Oersters c/o Pearl's

Last week, in the local newspaper, Pearl's advertised a limited supply of oysters for dinner. The few times I've been to Pearl's, it has been for brunch. It's better food than most options in the area but it's never as good as the hype. Last night we went for oysters. We split a Caesar salad...which could have been so much better if they had simply committed to actually dressing the salad (when one only gets a mere hint of dressing on every fourth bite, well, that ain't so good).
We opted for fried as opposed to raw oysters. The presentation was nothing fancy and the marinara and cocktail sauces served along side of the oysters had much to wish for...but the oysters themselves were t.a.s.t.y!
My mother and I each had ourselves a 'Hot Buttery Kiss'. Then we went home.
Once home I continued barreling through the third season of Nip/Tuck. I hope to hardy hell that I'll get to know who the carver is tonight. It's the last in the season and I'm cutting off the netflix while I continue to be out of work/without home. Seriously though. I want to know. No! Don't tell me.

Another One Around

The skinniest fire hydrant I've ever seen.
My father grew up in Sewanee. I spent a portion of my summers here up til my grandmother died when I was ten or eleven (?) and, even then, I made my way back here a few times to see other relatives. But the geography of the town and its environs is limited in its scope. I haven't really broadened my understanding of back streets or nearby towns. There are roads that lead to places that I've heard about but never been...Sherwood comes to mind. This is not entirely true, this summer I found the joys of the drive-in in (kind of nearby) Estill Springs. What's my point? Yesterday my mother and I took a walk on a road I've only driven down once. We said hello to a very red golden retriever and would have said hello to his black dog friend but he had an electric collar and couldn't come to the road. Mom showed me a whole area I'd never seen...full of left-over supplies from building projects the university has done.
Look at mom, ducking under instead of over.
We saw an old house and then, suddenly (!), the house fell down. Okay. No it didn't.




Then we went out to the stables. When I was a kid the stables were a little more rag-tag. No white fences, shiny new indoor riding areas etc...but it was still where I learned to ride horses...something I very much enjoyed. We hoped to see more dogs (we're always on the lookout for dogs...when I was a kid Sewanee was known for its roaming friendly dogs but in the last ten years there's been a leash law and now you can't pick up a temporary walking dog like you used to) than we did.


We did run into this guy however. Blue eyes like a huskie, no tail and body of a corgi...only taller. He/she was more interested in getting a belly pat than a head rub.
Another horse field. When I was a kid I'd walk to this field and the resident horses of the time would amble over. I"d pull out clumps of green grass or an apple I had brought along and we'd all have a good time...I got to pet their soft, soft noses and they got little edible treat. These horses, below, are bastards with no sense of good-will or manners. In other words they did not come and say hello.

Quizzical Cat

He looks a little more alert than in many photographs that have come before...I think. There's one specific corner of our house's ceiling that has this one hanging cobweb...not big, hardly noticeable, but Zul gets seriously caught up at least once a day staring at the sucker and (I anthropomorphize...spelling entirely incorrect, I know) plotting how he'll manage to make it about fifteen feet up in order to tear it to pieces. He's also enjoying phantom mice a lot down here...seriously, he gets all pouncy and riled up but there ain't nuthin' there.

Ham, Mac, Green Beans, Pureed Sweet Potatoes

Dinner, after the walk, was a little of a lot of things. Or a few things. As mentioned above.

We Could Be Aborigines...Minus All The Things That Make an Aborigine an Aborigine

Two or three days back my mother and I went on another walk about. We went out our door, into the little park/preserve behind our house and saw that one of the paths we would usually take was blocked...my a fallen tree...upon closer inspection the tree fell because it was dead inside...just like...well, you know, people. Then we went to the cemetary. Then we walked somewhere else and through a little pine grove.
Then we walked aside the golf course. Mom got overexcited about a golf ball. Then we walked to Green's View.
This is Green's View.
It may not look steep or big but it is.
It's not so terribly warm down here though I can only assume that it's colder where I last lived. Sigh.
Then we walked some more. Total mileage? About 4 miles.

Veggies Ain't All Bad

Though a proud carnivore (who some times has a hard time understanding how people who have tried the glories of red meat, poultry and seafood could ever turn their backs on the lovely meat flesh) I am also a lover of vegetables. Especially when the begetables are not trying to be some sort of meat substitute. So two nights back when our dinner was sweet potato, salad and spinach I was happy. It was all quite tasty. I told my mother that I sometimes underestimate the flavor goodness of red wine vinegar. And I always think that I have a problem with sweet potatoes. I think my problem is really with pureed and/or overly sweetened or topped-with-marshmallows sweet potatoes. A little butter and salt and we're golden...like the potato!

Another Mother Daughter Walk Aboot

My mom and I took a little walk yesterday. We walked on the street, we walked in the woods and then we walked around the extremely low and not as appealing as it used to be Lake Cheston.


My eyebrows looked funky in this photograph so I plucked them in photoshop...can you tell?

Proving Exploded Viewer Partially Correct

Yesterday my parents and I went to Smokin' B's Barbeque in Monteagle. This was largely due to my father's jealousy of my mother's and mine bbq luncheon in Tullahoma. This time I had the pulled pork sandwich and shared some fried okra. Since I did not have this same dish in Tullahoma I can't compare them...but my mother could and the Tullahoma sandwich was better, says she.
Next door to the barbeque join was Lucky Health Spa. The parents told me it was a whorehouse. A student wrote a piece about it in the university paper, I guess, and said they went in and there were a lot of middle-aged Asian women there. Now that doesn't necessarily mean whorehouse...but the fact that all the shades were drawn and that area of Monteagle is prime truck-stop territory, well, I guess I believe it.

A Good Idea Gone Terribly Awry

Last night I walked into the kitchen and smelled jalepeno poppers. I got very excited.
I asked my mom where the jalepeno poppers were located. Actually, there were no jalepeno peppers she had roasted some bigger kind of pepper and was going to do something tasty with them. But I had jalepeno-esque poppers on the brain and my mother, kindly one that she is, let me take over. I got a bowl of flour, I got a bowl of corn meal and I beat two eggs and intended to add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the eggs. But instead a whole big wallop of cayenne pepper plopped in...we're talking two tablespoons at least. I said to myself: 'well it's only in the eggs and it'll be fine'. So then I stuffed the peppers with cream cheese and shredded cheese. And then I attempted to pan fry the suckers. Which worked out kind of. Then I allowed my father to take over and bake them the rest of the time. They looked good enough but within three bites it was clear: spicy, spicy, spicy. Lesson? Let your mom make whatever she wants and go to some sports bar if you're so needy for jalepeno poppers.

Waking Up And Going to Sleep

Sleeping and walking around down here is mighty different than in Chicago. First off you can see the stars and you never hear a siren, drunken shouting match or your upstairs neighbors laughing. A few nights back I near a sound outside my window. I pushed my face up to the glass, cupped my eyes and stared out into the darkness. As my eyes adjusted what did I see? A little white headed skunk lookin' around the leaves and whatnot for something to eat, I would guess. Then two nights ago, for no apparent reason (no noise or anything), I sat up and looked out just in time to see a deer walking by lit my moonlight and the distant glow of our living room lights. It was quite magical. The next day I woke up to Sewanee's famous (to those who have been here) fog. So did Zul.

Curry Take Two

On Wednesday night I took the remaining left over chicken and turned it into curry. The main difference between mom's and my own was coconut milk and not so much flour. It was definitely soupier.

Rib Plate c/o Piggy's Place Bar-b-que

On Wednesday my mother and I drove to Tullahoma to do a little shopping. I needed new brassieres and mom was interested in tiles for the back bathroom's renewal. The department store we went to was okay and it goes to show you how long it's been since I've purchased myself new undergarments but...seriously...$50 bras? What's wrong with the world? In my life I've never thought twice about spending $50 on a tasty dinner....but to spend $50 on a decidedly more practical and longer lasting item that few (to none) people will ever see? Well, I have trouble with that. How much does the average jock strap cost I wonder? I mean, Wal-Mart does have cheaper goods...but they're cheaper for a reason...mainly they don't fit right and are cheaply made. Sorry, all you boy readers, but I couldn't believe it.
After the less than effective shopping trip (Mom and I have rather different ideas about tile colors...she always goes for the brown...and I always go for the blue shiny) we went for barbeque at Piggy's Place. I'd never been. I ordered the rib plate with fries and green beans. There was something not so tasty about the beans but the fries and ribs were good. The ribs were not as fall-off-the-bone-delicious as the ones I had in Atlanta this summer, but still not so bad.

Mom was quite satsified with her pulled pork sandwich.

At Least We Got a Good Meal Out of the Deal

On Monday night the parents and I drove down into the cove to watch the OSU LSU game at our cousin's. Why didn't we just watch the game at home? Well, because the parents don't have cable and FOX doesn't come in so good (re: at all) but the cousin does have satellite and FoX came in perfectly well. Mom made a ham loaf...which sounds kind of yucky but was actually quite good. The cousin and his wife provided home smoked salmon and filet mignon (maybe the beef wasn't smoked actually) and a good dose of salad. I had a Fat Tire beer and then we all had champagne. Once the third quarter came around and it was obvious that, yet again, getting a touchdown in the first two minutes of the game and ranking number one in the, erm, league (?), doesn't necessarily equal triumph for the Buckeyes. So we left.

Blue Chair Club c/o The Blue Chair

Earlier this week, or perhaps late last week, the parents and I were invited out to lunch at The Blue Chair, one of just a handful of eateries (over the summer the count went from three to five) in town. I ordered the Blue Chair Club and a sweet tea. The sandwich was decent but not all that impressive. And look how the large amount of 'dijon mayonnaise' in the middle looks deceptively like pasta salad. I would have preferred the condiments to be on my sandwich and the mustard element to have a bit more of a kick. I, then, walked home while the parents went to the Piggly Wiggly. Here is a photograph of the house through the woods.