Gan En jie Kuai Le! (Happy Thanksgiving!) Pictures Added

I've added a few pictures from the wonderful meal up on the ridge.

Pie for everyone! Sweet potato, pecan, apple, cherry, and not pictured strawberry

Jalapeno chicken pastry pin wheels

Sweet potato and apple bake with toasted pecan/bourbon glaze













Yeah I know I'm early, but I wanted to make sure I got it out there!
We'll be spending the day with some very good friends of ours and cooking up some old and some new dishes (I'll share pictures after the fact!).

The main news is that we just reached 30,000 hits on this blog! Awesome!

Thanks readers!!!!!!

I checked the demographics of the numbers and it looks like you're split almost evenly with 51% return readers and 49% new/unique hits!!!!

So I guess that means that about half of what I write must be interesting enough to bring folks back for another look! ;-)

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you folks that have hung in there during the slow and irregular postings along with the sometimes ramblings, and I hope that I can continue to keep you entertained in the future! Thanks again for stopping by and as always your comments are not only welcome, but encouraged! ;-)

Another Cabin In The Woods Update (part 2)

There's been a lot of improvement going on since last time. We should be under roof within the next couple of weeks!

Here's a few pictures courtesy of FC:




















We're looking forward to seeing it live again, but that will likely have to wait until after the holidays.

Another Cabin In The Woods Update

Four walls (well technically 5), sub-floor in the loft, and a well that produces good water! It's starting to sound like a house now!

Pictures to follow after the next trip down to check it out, probably not until after the holidays!

Latest Cabin in the Woods Update

The first floor is complete, we have water, and the second floor starts next week!

Sorry no pictures yet, but I'm sure we'll get some at the end of the next phase!

Angel's of Mercy Ride Video

Just a short video clip from the ride on Sunday:

The Angel's of Mercy Benefit Run

I tried to post this yesterday, but Blogger wasn't cooperating with me. The video I want to post needs to be clipped a bit to fit too, so I'll try it again later


On Sunday we took part in a benefit ride to raise money for "The Angel's of Mercy".

It was a really good ride for a really good cause.
The route started out at Rohrer's Tavern, took the long way to Eggleston Ball Park, then the long way to Indian Creek, and then finishing up at The Dew Drop Inn. the weather was sunny, warm, and dry, but the 35mph gusting winds made parts of the ride a little interesting. All in all a good day and a great ride!

Stacey, the organizer of the benefit and ride, complete with the blue cast that matched the official color of the ride
The bikes starting to accumulate

A few pictures from the road that Lightnin took with the pseudo helmet cam:




Relaxing at Indian Creek before completing the last leg

Back out on the road

Ending up at the Dew Drop Inn

We Have Walls!

On Friday morning we hopped a plane to Jacksonville, FL, picked up a rental car and drove from J-Ville to Old Town, FL, pulled in the drive and that's what came out of both of our mouths: "We Have Walls!!!"

The place is coming right along and its really starting to take shape!





Here's Lightnin standing in what will soon be the bathroom




After calming down we met up with our buddies FC and Mrs. FC and celebrated at Bubba-Ques










The next day we all piled into the rental (a brand new Dodge Charger with only 5 miles on it!) and headed out to Cedar Key to take part in the Cedar Key Seafood Festival. It was crowded, but fun. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and the music and atmosphere was well festive!





After the festival we were treated to an awesome dinner of jerk chicken chili at FC's. It was very tasty and went well with a cold brew.


Yesterday we started off with a great breakfast at BBQ Bill's and then headed out to explore the local area. We ended up just sitting at the edge of our deck and watching the sun go down and the moon rise over our huge oak forest. It was so quiet that when you popped the top on a frosty cold can that it echoed in the woods, absolutely awesome!
















Well, it's back to the grind as we pack and get ready to drive back to J-Ville and catch a plane back to Cincy and we'll make one last pass by the property to say goodbye to the house, but we'll be back soon!

If this is Wednesday, it must Be Morocco!

I give you French Moroccan tuna with cream sauce, roasted garlic couscous, and peas in less than 30mins.
(Take that Rachael Ray!)





Some of you may get the old movie reference, but I'm guessing most of you won't! ;-)

This wonderful (if I say so myself) meal came about last night in what has become common practice here at the T&L household. It went something like this:

T - "What do you want for dinner?"
L - "I set out some tuna steaks, and I want to fix that Moroccan couscous."
T - "OK let's see what I can do!"

Foraging through the cabinets and the fridge I was able to locate a blend of spices that I have used on salmon before (cumin, coriander, garlic powder, Cayenne, and brown sugar) "This should go well with the couscous!" (I thought, out loud). In the fridge I located a part bottle of Ice Wine, and some sour cream and thought (again out loud) "This will make a good sauce".

So you rinse the tuna, coat it with the dry spice mix, heat a small skillet with a couple of table spoons of olive oil, drop the tuna in to sear it on both sides, then remove and set aside.

At this time open the package of roasted garlic couscous and follow the instructions, same with the Green Giant peas! ;-)

Deglaze the pan that was used to sear the tuna with about 1/2 cup of the Ice wine and reduce for about 5 minutes. Whisk in 2 table spoons of butter (real butter) 1/2 Tbsp at a time, then whisk in 2 Tbsp sour cream and remove from heat.

To serve: Place the tuna on the plate and drizzle a little of the sauce on the tuna in a fancy zigzag pattern, and be sure to have a small dipping bowl of the sauce on the side, add the peas and couscous to the plate.

It went really well with a glass of Syrah too!

Try it and you won't be disappointed, and it will surely impress anyone you serve it to!

Update on the Home!

This just in from our on the spot reporter FC:
















Now that the sub floor and decking supports are completed they should begin adding the logs this week. We'll be heading down in a couple of weeks to check on the progess and we should see the shell of the house taking shape!

FC thanks again for peaking in on the place and keeping us updated!
See you soon!

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks 27 years of marriage for Lightnin and I! It's been an amazing ride, never boring, sometimes challenging, mostly fun, but definitely amazing!













Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

Weekend Update #5

I should say "Weekends" since I've been a bit lacking on getting these out on a regular basis!

So let me go back to last weekend which also happened to be Labor Day weekend:

That Saturday Lightnin and I both woke up early, I state this because Lightnin usually sleeps in on the weekend and doesn't usually get up to greet the day until after breakfast(provided by yours truly) is ready, but on this particular day she arose a mere 30min after I did! That being the case we decided to forgo the usual home cooked meal and get showered and dressed to head out on the bike and grab something to eat on the road. We decided to head to one of our favorite spots, Rabbit Hash, KY, where the Old Timer's festival was taking place. The air was crisp and we dressed appropriately with the required leather riding apparel.

Here you see Lightnin with a couple of new friends


Not sure why the grumpy expression here, maybe because after eating lunch I knew I'd look like the stuffed sausage that I felt like

It was a fun ride that was followed up with a bonfire at our friend's Rick and Julie's house
Yes it included smores!

The next morning Rick and I took of on a ride in the morning and I snapped this picture of the 2 bikes with a nice Kentucky backdrop









This past weekend we were invited to ride a long distance run, out to Portsmouth, OH. We met up with some friends, and met some new friends, and put in a little over 300 miles on Sunday. The weather was great, and the ride was too!

Here's a few random shots from that:



















Oh the other news is that we received a call from our builder on Thursday evening to let us know that he'll be starting the actual "Building of The House" this week. Awesome!

I guess that about wraps things up for this segment. Another busy work week ahead so I'll post when I can.

***NEWS FLASH***

They started cutting the logs today!!!!
WOOOO HOOOOO!

Ground Broken!

We took off at the end of last week to be at the property for the ground breaking, but traffic, rain, and road construction slowed us down enough the we missed the actual first breaking of the ground. This ended up not being a problem at all as we were glad to see the progress, finally!!!!!

This is what we walked up the lane to find on Thursday, the footers are poured!


Check out the size of the Live Oaks compared to the Port-O-Let

On Friday we returned to the property to see them completing the foundation, Awesome!




Perfect placement by Mother Nature on this palm


It was time to celebrate a little afterward with our good friend FC, after all he is partly responsible for this happening. We fell in love with this part of the world the first time we came down to visit!

One final visit out to Cedar Key for dinner and a sunset before we start heading north











Now the project is underway and I'll (and sometimes we'll) be making trips back down to check on the progress!