Turn up that zydeco and get your cajun on!  There’s nothing like a Louisiana festival for food, fun, and fantastic movement — and this is one of the best: Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival in early May when mudbugs are runnin’ and Cajun thoughts turn to etouffee and fais dodo!

Might as well dress the part — fun this big deserves all you got — homemade or otherwise.

When you come to Breaux  Bridge (about 45 minutes from Baton Rouge), you enter Parc Hardy, buy a ticket, and pass through the big crawfish gate to the vendor section.

You’re sure to find crawfish-themed stuff for sale: stained glass windows with crawfish turned chefs, visors and sundresses made of crawfish print fabric, and jewelry, t-shirts and the like — all with those signature red crawly things on ’em! Or my favorite — with a warning to heed!

Immediately after the vendor booths, you spill out into wide open spaces (except for the elbow-to-elbow dance fans) and hear that hard drivin’ Creole music played with an accordion, violin, bass guitar, sax, or washboard! (Right on his chest? Really?)

It’s so much fun some folks just choose to sit it out and watch, but the foot-tappin’ goes on and on nonetheless.

Kids get their faces painted with big ol’ crawfish.

And adults turn to more serious work:  Crawfish eatin’!! Like crawfish pies (no file gumbo!) served hot and spicy.

Or crawfish etouffee from  this Ragin’ Cajun fan (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) who couldn’t scoop ’em up and pass ’em along fast enough.

Even the usual festival fare like corn dogs and turkey legs became larger than life and spicier than most in Breaux Bridge.

Spraying water on turkey legs to keep ’em from drying out!

I opted for a Cajun Pistol — “a spicy combo of crab, crawfish, shrimp and special cheeses stuffed into a bread roll” — and fried at that!  Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

My sister Marilyn and brother-in-law Collins from Denham Springs shared a wish-I-had-this-back-home treat:  shrimp wrapped in bacon, dipped in batter, and fried on the spot.  Festival heaven!

We tried crawfish rolls, crawfish balls, and crawfish boudin (spicy mixture of sausage, crawfish, and rice), but I’ll be darned if I can name a fave.

Crawfish rolls and crawfish balls

Some folks stood around a plastic table-like contraption that sat on top of a large garbage can.  It’s serious crawfish eating:  you peel ’em and eat ’em and toss ’em —  heads, tail, and all — into the hole in the middle!  (Not a bad invention, but we still use newspaper spread out on a table in our backyard!)  I’ve heard tell that you can get these things at a home improvement store Down South, but you’ll have to check that out for yourself.  However you dine at a crawfish boil, you can still say one thing:  Laissez les bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)

We topped off our Creole goodness with some homemade fudge whipped up right there in a tent on a marble table some strong person brought in for the day.

And then we took some Bourbon Praline Pecans back home  — well, some of ’em made it home.

The 2013 Crawfish Festival Queen stood up to greet us.  She’s Anna Angeles, a senior at St. Thomas More Catholic High School.  (Beautiful, right?)

But at 3:00, we pushed into a circle of folks crowded around a huge board bearing a pot full of crawdads — it was time for the Crawfish Races.  All you had to do was register your critter, get a number painted onto his back, and toss him into the pot when your heat was called.

And then they were off!  Crawfish wobbled, flipped, uprighted, wriggled, and ran until the first one to cross the outermost line was named winner of that heat.  Who knew you could cheer on a crawfish as if it were the MVP in Tiger Stadium! But we did.

The Crawfish Festival is over for this year, but there are always more opportunities to party in Louisiana.  You just have to keep on top of the calendar and get yourself in shape for more dancin’ and eatin’!  I know one thing:  I’d come back — and I might even suck dem heads!

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival Association

P. O. Box 25

Breaux Bridge, LA 70517

337.332.6655

info@bbcrawfest.com

www.bbcrawfest.com

For more information on Louisiana Festivals, click here.

Since we live in Knoxville but sometimes want to fly Southwest, we head to Nashville International Airport (BNA) and board a plane to wherever that economy airline will take us.  And if you’ve visited the Southwest terminal lately, you may have noticed a little bit of country right there in the airport!

It was this first sign we saw after check-in that reminded us of how long it had been since we’d had a Goo Goo Cluster. (We chose to remedy that situation . . . fast.)

Dubbed the “world’s first ever combination candy bar,” Goo Goo’s (named for the first words a baby speaks) are a yummy combo of caramel, marshmallow nougat, and roasted peanuts covered in rich milk chocolate.  What’s not to like?!! Tennesseans are accustomed to seeing Goo Goo’s in gift baskets or the logo on t-shirts, mugs, and the like — just like we saw at Nashville Star in the airport.

Moon Pies, iconic marshmallow sandwich treats from Chattanooga, lined the shelves, and now come in more flavors than just the original chocolate, banana, and vanilla.  New to us were Peanut Butter Moon Pies (We’re taking these home!) and Mint Moon Pies which the saleslady at Nashville Star declared taste just like those Thin Mints the Girl Scouts sell! 

T-shirts touted the cultural offerings in Nashville.  We saw printed wearables that said Welcome to Nashville Music City, Country Music Hall of Fame, Bluebird Cafe, Ole Smoky Moonshine (See? I told you this was Tennessee!), and our favorite one from the Loveless Cafe right here in Nashville.

Sitting beside it were products from the Loveless (a tourist court turned family-style restaurant and place to spend the night) like this jar of picalilli relish — a mixture of green tomatoes, cabbage, corn, and heaven only knows what else.

A t-shirt from Loveless that we could use in Knoxville during the Biscuit Festival stole our heart for saying what we all know makes for good eatin’ around here:

You can get barbecue sauce at the airport, too, from Chef Tony Neely of the family on Food Network’s “Down Home With the Neelys.”  Or you may want to visit their restaurants in Nashville, if you’ve got some time on your hands for slow-cooked, savory ‘cue that’s hard to beat.

In this terminal, however, you don’t have to walk far to sample Whitt’s, a delicious barbecue from a franchise developed by Bill Dean, former scientist.  The heading of a poster caught our attention — Barbecue? Being rocket scientist helps! — but we were really more interested in our heaping plates of oozy, saucy meat and two sides!

If music’s your thing, spend your layover at Tootsies — the little bar and music joint that faithfully mimics the downtown venue — Tootsies Orchid Lounge — right down to the live music, lavender color scheme, and back wall plastered with music memorabilia.

Or if you like making music of your own, head to the Gibson Cafe where you’ll recognize fine “gee-tars” (made by Gibson, of course) hanging overhead.

Maybe you’ll just have to have this t-shirt if you’re hanging with the hundreds of thousands of music fans that swarm the state in search of the best in country music– or any kind of good music, for that matter — every year.

So, come on down to Tennessee and stay a while — or just hang out at the airport.  We’ve got culture you can get into.  And you can take a little Tennessee goodness to the folks back home!

We’d “lak” that, too!

*Note to those of you who don’t speak East Tennessee:  “lak” is how we say “like” in these here parts!

Nashville International Airport (BNA) — 1 Terminal Drive, Nashville, TN; 615.275.4311; www.flynashville.com

Nashville Star — http://www.hudsongroupusa.com/store_nashville_star.php

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum — 222 5th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203; 615.416.2001; http://countrymusichalloffame.org

Grand Ole Opry — 2804 Opryland Drive, Nashville, TN 37214; 615.871.6779; www.opry.comOle Smoky Moonshine — 903 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738; 865.436.6995; www.olesmokymoonshine.com

Loveless Cafe — 8400 Hwy. 100, Nashville, TN 37221; 615.646.9700; www.lovelesscafe.com

Tootsies Nashville Airport — http://www.tootsies.net

Whitt’s Barbecue Nashville — http://www.whittsbarbecue.com

Goo Goo Clusters — www.googoo.com

Moon Pies — www.moonpie.com

Whitney Roberson’s teapot cake

If there’s anything near and dear to the heart of a former English teacher (that would be me), it’s a celebration of books and the joy of reading.  So when I heard that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library would send a book a month — FREE, you see — I signed up my granddaughter as soon as she was born!!! Sure enough, like clockwork, the postman delivers an age-appropriate book each and every month to the delight of    . . . well, all of us.

So with great pleasure I joined the masses at The Great Cake Bake benefitting Knox County Imagination Library February 23rd at UT’s Neyland Stadium.  Bakers from all over East Tennessee brought in their finest cakes and cupcakes — all to raise funds and promote reading!  An event I could definitely get behind.

Lots of picture-taking at The Great Cake Bake!

Bonnie Naugher, long-time supporter of Friends of the Library, directed me to tables of these juried delights in categories ranging from Beginner to Professional.

Long lines of folks filed past the cakes pointing the details to friends (“Oh, look over here!”), taking pictures, and sniffing the buttercream!

I noticed a definite trend (at least on the children’s book-themed cakes): lots of green frosting.  Like this Dr. Seuss Oh, the Places You’ll Go cake by Devon McGinley, Chesney Julian, and Erin Claxton.

And Lynette Kegley’s green confection depicting Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman. (Love that birdie in the nest!)

Author Eric Carle would have been proud of Dale Newman’s Very Hungry Caterpillar: chocolate cake dotted with green frosting and sporting a perky butterfly!

Courtney Haggard topped her three-tiered creation based on Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen’s Mine-o-Saur with — what else? — a green dinosaur!

Lining the center table were the more professional, adult-looking cakes. Adorning Whitney Roberson’s elegant creation were pale orange flowers atop creamy cake rounds.

With layers of pearly white flowers, dots, and frills, Lisa Cunningham’s wedding cake made heads spin.  Her new business, OVENart, opens at the end of May in Maryville — offering cakes, confections, pastries, and breads.

Closer looks at some of the cakes revealed details I never imagined possible.  Just check out Lee Umberger’s perky pirate resting against a palm tree with a happy crab, faithful parrot, and treasure chest by his side!

From the book Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White came a People’s Choice Award. Rebecca Grizzle’s towering, many-layered cake showcased some of the tidiest, tiniest details of the whole show. And there’s a ferris wheel smack dab in the middle!

The Junior People’s Choice Award went to Ellen Cofer for this adorable ensemble, Billy Goat’s Gruff. (Picture from Knox County Imagination Library Facebook Page.  Click here.)

In the cupcake category, A Mud Pie for Mother was the inspiration for Donovan Scott’s piggie-topped creation complete with coconut grass.

My personal award for humor goes to Denise Campbell’s cupcake featuring a witch who met her demise in a sweet sort of way.

If I had to select one cake (and that would be tough) from all the others as a true stand-out, it would be the one by Sara Kroetsch.  Based on Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, this colorful, quilt-topped four-poster with a cute down-and-out kid had it all — detail, workmanship, and a forlorn little face.  Loved it!

Just looking at all these kitchen creations made me long for something sweet to eat.  Fear not.  There was a table filled with goodies ready for purchase.  Most of the cakes on the display tables were for sale, too.  You just had to wait ’til the show was over to take one home.  (A tiny price to pay when you consider you’re bringing home a tasty masterpiece!)

About the time the hunger pangs hit, I spotted Magpie’s booth where they were passing out colorful squares (free!) from a sheet cake based on Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. (The chocolate was the richest I’d ever had in a commercial cake!)

Thankfully, the Cruze Farm girls were on hand with their great-tasting milk to wash it all down!

It was altogether a great event.  Kids could practice cupcake-decorating.

And volunteers, like Elizabeth Parker and Ashley Jackson from the Knoxville Junior League’s Done in a Day committee  . . .

as well as Anthony and Kate from Gap Kids said they’d definitely man the booths again.  Besides, it was fun just wearing those green shirts!

The Great Cake Bake accomplished its goals and then some:  raising money, boosting reading, and making some of us jealous of those creative bakers. What a great way to spend a Saturday!

If I’d stayed longer, I could’ve sampled The Berenstain Bears from Magpie’s!

If you’ve been to The Great Cake Bake or you’ve got a cake story to tell, please share. We love comments about as much as we love sweets!

Knox County Imagination Library

 https://www.facebook.com/knoxkidsread

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

https://imaginationlibrary.com/

Filed under: Food, Tennessee Tagged: benefit, cakes, Cruze Farm, cupcakes, Dolly Parton, Imagination Library, Knoxville, Magpie's, Southern food ]]> https://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/03/11/books-and-buttercream-at-the-great-cake-bake/feed/ 19 rushasams Whitney Roberson's teapot cake Lots of picture-taking at The Great Cake Bake! IMG_7661 IMG_7744 IMG_7668 IMG_7720 IMG_7672 IMG_7740 IMG_7680 IMG_7689 IMG_7691 IMG_7696 IMG_7697 Billy Goat Gruff Cake IMG_7708 IMG_7711 IMG_7701 IMG_7702 IMG_7718 IMG_7726 IMG_7723 IMG_7714 IMG_7750 IMG_7719 If I'd stayed longer, I could've sampled The Berenstain Bears from Magpie's! GreatCakeBake https://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/02/15/mixing-friendship-and-wall-street-a-valentines-celebration/ https://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/02/15/mixing-friendship-and-wall-street-a-valentines-celebration/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:55:52 +0000 http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/?p=1869 Continue reading →]]>

Since the late ’90s, I’ve bought and sold stocks with the ladies of WEB Investment Club. When we started the started the club, most of us had no idea how to access stock market info online or place a trade.  Now we talk the talk of PE ratios, exchange funds, and the like, even though we sometimes buy on a whim!

Yes, we’ve also had our ups and downs — members have come and gone, the stock market almost wiped out our earnings (and everyone else’s) in ’08, and we’ve bought some dogs of the Dow and wondered What were we thinking? when they tanked. We’re now talking about what to do with Apple!

But through it all, we’ve remained friends.  Good friends.  The kind who don’t mind speaking up and saying What do you mean we should sell?  That’s my favorite stock!

And one more thing we have in common:  We like to have fun! That’s why we invite the husbands (well, sometimes) and share the joy!

Member Jeanne Misenheimer with her husband Stephen

With busy December schedules, we decided to forgo our usual Christmas affair with husbands until February and celebrate Valentine’s instead. Our host and hostess were Vandy Leake and her husband Don who invited us to their lovely West Knoxville home.

Don and Vandy Leake hosting the Valentine’s Day dinner for our investment club.

Now you have to know this about Vandy: she could have her own show on HGTV — she’s just that creative!  Her colorful touches and floral designs added a romantic ambience to the evening.

On the buffet table, blue and white pottery anchored an arrangement of forced white tulips and pink begonias.

Centerpiece created by Vandy Leake anchors the bountiful table.

Streams of knotted and curled french ribbons wound under and through the platters and casseroles brought by members.

In the sunroom, a ruffled pillow stenciled with LOVE found a home among the yellow and green pillows on the wicker settee.

Tulips burst forth in this coffee table arrangement of ferns and ivy in a silver urn . . .

and swags of ribbons and hearts in the sunroom were visible even from the entryway.

Gourmet dishes and comfort food proved that this investment club could easily turn into an eating club if the market goes south again!

Doris Carter anchored the table with husband Dave’s smoked salmon and special sauce.

Gale Pettit said she cooked the pork tenderloin in the oven, but we could have sworn it was smoked on husband Mike’s outdoor grill.

Trisha Clark filled a platter with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and a balsamic vinegar/olive oil topping for the biggest caprese salad we had ever seen.

And Vandy’s stuffed new potatoes were a hit with most guests coming back for seconds!

Sandra Bowlin and her husband Gary let me take a picture of them right after dinner when they were feeling oh-so-full and happy!

It was good times, good food, and good friends.

Don, Vandy, Gary, Sandra, Trisha, Jim, Doris, Gale, Charlotte, Bert, Jack, Jeanne, Stephen, Dave, and Mike — right before the WEB Investment Club dinner!

Now, if we can just buy winning stocks as well as we can cook, we’ll have a Wall Street year to remember!

Corn Souffle

6 Tbs. sugar

6 Tbs. flour

2 tsp. salt

2 cans cream style corn

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained

1 1/4 cup milk

4 beaten eggs

2 Tbs. melted butter

Mix sugar, flour, salt, cream style corn, and whole kernel corn together. Mix mild and eggs thoroughly with melted butter.  Add to corn mixture and mix well. Bake in a greased casserole or souffle dish at 350 degrees for 1 hour. (If a deep dish is used, increase baking time until middle is almost set.) Serves 8-10

Happy Valentine’s Day from an investment club that knows what it takes to stay the course — and still remain friends!

“Liebster” is a German word meaning dearest, beloved, or favorite.  The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to other bloggers — intended to showcase exceptional blogs — and Oh, the Places We See has been nominated!!!

A blog I follow, mrs. & the misc. submitted the nomination based on a post I published about a favorite bed-and-breakfast inn, the Blue Lake Ranch in Durango, Colorado!

I’ve enjoyed getting to know the ladies who collectively publish mrs. & the misc. —  “twenty-something wives blogging about the miscellaneous things in life.” They’re a  talented group who share ideas for food, decorating, and life in general.  It’s their creative take on the sometimes extraordinary things we can make from ordinary “stuff” that appeals to me, so you might like to check out their blog here: http://mrsandthemisc.com/

After receiving this award, there are some “rules” to follow:

• The blog nominated must answer the 5 questions given by the person who nominated them.
• The blog nominated must tell 5 random facts about themselves.
• The blog nominated must then nominate 5 blogs (with under 200 followers), and make sure to tell them you nominated them.
• Finally, you must ask the people you nominate 5 questions of your own.
• Optional: proudly display the Liebster blog award icon on your blog.

So here are my answers to the questions posed by mrs. & the misc.:

1. If you knew you could only go on one last vacation in your life — where would you go? Someplace new or a vacation favorite?

I’d stroll the quiet beach at Pawleys Island, South Carolina, a place my husband and family have been visiting for over 30 years for one week each summer.  We go there at the end of July, right when a new school year is beginning, and I plan (while walking the beach) for the coming year.  You can do a lot of thinking and dreaming when you stroll a beach with nothing but the sound of the ocean and a few seagulls at your back!

2. What is the worst gift you were ever given?

I’ve never thought of any gift as a bad gift, but one the Good Lord gave me — the gift of gab — has gotten me into some trouble in the past!  The older I get, the more I just smile and remain silent.  Or at least I’m trying to!!!

3. Who do you most look up to in your life?

Anyone who has raised more than two children and anyone who teaches school!

4. What is your “can’t live without” beauty product (or miracle product that’s changed your life)?

I love seeing happy women whose faces glow, so I would have to say a moisturizer and anything that makes cheeks blush!

5. Best recipe you’ve ever made? The worst?

One recipe answers both questions:  A Hershey Bar Cake!  My old, inherited-from-a-friend recipe calls for two 10-cent cans of Hershey syrup and seven 5-cent Hershey bars!!!! Sometimes my calculations based on today’s products work; sometimes they don’t!  And I’m lucky if I bake it just right so that it’s moist and a tad gooey — not dry!

Now, for “5 random facts’ about me:

1. I have more stuff than my closets can hold but I hate parting with favorite things. (May explain why I dabbled in selling antiques for a few years.)

2. I’m addicted to technology and social media. (Constantly check my iPhone!)

3. I’m the oldest of five daughters.

4. I’ve been an educator for 45 years and still love visiting schools, talking with teachers and administrators, and learning new ways to share information with students.

5. I collect picture frames from the places we visit and ask complete strangers to snap pics of my husband and me to record the moments. And we collect sand from beaches we visit and put it in old bottles tagged with those favorite destinations.

Now, for my nominees of favorite, up-and-coming blogs:

Marie, let’s eat — Based in Atlanta, the team of Grant and Marie review local places to eat in several Southern states.

Stuck Inside of Knoxville with the Urban Blues Again — Written by Knoxville Urban Guy, this blog keeps you up-to-date on happenings in Knoxville’s growing downtown area.

Belle Grove Plantation Bed and Breakfast — The ongoing account of how Michelle and Brett Darnell are preparing for the opening of historic Belle Grove Plantation (former home of James Madison) in Port Conway, Virginia.

What We’re Having — Fabulous food blog from Gay Lyons, Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist who’s also an advocate for urban dwelling, entertaining, and sharing recipes.

Leanne’s delicious food and travel adventures — Leanne writes about food and places to see in Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand.

Here are my questions for the 5 nominees:

1. What inspired you to begin blogging?

2.  What is one go-to dish you prepare whenever you need to entertain guests or take a dish to share? (Include the recipe, if you feel like sharing!)

3. If you could return to one place you’ve visited, where would it be and why?

4. What is something you’ve eaten at a place other than your home that you enjoyed? And where were you?

5. What is one thing you would like to write about in 2013?

Nominees, be sure to follow the rules above and comment below with your follow-up post, so we can read your answers!

And thanks again to mrs. and the misc. for the Liebster Award nomination!

As fresh as it gets — seafood right from the boats!

My husband and I have spent the last days of summer at Pawleys Island for so many years, we’ve lost count.  But even though we know the routine of renting, the journey down highways and byways from Knoxville to South Carolina, and that great feeling when we see the ocean, we’ve found that the whole act of “getting there” just adds to the joy of travel.

And thus it was that we stumbled upon what has become our favorite shrimp dock — just by reading a sign along Highway 17 that runs through Georgetown.

Independent Seafood is just past the Harbor House Bed and Breakfast in Georgetown’s historic district.

We turn down a tree-lined street into the historic district where stately Southern homes make it a habit to turn heads of those driving by. Sometimes I think it’s almost as if they’re watching as tourists like us read aloud the dates in the oval markers and consider how porches, iron fences, and windows of wavy glass have maintained their character for so long.

Pretty soon, we see the place where we stop to fill our empty cooler: Independent Seafood.  It’s become a ritual, of sorts — leave home, stop at Columbia’s Farmers’ Market, then Cooper’s Country Store  in Salters, and take one last stop at Independent Seafood to get the goods for a first-night shrimp boil at the beach.

Independent Seafood Market Shrimp Dock

Independent Seafood’s a humble place really.  Right at water’s edge.  Plain concrete building with a back door opening to shrimp boats and workers and sometimes a stray cat or two who wander in, but not unexpectedly.

We move in for the kill, peering in at each bucket marked by shrimp size, thinking not only what we’ll need for that night, but maybe another night or two, mid-week.

Large shrimp in one bucket.

Medium shrimp for gumbo in another!

Trevor cracks jokes and tells us we’re not buying enough.  Heck, you need some shrimp boil or lump crabmeat —  croaker, too! (They’ve got it all.)

Trevor cuts up with the customers!

Lots more fish, seasonings, and frozen delights await.

Croaker on ice!

The house seasonings — hot or regular (which is hot to some folks)!

Crabcakes and assorted sea creature parts!

We buy mediums for gumbo and large ones for peel ‘n eat — packed in separate bags. Then we splurge and get the crabmeat, tossing all into the cooler.  One of the guys with a shovel big enough for circus scooper duty, scoops out crushed ice and layers it on top.  Then he totes it to our car for us! (Bert loves that!)

Baggin’ the shrimp!

On the way out, we turn down a different side street through the district just so we can ogle more gorgeous houses and lovely sit-a-spell porches before the home stretch to Pawleys.

Our dream: Low Country Boil (recipe below) with little more than some French bread and dessert from the Kudzu Bakery  on our own screened-in porch by the sea!

So, if you’re headed to one of the South Carolina beaches, and you pass through Georgetown, put Independent Seafood on your list of must-see places.  But, don’t forget your cooler.  You’ll want shrimp for supper, too!

Low Country Boil

Crab Boil (2 teaspoons per quart of water)

12 small red new potatoes

Six 4-inch pieces good smoked link sausage

6 ears fresh corn

3 pounds fresh shrimp (26 to 30 count per pound), unpeeled

Fill a large pot with enough water to cover all ingredients.  Add crab boil and heat until boiling.  Adjust crab boil to suit your taste. (I use Slap Ya Mama!) When boiling, add potatoes and sausage.  Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes. Add corn and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Add shrimp and cook for no more than 3 minutes (do not overcook). Drain and serve with piping-hot bread and ice-cold beer.

from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook

by Paula H. Deen

Independent Seafood Market Shrimp Dock

1 Cannon Street

Georgetown, SC 29440

843.546.6642

Filed under: Bed & Breakfast Inns, Destination, Food, Recipe, South Carolina, Travel Tagged: beach, Bed & Breakfast Inns, crab boil, fish, Lady & Sons, Low Country Boil, recipe, shrimp, South Carolina, Southern food, travel ]]> https://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2012/09/12/better-bring-a-cooler-independent-seafood-georgetown-sc/feed/ 9 rushasams 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 003 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 015 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 004 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 009 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 008 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 011 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 010 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 013 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 012 2012.7.IndependentSeafoodKudzu 005 https://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2012/08/26/its-family-knoxvilles-market-square-farmers-market/ https://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2012/08/26/its-family-knoxvilles-market-square-farmers-market/#comments Sun, 26 Aug 2012 22:31:49 +0000 http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/?p=1417 Continue reading →]]>

It’s the people swapping stories and socializing that make the Market Square Farmers’ Market so cool.

I was long overdue for a visit to one of the area’s best farmers’ markets — or so I’ve heard it’s the best — right downtown in Knoxville’s Market Square.  I marked off this Saturday for my inaugural visit just to see what all the talk was about and to bring home some veggies from the Market Square Farmer’s Market!

My husband and I dined at Pete’s first thing — French toast, eggs over easy, sausage, and piping hot black coffee.  Love this little diner.

But we could have had a biscuit and coffee at any number of places, even at the Cruze Farm Milk Bar set up on Union Avenue.  It’s all good, or at least looked to be.

Folks having breakfast at the Cruze Farm Milk Bar — a make-shift tent set-up right beside the truck.

It didn’t take me long to realize that our Farmers’ Markets have definitely kicked it up a notch.  What I saw that morning were white tents, for the most part; uniquely designed backdrops announcing names, locations and websites (Yes, they now have websites!) of area farms and businesses; ID tags for veggies and fruits with varietal names of produce locally grown; business cards with Facebook pages and Twitter names!

Not like the old days of open truck beds with turned-up baskets spilling the pickin’s of the day.  No sirree.  This market is first class all the way.

Adam Colvin of Colvin Family Farm told me to check out their Facebook page. And he’s not the only farmer Facebooking! “My pleasure,” I said. Who wouldn’t like to see these pop-in-your-mouth summertime ‘maters from Bledsoe County?

One customer, Donna Redwine, told me that she and her husband come every Saturday — and bring the dog.  It’s just the greatest way to end the week.  We love it here, she said.  And so did others, judging from the shoppers, casual coffee drinkers, and big-time talkers.  Dogs do too!

Some folks admit to sampling everything first, then making a return visit to buy their favorites. Like this shopper/sampler at Sherie’s Garden Salsa.

Even Elvis showed up, charming the breakfast crowd at Cafe 4!

It really was a great experience all around.  The produce was at its most colorful, the baked goods at their freshest, and the farmers, vendors, and creative crafters –ready to share information with anyone willing to listen.

Here’s what makes Market Square Farmers’ Market so good.

Mountain Meadows Farm won my prize for picture-perfect red peppers — you had to touch ’em!

7 – S Farms teamed up with Log Yard Dogs, bringing cedar planks for cooking salmon on the grill, baskets of shallots, and a mountain of yellow grape tomatoes that wouldn’t fit into the picture!

Mushrooms — more than I knew existed — were in the next booth over!

Who knew mushrooms could be downright artsy?

One farmer asked me if I thought he should photograph his produce and sell the pictures. I said, “Why not?” With this color and composition, just add a simple white mat and black frame. East Tennessee art, for sure.

“Or,” I said, “look at these fabulous peppers! Naturally beautiful!” I think I’ve talked him into this photography thing. Look for pics AND peppers when you go.

Bob Due of Terraced Garden Farms told me all about how his soil — about 12″ of magnificent loam — produces these All Blue potatoes and Rose Finn Apple fingerlings. Another vendor down the way confirmed: “Bob has the BEST root vegetables, but you need to try his butternut squash, too!”

For fabulous color, my favorite booth was this one: Jim Smith’s chilies from Rushy Springs Farm in Talbott. Look for his website at the end of this blog for his Kickstarter project.

A basket of sunny yellow Trinidad Seasoning peppers from Rushy Springs Farm. Where’s that Southern Living cameraman when I need him?

My vote for prettiest booth goes to Spring Creek Farm for its artful arrangement of produce — and Shelby’s pretty smile, too!

Couldn’t resist a close-up of Spring Creek’s picture-perfect squash — or are these gourds? I should have asked!

This booth offered just what it says: hand-poured coffee — one cup at a time! Cute cups, huh?

Log Yard Dogs piled a table high with sunflowers more than a foot in diameter!

This man drove more than 2 hours from McMinnville to set up his booth and design this bouquet– that I eventually took home!

Anthony Carter brought his Junk-a-New Birdhouses made of recycled materials. Loved this one with the old horseshoe hung upside down for good luck!

Elizabeth Ethridge of A Thrifty Girl winds strips of fabric into rosettes for pinning on a blazer, gluing onto a mirror, or clamping into your hair! Clever! (Her Etsy site is listed below.)

Shyan Strunk of Soy 2 Joy candles told me their best-selling fragrances are Butt Naked and Monkey Farts, but I thought French Vanilla would be just fine at my house!

Sheila sold me two flavors of Ms. Cock-a-Doodle’s Gourmet Chicken Salad: Tarragon and Curry Cranberry Pecan. Their new store in North Knoxville has just opened, so you don’t have to wait ’til Saturday for great chicken salad!

Breads and pastries, too, were in abundance from cinnamon buns to cupcakes to hand-made multi-grain loaves.  Perhaps my favorite booth — not for their showiness or for their vast array of offerings — was this simple one from Red Hen Breads.

This mother of two bakes her squshy soft rolls of milled wheat berries, flax seed, honey, free-range eggs, and yeast in a commercial kitchen owned by another vendor on Fridays and then brings them to market.  During the week, she home-schools her sons who help her in their booth near Krutch Park.

Selling baked goods from Little Red Hen Breads of Knoxville.

And I guess that’s what I love about this Knoxville Market.  It’s families working to bring us their most creative, very best products.  And it’s friends helping friends find a place to bake or set up a booth or just talk about their products.  The market has become a family unto itself — both to those who work there and for those of us who visit whenever we can.

Hope you get to any one of the Farmers’ Markets before they close.  You’ll be glad you did!

The Market Square Farmers’ Market

Wednesdays from 11 AM to 2 PM

Saturdays from 9 AM to 2 PM

May through November on historic Market Square

Website: http://marketsquarefarmersmarket.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mktsqfarmersmkt

Mentioned in this blog:

A Thrifty Girl

Elizabeth Ethridge

Website: athriftygirl.etsy.com

Colvin Family Farm

1045 JB Swafford Road, Spring City, TN 37381 (1-866-865-8329).

Email: Customer Support@ColvinFamilyFarm.com

Website: http://www.colvinfamilyfarm.com/index.html

Cruze Farm

3200 Frazier Road, Knoxville, TN

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CruzeFarm

Junk-A-New Birdhouses

Anthony Carter, 10770 Carpenter Run Lane, Knoxville, TN 37932 (865.230.1630).

Email: junkanewbirdhouse@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.junkanewbirdhouses.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Junk-A-New-Birdhouses/110598519011039

Little Red Hen Breads

Knoxville, TN

Email: redhenbreads@gmail.com

Mountain Meadows Farm

Anderson County near Norris, TN

Website: http://www.mountainmeadowsfarmtn.com/

Ms. Cock-A-Doodles

1008 E. Woodland Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917 (865.525.9384). Also in Knoxville Visitor’s Center, 301 S. Gay St., Knoxville, TN 37902

Website: http://www.mscockadoodles.com/#!home/mainPage

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/mscockadoodles

Rushy Springs Farm

230 S. Rushy Springs Road, Talbott, TN 37877 (865.674.7004). http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rushysprings/rushy-springs-farm-world-class-chile-sauces

Sherie’s Garden Salsa

Website: http://sheriesgardensalsa.com/

Soy 2 Joy Candles & Gifts

Email: Soy2Joy@comcast.net.

Website: Soy2Joy.com

Spring Creek Farm

668 Red Cut Road, Pioneer, TN 37847 (865.406.1398).

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/springcreek.farm.7

Terraced Gardens Farm

Bob Due, Owner, New Tazewell, TN (865.789.5285)

Email: rototiller2@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.terraced-gardens-farm.com/

It doesn’t seem like Cooper’s has changed much since it was Burrows’s Service Station — a combination grocery and gas station with family living quarters on the second floor. Theron Burrows built it in 1937 when U. S. Hwy. 521 was finished from Georgetown to Manning, adding this motto: We serve the needs of the neighborhood. I bet they did because they still do. Burrows’s sold farm fresh produce (as we call it today) as well as staple goods, fresh meat, hardware, farm supplies, even automotive parts.

After Burrows died, his son-in-law George Cooper bought the business, and now second- and third-generation employees run the business for second- and third-generation customers! They’re also kind enough (employees and customers) to talk to us pass-through beach folks who ask lots of questions about foods we don’t recognize.

For us, Cooper’s is kind of an educational experience, peeling back time to a way-back-when experience of a wood-floor, packed-to-the-ceiling, sit-a-spell place where service is just as important as the goods you buy out of a case.

We try to listen in on conversations, like this one between a man and his “little ‘un” on what you do with ham chunks.  Afterwards, of course, we had to have a bag of ’em to season beans and field peas.

You can also get what my Mom used to call rat trap cheese but most of the grocery stores in Knoxville label it hoop cheese.  No matter what you call it, we love it.  We’ve even been known to unwrap the white paper wrapping while driving down the highway, pinch off a chunk o’ cheese, and eat it with plain ol’ saltine crackers!  Red neck hors d’oeuvres, I suppose!

Mama called it Rat Trap Cheese, but I guess it’s just Hoop Cheese to us city folks!

We always purchase a couple of pounds of thick bacon and some hand-made fresh sausage. Sometimes we cut the sausage into chunks for Low Country Boil, but mostly we just grill the links, cut them into small rounds, and dip ’em into spicy mustard for a pre-dinner treat. (Especially if everyone’s gathered round the kitchen waiting for a big pot of boiled shrimp to come off the stove!)

It just wouldn’t be a beach trip, though, if we didn’t have at least one or two slices of country ham — “lightly salted and peppered just right,” according to the business card of current owner Russell Cooper. We watched as Jay Woodard grabbed hold of a big ham and commenced to put the business end of a saw to it.  Made it even more special that it was sliced fresh and wrapped in that white paper just for us.

Jay Woodard hand slices Cooper’s country ham.

Now, I must admit, there are some things that I just don’t eat.  Haven’t gotten my nerve up, I guess.  When I asked one of the guys back behind the counter what this loaf lookin’ thing was, he answered souse. And as proud as he could be, he said it was made with pig parts like shoulder, ears, feet, knuckles . . .  Maybe some day, but not yet, I said to myself.

Not for me . . . souse!

Mr. Cooper said his sons help out in the store, especially on Saturdays when so many of us “foreigners” travel to and fro.  Like William here who is weighing and pricing that country ham Mr. Woodard just cut.

At the check-out, Russell Cooper himself bags your purchases and tallies your bill.  He even asks you if you want some boiled peanuts or a slice of mighty fine pound cake for the road.

Russell Cooper, owner of Cooper’s Country Store

Well, of course we did, knowing we would regret it later if we didn’t succumb to the goodness at hand.

Bags of boiled South Carolina peanuts snug up to slices of homemade pound cake. In back, a tub full of cracklin’s.

We did, however, pass on the cast iron pots, t-shirts, and other non-pork goods.  We’ll be back again next year, and there’s no tellin’ what we’ll need the next time around!

Can’t get to Cooper’s Country Store?  Mr. Cooper says he ships all over the country — ham chunks . . . country ham . . . sausage . . . well maybe some souse, too, if you’ve a mind to eat that stuff!

If you’re driving down U. S. Hwy. 521, look for the Cooper’s Country Store signs or just put Salters, South Carolina, in your GPS.  It’s somewhere between Andrews and Manning, but you can’t miss it!

Cooper’s Country Store

6945 U. S. Hwy. 521

Salters, SC 29590

843.387.5772

Click here for more comments about Cooper’s (I didn’t know they sold fried chicken skins ’til I read this!) on the South Carolina Information Highway (SCIWAY) page.

Click here to “Like” Cooper’s Country Store on Facebook.

And please check back.  I’ve got several more great beach reads from our travels to share with you!

Dennis Fox pours out our harvest at The Fruit and Berry Patch

Sometimes the serendipitous adventures are best — well, at least it was last Sunday as my husband Bert and I took a leisurely ride through Halls (North Knoxville) just looking at all the new developments and changes out that way. 

Have you ever been to The Fruit and Berry Patch? I asked. 

Can’t say that I have, he answered — and that’s when we took the country road up to the farm of Dr. Dennis Fox.

Owner Dennis Fox tells us what’s in season and where the best pickin’s can be found!

Former botany professor at UT, Dr. Fox is an affable, knowledgeable, committed-to-sharing farmer who’s here almost seven days a week at this heavenly pick-your-own site. He spends quality time with city slickers like us, telling us what’s ripe and where to find not-yet-picked-over bushes.  We saw a young man holding a bucket ready to hit the fields of blueberries, but we were pretty sure we couldn’t stand the 100-degree heat that afternoon just for a few berries!

A visitor ready for berry-picking

So, we looked around the place. 

We spotted fresh honey (and there’s lots more to come since Dr. Fox has recently bought all the honey one local beekeeper can harvest).

And preserves and apple butter made locally from his fruit. 

Gallons of apple cider.

And fried pies, too.  Peach, fresh apple, blueberry, strawberry — some made from old family recipes, some new. (Strawberry’s my choice, but Bert ALWAYS picks apple desserts in any form!)

A cooler of home-made fried pies!

The place has a sense of humor, too, in a country sort of way.

But really, we had no intention of picking.  That is, until Dr. Fox showed us a map of the farm, how close the blueberries were to the shop, and the location of the “berriest” bushes that hadn’t been over-picked!  It’s been a tough summer for blueberries — we just haven’t had any rain to speak of, he told us.  But you can still find them, if you look.

Then he handed us a bucket.  How could we resist?

Bert reaches high to find the best berries.

So, with no hat, sunscreen, or appropriate clothing, we were off on our berry pickin’ adventure.

I did my share of picking — and loving the quiet!

We met up with this family — and listened to them one row over as we all picked in the silence of the fields. Look for the big, fat blue ones, the mother told her child.  And I could just imagine little pickers intent on learning the craft by grabbing not only blue but also green berries, twigs, leaves and all — anything to fill a bucket!  Happens, I suppose!

Family fun – berry pickin’ on a Sunday afternoon

But we were off in search of big fat blue ones, ourselves.  The berries we found were beautiful — or so we thought — until one man passed by and said, I know everyone thinks they’ve found just the right spot, but really, if you go down to the end of that row (and he pointed left and down), you’ll find some bushes that are just loaded. He was right.

That’s the fun of picking!  You hunt for the bushes with the best berries — down the lane, around the corner, up and down.  Even when your bucket is full. Just a few more, you say to yourself! It’s the hunt as much as it is the harvest!

In search of bountiful blueberry bushes

We were quite fortunate that young man came along, because the journey to find the best blueberries had a side benefit: we were squarely in front of the neighboring blackberry patch — and that’s a whole ‘nother story.  We hadn’t even thought of blackberries, yet here they were: huge blackberries ripe for the pickin’.  Well, mostly.  Lots more red ones this trip — waiting to turn black after summer storms like the ones we’ve had this week.  (Maybe if you go now, you can get the ones we left behind!)

More red than black — but that’s what makes the search so interesting!

Life lessons abound, I suppose, through experiences like this, and my English teacher mind couldn’t help but find symbolism in the simple act of picking blackberries: the search for something desirable, the joy of finding it– even if the find is based on happenstance and spare at best. Then the reach –careful, of course, to avoid tangles or an encounter with a stinging creature. And the fun of bounty hunting — God’s perfect (and sometimes imperfect) berries in an idyllic farm in Halls on a hot afternoon! Simple summer pleasures, for sure.

Rows of blackberry bushes with beautiful blue sky behind – Does it get any better than this?

We brought back our bucketfuls for Dr. Fox to weigh.

Weighing the pickin’s

And then plunked down extra money for bottled water and a fried pie — rewards for a job well done! 

If you want to go, call ahead first and listen to Dr. Fox’s daily message.  At this writing, here are the latest announcements:  1) Blueberries, blackberries, and peaches are ready to pick, but 2) The Fruit and Berry Patch will close if the temperature hits 94 degrees.  (Good plan!)

My advice? Go early — and that’s not just to beat the heat.  After all, it’s the other pickers you’re really racing against! Here’s the number to call:  865-922-3779.

So, what did we do with all those gorgeous blackberries?  Make a cobbler, of course!

Foundry’s Blackberry Cobbler from Summer Suppers

Here’s an easy recipe from the Knox Heritage Summer Suppers cookbook for Foundry’s Blackberry Cobbler.  If you’re not familiar with the Summer Supper program that offers Southern meals in great settings — like farms, historic homes, etc. — just click here for more information.  We love these events! 

Here’s Cynthia Moxley’s blog, The Blue Streak, on one we just attended:    Four Centuries, Four Visionaries, Four Blocks. A great progressive dinner in four different downtown locations!

And now for the recipe for this cobbler that was served at Strong Stock Farm in 2009.

Foundry’s Blackberry Cobbler

1/2 cup butter

3 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup milk

24 oz. blackberries

Melt butter in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.  Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar, flour, and baking powder.  Add milk and lightly whisk.  Pour batter on top of melted butter in baking dish.  On medium heat, cook blackberries and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar until mixture begins to boil.  Add blackberry mixture to top of batter and bake at 350 degrees until batter browns.  Cool and top with vanilla ice cream.

It’s worth it!

If you want to go to The Fruit and Berry Patch (Please do!), here’s what we suggest:

• Call ahead to see what’s available and in what abundance: 865-922-3779.
• Dress appropriately — cool clothing, sunscreen, hat.
• You don’t have to bring your own container unless you’re planning to pick a lot.  Buckets and cardboard trays are available.
• Be prepared to buy something else — the apple cider, fried pies, honey, and preserves are hard to resist!

Enjoy the day!

The Fruit and Berry Patch

Owners: Dennis and Judie Fox

Co-owners: Jeff and Sandy Fox

4407 McCloud Road

Knoxville, TN 37938

865.92.BERRY

www.thefruitandberrypatch.com

And so it was that we came to stay at the Black Walnut Bed and Breakfast Inn nestled under years-old shade trees in the historic Montford District.

Built in 1899 by the supervising architect of the Biltmore Estate, Richard Sharp-Smith, the mostly intact original structure is one of his finest residential commissions.  The home was purchased for $10.00 in 1917 by a hardware store owner, Mr. Ottis Green, who later became the Mayor of Asheville. He willed it to the housekeeper who cared for him until his death. Years later, a woman from Chicago purchased the house and renovated it to create a bed and breakfast.  In 1992, the Black Walnut Bed and Breakfast Inn was placed on the National Register of historic buildings.

Beautiful brick pathway entrance on 288 Montford Avenue.

In 2004, the inn was purchased by Peter and Lori White, owners of The Old Stone Bakery with two locations in Martha’s Vineyard and one in Tequesta, Florida.  They sold the businesses to concentrate on fine pastry and sugar art (Lori has been both pastry chef and cake designer)! And their talents don’t go unnoticed at breakfast time! 

Owners Peter and Lori White and Lola!

The Whites’ attention to detail in decor is evident — every room we saw was tastefully decorated in period decor but without the fussiness that sometimes “hangs over” a room in a period house.  Our room on the first floor had recently been painted a rich, chocolate brown in contrast to the elegant creams of the fireplace, sumptuous down comforter, and window seat pillows.

Chocolate brown and ivory color scheme for The Sunshine Room

The bathroom, too, had an Old World feel from the gilt framed landscape to the lush Turkish towels.

Old World art, white tiles, and premium towels for the bath

Upstairs we peeked into the Walnut Room with its king-size sleigh bed, ample seating, and Oriental rugs.

The Walnut Room — a king-size luxury suite

The Whites invited us to relax beside the pond where koi swam gracefully under the waterfall and take a look at the perennials just coming into bloom.

Perennials border the koi-filled pond.

Ruthie, who has prepared as a chef, greeted us at check-in and then proceeded to “whip up” a few tasty hors d’oevres for Afternoon Tea from 5 to 6 each day served in the foyer. All of us guests who felt quite fortunate to have found this place, sat on the expansive front porch, sipping and tasting, talking of travel and hobbies and where to dine that evening.

We enjoyed talking to Dana from Raleigh.

We met Gayle and Bob Bencivenga from New York who own a very interesting Internet business. Their blog, Places of Value, shares tips on where to visit and possibly settle/retire in North and South Carolina! We immediately checked that out on our iPad, since we love vacationing in both states!

Gale and Bob Bencivenga from New York

The next morning, Annika and Vincent from Washington, DC enjoyed cofee while waiting for breakfast to be served! 

Enjoying breakfast before heading back to DC – Annika and Vincent

First course — light, delicate coffee cake topped with strawberries Peter had purchased at the local farmers’ market. Second course — baked pear, halved and filled with cream cheese and walnuts, drizzled with honey and Marsala — warm, sweet, and dreamy to eat!

Baked pear drizzled with honey

And the main event: Red pepper and organic spinach three-cheese frittata — a hearty, textural blend of veggies and cheese — served with two sides: field greens topped with figs, Craisins, apples and pecan vinaigrette, and stone ground grits!

Spinach frittata, field greens, and organic stone ground grits – Ah, the South!

Peter says he loves his work.  Mainly, I suppose, because sometimes it doesn’t feel like work.  He and Lori do what they love, talk to guests from around the world, and sometimes greet famous people.  Like the actors from The Hunger Games and several of the principals from the Sandra Bullock movie 28 Days — all filming in North Carolina and staying at The Black Walnut!

Peter White, chatting with the guests at breakfast!

Well, Peter and Lori — we loved it, too!

Enjoying breakfast before hitting the shops in Downtown Asheville!

The Black Walnut Bed and Breakfast Inn, winner of Best B & B in Downtown Asheville (Travel Smart), has been featured in 1000 Places to See Before You Die and Travel and Leisure. For more information, please check out their website: http://www.blackwalnut.com/

The Black Walnut Bed and Breakfast Inn

288 Montford Avenue

Asheville, NC 28801

800.381.3878