Dance After Dark Photography

Dinner was simple tonight. Five half-inch thick pork chops. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and 5 spice powder, set aside while chopping the vegetables. The salt brings the juices to the surface and makes it sear better. Much happiness. I cut 2 onions into large wedges, 4 carrots into fairly thick strips, and 4 zucchini into 1/4-inch medallions. I like “rustic” vegetables with a rough, thick cut. The reason will become apparent shortly.

Set the pan on to preheat over medium-high heat, and start the rice. My rice is NOT Uncle Ben’s. I’m a food snob, and I insist on good basmati rice. I prepare it with chicken broth instead of just water, and I spike it with salt and garlic powder (if not minced garlic.) This time I threw in a few onion wedges, too.

By the time I’ve got the rice going, the pan is hot enough. Sear the pork chops in olive oil, about 2 minutes per side. Pull ‘em out of the pan and set them aside. Add a little more olive oil, and throw in the zucchini medallions with a little more kosher salt. About a minute per side so they’ll sear nicely. Take them out, set them aside too. You want them to be not-quite-done so they’ll crunch just a bit when you bite them. I did them in two batches to preserve the heat of the pan.

In with the carrots and onions after the zucchini’s out. Stir them up a bit, and then throw in either some chicken broth, some water, or a dash of white wine to deglaze the pan. I believe the onions & carrots cooked for about 6 minutes total — 1 minute uncovered with stirring, 5 minutes covered with the occasional stir.

That’s it! I cooked enough for 5, and with 3 people there were no leftovers. It must’ve been good. *grin*

Yesterday alone I had 7 people ask me about the stitches in my head. Considering the adventuresome nature of most of my other stories, telling them that I had two cysts and a mole removed is apparently a huge let-down. I’m tired seeing the disappointment in their eyes.

In the interest of the greater good, I’ve decided to change my story. I’m not sure of all the details yet, but ninjas will definitely be involved.

I’m still watching the movie, but I already highly recommend it. It stars Alfred Molina with incredibly funny appearances by Christopher Walken and Lee Evans from Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. The movie is off-kilter like so few others, and I love it.

The story is a little complex to explain, but it’s apparent in the first 20 minutes. The twists and turns will keep you laughing throughout, and Walken puts on one of his classic mad-cap performances. Watch the movie. You won’t regret it.

A few more on my website.

Part II of What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I don’t mind a little zen driving with occasional checks of the map, but it was nice knowing that it was impossible to get lost. We took back roads for the trip from Savannah to Helen, GA. The GPS in our rented minivan came in handy, particularly when a covered bridge, a scenic route, or some other random little landmark inspired us to take an impromptu detour.

We got into Helen fairly early Tuesday afternoon, checking into the nicest and cheapest Comfort Inn I’ve ever seen. It was $51 a night, and the place was much nicer than either of the motels in Savannah and Greenville. I’d imagine it’s much more expensive in October, when they have an extended Oktoberfest and tourists descend on the town.

Tuesday afternoon we went to the Nacoochee Grill for dinner. I was very impressed by the food. We all liked their corn chowder. The cornmeal-dusted trout was excellent and very fresh, since it was caught in the river that flows through the town. The cornmeal comes from the Nora Mill Granary, just down the street. My entree was veal meatloaf. (I misread and thought it was venison at the time, but I’m looking at their menu online now.) It had smoked cheddar and jalapeños inside, which made it just about the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. I like to try something I’ll never see anywhere else, and in this case the experimentation definitely worked in my favor.

After dinner we wandered around the town. We spent some time in a glassblower’s shop, watching her create a few name plaques. We visited yet another candy store, though this time we stuck to the sugar-free selections. Downtown Helen, if you can call it downtown, consists of about 100 shops and restaurants packed into 3 short blocks. I can’t decide whether the alptown architecture is cute or cliché and forced. Either way, it’s fun to visit. I’d love the mountains, even if I didn’t like the town.

Wednesday morning we had breakfast at Hofer’s Bakery & Cafe. Hofer’s is the only place in town that serves breakfast, unless you count the Huddle House. (I don’t.) Sticking with my “try something new” philosophy, I had a cream cheese & scallion omelet.

We stopped at the Habersham Winery. I have a decidedly uncultured palate, and I freely admit it. We bought half a case of various sweet wines. We tried a nice riesling as well as muscadine wine and a muscadine blush blend.

Wednesday afternoon found us at Tallulah Gorge. I didn’t even go down into the gorge, and it was a harder trip than last time. Taking mom down to the observation areas in her wheelchair was a little difficult. Getting her back from the last one, with its extremely steep slope, was more than a little difficult. I had to take a break halfway up. Oops! We made it, though, and I’m glad she got to enjoy the view.

After Tallulah Gorge we stopped in Toccoa, GA. We were looking for Shirley’s Soul Food Cafe, as featured on Alton Brown’s Feasting On Asphalt. The cafe was closed, so we wound up eating at the City Buffet & Grill. The food was standard buffet fare, but our waitress Shantay was incredibly amusing. I think mom & grandma liked her just because she kept picking on me. Oddly enough, she’d just moved back to Toccoa after spending a few years here in Orlando.

By Wednesday evening we’d checked into our hotel in Greenville. We’ll save the rest of the story for Part III.

I don’t think I’ve written a composition like this since elementary school. Well, maybe not. Now that I think of it, I did write a tongue-in-cheek “what I did with my summer” essay in 7th grade. That was the year I fell out of a tree in my front yard and broke my collarbone, and the essay began with the line “I fell on my head.”

This year, thankfully, I neither fell on my head nor broke anything. My mother, my grandmother, and I took a road trip to Greenville, SC, to attend the annual Adair family reunion.  My great grandmother was Mettie Adair. The only memories I have of her are vague impressions and stories I’ve been told, but there are pictures of her with me as an infant. I’ve heard time and again how delighted she was with me because I was the smallest baby she’d ever seen. I was only 4lbs 5oz at birth. My, how things change.

We decided to take a long, ambling route to get to the reunion. We drove to Savannah on Sunday, July 29th, and we stayed there for a few days just wandering around the city. Sunday afternoon we ate lunch at the old Cotton Exchange on River Street. Like all of the other shops and restaurants along the Savannah River, the Cotton Exchange is a historic building that’s been renovated and only marginally redecorated. The exposed beams in the ceiling and the rough brick of the walls give the place an old world feel. The tables were old doors that had been heavily lacquered to make a smooth surface. Sit along the front wall, and you’re likely to sit next to a glassed-in doorway that once served as a loading dock.

After lunch we wandered along the cobblestones of River Street, visiting a few touristy shops at my mother’s insistence and by mutual accord spending about half an hour at the Savannah Candy Kitchen. They give free samples of their fresh-made pecan pralines and toffee. We bought a pound and a half of pralines, dividing it between the traditional and chocolate recipes. Of course, I’ve barely touched them because it’s almost pure sugar. They’re dangerous! Good, though.

On Monday we ate lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House, which is not your typical restaurant. You’re expected to bus your own dishes, just like when the place really was a boarding house, but the food and conversation are well worth the extra effort. You sit at a huge table with 10-12 other people. At our table, there were a few locals, a biker and his family from Orlando, and a group of friends who’d come down from Baltimore for the weekend. At $15 per person the lunch price is a little steep, but I’ve never had such good fried chicken, ham, and biscuits. Everyone raved over the rutabagas, though that’s not one of my favorite vegetables. You pass the dishes around the table, and the staff brings more whenever any particular dish runs out. My only suggestion would be that they keep a few handtrucks nearby to help get satiated customers out the door.

We spent the rest of Monday wandering along River Street again, this time stopping in the River Street Gallery. Mom embarrassed me by telling the lady behind the counter that my photos were much better than the ones on the wall. I apologized to the lady because, like the cooperative galleries in Orlando, it’s the artists themselves who run the place. Thankfully she wasn’t the photographer in question, but that was an awkward moment. I also talked to a young lady who makes ceramic corsets. For now they’re objets d’art made on a smaller scale, but she’s thinking about making wearable ceramic corsets. We talked a bit about an artist I somewhat-know in Oklahoma who does that now. Interesting conversation.

We left Savannah on Tuesday morning and headed northwest toward Helen, GA. No interstates! I’ll save the story of Helen and northeast Georgia for the next time.

Never saw that one coming, did you?