Another Adventure Of Miss & Sue Part 2

Alrighty now... on with the rest of our adventure...

We shopped at the Country Living Fair for two fun filled days.
 

Loved this bird house...but a little bit too big to

strap to the top of the car.

I know it looks a bit windy. The weather was actually perfect.

Aren't those the cutest flags. I am going to make some like that

 for our Little House In The Big Woods. 

I just saw some colorful bandannas at Hobby Lobby for cheap.

What a great mix of old chenille blankets and new minky fabric.

Have you ever seen something and later wish you would have bought it?

I wish now that I would have bought this to put up for a baby gift.

Look at those bowls...I need to pull mine out the cabinets.

Ya know me (animal freak) I can't walk past an animal and not pet it. One day I am waiting to have my hand bitten off from this bad habit.  Well actually if it is showing its teeth and hissing I usually back up a bit. LOL

Well we could not go to Austin and

not venture out and get lost downtown!

It took us one hour to go four times around the state capitol building and three times asking for directions.

But hey, I do believe this dude is lost too!!

And people think we are insane, who rides a mule on a busy down town street?

Humm, maybe he was still drunk from the night before.

Hey Cupcake was screaming our name. It was hard waiting for the light to change.

Right across was this cool little shop.

 Can't remember the name of it.

No words for this it was just color overload.

I must leave you with this one last photo of our trip...

Wonder why we got lost so many times this trip?

Susie ate the whole time while driving!  No I am not kidding.

We were very sad (I told you in the last post you would laugh and cry) this will be our last 'Road Trip" for awhile.  The day before we left I found out that I was hired for a new job.  It was a career opportunity that I could not pass up right now.  I am certainly missing ya'll and her right now.  I hope that soon I can have a schedule to work and blog.  If you have any time management tips PLEASE share, I need all the help that I can get.

Love and Miss Ya'll,

Another Adventure of Miss & Sue

Ready to laugh and cry? ...Grab some coffee, tea, wine or heck I'm sitting here drinking a beer.  Yes don't judge, its one of those baby beers and the bottle is cute. 

Heck, I made it healthy, I put a lime in it.

 So I am getting a little hit of vit. C!  This is going to be a long visit.. we have alot of catching up to do!  

 Might have to be two or three post...

 Ya all know Susie is the "go getter". On her blog that girl can tell you a story with a few words and pictures.  Ya learn stuff from her.  

Me..  I am well... the one that over thinks and by then my brain has moved on to other things. I guess you could say over the years, instead of just doing I think it over till its too late.

 I write a blog post and then hit DELETE, because mine is like a flippin mini novel. I am the kinda person that has to tell the whole story. Guess I like to type.
LOL NOT!

In this post I will try to wrap up a trip that lets just say was one of the "OK done that, been there trips"...and let you in on whats been going on in my part of the world.

If you have been around here a bit, you know sista and I love our 'ROAD TRIPS'

We share lots of laughs, 
but really this part is not funny!

 Who the hell stops at the BLUE BELL ICE CREAM FACTORY and does not even sample taste the ice cream????

  Maybe us two girls!

 One that thinks she has a lactose problem and did not want to be on the open road without TP.

And the other (me) that decided to do a "Clean Diet" two days before a road trip. Not pleasant being in the car with a chick who had not had a coke for 72 hours and counting every second that very slooowly ticked by!
 (THANKS SUE FOR BEING SO SUPPORTIVE)

Sista would not try the ice cream,  but we HAD to stop at the Golden Arches to grap the gurl a happy meal.... HA HA .  

 We had never seen the SUPER SMALL fries! 

 She wanted to go back and get the rest of her fries...she felt so cheated!!

Then an hour past that stop, we notice a sign to Dallas! 

STOP!!  Austin is the other way!

(oh but those goats in that trailer are so cute)

U-TuRn in the highway...

How in God's green earth did that happen?

Guess we were laughing so hard at me spilling

salad dressing on the front of my boobs

and

 trying to get a picture of the stupid small fries ~

 Musta took the wrong turn. 

But its all good, we will get there sooner or later. Nothing was going to keep us from seeing our Country Living Peeps.

What a trip " Huge Highlight"  seeing my friend Brent from the Beekman Boys.  I could not wait for Susie to meet him. 

OMG.. he hugged us like we were family!

 A few people asked me if he was my brother. Gosh I wish! 

I am so happy for them. 

 They are now going to be on the Cooking Channel.

  Even made a few new friends.  Life Lesson...no matter where you travel, try to make at least one new friend! 

Isn't that what life's about???

These Jelly Queens were sweeties,  super duper friendly! 
  their jellies ...brought some home.  YUM 

After all the visiting we did get some shopping done.

Two days of shopping.

FABRIC.. this is the stuff I RUN too...oh, I think that I remember a song like...oh heck there I go over thinking.....never mind.

No... sista gurl, I told you already that is not your color! 

If you must, get the pink. :)

    Look at those buttons...bet that jar weighs a ton.

Sista snagged her some really old chippie boards ... can't wait to see what she is gonna so with those.

I am sure it will be something fabulous.

Well this concludes this post, no kidding I have been working on it for three days...don't worry, I only had the one beer at the beginning of this post.  My daughter is after me to go somewhere with her and has given me ten min. to get out the door.

Don't worry I have lots more to share.

Enjoy your day, make it count!

Texas Road Trip

The time has finally arrived, and believe me,

not minute too soon!

Hitting that open road once again...with you know who

Not going to far this time...just to Austin, TX.

Country Living Magazine Fair

Three fabulous days filled with shopping, seminars

and catching up with friends.

Over 150 vendors...not to mention awesome Tex/Mex food...

Susie and I are meeting up with other blog friends...

Are you going to be there?

We'd love to meet you...

Whata Man

whatta man ... whatta man...
a little music with my post today

Whatt a Man...

25 years and he still sends me flowers...

whatta man...

He told the florist.."Not to many roses, she has plenty in the yard."

It was gorgeous...looked like something you would see in a hotel lobby.

whatta man...

He surprised me by taking off of work early, and driving us

to New Orleans for lunch.

whatta man...

Lunch at Luke (a John Besh restaurant). 

I just love John Besh and have been longing to

try one of his restaurants.

Seafood Gumbo and warm french bread

Stewed Lamb with spring vegetables

whatta man...

Walking off lunch on the streets with all the antique shops.

Did I mention that my man treats me really really well?

whatta man...

He offered to by me a new wedding ring in  one of the antique shops...but, I said "No" 

crazy huh?

  but I told him let's use that money on my little cottage that we are building.

whatta man...

Few drinks while listening to a little blues on the patio at

House of Blues

What a great place when the streets get to be over whelming?

On every street in the French Quarter their are wonderful places with patios. If you stop and the music is not quite what you had in mind, slip over another street or two and you will be sure to find a place you want to sit and let your heart sing.

whatta daughter...

Yup when we got home that night our daughter had a wonderful dessert waiting. 

What a wonderful day to celebrate 25 years of life together...
What can I say, " Whatta Man ~ A Mighty Good Man"

(Note   The day happened so fast...I did not get a chance to grab my camera, so I to use my cell phone)

Mini Pot Jambalaya 101

MINI POT JAMBALAYA 101

In  Crawfish 101 you learned where crawfish come from and how to cook them,

Today let me teach you a little something about 

 Mini Pot Jambalaya.

Its only right that I share what my hometown of Gonzales,Louisiana  is famous for,

they are the Jambalaya Capital of the World

Click above to read more about the festival.

Jambalaya, pronounced Jum-buh-lie-uh,  is a Cajun/Creole dish that is made from a mixture of meats, rice and seasoning.  On any given weekend it is not hard to find a church or neighborhood party cooking up this concoction.

Jambalaya is usually cooked in much larger black iron pots, but this weekend my family decided try out cooking in the mini pots. 

Ok...I completely understand that meat and rice does not sound like that big a deal.

 I'm gonna let you in on a secret from the South.

 The Southern men can usually cook better than the women and they take it very seriously! 

Many cooking secrets are passed down from a paw paw to father then to the son.

 The big deal is not really the food, its all about the prep work and being with family and friends while it cooks and boy did we pass a good time this weekend! 

Camo man brought everyone a mini pot and stand. They are available at most local grocery or hardware stores.  Once you get your little pot, it must be cured or "blackened".

One of our friends let us borrow his little stands that hold the fire. This way the fire is not directly on the ground.

 A closer look at the mini pot and stand.

We gathered little branches.  We had to make sure that we had enough wood to keep  fire going.

Another friend donated scraps of wood from his cabinet shop. 

I believe these are oak.

Everyone had a little bowl of pork and green onion sausage. 

Onions, green onions and bell pepper.

Seasons...everything we had in the cabinet. 

Everyone just added what they wanted.

  These mini pots only take one cup of rice.

Here Britt is getting prepped for her fire.

 They have the fire going.

 (This is not an activity for unsupervised children or men who have been drinking all day)

They  added a little grease to the pot.  When it was hot they added the pork and after a minute or two the sausage.  They cooked it until it was nice and browned.

As the meat fries they would spoon out the grease and pour it on the fire to keep it going.

(We are talking a SMALL amount of grease at a time. 

I can assure you, no one lost their eyebrows .)

 Keep adding wood to keep the fire hot.

Everyone was stirring their little mini pots...

 When the meat is all browned, they added

 onions, green onions and bell pepper.

(My picky child did not add any "green stuff" to his

 Guess what ~ that is fine. 

That's why it's so fun for everyone to have their very own pot)

 Brown the onions down.

Add in one water bottle of water...bring to a boil...maintain the heat...add seasoning at this point.

Then add one cup of rice. 

Don't you love that fancy smancy tool they used to take

the lid on and off?
Cover the pot and remove all the wood from under it ....

Just the coals and  heat of the pot will cook the rice.

I know rice with meat does not sound that great...

but with the added seasonings...YUM

 OK...Like we say here, either someone was starvin

or it was really good!

Could not have a post of the weekend without sharing what Max was doing while we were cooking.

He sat there patiently waiting for someone to take him for a ride.

Is there a special dish that all your family loves to get together and help make?  Do share.

Join me today over at Three Mango Seeds for a really great linky party.