Audubon State Park

Saturday was a near-perfect day: Joe and I slept in (a little) after a long-- long-- Friday night. Then we packed up a picnic lunch and headed with my folks to the John James Audubon Park in Henderson, Ky. We dined in the shade of Sassafrass and Maple trees on sandwiches, spring mix salad with basamic vinaigrette, blue corn chips, guacamole, farm-stand strawberries and chocolate chip angel food. Bluebirds were nesting across the way and Carolina wrens were chudle-lee-chudleing in the distance.
Before heading out on a hike, we stopped to watch the hummingbird feeders.
The top photo has a male ruby-throat, and this photo shows two females.
After our hike, we enjoyed the AC in the bird observation deck, where I saw a tufted titmouse (he was shy, so his tuft is down), a pileated woodpecker, chickadees, jays and cardinals.
In the museum, they had some interesting animals, like this Eastern Box Turtle eating a grape. And this ultra-adorable frog.

Evins Mill nature

The Herb Cottage
(I've broken this blogging session on Joe and my anniversary getaway into 3 posts because blogger takes issue with me posting more than 5 or 6 pics in a post. So start at the bottom to get the intoduction)

Susie Yelverton introduces Joe to Puerto Rican(or some latin American country) Oregano, which she just plucked from one of thousands of plants she grows at The Herb Cottage. Susie is Jason's neighbor, and she supplies him with the fresh herbs he uses in his dishes as well as fresh flowers to decorate the tables at Evins Mill. She gave us a whirlwind tour-- and boy does this gal know her herbs -- before leading us out of the simmering afternoon sun into the airconditioned store that was wall-to-wall herbal supplements and teas. Joe bought some royal jelly (he's been on a bee kick lately) and I got a lavender essential oil spray. Susie recommended spraying it on your pillow to destress and fall asleep, or in high-tension offices.. or directly on people that are stressed (or stress you out). It really conjured some comical images in my mind... but I think I'll be stingey and not bring my lavender spray into the newsroom.

A.M. hiking
The kitchen and breakfast buffet line were about five steps outside our room's door. It was great to have the smell of breakfast (specifically bacon) as an alarm clock. It got us up before 7 a.m. both days. And that gave us time to explore the grist mill, trails and waterfall. Saturday morning we made the trek down a rather challenging and slippery trail. Sunday morning we did it again, and took a dip in the pool. Joe of course had to sit right under the falls. I stayed back and watched the little schools of fish darting around my toes.


You can click on a photo to enlarge it. Once you do,don't close the window, rather hit the back button to get back to this post.



In this photo, Joe is carrying a stick. A spider-swishing stick. The trail was lovely in every respect-- pine needles carpetting marble with a smattering of sycamore and an occasional frightened frog. But something about the south... spiders LOVE to build webs in the middle of trails. So we had to tread softly and swish a big stick to keep from getting webbed on our way to the water fall.

Speaking of spiders...
These things were ALL OVER the green house at the Herb Cottage.


Finally, I just wanted to include this nice little bench, which was so welcome after climbing the steep and sweaty trail from the waterfall. The humidity was so thick Saturday morning, I fogged up my glasses and, apparently, my camera lense, trying to take this picture!

Evins Mill cooking class

At times it felt Joe and I were the only ones staying at the Inn. And after looking over a map of the place, I'm pretty sure ours was the only room actually in the Inn. The rest are cabins linked by an elevated boardwalk winding through the forest. So we usually had a long porch full of wooden rockers and boston ferns all to ourselves. We were also the only guests to sign up for the cooking class with Evins Mill's gourmet chef, Jason.



We got to watch him work on Saturday night's dinner, which began with Carrot Ginger Soup with coconut milk and lemongrass. This recipe feeds a group larger than I'll ever have the misfortune of serving... but I'll post it anyway.

Carrot Ginger Soup
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh garlic, chopped
1/2 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 Tbs vegetable oil
3 quarts chicken stock
5 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped
1 handful of lemongrass, tied
1 can coconut milk, unsweetened
1/2 heavy cream*

Sautee onion, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes with oil in a large stockpot until tender. (Jason said this step was not really necessary, but he liked to be able to savor the fragrance) Add chicken stock, carrots and lemongrass. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for two hours or until carrots are really soft and mushy. Puree with hand held blender (gotta get me one of these, saw they're only about 20 bucks at Linens N Things). Strain soup (that's what he's doing with that giganto seive in the photo) Then add coconut milk and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Makes a gallon, can be made in advance and reheated.

* my soup at dinner time didn't have the cream, and I didn't miss it at all. This soup is awesome. And I don't even really like carrots.

Also on the menu was Peruvian Coffee Crusted Beef Tenderloin. Jason seemed really fond of working with raw meat. Joe and I observed that he seemed to be handling it like it was a live animal that needed a little massage in order to coax it into tasting its very best. Must have worked because we both agreed it was the best beef we'd had. Ever. And I don't even like beef! I see a trend here.

Ah, and this was the hands on part of the class.


Joe thinks: Eh, this isn't so bad. I'll just take my big sharp chef's knife and wack away all that nasty fat.
Jason thinks: That was like $50 dollars of meat you just cut off!

Actually, Jason explained that there's a lot of waste. Choice tenderloin is 15 dollars a pound, but it works out to be $20/lb after you remove all the fat. He tries to save it for stock or the Habitat for Humanity chili cookoff, which he apparently won. (I saw a trophy in the hallway.)

That night's meal was really the best I've had in a long time. We ate by candle light (hence lack of photos) All my courses were butter- and cream-free. And we finished with flourless chocolate cake and very good (decaf) coffee. Joe's had a Baily's glaze, which I dipped my fork into. MMM.
Needless to say, 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts later, both Joe and I are having troubles getting into our pants. I guess the fast will begin tomorrow.

Paducah food

Last night we decided to check out Paducah's "Downtown After Dinner" a summer street festival of sorts. First we ate at d. Starnes-- a bbq joint that is connected to a quilt shop and an ice cream shop. We both thought we were ordering something we'd gotten before-- dry rub barbecue pulled turkey. Sadly, it was just lunch meat with some sauce. But the meal was redeemed. We each had a side of the Most Delicious Vinegar Slaw in the World. I can't quite figure out what makes this cole slaw so special... other than the happy fact that it does not have mayonnaise binding it together. This mix of finely chopped cabbage, onion, carrot and pickles has celery seed and dill seeds and the perfect oil-vinegar-sugar-salt combination. I put mine on my sandwich.

Joe gets his meal:




Joe ate his food very fast. 2 minutes later:


We were under the misimpression that many restaurants were supposed to be serving samples, so we had a small dinner. I did get a bag of popcorn- something I haven't had in a while. But other than that, nothing to keep our mouths busy.

While at d. Starnes, I over heard a server tell a customer that Downtown after dinner is ending a month earlier than usual because of a low turnout this summer. I have a theory about that. One, it's been triple digit temps all summer. Two, about half the street performers are so tone-deaf, they might be driving away the tourism.

Joe and I listened to 89.7 "All bluegrass. All the time" on the way home to cleanse our ears.

Weekend critter blogging

This snag was completely covered in woodears. Sorry the photo is blurry.
Joe and I went hiking in LBL today because the weather cooled down to the mid-80s. But the humidity hasn't let up at all, so I think my camera was having a tough time focusing through the thick air.



The trail we took was also thick; with spiderwebs and little frogs. There were the regular LBL olive-greenish frogs and then I spotted this red one. Is he a mutant? Er, is he a toad? I confess I don't really know the difference. I guess he's a toad and the next one is a...


Stripy shy frog... debating whether to blow his cover and jump back into a nearby puddle with his friends. Speaking of frogs- check out this zany picture.


It was breezier by the beach. Joe and I sat on a log, where I noticed some fossilized river critters.


And some fluttering river creatures... They loved these flowers.

Chattanooga Food

Sicilian Salad

Romaine with tomato, pine nuts, artichoke heart, tri-color orzo, grilled chicken and a very tangy vinaigrette.

I noticed that my blog has been about 50 percent foods and 50 percent critters. Maybe I crave both equally... should I rename the blog??

Anyway, Chattanooga seemed to have a lot of wonderful restaurants and we ate at some of them. Here's my reviews. The salad above was from an Italian restaurant... I think it was called Tony's, in Chattanooga's art district. When I think art district, I think Chicago's extensive River North district. Well. This is not like that. It's a quiet area with a view of the river and a sculpture park featuring changing exhibits. We didn't find any galleries that were open on a Saturday evening, and really, we didn't see many galleries in general. But they did have several cafes with patios and umbrellas. Tony's (I'll have to call it that until I retrieve the real name from my faulty memory) was a very busy eatery featuring freshly made pasta and wood floors that refracted the din of voices in every direction. So much so that our server confessed at least five times that he couldn't hear what we said. In their favor: ample artisan bread, served warm with olive oil and parmesan for sopping; pretty view of gardens outside; menu with both create-you-own combinations for pizza and pasta as well as house specialties. While my Italian mom said the sauce was not as good as hers, and I found myself sprinkling sugar over my salad to cut the dressing's overt zing, Joe and my Italian dad liked their pasta dishes.

Another popular joint: Easy Seafood
Easy Seafood Company has New Orleans-style cuisine with prices and sodium a little higher than I'd like.
I will say the mussels were delicious... but tiny! And not as good as the mussels Provencale at Shaw's Crab House (a franchise I haven't seen since we moved South)
Joe enjoyed his shrimp Po' Boy. But I think the hoagies we can get at Po Boy's in Hopkinsville give better bang for our buck.
I ordered one of the specials... sea scallops with organic heirloom veggies and new potatoes. All ingredients that I really like. The waiter informed us the restaurant paid top dollar for the produce, but sadly I couldn't really distinguish the taste of the string beans from the vidalia from the baby summer squash (and we all know I've been tasting a lot of squash lately). Even the scallop's natural sweetness was completely drowned out in a heavy pool of extra-salty butter sauce.

Sniff. I was really cranky about this. I even took to blotting each fork-full with my napkin like I used to do to pizza when I was a skinny teenager who thought she was fat. Now I don't care so much about the calories ... but I felt robbed of the experience of all those delicate but distinct flavors that my meal, on the menu, seemed to promise.

Garden Walk Inn
I must end on a happier note. The most satisfying and satiating moments of our Chattanooga trip were the breakfasts. I'm kicking myself now for not taking pictures. We stayed at the Garden Walk Inn, a B&B up on Lookout Mountain. The proprietors, Ed and Erma, were out of town and their friend Pam was subbing.

As some of you know, my digestive track and dairy don't get along. But before you jump to the conclusion that I don't like milk, let me say I grew up drinking gobs of the stuff and my very first coherent word, before mama or dada, was "chee" (translation: "give me another Kraft American Single, please.")

Another thing you might know about me is that I LOVE BREAKFAST. So staying at a B&B that only serves dishes chock-full of moo juice can really ruin my mood...and the moods of everyone else around me. So my dear mom-in-life talked to Pam before we made reservations to see if she could sub soy milk in her recipes, or even just serve me cereal and soy milk. She could, she said, and so we booked our cottage.

Well, the evening we arrived, Pam suggested I could write a recipe using soy and she'd see what she could do. Pancakes were on the menu for the following morning.
So I wrote down a recipe I created and know by heart:

Banana Soy Silver Dollars
Wet:
2 bananas mashed
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups silk (soy milk that actually tastes good)
Dry:
1 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Add wet to dry and stir till just moist, but still lumpy. Add vegetable oil to skillet on meduium heat and drop spoonfuls into pan. Flip when bubbles form and pop.

The next morning, while others were eating their big chocolate chip flapjacks from Sam's Club pancake mix... I was eating homemade banana soycakes. Mmmmm. There were extra, so I took them in a baggie and ate them in the darker parts of the Tennessee Aquarium. :-) Kudos to Pam at Garden Walk Inn!

Chattanooga

Finally, I'm able to get one photo on this silly blog (but only in HTML mode). It's been over a week since I've been able to get any pics up.

These are the two hyacinth macaws at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, where Joe and I were this weekend. The birds were sqawky and mildly obsessive compulsive-- chewing on their feet and, occasionally, each other. But their coloration is stunning!


There was also a butterfly garden. Joe got a little spooked by this fella, because his wings have the face of another critter... do you see it? It looks like it sees you.





Another big hit-- the 'petting zoo' portion of the aquarium. I also had to touch them... sting rays are quite slimy. But the cute thing was that a couple of them would stick their snoots out of the water to get their forheads scratched--so says the guy in the staff shirt at least.





My favorite part: Jellies. Relaxation personified. I also could watch the seahorses for hours, but my photos are all too blurry.

Cleveland

My visit with Joe and Mom Parrino to the Cleveland Botanical Garden near my Alma Mater, Case Western Reserve University, was full of excitement. I used to frequent this little green oasis when I was an undergrad and when it was free and walking distance from my dorm. My senior year they began construction on a butterfly rainforest. Happily it was open on July 3rd.

Roy Peter Clark over at Poynter (all you journalists know who I'm talking about) just gave an example of a great journalist who recorded the names of 55 of 56 butterfly names while reporting for a story. (or something silly like that) I on the other hand, only remember one name, the Blue Morpho, and I'm not even sure how to spell it. Joe's mom and I spent all our time swinging our lenses around trying to capture this elusive creature that much prefers gliding and flitting to resting and sunning.

Blogger has not been cooperating with me of late. For a week I couldn't post any photos. Today it decided to work for a little while... there are a few other shots that didn't make the cut though! Maybe it will be in a more obliging mood tomorrow!

Weekend warriors

It didn't rain this weekend. Several weeks ago we scouted out a camp site on a little grassy penninsula with four different paths to the lake. We arrived around 6 on Saturday night and just barely had time to gather firewood, make our dinner and pitch the backpacker's tent that we haven't used since our honeymoon in the Appalachians in '01. We were both pretty exhausted ... and my hands were too sticky from s'mores to take photos that evening. Our peaceful plot was actually quite noisey. The frogs in LBL are not normal ribbiting frogs. They sound more like hogs with megaphones. Anyway, they're also very long winded. I didn't sleep much, but I was still happy when our tent was surrounded by sunbeams and birdsong. Even if it was only 5:00. We managed to get into the tent without more than 2 insects inside with us. But when we woke up, we could hear the buzzing swarms just outside. So we stayed in and ate some muffins.

They look like blueberry. But they're plum-peach with strawberry jam surprise middles.

Finally, I left Joe to snooze longer, and ventured to see what all the buzzy chirpyness was about. And I found dozens of fuzzy bumblebees having their breakfast too.

Then I spent some time appreciating the lake views and getting my toes wet in the dewy grass.

When I finished, there were some other visitors to the tent. But for some reason, blogger isn't letting me post the pics. So they will remain a mystery until I get a chance to edit this.