Recently in Photos Category

Now here was a man who knew how to enjoy children!

Happy Father's Day Papa. I miss you!

Wow, I really haven't been doing a whole lot of blogging lately. Got to do better!

For starters, I am working on a great new project: developing and implementing a series of birding trails around Alabama. Working with the University of Alabama's Economic Development Center, I'm helping the Alabama Tourism Department and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources continue the process of developing 8 birding trails. Four of the eight trails have been developed. The other four are in varying stages of development and we're working to combine them all into a statewide series of trails that can be marketed individually and together.

Long story short, we (someone with the University and I) took a trip to Decatur, AL last Monday to meet with some folks up there about their established birding trail and, on the way home, stopped at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge just south of Decatur on Hwy. 67. Ann and I have been talking about going there for years and just never made it. In just a short time, we saw hundreds of Sandhill Cranes, all sorts of ducks and numerous other waterfowl. So many birds that I rushed home and Ann and I went back this past Sunday. Sadly, most of the Sandhill Cranes were gone, but still got to see loads of waterfowl.

Had an early lunch at the Wildflower Cafe in Mentone, AL, walked along a trail in Desoto State Park and took a nice drive along the Little River Canyon rim drive before heading home.

Made this soup several weeks ago. It is sort of like a gazpacho soup, but all the chopped vegetables are floated on a toasted slice of bread. Regardless, it was an absolutely delicious bowl of soup! Perfect for summer and great with those excellent Alabama tomatoes.

Dinner Saturday night:

Potatoes sliced thin and crisped in the oven, panko breaded okra, cucumbers soaked in rice wine vinegar and spinach sauteed with garlic and shallots. And the steelhead trout, brushed with Alabama honey, soy sauce and ground peppers.

Had a great trip to Florence, Tuscumbia and along the Natchez Trace (pictured above) last week with my friend Ben Burford. What a beautiful part of Alabama.

Have been getting some great fish from Snapper Grabbers lately. Last night's black snapper was amazingly fresh and delicious. Simple preparation.

I learned a great trick from Cooks Illustrated--I should have thought of it myself, but oh well: sprinkle about 1/8th to 1/4 of a teaspoon on each filet of fish along with any spices to help it brown better in a skillet. The small amount of sugar caramelizes on the fish and adds a nice little crispness. This fish has a sprinkling of sugar and a bit of Cajun spice blend and was seared in a cast iron skillet with just a splash of olive oil and a bit of butter. Served over mashed sweet potatoes with simple steamed asparagus over that. Simple and tasty.

May not be a big deal everywhere, but snow in Birmingham brings everything to a halt.

It was beautiful though--most snow we've seen in years!

Christmas 2009 in Octagon. Got to see my very photogenic great niece along with my sister and her grandmother Julia.

Thanks to one of my sisters for sending this photo of Mama (front row second from left). Linden High School, Linden, Alabama.

Ann and I have been on the go the last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, we went to San Destin for a work-related trip and then headed to Santa Rosa the following weekend with Ann's mom for a short vacation planned well before we knew we were heading to Paris or to San Destin just the week before (the last trip was actually one of the items we "won" at a silent auction for Alzheimer's of Central Alabama). Anyway, it was a great trip and very relaxing. Here's one of the photos I took. I'm trying to use the photo I uploaded onto Flickr earlier, so we'll see how that works:

Made a surprisingly quick and tasty dinner last night.

Had a green tomato that I soaked in buttermilk before coating with a combination of Italian breadcrumbs, cornmeal and flour. I then re-dipped in buttermilk lightly and added a crust of panko breadcrumbs.

I chopped and seeded a fresh tomato (really beautiful one, at that) and combined it with a handful of chopped fresh basil, a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of kosher salt. (I let this sit for about an hour to develop flavor)

I added a handful of fresh arugula to a plate and drizzled it with sherry vinegar and the extraordinary Italian olive oil that our Parisian friends shared with us on our recent trip. I sliced some fresh mozzarella and added one slice to the top of the arugula.

Heated about an inch of canola oil (olive oil would be great, but didn't have any) to high and added the green tomato slices. Cooked until nice and brown, about 8 minutes or so (turning a time or two).

Pulled out, drained briefly and immediately placed on top of the cheese. Another slice of cheese and then a final tomato slice. Topped with the chopped fresh tomatoes and basil. Very, very good!

What a great time! More on the trip in the coming week, but I've posted some photos to flickr. Just visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/joewatts/. I really need to add a link to flickr on my blog.

We saw lots, ate lots, walked LOTS and LOTS and took lots of photos. Between the two of us, we took 1200 photos (don't worry, I won't post them all!).