The Bard said it best in his play "Twelfth Night"
"If music be the food of love, play on"
Let's skew his meaning a bit and see just where the love of food and the love of music takes us.
I am still determined to use at least one item from (food storage) both the freezer and pantry each day. Hopefully I will use more than that but who knows?
Planned for the past 7 days
1. Stuffed bell peppers, green beans, tossed salad, s.f. chocolate pudding
2. Grilled steak, baked potato, tossed salad, sf cake
Chicken and dumplings, brussels sprouts, sliced tomatoes
Soup and sandwich TBD
* Son3 and DIL3 will be in town for the weekend. At the same time, we are trying to use some of the gift certificates we purchased at last years various charity auctions, before they all begin again in the fall. We will be using one for Perry's Friday night.
I am hopeful while they are here, some other items for other meals will be used from the freezer and pantry.
We were at the beach all day Monday and Tuesday I did not listen to anything. However, once we were home Wednesday night I began with what I intended to listen to all week.
Since this is the fourth of July week I thought it might be a grand idea to listen daily to some traditional 4th tunes.
Monday: Gigantic breakfast. Chris and Peggy's house. Toured Dauphin Island, visited and sat on their gigantic beautiful porch watching life on the water happen.
What I learned: The west end of Dauphin Island was seriously harmed during the last hurricane. It lost a lot of its beach. There is even one house with the front facing the gulf, that now sits directly over the water. No beach remains in front of it. Mother Nature always wins.
Tuesday: We made plans to visit Bayou La Batre. If you ever saw Forrest Gump you will remember Bubba was from there, and it was where Forrest went to start his shrimping empire.
In reality it is a fishing (primarily shrimping) town on the far west coast of Alabama, and looks pretty much like it was depicted in the movie.
The bonus was eating at a restaurant (it had just a few too many tables to avoid being called a true dive) with the best sautéed crab claws I have even eaten. If you find yourself in Bayou La Batre stop in the Lighthouse for a treat.
Don't worry about what you are wearing. As long as it is clothing. it would be impossible to be underdressed.
After lunch we rode around the area before going back to their house.
What I learned: I learned about some family concerns I had never heard before.
Listened to: Family conversations
Dinner: Shrimp, salad, leftover squash casserole
Wednesday: We woke, packed and started our trip home from our family trip. It was a gorgeous day for travel and because we had nothing planned once we were back in Birmingham, we took our time and stopped at a couple of places we like to stop.
Our first was to stop at QT for gas for the car and coffee for me. They have really delicious coffee there, but be warned; their small is like a large everywhere else.
The next stop was the Conecuh Sausage Store. If you have been reading me for any length of time you know what a fan of Conecuh sausage I am. We left with 4 pounds of original sausage, 4 pounds of sausage "dogs", and 2 pounds of traditional sausage patties. (My already overstocked freezer was not happy about this, but it's a done deal, so some rearranging had to take place)
We bought a car refrigerator a couple of years ago before our cross country road trip was cancelled. It came in very handy to keep all of the sausage cold.*
Our 3rd stop was to eat at Bates House of Turkey. TheHub wants to eat there every time we pass it. Not my favorite but it is perfectly fine, and I am not about to ruin the pleasure he get from eating there by using my veto power.
The 4th and final stop was Peach Park in Clanton. TheHub has always gotten a fried peach pie there, but that is no longer working for him. It might not be a stop anymore.
We were happy to beat the rain, and got unloaded and in the house while everything was still dry.
What I learned: While talking to Son3 on the way home I learned they are coming to visit the weekend of then 11th,.
Listened to: Sirius radio one the road and, once home, heard America the Beautiful
Dinner: We had eaten a large lunch and only wanted a bite to eat for dinner.
Pimento cheese sandwich
Thursday: I began to do the laundry from our quick trip, made coffee, and made a grocery list from the week's ads while listening to music. I love having music around me all of the time.
I had to run to the bank because my credit card was due and I pay it off in full each month to keep from accruing finance charges. Also, knowing I will pay it off each month keeps my monthly use it in check.
Listened to: I was listening to my Spotify playlist for the 4th of July when this song came on. Gotta love a little Kate.
God Bless America*
Dinner: Stuffed bell pepper, green beans, coleslaw
Friday: TheHub and I headed out for a few errands, primarily buying BBQ for the 4th. Our Lady of Sorrows Knights of Columbus cooks and sells everything needed for a 4th celebration. We were only interested in the ribs and pulled pork, and wound up buying 2 slabs of ribs and 2 pounds of pork butt.
We ran that by the house then headed to Aldi for some other things we needed for the 4th. While we were out we stopped at Vecchia and used a gift card to get a couple of things for my already overloaded freezer.
(We have a bunch of gift cards and certificates leftover from silent auction purchases we have bid on, and won, at various fundraisers we attend every year. We decided we would start using them intentionally rather than letting them continue to sit in a basket. Especially since fundraiser season begins again in September.)
We put those things away before heading out for the final couple of errands we needed to do.
I did a little prep work in the kitchen for the 4th, including baking cookies and brownies, and making a pasta salad. I did not want to be baking during the hot daytime, and the pasta salad needed time to get really cold.
Later that night we watched The Capitol Fourth on tv.
Listened to: This is My Country
What I learned: After watching several World Cup games, and even though I have no clue what all the rules are, I really do like watching soccer (or football if you are from somewhere else)
Dinner: White bbq chicken***, mixed vegetables, cooked cabbage, cornbread
Saturday: It was the 4th and I got everything ready for our bbq lunch. Son2, DIL2 and My Beloved Sister came over to eat with us.
After a late, long, and conversation filled lunch TheHub showed all of his photos from Europe, to everyone. Then they all went home.
Both have dogs they needed to check on and possibly drug before the fireworks began.
I took a long nap (I don't sleep well when I am away from home and had also been staying up too late and getting up too early). Sometime during my nap, TheHub took one too. We woke in time to do a little grazing before watching a PBS 4th broadcast from Williamsburg Virginia.
What I learned: The PBS special had some wonderful mentions about some lesser known Revolutionary War participants.
Listened to: The Star Spangled Banner
Who does this better than Whitney?
Lunch: Ribs, pulled pork, potato salad, pasta salad, watermelon, chips, brownies, cookies. With all that for lunch who needed dinner?
Sunday: Because it was the 4th weekend our church only had one service Sunday, no Sunday School and no evening services. TheHub and I decided we would not go and, instead, streamed it from my laptop while we sat at the table.
It was a lazy sort of a day with reading, laundry and a whiff of deluttering.
In the evening we watched soccer. I will admit I love seeing Norway win just so I can watch their Viking row!
It doesn't take a lot to make me happy, does it?
Listened to: Nothing in particular
Dinner: Steak, potato, tossed salad
Read: Dark of the Moon
Have a great week.
May all your weeds be wildflowers.
Anne
* It will also be handy for holding sodas for the 4th holiday
**I will add, God Bless the Whole World
*** Early in the week we got a box filled with Alabama "goodies" as a thank you. One of the items was a bottle of Big Bob Gibson'swhite bbq sauce. I never buy it and always make it from scratch, but since it was a gift, I used it
I am starting this weeks post hoping I can remember enough songs with mentions of Birmingham either in the song or the title of the song. It may or not work.
I’m late posting this. Sue me if you are so inclined. Sometimes family fun gets in the way!
Monday: Had a wonderful stay at home day without having to go anywhere! It was much needed with some time to read
Listened to: Down in the Valley
Kind of sad that this was the first song I thought of that mentioned Birmingham
What I learned: After a long trip and a hectic few days upon return, I needed a day with no plans.
Dinner: We had a good bit of the rotisserie chicken that needed to be used. I summoned my inner Martin Luther and reformed it.
Tuesday: The day started a little slow with some reading time and some organization in the MBR closet. I like my clothes arranged by type and color from lightest to darkest. I have no idea why I like it this way but I do. When I changed over my clothes from cold weather duds to summer wear, I just hung them in a mishmash way giving no thought to my preference. I guess I could not stand it anymore. I was hanging some freshly laundered clothes and all of an sudden I HAD to fix it.*
Afterward TheHub and I ran a couple of errands.
What I learned: When changing over clothes go ahead and do it right the first time.
What I listened to: Birmingham Blues
Dinner: While we were out TheHub suggested that we should go to a local meat and three. He was feeling a little better and had been craving veggies. No cooking? I'm in!
Mostly different veggies for both of us.
Wednesday: TheHub had some zoom meetings and I was downstairs by myself most of the day. While he was busy, I read then decided I needed to clean out the laundry room refrigerator/freezer (not to be confused with the regular upright freezer). Things had been shoved in it and I really no longer knew exactly what was in there. I took each item out, made a judgement call about whether to keep of toss it (like a jar of kimchi I don't even remember buying)
What I learned: Even though the laundry room fridge holds seldom used items (or a whole watermelon) it needs to be inventoried regularly
Listened to Tuxedo Junction (which was written in the 30's by Erskine Hawkins from Birmingham
Dinner: I forgot to thaw anything so we had a meatless meal.
Pasta alfredo, tossed salad
Thursday: I got up, got dressed and had planned to head to the grocery store early. Unfortunately we are a one car family at the moment. TheHub's car is ailing (he needs to go ahead and buy him a new car) and he had a couple of meetings.
While I waited on him to return, I put on ski gloves and organized the bottom two shelves of the freezer. If I had not already been dressed I would have finished it, but I did not want to get any freezer gradoo on my “ going out for the day” clothes.
What I learned: I have many more proteins in the freezer than I thought I did. Yikes! I need to start cooking more often, but 2 people can only eat so much. Anyone need chicken?
By the time TheHub got home and we had eaten a very late lunch, I headed to Publix to do some cherry picking.
Listened to: Birmingham
Sorry, seems like the Randy Newman video is not available and I can’t access another one from my phone.
Dinner: I started using some of the chicken I have.
Friday: We ran a few errands, and while we were out TheHub suggested stopping and having an early lunch. If I am up and dressed for the day*** I will always agree. We stopped by Cracker Barrel and both had their Friday lunch special, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw. I counted it as our main meal for the day.
After we ate we had a couple of other errands before heading home for the day. I did more laundry, read and possibly fell asleep while reading.
What I learned: I was reading about life in Czechoslovakia during the Soviet occupation. I know America is not perfect, but I wonder sometimes at the continual unrest I see from some people here, when I read the stories of what so many people there lived through.
Listened to: Make me a Birmingham
Dinner: Since we had a larger lunch than is our normal we opted for a smaller dinner.
Tossed salad, cheese toast
Saturday: We woke, had coffee then headed to our favorite produce vendor, filled the tank with gas for our trip Sunday, stopped by the pharmacy to pick up some meds for TheHub then headed home.
Once here, we tried to solve the mystery of where TheHub's green shirt disappeared. It took a couple of hours searching before it was found in a bag we had used for our dirty clothes when we stayed in the Nashville hotel the night before we left for our trip.
After that it was time for lunch, washing the dirty duds we found, and some reading. I love when I am reading and want to find out what happened, but really don't want the book to end.
What I learned: Even when it looks like things are washed and put away, there is always the possibility that something might be left behind.
Listened to: Boulder to Birmingham
(Sorry Emmylou. I couldn’t get the video to load from my phone)
Dinner: Lettuce cups w/ chicken, empanadas
Sunday: We did our normal Sunday routine of the communion service, regular service, and Sunday School. The only difference was our traditional service was a special Independence Day celebration with Three on a String singing both old time hymns mixed with patriotic music.
Once everything was over we headed home to pack for our trip.
We headed to Dauphin Island for a three day visit with TheHub’s brother, sister in law and sister at his brother’s and SIL ‘s fantastic vacation home there.
It was a combo visit and birthday celebration .
Listened to: Whatever Sirius was playing on the way
Dinner: Boiled shrimp, corn, potatoes, coleslaw
Have a great week
May all your weeds be wildflowers
Anne
* It is odd that I am so weird about my closet, because I am not fussy about anything else in the house and can easily live with some clutter.
**I made a keto version but the original in the link tastes better
*** This means being up, showered, wearing some semblance of makeup, and “going out and being seen clothes”, as opposed to waking and just pulling on whatever clothes I was wearing the day before, with no makeup and hair pulled back, looking like I would scare small children and dogs.
I have decided to plan my weeks menus based on the food ads that are from Wednesday through the following Tuesday here. This week I am only planning 4 meals because we are going to the beach for a few days to celebrate my SIL's birthday, and won't be back until the following Wednesday or possibly even Thursday. Fingers crossed we have some delicious seafood while we are there.
1. Pasta alfredo, tossed salad
2. Ranch chicken, broccoli, tossed salad
3. Marry me chicken, cauliflower mash, tomato cucumber onion salad
4. Taco salad, corn on the cob
* I have no idea why I am even looking at the food ads. I organized the bottom two shelves of the freezer, which is where all the proteins live and I have no reason to buy any, for what looks like several months.
After we return these are some options I plan on making sometime in the coming month. Posting this here to remind myself of my current main dish ideas while the freezer proteins (lots of chicken and ground beef) are fresh on my mind
Since we returned home, my musical choices have all been music about Alabama, starting with the obvious.
Monday: This was a travel day. We flew home from Zurich mid morning, had a lengthly layover in Philly, then a delayed flight into Nashville. Son3 picked us up at the airport. It was not inconvenient for him since he was already there dropping off DIL3 who was on her way to Sweden to celebrate Mid Summer with her family. Luckily for us we saw her for a couple of minutes in the airport! It was a wonderful surprise.
After a late dinner with Son3, we headed to south of Nashville to find somewhere to spend the night. It was after 11 pm then and would have been dangerous for us to continue driving to Birmingham. By that time we had been awake for 27 hours straight and needed to refresh a bit before continuing our journey.
What I learned: No matter how tired I am, sleep on a plane is not going to happen for me.
Listened to: Nothing. I was on a plane all day
Dinner: After Son3 picked us up, we had dinner with him at Cafe Roze in Nashville.
Charred cabbage, hamburger, fries
Tuesday: We woke early, had a quick breakfast at Cracker Barrel then began the drive back to the house. We did have one quick stop at The Dutch Oven Bakery, which was just a few miles out of the way in Faulkville Alabama. We had a little stocking up to do. They have delicious no added sugar chocolate coated nuts. I bought several (7 containers). We can't get them here and we are trying very hard to limit sugar, but, we do like a little chocolate treat sometimes.
We made it to the house, unloaded the car, then TheHub went to bed. He had not felt well for a couple of days, but by the time we got to the house he was feeling very bad. Other than getting up to have a bowl of soup, he was asleep and feeling rotten for the rest of the day.
I began the laundry, talked with my sister, then just caught up on a few things that needed tending to before I went to bed. I stayed awake until about 11, just to try and get my sleep rhythms in synch with the time of day. We were in Europe long enough to adapt to their time, and coming home and readjusting is harder for me than going the other way.
What I learned: Packing for an extended trip should require fewer clothes, and only separates with each piece coordinating with every other piece. Black might not be the happiest color but it sure makes interchanging easier.
Also each piece should be machine washable and dry-ableto take advantage of laundry services.
Listened to: Alabama Pines
Dinner: TheHub was sound asleep and feeling rotten, so I ate a piece of pound cake we picked up from the bakery.
Wednesday: TheHub still felt rotten and headed to see his doc the first thing in the morning. While he was gone I did a little more laundry, made a grocery list after looking at the week's new ads, and got ready to go to the store.
TheHub went with me so he could get his prescriptions while I shopped. Though I have a ton of frozen foods and pantry storage, there was nothing fresh to eat, and we have some sort of salad nearly every meal. Additionally I needed to restock essentials like milk, bread, and eggs.
We came home, had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I did more laundry while TheHub got some needed rest .
The remainder of the day was spent taking care of some business that needed tending to, talking about the trip with two of our sons, and phone calls to my cousin and my sister.
What I learned: Learned my cousins newborn grandchild was born with some medical issues. Things are better now but they are still waiting for a diagnosis.
Listened to: Stars Fell on Alabama
Dinner: TheHub slept through the night and I was not about to cook just for me.
Coleslaw (purchased at Publix), toast
Thursday: Fortunately our estate attorney's receptionist called Wednesday to remind us of an appointment we had made for Thursday morning. We both woke early (TheHub felt much better after all the sleep and 2 rounds of medicine) got dressed and headed to his office. We are in the process of updating our will to make things easier for our sons later on. It is not really fun to have to think in terms of one's exit from this plane, but it is a necessary thing to do, and we want to make it as simple for them as possible.
That being said, neither of us are planning on checking out any time soon!
We headed home to more laundry, list making for what to pack and what to leave at home for our next trip, and planning what we want to do in July. The month filled quickly with possibilities, while the remainder of June is booked solid! How does that happen?
What I learned: TheHub likes to plan and include all the details. I like to leave room for the unexpected to happen. I have always known we plan differently, but until he really retired I did not have to plan as much with him. This is new territory for both of us.
Listened to: All in Alabama
Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, potato salad, coleslaw (All grocery store deli items)
Friday: My childhood best friend's mother passed away and her funeral was Friday. My sister and I spent most of our childhood playing with all her kids, and spent countless hours at their house. It was only right to go to the funeral.
It was good to see all of the remaining family, even under those circumstances.
And even better was seeing 3 other folks we grew up with. We met after the service and went out to eat lunch. It was wonderful seeing them and doing some serious catching up. We agreed we need to stay in touch more often, not just after funerals.
I got home and TheHub was still not feeling well so he went in the bedroom to take a nap.
What I learned: Long time friends are so easy to talk with! It was like we had not been apart for years.
Listened to: Alabama Rain
Dinner: TheHub was asleep until after 8. (He is having a hard time shaking this illness) and did not feel like eating much. Progresso to the rescue.
Bean and pasta soup
Saturday:TheHub and I ran to ThePig to cherry pick the store's weekly ads. It was My Beloved Sister's birthday and I also needed some ground chuck since I had invited her to come eat burgers for dinner but had nothing to make them with.
After that short trip I settled in to do some serious reading. I did not get much reading done while we were traveling*, and I had a lot of catching up to do once we were home. Several books I had on my Libby app were due soon and I needed to get them finished.
What I learned: I really miss reading when I don't get to do it regularly.
Listened to: My Home's in Alabama
Dinner: Happy Birthday meal with MBS
Burgers, chips, ice cream sandwiches (in lieu of cake)
Sunday: We were both glad to get back into our normal Sunday church routine, and went to the early communion service, followed by the 8:30 church service then Sunday School. I think our class was glad to see us because we brought some chocolates from Zurich to share with them.
We headed home for a quick bite for lunch then changed clothes and headed downtown to see Mrs. Doubtfire. This wraps up this year's Broadway series, so we have nothing else with them until it begins again in September. The play was fun to watch and I really did like the onstage costume changes.
Listened to: Where I'm From
Dinner: After the play we met Son2, DIL2, Cousin J and wife D (though I consider her a cousin also) for an early dinner at The Pita Stop.
Grouper, rice pilaf, tossed salad
And for a bit of obnoxiousness
Read this week: Hazel Says No
Calculated
The Secret of Secrets
May all your weeds be wildflowers.
Anne
p.s. Just as a lark, this week I am going to try and listen to songs which have Birmingham either in the title or the lyrics. It might include some songs that have particular areas in Birmingham also. Might work or might not, but I am up for the challenge___maybe
*Other than reading on the plane on the trip home. 10 hours of flight time + 3 hours layover = lots of reading.
We visited 6 countries over our almost 3 week trip, and there is no way I could possibly pick a favorite place. Each had something new and different to offer including delicious recipes to try and recreate at home based on some of the foods we ate. I am attempting to add recipes from at least one of the various countries weekly.
Also because we just arrived home on Tuesday afternoon to a virtually empty refrigerator and the weekly food ads are Wednesday through Tuesday here, we warmed up a bowl of soup (Thanks to Campbells) for dinner, and decided to wait until Wednesday morning to go to the grocery store.
I have decided instead of doing a weekly menu plan on Monday's I am going to start the meal planning Wednesday's instead and base it on what is on special, via the ads. I makes a little more sense to me.
1. Pasta arrabbiata, tossed salad
2. Grilled burgers with the fixings, coleslaw
3. Veggie meal TBD (need to see what summer veggies look best at the produce stand)
7. Grilled fish (variety TBD) baked potato, green beans, tossed salad
We had a great time, saw things we had never seen before and now we are both worn out and dealing with jet lag, so I am calling this short post enough for right now. Gotta get some much needed sleep.
