The cats have been simply exhausted lately.
They’re asleep most of the day. Just worn out!
I’m thinking that they must be sneaking out at night, while I’m asleep, to go to work. I’ll bet they wanted to get me something really awesome for Christmas, so they secretly got jobs and they’re saving up.
They’re so amazing!
From my series on Southern food and drinks, I’m picking back up with the Letter “M” to tackle an delicacy near and dear to the hearts of many Southerners…
[moon pahy]
“Moon Pie! Moon Pie!” that battle cry of the Mobile Mardi Gras, screamed by thousands of children each year as they swarm the nightly path of parade floats, scrambling and scrapping for the hallowed treats, tossed along with doubloons and beads by masked and costumed Krewes.
Moon Pie, that marshmallow-y, chocolate-ty disc of divinity, harking back to 1917, created by the Chattanooga Bakery, per the request of a Kentucky coal miner who asked for a snack made from graham crackers and Marshmallows, “as big as the moon!”
Moon Pie that iconic duo of Southern snackdom, when served with a frosty RC Cola.
Yeah our idea of high class livin’
Is sittin’ on the porch on a cool night
Our Champagne and Caviar
Is an RC cola and a moon pie
– Tracy Byrd, Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous
…is said to be paved with good intentions. Do good intentions become a slippery slope when lacking the mortar of manners?
My grandmother always told me that between thoughtfulness, consideration of others and my upbringing (read: the manners I was raised with), I could hold my head high among the most exalted company, even so far as to dine with the Queen.
Regardless, it’s tough for anyone trying to fit in to new situations or with new people. Sometimes you don’t know the right thing to say or do. Sometimes you feel that saying or doing nothing is better than failing by saying or doing something, if it’s the wrong thing. Sometimes doing the wrong thing seems inevitable. And there’s always the damn fish fork to figure out.
Outwards in is the rule for using cutlery. Maybe inwards out is the rule for interacting with others.
While I’ve never dined with the Queen, my raising and grandmother’s advice has successfully carried me (albeit with some nervousness and occasional awkwardness) through interactions with people from all over the world.
If I couldn’t figure it out by watching, I politely asked. And I listened to what was said. I learned. I smiled. I tried again. I watched others and asked them about them. Who they are, why they are who they are. People want to be heard. They want to be liked. Respected for their individuality. Sometimes genuine care is far more important than the right words or the correct spoon.
I was in the catering business for a long time, and the best waiter I ever worked with once told me, “while there are rules for presenting and clearing plates, you ALWAYS opt for the action most gracious for the guest.”
I think that lesson, along with my Granny’s counsel, has always worked best for me. And Emily Post’s guideline. She’s the Queen of Etiquette, after all. To have awareness and consideration for the feelings of others is a way towards communications. Communication is a path towards understanding. And I think that understanding is an expressway to peace and good will, no matter how diverse people may be.
Being able to interact, with though and care towards others, is the road I aim to be on. Whichever fork I take.
And yes, it would have been cool to dine with Emily. I think I might just pull it off, perhaps even with a little grace. My Granny raised me well.
Apparently, the higher peaks of my loft have been recently invaded by a Mountain Lion.
A somewhat tiny and fluffy Mountain Lion.
Woe be unto any hikers on the perilous Bathroom Kitchen Trail!
(Warning: Screaming “Fluffums Wuffums” at the Mountain Lion only incites his deadly wrath.)
It was a long day of driving around and showing property today to a new client. The weather was not at all inspiring – it was a chilly, murky, drizzly, grey, meh.
I caught myself daydreaming about the last time I was in Seagrove Beach, Florida a few months ago with my husband. I looked up these photos on my phone (which certainly cheered me up) and I thought I’d share them with you. ::sigh:: Can’t wait to be back there!
Thanks for stopping by!
Tonight we made Chicken Paprikash for dinner.
I randomly ran across this recipe a few weeks ago and tried it out. (And yes, it’s the same dish made famous in When Harry Met Sally. ) I don’t think this is a super traditional version of the recipe but it looked amazing. One word for you. Bacon. Yes, there is bacon in this Chicken Paprikash and it’s crazy delish. We always try to cook dinner on the weekends, so we made this again tonight.
(Warning, I kinda tweak recipes as I go, so here is my latest version)
7 slices bacon, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 and a half tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken (I like the chicken tenderloins, which I cut in half)
2 cups chicken broth
1 large bag of egg noodles
8 oz. sour cream
First, dice the bacon into lardons and sauté 2 minutes.
Add diced peppers and onions. Sauté 3 more minutes.
Mix together flour, paprika and marjoram with about a teaspoon of salt in a mixing bowl.
Add chicken, toss to coat thoroughly.
Push the vegetable and bacon mixture to one side of the pan and sear chicken well, along with leftover flour mixture. Let cook for 6 more minutes.
Stir together the chicken, bacon and vegetables and cook 2 more minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir, then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and simmer until the chicken is almost cooked through, about 10 more minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook egg noodles according to packaging.
Uncover the pot with the chicken, turn the burner to high and cook 2 more minutes. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the sour cream and cook 5 more minutes. Season with salt as needed.
Drain the noodles and ladle a very generous serving of chicken and sauce on top.
Stuff into your face.
Yum.
(Thanks to my awesome hubs for all his hard work dicing, chopping and searing!)
Today is the first day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and Nanopoblano (the World’s Least Official Blog-Everyday-November Challenge.) Basically, it’s an initiative to blog something (anything) at least once a day for every day of the month of November.
I’ve been blogging in a kinda half-hearted way for the past five years or so, and I’ve done the NaBloPoMo/Nano challenge at least the past four, but I flat out quit writing completely this past year. As a matter of fact, I just logged into WordPress to discover that the last blog I posted was on November 10, 2017, a mere third of the way through last year’s November challenge.
That makes me sad and mad and frustrated to give up on something I love to do (write) but that sometimes feels too much like a chore (deadlines/inspiration), so despite my crazy work schedule, I’m back for this month to at least try.
We’ll see how far I can get this time.
Oh, and for the highlights reel of real estate life today (which, btw, is what I do)…
I attended an incredibly interesting continuing education class on the History of South BeltLine neighborhoods in the city of Atlanta…
and sent a card and a chew toy to a favorite client’s awesomely sweet Goldendoodle puppy, Noor, who, bless his little heart, just had ::cough:: the operation, and (according to our client) is miserable in his cone.
Hopefully here (and with blogging) at least the thought will count for something.
~After a day full of this, so thankful to be home with a warm, cozy blanket, glass of wine and a roaring fire, watching Die Hard 2 with the hubs~
Happy Friday, everyone!
~{So incredibly}Thankful for my brilliant and hard-working business partner and our last-minute client this evening wanting to make an offer on a new home!~
~Thankful for all the glorious autumn colors surrounding me today~
Drunk on Life 