going to europe and eating pigeons

In 4 days, 6 hours, and 11 minutes, my family will be leaving for Dublin, Ireland. Naturally, I am excited about the castles, the cliffs, and the pints of Guinness (# 34 on the Bucket List). What I am REALLY excited about; however, is the food. Nothing takes you out of your comfort zone more than eating something that seems unusual. Having been unable to curve my enthusiasm into something productive at work, I have looked up every possible dinner menu along our route. After we land in Dublin, my father will be braving turn-abouts to drive us to Ashford Castle . The next day, we will be in the car again on the way to Bunratty Castle and the Cliffs of Moher. After that, we are back in Dublin before we fly to London for 5 days. Everything along the Ireland route read the same way: meat and potatoes. The menus in London; however, had a different story to tell. From smoked pigeon to spotted dick, my family should have an interesting time exploring alternative cuisines. One particular restaurant in London that I am excited about is avenue. I cannot wait to share pictures and stories! See everyone after the trip!

summer tomatoes and being somewhat sophisticated

Major League Baseball is in full swing (haha… full swing), fireflies can be seen at night, and the community swimming pool is now running full hours. So, how do I know that summer is about to begin? Clearly because my tomato plants, that I have affectionately dubbed Thelma and Louise, are BLOOMING! I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first tomato but my plants are flowering none the less! This exciting time, in my backyard’s otherwise rather boring existence, got me thinking about all the ways that I could use my new produce. After my mother convinced me that chili is for cold weather and I did not need to make that, I came up with SALAD! What is better during the summer than a fresh salad? Nothing, right? Therefore, I offer up this feeble attempt at sophistication with a fresh and healthy summer starter! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-tomatoes (sliced)

-fresh mozzarella (sliced)- I usually buy a large chunk and slice it myself

-romaine lettuce

-basil (I grow this in my kitchen but I used to just buy a few leaves and slice them up)

-balsamic vinaigrette

Recipe:

1)      Cut tomatoes and mozzarella to similarly sized slices

2)      Place romaine lettuce on serving dish

3)      Alternate the tomatoes and mozzarella in a diagonal across the dish (one on top of the other)

4)      Sprinkle basil and then balsamic vinaigrette on top of the dish

5)      Season with salt and pepper (optional)

a bucket list at 23

Last year, when I was about to graduate, I had an “AHHHHH” moment when I realized that I did not have any idea where my life was going. I did not have a job lined up and I was thoroughly convinced I would end up living in my parent’s basement forever. One of my professors seemed to at least understand my sentiment and suggested that I come up with a Bucket List. His argument was that this list would be everything I had to look forward to after college. One year later, I can say that I have successfully marked three items off my list (and I am not living in my parent’s basement…):

1.       Go skydiving

2.       Publish a book

3.       Keep a plant alive for over a year

4.       Go see the redwoods

5.       Shoot a pistol*

6.       Sell a photograph

7.       Ride a horse on the beach

8.       Find my soul mate

9.       Write a romance novel

10.   Read the Bible start to finish

11.   See the great lakes*

12.   Win a cooking contest

13.   Change someone’s life

14.   Climb the pyramids

15.   Get a tattoo

16.   Go to a strip club

17.   Go cage diving with great whites

18.   Take flowers to a stranger

19.   Adopt an animal at the zoo

20.   Go on a ghost tour in Edinburgh

21.   Spend a sleepless night in Seattle

22.   See the Amazon

23.   Buy myself a car

24.   Ride an elephant

25.   Flash a crowd for beads

26.   Take a huge risk

27.   Get a good night kiss on a good night

28.   Make my child laugh

29.   Go hunting

30.   Work for a non-profit*

31.   Find the faith I have been searching for

32.   Live in Maine

33.   Dance to Tale as Old as Time with someone I love

34.   Drink beer in Ireland

35.   Hold a koala bear

36.   Run a marathon

37.   Buy my mother lunch

38.   Shoot my age in golf

39.   Pick wild lavender

40.   Learn how to tango

41.   Watch the sun rise on a beach

42.   Go scuba diving in a shipwreck

43.   Visit the catacombs under Rome

44.   Go to the carnival festival in Venice, Italy

45.   Become a cheese connoisseur

46.   Stitch a replica of my Grandmother’s city scene stitch

47.   Stop worrying about things that are out of my control

48.   Donate Blood

49.   Act in a community play

50.   Run my own business

51.   Go to all four Major golf tournaments

52.   Play Augusta National

(*) Indicates that I crossed them off last year! I hope that this list grows as I grow and I look forward to completing them all!

fried chicken and Alabama tornadoes

At first glance, fried chicken and Alabama tornadoes have absolutely nothing in common. After a deeper look; however, you might understand that to me, one has everything to do with the other. Last week, a series of tornadoes devastated the southern states. Alabama was hit the hardest and the death toll is still rising. As we watched the footage, I couldn’t help but think that this begs a question. How do we recover? The answer that kept popping into my head was: we go home. Not home in the sense of a house or town. I mean home as a feeling.  For some, this means picking up the pieces in Pratt City. For some, it means taking a class to be a certified responder. For others, it means taking trucks of supplies to Tuscaloosa. To all of us, this means helping. It means believing that we are a part of something greater than ourselves. And it also means that when the dust settles, we are still proud. We are still believers. And we still like our chicken fried…