Fruits of My Labor

Every year I have a small vegetable garden in my backyard.  No matter how busy I am, I make the time to do this. There is something special about planting seeds or small plants and getting food from these plants a few months later. 

Some years have been better than others as far as what comes out of the garden.  I always start the garden with lofty ambitions.  I always plant the basics. Tomatoes and cucumbers always make the list. I also usually plant some herbs. Basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley are usually on that list.  Then I usually get ambitious and try other plants/seeds that Lowe's might have.  I have tried corn, okra, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, beans and peppers.  Some years I have been successful with these but most of the time they have been a bust. 

This year I did tone down my ambitious plans and went with tomatoes (large and cherry), cucumbers, green peppers, squash, egg plants, and pumpkin.  Now that I see this in writing I really was not that conservative was I?  

I do have to say the pumpkin plant was not purchased.  At the end of Halloween last year, I put one of the pumpkins we got in a bucket. It slowly decomposed and before I knew it a new pumpkin vine was sprouting.  It looked really good for a long time.  I transplanted it in the garden and I thought this might work.  But then we had a few hot days and the vine wilted away. Same goes for the squash vines.  The eggplants are hanging in and so are the peppers.  The cucumbers are struggling but we have gotten a few from the vine to eat.  Now, the tomatoes are jamming!  We are getting a huge harvest this year.  It's hard to beat a homegrown tomato. 

Here's a few pictures of the garden and the tomatoes. 

I certainly have enough positive feedback from this year's crop to try something different next year.  Anybody know where I can get a banana tree?

Birmingham That Was Bizarre!

Last night I watched, with my mouth wide open most of the time,  the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods America episode that was filmed in Birmingham.  I would probably not watch this show for many reasons.  Mostly due to the fact I am a somewhat conservative eater.  However since I am a life long resident of Birmingham I felt obligated to watch.

I was very impressed with Andrew Zimmern's show.  He is very poetic the way he describes the foods he eats.   I was also pleasantly surprised on how Andrew Zimmern viewed Birmingham.   I think it was a very positive show for Birmingham.  I think in many ways the program showed that Birmingham is a different city.  Those of us that have been around here for awhile sometimes do not see that.  But when you have someone like Andrew visit our city and he gives his perspective, it sometimes changes your perspective.

As for the food they showed I have been to most of the restaurants they went to.  I have been to Nikki's, Hot and Hot, The Fish Market, Jim and Nicks and Miss Myra's BBQ.  All of which I have to agree are great restaurants.  I don't go to them as often as I should and I am very conservative with what I order.  For some reason I always end up at some cookie cutter restaurant.  Plus eating out continues to get more expensive and we have had to cut back.  After watching the show I plan on making an extra effort to eat at locally owned restaurants.

I also like how the show featured a segment from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).  I did not know you could eat sea urchins and that there was a high demand for them and especially there would be a need to have then farm raised.  Who knew that UAB was researching this?

Kudos to Travel Channel and Bizarre Foods America for spotlighting Birmingham.  If you get a chance I would recommend watching this episode.  It was a little uncomfortable to watch and there was a lot of TMI on the uses of pig, goat and cow parts.  But, those segments were worth sitting through to see and hear about Birmingham's amazing culinary experiences.

Bonus:  Check out this link to see some additional places he went to Birmingham.  He also went to Shindigs Food Truck and The Peanut Depot.

Bizarre Foods Website

Ode to Biscuitville

My travels to North Carolina a few weeks ago led me to a restaurant I have passed by for over a decade.  The restaurant is called Biscuitville.  According to their website they have over 50 restaurants in North Carolina and Virginia.  They open up early but close around 2:00. 

Here is a link to their website:

Biscuitville Home Page

Every time I go up to that area of the country I see the signs on the Interstate for their restaurants but never stopped.  I always say they must have good biscuits if they call themselves Biscuitville.  Well, this past trip the planets were in the correct alignment and I stopped at one. 

When I walked into the restaurant they had an older lady who looked like my grandma.  She was at the front counter making the biscuits.  They did not have her hidden in the back like most other restaurants.  I knew right then I was in store for a treat.  The restaurant was very busy.  All the people that worked there were very nice. 

I have to say they make a pretty good biscuit.  I went for the basic sausage biscuit so I would have a benchmark with the other fast food chains (Hardee's, McDonalds, Chik Fil A.  Etc).  Biscuitville easily had the better biscuit.  You could tell it was fresh.  It was the perfect texture.  It was very flaky but not too flaky and definitely not "doughy" (that's probably not a word, but you know what I mean).  The sausage was perfect. Again, you could tell it was fresh just ike the biscuit. 

I find myself now craving another biscuit from there.  I also want to try the other items they have on their menu.  

Biscuitville Menu

But alas, it will more than likely be several months, maybe even a year before I am back to that area of the country where they are lucky to have Biscuitville's. 

I am kicking myself for not stopping there sooner.  That made me think I should be more daring in my travels.  Instead of stopping at the traditional stops I plan on looking for the different out of the ordinary stopping places.  I know sometimes the result might not be as perfect as my stop at Biscuitville but it's a chance I am willing to take.

An Open Letter to Trader Joe's Store Site Selection Committee

As I have stated many times before I am a huge fan of Trader Joe's.  My first trip to Trader Joe's was in Atlanta.  At the time I totally got why Atlanta has several Trader Joe's and Birmingham had zero.  My next visit to a Trader Joe's was in Nashville.  Again, I totally get why Nashville got a Trader Joe's before Birmingham.  The only other Trader Joe's I have been to was up in North Carolina in the

Raleigh area.  Again I can kind of understand why there is one there over Birmingham.

However I am losing my patience with Trader Joe's blowing off Birmingham for what I believe to be secondary markets.  

Recently Trader Joe's opened up in Knoxville TN and Greenville SC.  Now I know these are fine towns but what do they have that Birmingham does not have?

Now I learn that Tallahassee is getting a Trader Joe's in October.  Why?  I went there for four years as a student at FSU.  For many years after that I have gone back to attend FSU football games.  Tallahassee is a beautiful city but it is no Birmingham.  They don't even have a minor league baseball team.  

Baton Rouge is also on the list to get a store.  Again I am scratching my head.  

Hey Trader Joe's guys....see this picture?  

These are my purchases from one trip at a Trader Joe's.  There's more where that came from.

I am getting close to walking away from all of this. Birmingham has a Whole Foods, a Fresh Market (another one is opening up where a Trader Joe's could have been) and we have an Earth Fare.  I am not a huge fan of any of these places but I am ready to switch my loyalty to them.  They might not have everything Trader Joe's has but at least they have made a commitment to 

Birmingham. 

If you have not been to Birmingham come visit us.  How about it Trader Joe's?

Thirty Days of Red Mountain Squatch and Counting

A little over thirty days ago during a Saturday morning run at Red Mountain Park I decided to start a blog.  Something I had never thought about doing before.  It's amazing what pops into your head while you run.  I have learned a lot about the whole blog process these past thirty days.  I have to say so far it has been a lot of fun.  I had no idea what kind of feedback, if any, I would get doing this. 

Here are a few things I have learned since starting this process:

:I was very surprised how easy it is to set a blog up.  I am somewhat computer literate but I have always been intimidated on the whole web design process.  The formating of a blog (colors, background, posting, pictures etc) is pretty easy to do.

:The statistical information that you get is fascinating.  I never knew you get to see how many views you get on your blog and the views you get on specific posts.  The ability to know what parts of the world are viewing your blog fascinates me.  Should I be concerned that 10% of my views are from Russia?

:I never really knew how the whole domain name process worked.  Where to get one. How much it cost. How to tie a domain name into another one. 

I have enjoyed the feedback I have received so far.  The comments have been very positive and constructive.  It has been surprising to me which posts have had the most views.  My highest view post has been the one I did on stickers.  Here is a link in case you missed it.

Stickers

One of the lowest viewed post was this one. 

Gas Stations

One of my favorite post to write was the one about the Peavine Falls Race.  This is one of my favorite races to run and I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I run this race.

Birmingham Bucket Races: Peavine Falls

I was also very grateful and fortunate to have a guest post on Through Heathers Looking Glass (http://throughheatherslookingglass.com).  I received a lot of great feedback. 

Early Morning Running

I am pretty satisfied with my first thirty days of doing this.  However I know this process is similar to when I first started to become a runner.  There are going to be a lot of firsts at the beginning and that helps to keep you motivated.  As you continue the process the length between firsts or "PR's" are fewer and far between. 

I hope to continue growing the site and making it more informative and entertaining at the same time.

Stay tuned........

Gas Stations

I remember when you pumped gas it was all full service. For you "youngins" out there this means the only way to get gas was to pull into a gas station between the hours of 7:00 to 7:00 Monday-Saturday. Yes, that means don't run out of gas on Sunday because most stations were not open. Then a person would come out ask how much gas you wanted and what kind. Then while the gas was pumping the guy or sometimes guys would check your oil, clean your windshield and check your tires. It was like a mini car safety check every time you got gas. 

Gas stations just sold gas. Many of them also serviced your car but that was about it. Maybe, they might have a Coke machine. But you had to have correct change and the machines had glass bottles that had to be kept at the station so they could be refilled. Cars did not have cup holders so you did not have a place to keep one anyway. Oh yeah some stations might have a candy machine. But it only had about five things to choose from.

So now fast forward to 2013. Full service is a novelty and very hard to find. 

There are no more stations. They are now all attached to convenience stores. Ironically these convenience stores sell just about everything except automotive items like motor oil. 

Now you might think I miss the days of full service stations that just sold gas, serviced your car and had full service pumps. Not really. I like the way it is now. I like getting gas when it's convenient for me. I like pumping the gas. I don't mind going somewhere else to get my car worked on. I like having the option of just putting my card in at the fuel pump, pumping the gas, getting my receipt, getting my receipt, getting my receipt....wait no receipt? Yes, after everything that has changed in how we get gas my one pet peeve is a station not replacing the receipt tape. I like getting my receipt when I make a purchase. How hard is it not to replace this? Perhaps one day you can have the receipt emailed to you that way loading the paper falls into your responsibility. 

Y'all Ready for Some New Radio Stations?

The Birmingham radio market has had a few changes in the last few weeks. We lost two Sports Talk stations and picked up two music stations. 

The first station made an interesting move converting to what was once a solely Internet based station to a station that simulcast on both the Internet and the radio. That station is called Birmingham Mountain Radio (107.3). I don't know a lot about this station. I never listened to it when it was just on the Internet. I have listened to it a few times since they started up. A good part of their music comes from emerging bands that do not get a lot of play on Top 40 radio. 

The second station moved to a mixed music format. They call it Y'all radio (97.3). So far i have heard songs from the 50's through today. The concept is described as your "iPod on shuffle mode".

They don't have announcers except for a very southern lady that gives the station I.D. and makes comments about being as "country" as she can be. 

I have to say I was a little skeptical when I heard about the format of this station. Since it was already on my radio as a preset I decided to give it a try. Initially I was pleasantly surprised. I heard some songs I had not hear in awhile. Plus it was nice hearing some of the current songs that are being played added to the mix.

The one major issue I have with the station so far is apparently THEIR IPod does not have a lot of songs on it. I am used to the current songs being played into the ground. Y'all seems to think I want to hear "I Love to Love You Baby" and "Seasons in the Sun" ....a lot! I have not heard these two songs in decades but since Y'all has signed on its been at least three times....ugh! Y'all need to be paying some money to get a larger music library!

For now I will keep both stations on my radio presets. They are on FM2. Which means they are on the same group with the talk radio stations. This means I won't get to these stations very often. I reserve FM1 for the stations I listen to more. Right now it's very unlikely Y'all will make FM1. I do think that Birmingham Mountain Radio has a shot. However even FM1 on my car radio does not get a lot of my time as I have XM radio. 

Oreos

I know that Oreos are really bad for you but I really like them.  I like them straight out of the package.  I like to dunk them in milk.  I like them mixed in with other desserts.  I especially like them crumbled up in ice cream.  For the most part I like the new flavors they have come out with.  Peanut butter, mint, and orange dream sicle are all good.  The only one I am a little skeptical of is watermelon.  How could that be good?  However I have not tried it yet so the verdict is out on that flavor.

The past couple of weeks I have come across two recipes that had Oreos in them.  These are definitely "outside the box" recipes that I had to try.  One was this amazing recipe. I got this from Kevin and Amanda' Recipes 

You start with a base layer of chocolate chip cookie dough.  Then you add a layer of Oreo Double Stuffs.  Then you add brownie mix on the top.  It's like a dessert lasagna. 

Kevin and Amanda's Oreo Cookie/Chocolate Chip Cookie/Brownie Bars

The ones I made did not turn out as pretty as the ones they did but you get the idea.

As Cousin Eddie said in the National Lampoon Vacation movies "That's some gooood eaten Clark!"

The next one is baking an Oreo cookie inside a chocolate chip cookie.  I got this from Picky Palate. I have not completely mastered this recipe yet. 

Here is the link to the recipe:

Picky Palate Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's at lot harder than it looks getting the correct proportion of chocolate chip cookie to Oreo cookie.  Thus the reason for no pictures. The one we made looked a little weird. The first batch we made had too much chocolate chip cookie.  The chocolate chip cookie recipe was a little too salty. It said use a teaspoon of Kosher Salt.  I may have used the wrong measuring tool...not really sure.    This recipe will definitely be in the rotation but next time we might just use pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough. 

I am always on the lookout for creative recipes that involve Oreos so if you have any feel free to pass them along.