Turkey (And Ham) Club Sliders

We were planning to have a big Chef’s Salad for our Friday card group, but since the lettuce parasite scare was going on, we switched to sandwiches and decided to use Pam’s recent recipe for Turkey Club Sliders but when Bev advised that she preferred ham, my first thought was to make half the sliders with each.  But then I just decided to use both on all of the sliders.  I also made a double batch of the mayo and changed the slider assembly process a little but the original can be found by clicking on the above link.

Summer Meal And Best Corn On The Cob Cooking Method Then Another Summer Meal

Bev had made a trip to the Mennonite farm market and we decided to have a summer time meal for supper.  So, the meal was Malibu Green Beans cooked with Benton’s country ham, cucumber salad, and boiled corn (sort of). I had recently read an article on Serious Eats about the best ways to cook corn on the cob.  I think it’s a must read if you like this dish and I opted to give the cold start method a try.  The article also discusses using salted water but I decided to wait until next time to try it.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU MOVE TO (or Visit) THE SOUTH & MY WEIGHT LOSS

 Things You Need To Know If You Move To The South

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5. Onced and Twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

7. Jawl-P? means: Did you all go to the bathroom?

8. People actually grow, eat, and like okra.

9. Fixinto is one word. It means I'm going to do something.

10. There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.

11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

12. Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.

13. The word jeet is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'

14. You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16. Y'all is singular. All Y'all is plural.

17. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

18. You carry jumper cables in your car for your OWN car.

19. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, Tabasco, and ketchup.

20. The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, motorsports, and gossip.

21. Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar, Miss (first name), or Mr (first name)

22. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

23. You know what a hissy fit is..

24. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

25. We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!

26. You understand these jokes and forward them to your Southern friends and those who just wish they were from the South.

AND one more:

27. Why did the chicken cross the road? To show that stupid possum that it CAN be done!

Weight Loss Update

I’ve now been on Zepbound for 19 weeks (as of 7/13) and have lost nearly 50 pounds (2.6 lbs/wk) – should have been more but didn’t lose anything during the two weeks that included our trip to Nebraska.  I believe I understand that these drugs don’t make you lose weight but make it easier to do what you need do to lose weight – eat less calories.  If I eat slow, it makes me feel full with not much food and I’m never hungry – can go all day without eating.  Unless we want the leftovers for another meal, Bev and I have begun sharing meals in restaurants and I often don’t eat all of my half.  I don’t miss eating anymore but I do miss my wine which I have cut out partially for weight loss but more so for a different medical issue.  I don’t have a specific weight loss goal in mind but I’m sure I’ll know it when I get there and I already like that my shirt size is now down by one X.  It's hard to find pics of the before me as I tried to avoid them but here are a couple to give you an idea.  

Here I am at this point and sad to say that after a nearly 50 lb. loss, when I exit the shower and look in the mirror (no pic of this to share), my belly is definitely smaller but I’m still huge so still a ways to go.  The negative to the weight loss is that without the fat pooching out the wrinkles, I'm looking older.

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

7/13/25 event dates

The Trip Home – Days 8,9,10

Since we had a longer drive (500 miles) on Sunday, we got on the road early and had an uneventful drive from Sioux City to Aurora IL.  There had been lots of good-to-see road work with I-70 being widened all across MO, and nearly all of the work we saw was a total road replacement with concrete rather than asphalt.  Properly maintained to prevent water freezing damage, concrete can last many, many years.

Going thru Aurora is not exactly the most direct route home but it did take us for our likely last visit to the Wurst Kitchen that I’ve mentioned many times on here.  We took coolers with us and ended up getting about 30 four-link packages of frozen sausages.  Son Eric lived near there for several years and we would utilize family trips to keep our sausage supply coming but he has since moved and I was hating the prospect of no longer getting this delicious sausage but I was happy when they told us they now ship.

For supper in Aurora, we went next door to the Two Brothers Roundhouse Restaurant where we had eaten at and I blogged about back in 2018.  Bev had the Roundhouse Burger and I had the Pan-Seared Walleye (not unusual in restaurants near the Great Lakes) and we each enjoyed our meals.

We have been eating and making the famous Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwiches for several years now and when our day two trip home took us thru Louisville, KY, a plan was born.  We decided to stay at the Brown Hotel in downtown so we could try the original and compare it to others.  Per the internet: “A Hot Brown sandwich is an American hot sandwich originally created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, by Fred K. Schmidt in 1926. It is a variation of traditional Welsh rarebit and was one of two signature sandwiches created by chefs at the Brown Hotel shortly after its founding in 1923.”

So, after getting into our very nice period decorated room, we headed to the Lobby Bar and Grill for this famous meal experience. 

We began with an adult beverage.

Since we were still eating light, we decided to share a small Caesar salad and the Hot Brown – First pic is from the web followed by the one we ate.

The ones we make are somewhat different as the hotel version has a one inch thick piece of turkey and ours is about half that, which seems like plenty.  Their tomatoes lay beside the toast but we put ours on top and they have two crossed slices of bacon on top but we chop ours as it's easier to eat.  Finally, after eating one at a different restaurant, we now add a little country ham to ours.

For breakfast the next morning, we went downstairs to J Graham's Cafe.

I had the “THE CLASSIC $22 - Two Eggs Cooked to Order Choice of: Toast, English Muffin or Biscuit, Breakfast Potatoes, Bacon or Sausage, and it was delicious and huge but I forgot the pic.  Bev just had a fried egg and breakfast potatoes and everything was very good.  Not sure if I’ll ever stay again in Louisville but if I do it will be at the Brown Hotel as it was a lot like staying at the Greenbrier in WV in terms of elegance and service.  

We have now stayed at The Brown Hotel and the Greenbrier in White Sulfur Springs, WV and eaten at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO and the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.  Now that we have sold the motorhome, I'm hoping to hit a few more of these nicer places while we are still able, beginning with the Inn On Biltmore Estate.

Everything about this trip worked well except for locking the keys in the car and we each gained a pound – probably not too bad for a ten day vacation trip.  Most of the roads were good and there was a lot of road work being done, which I'm glad to see.

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

6/22- 7/1/25 event dates

Kathy And Keith’s Wedding

After being together for several years, circumstances were finally right for Keith and Kathy (daughter) to get married and they chose a beautiful outdoor spot overlooking the Missouri River at the South Sioux City Marriott Hotel where we all stayed.  The wedding was scheduled for 4:30 pm and the early part of the day was spent with the wedding party ladies getting their hair and makeup professionally done at the hotel.

Prior to the wedding ceremony, the guests were treated to hors d'oeuvres and drinks.

Then it was on with the wedding preformed by the minister from their church in Texas who made the trip just so she could marry the two of them.  This is me walking Kathy down the aisle and delivering her to Keith with a kiss on the cheek.

A few shots of the ceremony then the wedding party.

We were all worried about the guests sitting in the hot sun but the weather was perfect – overcast with a low 80’s temp.  Any finally the reception which included a buffet supper was held just inside from the wedding location.

We are all very happy this day was finally arrived and I have to believe Kathy’s smile muscles will be sore for a couple of days.  It's such a pleasure to now have Keith as a member of our family.

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

6/27/25 event date

Nebraska Trip Days 2,3,4,5

When we got up the on the morning of day 2, we drove down the street to fill up with gas for the next leg of the trip and Bev went in the convenience store for a pick-up.  When I opened my wallet to retrieve my credit card, I discovered it missing and decided I must have left it at the restaurant so I asked Bev to get their phone number from the car only to discover it was locked with the keys in the ignition but we had no idea how.  So, we called AAA and they had us on the road in about 20 minutes – not bad, so disaster avoided.

We drove to Oak Grove, MO for our next night as we wanted to eat at PJ’s Family Restaurant for the third time and have onion rings and chicken fried steak.  As is often the case with nostalgia creep, the meal was good but less so than we remembered.  We each ate two of the seven large onion rings (judge by Bev’s IPhone), then I ate about a third of my steak, some cottage cheese, and a few bites of potato and I was full.  Here are a couple of shots and the big plate of disks is Bev's side order of fried zucchini – you won’t leave this place hungry.

The last outbound trip leg took us the Kathy and Keith’s home to spend some quality time with them and look over their extensive house remodeling (mostly on the outside).  No Pics taken but one I wish I had gotten during the drive.  We were driving up I-29 in Iowa, a little north of Omaha and approaching an exit when there appears a sign announcing "Ski Area" and it cracked me up - there is snow skiing in Iowa?  When I got home, I did a web search to discover Crescent Hill At Hitchcock Ski Resort with a hilltop elevation of 1500' and a vertical drop of 300'.  For comparison, Colorado's Aspen Mountain has a vertical drop of 3267'.

On Thursday, we all made the hour drive to the Marriott in South Sioux City, NE to begin the wedding festivities beginning with a family and close friends supper at 4 Brothers Bar & Grill just across the Missouri River in Sioux City, IA.  

No food porn taken.

Friday was the day before the wedding and it was spent on errands, relaxing, a trip to the spa for the ladies and final wedding plans, including a rehearsal.  Then we went to the Soho Kitchen & Bar for the rehearsal dinner which included families, friends and the wedding party.  This is Kathy and Keith, flanked by Keith’s daughter and son in law, enjoying themselves.

Since we are eating less, Bev and I opted to share a Caesar Salad and the "MIDWEST PORK TENDERLOIN $18 - A HUUGE hand-breaded, crispy golden center cut pork tenderloin served on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles. A Midwest classic-crispy, juicy, and way bigger than the bun!"  We thought it would be similar to the one served at the Maryville Hot Rod’s Diner.

But to our surprise, they really meant HUUGE.

I ate one of the pieces protruding from the bun and Bev ate about half of the sandwich after cutting off the other piece.  I’ve never seen anything like this.

The dinner went very well and everyone seemed to have a good time visiting and eating from Soho's eclectic menu.

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

6/23- 6/26/25 event dates