Results tagged “Photos” from Getting to Know Joe

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!

So very good. More photos to follow later!

So many great things come from connecting with family. Cousin Kevin "Chunk" Mitchell has been helping us with our house--and we really, really needed the help. He was here several weeks ago to give us some ideas and see our house for the first time. We were talking and exchanging some photos. He told me about this photo and it certainly isn't one I'd seen before. My Uncle Clifford and Aunt Phebe Mitchell getting married. The man on the far right is my father, best man to the groom.

My Mama, Inez Hinson, was born today in 1924. What a fitting time of the year for her to have been born: she really seemed to relish this time of year. The passing of winter was certainly her least favorite season--and it would have been your least favorite season too if you lived in a house with as little insulation as our house in Octagon had when she was growing up! The first signs of spring are already bursting forth into bloom. Camilla's blooming everywhere, the bulbs of thousands of daffodils in full bloom--this is the spring Mama loved. Green starting to dot the landscape with color for the first time in months; spring in Octagon was always a special time.

I got to visit with my cousin Kevin "Chunk" Mitchell over the weekend (he came to help us with doing some renovations on our house--very excited about that, but more on that in a later post). Getting a chance to visit him and talk with him about family, to catch up, to hear about everyone, really drove the point about that strong Hinson gene and the power of family. Mama was a firm believer and I'm sure she would be delighted to know that Chunk and I were reconnecting!

Okay, I don't really know the history behind any of these, but liked them. Anyone have any comments?

Had a very productive week this week. Lots of work on Brombergs website, most of the way done with the Tyler Eaton website, setup of the Mid-South RC&D website, a trip to Bibb and Perry County to do some work on a couple of tourism websites, the Highway 14 Antique Trail and even got to meet with a couple of potential new clients, including someone that raises all natural, grass-fed beef on their family farm that somehow they've managed to preserve as a family since the early 1800's. It was a really nifty place with a good supply of historic old buildings, a general store (long since closed for business) and a house that they are considering turning into a Bed and Breakfast--something the Black Belt really needs. Did not have as much time as I would have liked to snap photos, but plan to go back to the farm and Highway 14 in the coming weeks for some more photos. Here's one of Judson College, where several of my sisters attended.

Had some great fun on Thursday of this week when my buddy Ben Burford and I took a daylong trip to the Black Belt for a photo tour. Left around 6:30 in the a.m. and back around 7 p.m. Took around 400 photos. We drove down I-59 to Eutaw and left the interstate world behind for almost the rest of the trip. Stopped at several historic homes, dilapidated shacks, downtowns, had a typical lunch of fried, fried, fried fish as Ezells and then bounced over to Marengo County for a quick stop by my homeplace in Octagon, Alabama before heading to the historical beauty of Gaineswood, Bluff Hall and the general granduer that is Demopolis. A quick stop for some of the Bird family road art and on towards home.

Here's a collage of some of the photos. I've uploaded a few more to my flickr account here.

Photo on Left:
Margaret, Clark Watts (Papa), Joe Watts, Inez Watts (Mama)
Photo on Right: Uncle Edward Waddell, Joe Watts, Aunt Gladys Watts Waddell

Wow. Ever feel tired? Think you've got a little too much to handle. Imagine how my parents felt!

Here is the full Watts Family:
left to right: Suzanne Watts, Cynitha Watts, Julia Watts, Madeline Watts, Clark Watts, Joe Watts (adorable infant), Inez Watts and Margaret Watts

Have been wanting to scan a few of our photos in from this trip. I added an entry about our Honeymoon trip to Alaska a few months ago, but never got around to scanning in photos. I just scanned in these two this afternoon--boy was I thin! That has got to be the best hat I have ever had--and if you've read much of my blog, you know I have a certain interest in hats. The Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero was awesome. It kept me dry in Alaska. It kept me dry on my trip to Minnesota several years ago. I still reach for it when I think I may get wet.

Ann, of course, looks the same--a little better, actually!

Update: just posted some of my favorite photos from the trip to my flickr account.

Haven't really been doing a lot of posting this week. Have been doing a lot of work. Trying to wrap up an annual report for the Alabama Association of RC&D's, picked up a nice new client this week, took a trip to the Black Belt to work on an Antique Trail along Highway 14--a three-day festival in the fall that I'll be developing a website for. To many irons in the fire....

Here's the Greene County Courthouse in downtown, Eutaw, Alabama. I do find the Veterans monuments in each county interesting--I consider the one in my home county of Marengo to be one of the better ones I've seen so far in my travels--but I may be a bit prejudiced. The courthouse is in disrepair and surely needs some love. More photos to come.

We watched A Christmas Story over Christmas this year. If only that BB gun had been as cool as the one I had--inherited from my sisters. It was a pump action and it could hurl bb's almost as hard as you could throw them. But boy was it cool. Here I am preparing for the coming invasion.

Sunday night was chilly here in Birmingham. Decided to warm things up with something simple--that, and the cabinets didn't really hold loads of food as I have been avoiding the grocery store. Settled on a variation of garlic soup.

Roasted Garlic Soup

1 head garlic
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
several sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup white wine, optional
3 VERY small potatoes, diced (no bigger around than a 1/2 dollar--hopefully smaller)
1 can vegetable or chicken broth
freshly ground pepper
1 cup milk (I used 2%, but half and half would give it an extremely rich flavor)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Rub the head of garlic until the outer layers of skin come off (leave the part that is directly on the individual cloves). Place in a small container, drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until very tender. Remove and let cool.

Heat a skillet (I like my stainless chef's pan for this) over medium heat until hot. Add remaining olive oil and onions. Reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook another 2 minutes. *You may need to turn the heat to low for part of the cooking time. The idea is to caramelize the onions and brown them only slightly.

Squeeze roasted garlic cloves gently. The clove should pop out of of the skin with ease. 

Add white wine, if using. Add potatoes, roasted garlic and broth. Season with pepper. Cook over low heat for about 10-12 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender.

Transfer to a bowl and blend in batches until smooth. Return to pan, add milk and heat thoroughly. Spoon into bowls and top with cheese. Makes two servings. Use a little more milk and another couple of potatoes and this would easily stretch to feed three.

 

Only one of these is labeled: the shot looking over someone's shoulder at the sea: "One side of corridor." Not really sure what that even means. It would be great to attach these somehow to the letters that they surely came with. Maybe someday.

Well, if anyone ever wondered why I get along with women so well, just take a peek at what I grew up with (these photos were taken, from all I can tell, between 1967-1969).

Left to right: Madeline, Julia, Margaret, Cynthia and Suzanne.

Not much to say here. Here's what we had for lunch today. Apple pie from Whole Foods was dessert--and I'm warming that up now.

Going through old photos is a real adventure. Most aren't labeled (by most, I mean practically all). Here are three interesting photos. The photos on left show typical war scenes from WWII (one has the inscription: "This is a big gun.") The other appears to be camp life. Not really sure if this in the European theater or the Pacific. The photo at right is Uncle Bill Watts.

At left, Aunt Gladys Watts Waddell, center is a photo labeled Joe (Uncle Joe Watts) operating the radio, and at right Clark Watts, photo labeled "How do you like this of me and my girlfriend."

More to come...

Well, I haven't really been doing a lot of cooking the last week (made several homemade sourdough pizzas, but those just all look the same in photos). Here's a sandwich I made for Ann's birthday last week. Fresh Big Sky Bakery bread (a Birmingham bakery), fresh veggies and blue corn chips. It is pretty similar to a sandwich that we got frequently at Ketabies--sp?? (later the Highland Market and now Rojo).

The sandwich is pretty simple: fresh sprouts, tomatoes, shredded carrot, walnut pieces, Swiss cheese, raisins and Ranch dressing between two slices of good wheat bread. Simple and delicious.