Hungry Times Two

In Nashville we have a strip of Vietnamese businesses along Charlotte Pike and while passing through there last night after our recycling extravaganza, my peripheral vision caught the restaurant Kien Giang shining like a beacon atop a hilly strip mall . "That's the place Mark told us about!" I shrieked and asked Scott to pull a U- ey . My boss's husband, a major foodie as well, told us about Vietnamese on Charlotte that was amazing and I knew this had to be it. We determined it was dinnertime and thus appropriate to enjoy some Vietnamese. I ordered an iced coffee, which came with condensed milk. Super sweet, but tasty and the coffee quality was amazing. However, our fried spring rolls were ghastly-bad. As Scott said, "These were either made six hours ago or were just thawed." Cold, limp and not flavorful. Scott had a stir fry squid dish (!) and I had spicy beef with rice. It tasted average - nothing to rave over, which was really disappointing considerin...

Can't...seem....to...zip...up...the...ol'...pants...here..... Aghhh! There we go. Finito with the Christmas Gorging. What can I say? We ate plenty. We don't need to eat like that again until Christmas 08. As the Weight Watchers/Jenny Craig/Slim Fast commercials on constant rotation remind us, food is not life. (And, Kirstie Alley is still big as a house). Gotta figure that one out somehow. Still, mad props to Scott's Judy for a world-renowned beef/crab cake Christmas extravaganza. Also, to Mother Margaret for the fail-safe stuffed mushrooms, a Christmas mainstay. And to everyone for making this Christmas a wonderful one! Now I am off to buy running sneakers and a watch to tell me how far I dragged my cellulite, I mean, my lovely self.

I couldn't resist using that blog title. Anyone recall the Shake N Bake commercial with the little Southern girl and her ridiculously over-drawled accent? Too funny. Anyway, I shaked and baked on Tuesday with Jenne , who was there to not only make her delish croissants and cocoa mix complete with homemade marshmallows (!) but also to lend assistance to what I am sure she thinks is the world's most clueless baker. Confession: I know not my way around an oven. Cooking I can handle, baking is a whole ' nother science and as most that know me could attest, I'm more of a wordsmith and less of a scientist. Also not so hot with the math. Sylvan Learning Center helped me with two years of brutal chemistry and algebra tutoring, and that's all I will say about that. From our shake and bake night came two outstanding products: Tennessee Truffles and Blackberry Preserve-filled Thumbprint Cookies. The Butter Crisps turned out not so excellent - you can taste the cream cheese...

Something must be in the air this week, as Scott and I admittedly made two doozies this week. On Monday, I attempted a Greek orzo and shrimp salad that BOMBED. I must have added too much mint, okay, so I undoubtedly put in far too mint, as the whole thing tasted like fishy toothpaste. Not a fine quality in a dinner dish. So into the wastebasket that went, and Scott and I retreated to Fat Mo's for a cheeseburger relief. Fat Mo's: a great place to inhale your uber -greasy burger and fries and to feel guilty simply about the name of the restaurant itself. On Tuesday, Scott made stuffed peppers in the Crock Pot. Again, a disaster. His words: "It's bland and kinda soupy." Yep. Another meal tossed in the trash. Our salvation that night was a quick fix of scrambled egg breakfast burritos . Fast and tasty. Tonight, for my marathon training group meeting at the Sportsplex , I made a curried fruit salad with mangoes, granny smith apples and raisins, dressed in yogurt. I im...

I urged Scott to post about our trip to Lynchburg this past weekend, but he must have too many work projects or maps to draw, as he's not rushing to the blog anytime soon. Lynchburg , about 75 miles south of Nashville, is the home of the iconic Jack Daniels Distillery. With a population hovering around 6,000 people, the small town IS Jack Daniels. With a space on the National Register of Historic Places, the distillery is the oldest registered of its kind in the country, official since 1866. 80 warehouses on 1200 acres busily produce good ' ol Tennessee Whiskey, and here's the kicker: Lynchburg's in a dry county. You can see it, smell it, touch it, but you can't taste it. The only thing you'll get at the distillery's White Rabbit Saloon is a cool glass of lemonade dipped out of a JD barrel. Commemorative bottles are available for sale as an exception to the antiquated liquor law - I didn't check the price at the distillery store but I'd rather pa...