Daily Thoughts

I don’t know why I love Nashville . . .

. . . but I do. Yes, it’s touristy, hillbilly, hokey, and I’m sure, filled with a lot of shattered country dreams. It is reminiscent of Las Vegas, New Orleans and even worse … Branson. Don’t get me wrong here, I love New Orleans but it most certainly has a dangerous perverseness about it just as Vegas does. Bourbon Street and the Las Vegas Strip make me feel dirty and naughty. When I leave those streets I feel like I need a shower. Branson is just tourist trap where the beautiful landscape has been raped for money. I grew up in Branson so I speak from experience. Yes, I am opinionated. Nashville doesn’t make me feel any of that.

Nashville feels focused and intentional. By that I mean, it really is about the music. The people there are serious about making and preserving music. I love that at noon I can walk into a “honky tonk” and hear talented musicians perform and sing. I don’t know much about country music because well … I’ve never been a big fan of most of it. I can honestly say I wouldn’t know at George Strait song from Randy Travis or Tim McGraw or Brad Paisley. I have a fondness for country songs from my youth. I love Don Williams and Ronny Millsap and with age I have learned to love Hank Williams Sr., Allison Krause, The Dixie Chicks and even Garth Brooks.

So I spent the day in Nashville yesterday. I toured the Country Music Hall of Fame which made me realize I know more about old country than I thought. I took some pictures of things that made me feel nostalgic. ImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

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I was impressed by all of the memorabilia they had. My appreciation for bluegrass started when I saw the film, “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou”. It introduced me to Allison Krause and a desire to hear more. Plus I spent some time in a church choir where I had to learn to harmonize. Bluegrass and gospel have amazing harmonies and are the perfect instructor for anyone wanting to learn how.

In keeping with my southern indoctrination I finally bought hat to go along with my boots. Here it is . . .

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What do you think?

My maiden name is Bruton. So I was surprised to find this in Nashville.

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It’s nice to know someone in the family is an entrepreneur even if it is with a cancer causing agent.

I also learned that more than one president is from Tennessee.

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So, after my second trip I learned a few things. James Polk is buried there. The Ryman Theater was in fact the Grand Ole Opry for years but has an even more illustrious history than just country music. The list of performers, actors and productions that have performed there is very impressive. Mostly, I want to go back and I’m thankful that such a vibrant and beautiful city is just two hours away.

Badly Breaking … is more like it.

. . . we need new furniture anyway. I finally took off the blue toenail polish from my wedding day. Last night D said … “it’s really ugly, when are you going to take it off?” So, while watching an episode of “Breaking Bad” I figured I’d do something productive and strip it off. I didn’t know I was also taking off the varnish on the coffee table. SHIT!

So much for Old English furniture polish fixing blemishes.

I promise I was being very careful not to let this happen but apparently not enough.  So, now I’ll be headed to Lowe’s to find some way of fixing this mess. Sometimes I feel so stupid. Does anyone else have “father-like” fear of their husband? I know he won’t “kill” me but he most certainly will give me a crap-ton of grief over this. Well, since my wonderful hubby is out of town all week and I have to find ways to fill my days and evenings. I most certainly shouldn’t be having a “Breaking Bad” marathon so I suppose I’ll find some trails to explore and search the internet endlessly for employment. Damn, I need friends in this town. When he’s out of town I get so lonely.

Okay … now off to my domesticity! Have a great day ya’ll!

Honeymoon in heaven!

I don’t understand completely how to upload a gallery of pictures to this site yet but I do know that if you click on one of the pictures you can view them as a slide show. Our camera is a new Panasonic Lumix. It takes amazing pictures which is made easier by having so many beautiful things to snap. Most of these pictures are in Paris, specifically, Sacre Couer. The last pic is the view we had from our hotel in Amalfi at breakfast time.

Finally …

A produce market that sold the most amazing peaches. Yum!

Most of my cognitive life I have dreamt of going to Europe. I’m not exactly sure when this notion came to me  but I imagine it has something to do with a love of history my father instilled in me and the history classes themselves in grade school. I can remember seeing Pompeii in textbooks and the casts of the people they found. I loved Greek and Roman mythology and fantasized about traveling to these exotic locales to explore and excavate them myself.

My new husband made my dreams come true by being my Prince Charming and by sweeping me off my feet to a fantasy honeymoon in Paris, Firenze, Amalfi, Capri and finally Roma. It was perfect. We took our time exploring the famous cities which are so ripe with tourist fruit. To try to see every museum, palace, cathedral and historical landmark would, to us, have been folly. We walked around Paris holding hands, taking pictures, kissing, laughing and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Here are a few of the nearly 5000 pictures we took. I realize no one will enjoy seeing them as we had taking them but some are quite beautiful and when you’re in such amazing cities and countryside every step is a photo-op, right?

Sacre Couer – fantastic!

I really fell in love with all of the gargoyles. I’d never given them much thought until I actually saw some.

This is a fountain in front of Sacre Couer. I was fascinated by the way the water fell over this character. He really is working hard to hold up this weight.

Me at Montmartre, Paris, France.

I took this photo at Versailles. The gardens truly are remarkable.

Amalfi, Italy was our favorite. It is not a place for the infirm or weak kneed. If you have the means … go.

There were dogs and cats everywhere. The cats were generally homeless. I’m not sure about the dogs, they all seemed well cared for.

I am not a fan of fall.

I realize this is an unusual sentiment. All over Facebook and Pinterest everyone is proclaiming their love of fall and all of it’s trappings. For me it’s just a reminder that cold is coming, the leaves are dying and we’re in for seven to nine months of brown. It reminds of school starting and, sad to say,  I never liked going back to school because summer was too much fun. It reminds me that winter is coming and bringing the cold. I truly dislike being cold.

I will grant that there are some good things associated with fall. I love bonfires, the fireplace and the one week of beautiful fall foliage. I do love the food associated with fall like the squash: pumpkin, butternut, acorn and spaghetti! I love the soups: beef stew, chili and chowder. I love baking pies and breads. It’s all wonderful comfort food that warms the body and spirit. I’ve posted most of my great soup recipes and pies. I suppose it’s time to branch out and try something new. My mother bakes a pear pie every year from her pear harvest. It’s delicate and sweet and a true treat.

I think next spring I’ll plant some fruit trees. Having just come from the Amalfi Coast in Italy I’m inspired to grow even more.

I took this photo while on my honeymoon in Amalfi, Italy. This is just one of the multitude of groves dotting the mountainous countryside.

Kentucky isn’t ideal for lemons but I can certainly plant an apple, cherry or peach tree. I get so frustrated going to the market to buy fresh peaches only to come home and they are bland and mushy. What a treat it would be to pick fresh peaches every summer and fall.

The olive trees grow wild all over the country too. I would have loved to pick a bunch to bring home but I haven’t the first idea of how they make them edible. We did see a couple men harvesting them outside our hotel. That was really fun.

I also must tell you about my amazing husband. He spoiled me rotten by even taking me to Europe. He then managed to add to the spoiling by buying me a belt, two handbags, two pairs of shoes and two bottles of aged balsamic vinegar, one is 12 years old and the other is 20 years old. If I work up the courage to open and eat them I’ll let you know.

So very …

My life over the last year and a half has been so very, well actually … very. I don’t have words to describe exactly how it’s been. Very love-filled. Very fairy-tale-like. Very exciting. Very transformative. Very different. Very new. Very much unexpected. I fell in love with an old love. I moved to a new part the country. I got married (something I thought would never happen). I went to Paris, Firenze AND Amalfi, Italy (something I truly thought was only a dream!). My life is blessed.

For most of my life, as a single woman, I was blessed with many things. I have had an abundance of truly good friends who are more like sisters. I have a family who loves each other, despite our differences and failings. I never went without things but money was something I did not have a lot of. If I needed something I had to budget for it and there was no guarantee I would be able to get it. Buying the latest, greatest of anything just wasn’t an option. I bought clothes at thrift stores, discount stores or I went without.

My new life hasn’t changed how I buy but it has changed my ability to buy. It’s a change that I’m still not accustomed to and hope never to be. I’m thrifty because it’s smart to be so but it is nice to have options and access to quality rather than, “it’s better than nothing”.

So now I’m living a new life. I’m searching for my place in this new life. I’ll be searching for a job, a church, a social life and a place to contribute in my new community. I have been on this journey for a year now but for the last year I have focused on learning how to be a wife, homemaker, wedding and honeymoon. The reality is I don’t know where I fit in here in Elizabethtown but I’m gonna have to find a way to do it.

And now for something completely different which is actually food related.

I went to Italy for my honeymoon. I learned how to cook pasta. Wow. The. Best. Pasta. Ever. Bucatini. I also learned just how much better food is when it’s FRESH. All the restaurants served fresh food, freshly made pasta, bread, sauces, seafood and meat.

Bucatini – it’s a like a fat spaghetti with a whole in the middle.

Now I’m on a quest to buy this type of pasta here in the states. I also may actually try to make some pasta. It’s so much better when it’s fresh. Also, Guinness tastes so much better in London than it does here. Maybe that’s just a psychological affect or maybe it’s really better.

I’ve wondered also whether this blog is a good thing, helpful thing, interesting thing, needed thing. What makes my blog worth reading when there are literally thousands of food bloggers out there doing this much better than I do? Ultimately, I do it as an outlet. As a way to have a conversation when there’s no one else to talk to. I don’t know what the end user experiences (those few that I have). I can’t see it from there eyes. I like to think I have an affinity for writing and communicating things I know about. The one thing I know most about is cooking which is sadly not very much. I’m learning as I do this. I’ll hopefully inspire someone else to either learn to cook or to step out in life to do what they know how to do. Just like most people, I want to have a positive affect on this life and do something worthwhile. Maybe this is a way for me to do that.

Home Grown!

I grew these on my back deck and I can’t wait to make some guacamole with them.

There is something very satisfying about growing your own food. I am less tempted to let home grown produce spoil in the fridge. I just wish my tomatoes and peppers would all ripen at the same time. This is the fourth tomato I’ve harvested. They are very sweet and mild. Yes, I have tried to eat raw and by themselves. My stomach still rejects it. So, I’ll cook with them and I’ll get the nutrition another way. The peppers are very spicy hot. In fact, I should probably use gloves with them because last time my fingers stung for days after chopping them. I suppose I’m gonna make some guacamole with these. I just wish I had some of those avocado’s cousin Julie grows.

Boredom is a bad thing …

During this prolonged unemployment I have been challenged with ways to keep busy, stay useful, and sane. There are any number of things I could be doing with my time besides setting on my ass watching TV, surfing FB, Pinterest or any other internet based time waster. Frankly, I can’t with a clean conscience turn the TV on during the day. It depresses me and saps any self-esteem I may have.

Instead, I could be mudding the bonus room we’re trying to finish. It’s tedious, dirty and I’m not very confident in my abilities. I can clean this house, again. I tire quickly of dusting and I should do it at least once a week but I usually only get the energy for that twice a month. We have carpet and even though it’s the bane of my domestic existence (well isn’t that a pathetic thing to say?) I manage to vacuum it twice a week. Oh how I yearn for hardwood floors.

What I have been doing is planning the wedding. Designing wedding programs. Shopping online and at the store I’ve learned to hate, Bed Bath and Beyond. I could literally never step foot in that store again. Ugh. I should have registered at Lowe’s and Pottery Barn. Oh well, hindsight you know.

I have also been baking. Now that’s exactly what a soon-to-be-bride absolutely should be doing, right? Ugh. It fills the time and it tastes good. Last week I got it in my head that I needed to make Italian Peasant Bread so that I could then make some proper French toast. HA! Yes, that’s exactly what I needed to do to fit into a tight wedding dress. Oh, good grief! I found a fabulous recipe online by this professor at a college. His directions were very thorough and impossible to follow. So I adapted them for my own use. The bread did in deed turn out beautiful. This picture was of his bread, not mine but mine was equally beautiful.

Pane Rustico – Italian Peasant Bread

And if this wasn’t enough trouble to get into, last weekend, upon seeing some apples in the fridge, I thought, “Hey those need to be used! Make a pie!” Yeah, not a great idea.  I put it together anyway and by Tuesday night, D and I had it all eaten. Pie, pie, I love pie! It was so very tasty!

Smoothie health … it’s not pretty.

My father says that my very first word was pretty. He says he was holding me in his arms and showing me a picture on the wall. Apparently, I repeated the word “pretty” when prompted. He likes to say that it was befitting because I was so pretty. Father’s are biased you know.

One thing I know for sure is, my smoothies are not pretty. They look quite tasty when you blend banana’s, blueberries, cherries and blackberries. It’s when you add the four cups of chopped kale that dramatically alters the appearance. It ends up being a thick, brownish-green sludgy looking mess. I tell myself that these drinks are making me healthy. They certainly do have a “cleansing” effect on my digestive system. Wow! I drink them regardless because it’s really challenging for me to get all my green’s consumed like I’m supposed to.

Here’s what I’m talking about.

You can’t judge everything by it’s looks. It may not look tasty but it is. Not, chocolate cake good … but good.

The parable of this story is, “You have to do things that seem onerous at first but the benefits and results make life so much richer.” Oh well, some crap like that. I don’t know. What I do know is I want to be healthy when I’m at the retiring age so that I can enjoy my life without pain and discomfort. Choosing this over chocolate cake, fried chicken and Cheetos will hopefully pay off.

Or I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Anything is possible.