Gadding About at Honey Baked Ham

This Thanksgiving I will be taking the ham for the family dinner.  Days ago I reserved a Honey Baked Ham to pick up the day before Thanksgiving.  I had heard about long lines in years past, but I thought if I got there when they opened at 7:00 am I would beat the crowd.  Not so.  When I arrived there was a line out the door and down the street. I was glad I had taken Dan's walker because that made in easier to stand in line for an hour and a half. 

Already there had been a fender bender because of the stalled traffic.

The line was out the door. 

Shadows of the line down the street. 

I was prepared with my vest and my walker. 

Actually everyone in line was in a Happy Thanksgiving Mood, and I chatted with a number of folks while waiting.  Once we were in the door, the line snaked around in front of the counters so that we were tempted with all the extra dishes they offer.  I spied the Chocolate Rum Cake in the case with their desserts, and it was mighty tempting but I did not succumb. 

Chocolate rum cake. 

Finally out the door and with my ham on the walker I headed to my car.  A nice policeman helped put the walker and the ham into my car.  Happy Thanksgiving all!

The walker was useful to carry the ham. 

A nice  police officer put my walker and ham into the van. 

p.s. Next year I will offer to roast the turkey or make the pies. 

Gadding About with Mice on Halloween

Chocolate Mice.  

There are lots of kids in our neighborhood now, and I love it.  So I'm always prepared for trick or treaters.  This year I decided to make a few chocolate mice as treats (mainly for the parents who accompanied the kids).  This is such an easy recipe, and the mice are so cute.

Click here for the recipe.

1.  Melt the chocolate.

Melted chocolate. 

2.  Drain the Maraschino cheeries and dry thoroughly.  Be sure to keep stems intact. 

3.  Holding to the stem coat the cheeries in chocolate.

4.  While the chocolate is still warm, attach a candy kiss to the end opposite the stem.  Between the kiss and the coating cherry place two sliced almonds for the ears.

5.  I used a red gel to make the eyes. 

6.  Place in refrigerator until firm and ready to serve.

Ready to serve or to eat.  

I think the chocolate mice were a hit this year!

Gadding About at My Son's Wedding---29 years ago.

Michael and Meredith's Wedding; The Wedding Party.

I woke up this morning and thought "October 14, Michael and Meredith's Wedding Anniversary".  It prompted me to look back at some photos from that happy day.  So here's a look back to October 14, 1989.

I'm with Meredith, the bride. 

Here I am with Michael, the groom. 

Mom adjusting Michael's tie. 

Michael with his Dad and Best Man. 

Michael feeling faint?

My two sons, Michael and Patrick. 

With the parents. 

Cutting the cake. 

First dance. 

Dancing with Dan. 

Catch the bouquet. 

In the Limo leaving for their honeymoon.  

1989 was a big year for me.  In addition to Michael & Meredith's wedding, Dan and I tied the knot on June 3, 1989, and in December of that year I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. I'm sad to say that Dan is no longer here, but Michael and Meredith are happily married and have added four wonderful children to their family, and I am a 29 year survivor of breast cancer.  It was fun looking back at this date in 1989. 

Gadding About at the World Equestrian Events in Tryon

This past weekend my friend Jen and I made a quick trip to the western part of North Carolina to spend one day at the World Equestrian Events in Tryon, NC.  This is the Olympics for Equestrian Events and is held every four years.

We stayed at my place on Chatfield, in Cleveland County and traveled up to Tryon for the day from there.

Notice the Modrian art dish displayed on the end table.  The hostess gift from Jen fits the decor at Chatfield perfectly.  

We passed Forest City on the way to Tryon, and it was a perfect opportunity to enjoy breakfast at Smith's Drugstore.  It is known for its breakfast and for its pimento cheese.  I had to have a liver mush biscuit, and don't knock liver mush until you have tried it. I think of it as poor man's pate'.  Jen even had a grilled pimento cheese sandwich.  We were having a late breakfast or early lunch.

My liver mush biscuit. 

I'm not very knowledgeable about horses and Equestrian Events but I enjoyed the Vaulting immensely.  The horses were beautiful and well trained and the riders performed spectacular acrobatics on top of the moving horses. The video below shows one of the female vaulting contestants.

Me with the Grand Master of Ceremonies. 

In the evening we met friends in Boiling Springs for dinner at the Italian Garden.  Always good to see friends when I'm back in Cleveland County.

We were still having fun as we traveled back home on Sunday.  Lunch at the Green Valley Grill at the O Henry Hotel in Greensboro is never disappointing.  In fact I think I am going to add to my bucket list a night at the O Henry followed by dinner at the Green Valley Grill.  (I'll splurge.  Maybe a gift to myself.)  Or maybe I'll invite a friend.

My toad in a hole: fried egg in toasted brioche with Italian sausage bits and tomato compote on top.   

Checkered cab in front of O Henry Hotel.  It is used to transport guests.  

We packed a lot in during the three day trip.

Gadding About in the Morgan Street Food Hall

Thursday my hairdresser and friend Rana was telling me about going down to the Morgan Street Food Hall over the weekend and mentioned that there was a place that sold lobster rolls.  That whetted my appetite for lobster and sparked my interest in visiting the Food Hall that had only recently opened in downtown Raleigh.

It was 10:45 in the morning and I knew things wouldn't be so busy so early and with the storm brewing perhaps the traffic would be light.  Sure enough I made my way down and found a parking place right in front of the Food Hall where all parking places on West Street were vacant.

I figured out how to use the new to me parking meter.

The street was empty except for a lone green bicycle over on the sidewalk.  

While waiting for the Food Hall to open I photographed the outside bar area.

The outside bar. 

Lots of cool places to drink/eat outside. 

Once inside the spacious building I could see there was quite a variety of food choices in addition to lobster.

At one far end of the Hall is one of my favorite Mediterranean food restaurants, Sassool.  I bought a few things to have on hand this weekend when the storm hits.

There is a place to get curry in a hurry.  Although I like curry I passed it up this time.  Whatever strikes your fancy, I think you can find it here.

My lobster roll.

Got my lobster rolls to take home for later, and then ventured over to an ice cream stand called Raleigh Rolls where they make ice cream in little rolls.  Watching their technique was as much fun as eating the ice cream rolls.

My rolled ice cream.  Delicious. 

Yes, I ate every bit.  It was made using coconut milk not dairy.

I made a video of their making the ice cream rolls and although it is about 3 minutes long, it is definitely worth watching til the end.

Gadding About in Cape Breton With My Longtime Friends (75 year friendship).

Arriving in Cape Breton Island. 

This is a continuation of my last post.  We did so many things on this trip to Nova Scotia I couldn't cover it all in one post.  Late on Wednesday we arrived at the house, and very soon after our arrival had a nice visit from friends Catherine and Michealette.

Up early on Thursday to head to Sydney via St. Peter's stopping at the post office in West Bay to see Linda, friend and post mistress. St. Peter's is a pretty little town and a trip there always means a visit with my friend Frances.  In Sydney we visited down at the waterfront where there is a giant fiddle that welcomes visitors.

In front of the Giant Fiddle in Sydney.  

We returned to the house via The Cedar House where we ate a late lunch and stocked up on their wonderful baked items: bread, oatmeal raisin cookies, Aussie cookies, oat cakes and blueberry pie.  They were out of strawberry rhubarb pies, my favorite.

Friday we were up early and made our way over to Cheticamp and drove up the Cabot Trail as far as The Bog where Pat W. and I hiked out over the wooden walkway suspended on the bog.

The Bog along the Cabot Trail. 

In the afternoon we headed back down south to Inverness and the Cabot Links Golf Course.   The Panorama Restaurant that overlooks the 18th hole at the Golf Course is a favorite place to have dinner.  We arrived a few minutes before Panorama was open, but I very nice gentleman took us up to the back in his golf cart where we could enter the Restaurant without climbing the steep stairs.  He let us in and we each ordered a dessert to have while enjoying the beautiful view.  The gentleman turned out to be the Assistant Manager of the Food Services and when he learned that we were celebrating the year we all turned 81 he brought us champagne on the house.  And after our desserts he took us down to our car in his golf cart.  What hospitality!!!!

Our ride to the Panorama to avoid the stairs.  Great hospitality. 

Here's to our 81st year. 

Cookies and ice cream. 

Looking out over the 18th Hole. 

On Saturday we went over to Iona to visit the reconstructed Highland Village.  The church that is there was moved by water from Malagawatch. 

The pulpit of the church.  

Sunday we just stayed around the house, slept late and enjoyed the beautiful view.

The house.  

Our neighbor Patt Up (I'm Patti Down) had beautiful flowers planted in our window boxes.  

Before we left for Halifax I made one last breakfast where we enjoyed the cinnamon buns from the Cedar House Bakery and frozen wild blueberries with banana slices.

Cinnamon buds from the Cedar House Bakery