Welcome and Unwelcome Guests

Oh jOy!  

 A SnOw dAy!

QB woke me up early on Friday morning, smiling and said, "Look outside."  I opened my bleary eyes and saw the most beautiful sight!  Yay!  Snow! 

 (that was my POV from under the covers)

We were off from work anyway because our plan was to leave for Arkansas that morning.  In the end, we decided it was too risky to travel, especially because the winter storm was covering every inch of our route.

So, we laid there for a while watching the snow accumulate.

Then it was time to bundle up and go for a walk in the snow!  

There was also a dual mission:  breakfast!  

(QB took the one above)

a view of our front yard from inside, above; and from the outside, below.

a view of our street:

As we made our way to the front yard, a little girl came up to QB and said, "Happy Snow Day!!"  She was looking for her dog, who as soon as he heard her voice, came bounding out of the snowy bushes.  She wished us another Happy Snow Day and ran back down the street. 

Snow is a very big damn deal in the South, dammit!

Wow! It was so pretty.

I haven't ever seen it snow like this in a long time and QB says the last time it snowed like this in Jackson was about 1997. I was delighted because usually it doesn't last long and it kept going to beat the band.

We made our way to the corner and down the street.

It was fun to see kids outside laughing and playing, making their snowmen, throwing a few snowballs and parents taking pictures.

 We stopped by Eudora Welty's house just for fun.

 

 

We were halfway to the grocery store when my phone rang and our friend and neighbor Katie asked if we wanted to go on a walk in the snow.  It was such a great idea and I felt bad we hadn't called her, so I let her know we were already out but please come and won't you have breakfast with us, too?  We walked back a little ways to catch up with her and headed on to the grocery store.


We got our provisions and were on our way back when we stopped and talked to a neighbor.  Low and behold, our friend, gorjus was out walking around, too.  He was heading to the grocery store for the very same reason we were, so he got an invite to join us for the snow day breakfast.  We got back to the house and began to get things moving.


gorjus decided to run home quickly and get his yellow stone ground grits - and I made a special request for him and QB to snatch up our friend and g's downstairs neighbor, Andi!   


It was funny to me how we amassed quite a group in a short amount of time.  I imagine if we'd taken another lap through the neighborhood, we would have collected more friends to add to the breakfast table.  I love having impromptu gatherings and what better way to spend a snow day with good friends.  It's so much fun when friends stop by out of the blue to visit - it's a fun surprise!

So, we went to town on breakfast.  Sweet potato pancakes with Delta Cane syrup (of course), Country Pleasin'  Cajun Andouille sausage, sauteed red and orange peppers, garlic cheese grits and sliced strawberries and bananas.  Yum, yum.

(Have to get a gratuitous cheese shot)

We also had coffee and Katie whipped some heavy cream and added some orange liqueur to it.  That was so good!!  Hot Apple cider with whiskey was another tasty beverage option.

Look at our feast!  We had a great time and ate ourselves into a stupor.  

The good, sleepy kind.

 (thank you, gorjus, for the cheese grits demonstration)

It doesn't get any better than that!

Oh!  I almost forgot to mention the UN-welcome guests that have shown up at our house this weekend, too!

For the past couple of weeks, there is a black and white stray cat that has been sitting on the fence outside our bedroom window.  It's safe to say he's a tomcat with all the yodeling and crooning he does.  Lately, there's been another kitty coming around, too, and they've become quite intimate apparently.

There's a hole that they have climbed into at the back of our house

and have proceeded to get quite cozy underneath our floors - holy cow, what a swan song!!  They are so damn loud.  The last thing we want to be is a kit-kat knock-em-up halfway house.  Feral felines!    

Someone stopped us on our snow day walk and asked if we'd seen a black and white neighborhood cat.  Yes, we've, uh, seen him quite frequently in our yard.  She wanted to make sure he was alright in this weather.  Hmmph!  I secretly thought to myself a few hundred evil things I'd like to do to him, what with the Vegas act he's been staging under our house lately!!  

Those cats have got to G-O.

Just the Two of Us

Over the weekend QB and I made a recipe from our fun new(lywed) cookbook called  Cooking for Two: Perfect Meals for Pairs by Jessica Strand given to us by QB family friends.

Now, suffice it to say that I cannot keep mentioning every single wedding gift we received because they are all fantastic.  Many are lovingly used each day and we think of the people who donated to the cause and thank our lucky stars for your kindness.  The nifty PUR water filter is just one example (you know who you are - ha!).  No name dropping here...

Moving right along.  Lately, my taste buds have clamored for scallops in a fierce sort of way and the front cover of this book has great upsell value.

We took a stab at the seared scallops on a bed of fresh English pea and mint puree.  

We started out with frozen peas 

(I'm not a huge fan of peas in the first place 

because the canned kind have a funky taste to me

and I avoid them like the plague.  

I have now seen the light.)

The peas were cooked for about a minute.

We chopped up the freshest mint we could find at this time of year (...) and stuck it in a blender with garlic and salt & pepper to taste.

 

You guessed it:  it got blended right up. 

Look at the pretty specks of mint!

Now at this point, I realize the sight of the photo above might lose a few people.  Granted, you'll no doubt come up with a few analogies about what this looks like. Nooope, just keep it to yourself.  I get it.

The truth is, it smells - and tastes - really good and fresh. (trust me)

We then got the pan ready for the scallops.  

Instead of using lemon juice, QB wanted lime - it was a good judgment call.  

 There was some remaining flavored olive oil in the pan from sauteing some mushrooms, we threw in a little hot paprika and let that heat up for a minute.

 

Look at it!  Just look at it!

  

Next time we should get fresh scallops.  The ones we got were frozen and just fine, for convenience's sake, but it made me wonder about getting better.

Mine didn't turn out the pretty brown like the picture (whose ever does except show-offs) but it was still delicious!!  The smell in the kitchen was wonderful.  

We served the scallops with sauteed mushrooms and raw red bell peppers - good flavor combo.  The butter from the scallops ran into the pea mixture and that was GOOD.  QB made a note to add more garlic to the pea mixture next time.  I must concur.

Coastal Teaser

It was cloudy all weekend but the sun peeked out for a little while yesterday.

I had an early morning walk on Sunday and spent some
time sitting on the shore with
the birds soaring and chattering overhead.

We shared a house with one of the biggest cats I've ever seen in my life. 

He's a hearty 19 pounds. 

Oswald ain't all fur.

We ate some mad BBQ at The Shed in Ocean Springs. Because BBQ Pork and an RV Park are a match made in heaven.   (get it?)

Mockingbird Bakery in Old Town Bay St. Louis with the best cranberry oatmeal scones you've ever put in your mouth. 

They make some Serious Bread.(Ha! Mockingburgers!)

A side trip to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art   
and adjoining community center.

 HOOT!

Back along Highway 90 and past all the lovely oak tree sculptures.
HOOT!
(not taken by me - it is from this website.
We didn't turn around after I saw him fly by - or rather
we flew by him!)