In Memoriam.
Sad news came down from the Fort yesterday morning. One of my most favorite high school teachers passed away on Thursday and I think the world will be a little more dull without him here.
Mike Burns was one of the most amazing teachers I have ever had- and considering I have several degrees and had a lot of instructors over the years, that is saying something. He was this big bear of a guy, tall and towering over you, giving you this no nonsense look, with tufts of white hair around his head. He was very inch the football coach that he was. I had him junior year for AP US History and again senior year for US Government, and I can’t thank him enough for helping to prepare for real life and for being such a wonderful teacher and guide.
He is the reason I know anything about James Fenimore Cooper, Natty Bumppo and Last of the Mohicans. He is the reason I have actually read ALL of All Quiet on the Western Front. The fact that I can tell you who Doris Day is and have any reference to knowing WHY that actually matters is because of him. He is the man that gave me my first application to register to vote and sent it in for me. I can tell you that Candy Cummings invented the curveball and why it matters to know what the issues are when you vote all because of him. He taught me how to actually write editorials and lay out a point of view in a less than a page. In fact, I think my first opinion piece that I ever wrote was for his class was back in 1999 and was all about Pakistan and that government getting nuclear weapons. He was the first person to really make me aware of the Civil Rights movement in America and why using your voice matters so much. I still think of him every time I see the PBS series Eyes on the Prize. I came into college with 3 or 4 classes on my transcript already because I get such good grades on both of those AP exams- so much of that because of his good teaching. It wasn’t just memorizing facts in his classes- it was understanding how everything fit together for a bigger picture, and seeing where you fit into that picture. He made learning fun and personal.
Over twelve years since I graduated from high school, and my friends and I still talk about him. He comes up several times a year in conversation. Burnsy. We called him Burnsy, it was the funniest thing when we walked into history one day and Sara accidentally called him Burnsy to his face. He gave her a stern look and she totally went a shade more pale- it was hilarious and I am still teasing her about it years later. There was a core group of us who were in that AP US History class as students, and we are all still friends. I will never forget we must have spent two solid weeks studying as a small group at my house before that exam. We memorized all of the lyrics to Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire when studying for that test and knew all of our history from the 1600s to 1999. I remember taking a study break and taking a posed picture with half the group that was there… we have all of our books and notes piled around us on the couch. We gave him a copy of that picture and it was still on his wall of photos when we graduated a year later.
I work in education now and I often see students who come to college unprepared for the rigors of college work and for the expectations of being closer to the real world. Even when I was a college student and now as an educator, I am so thankful for the great public education I was given as a high school student. Mike Burns was a huge part of that for me and I was not only a better student for his guidance, but I am also a better citizen… every time I consider NOT voting in an election, I think of Mike Burns and the glower he would give me if he knew that… and then I research the issues, the candidates and make a decision… like Burnsy taught me. I will be mailing off my absentee ballot next week and you better believe I will be sending a little prayer of thanks up to heaven when I do it. Thanks to God for giving us all such a wonderful teacher and mentor, someone whose impact and legacy on hundreds and hundreds of students will go on long after his funeral is over. Thanks for giving us Mike Burns.
His obituary is here
Debate Commentary
I am going to be out of town on election day… presenting at a conference in Memphis then. So, my absentee ballot is laying on my coffee table waiting for me to fill it out. I want to be sure to get it in the mail early so it gets counted. I am waiting until the second debate is over to make an final decision on who to vote for. Now, I am never going to get into who to vote for on this blog, my political beliefs really don’t need to be blasted all over the internet. But I do have a few observations to share about this whole debate:
1) I can’t help but wonder if the camps for each side negotiate which candidate will wear what? I mean, I know culture dictates that the GOP is red and democrats are blue… but the nation’s colors are red, white and blue… so aren’t all of the colors fair game? Same thing for the black suits… would it be awful if one showed up in khaki? Or even pinstripes? Lastly, does anyone else notice that Romney’s flag lapel pin is bigger than Obama’s?And what is the circle in the middle of his lapel pin? Should we read something into the size? I really want to know if they negotiate who wears what.
2)Dear candidates- can you please let that sweet little moderator actually MODERATE. I mean, it just seems rude to constantly cut him off. Civility people, you are both role models here… let the guy do his job.
3) Apparently I must have a really good mix of friends when it comes to politics. Because my Facebook news feed has exploded with play by plays of the debate. The thing that makes me happy about this- there are an equal number of pro-Romney and pro-Obama comments (or anti- whatever candidate). The point is, I seem to have a good mix of friends who are supporting both candidates. Granted, my cell phone is blowing up with texts from my father who is definitely a supporter of only one party, I just find it funny that he has become a texting fan all of a sudden.
4) What the heck is up with the noise coming from behind the stage? Whoever dropped something that loud, I wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. National stage people! Keep it quiet in the wings.
5) Another comment about Facebook…. while there have been plenty of people giving a play by play of the debates, there are also a lot of people on there talking about either ignoring the debates or making a drinking game out of the debates… both comments make me sad. What does it say about the state of our country if the most interesting thing people can take away from the debate is how fast they can get drunk? That is depressing.
Anyone else out there have interesting observations about this debate?
PS- As I am trying to decide who to cast my ballot for AND as I am trying to figure out how to convince my students why it is important to register to vote (and then make an informed decision and cast a ballot). I thought I’d share a few cool websites that I’ve found helpful:
- I Side With. This website is great, it asks you about important issues and if you click “other” you can get really specific options. The idea is that by taking this quiz, it will help you narrow down who which candidate fits your values.
- History of Voting. A great little clip on why we have the right to vote!
- Voting How To! Great website to figure out if you are registered, how to register, how to get an absentee ballot and more!
Kitchen Failure: Gravy
No Translation Tuesday today… I need to vent about my failure in the kitchen this evening. I am pretty tired of failing at this recipe and I have been failing for years. As I mentioned here I was very close with my Grandma and she passed away 8 years ago. I never got any of her recipes before she died, so I have had to rely on my Mom to get them… which has not been easy. I can make her chicken noodle soup and her cornbread pretty well. I will be sure to post the recipes next time I make them and take pictures. There are plenty of recipes I have been unable to get: bean soup, ham steak, vegetable soup… the list goes on. My Mom continues to be difficult and not give them to me, but that is another topic.
So what is my kitchen failure? My complete and total inability to make my Grandma’s country gravy. I have been trying for eight years and for eight years it has been kicking my ass. I like to have biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs and sausage… like my Grandma use to make for Sunday morning breakfast, but I usually do it for dinner. So I tried again tonight and it was at least edible this time… even good, but not great. When I first made it a couple of years ago, I had to throw away the giant lump of blackened grease it became. It has gotten better since then… I have made it to edible, but it is still not what my Grandma made. Tonight it had better taste, but it wasn’t the right consistency. I mean, it wasn’t lumpy this time, so that was a step in the right direction, but it was still too thick… there wasn’t enough to go around and cover all of the biscuits. Also, the flavor was better this time than when I have made it in the past, but it still wasn’t distinctive. I don’t know what I am missing.
So here is the recipe:
1) Fry sausage or bacon, you need the grease. I can’t eat THAT much meat, so I supplement this grease with the leftover grease from past bacon and sausage cooking that I keep in the fridge. In total, you need about two tablespoons. Turn heat in skillet (cast iron, of course).
2) Sprinkle in one heaping tablespoon of flour and salt and pepper, whisk quickly to make the roux.
3) Slowly (very, very, very slowly) add in 1 cup milk and keep whisking
4) As it thickens, slow down on the whisking and lower the temp
And that is it. I can’t figure out how to make the flavor better. I mean, I guess I can add more milk to make it a little thinner. But I have no idea what to do about the flavor. Suggestions blog world? I really want to get this right sometime!
Translation Tuesday: Norts
Norts. I have lived down here for more than a decade and I didn’t even know these things had a name until this year. I am pretty sure the obsession with them is a regional thing to the South (not just general use, but obsessive use) and I think it is more confined to the college campus than anything else..Nike Shorts- Norts.
The reason I think the obsession is confined to the South is because of the exchange students I work with. Every year they come from around the country and comment on the styles of dress here, and the thing they have been highlight lately are Norts. I once knew of a student who had 19 different pairs, all in different colors- 19! Girls wear them all the time here. To class, to a meal, to work out in. I think we even had a student assistant wear them to work in our office one day (I am pretty sure someone had a chat with her about that). Norts make up a part of the unofficial uniform of the young woman in 2012, at least in the South.
Please note the extra Southern touch of the monogram in the picture above. Please note all the colors in the image below. So, anyone out there own a pair (or 10) of Norts? Or, own a pair and not known they had their own special name?
The South
I came across this, and I rather like it! What words describe The South to you??
The South
Easy Dinner: Greek Chicken
I talked in my last entry about how much fun the Greek Festival was, but what do you do when you want some yummy Greek food and you don’t want to wait around for the next festival or drive all the way across town to the good Greek place? In my case, you learn how to make Greek Chicken and potatoes. My friend Rach over at Out of Meal Ideas has a recipe that has become a fan favorite around our friend group. I love this dish so much I made an extra-large batch of it for my whole extended family when I hosted a dinner party for my Dad’s 60th birthday last week. Try this simple and yummy dish the next time you need a quick and good dinner!
Ingredients
- 6 boneless chicken breasts
- 6 new potatoes, cut into quarters
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 lemon juice
- 1 really big teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder, plus a little extra pinch
- paprika
Steps
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) Place chicken and cut potatoes in 9×13 glass baking dish
3) Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and garlic powder together.
4) Pour liquid mix over chicken and potatoes. Move around a bit so that all items are covered with mix.
5) Sprinkle paprika over the chicken and potatoes
6) Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 hour
This is great with a Greek salad and some bread. It was a huge hit with my family at my Dad’s birthday. I did ten chicken breasts and a lot of potatoes, so I used two separate dishes and did a pan of chicken and a pan of potatoes. I just doubled up on the wet mix to get it to work. For dessert I made my famous Carmel Apple Pecan Pie, which you can learn how to make here.
Greek Festival Expedition(s)
Opa! I LOVE some Greek food, but I think I may have eaten a few too many pieces of baklava this week. My friends and I love a good festival, and with the great weather we have here in the South so many months out of the year, we get the opportunity for a lot of them… Okra Festival, Peach Festival, Coon Dog Festival… the list goes on. This week it was the annual Greek Festival. The whole city loves this festival; it is a tradition in the area and runs Thursday-Sunday.
One of the best thing about this event, is it does expose a lot of people to a different culture. Not only is there food (more on that later) but there is Greek folk dancing, Greek music, Greek items for sale and a whole exhibit on Greek history. Also, it is held on the grounds of the local Greek Orthodox Church, so they offer self-guided tours of their beautiful church. And it is beautiful. I always encourage my students to attend to learn more about a different culture.
As you all know from following this blog, I like food. So it will probably come as no surprise that I had two separate meals there this weekend. I had lunch there with my office one day and dinner there with a friend. Lunch was a yummy deal for $10. A whole half of a Greek chicken… seasoned with lemon and yummy spices, with a Greek salad, orzo with feta cheese, spanakopita and bread. So much food that I took leftovers home to have later! Then for $8 I had a veggie plate for dinner- humus with pita bread, stuffed grape leaves, olives, a hunk of feta cheese, and more spanakopita. Then desserts… oh, how I love Greek pastries. I have always been a fan of baklava. If you have not tried it before, go find the closest Greek place you can find and get some…. Honey, nuts, cinnamon, vanilla…. All wrapped up in a pastry, you can’t go wrong. While I did get some baklava while I was there, I found a new pastry that is even better- ergolavo with jam… It is basically two soft almond cookies made into a cookie sandwich with apricot jam in the middle and coated with almonds. I love almonds, apricots and sugar… so it is perfect for me as a dessert…. It has surpassed baklava. I didn’t think it was possible.
So, the Greek Festival has been my fun food and culture experience this weekend. Any great festivals in your area that you recommend?
Music on September 11th
Two entries in one night! Crazy! I couldn’t let the anniversary of September 11th pass without making some comment. My eyes have definitley had some tears in them today as I have remembered that horrible day. I don’t know what the deal is, but it seems the older I get, the more it seems to upset me. Maybe I just have a greater appreciation for how precious life is now. You can get my opinions on 9/11 from my blogs on the topic last year by clicking 9/11 in the topic box on the right.
Anyway, I have been following this blog A Year of Billy Joel where a guy is chronicling his reaction to Billy Joel songs after being anti-Billy Joel all his life. Granted, I am a HUGE Billy Joel fan, so I don’t know how someone even had that thought to begin with, but it is nice to see he is changing his mind. So he highlighted a YouTube clip from The Concert for New York from 2001 and I thought it would be a good thing to share today.
I remember this concert like it was yesterday. I was a Friday night and I watched it on TV at my Dad’s house. I had heard Miami 2017 before, but hadn’t given it much attention. I have listened to it about a thousand times in the last 11 years and it is probably one of my most favorite Billy Joel songs now because of what it came to represent to me
“There are not many who remember,
They say a handful still survive.
To tell the world about,
The way the lights went out!
And to keep the memory alive!”
We will always remember, and always keep the memory of those we lost alive.
PS- How can you just not LOVE Billy Joel?
Translation Tuesday: Tailgating
Football season. In The South, we spend January- April counting down to the spring game. We then spend the rest of April- end of August counting down to college football kickoff day. Along with the first kick-off of the first game comes the best part to go along with the game: tailgating season.
Recently I have started to look up my Translation Tuesday topics on the internet, just to see if my explanation is on par with what others think. And, oh my, did Wikipedia throw me for a loop on this one. The first Wikipedia item to come up for tailgating: “Tailgating is the practice of driving on a road too close to the vehicle in front, at a distance which does not guarantee that stopping to avoid collision is possible.” Bless their sweet little hearts, that company is obviously not connected to the South in anyway if that is the first hit that comes up! Now, third down on the list when you click on other uses for that word, you get: Tailgating Party. Now folks, it is a party…. but we just call it tailgating around these parts. And it is the best part of football. Ok, I should clarify. If you have a winning team, it is the second best part of football. If you have a team that perpetually struggles, it is the best thing.
So, what exactly is tailgating? It is gathering of people outside a sporting venue to eat and get together before a game. It is supposed to be done around the tail gate of a truck, so you can lower it and use it as a table- hence the name. Mostly it is associated with football, but I have known people to do it before baseball games too. I mainly think this has to do with weather- I mean who would want to tailgate in February in the dead of winter? No one.
In short, tailgating is a picnic before a sporting event (I guess you could do it before a concert too) that involves food, lawn games, alcohol and hanging out with family and friends. Now, since we do things bigger in the South. Take that concept and amplify it times 100. Tailgating is an event here. There are tents. Not only are there tents, but there are tents that are color-coordinated with those of the team. There are flag poles to fly the team’s flag (this is also helpful when trying to find your way back to your tailgate spot after venturing away). The food spreads range from a bucket of fried chicken (mainly brought by people who didn’t plan ahead of time) to massive gas grills hauled in on trailers, where the grillmaster is serving up steaks, chicken and burgers to order. The drinks range from beers and Cokes in a cooler, to mixed drinks that generally involving bourbon. The spreads can include a bag of chips to catered dishes of pimento cheeses and hot pita chips (my personal favorite).
The set up for a tailgate can be simple- an open tailgate with some chairs pulled around. But that is not how most people do it down here. No, most people pull up with a tailgate tent, which they set up behind the tailgate of the truck. Often times people don’t even need the truck here, and they just set p their tent by their car. A table and a lot of chairs are a must. The really seriously people though, which is about 75% of what I see- bring all the comforts of home with them. Who cares if it is in short “ an outdoor picnic.” Those that mean business haul in things: large comfortable tailgate chairs or hammocks. I have even seen couches, like you would find inside a house. Also, not unheard of- large flat screen tvs, complete with satellite dishes…. because 1) you want to watch the pre-game show and 2) you need to know how the rival schools in the conference are doing in their games.
As for lawn games- you will always find people tossing a football or Frisbee around. Cornhole has become popular in recent years- don’t let people down here convince you that they invented it though. They like to try and make that claim to fame, but I was playing it back in the Fort long before I saw it make an appearance down here.
So, when you hear a Southerner talking about tailgating, recognize that they are probably not talking about how someone is driving, they are probably making plans for next Saturday.
Translation Tuesday: Humidity
The word of the day for Translation Tuesday is something that is surrounding me today every time I step outside: HUMIDITY. According to the source of all credible information on the internet, Wikipedia, (note that there is sarcasm in that statement) humidity is basically the amount of water vapor in the air. Apparently there are several ways to measure humidity, and a lot of science goes into it… bottom line… the higher the percent of humidity, the more water vapor in the air. The more water vapor that there is in the air, the harder it is for the human body to cool itself.
So why the heck am I trying to give you a very bad science lesson? Because I feel like the humidity is sucking away my life when I step outside. It is awful. Stepping outside when the humidity is as strong as it is- 94%, is like stepping outside and being completely wrapped in hot, soaking wet blanket that covers every single centimeter of your body. It actually feels like the blanket is not only wrapped around you, but is tucked in as tight as it can be around every curve. The difference from stepping from outside to inside a building is palpable. Literally, as I was walking around campus today (unfortunately there was a lot of damn walking outside today) as soon as I stepped into air condition it was like the blanket was pulled off and I could breathe again. Awful to be outside. Not only is it hard to breathe, it makes you feel super sticky AND just forget trying to have straight hair- frizz city. I don’t even know why I bothered with trying to do anything with my hair this morning… by the time I got to my car it was poof city.
Honestly, the humidity is always tough here in the summer, it is one of the crap things we put up with for a few months in order to have great weather the other 10 months of the year. But the humidity that is happening now is worse than normal. Why you ask? One word: Isaac. As in Hurricane Isaac. See image below via Yahoo:
I may not live on the coast, but we are definitely feeling the outer bands here in the southeast. With all of that tropical weather comes even more increases humidity… like you are in the tropics. If there is one thing I have lived by living in the inland South in the last 10+ years is to NEVER underestimate a hurricane, no matter how far away from it you are… increased gas prices, random thunderstorms, crazy wind, and ridiculous humidity. Hoping everyone on the coast is all right (last I heard from my family/friends down that way everyone was ready), but I cannot wait for this extra humidity to MOVE ON.
So- humidity issues for anyone else out there? A fair warning to those of you who come to the South to visit… leave your flat irons at home!
Easy Lemon Bars
So, I think we have established that I am a fairly busy person… always running from one thing or another. I also really like to cook… especially for other people. So when I find a recipe that doesn’t make me buy a million things, is easy to make and tastes great, I am all about it! I found this recipe via Pinterest and have made it at least three times this summer!
Easy Lemon Bars
easy lemon bars
Ingredients
- 1 box angel food cake mix
- 1 can lemon pie filling
- Confectioners’ sugar for topping
Steps
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) Grease a 9×13 baking pan
3) Mix angel food cake mix and lemon filling together. Mix until all of the mix is moist.
4) Spoon into greased baking dish and spread out evenly in pan
5) Bake for twenty minutes golden brown
6) Pull out and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar… I like a lot of sugar.
7) Let cool
8) Cut into squares and serve
Perfect, easy and soooooo very yummy! They take about 25 in TOTAL time. Could not be easier and people ask for them a lot now. Try it out when you need a quick dessert!
Summer = Relaxation
Have I really not posted anything in over a month? Sheesh, what a slacker I have become over the summer. It is not like I have been totally swamped or not had a thing to write about…. No, it has been a pleasant and relaxed summer and I have a list of topics to cover. I guess it is just the summer pace… it is so relaxed and I am not on fast-paced schedule, so I am just don’t have a lot of motivation to do anything extra. Work is busy mid-May to late July, but not frantic like the rest of the school year. Our dress code is more relaxed… polos and khakis/ fun cotton sundresses more than dress pants/ties/ nice uber professional cloths. For me it means I am wearing more from the casual side of the LOFT store than the suit side. It is just a summer thing. But students and parents will descend on campus very soon, so it will be time to put away the flip flops and bust out the high heels in just a few days. All that being said, I haven’t been in my normal school year mode where I built in time to write… that ends soon, and I promise not to be so slack.
So, what does summer look like when there are not college kids around taking up so much of my time? It means relaxation. A quick look at summer in some photos:
1- Spend time at the Lake! Great way to cool off and enjoy being outside
2) Spend time with the fam!
3) Showing my friends around a bit of the The South when they come to visit. The Bestie, her husband Mikey and their little LiLi came to visit me in July… so off to Charleston we went, complete with a visit to Boone Hall Plantation!
LiLi is so smart… she was insistent on the book being turned in the right direction… even though she is only 16 months here.
The Bestie and I in front of Boone Hall Plantation. It is not a trip to The South without a stop at a plantation!
Mikey and LiLi on the tram tour at Boone Hall
4) You go to the pool…. a lot, and when your friends are in town… you take them too! I went almost everyday of my two week vacation and have gone most weekends this summer. So nice to sit and talk with friends, read a book and swim some laps. Great way to cool off!
5) Yard Work. I have been able to spend a lot of time with my Dad this summer, which has been a pleasant surprise. But that means I hang out in his yard A LOT, which is a beautiful garden. He has spent the month of July putting in a new bed with railroad ties and rock… here one part of it as it is almost done.
6) Eat ice cream. It is summer and it is hot as hell here. I have eaten a lot of ice cream and froyo as I continue the battle to stay cool. As a side note, the AC is working much better at my house since that last heat wave!
7) I have hung out with the sweetest little newborn I know… little Bimmer… Gail and Puff’s new baby! She is so sweet and I love being her “aunt” so much! I have gotten to spend some quality time with her this summer and am looking forward to a lot more of it this fall!
This is Bimmer on her BIRTH day in late May. So sweet.
This is Bimmer in early June when I made the trip up to GVegas to visit and help out for a few days. She wore her “Auntie Loves Me” onesie just for the occasion!
And this is sweet little Bimmer this past weekend when she and her parents came down for a weekend party with the crew here. I got her this bikini on the day she was born- how cute is it?!
8) I spent time with my awesome interns and the rest of the staff. It was a good summer in the office- here we all are at our last lunch before the interns left.
9) There isn’t really a picture for this, but I have seen a lot of movies this summer! A big shout out to Carmike Cinemas for their Super Saver Tuesday. $1.50 popcorn and $1.50 drinks. I think we ended up going once every other week!
So, what has your summer been like?
HEAT WAVE!
HEAT WAVE! We hit a record here on Friday…. 109 degrees. 109. How insane is that? It is the hottest day on record in our Southern town since they started taking records in the 1800s. ONE HUNDRED AND NINE DEGREES. And that is without the heat index!
“We’re having a heat wave,” you can sing that again Rosemary Clooney. We are having one heck of a heat wave (and yes, I have been singing that song in my head for the last few days). So what does one do when it hits 109 degrees in the South? Well, if you are me… you abandon your apartment. Yep. I packed up a bunch of bags, plenty of reading material and headed over to my Dad’s house. I love my apartment, it is a beautiful two bedroom that is the entire second level of an old house. It has character, is plenty of room for me and is cheap in the grand scheme of apartment costs. But it has a lot of factors working against it in this heat: it is solid brick… great material most of the time, but in this heat it is like an oven. Also, it was built in 1945, so it is a bit old. Plus I am upstairs, so while I do have central air, the unit is downstairs it takes some work to keep it cool. And bottom line… it just doesn’t cool worth a damn once the temps hit anything over 100 degrees… who can blame it? So, when I had it set on 73 degrees and it was reading 80, I said enough and started packing. I’d rather be comfortable and hanging out with my family that horribly hot in my apartment. Besides, I just turned the AC off when I left, so that is several expensive days of electric I won’t have to pay for now. J
What else do you do when it is over 100 degrees outside? You go to the movies. My Aunt and I went to see Magic Mike on Friday because it was soooooo hot out we just wanted to be inside. Plus, who doesn’t want to see Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum show off their abs over and over again? Seriously…. Who has abs like that? It was nice and cool in the theater. The movie was okay, it definitely didn’t romanticize stripping, but it was just lacking something in the end when it comes to the plot that I can’t exactly put my finger on… it was just different. But once again, super air conditioned theater and drool-worthy abs, who cares about the plot?!
Also, when it is this hot out, you do not do anything that involves turning on the oven for cooking and you don’t feel bad about having as much ice cream as you would like. Several family members ended up coming over to my Dad’s tonight and we all ordered Chinese take-out and watched a movie, thank you Spike TV for showing The Day After Tomorrow. Blizzards was exactly what we needed to see on this hot day, and somehow I had managed to never see the movie before! Around 10pm we made a run to Kroger to pick up ice cream. It was 92 degrees at 10pm. NINTEY TWO DEGREES AT TEN AT NIGHT! You could tell that plenty of other people were eating ice cream to, because there were a lot of holes in the freezer cases. We were able to pick up several pints of Graeters (the best ice cream ever) and chill out in front of the TV.
So, what other ways are people cooling off in this insane heat? So while the temps over 100 are odd, we are use to temps in the 90s a lot… I keep telling myself that two months (July and August) of hot weather every year is worth the ten months of great weather the rest of the time. Remind me of that when it is 105 tomorrow afternoon!
Father’s Day Dinner: Chicken Caprese
As I have mentioned, I come from a foodie family… we eat and we eat well. I am more into baking than cooking a dinner, so I usually defer to everyone else for meals… I am perfectly happy to show up, eat dinner and then do the dishes. I am much more familiar with cooking dinner for myself or my friends rather than my family. Alas, this past Sunday was father’s day and I was making dinner for my dad. And shocker of all shockers, my father (the man who runs a restaurant and has been in the business for thirty-something years) was impressed with my cooking skills. Trust me, in my family, this is a big deal. So, I made a chicken dish I found on Pinterest (it wasn’t so much a recipe but more of a toss a few things together), and I am calling it Chicken Caprese.
Ingredients
- Two-three chicken breasts (organic is my preference)
- 1/3 cup heirloom balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 heaping tablespoon, plus a bit more of minced garlic
- Fresh-sliced mozzarella
- Roma tomatoes
- Fresh basil
- A bottle of balsamic glaze
Steps
- Mix first three ingredients together in a large zip lock back, toss in chicken and marinate for two-three hours.
- Grill chicken
- While chicken is cooking, arrange stacks to put on top of cooked chicken: one slice mozzarella cheese, one or two basil leaves, with a slice of tomato on top. I make two stacks per chicken breast and put them side by side.
- Once chicken is cooked completely, pull off grill and put in a baking dish.
- Put cheese/tomato/basil stack on top of chicken breast, and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
- Put chicken in oven, under the broiler for a few minutes…. Just enough to soften the cheese.
- Arrange on plate, add more balsamic glaze.
Forgive the bad BlackBerry photo!
I served this with a big salad full of veggies and a blue cheese dressing (which went great with the balsamic flavor of the chicken). I also served it with a side of zucchini chips, which I blogged about here: https://convertedsoutherner.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/zucchini-chips/
I did do a few things different to this zucchini recipe though since I made these the first time… I soaked them in Italian dressing for a couple hours before I put them in the oven and left out all butter sprays. I also left off the shredded mozzarella cheese and just did the parmesan. I also used herd of Provence instead of basil.
All in all, a pretty good meal! I hope my dad doesn’t start expecting me to cook when we have family dinner night though, I’d much just show up and eat the yummy food!
Wednesday Wedding Tips: Wedding Party Discussions
Today’s wedding tip is brought to you as a story from a dear friend. A few weeks ago a dear friend and I were talking about the upcoming nuptials of two friends from high school… Rob and Lisa’s wedding is coming up in October and the friend and I were first talking about potential wedding gifts and my debate on should I order them a gift online or haul something back to the Fort via plane (which then involves checking luggage). Anyway, the debate turned from wedding gifts to how we had heard the wedding planning was going (excellent from what I hear) and what type of cake we may be eating (I still have not heard, someone get me an update- I like to know what I have to look forward to. I wonder if I can bring an extra slice back on the plane with me?). This then turned to which of our friends will be there, to “do you remember so and so” and so on. This is where we get to today’s wedding tip.
Several years ago another good friend, who I doubt even knows this blog exists because she hasn’t really kept in touch with anyone since she got married, got engaged (yea, well I guess if she got married she was engaged at one point) (I know, I am a smart ass). Okay. So anyway, a few years ago this friend “Joann” got engaged and as she was talking to one our other good friends about planning the wedding and all of those typical things that come up in those conversations: colors, venue, cakes, music, THE dress, and so forth. Then they start talking about the wedding party, and the bride-to-be states that she will ask his sister and her sister to be in the wedding party, and so and so and so and so. Then she goes to talk about the ideal number in the wedding party and says something along the lines of, “and I just don’t know if I can decide between you and Kay (another friend in our group) to be in the wedding party.”
Seriously.
Now, this is not even MY experience. This is a story that has been shared with me (since I am using it as an educational lesson and it has been years AND the bride who was planning doesn’t read this, I am hoping that it is okay to share). This is a story that had been shared with me after it happened and I was upset for the good friend the bride was talking to. Did you really just basically say, “Hey we are good friends and I feel close enough to ask you to be in my wedding, but I can’t decide between you and someone else. You are not quite important enough to me to make the definite list.” Seriously?
I imagine there are plenty of brides-to-be that have a debate about who should be in the wedding party. And I know from other friends’ weddings that it can be a tough decision… but you don’t TELL someone that I can’t decide between you and this other person. That is just rude, and it can make the other person question their friendship. And so on. In my opinion if you have a friend you are debating about for wedding party duties, think about what other things you can ask them to do (greeter, provide a reading, etc). Or, even if you can’t ask them to participate, if you think they are going to be offended by not being asked… have a difficult conversation with them. “We both have large families, so we are just including them.” In my opinion, that is fine…. But it is not okay to tell someone I don’t know if I should pick you or someone else.
But hey, it is just my opinion.
convertedsoutherner 