Ming Tree, Friend Green Tomato Sandwich, Bev & Her Boys, And Skunks

Ming Tree

Our Kia was due for it's annual service so we drove both cars to town, dropped off the Kia at the dealership, and went to lunch at the Ming Tree Chinese Restaurant in Alcoa. 

While they only had a couple of other customers when we arrived, they must do okay as they have been in business for more than 30 years.  The meal began with something I'd never seen before - a bowl of fried wontons and a small bowl of sweet sauce - similar to chips and salsa at a Mexican place.  They were both very good.  Bev began her meal with Hot & Sour Soup and I ordered Egg Drop Soup to which I continually added fried wontons as I ate it.   

Bev ordered the "Beef With Broccoli- Specially seasoned beef stir-fried with flowerettes of broccoli, carrots and bamboo shoots in a dark sauce."  She only ate a couple of bites as she was full from the soup and an egg roll. 

I ordered the "Stir-Fried Shrimp And Scallop - Shrimp, scallops, broccoli, snow peas and carrots stir-fried with fresh garlic in a light sauce."

We enjoyed our little meal out and as usual from a Chinese restaurant had enough leftovers for supper.

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich

Bev bought some okra from the Mennonite market and we had the last of the small green tomatoes from our garden and my normal would have been to turn them into Alabama Scramble but not this time.  After enjoying fried okra for the 50+ years that I’ve lived in Tennessee, my taste must have changed as the last time we had it, I decided that I really didn’t care for it that much.  And, since Pat isn’t a fan of the tomatoes, we decided to cook them separately – Bev the okra and me the tomatoes. 

When I was a kid, the green tomatoes were seasoned, dusted with flour, fried in Crisco, and eaten on an open-faced slice of buttered bread.  For this meal I decided to go with the sandwich concept but I deep-fried the tomatoes by soaking in buttermilk (with a little chili sauce), seasoning with S&P, dredging in cornmeal mix and frying in 350F oil until golden brown.

I made a DDD sandwich (stuff piled high) with plenty of tomatoes and it was was awesome and I won’t wait until next seasons tomato crop to have it again.

As an aside - According to the net, fried green tomatoes originated by Jewish immigrants in the Northeast and Midwest and likely became associated with the South due to the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" in 1991. 

Bev And Her Boys

It's a normal site for Teddy Bear to be curled up with Bev in her chair but a rare occurrence when she also has Romeo and Boadie.  They are still wearing their neckerchiefs from the recent visit to the groomer.

Skunks

Seems like there is always something.  Last year Teddy Bear got sprayed by a skunk (it took months for the smell to finally go away) so we thought we had a skunk living under our out-building but we opted to just leave it be.  Then one evening recently, Cindy discovered three of them on the patio outside her door and we didn’t want an even larger issue to develop.

So, we called the nearby Elite Wildlife Control to deal with the problem and he quickly caught the three skunks.  

Then after catching then releasing only possums during the next week, we considered the skunk problem solved and hopefully it will stay that way.

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

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

Larry

10/10-10/13/25 event dates