Local ‘Stuff’ and Food

…taking a break from last September’s road trip exploring the Delmarva Peninsula.  This post is about happenings next door and in our yard, as well as a bit of dining out, and of course, leftovers.

Fellow blogger Larry recently had a meal at the Countryside Restaurant in Vonore Tennessee.  We had it on our list of places to check out, mainly because there had been a change in management or ownership.  The new operator had managed another restaurant locally that we had enjoyed.

In any case, our neighbors Sue and Steve joined us when we went for dinner just the other night.  Steve ordered the Brisket Hoagie…beef brisket on a hoagie roll with lettuce, tomato and pickles, and a side of Countryside’s Bistro sauce.  For his side, he chose the seasoned French Fries.  It was a lot of food…and plenty of beef for $13.00.  Personally, I prefer my brisket a little more moist but Steve seemed happy.

I looked over the menu and decided to take a chance.  I love pork and I love pork chops, but most restaurants overcook them and they tend to be dry.  But, I’m always hopeful… Countryside’s center cut Boneless Pork Chops are seasoned and grilled.  Normally, they are topped with cinnamon apples but I don’t like mixing savory and sweet so the apples were served in a dish.  This meal comes with 2 sides so I chose the pinto beans and the seasoned French Fries.  Price - $13.00.  Once again it was a lot of food for the money.

Best of all was the fact that the pork chops were flavorful, moist and tender too!  The seasoned French fries and the pinto beans were both very nice…with the only negative being the corn bread muffin.  It just didn’t measure up to local East Tennessee cornbread standards…

Both Sue and Laurie chose the Fried Catfish Dinner…two big filets accompanied by hushpuppies, the seasoned French fries and some very credible coleslaw.  Price - $13.00!  Both ladies raved over the catfish…and as noted with the other meals we ordered, the amount of good food for the money was impressive.

Even better, I couldn’t finish both pork chops and Laurie was only able to finish one of the catfish filets.  Great for me as Laurie generally doesn’t eat leftovers so I frequently have something in the refrigerator that I can use for breakfast, lunch or a snack.

We feel very positive about Countryside Restaurant.  The food was good, the price was right and our server was very nice as well as efficient.  To learn more, go to Vonore, TN Restaurant | Home | Countryside Restaurant.

I didn’t wait long to make my breakfast using Laurie’s leftover catfish filet!  I just heated it in a frying pan with a bit of butter, adding some pepper and a little garlic powder.  There was too much fish for my 2 over-easy eggs to cover so I put the rest of the fish on a toasted hamburger bun.  Yum! 

Laurie spotted these Lenten roses peering up from the leaf litter under our big oak tree. They are a definite harbinger of out upcoming spring season.  It was in the mid-20s here last night but it’s now in the mid-50s!  We are looking forward for nature’s rebirth as well as our ‘spring forward’ to daylight savings time.

We’ve lived in our neighborhood here in East Tennessee for more than 14 years at this point.  When we moved in, there weren’t very many homes or neighbors…but in the last couple of years, growth has expanded exponentially.  Even the tree covered lot behind us has now fallen victim to ‘progress’.  First the trees were taken down, then we had a truly muddy lot.  Note the small pond between our back yard/common area and the area that was built up for the new home.  After that, the footings for the new house were poured.

Then they poured the slab so they could start construction.  Note the first delivery of wood…in this case the trusses.  I wonder if ponding on the slab indicates that it isn’t level…  See the big rock or rocks at the lower left of the newly prepared lot.  It is in a sinkhole.  I wonder if that will be a problem at some point?

Back to food…  As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I do like a nice pork chop.  Not too long ago, my bride breaded a couple of chops and baked them…serving them with mashed potatoes and gravy.  A really nice meal!  ‘Sadly’ she couldn’t finish her chop so I ‘had to’ heat it up, place it on a piece of toast and then cover it with an egg.  Ensuring that leftovers are not wasted is a responsibility and I am definitely a ‘responsible’ person…

Thanks to the Pioneer Woman (Pawhuska OK), we now have a recipe for sausage gravy that is superior to almost any other we’ve tried.  It surpasses a locally famous version that our neighbors rave about.  We made this batch with ‘regular’, not spicy sausage…so I had to sprinkle a little Tabasco on my serving.

As a final note, we have lived in our home for over 14 years and the carpeting dates back to 1999 when the house was built.  Even I acknowledged that new carpet was required.  The challenge then is that everything that we can move has to come out of the rooms being carpeted.  The carpet installation crew will move the heavy furniture…

In any case, I’ve always been ‘into taking photos’ of family, trips, scenery, etc.  Nowadays, everything is in the ‘cloud’ but until the last few years, we printed a plethora of photos and put them in albums.  I did the math on this stack of 41 albums.  220 photos per album times 41 = 9,020 photos!  Looking around and adding in the other albums as well as stacks of photos not in albums, I am estimating that we easily have 20,000 to 22,000 photos that will have to be dealt with at some point!  We wish our son lots of luck with that project!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave