2014 International Biscuit Festival

Knoxville, Tennessee

FYI-I forgot to take pictures of the doggone biscuits.

Renamed for the Day

Today was the International Biscuit Festival on Market Square in Knoxville.  Since its inception in 2010, the International Biscuit Festival has become a full weekend of events.  The festival will end tomorrow with Food Network's Tyler Florence at the Tennessee Theater  

I went because I have wanted to go since the first year, but getting to Downtown Knoxville from West Knoxville is a pain because you have to through the University of Tennessee/Cumberland Avenue. I was told there would be free parking.  Well, yes, sort of.  If you can get a space on the street, which you cannot.  Parking in a lot or garage was either $10.00 or $15.00.

This is not like living in Connecticut and getting on the Metro North to go into New York City.  Doing that is easy.  It is well planned out because people do it every day.  

Dead down at this end!

From Sequoyah Hills to Market Square, Knoxville is just not user friendly.

In addition to the International Biscuit Festival, the Saturday Market Square Farmer's Market took up a great deal of room.  I believe the organizers need to work out a new layout.  It would be great if there were more vendors for both the farmer's market and the biscuits, but as it is now, movement is nearly impossible.  If you are handicapped in any way, have small children, a dog (or two) or are claustrophobic, DO NOT GO.

A small portion of the Tupelo Honey line

Hopefully, the International Biscuit Festival Organizers will work all this out by next year,  Like their Facebook page so that you can be in the know about the decisions and dates for next year.  I love the concept and I really enjoyed the food.  Free and easy movement would be a real bonus.

At the International Biscuit Festival, you pay $10.00 for a ticket, which allows you up to five biscuits.  My husband and I got two tickets.  The vendor marks your ticket for each biscuit.  Sometimes, we got two biscuits and sometimes, we just got one from a vendor.  This allowed us to sample more biscuits between us.

Some of the efforts were more successful than others.  The Sundress Academy (a non-profit arts group) had a Peach Bourbon infused ham biscuit.  The ham was fabulous.  The biscuit was too crumbly.

Bojangles had an iced blueberry biscuit called the BoBerry.  You would expect a chicken and biscuit place to get it right and they did.  My Husband ate two.

Also, very good were the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant's Cranapple Biscuit and The Plaid Apron's Pawpaw Pecan Biscuit.  Gourmet's  Market called their offering "On Top of Old Smokey".  It was mildly spicey and they served it with your choice of jelly.  I chose the Frog Jelly.  Frog stands for Figs, Raspberries, Oranges and Ginger.  The Jelly was fabulous.  I am going to run down to Gourmet's and get some Frog Jelly.

Dill Pickle Biscuits

Southern Living's biscuits had bits of dill pickle chopped up in them and the very popular Latitude 35 had a very rich chocolate sauce.

Of course, people were lined up at 8:30 in the morning for the Tupelo Honey biscuit.  The festival opened at 9:00 and Tupelo honey had sold out 1300 biscuits by noon.  The winning offering was by Tomato Head/Flour Head and was called Ms. Pearl.  It consisted of buttermilk biscuit, corn, tomato and Benton's bacon, which I cannot eat.  It gives me heartburn. Congratulations to Tomato Head/Flour Head.

Maybe next year, the organizers could find a way to funnel the crowd.  Because then, people would stay longer and spend more money!

Travel wardrobe Spring, 2014

Cincinnati and New York

Going to Cincinnati for my nephew's high school graduation and then New York City for our dear family friend's law school graduation.  We will be gone for close to six days.  

We are leaving on the afternoon of May 23 for Cincinnati from Knoxville. My nephew's graduation is at 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, May 24 at Centas Center at Xavier University.  Lunch with the fam afterwards.  Hang out with family on Sunday, so totally casual.  We will then leave at zero dark thirty on Monday morning for NYC.

We will arrive at 4 or 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 26 in New York City.  We are staying at the quite posh Peninsula Hotel. The hotel is centrally located in midtown at 700 Fifth Avenue between 54th and 55th.  We will probably play it by ear on Monday night.

Tuesday, our dear girl's graduation, is at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center at 3:00 p.m. on May 27.  Her graduation dinner will be at the Clement at the Peninsula Hotel at 7:30 p.m. that evening.

We will drive back very first thing on Wednesday morning.

With those facts in mind, I have put  together a wardrobe that should cover any eventuality. 

See my style board right here:  My style board

 With the possible exception of shoes for the dinner at the Clement.  Since I won't have to do any walking, I am trying to decide between three pairs of shoes.  If I wear the Adrienne Papell Lace Bodice Dress, which of these shoes should I wear?

Ivanka Trump

BCBG Generations

Sole Society

Ok, kiddies.  Thoughts?  Be Brutal.

Vice Vinnie kept busy with Sex

Graduate Courses in Student Development Theory 

In an article in the May 13, 2014 Knoxville News Sentinel,  new University of  Tennessee Vice Chancellor for student life, Vincent Carilli describes for the reporter how half of his time has been spent dealing with Sex Week at the University of Tennessee.  Fortunately, Chancellor Carilli has graduate courses in Student Development Theory in his past.

Ok, so, here is my thing.  I don't give a fig how much time students at the University of Tennessee spend having sex, thinking about sex or talking about sex.  They can talk about gender and transgender roles 24/7/365.  I don't care. I wish I had known about the Drag Lip Sync show.  UT had the Blurred Bynes video on the Sex Week website, but I don't think DWV was at the show.  Darn!

I just wish that while they were talking about SEX, they would include a little GRAMMAR in the conversation.  The students could learn about the difference between "Let's eat, Grandma." and "Let's eat Grandma."  Grammar and sexual innuendo all in one.

Or, how about learning the difference between your and you're or to, two and too or there, their and they're. Again, it could be slipped right into the sex discussions.  For instance, used in a sentence.  "They're not having sex there."  Or, "Would you two like to have sex, too?"  Or, one more "You're not going to have your boyfriend and girlfriend over at the same time?"

Don't blame it on the internet.  If kids only learned what was on social media (bad grammar), you wouldn't need sex week.  

I had to google Student Development Theory.  I had never heard of it before.  I read the whole freaking wikipedia article.  I read about all the different theories.  I think that I have come up with a relatively good description of Student Development Theory.  This theory attempts to explain that sentient beings learn everywhere and from everything. Sentient beings learn not just from the classroom but also experientially.

See, I learned something from Sex Week at the University of Tennessee!

Go Vols!

Ready for the World Cafe - Japanese French Fusion

Just $12.00

The Ready for the World Cafe is a weekly dining experience provided by the University of Tennessee and Pellissippi State Community College Culinary Arts programs.  On Thursdays in both the Fall and Spring semesters, students develop and present an international menu.  Today's Japanese French Fusion lunch was the last of the Spring semester.

The Menu

The four course meal is served by a student, and Max was our waiter today.  Max was very observant and unobtrusive in his service.  Perfect qualities in a member of any waitstaff.

The first course was a Japanese take on a classic Salad Nicoise.  The hard boiled egg was replaced with tofu and the tuna was wasabi seared.  The whole salad including the miso vinaigrette was delicious.

A Japanese take on a Salad Nicoise

I am not always a fan of terrines so I wasn't sure about the French ratatouille terrine of vegetables topped with seaweed salad and served on a ponzu sauce.  That is, until I tried it.  This was an absolute hit.  The terrine was fresh and the colors were vibrant and and the sauce was slightly citrusy and perfect.  There were some beautifully fried white noodles on the side.

Ratatouille Terrine with Ponzu

The Salmon en papillote was freaking amazing.  I don't think that I have ever had a better tasting or better cooked piece of salmon.  One of my table companion's salmon had a portion that was under cooked.  Mine was so beautiful and delicious.

Salmon en papillote

Beautifully cooked

The honey sesame dessert eclair was very light.  I now think that I actually prefer red bean paste as a sweetener.  The red bean paste is less sweet and does not coat your tongue.

Honey Sesame Eclair

Filling sweetened with red bean paste.

I have to say that not every Ready for the World Cafe meal has rocked my world.  The Japanese meal last year with the Octopus and fish sauce salad dressing was a real yucky course.  Even the rest of that meal was great.

What a great deal.  The culinary students get real world experience.  The guests pay $12.00 and get to try new foods or old foods prepared in new ways.  #Winning!

Watch the Knoxville News Sentinel for the offerings for next fall and make your reservations early.

Local pastor says "No place for hostility in abortion debate"

So, like if I am really a Christian I should just shut up

Today, the Knoxville News Sentinel  published an op-ed by The Reverend Jill Sizemore.  The Reverend Sizemore is Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Knoxville.  The article, which I have linked to here, is entitled "No place for hostility in abortion debate".

Although in her article, The Reverend says there is " tension, unrest and utter hatred" on both sides, she only discusses the "confrontations and gun violence" at reproductive/family planning facilities where doctors, workers and the workers' families are harassed.  So, I guess the true title is "No place for hostility by those who oppose abortion".

Sizemore writes that abortion does not need to be discussed, but the hostility of the actions and dialogue needs to be discussed.  She says that "supposedly God-fearing, God-following" people are "utterly dismissive" about the way we talk to each other.  She posits that "until this divide between us is closed.......".

Nevermind, I won't bore you with what she blathers on about with the feel good philosophy of a kind of religion of here and now.

My son at 20 weeks gestation in 1987

She says this is about an individual woman and that by not affirming her decision, we are turning our backs on her.  Sizemore says that we have complicated the whole issue.  Then, she goes on with that old saw (and I know this one is old because I had sex ed in school in the 70's) about how we don't talk to kids about sex in the right way or teach them about contraception.

Then, there is the blah, blah, blather about a woman deserves the right to choose. And, she says that "Pro-choice advocates do care about both mother and child."  Yes, that would be the dead child.

Reverend Sizemore, I write this directly to you.  I recognize that your brain pan is probably bigger than mine.  I recognize that you are far better educated than I and I am totally sure that you converse with God far more often than I do. 

Do you really think that we do not talk to kids openly about sex?  Do you really think that there are people in this country who believe that sex outside of a loving, committed relationship won't ever happen?  Do you really believe that fetus lovers believe that abortion will never happen?

Do you really believe that there can be rapprochement between two diametrically opposed ideas....life and death?  What can we agree on?  The baby is dead.  Well, that is one thing.

Do I believe that God would be really, really stoked if I said, "Y'all go and do what you want and I will be totally supportive."  We all need to be healed and when I am God says to me "Go and sin no more." (John 8:11)

Color me trying to figure all this heavy stuff out here in this scruffy little city.

In praise of Parkwest Medical Center

A group of true professionals

My ability to take in a breath declined all day.  Other than the fact that I do not like hospitals, I have no reason whatsoever that I did not at least alert my husband to the possibility that I was ill.  I told him I thought I got some pollen in my lungs and we bought more Vics-Vap-O-Rub.  Just don't ask why.

About 3:00 a.m., I woke my husband up and told him that we needed to get to the Emergency Room.  Parkwest Medical Center is about 15 minutes from our home, so there was never a question of where we were going.

And, to be honest, I didn't think it really mattered which hospital that you went to when you were ill.  All hospitals are the same.  Drab, dreary, germy and filled with people who hate their lives.

 

We were seen by a triage team within about 10 minutes (even though it seems way longer when you can't breath).  The staff was professional, courteous and focused.   They moved quickly through steps to eliminate problems.  They discussed everything with me, but also told me their preferred choices.

Once I was admitted, the experience just got better.  Everyone was kind and caring.  I was on oxygen and receiving breathing treatments for a really bad allergy attack.  Apparently, Saturday was a really bad day.  And,  allergies in Knoxville, that is pretty darn common.

The food was delicious I must say.  Really good quality.  Nice choices. Salads and soups, a nice balsamic chicken and, maybe it was the steroids, but the Sara Lee desserts were great.

Look, when you are ill, the small, tender mercies mean so much.  A kindness and a smile, a small and appropriate joke.  Everyone that I met on the Fourth Floor staff was wonderful, warm and professional.  It was 3:00 a.m. Easter Sunday when I arrived and 7:00 p.m. on Monday when I left and I did not have a bad experience with the staff or their treatment of me.

Thank you Fourth Floor Staff from Room 472 with the breathing treatments.

Color me grateful for every breath!

Dogwoods and the Beauty of Sequoyah Hills

Perfect Sunday Drive

We have been very blessed here in Knoxville.  Although it doesn't happen very often, the Redbuds and the Dogwoods are out together.  So, I said to my handsome husband on Sunday, April 13, 2014 that we should drive the Dogwood Trail in Sequoyah Hills.

The Sequoyah Hills trail was the first Dogwood Trail in Knoxville and, in my humble opinion, still the best.  Bordered on one side by Ft. Loundon Lake and with rolling hills, the Sequoyah Trail is by far the most picturesque. 

Talahi Park

Although I went to the ribbon cutting for the re-dedication of Talahi Park last week, there were too many people to take good photos.  I couldn't resist going back and taking photos.

One of the summer houses in Talahi Park

The monument honoring Robert Foust's vision

Before the recent work Talahi had fallen into disrepair

A great deal of damage from storms and foreign plantings had left Talahi in quite a state of disrepair.  Not now.

The fountain.  Simple and beautiful

The fountain shoots up so high and sprays bystanders.  It is wonderful and refreshing.  The fountain is simple and beautiful.

Ft.  Loundon Lake

I love the unspoiled look of Ft. Loundon Lake.  

The Dogwoods are breathtaking this year.  We haven't had any rough weather to bruise them up until now!

There was high volume traffic and everyone was taking pictures on a perfect Blue Sky East Tennessee Day in Sequoyah Hills.

I thank God every day that I live in East Tennessee.