Furniture Shopping in north Georgia

As I mentioned in a previous post, about the new flooring, Bev is now on a quest to replace the 1950’s tables and lamps, that we got from her parents, with something she actually wants – in other words to decorate the living room vs. having an eclectic collection of items.

While on an RV rally a year or so ago, she saw some rustic pieces she liked at Alexander’s Store near Blairsville, GA.  So, Pat, Cindy, Bev and I loaded up at 9am for the 2hr+ into north Georgia. Alexander's reminds me of Mast General Store with some of everything except groceries, but since Mast began in 1883, I’m pretty sure it did not copy Alexander’s, which opened in 1953.

Chicken Marsala

One of Bev’s favorite dishes is Chicken Marsala and it’s always a request from her.  Since we had mushrooms on hand, plenty of Marsala wine, and three large split chicken breasts in the freezer, it seemed like the time was right.  I removed the chicken meat from the bone, removed the tenders and sliced the breasts into medallions per a recent post from a blogger buddy (I used the bones to make broth)  After looking at several online recipes, I settled on one from Once Upon A Chef and adapted it a little to suit our needs.  Check out the site for some great how-to shots and these finished shots.

New Flooring At The Ranch & The Big News

Even though we bought really good carpeting for our home when we built it, after 25 years, it has finally had-it in the high traffic areas and we decided to replace it with a laminate floating floor.  We considered replacing the tile at the same time but after thinking about the end result and the much higher cost, we opted to just replace the carpeting in the living and dining rooms.  I can’t believe I waited until the living room was about done before thinking I should take some shots but I had these two of the pre-start room shots on hand. 

Lemon & Herb Grilled Chicken

This post covers three different meals but it is ultimately about the chicken.  The first meal was a couple of CAB prime rib eyes that I grilled and sided with a baked potato for my BD supper after we got home from our RV Rally on Friday - since I was born on this day I know good things can happen on Friday the 13th. J

As you might expect, this meal was very good.

The next night, I grilled 4lbs of bone-in chicken breasts using the recipe for Lemon & Herb Chicken from Lake Geneva Country Meats which I followed as shown below but doubled for the amount of chicken thighs that I had.  

Ingredients:

2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

4 Lemon ( juiced)

.5 cup Olive Oil

2 clove Garlic ( minced)

2 Tbsp Rosemary

2 Tbsp Sage

1 Tbsp Parsley

1 Tbsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the lemon juice, herbs, salt, pepper and olive oil in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour the marinade into a large sealable plastic bag and add the chicken thighs. Work the thighs into the marinade until all surfaces of the chicken are covered. Click here to read why we don’t marinate longer!

2. Heat your grill to medium heat and oil the grates so the chicken doesn’t stick to them.

3. Place the chicken thighs onto the grill and cook for 5-6 minutes per side, flipping once until the meat reaches an internal temperature 165°F (Larry cooked to 175F for thighs).

4. Remove from the grill and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Everyone thought the chicken was very good and wants to have it again – next time I will use boneless, skinless, chicken breasts which I will brine for a few hours prior to the marinade (without salt).  I got no pics of this meal but we had leftovers.

We also had a leftover rib eye from the Friday meal so I grilled it, reheated the chicken thighs, and Bev made a salad to get this meal.

The chicken was even very good as leftovers and of course the prime rib eye went down very easily again.  We definitely recommend the chicken dish - easy and delicious.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/16/19 event date

RV Trip To Georgetown, KY, TTer’s Rally Days 4&5 Then Home

On Thursday with the 96F temps, we elected to pass on a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park and opted to drive the 20 miles down to Lexington and try a restaurant that had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and the Rachael Ray Show.  The Parkette Drive-In opened in 1951 and the sign was erected in 1957. 

RV Trip To Georgetown, KY, TTer’s Rally Day 3

Day 3 began as usual with coffee at the pavilion then leftover pizza at the coach for our breakfast.  Then the group headed out for the Ark Encounter about 30 miles north of the campground but, once again, I stayed home due to the heavy walking involved – I’ve got to get this hip fixed.  Here are some pics that Pat and the web took.

RV Trip To Georgetown, KY, TTer’s Rally Day 2

Day 2 of the rally began with coffee and donuts at the pavilion then it was off for an 11:30am tour at the nearby giant Toyota Assembly Plant where Camry’s, Avalon’s, and Lexus’ are made using 8000+ employees in the $7 billion factory.  The 8.1 million sq. ft. plant has a capacity to make 550,000 cars and 600,000 engines and is Toyota’s largest plant in the world.  Since I believed it would be a walking tour I elected not to go with my hip situation so I have no shots of it – it turned out to be a riding tour so I could have gone.  Here are a couple of shots from the web and I can only imagine the giant positive impact this facility has had on the local economy.

RV Trip To Georgetown, KY, TTer’s Rally Day 1

We are back on the road to attend a rally with our Tennessee Travelers RV group and the destination for this trip is Georgetown, KY which is about 15 miles north of Lexington.  Planned events for the rally include a tour of the nearby Toyota assembly plant, and visits to The Ark Encounter, the Kentucky Horse Park, and the Buffalo Trace Distillery as well as meals at several restaurants. 

We rolled into Whispering Hills RV Park a few miles north of downtown Georgetown about 3:15pm and got set up in the 90+F temps.  

Pat’s Birthday On The Dock

Pat’s (SIL) BD was on Sept 1 and after several days of deliberating Bev's "what would you like do do for your birthday" question, she requested we invite a few of her friends over for burgers and potato salad at the dock, followed by a boat ride.  Even though we couldn't invite them until the day before, all but one were all able to make it.

This is the girls enjoying some beverages while the guys without bad backs gas up the boat – I cannot even imagine why they had to check a smart phone prior to beginning, but I sure appreciate them doing it.

Chile Colorado Ala Pam

I don’t know if I’d ordered this dish at a restaurant but I know I’ve never made it but have wanted to, so when I saw Pam’s pretty easy recipe on her For The Joy Of Cooking Blog, I had to give it a try.  Rather than republish her recipe here, you can just click on this link and get it along with her pics.  I followed Pam’s recipe except I omitted the Arbol chile for fear of too much heat for Bev but I will include it next time as the dish was pretty mild.  My other change was to cut the meat into 1” pieces vs. her ½“ size.