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

Weight Loss And Lunch At Countryside Restaurant

I have good family genes for a long life but I as I approach my 80th birthday I finally realize I could overcome the good genes with my bad behavior, especially by being way too heavy.  So, I decided to give one of the weight loss drugs a try and my doctor prescribed Zepbound by injection and so far I’m losing four pounds/ week and my clothes are fitting looser.  I’m well pleased with how it’s going and I’m never hungry.  I eat breakfast around 11am and supper around 6pm and I eat whatever I want but I don’t want near as much of it and if I stopped my fermented grape juice intake, my loss would be even greater.

Cheesy Fish Quesadillas And A New Dock Ladder

I had been ordering fish from two different Alaskan seafood stores to see which I preferred and one of them kept sending cubed pollock which I had little use for (I would have liked filets but assume they all went to Long John Silvers and these were the leftovers) so I went with the other supplier, but I still had the pollock in the freezer.  

Connatserville Steak Test, Grill Griddle, & New Windshield

Why Connatserville you ask.  We live in a place that was once all owned by the Connatser family and they, as our neighbors, still own the vast majority of the land, so Connatserville.

For many years, I’ve wanted to give Waygu beef a try but rather than just try it, you know, I just had to do a taste test.  

Rich Chicken Stock And Broccoli And Cheese Pasta Ala Kevin

Our Christmas menu included gravy for the turkey and I like to make it ahead of time - made it on 12/23.  My original plan was to roast turkey wings then I realized I had a chicken carcass from Cindy’s roasted chicken meal so I baked it at 350F for about 45 minutes then added it to a pot with an onion, a couple of carrots, celery ribs and garlic cloves covered it with water and simmered a few of hours.  I used the recipe from Simply Recipes as a guide. 

Christmas Trees Present And Past

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS

WE WISH YOU 

Delicious Lunch At The Lemon Grass And Cindy Chicken

We met some friends, Vicki and Wayne, for lunch this day at the Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant in Maryville to celebrate the sale of our apartments as she is also the realtor who sold them.  The restaurant is not particularly fancy from the outside but the inside is very nice as we got to see by being the first of the lunch customers.

My New Cooker

Over the years, I’ve had several smokers with the last one being a Masterbuilt electric smoker which I really like for many things.  However, it does not work as well for big meats with long cook times.  Oh, the Masterbuilt smokes fine but it doesn’t matchup with my lifestyle as it requires additions of wood chips every hour and for a 12 hour brisket, it must be started at 5am for supper that day.  My previous Stumps gravity feed charcoal smoker worked well for the big meats as I could just put it on and go to bed for a brisket that was ready the next morning.  All of my smokers are shown in this post.  

A Little Roundabout Trip To Nebraska, Day 5, Rugby

The next day was spent in the Rugby area where we accomplished the reason for coming here, which was to see our little 68 acre piece of land that we bought several years ago (it's a long story) but have never seen.  It turned out to be about 45 miles south of town and in the middle of nowhere.  We had pretty good directions but still got lost and happened to stop at a home to ask for directions and it turned out this guy had sold the land to the person we bought it from (what are the chances) so he knew exactly how to get there.  Here are pics of the land and the road it’s on starting from the top of the road and shooting east.  In the distance you can see the pond (called sloughs here) and they are everywhere and at some point they are big enough to be called a lake and they are often dry.

Our First Pho Try And Women’s Hair Revisited

I’ve never eaten Vietnamese Pho or any other Oriental noodle bowl that I can remember but I was inspired to try it by watching TV.  After seeing it made on several Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives shows, I realize the key ingredient in Oriental noodle bowls is the broth but I didn’t want to put in the effort for a first try as my main goal was to use up the case of ramen noodles that Bev bought.  As Blondie might say to Dagwood – “I know we never eat Ramen but I saved a lot of money by buying a case of it.”  I looked at several recipes online then made up the one below.  Since Madison was here with her no-gluten boyfriend, I cooked some rice noodles as well.

Happy Birthday To Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings And A Few Delicious Random Meals – Burrito, Sandwich, Quesadilla

It’s hard to believe that my first blog post was 15 years ago today and my first total post said “Well, I'm new to this blogging thing and this is my first - mostly to just see if I can do it. My next goal will be to learn to post pictures, then I'll worry about making the blog look cool.” 

Most of the folks who have been my blogger buddies through the years are no longer posting and I really appreciate those of you who still do stop by and I love to hear from you via your comments.  I’ve considered quitting a few times until I realize how much I use my blog to research our lives and recipes during those years so I guess I’ll continue until I run out of things to post about.

My Kitchen Pots and Pans And Romeo

Boy, have we been hoo-dood into thinking we need to spend a lot of money on pans to make good meals at home.  Many, many years ago, Bev & I were considering what pans to buy for the kitchen in our new home and we had the opportunity to attend a cooking demonstration put on by the restaurant chef where we were staying on vacation.  After the demonstration we asked him what kind of pans he uses and his answer surprised me – “whatever the restaurant furnishes”. 

This is a set of All-Clad and note the copper disk in the bottom to insure even heat distribution - $1299 on Amazon.

Steakhouse Steaks For the First Time & New Kitchen Lights

I can’t imagine how many steaks I’ve cooked in my lifetime and the vast, vast majority have been done on a charcoal or gas grill.  Only recently have I tried pan frying them and recently I cooked a beef tri-tip first in the oven then finishing in a pan on the cooktop (reverse sear method) .  While I’ve watched them cooked on TV many times by adding the crust in a hot pan then finishing in the oven, commonly called the Steakhouse Method, I don’t think I’ve ever used it.

Breakfast From Leftovers & A New Chair

I recently made a couple of  breakfasts from leftovers that I really enjoyed.

We had made fried shrimp for supper and I had five raw ones left so I used them for breakfast.  I sauteed them and chopped half of them (other half to Cindy) to use in a scramble along with some shredded cheddar.  It was very good.

Bev’s Ride, A Couple Of Dishes, and My Owie

Before we retired, we bought a 1976 red Corvette that was to be Bev’s retirement car but it mostly just sat in the garage until we sold it a few years ago.  Now, she sure looks good in this 2004 Ferrari with 30,000 miles.

Shrimp Cake Sliders

I had some frozen shrimp in the freezer that really needed to be used so I decided to turn them into a dish with lots of other flavors.  The recipe for shrimp burgers came from the “Well Plated by Erin” blog and is described – “This shrimp burger recipe has a perfect texture with no binders. Add Southern or Cajun spices for a fresh, healthy change to summer grilling!”  I followed the recipe except I peeled the shrimp and soaked them in salted milk overnight and I made them slider sized – 3oz.

First RV Trip of 2023 – Day 4 - Bryan College And Screen Door Kitchen

On day four, most of the group went to Huddle House for breakfast then for a tour of Bryan College.  William Jennings Bryan obviously made an impact on Dayton during the Scopes Monkey Trial as they named the college after him and believe it or not, one of our club members went there (even though he lived in Ohio) and he arranged for a tour.  Bryan is a small private Christian college with about 800 students and an academic staff of 200 full and part time.  Their endowment is $6 million vs Harvard’s $51 billion. 

First RV Trip of 2023 – Day 2 - Scopes Monkey Trial

As you may know, Blogger no longer sends out notices when I post so I am putting together an email list and I'll let you know when I put up a new post.  If you'd like to be on the list, just send me your email address.

Day two of our RV rally began with a breakfast of  turkey salad for me and a trip to a Van Go professional knife sharpener to work on our (including neighbors) 33 knives, 10 scissors, and 5 garden pruners.  He charged $5 for most knives and scissors then one item was $15 - it sure is nice to have them all very sharp again and he told me how to keep them that way - give the knife a couple of licks on a steel every time you pick it up, not just each time you use it.

After a group lunch at the pavilion of leftovers from last nights supper, we headed over to the old courthouse for presentation in the Scopes Monkey Trial Museum then we went upstairs to the very warm courtroom.  This is the old courthouse outside and a statue of William Jennings Bryan.

Happy New Year

Bev and I hope that you have a wonderful 2023 and I’m looking forward to a surgery free year.

My right foot (from toe surgery) is now in a cast until Jan 25 when I will switch to a boot.  I wanted a blue and gold cast but they don’t do bi-color so I settled for WVU’s (my alma mater) dark blue vs UT’s orange last time.

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

Merry Christmas

I generally won't build a fire if the outside temps are above the low 40's but Friday's 10F definitely fit the bill.  I plan for Christmas Eve and Day to look the same.

Kitty has decided she likes the Christmas season providing her a new spot under the tree to hang out during the day.

We hope your Christmas is all you wished for.

Bev and Larry