Moving Scenes and Makin' Pepper Jelly with Mom

HELLO EVERYONE!

I know it's been a couple of weeks - and yes, our computer is still packed up on a truck and headed to Whidbey - but I'm writing this post from my NEW LAPTOP!  Bo found a great deal for it on Black Friday; and now that it is all set up and ready to use, I figured a blog post was the perfect inaugural project!

First things first, 

here are a few scenes from our most recent move from Jacksonville:

Dining Room and Living Room

Living Room

Office

Office

Guest Bedroom

Poor little Lola girl had to stay either outside - or in her crate - throughout packing/moving day(s).  She was a little sad, as you can see; but she didn't whine or bark once.
Truth be told, I think she was just a little depressed that she wasn't able to make any new friends!

We arrived safely in Springville, AL on November 30 (my mom, step-dad, and step-brothers all live there).  Whenever my mom and I are together, we try our best to make the most of our time.  This time, one of the first things on our "to-do" list was to make H-O-T pepper jelly.  So, bright and early on December 1st we woke up and got to work!

First, I had to dissolve the sugar into the vinegar.

Second, we had to chop the H-O-T peppers.

Lola, of course, fulfilled her role as kitchen supervisor! ;)

Me, stirring and...stirring and...stirring and...

Look at all those beautiful colors after dumping in the pepper and carrots.

Although she wouldn't let me take a face-shot of her (supposedly because she had no make-up on and hadn't fixed her hair), I assure you that my mother WAS in the kitchen.  

Here's the evidence!

Then Lola proceeded to lay on mom's foot while she stirred the jelly mixture.
It's a good thing she's cute because she sure can get in the way!

When I stepped outside with Lola for a walk, this is the sky that greeted me.

Alabama really is the land of the beautiful.

When Lola and I returned from our walk, the jelly was done!  

In the end, mom and I made six beautiful - and S-P-I-C-Y - jars of deliciousness.  Spread a little cream cheese onto a cracker and "Wha-la!," you have YUMM-O in appetizer form.

Oh, and did I mention the colors?!  

They are simply divine.

Question of the Day:

Have you ever eaten pepper jelly?!  If so, did you eat the green or the red kind?  What did you think?  Did you like it?!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Weekend in the Mountains with Mom

All of the recent changes in my life have left my calendar relatively wide open for the month of November.  I recognize that this sort of "time off" might not ever happen again.  With that said, I've been really trying to make the most of this time by investing in my own yoga practice, substituting whenever I can, cooking up a storm, and taking time off to visit friends and family.  In fact, just this past weekend my Mom and I met up in Blue Ridge, GA for a long weekend together.  (Note: My Mom's side of the family owns a house in the mountains, and it is the perfect place for a FREE fall getaway.)  The timing worked out perfectly for both of us (a rare thing indeed), and we couldn't wait to have a few days of relaxation and uninterrupted mother/daughter time together.

Lola decided to come along for the trip, so on Thursday morning we loaded up my new car and started the 7 1/2 hour drive up to Blue Ridge.  It took her a while, but eventually Lola found a way to get comfortable in the floorboard of the passenger side seat.  From this position, it doesn't seem like dogs can get a "crick in their neck"...

When we arrived around 3:00PM the sun was shining, and the day was simply resplendent.

Here's a peek down the driveway from the cabin.  

Just look at all those fall colors: red, orange, yellow, green, brown, grey, white, and more!  

As you might recall, I LOVE fall colors!

Here's a view of the side of the house...I could have sworn I took a pick of the front, but I guess I didn't.
Oh well, you'll just have to imagine how gorgeous it is.

Since I decided to bring Lola along for the trip, my Mom decided to bring her dog, Annie Mae, as well.  Annie Mae, as sweet as she is, is VERY shy and skiddish; and while she is wonderful with most people (once she warms up to them), she doesn't have a lot of experience with - or exposure to - other dogs.

With that said, their introduction didn't go so well.  

As much as Lola tried, Annie Mae just was NOT interested in being friends.  In the end, we ended up having to keep them separated the entire weekend.  Our solutions were either to:

• have Annie Mae in the crate while Lola roamed around freely;
• have Lola in the crate while Annie Mae roamed around freely;
• put Annie Mae downstairs while Lola remained upstairs; or
• keep Annie Mae on her leash while they both roamed around freely.

We tried and we tried to keep them both unleashed and free simultaneously, but it just didn't work out.  As loving as she is to me and other people, Annie Mae just would NOT make friends with Lola.  Oh well, maybe Lola's upcoming visit over the holidays will do the trick! (Hey, I can hope, can't I?!)

On Friday morning, after eating breakfast in the cabin, Mom and I decided to head into town.  Our first stop was Mercier Orchards.  When we first arrived, we both picked out a bag of apples to take home.  There were over a dozen different kinds of apples to choose from; but in the end Mom chose a bag of Yates apples, and I went with the Winsap variety.

If you like apples, then you would love this place!

They even had tastings so that you could try out all of the apple varieties.
It's amazing how different one apple can taste from another.
They're each so unique.

MORE AND MORE APPLES!

While apples are certainly Mercier Orchards specialty, they also make a wide variety of other products including:

• apple butters;
• fruit jams and jellies;
• chutney's;
• barbecue sauces;
• hot sauces;
• syrups;
• apple cider;
• honey;
• candles; and
• so much more that I can't even remember it all!

I thought that their honey display was really cute and clever!

For lunch, Mom and I ate in the Mercier Orchards cafe.  We split 1/2 of a pimento cheese sandwich and vegetable soup.  The sandwich was delicious, and having just 1/4 of a sandwich each was perfect because the pimento cheese was wonderfully rich.  

As for the soup, it was SO good.  

Honestly, I think we both could have drank a vat of just the broth.  

It was THAT delicious!

Mom saying "Yummmmm"!

Of course, we couldn't possibly have left without sampling an amazing homemade dessert...or two.  

Mom ended up settling on a mini apple fritter, and I chose a strawberry rhubarb pie.  

Thankfully, we were both generous enough to share portions of our delicacies!   

After sampling them both, I'm not sure which one I preferred.  

They were both wonderful, but also very different.  

The pie was sweeter, so perhaps better for a traditional dessert.  Whereas the fritter was sweet, but not so much so that it couldn't be eaten for breakfast with a decadently rich decaf coffee.  

Hmmm...that would be so good!

After filling our bellies, we headed to downtown Blue Ridge to do some Christmas shopping!

Mother/Daughter love.

I found several gifts for Bo and I's family; and after a couple of hours, Mom and I decided that it was time to head home and check on Lola and Annie Mae.

Lola posing SO pretty for the camera.

Such a pretty, pretty girl.

We spent the rest of Friday afternoon/evening at home walking the dogs, cooking in, watching a Hallmark holiday movie, and heading to bed early.  

It was perfect.

On Saturday morning, after eating a hearty breakfast, Mom and I decided to take the dogs for a hike.  

There are so many wonderful trails within 5-10 miles of the cabin, that we just chose one of the closest ones and headed out.

The trail itself was absolutely gorgeous.

We got there early, before any other hikers were on the trail:
such precious moments in the company of God's creation.

If we had chosen to do the entire Benton Mackaye Trail, it would have been 10.4 miles round trip.  

Well, we weren't quite up for that; so we decided to walk about a mile and a half in, and then turned around and walked back out.  

We took our time, and in the end we hiked for about an hour and a half.  

Mother/Puppy Daughter love.

Sunlight through the trees.

I'm not sure what my mom was trying to capture here, but I actually like this "accidental" picture.
I think that I was trying to make Lola "sit", but it turns out that sometimes candid shots are better than posed ones.
Go figure.

Sunlight through the trees.

So bright.

So beautiful.

Mom and Annie Mae.

Hugging trees (i.e. tree huggers) ;)

Lola saying: Hurry up, Mommy!

On Saturday night - the last night of our getaway - Mom and I whipped up an absolutely salivatingly delicious meal.  It was amazing.  Here was the line-up:

"Until Next Time" dinner:

Mom's garden purple hull peas

Mom's garden turnip greens

Frances' hoe cakes (an old family recipe)

Sliced tomato w/ Ranch dressing

It just doesn't get any better than that, in my opinion.

Be patient with me over the next month and a half!  

I leave Wednesday for another long weekend trip (not returning until Sunday), but I will post when I get back.  Then Thanksgiving will be here (not 100% sure of our plans yet), and then the movers will be here to pack our house and start the official move to Whidbey!
Like I said, ch-ch-ch-changes are headed our way!

WHEW - I'm a little tired (but super excited) already!

Question of the Day:

Do you (or did you) ever take one-on-one trips with one of your parents?  If so, I would love to hear about some of your favorite memories from those trips in the "Comment" section directly below?!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

The Perfect Bowl

I have been on the hunt for the perfect bowl for about a year now.  To me, the perfect bowl will be suitable for chili, rice bowls, soup, pasta dishes, fruit crisps and ice cream, and on, and on, and on (you get the idea).  To clarify, the perfect bowl must be:

• wider than it is deep;
• deep enough to contain a full serving of food without spilling or overflow; and
• shallow enough to distribute any toppings over the entire dish.

About six months ago, when we first moved to Jacksonville and I was nesting, I was in Big Lots and spotted the perfect bowl...AND they were only $4.00 a piece.  Unfortunately, I was trying to "be good" by not spending unnecessary money and walked away without purchasing a single one.  

Lesson learned: 

When you find exactly what you have been looking for for a long time, GRAB. IT.!  

I mentioned these bowls to my mom, so when she visited this past weekend she suggested we go back to Big Lots to see if they were still there.  Luckily, they were, BUT only three were left. :(

Boo-hiss!

Regardless, we decided that three were better than none, and snatched up all three.  Who knows, maybe if I check at other Big Lots locations I can find another five or seven to round out my collection!

See what I mean?!  

These bowls are perfectly wide, sufficiently deep, and yet still shallow enough for tons of delicious toppings!

In honor of my perfect bowl purchase, last night I whipped up an old classic: 

RICE BOWLS!

I started out by making a batch of rice cooked in vegetable broth (for additional flavor).  Once cooked, I added:

• 1 1/2 T Earth Balance;
• 1 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese; and
• salt and pepper to taste.  

The texture and taste were similar to a risotto - without all of the tiresome stirring - SCORE!

For the add-ons, I:

• opened a can of vegetable minestrone (I drained out about 1/4C of the broth so that it wouldn't be too runny);
• added 2T extra hot salsa (for a little kick!); and
• diced up a chicken breast into Bo's portion.  

Then I:

• poured the spicy minestrone over the rice; and
• garnished the dish with an additional 1/2 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese.

As simple as this dish was, it was incredibly filling and delicious.  

As Bo said, "this one's a keeper!"

In the future, I look forward to repeating this dish with different grains on the bottom and soups and garnishes on top.  For instance, I am already thinking about a cheesy polenta base, smothered in vegetarian tortilla soup, with avocado chunks and salsa for garnish.  

Doesn't that just should divine?!

In other somewhat sad news, Lola had an accident last night.

This was the end result...

Here's the back story:

Around 5:45PM, we let Lola outside in the backyard to tinkle (like we always do).  About 7-10 minutes later, Bo opened the back door to check on her.  As usual, she came running towards us as if to come inside.  Immediately Bo asked me to bring a towel, saying that it looked like she had red syrup all over her.

Well, it wasn't red syrup. 

It was blood.

Long story short, somehow, somewhere, someway, Lola received a 3 inch cut on her tail.  With every wag of her tail she was slinging blood E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.  Bo and I were covered.  To be honest, it sort of looked like an ax murder took place on our back patio.

Five hours, twelve stitches, over $350.00, and one trip to the emergency animal hospital later, Lola was drugged, and Bo and I were exhausted.  It was not exactly the night we had planned.

Her tail looks so sad (sort of like a rat tails), she seems to be in quite a bit of pain, and she abhors the head cone.  None of us slept very well last night because Lola couldn't get comfortable in the head cone, Bo and I could hear here moving around all night, and she had a tinkle accident in her crate because when we did get home she was still so drugged that we could hardly get her to stand...much less poddy.  Now, poor thing, she smells like pee and we can't give her a bath because we can't get the tail wet.

Thank goodness for scented candles.

Overall, she is just incredibly pitiful.  Between the pain and the head cone she seems totally defeated...certainly not the happy-go-lucky puppy girl we are used to!  She tends to whine most of the day from pain, discomfort, and displeasure, and it is breaking both Bo and I's hearts to see her so sad.  On top of it all, we are going out of town this weekend and now have to board her with her vet.  I know that they will take good care of her, but I am so sad to be leaving our little girl in her time of need.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite dish in the kitchen?  Do you have a special coffee mug?  Maybe it's a special cereal bowl or casserole dish?  Is there a story behind your favorite dish?  

Tell me all about it in the "Comment" section below!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo