Return to a Favorite Bakery and Lunch Spot…Plus

After about 2 years of isolation and our efforts to avoid Covid-19, we finally decided to re-visit one of our favorite bakeries and luncheon destinations…

Tellico Grains Bakery is located in the center of Tellico Plains Tennessee, a small town of over 900 residents.  Unlike many small towns that aren’t close to larger cities, Tellico Plains has grown in recent years.  The population count was 657 in 1990. 

Both portions of the building occupied by the Bakery were built in 1908 and this was one of the few structures that survived the fire of 1914.  At various times, all or part of the building has served as a bank, attorney’s office, barber shop, beauty salon, pool room, town library, post office (1927 – 1975), Hayes Sweet Shop, a restaurant, a video store and a pawn shop.  The current owners bought the property in 2001 and opened the bakery…

This isn’t the greatest photo but it does provide a glimpse of some of the goodies produced by the family that owns and operates Tellico Grains.  There is a wide variety of delicious cookies, plus brownies, turnovers, cinnamon rolls, savory croissants, different types of Danish, a plethora of different types of bread and much more.  Unfortunately for us, that one lone scone on the lower shelf in the center was purchased by the customer just ahead of us.  Tellico Grains can only be described as an artisan bakery. 

Here are a couple of views of the inside of Tellico Grains… The first is looking from the small dining area toward the display and service counters.  The second photo shows part of the dining area.  Wood, brick and stone prevail throughout. 

If you check out Tellico Grains’ website at http://tellico-grains-bakery.com/?author=1, you can see what the Bakery’s owners went through just to save the building and start their business.  The building was in pretty rough shape in 2001.

We love the personal pizzas at Tellico Grains, (we think that they are the best in East Tennessee), but we also love their sandwiches.  Laurie ordered her favorite sandwich.  “Joe’s Italian is made with Genoa salami, pepperoni, Benton’s prosciutto, pesto mayo, pepperoncini’s, black olives, red onion, Dijon mustard, lettuce and tomato on an herb flatbread roll.  Happy wife!

I usually order the Waucheesi Club, a sandwich with smoked ham, roasted turkey, Benton’s bacon, pepper jack cheese, red onion (not for me), mayo and Dijon mustard on toasted sourdough bread, topped with lettuce and tomato.

In this instance however, I went for Stu’s Reuben with thinly sliced pastrami and corned beef topped with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and house made Thousand Island dressing all on toasted pumpernickel bread. (I substituted Dijon mustard for the Thousand Island) It was good but I didn’t like it as well as the Waucheesi Club.  Still, I’m thinking that the next time we dine at Tellico Grains, I may try the ‘Crispy Mister’.

To view the lunch menu go to http://tellico-grains-bakery.com/?page_id=1035.

This note is unrelated to the Bakery…other than it is related to the town of Tellico Plains. If you follow my blog, you are well aware that I do enjoy history and love researching little known facts and happenings. 

Well, when the Civil War broke out and Tennessee broke with the Union, the existing post office in Tellico Plains obviously didn’t and couldn’t use Union/Federal stamps.  So, the local postmaster printed his own.  They are both rare and expensive.  The first photo shows a close-up of one of these stamps and the second photo shows one of these stamps on an envelope addressed to someone in Knoxville Tennessee.

A bit more about the town of Tellico Plains.  It occupies the former site of the Cherokee town of Great Tellico, one of the more important towns of the Overhill Cherokee during the late 1700s.  Two important Native American trails met at Great Tellico, the ‘Trading Path’ and the ‘Warriors Path’.  Today the town’s economy is fueled by the nearby Cherohala Skyway and the Cherokee National Forest with the Tellico River and Bald River Falls.

Back to Tellico Grains Bakery…

On this occasion, we definitely supported our local business!  In addition to our lunch, we brought home the array of products shown above.  From the left we have fresh white bakery bread, house made granola, 2 oatmeal raisin cookies, 2 coconut cookies, 2 peanut butter cookies, and a big loaf of Fougasse bread… We also bought a large container of honey produced by Loving’s Honey Bees.  FYI, Fougasse bread was originally from Provence in France and it’s baked on a hearth… I suspect in this case it was one the bakery’s pizza hearth.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Miscellaneous Food and Fauna

Continuing with my (our) latest theme…not too much going on.  We did continue doing some spring cleaning but it was actually ‘cleaning’ and not reorganization, trashing or donating so it’s not worth writing about.

We’ll start with a couple of recent meals, take out, dining out and prepared foods cooked at home…

We were tired after reorganizing and cleaning the closets this past week so one night we ordered our usual Pepperoni and Italian Sausage Pizza from ‘Little Italy’ Restaurant in Loudon Tennessee.  I drove over and picked it up.

Note: we even have a flat insulated carry bag to keep the pizza warm for the drive home.

Unfortunately, although we usually really appreciate our pizzas from Little Italy, we felt that this one was a bit bland.  Was it the sausage, the pepperoni or the sauce?  We concluded that it must have been the sauce.  We had 2 slices left over, one of which I ate cold for breakfast and the other cold for lunch.  I actually felt that the cold version had more flavor…

A day or two later, we were out early (for us) and we stopped at ‘Mama’s Grits’ for breakfast. (Mama’s Grits is the name that ‘Little Italy’ uses for their breakfast business)

Laurie kept it simple, ordering bacon, 2 eggs over-easy, a biscuit and a little cup of fruit.  She gave the biscuit high praise but we both thought that the bacon had been pre-cooked and had been sitting for a while.

I went for a safe breakfast in the sense that I know that the biscuits at Mama’s Grit are quite good and the owner’s recipe for sausage gravy can’t be beaten by any other restaurant that we’ve found in the last several years.  Top it with 2 easy-over eggs and it is just about perfect.  The hash brown potatoes came with everything else and they were nicely done…although I should have gone with that fruit cup.

We’d just been to Costco and we had decided to try a box of Realgood Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken.  The chicken was stuffed with mozzarella, parmesan and fontina cheese.  While they might have looked more appetizing if they’d browned up a bit, the fact is that with the bacon and all the cheese stuffed into the chicken rolls, this was a pretty tasty entrée.

I had to deal with 3 leftover servings of bacon wrapped cheese laden rolled chicken. (Laurie doesn’t like most leftovers) I actually ate one serving cold, but sprinkled with Tabasco.  Laurie heated the other 2 in a frying pan with butter and a little seasoning, then placing the chicken rolls on top of a piece of bread with the butter from the pan.  Not heart healthy for sure, but very satisfying.

Now for a little fauna…

I took this photo of a very perky little black-capped chickadee who was enjoying our planter base turned watering hole. 

Black-capped chickadees are small North American songbirds that live in deciduous and mixed forest.  They are the state birds for both Massachusetts and Maine.  They have a very useful skill or adaptation in that they can lower their body temperature during cold winter nights.  They also have a great memory that helps them recall where they cached food store.  I’ve noted that they aren’t particularly intimidated by my presence.

Our neighbor gave Laurie this squirrel feeder and it’s proven very popular with this particular chubby squirrel.  He drops about as much on the ground as he manages to eat while on the perch but it doesn't take him too long to strip that corn cob clean!  Our local blue jays appreciate the corn on the ground…

We had noted a fox in our back yard a couple of weeks ago but we didn’t know where he/she/they lived.  The other day Laurie spotted the fox and his/her kits coming out of their den…which happens to be visible from a bedroom window.  They picked a spot in one of the few remaining wooded areas adjacent to our home where they could raise their family.  The den is on a hillside under a bush just beyond the edge of another neighbor’s property.  Unfortunately, we have been unable to capture a photo of the fox family’s comings and goings.

However Mr./Mrs. Fox likes to hunt along the fringe of our yard in a strip of common ground.  On this occasion he/she spent at least 10 minutes just watching for movement in the leaf litter.  We guessed that this was Mr. Fox.

The red fox is the largest of the true foxes and its one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carinvora.  It is found across the entire Northern Hemisphere including Europe and Asia as well as in parts of North Africa.  No threat to humans, it has benefited from our presence and has successfully colonized many suburban and urban areas.

Back to the term “fauna”, which is the term used to refer to all animal life.  I was curious, so I did a little web-surfing.  The term fauna as regards all animal life, was first used in the late 1700s and it comes from Latin.  ‘Fauna’ was a rural Latin/Roman goddess of fertility and the sister of ‘Faunus’.  For his part, Faunus was the deity of pastures, fields and forests.

That’s about it for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

What’s Happening?…Not Too Much!

While we are very happy that the spring season is upon us, we still haven’t gone for any backroad drives that are new to us.  That should change soon, but in the meantime, but we haven’t encountered too many important activities or occurrences.  In other words, we haven’t had too much excitement in our day to day lives. 

We did go to another estate sale!  With residents coming and going for whatever reason, there seems to be at least one estate sale around our village almost every weekend.  In this case, we actually bought a couple of things!  They included a glass citrus ‘juicer’, a baking dish, a battery powered meat thermometer and a 2 disc collection of Dean Martin’s greatest hits for my retro collection.  We spent a whopping $17.00!

Later in the day, we stopped by ‘The Lacy’, a home furnishing store located in a former hotel in Lenoir City Tennessee.  Then we walked down to the corner to view ‘The Lacy General Store’ where they were having a clearance on their antique furnishings and décor.  Both stores are very nice with high quality merchandise and the prices were right at the clearance sale.  Many of the furniture pieces had ‘sold’ signs on them.  I/we escaped both stores without spending any money!

You can check out the home furnishings and décor at ‘The Lacy’ at https://www.facebook.com/thelacylenoircity/ and “The Lacy General Store” at https://www.facebook.com/thelacygeneralstorelenoircity/.   

So what else do folks do in the spring?  Yes indeed…spring cleaning, reorganization and related activities!  Pictured above are our thinned out and clean master closet, a bathroom linen closet and a cookbook shelf in the kitchen. We cleaned out and reorganized drawers, book cases, cupboards, cabinets and whatever else occurred to us… While the photos appear to be 'full' of clothing and other items, they are a fraction of what was there!

To date, we have donated 4 big bags of clothing and other items to ‘Habitat for Humanity’ and 3 boxes and a big bag of clothing, shoes, purses and other items to our local “Good Neighbors Shoppe”.  More will follow.  At the moment we have 3 large boxes mostly full of cookbooks that we will try to find a ‘home’ for.  Much more will follow as we attack other accumulations from over these many past years…

Learn more about the Good Neighbors Shoppe in Lenoir City at http://www.goodneighborsshoppe.org/.  To learn about Habitat for Humanity stores and donations, go to https://www.habitat.org/.

If you follow my blog, you may know where these flowers came from.  I made another trip to our endodontist…this routine has to stop!  As much as we like the flowers their very cheerful and upbeat receptionist hands out, I’d be happy to forgo them for a few months at least!

Our Lenten roses have been blooming for some time now and this is an especially large grouping of these flowers.  They have been planted all along one side and at the back of our home.  Lenten ‘roses’ derived their name from the fact that blooms look similar to roses. 

FYI…Lenten roses are perennial flowering plants and belong to the ‘buttercup’ family of flowers.  They were native to Greece and Turkey but they are now widely cultivated.  All parts of the Lenten rose are poisonous.  If sap comes in contact with your skin, you may experience temporary irritation.  Ingestion of large quantities of this plant by humans or animals can cause burning of the mouth and throat, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea.  But they are pretty and very delicate in appearance.  Advantage: our local deer don't eat them!

I thought that I’d end this post with a couple of photos of our youngest grandson, Emmett Lee.  He’s 18 and he’ll be graduating from High School in the next month or so, truly a momentous occasion for any young person.  He is not only good looking, but he is an excellent student as well.  Kudos to our son and his wife for another job well done! 

College awaits…we’re just not sure which one yet.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

A Concert with Friends

Back in 1988, the Community Church at Tellico Village was the first church to be organized/founded in Tellico Village.  At that point in time, the Village was a Cooper Development but now it’s moving forward without Cooper’s direct involvement.  The interdenominational Community Church is very large and it not only serves as a church, but also as a large gathering place where local residents can enjoy various events, and where the 9,000 plus residents of Tellico Village cast their votes in local, state and national elections.

In this instance, we joined our friends Morrie and Jodie for a concert entitled “A Night at the Movies”.  This concert/show was so popular that a third performance was added to satisfy the demand.  It was a Sunday afternoon matinee… FYI, the cost was only $10 per person!

As you can see from the photos above, this is a big church and, as you can see, it accommodates a very large audience or group of worshippers.  The first 2 performances were totally sold out and our matinee was 95% filled as well.  Laurie and Morrie are looking at the camera in the first photo.  The woman seated next to Morrie is a neighbor that he drove to the show… As you can see, the church seats hundreds of attendees or worshipers.

The website for The Community Church at Tellico Village is located at 130 Chota Road in Loudon Tennessee.  The church’s website can be found at https://www.tellicochurch.com/.

The chorus for this presentation was made up by a very large group of vocalists, ‘The Tellico Village Singers’, aka the ‘Tellico Voices’.  The show was put together and produced by Dennis Loy Productions.  Dennis is also the President of The Tellico Community Playhouse.  On the internet, he is listed as the Conductor in Residence at MidAmerica Productions.

As you can see, the combined vocal groups number approximately 100 singers.  They spent many, many hours rehearsing and getting ready for this big production!

This photo shows Dennis Loy conducting part of the choral group in the song “Mrs. Robinson” from the 1967 movie “The Graduate”, which starred Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross.  Note the big screen at the right of the photo.  For every song presented in this “Night at the Movies”, technical folks had edited segments of the movie being presented to match the music being sung.  This effect had to take many hours just to get the timing right and the results truly added valuable context to the overall presentation.

If you were paying attention…reading rather than just looking at the photos…you may have noticed that I had stated that we were attending this musical presentation with our friends Morrie and Jodie…but until now you hadn’t seen Jodie.  That’s because she is one of the Tellico Village Singers and she was actually entertaining us.

There was whimsy and a bit of comedy with the music as well.  Note the outfits, hats and beards worn by this group of vocalists.  They were performing “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” from the 2000 movie “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?”  The movie starred George Clooney, John Turturro, John Goodman, Holly Hunter and Charles Durning.  FYI, Laurie and I loved this movie when it came out…    

Other songs presented came from: “Hollywood Hotel - 1937”: “Paint Your Wagon – 1969”; “Carousel – 1956”; “The Sound of Music – 1965”; “The Pink Panther – 1964”; “West Side Story – 1961”; “Porgy and Bess – 1959”; “Dr. No – 1962”; “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – 1953”; “My Fair Lady – 1964”; “The Little Mermaid – 1989”; “The Wizard of Oz – 1939; “Singin’ in the Rain – 1952”; “Frozen – 2013”; “Titanic – 1997”; “Finian’s Rainbow – 1968” and; “Footloose – 1984”.

Everyone really enjoyed this show!  Even me, and I am not happy if I feel that a play, song or other presentation lacks professional quality.  This was a well-planned, well-rehearsed and well conducted musical production!

After the show we met Jodie and Morrie at the Aubrey’s Restaurant in Lenoir City Tennessee.  This local restaurant chain is one of our regular standby dining venues…always reliable with service ranging from competent to excellent.

This time I didn’t take photos of our food because I’d done that several times previously.  The first photo shows a busy, well stocked bar.  The other photo shows part of the spacious dining room.  Even when this Aubrey’s location is packed, you don’t feel crowded or jammed in…

And this is Morrie with his talented wife Jodie!  Jodie was exhausted after this third performance and all the grueling rehearsals that had preceded the shows.  She was proud of the production and rightly so!

Aubrey’s is part of the Burleson Brands restaurant and catering group which is based in East Tennessee.  Other restaurants in the group include Sunspot, Blue Tick Tavern, Bistro by the Tracks, Stefano’s Chicago Style Pizza and Fieldhouse Social.

The Aubrey’s in Lenoir City Tennessee is located at 401 Town Creek Road, close to the US Hwy 321 exit from I-75.  Phone: 865-986-3113.  Website: https://aubreysrestaurants.com/lenoircity/.  

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

An “Even Newer” Mexican Restaurant!

As Laurie and I get out and about more often, (following winter and hopefully the worst of Covid-19), one change is that we are also dining out more frequently.  The fellow that keeps our lawn weed and disease free is quite the discerning diner as well.  One time when I called him about a problem, he answered his cell phone while partaking of small plates at a sidewalk café in Paris France…

In any case, when he recommends a new place to dine, we do tend to listen.  

This is Cataleya Cantina in Knoxville Tennessee.  While it is new to us, I’ve learned that it actually opened on July 1, 2021… It took over and remodeled a space located in the same small strip shopping center adjacent to a Maple Street Biscuit restaurant. 

We were especially interested in Cataleya Cantina as we’d been told that it offered Mexican food that was more authentic and much more creative than the typical Mexican restaurant here in East Tennessee.

FYI… the name Cataleya is a girl’s name.  It means “Cattley’s flower”.  Cataleya is the name of a genus of orchids that became a popular baby’s name after it was used for the character played by Zoe Saldana in the movie “Colombiana”.

As you can see above, the bar at Cataleya Cantina is well stocked with adult beverages.  There are plenty of televisions available for the sports fanatics’ viewing pleasure.  The bar made with wood, the wood on the ceiling, as well as the white booths plus the colorful hand-painted murals from Mexico really soften the look and feel of this restaurant.  In my view, they have created a warm yet edgy industrial look.  It isn’t the sterile environment that many restaurants are offering but it still has a ‘current’ feel.

Cataleya Cantina has a huge drink menu.  Laurie ordered one of their Margaritas and she really liked it. ($10.00) Since I’m generally but not always avoiding alcohol, I went for water with lemon.  Of course the drinks came with corn chips and salsa.  As the salsa was fairly bland, I requested some heat.  Miriam delivered that small container of orange brown colored sauce, warning me to use it with caution as it was really spicy hot!  She was right and we just stirred a little of it into the house salsa mix.  The result was perfect salsa…for us at least.  

For an appetizer we ordered the Shrimp Momias…shrimps stuffed with chorizo and cheese, wrapped in bacon, then fried and drizzled with house chipotle dip. ($11.25) The 5 shrimp were large and cooked perfectly.  The combination of flavors worked well…with just enough spice to make them stand out!  This was a great start for our meal…

Other appetizers included fresh oysters, Esquite (street tacos), Coliflor Frito (deep fried cauliflower with chipotle sauce, and Shrimp de Ceviche.

Laurie wanted something light for dinner so she chose “La Sirenita”, grilled tilapia with lots of cut vegetables and some very flavorful rice. ($12.99)  She was very happy with her selection. 

There were other fish entrees as well as Gorditas, El Zorro Hurrache, Flautas, Tamales, Chicken Mole Enchiladas and more.  To view this restaurant’s imaginative menu, go to https://zmenu.com/cataleya-cantina-knoxville-online-menu/.  

My dinner entrée was an easy choice for me!  I love a good Fish Taco and Cataleya Cantina offers 3 tacos (shrimp or tilapia) with red cabbage, jicama and a creamy salsa for $12.00.  I chose the fried tilapia and happily the tacos were excellent!

Service was very attentive and both server and manager were very helpful.  The various items we ordered were visually attractive, something that you don’t often see in the local Mexican restaurants.  We will definitely return soon to try other menu items.

Cataleya Cantina is located at 9314 Kingston Pike (US Hwy 11) in Knoxville Tennessee.  They are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.  Phone: 865-951-0419.  This restaurant is on Facebook but the information listed is minimal.  There are a lot of on-line photos of this restaurant’s food offerings. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Revisiting a Local Golf Course Clubhouse Grill…and More!

Another day and another restaurant… It was time for an early dinner and we didn’t feel like driving too far from home.  So we were off to a local golf course and it’s clubhouse restaurant.

This is a view of the recently renovated and enlarged Toqua Clubhouse with its golf store and the Toqua Sports Bar and Grill.  The Toqua Golf Course is one of 3 such courses to be found within Tellico Village, an ungated, open to the public retirement community, which is located in Loudon and Monroe Counties in Eastern Tennessee. 

Tellico Village was a Cooper Development that now stands on its own.  Of note is the fact that there is no minimum age restriction for anyone to live in the Village.  The Village, with a population of over 9,000 residents sits along several miles of shoreline on Tellico Lake, a Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir.  To learn more about Tellico Village, go to https://tellicovillage.org/. 

The Toqua Sports Bar and Grill has been greatly expanded in the last year.  The rebuilt restaurant is very spacious, with a nice fully equipped bar and plenty of seating.   Both this restaurant and the golf course are open to the public.   While the bar it’s self is well equipped with TVs for sports events, the dining area only has TVs along the walls so the impact isn’t too overwhelming for those who aren’t watching…just chatting with each other.  By 5:30 PM the Grill was hopping!

The Grill also has some pleasant views of the gold course itself…actually the driving range and practice greens.  In addition, there is a patio dining option for those who prefer fresh air and sunshine.

One recent addition to the staff of the Toqua Sports Bar and Grill was the owner/chef from Z’s Fish House in Loudon Tennessee.  Sadly, despite being featured on “Restaurant Impossible”, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and increased costs caused him to close his restaurant.  His addition to the staff at this restaurant should be a big plus.

With those facts in mind, Laurie ordered the Salmon Cake Salad for her entrée. ($15.00) That salmon cake was quite large and I had a couple of bites of it myself.  It was very flavorful and Laurie really loved it paired with this nice salad.

For my dinner, I decided on these Pastrami Sliders with a side of coleslaw. ($13.00) I liked them a lot!  Very satisfying indeed… While not New York Deli quality pastrami, the meat was better than I’d had anywhere here in East Tennessee in quite a while.  The meal’s presentation would have been better if the slaw had been served in a ceramic or glass bowl.

Our server Kelsey was very efficient and friendly.  Given the quality of the food, we will return to try other items in the near future.  We hadn’t eaten here in over a year but it has greatly improved.

Toqua Sports Bar and Grill is located at 200 Toqua Club Way in Tellico Village (Loudon Tennessee).  Phone: 865-458-1330.  This restaurant is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ToquaSportsBar.

While we are eating out again more often than over the past 2 “Covid-19” years, we still look for simple items that we can prepare easily at home.  So, the other day while shopping at Costco, we came across a big package of chimichurri marinated skirt steak.  We decided that we’d have it for dinner that same night so I fired up the grill.  I used an iron skillet for part of the process and I put the meat directly on the grill to finish it. 

We both thought that it was very nice…lots of flavor and fairly tender too.  Love that chimichurri!  That marinade worked well as we dredged it up from the platter and poured in on our rice/vegetable mix as well as on the steak itself.  Best of all, I now have plenty of leftover skirt steak for breakfast or sandwiches!

That’s all for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave