Come and get it!
This post is brought to you by Linda Hill’s SoCS prompt for today, “nuts”. Visit her blog page for the rules and link to other great posts!
And if you need a beer and some time talk , stop by Dan’s place. The bar is serving up some new appetizers!
These are older images that called for a revisit with today’s prompt. Happy #free48 everyone!
“Hi, hello there. I heard you were missing your small green Florida pals. I see you’re planting a garden too.”
“Hmmm….those rose bushes look promising. And salad in a pot? Clever!
Photos? Why certainly you may. Just be sure to get my good side.”
“Do you like this beard? I try to eat well to enhance its brilliant orange hue.
Notice any missing bugs around the house? Yes, well that was me. I hope you don’t mind. I love small spiders and beetles and those-who-shall-not-be-named. Some people are quite sensitive about them.”
Oh, I really would, Mr. A. I really would.
Bye-bye!
I’m late, I’m late….
I promised I would post the result of my hush puppy trial yesterday but never got around to it. I must apologize but it was with good reason. I was having fun!
We were fortunate to be able to get out during a reprieve from our recent rains to make a return trip to the Botanical Garden and found a new spot that we totally missed on our first trip. We found a couple of new friends there!
More on that later….on to the hush puppies.
I actually like this recipe more than most others I have tried because it gives more of a light, cornbread texture-and they are good cold as well! The inside is light and fluffy while the outside maintains a nice crispy texture. They were perfect with the breaded shrimp we had alongside. Time was short so we opted for a prepared shrimp that only needed cooking. Next time, the real deal. Honestly, I avoid frying anything very often so this was a special occasion. When I do fry it is normally only pan frying in a small amount of oil. This requires the full monty, however, and so we did.
We made a significant dent in this platter. My plate was clean!
Who would think there was room for dessert? Well, how could we resist fresh, juicy mango with whipped cream?
Yeah….we had to wait a few minutes before tackling the mess in the kitchen. 😂
Would I change the recipe in any way? For me, the white cornmeal is a bit too fine so I would try to find a self rising yellow or make my own. I might even substitute some yellow corn flour in place of the whole purpose flour in the recipe. I added cayenne or perhaps you might like fresh jalapeño. The green onions were great and I added some well drained diced red pimiento, or you could use finely chopped fresh sweet pepper. It’s your cornbread, after all! The buttermilk definitely made the texture perfect for me. I hope you guys let me know how yours turn out. In case you missed my last post, with the recipe, you can find it here.
Meanwhile….back in the garden….
Maybe he’s thinking frog legs with hush puppies….🙊
“We have to stop meeting like this,” I whispered. He said he would be there waiting until next time.
I promise to share more of our #Free48 later on. I hope yours is unfolding splendidly!
Well, it turned out to be a productive and fine #Free48 with some good food, a mini adventure, a new business prospect and even tequila shots! Rather than explain it all in boring narrative, why don’t I just share some photos with you? For details, hold your finger on the photo or tap for captions.
After driving around the parking garage for thirty minutes at Ponce City Market I was ready to throw in the towel when suddenly a spot opened up and we were in! Sadly, the market was so crowded that we headed right out to get onto the BeltLine…..buuuut….we couldn’t. There was a wine festival going on at the entrance and we didn’t want to attend. It was crazy. We went back inside the market to find a beer and maybe a bite of food but there was just so much chaos. We agreed to head home and grab something closer to our neck of the woods. The drive was very cool though, allowing me to get some more shots of the city. There is some fantastically original grafitti around Atlanta. These are just a couple of the random murals I saw during our drive.
We agreed on Zama Mexican, one of our favorite local spots and were both ready for a cold one and some food!
I couldn’t resist giving a “tickle” to one of the restaurant’s door sentries. I liked his necklace!
I will someday write about my nightmares dreams last night but right now they are too fresh. No more Heradura shots for Cheryl. Have you ever been attacked by a spider riding a cricket!? 😱
Today hubby firmed up the details for our spot in the antique store. Now I am praying my jewelry is recieved well and that the things we put there wll sell. There is a festival coming up in two weeks. Wish me luck! I have been working pretty much non stop getting things ready.
What do you think of the collection? These aren’t all the best possible shots but you can get the idea what I will be presenting. And I am still working.
And the cherry on top of it all? I made homemade strawberry ice cream. It turned out so delicious. But, sadly, there were only strawberries to go on top. 🙊And drizzled chocolate. And whipped cream! The best part about being the cook? I get to scrape the Cuisinart freezer bucket. What a preview.
Let’s get out there and make it a great week. Remember, we can all use a little help from our friends, no matter how little they seem.
I had a stellar weekend. Really, it was all I wanted and came right on the heels of a great week. Was work perfect? Hardly. But I realize the things that mean the most to me are those little gold flecks that show up while I am sifting through life’s dirt and rock to make a living, with or without striking it rich. Things like friends that pass through town and spend an evening relaxing and laughing over some great food. Things like meals I neither have to cook nor clean up after. Things like preparing a simple, tasty lunch with my hubby and enjoying it outdoors.
I‘ve made my mind up about one thing since returning to full time work after our brief ‘retirement’ in Costa Rica.
I cannot go back to living for the weekend.
My time in paradise taught me that each day is meant to be lived entirely-whether brilliant, beautiful, boring or back breaking. When we power through our days with blinders on working toward those precious moments we feel belong to us alone, shining like a trophy on a folding table at the finish line, several things happen.
Number one, we rush through our moments, trying to ignore the difficult ones while our eyes are glued to the checkered flag waiting to mark the end of another gruelling race.
Secondly, we build ourseleves up for something stupendous to serve as our reward for a job well done, for putting up with so much nonsense for yet another week and for perservering through life’s muck and mire to get to that place in the sun we call our weekend. And then it rains. 🙄
Thirdly, we age while we live our lives in chunks of time. Week to weekend, holiday to holiday. Vacation to vacation. Another year closer to retirement. Talk about a hamster wheel!
While I can’t always (though I try like hell) improve the quality of a nightmarish work day, I can at least step outside of myself to be objective.
This too shall pass
I can’t change the attitudes of anyone around me, so I must be content to do what I feel is healthy for me and hope that someone else might find value in my outlook, might learn to laugh instead of complain about the small stuff, and so a ripple effect is begun.
Sooooo. I have made the decision to no longer live for the weekend; and the first step in this new mental directive is to change the way I view the mini repreive I get every 120 hours.
Henceforth the afore mentioned ‘weekend’ will be now be referred to as the Free 48. The Glorious 48 hours that are blank pages in my book of days. What do you think?
I am celebrating this new outlook by sharing my very first Free 48 with you here. It was relaxing, exhilarating, creative, fun, rewarding, loving….did I mention it was really good? Here are a few of the simple, fantastic details.
It started Friday afternoon by grilling shrimp with the hubby and enjoying our meal on the deck under some welcome sunshine.
Then, my ‘book-that-never-came’ from Amazon finally arrived! Yaaaay!! (Yeah, it was sent again with actual shipping info too!) Miracles do happen. This little book is a real treasure. If you haven’t read it I recommend it highly. The simple truth of the Tao spoken through the heart of a lovable bear.
Then, Saturday we got out for an early morning hike. Well, early is relative since my one rule of the Free 48 is no alarm clocks. But we did make it out of the house by ten am. Hubby is in charge of adventure time, finding us new trails, parks and places of interest. This time we hit the Silver Comet Trail, a very scenic and easy to walk paved hiking trail that goes on for miles. We did about three. It was beautiful but had a bit too many bikers for my comfort. (More on this subject on One Liner Wednesday. I’m working to keep my ohhhhmmmmm on here.)LOL.
After our hike we rewarded ourselves with a great Mexican meal and margaritas at our new favorite Mexican place in town. (More on that for Thursday Doors)
Now on to my favorite moment….
Sunday brunch with my youngest at the place we tried to go before. You know….where the awesome bar Eleanor is?
Yes! We finally ate at Muss and Turner’s. And it waaaas good. From the Tropicalia on draft to the pulled smoked pork andwich on an H &F bun, it was all I hoped it would be.
But the real gift was the company. Food, no food, we all had a great time catching up!
Oh yeahhhhh…I actually spent an evening working on my latest creative exploration. I have wanted to try my hand at paper bead making for quite awhile. It was such fun! I am only just getting started. 👏🏻🙈
Sooooo…..there you have it. My first Free 48. Can’t wait to gear up again in about….well…..who’s counting anyway? 😉Have a great week friends!
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