February 2018 – Miscellaneous

Every once in a while, I just put together a hodge-podge of items that individually don’t add up to an individual post, but which still were memorable for us…

Laurie took this photo of an almost full “super moon”.  If you enlarge the photo, you’ll be able to clearly see the contours of the mountains/ridges at the bottom of the moon…

Our local herd of deer have a trail through the common ground behind our back yard to a wooded area where they bed down.  The frequently stop by to lick our salt block.

They don’t always stay on the trail!   Alternatively, they wander down through one of the neighbor’s yards, nibbling whatever they can find as they go.  They don’t pay much attention to cars in the neighborhood unless folks stop to take a look…

Laurie captured this photo of a 6-point buck in the woods on the north side of our house… It’s amazing how well they blend in to their surroundings!  Enlarge the photo for a better look.

Time for a bit of food… Recently Laurie made some salmon croquets for dinner.  For a little something extra, she added some capers to the mix.  Laurie sided her croquets with a little spinach salad and some great aioli sauce. 

Of course, I just had to be different!  I put cheddar cheese on my croquets and on my salad and topped the croquets with a couple of over easy eggs.  The yoke and cheese blended perfectly with the salmon and the aioli sauce!  I’d put the aioli sauce on just about anything!  Yes…I did sprinkle Tabasco on top of the eggs after I took the photo.

The birds really spend a lot of time on our feeder this time of the year.  In this photo, Mr. Bluebird is patiently waiting his turn, ignoring the much larger Flicker who’s working over the suet block at the other end of the feeder…

Here is a better look at the Flicker.  They are such beautiful birds!  When they come to the feeder, they stay awhile, just relentlessly hacking away at the suet cakes.

…just one more view of the Flicker.  He’s trying to decide when to fly over to the feeder for his next snack.

Isn’t this a pretty little squirrel?  He or she is also our nemesis!  He and his neighboring relatives (aka. ‘tree rats’) regularly raid or attempt to raid our feeder.  We’re sure that they set up surveillance on the house.  If we leave to go somewhere they ring the dinner bell and when we get home, there is always a big “V” in the feed in the center of the feeder!

OK…back to dining at home.  This time of the year it’s all about comfort food!  This was a pot roast that we recently slow cooked… In this photo, I’d already braised the outside of the roast on both sides and the ends as well.  Laurie added mixed fingerling potatoes and carrots and she seasoned the roast.

This was the finished product!  We love roasted potatoes and I particularly love carrots slow cooked like this.  After breaking up the potatoes on our plates we added butter and gravy…yum!  The roast was excellent.  While we ate a lot of the meat, ‘unfortunately’ I was ‘forced’ to have leftovers on a couple of subsequent occasions.   

This photo shows the results of a recent visit to Bill’s Courtyard Deli, a relatively new food source in Loudon Tennessee.  My sandwich on the left of the plate is Bill’s Favorite Brisket Sandwich with provolone cheese. ($6.99) Laurie's sandwich on the right was the Beef Pastrami Rachael. ($6.99) The sandwiches came with pickles and chips plus we tried their baked beans and greens for free, seeing as this was our first time ordering a sandwich!  Laurie really liked her sandwich but I thought that mine was just OK. Laurie liked their sides too.

We also picked up a loaf of Honey White Bread from the Old Mill Bread Company and a big jar of Boar’s Head Kosher Dill Pickle Spears.  Bill’s Courtyard Deli smokes their own ribs, pulled pork and brisket.  They carry Boar’s Head meats for the deli counter.   We do plan to stop by soon to try the ribs!  There are indoor and outdoor dining areas at Bill’s Courtyard.

Bill’s Courtyard Deli is located at 700 Grove Street in Loudon Tennessee.  Phone: 865-657-6164.  They are on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/bro.frankbbqman/.

  

For our final photo of the day… This is the old water tower in Loudon.  It’s the first thing that drivers see as they drive south across the bridge over the Tennessee River.  It sat ugly and unpainted for many years and we always thought that an attractive coat of paint would be a welcome beacon as folks entered the downtown area…and it certainly is! (Note the date that Loudon was founded)

Painting the water tower had been discussed for years but it was on private property…part of a deserted factory complex.  However the property was recently acquired by the Loudon Utilities Board in a $1,000,000 sale after negotiating a lower price to allow for the remediation of asbestos and underground tanks. 

Hutch Manufacturing, which made fireplace related products and other items, had operated on the property from 1978 until 2012…although only a handful of people worked here in the end.  Previously, the Bacon Creamery had operated in one building from 1948 and the other 2 buildings from the 1920s had been home to the Bacon Hosiery Mill.

Now the city of Loudon has to come up with a plan for the development of this property and for its expansive frontage right on the Tennessee River!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave