building, and on the other side of the parking lot is where some shops have moved in (the motel isn't functioning now and they've repurposed that space for retail). I think much of the charm originally came from the quaintess of the place...I hope they retain that rather than making it ultra-touristy. It's one thing to realize that a lot of your business comes in from non-locals, but it's another to try to become Cracker Barrel.
Anybody can drive thirty miles for a Cracker Barrel.
Isn't the sign great!?
We had a really nice time, and then drove over to see the Music City Bowl - next post!
Hampton Inn & Suites Nashville - At the University
We were staying just one night in Nashville, getting in late and leaving early, so we decided to just stay at a Hampton and save a little money. This one is the
"at the University" Hampton - so close to Vanderbilt that they asked Av to sign a statement that there wouldn't be any partying or more than four people in a room. Sounds like Panama City...
Anyway, the hotel was pretty nice, about the same as all other Hamptons except the rooms were a little bit smaller and the coffee table in front of the couch was more like one of those
Lack side tables at Ikea (although faux wood-grained) rather than a coffee table...
This hotel had the new "Cloud Nine Bed Experience" which is new, but it's sure not the "Heavenly Bed" at the Westin. The mattress was *very* firm. The pillows seemed firmer than the average pillow, too.
(Above:) Here's a pic of the bathroom.
Overall, everything was okay, and if we were in the same situation, just needing a place to sleep rather than stay a couple of days in Nashville, we might stay here again.
Making Chanukah Beeswax Candles
This Chanukah, I really wanted to try making my own beeswax candles for the menorahs. We have some really pretty dipped wax candles, but beeswax is a little different because it burns longer than other similarly-sized candles, it doesn't put off any smoke, and it doesn't drip wax - which is a big advantage, I think.
Hobby Lobby had sheets of beeswax - they were selling two sheets of 8"x16-1/2" sheets per pack. Some wick was included in the pack, but I went ahead and bought more to make certain I had enough for the project (the wick labels will indicate what size is best).
(Below:) Here's what I used: a menorah to make sure I was making the candles the correct thickness (but beeswax is so forgiving...you can just pinch it to make it fit if it isn't exact the first time), the beeswax, a hairdryer (to make the wax pliable - but it really wasn't necessary), scissors to cut the wax, wick, and an old Martha Stewart magazine that gave dimensions to cut the wax sheets. I cut the wax into 4"x2" sheets and was able to make about 32 candles.
Next, just cut the wick a bit longer than the wax sheet...about 5", and make a little knot at one of the ends of the wick:
Lay the wick at one edge of the beeswax, and just roll it (pretty tightly, but not tight enough to break the wax) all the way to the other side. I just used my fingers to rub the seam of the finished candle so that it wasn't noticeable.
Here they are, all piled up. The two sheets of beeswax made about 32 candles:
...and here they are! The candles burned for about 45 minutes (they have to last at least 30 minutes according to minhag), and they were so pretty! Now I'm thinking about making Shabbos candles with beeswax, and some other ideas. Some people use beeswax to make
sushi candles - that would be really neat for a theme party!
Make-Your-Own Soap
I just discovered Hobby Lobby last week...I'm familiar with Michael's, and I've been to A.C. Moore a couple of times, but Hobby Lobby seems to have soooo much more selection...
Anyway, I've been wanting to try make-your-own glycerin soap - it's also called melt and pour soap. I'm not really interested in making the soap that requires lye (what some people refer to as *real* soap) because you have to be super-exact in making it, and it is dangerous if you're not careful. I like the idea of using glycerin soap because it seems very easy to work with and because you can still do really fun things with it like add colors, fragrances, exfoliants, and other things that you might want to suspend in the soap.
Hobby Lobby had this bag (below) of pure glycerin soap in a 32oz. size for a little under $6. I got one bag and a tiny bottle of fragrance (I used honey almond).
All you do is put a few of the glycerin blocks into a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds, then 15 or 20 second intervals until it's all melted:
I try to keep some chopsticks around so that I can use them for things like this (stirring) and just throw them away later...this is the part of the process that I put in the fragrance (just a few drops per ounce of soap that was melted):
Once the soap was all melted, I opened up an empty, thoroughly cleaned container of eggnog (yum!), because I figured this was the perfect size to cut bars of soap from.
I just poured the melted soap into the carton, then waited about two hours:
...I stripped the carton away from the now-solid soap:
...and cut the molded soap into bars. I just used a regular chef's knife and cut the block into about four bars (very easy to slice through). They smell and look great, and I think they'll make nice presents for friends (I'm making several small things to combine). I'll just need to wrap each bar in some cellophane, and I think they'll be a big hit!
Now that I've got the hang of this, I think next time I might try adding some ground outmeal, or some lavender, or some....hmmmm......
There are several, several really neat websites I've found about making soap:
The Soap GoatThe Chemistry StoreTeach SoapBramble Berry
Round Feather Wreath
I made this for a baby announcement...
While I was at Jo-Ann Fabrics/Crafts in Mobile, I bought a 12" white styrofoam wreath form and two pink feather boas. The only other thing I needed for the project was my clear jewelry string, scissors, and hot glue gun.
I just tied the clear jewelry string to one end of the boa, and tied that to the wreath (I hot-glued these knots to make extra-sure they stayed).
...then I just wrapped the boa around & around & around the wreath form until I got to the end of it, and just tied the end to the beginning of another boa with more clear jewelry string (again, hot-gluing the knot):
All done! I might just need to trim it up in the center with my scissors, but I think it looks really great (like my other feather wreath, though, for some reason it looks so much better & fun in person than in my pictures):
Forcing Paperwhites Update
It's been just a little over a month since my last post about forcing paperwhites (
here), and they're now blooming, and smell *wonderful*!
...and now it's time for me to force more of the bulbs, and some of these I'll be giving as gifts. All I'll need to do is to pop the top on the jars and wrap a pretty bow around them, with instructions to just make sure the water stays constant at the very bottom of the bulb. I did this a few years ago at my office and it was neat to go into my friends' offices and see (& smell) their pretty paperwhites bloom!
The First Cocktail : Sazerac
Av and I made Sazeracs at home this week...and they were really nice! I got the recipe from our Arnaud's cookbook, where it says that the Sazerac was the first cocktail, and that it was invented in New Orleans by Antoine Amedee Peychaud (who invented Peychaud's Bitters).
The ingredients for one glass are:
2 oz. rye whiskey
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters (if you don't have Peychaud's, you can double the Angostura)
3 dashes Angostura bitters
splash of water
2 dashes of Herbsaint or Pernod liqueur
twist of lemon
1 tsp Simple Syrup
To make the simple syrup, just put into a small saucepan regular white granulated sugar and water - at a ratio of 2 portions sugar to every one portion of water. I went ahead and made a small batch (2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water), because it will keep in the refrigerator for a while. Just cook the sugar-water mixture on the stove, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar completely dissolves - this just takes a few minutes on medium heat. Make sure it cools to room temperature before you use it in any cocktail recipe.
Here in the shaker is ice (fill the shaker about half-full), the whiskey, simple syrup, both bitters, and the water. Make sure it combines well.
The next step is to take the Herbsaint, pour enough into the glass to coat the interior (just swirl it all around the glass), then pour out what's left.
Pour the strained drink mixture from the shaker to each glass (we made the recipe 2x for two servings), and pop in a lemon twist. Perfect!
A little different recipe can be found at the Peychaud's Bitters website
here, and we'll try it that method next time.
Chateau Sonesta, New Orleans - and Supper at Herbsaint
This was our first stay at the Chateau Sonesta - it was pretty nice; due to the shortage of help, though, there's no valet, no bell service, no room service, no concierge, etc.....at this or most of the other hotels in the Quarter.
Since it's the low season, the rates are back to bargain-level (I think the rates in all the hotels that first opened after the storm went sky-high (
thanks, LePav) since FEMA and other government agencies were paying the bill - but now that the agency people are settled in and other hotels are opening, there's a natural increase of supply which is bringing rates back to where they should be for this time of year).
Av and I always-always-always go to New Orleans for a few days in late December - sometimes just three or four days, like this year, and sometimes a week or so. We try to eat at some great restaurants, go to Celebration in the Oaks, walk and talk and shop...and genuinely get to enjoy New Orleans. On Christmas Day, we either go to a kosher restaurant in the Quarter, or one of the great Chinese places around (
we're Jewish - eating Chinese food that day is...tradition) and take in a movie
(uh, also...tradition).
We usually stay at the Ritz-Carlton - they always have a special Papa Noel rate and give the guests little presents, but they're closed for several more months doing renovations. The Chateau Sonesta is adjacent to the back of the R-C on Iberville, and I thought it might be nice to stay there. It wasn't the Ritz, but it was fine and we had a great time anyway. Here are some pics of our room:
---
We had a great time, and one of the better suppers we had - due to the amazing entrees - was at
Herbsaint on St. Charles, not far from Lee Circle. It was opened by Susan Spicer (one of my friends is a huge Susan Spicer fan - she used to have this wonderful, wonderful little shop in the warehouse district with gourmet food that was available for take-out, but it closed a few years ago), and the chef is Donald Link.
I started with the tomato shrimp bisque (disappointment) and Av had the gumbo (okay). For our entrees, I had the "Muscovy Duck Leg Confit with Dirty Rice and Citrus Gastrique" which was sooooo amazing - the best duck, ever. Av had the "Pan Roasted Farm Chicken with Crawfish Risotto, Mustard Greens and Lobster Broth" which was also just
amazing. For dessert, I had the "Banana Brown Butter Tart" which was very, very good but would have been better with either more banana or no banana at all. The flavored crème fraîche on top was just weird, though. Av had the "Warm Chocolate Beignets" which he said were just okay. For cocktails, we had a Sazerac
(with a name like Herbsaint...), and a Pimm's Cup.
Where I wanted to get to but didn't:
Cuvee,
Ralph's on the Park, and
Lilette.
Celebration in the Oaks, New Orleans
Well, Celebration in the Oaks was different this year - no waiting in the car forever to drive through with the sunroof open, looking above at all the pretty lights. This year, because of....everything....it was just for people to walk through, which was perfectly fine with me. Here are a few pics (and a little tiny movie file) of it:
Here's a huge tree made with poinsettias:
There were still lots of lights and pretty things to look at:
The different schools decorated trees:
I liked the display with the different neighborhoods - they had model trains and streetcars on tracks going around, too:
There was this fabulous, fabulous, display of 'A Cajun Night Before Christmas' - if you
click right here, you'll get to see a few seconds of it (wonderful!). The book is sold
here at Amazon.
...and of course, Mr. Bingle!
Perdido Beach Resort, Orange Beach AL
Av and I stayed a couple of days last week at the
Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach. We've stayed here a couple of times in the past. If we had been spending more than two days, we would have booked a condo at
The Beach Club at Gulf Shores, which is just fabulous!
In the lobby at the Perdido Beach Resort, they have these great mosaics that are back-lit:
Since it's the Christmas season, they had their big tree up - pretty....
...they also had a small display of gingerbread houses:
This was our room, below:
It was okay, nothing spectacular, but of course it's at a great rate because this is the super-low season at the beach. The hotel is scheduled to be renovating the rooms later in January.
This is the pool area at night:
...and during the day. Pretty!
This is the view of the beach from our hotel room:
Overall, we had a nice stay. We had supper one night at
Lambert's Cafe in Foley, a place we always go to whenever we're around Orange Beach/Gulf Shores. It's really fun!
The next day, we got up and had an early lunch at
McGuire's in Pensacola (it's only about a 35-minute drive from our hotel) which was wonderful as always! We really wanted to play silly golf somewhere, but it just didn't work out with Av's schedule (I'm not even sure if they were open anyway). We did spend about an hour (but didn't buy anything!) at the outlet shops in Foley - they have a Coach store, Gail Pittman, J. Crew, Noritake, and tons of other shops.
Chanukah Feather Wreath with Dreidel
The new feather wreaths this year are just so different and pretty! Click
here to see one at Pottery Barn's website - I've seen others in gorgeous shades of red and pink.
...so I decided to make a Chanukah-themed wreath for our door! The one at Pottery Barn cost $49, and mine wound up costing about $30 ($24 in feather boas from Hancock Fabrics, and $6 for the syrofoam square form from Michael's). The dreidel I hung in the middle was one I already had, but you can find really pretty dreidels from $1 wooden or plastic to crystal or silver ones in the hundreds. I think mine was just five or six dollars. The only other thing to complete the project is a hot glue gun, scissors, and some clear jewelry string.
All you do is take the clear jewelry string, tie it to the end of one of the feather boas, dab a tiny amount of hot glue to make absolutely certain it holds, then tie the string to the form and begin wrapping the boa around the wreath form.
When you get to the end of one boa, just tie another one onto the end of the previous one with the jewelry string, and dab again with hot glue. It took five feather boas to completely cover my wreath form. I had to be extra careful around the corners, because they're a bit harder to cover, but it was super simple. When you're done, just make sure everything's all tucked in and that you can't see the form at all.
(below:) Here's the form, completely covered.
Now I just took some jewelry string and tied it around the top of the dreidel (the string is clear, so you really can't even see it!), and tied it again around the top of the wreath. I made sure it was secure, then....
I hung it on the door, and it looks great (for some reason it looks better and more fun in person than in this pic)! Some of the feathers need to be cut to shape the whole thing up, so I'll do that...but I think it looks really neat!
Paula Deen's New Magazine
I was at Book A Million last week when I saw that Paula Deen (if you've ever watched more than 15 minutes of Food Network, you've probably seen her show) has a brand-new magazine called '
Cooking with Paula Deen'. It's published by Hoffman Media, which also publishes '
Southern Lady'.
The first magazine is the November/December 2005 issue, and the contents include a story about Bob's Candy Company in Albany GA, who first originated the red-and-white candycane, an article about her restaurant, The Lady and Sons, an article about her new home's kitchen, recipes (of course!), some crafts - like how to make a camellia and lemon wreath and a kissing ball, a story about a woman who makes gingerbread houses (I love those!), and....more recipes.
I haven't made anything out of the magazine yet, but I'll post some pics when I do.
Um, the Viking Life?
I think what Viking is calling their new series of travel-and-food explorations is....a little over the top...but nevertheless, it does sound like fun:
The idea is that they're scheduling roughly 1-2 week trips to Spain, Italy, Central Mexico, India, Vietnam, and the Delta (our Delta) to take in the culture and of course the food of each locale.
Rick Bayless who is one of *the* authorities of Mexican cooking, is leading the Mexico trip.
John T. Edge, who runs the
Southern Foodways Alliance at Ole Miss, will be the guide for the Delta trip (May 31-June 4, 2006), where the group will:
'Visit the birthplace of the blues and taste pond-raised catfish, follow the Delta tamale trail, interact with well-known Mississippi chefs like Ann Cashion (Cashion's Eat Place, Washington, DC), Martha Foose (Mockingbird Bakery, Greenwood, MS) and Wally Joe (KC's Cleveland, MS). And get hands-on experience in cooking classes at the Viking Culinary Arts Center in Greenwood.'More about the Delta trip can be found
here.
It doesn't say on the website how much any of the trips are...I'm not wild about tours in general but the one to
Vietnam, especially, might be really very good (
it's already sold out though!). Okay, maybe the one to
India, then....
Idea for Magnetic Paint
After I found the magnetic chalkboard paint yesterday from
Yoyamart, I remembered that the UK magazine
Livingetc (it's stocked at Barnes & Noble and Books A Million) featured something they had done with (non-chalkboard) magnetic paint - they used it to make a calendar, stenciling in paint the numbers 1-31 so that family members could hang up reminders, shopping lists, appointment cards, etc. Nice!
Magnetic Chalkboard Paint
The November 21st edition of New York magazine featured
this Yoyamart paint that can be applied to a wall for chalkboard and magnetic properties...neat!
Stylish or Not?
I saw this bed advertised for
Marshall and Stewart in one of my British magazines - it may have been in either British Homes & Gardens or BBC Homes & Antiques. It's just soooo different from what we have now, which is Scandinavian. I've been thinking about how I want to redecorate my and Av's bedroom at home, and I know I want it to be more....well, less.....well, more girly. Bring on the fluffy bedskirts and lace coverlets!
New Yarn - So Pretty Laines Du Nord
Late last week, I went with one of my friends to
Knit Nouveau in Old Town Helena, Alabama. My friend bought yarn to make a blanket (it's going to be *so* pretty), and I bought - as usual(!) - yarn to make more scarves.
Here's what I got:
Berroco Suede color #3729 (it's ribbon in black but not super-black) - I'll be knitting this with one of the yarns I already have.
Berroco Lazer FX #6002 (it's yarn with sequins that is *so pretty* when it's knitted with other shiny yarns - I did one of my pink scarves with it, and it's just really nice) - I don't have plans for what I'll be knitting it with, but I definitely wanted to get more of it.
Two Balls of Linie 129 Logo (it's the brown nubby yarn below)
...and three different yarns of complementary hues that will go together into a scarf:
Laines Du Nord - Cocotte (it's the chunky wool with a little tiny ribbon twisted through it)
Laines Du Nord - Kiddy Print (it's the kid mohair yarn)
Laines Du Nord - Opaline (it's the chunky boucle)
Pretty!
Above and below: my latest finished project - it's Crystal Palace Yarns in Splash #7189 Tidepool. I knitted this on #17 needles, and really like it. Soft!
Fleece Scarves in Team Colors
I decided to try making some fleece scarves in team colors - specifically the orange and navy blue of Av's alma mater, UVA. They'll be perfect for our next football game!
I bought one yard each of orange and navy blue, and a spool of navy thread to match the fleece.
I made two different types of scarves, one for the men in our family and one for the girls. Below is a pic of cutting a 5-1/2" strip the length of the fabric (36" is a pretty good length for a scarf) for the girls' design. I cut the guys' scarves 10" wide.
Okay, I know this picture below looks a little sloppy, but that's what's so neat about this project - that the tiny imperfections in the ability to cut or sew completely straight (I didn't use pins) won't screw it up. What you do is sew a tube - so you just sew along one edge, then the other, leaving a 1/2"-1" border (but try to stick to one or the other). When you've accomplished that, just turn it inside out so your seams disappear.
Below: here it is, turned inside-out so it's correct now. I sewed a line across both ends....
...then cut so that there was 1" of fabric below the line I sewed, then I just made little cuts almost up to the line, through both layers of fabric, at 1" intervals.
Below: looks nice!
For the more feminine scarves, I just sewed a line right down the center of both layers of fabric (together):
Then I moved over to the sofa and cut fringe at about 1" or so intervals:
Below:...and here it is, all done! It's nice and a little poofy, and very fun-looking. I can't wait to wear it! Wah-hoo-wah!
Wright Dairy in Alexandria, AL
Wright Dairy in Alexandria, AL (close to Anniston) has *the* most delicious milk and buttermilk - anywhere!
The milk has been pasteurized but not homogenized, so the milk has to be given some good shakes before you lift the cap on the jug (because it still has some of the cream inside)....and the buttermilk tastes sooooo good - more smooth and less acidic than some of other brands.
BTW, if you're not wild about drinking buttermilk, try it when cooking baked goods, like pies - it leaves this really nice flavor that isn't buttermilk-y but is really nice.
Here are some pics:
Above: they sell not only their own dairy products (incl. ice cream), but also Amish cheese, butter, preserves, and candy.
Above: here's the dairy building. They have a drive-up window so you don't even have to step inside if you don't want to.
Above: one of the holding tanks. They milk the cows at about 4pm each day.
...and here are the cows - mostly Holsteins.
The dairy store is open from 9am-5pm during the winter, and until 6pm in the summer. They also have Saturday hours of 8am-5pm.
I don't mean to go on and on about their dairy, but there really is a difference between what they have and what you might be getting at your grocery store - so if you can, give it a try.
McSweeney's #17 and Envelope
I heard about
McSweeney's - it's something of a literary journal with a giant twist - and ordered their issue #17 (they're up to #18 now - it's a quarterly), which came in the mail to look like....a stack of mail.
This is how it's described on their website:
Issue 17 is not an ordinary issue of McSweeney's. It is, however, an ordinary-looking bundle of mail, stacked and rubber-banded, containing the usual items: a recent issue of Yeti Researcher; a large envelope, called Envelope, containing fine oversized reproductions of new art; a sausage-basket catalog; a flyer for slashed prices on garments that are worn by more than one person at a time; a new magazine of experimental fiction called Unfamiliar; a couple letters... the usual. This might be the strangest and most pleasure-giving issue yet.
I thought it was okay, but what I **really** liked was the piece they enclosed called 'Envelope'. In the welcome letter, 'Envelope' is described as a prospective periodical for artwork. The editor writes, "if you like to read, you have many options to own the work of a writer you enjoy: you can buy magazines that contain their latest work, and you can own their work in hardcover or paperback. Music appreciators can of course buy CDs by their favorite music-makers. But new art is hard to see and hard to own. A new painter can work for two years to prepare for a gallery show, and that show might only be seen by the 300 or so people who drop into the gallery over the course of a month. Artists' monographs and the many excellent art magazines help contemporary art reach more viewers, but still, something seems missing: the sense of owning something by that artist."
True! So if you're interested in getting updates or more information about Envelope, this is the website (I guess they're in the midst of updating it).
Inside the Envelope envelope were small works (perfect for putting on the refrigerator or pinning on a board or framing or....) by: Manuel Ocampo, David Byrne, Jaime Scholnick, Camille Rose Garcia, Clare Rojas, Salomon Huerta, Tucker Nichols, Georgeanne Deen, Steve Klamm, Jasiu Krajewski, and the famous-and-wonderful Mark Ryden.
Salmon with Salsa Verde Mayonnaise from Donna Hay Magazine
My latest
Donna Hay magazine is issue #23, Spring ( Spring is from September to November in Australia, where the magazine is published). One of the lighter dishes is for 'salmon with salsa verde mayonnaise', so I made that for supper tonight.
Here's the recipe for the salsa verde:
1/2 c. dill leaves
1 c. flat-leaf parsley leaves
(although I used curly)1/2 c. mint leaves
2 tbsp. capers
4 anchovy fillets chopped, optional
(I used the whole can of Roland anchovies, which I think had 8 inside)1 garlic clove
black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c. olive oil
...then, just chop all the dry ingredients into small pieces, and add the olive oil and lemon juice. I really liked the way it tasted 'bright' and fresh.
I cooked two types of salmon for my and Av's supper. We had two fillets of bourbon salmon (it's just marinated in a little pineapple juice, soy sauce, and bourbon with some green onion tops) and one fillet of just regular salmon. I broil this on high about five minutes, then turn over and broil another three or four minutes. The worst thing you can do is overcook these, so watch them carefully to make sure they come out really nice and perhaps if anything, a little underdone.
Below is a pic of the cooked salmon going on the plate. I've put some of the salsa verde mayonnaise on my half of the regular cooked salmon filet. To make the salsa verde into a mayonnaise, just add a little regular mayonnaise (I like
Duke's) to the mixture - soooo easy. Very nice!
Thomas Keller, I Tried
I TiVo the Martha Stewart daytime show every day, so yesterday I watched Monday's episode - it's the one with Thomas Keller (the famous chef/owner of
French Laundry,
Per Se, and
Bouchon). On the show, he made this really nice dish, called 'Mediterranean Bass with Squid, Fennel, and Tomatoes' from his Bouchon cookbook.
Since we keep a kosher kitchen, I was going to make it without the squid, and not add the seafood to the broth (I thought it would still turn out really great, just not quite the absolute same as he intended). Anyway, I wrote down all the ingredients for the recipe, and went to the grocery store.
The whole dish revolves around the fish, which is bass. I went to the seafood counter, and they didn't have striped bass (or any other variety), but they *did* have Chilean Sea Bass. In my mind, I'm thinking, "okay, it's not the same bass Thomas Keller used, but it is bass, soooo....." and then I thought -
wait a minute - I just read an article this past weekend in New York or Gourmet or some magazine about how Chilean sea bass is severely overfished. I asked the man who was helping me if I was remembering correctly, and he sort-of fumbled around about how some chefs took it off the menu but were wrong about it, and there's no way it was endangered, and if it was it would be so much more than the $22/lb. he was selling it at.
(Did he mean to imply that he'd sell endangered fish, just it would cost more? I hope I misunderstood that.)Well, I really was thinking by that time that I was remembering correctly, so I didn't order the Chilean sea bass and ordered some salmon fillets instead (I'll do those in a different recipe tonight). Once I got home I was really curious about what was really right about it, so I Googled it (search
here) and found a wide range of opinions (also, I learned that it's really not a true bass at all - it's a toothfish from the waters off Antarctica).
I'm not 100% sure which opinion is correct, but for now, I'm not going to buy it. I'll go to a different fish market later this week and see if they have striped bass so that I can still do the recipe.
Causeyville General Store, Causeyville Community MS
Av and I stopped in at the Causeyville General Store for a couple of cokes - the store is soooo neat, and the woman that runs it - Dorothy Hagwood - is super-nice. We talked for a long time.
Below are pictures of the store. It was built in 1895; the bottom pictures show the building (built in 1869) that she mills cornmeal in when she has the corn to do so.
Above: this sweet dog also has a wooden box lined with hay to lie in on the porch. He's yawning in this pic.
Above: nice signs!
Isn't the interior great? She has antiques for sale as well as everything else you would find in just about any other shop...cokes, chips, laundry detergent, canned food, etc.
Above: this is a *real* peanut roaster that's been restored.
Above: This is the original building. Today it houses the mill.
If you're ever in the area, definitely stop by. Dorothy is great to talk with, and she has *so* many neat things in the store - old player pianos, radios, movie posters, etc. BTW, she also sells cane syrup, and if you live far away, she'll ship it. The phone number to the store is 601.644.3102.
The J.H. Gary House / Merrehope in Meridian MS
My WPA Mississippi book lists the house known as '
Merrehope' in Meridian as the J.H. Gary House. It's at 905 31st Avenue.
The historical marker says:
A 20-room Neoclassical Revival mansion completed in 1904, the house began as a small cottage which served as headquarters for Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in 1863. Merrehope is now a museum of local history.My WPA book says that "the single-story ell, which extends to the rear, was the headquarters of
Gen. Leonidas Polk, Commander of the Confederate troops stationed in Meridian."
Isn't it so pretty? I'd like to go inside next time we get a chance.
Chanukah Foamie Doorhangers
I'm new to
foamies. I've seen some really neat 3-D things like cute house models and things like that, but it's not really my favorite thing to make. Anyway, the last time I was at
A.C. Moore, they had Chanukah foamie shapes - at the front of the store was a whole foamie section, with holiday cutouts - Chanukah shapes, Christmas shapes, animal, sports, you name it. I bought two door hangers and foamie glue and decided to make a couple of things and see how they turned out:
Here's my setup for two foamie doorhangers:
Hot glue gun, foamie craft glue, foamie stickers, foamie cutout shapes (no adhesive on them), and doorhangers
My mother-in-law *loves* snowmen, so I thought I would make her a little doorhanger with the snowman shape. I took the little tallis foamie sticker, cut it out, then affixed each half to each of the snowman's shoulders. I just placed three of the star stickers on to be his little buttons. Here's the pic:
For the other doorhanger, I took some of the shapes that didn't already have adhesive on them, and glued them to the doorhanger. I found that I liked using the hot glue better than the special craft foamie glue. Here's the first side of it I did:
...then I decorated the other side with some of the other adhesive foamie cutouts. I like this side better (this took no talent at all - you just stick those cutouts onto the doorhanger the way you think will look best and you're done!):
I think there's just *one more* thing I'm going to make with foamies - a doorhanger for my new neice (who will be here in January) with her name on it...with cute foamie flowers...hmmm......
Supper at Eldorado Steak House in Rankin County, MS
We had supper at Eldorado Steak House in Rankin County - the restaurant is close to Pearl, MS - not far at all from Jackson. It was pretty good. I had the prime rib, which was nice. Av had the Delmonico steak, which was *very* good - about 200x better than mine. I do have to say one tiny not-great thing about Eldorado, and it's that the service is really loud - all the servers talk back and forth to each other throughout supper, the woman that runs the place will talk across a room to tell a server to do something, that kind of thing. I'm just thinking that in most places when you reach a price-point of the mid-$20's and above for a steak, usually the people working there make an effort not to be intrusive or loud. That's my only very-tiny complaint, though. We would go back, but not before we try the other 'must-do' Jackson restaurants on our list that we haven't gotten to yet, like Schimmel's, Parker House, Shapley's, and Nicks.
Below is a pic of the outside of Eldorado. If you're not familiar to the area, you might not find it right-off, so feel free to email me at ginger
[at] deepfriedkudzu {dot} com if you'd like directions.
Hampton Inn & Suites, third visit, Jackson MS
Here are pics from our room at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Jackson (it's the one just off High Street, next to Dennery's). This visit was just like the others to this particular hotel (so I'm just putting three pics of the room below) - the first visit I blogged is
here and the second time is
here.
Kimberly Kennedy's New Entertaining Book
I haven't actually seen this book in person, but while doing a search on Amazon.com for books on entertaining, I came across a book called 'The Art and Craft of Entertaining' by Kimberly Kennedy - she's the person that won on the reality show called 'Wickedly Perfect'.
I did watch the show - I thought the two best contestants were
Mitch (although he was not very nice sometimes) and
Darlene (who is one of the presenters on Home Shopping Network) and was a little surprised that Kimberly won, but good for her!
Anyway, she's gotten mostly very good reviews for the book, but I still would like to flip through it before I order it. The book just came out in November, and the publisher put two excerpts of the book (text-only versions) online
here. Amazon has it for sale
here.
