Hot Stuff

Kevin got this really cool stainless steel jalapeno-shaped jalapeno roaster for his birthday. (Yes, some men do like to get food related gifts!) This gadget is cool because you just chop the stem end off the pepper, stuff it with cheese, stand the pepper upright in the roaster and put the whole thing on the grill. We like sharp cheddar cheese or cream cheese filling. Sometimes we wrap bacon around them. Yum!

(This is like my second food post this week...I am still going to Curves regularly, in case you were wondering. Sometimes my mind just wanders back to the dark side.)

Family Feud

To put it in good ol' South Alabama vernacular, looks like somebody put a country a** whoopin' on somebody else.

More Freebies in the Mail

I don't usually post more than once per day (makes me look like I have nothing else to do...) but I had to share what I got free in the mail today. UPS delivered a package from Redken. I won a full size bottle of their All Soft shampoo from another sweepstakes I entered back in June!

I'm still holding out hope for those kitchen appliances, Kevin's grill, the trip to Niagra Falls, a meet and greet with the Jonas Brothers, the garden makeover.....

On Our Front Porch

At the beginning of August I didn't have a flag of the month to display on our front porch. But, I got one as a gift -- one that I'd been wanting for quite some time -- and it looks quite lovely. It even inspired us to put up black shutters along the front of the house as soon as we can find a spare minute or two to install them.

Chicken Fried

Besides being the name of a really cool song by the Zac Brown Band, chicken fried is the term used to describe anything battered and deep fried like you would chicken here in the South. You know, like chicken fried steak.

Could it get any better than chicken fried bacon? A food editor at the LA Times has compiled a list of 1001 things to do with bacon. Some are a hoot. This battered, deep fried idea spoke to my heart, or more likely my stomach. But since I can't post the particulars of this divine-what-to-do-with-bacon idea without express written consent, I'll link to it. You can bet this will be tested at our house. Bon appetit!

Ribbit, Ribbit

We added a really whimsical water feature to the back porch yesterday. I'm not usually a huge frog fan, but this guy is really cute playing his horn and the sound of the water is divine!

Backyard Visitors

The weather was too beautiful to be indoors today. I spent a considerable amount of time in the yard, and I wasn't alone. We often have several cardinals that frequent our bird feeders. They were joined by some sparrows today, who were especially enthusiastic about the clean water I put in the basin. There was just a bit of nut and berry blend bird food in the feeders, so I dumped that out along the shrubbery line for the squirrels -- boy were they glad -- before putting fresh food back in. Butterflies were chasing one another all over the place, too.

But my favorite backyard visitors today were the three hummingbirds that went whizzing by every few minutes. Those little things would fly right up to my face and just hover for a few seconds before flying away to perch on a limb somewhere. I usually keep fresh sugar water in the hummingbird feeder, but lately they haven't been drinking it all before it went rancid in the heat, and I'd let a couple of weeks go by with nothing for them. Well, when I refreshed it this morning, they came from all directions and stayed most of the day. What a treat!