Shopping Around the World – Reminder

Hello sweet friends.  Did you have a lot of fun with Shopping Around the World last month?  We just have a blast seeing everyone’s recipes and pictures.  Since this is the summer and it is so hot here, why don’t we focus this month on foods that you prepare in this type of heat.  Whether it’s a simple salad, a sandwich with chips, a watermelon salad – what do you fix for dinner when it’s just so hot outside to be cooking anything in the kitchen.

Shopping Around the World will be hosted on Monday, July 31, 2017 here in blogville.  Now remember, link back to my blog here so everyone can find your links.  And remember have fun with your recipes.  Can’t wait to see your recipes, pictures and prices in your area.  ❤

Oh and you haven’t already, please fill free to use my Shopping Around the World with Bacon badge for your blog that my brother Phenny fixed for all of us.  Thanks again brother!

 

Travels in the South

This weeks Travels in the South is brought to you by the mommy – snorts.  Her and daddy went out over the weekend and she found a really awesome salad that was right up her alley.  You see it in the picture?  This was called the cornbread fried chicken salad.  Can you say yum?  Do you see those giant croutons surrounding the sides of the salad?  That is cornbread cut into croutons.  Now mom didn’t eat them *in* her salad.  She ate them on the side.  They were delicious.  Dad didn’t care for them that much and mom was fine with that.  She said it was more for her.  Why were they so good?  They had corn and jalapenos in them.  Mom said they also had a tad of sugar that she could taste which cut down the heat of the jalapenos.  And of course with mom’s love of fried chicken, having some chicken in her salad was absolutely heaven.

Was it all par for eating healthy?  Probably not.  But this date, it touched a special place in mom’s heart… and tummy.

 

Shopping Around the World

Hello sweet friends.  Did you have a lot of fun with Shopping Around the World last month?  We just have a blast seeing everyone’s recipes and pictures.  Since this is the summer and it is so hot here, why don’t we focus this month on foods that you prepare in this type of heat.  Whether it’s a simple salad, a sandwich with chips, a watermelon salad – what do you fix for dinner when it’s just so hot outside to be cooking anything in the kitchen.

Shopping Around the World will be hosted on Monday, July 31, 2017 here in blogville.  Now remember, link back to my blog here so everyone can find your links.  And remember have fun with your recipes.  Can’t wait to see your recipes, pictures and prices in your area.  ❤

Oh and you haven’t already, please fill free to use my Shopping Around the World with Bacon badge for your blog that my brother Phenny fixed for all of us.  Thanks again brother!

 

Travels in the South

Welcome friends to another Travels in the South.  This week mom/dad went seafood.  At our local Joe’s Crab Shack, they have an appetizer that mom/dad like to get and share.  Pair it with a salad and you can say perfect meal.  What is this appetizer?  Joe’s Crab Shack calls it Crab Nachos.  Mom/dad call it a little heaven.

It has almost everything in it – lots of delicious crab dip, pico de gallo, black beans, lettuce, corn, cheese and an awesome avocado lime dressing.  And there are plenty of nachos to scoop everything up with and enjoy.  And the bonus is that the nachos don’t get soggy.  You know how sometimes they get limp and wet with regular nacho toppings.

So the next time you are craving something seafood but with a curb of delight, check out your local Joe’s Crab Shack for this delicious appetizer… or make it a meal like my mom/dad do.

 

Shopping Around the World

  This month it is scheduled for December 30th – after the holiday so we can all make plans.  Since it is the Christmas holidays, this month we will again focus on appetizers, side dishes, salads, soups, main entrees or desserts.

This month we wanted to highlight a wonderful soup that mom/dad like to eat during the winter time.  This soup is also a great jump start for their diet… but that’s another story.  Here is what you will need:

♦ Steak Picanha – already sliced into bite sized strips – one package around $5.00 (note any kind of steak will work for this recipe.  In fact, you can even switch the steak for chicken cut into bite sized strips.)

♦ One head of cabbage – $1.48 head

♦ One can of white/yellow corn – $0.48 can

♦ One can of diced tomatoes with green chilis – $0.48 can

♦ One package of beef broth or chicken brother – $1.50

♦ Two cups of water, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

♥

Cut up the entire head of cabbage and throw in the bottom of the crock pot.  Add your cans of corn, chilis, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.  Add in your stock and water.  Add your meat to the top and put the lid on your crock pot.

Turn on your crock pot to low and let that crock pot do the work for you all day.  When you get ready to eat, you will be amazed at the smell and taste.  It’s hardy and wonderful.  If you want it a little thicker, you can add a cut up potato with your ingredients.

Mom/dad often use this to jump start their diet.  Why?  Well the cabbage is an amazing item…. snorts with piggy laughter.  This soup costs about $9.00 to prepare but lasts for a couple of days.  It’s a little spicy but not so hot that you can’t enjoy it.

 

Travels in the South

Hello sweet friends and welcome to another great edition of Travels in the South.  This past weekend, my mom/dad had to go to Alabama for a quick trip.  While they were gone, they stopped at a restaurant called Top O’ The River in Gadsden, Alabama.  Now this restaurant has special meaning to mom/dad.  You see it was over 20 years ago that dad and his family ate here.  They then told mom about it and mom and  her family ate here.  But mom/dad together have never been here.  So going to this restaurant was kind of like a coming home if you will.

When mom/dad arrived at the restaurant, there was not a single available parking space in the entire lot.  It was barely 5:00pm and there were 100’s of cars.  Mom says this is a sure sign of good food to come.  Finally mom spotted a parking space, they parked and entered the restaurant.  That’s when they saw lots of people waiting in line.  Mom/dad knew they were going to be in for a long wait so they put their name in and started looking at the menu.  You can see the menu here.  Amazingly, mom/dad might have waited less than 15 minutes and their number was called.  Mom/dad were ecstatic to say the least.  There were lots of big parties here that night so thank goodness it was just mom/dad.

Mom/dad got a fantastic seat at a booth next to the windows which was what – overlooking the top o’ the river.  Cute huh?  And what a view they had that you can see from this picture.  Beautiful and serene, lots of green trees and there were some ducks swimming around in the water.  Can you imagine what these trees are going to look like when Fall finally decides to get here?

The sweet little waitress came to the table and mom asked her what was good to get.  She said that there platters were awesome and way more food than one can eat… although the platters say for one.  So mom/dad said why not and went with the platter to share.  Boy, were they surprised when the waitress came back with some starters in the form of cole slaw and cornbread.

If you have never had southern cornbread, you are in for a treat.  Cornbread is one of mom’s specialties and dad says she makes the best. In fact here in the south, a good cornbread  will get you a good man… so says mom/dad – snorts.  But mom said this cornbread was fantastic!  Cornbread is made with cornmeal, milk, eggs, some people add a little sugar although mom doesn’t, and this cornbread had corn and jalapeno peppers.  This cornbread was served with a delicious creamy cole slaw and sliced onions on the side.  Mom/dad said they could just eat these starters and be just fine.  That’s country folks my friends – simple food for a fantastic experience.

But mom/dad ate all they could and before they knew it, it was time for the main course.  Remember the platter was suppose to be for ONE person? Well here is that platter in it’s glory.  There is boneless catfish fillets, popcorn shrimp, fried shrimp, chicken fingers, hush puppies and french fries.  Doesn’t that platter look simply amazing!  And the size of it compared to dad’s hand.  Remember, the platter was for one person.  There is no way!  Mom/dad were so glad they decided to share the meal.

They ate to their hearts desire both of them afterwards being so full and happy.  That’s what this experience was all about.  Enjoying each other, sharing a wonderful experience and just enjoying the time and scenery.  For a while, time stopped and mom/dad sat for a while and just relaxed for a bit away from everything.  And of course, you all know my daddy.  He’s never met anyone that he can’t talk to.  Today was no exception.

On the way out of the restaurant, he met the restaurant mascot, Mr. Catfish at the exit door.  They had a moment to discuss politics, the secret recipe for those wonderful catfish fillets and dad got directions home… that is after they visited the back deck of the restaurant for one last final view.

And that final view is what I leave you with today my friends.  A reflection of a great meal with some wonderful memories made.  And I have to ask you.  When was the last time that you had a dinner with family that you just sat in comfort with each other, laughed and just let everything stop for a moment.  Enjoy my friends.

 

National Corn Chip Day

Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here –

“Keeping my paws on the nuts of the world!”

.

---

.January 29th is mandated as National Corn Chip Day! Corn chips are right up my alley if you know what I mean. Who can turn down a good chip? Can you believe that 50 years ago (way before this journalists time), few Americans even knew what corn chips were? That’s amazing to me. Today, we can’t imagine life without those tasty little morsels. They were first marketed in 1961 and have been going strong since.

So, in honor of today being National Corn Chip Day – go out and eat some chips… with salsa… with dip… plain… with a friend… yeah, I know the pig is going to get his share!  I think I even heard his humans saying they were going to put corn chips in their chili for dinner tonight.  Now *that* does sound lip smacking good!

 

National Corn Chip Day

 

Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here –

“Keeping my paws on the nuts of the world!”

.

.

January 29th is mandated as National Corn Chip Day! Corn chips are right up my alley if you know what I mean. Who can turn down a good chip? Can you believe that 50 years ago (way before this journalists time), few Americans even knew what corn chips were? That’s amazing to me. Today, we can’t imagine life without those tasty little morsels. They were first marketed in 1961 and have been going strong since.

So, in honor of today being National Corn Chip Day – go out and eat some chips… with salsa… with dip… plain… with a friend… yeah, I know the pig is going to get his share!  I think I even heard his humans saying they were going to put corn chips in their chili for dinner tonight.  Now *that* does sound lip smacking good!

 

Shopping Around the World

My friend Fozzie and I have scheduled a group posting today of Shopping Around the World.   We thought it would be interesting to see the differences between different countries all over.This month we are focusing on items for the vegetarians – fruits and vegetables.  Special thanks to Corkscot for the suggestion this month.

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Items priced this month – Prices in Georgia USA:

• Apples – Mommy goes to Sam’s Warehouse to get a huge bag of Granny Smith (my favorites) for $4.99 a bag.  There’s about 15 HUGE apples in this bag.  Which is good because I get a 1/2 of sliced apple before bedtime every night 🙂  It’s my bedtime snack.
• Strawberries – If we are lucky, our store puts 16 ounces packages of huge strawberries on sale for $2.50 a package.  During the peak season, we go the strawberry patch.  We can get a HUGE basket that we pick… and of course I sample… for $8.00
• Carrots –  Mommy buys me the 16 ounce bag that are cut/peeled baby carrots.  I live off of these!  She gets them for $0.99 a bag – sometimes on sale she can get them two bags for $1.00 🙂
• Green Beans – Fresh are so yummy!  We get them here in season for $0.99 a pound.
• Lettuce – We have been buying lettuce for a while now for $0.99 a head.  Sometimes they are HUGE and well worth it and other times they are small and only makes a couple of meals for us.  That’s right I said ‘us’.  I get a salad for dinner every night with mom.
• Random Fruit of your choice.  Seedless grapes.  Smacking my piggy lips now.  I ❤ it when mom pops them in the freezer and then gives them to me as a treat.  Piggy heaven!
• Random Vegetable of your choice.  Corn on the Cob – can you say delicious!?  On sale, we can get three ears for $1.00.  This is a great deal.  She shucks them, wraps them in aluminum foil, sprays them with butter and throws them on the grill, in the oven or in the crock pot. My mouth is watering just thinking about how juicy they are!

If you have some items that you want to get on the list, email me at baconthompson@gmail.com

Hope you had fun!!

 

 

REMINDER – Movie Night with Bacon

 

We have movie night here at the Hotel Thompson often.  Every once in a while, I get to choose the movie. 🙂  It’s always a fun time when I get to because you just never know what I’m going to pick.

One week, I picked a scary movie.  Of course, I hid behind mom on the sofa behind her back and only peeked with one eye opened at the television screen occasionally.  Snorts.  It’s what I do.

But the other day, I found the bestest of all movies.  I don’t know how I’ve never seen this one before!  It was great.  It was wonderful.  It was right up my alley.  Nope, it wasn’t Charlotte’s Web or Babe – nothing like that.

So get out your popcorn and your soda and come back here tomorrow.  I’m going to break down the movie for you.  🙂  It should be a blast!