Federal Grove Bed and Breakfast

We had a great day today! We had reservations at a Bed and Breakfast in Auburn, KY. We actually didn’t spend the night, we just had lunch reservations. Auburn is about 20 minutes from our house, so we just drove over this morning and did a little shopping at a couple of the antique stores. I am not posting the pictures of my finds, because I LOVE them, but I know that at least one of them would make a good gift and I would hate to ruin my sister’s birthday by putting a picture of her gift on here. Anyway…
Federal Grove is the name of the farm where the B&B is and I promise I am not trying to give a history lesson, but I think it just makes it more interesting (at least for me). The land was awarded back in 1785 to General Jonathan Clark (who was William Clark’s older brother – William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition). In 1805 his daughter, Eleanor, and her husband Benjamin Temple settled and established the farm known as Federal Grove. After her husband passed away, Eleanor sold the farm to Captain Harrison Wood. Captain Wood opened a blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse and a general store in the late 1850’s. Because this area was a major route for both Union and Confederate soldiers, Captain Wood fled to Texas during the Civil War. In 1871, a farmer named James Monroe Hall bought Federal Grove and built the first brick home in Logan County. He kept the farm in the family until 1991 when the home and 13 acres was sold to Wayne and Terry Blythe. They restored the property and now it is open for visitors as a B&B and restaurant.
Okay! Lesson over! I can’t help it – just knowing all of the events that have unfolded here just makes it so much more appealing to me. I really wish I would have taken more pictures. It was really neat inside with antiques and dishes everywhere. The bathroom was gorgeous! It had an antique bathtub with one of those little silver trays going across it. I could just see myself soaking in there and reading a Southern Living magazine. However, I practiced some self control and didn’t go for it. Actually, Derrick was standing outside the bathroom and he probably would have busted through that dainty little lock on the door and told me to high tail it out of there if he would have known I was thinking about jumping in that tub. It just looked very inviting – and clean.
Lunch was very delicious. We both had the roast beef – very tender and juicy. And I actually had my first taste of hot potato salad. Where has that been hiding? I may never eat it cold again. For dessert…wow…I almost had to order two. I went with the chocolate dream cake and Derrick had the banana pudding. Mine was excellent and Derrick’s was perfect and fresh out of the oven – and I know it was in the oven because it had a perfectly cooked layer of meringue on top. Okay – enough about the food – I am making myself hungry. Ok – just one more thing…next time I go (which I hope is soon) I am going to get the fried chicken. It looked like heaven. I honestly think my Mom makes the best fried chicken and this looked exactly like hers. And I want to try the strawberry cream cake. Or maybe the bumbleberry cobbler…

Warm Weather for the Weekend!

We finally are getting some warm weather! And since it is FRIDAY (woot! woot!) Derrick and I decided we should go ahead and fire up the grill – our absolutely favorite toy. Of course since it is the first time we have used it this spring we had to throw some burgers on it – but we can’t have burgers without smoked sausage. We cook these a little differently but they are wonderful! Anytime we have cookouts, they are always requested by our guests and always the first thing eaten. NEVER any leftovers. Anyway, here is how we make them.

We usually get about two packs of the skinless smoked sausage and then cut them in half, leaving you with 8 pieces. Take each piece and make a slit all the way down it but not all the way through it. Imagine you are making a hot dog bun out of it. Then make a mixture of brown sugar, garlic powder and anything you can find in your cabinet that says “pepper” on it or makes you think “pepper”. I don’t follow and exact recipe, but this is it roughly:

1 ½ C brown sugar
1tsp black pepper
1tsp garlic
1tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper

This is not a science – I usually taste a pinch of it after I mix it up and make sure that it has a little spice to it. This is what it looks like…

After I think it is the perfect mix, I pack it into the slits made in the sausage. I seriously mean pack it in…

It will caramelize while you grill it, so when it is finished you will have this wonderfully sweet glaze with a little spice on it. And I promise it is not too spicy. Derrick has horrible acid reflux and would die of shock if he ever realized how much cayenne I put on these. But he has never once complained about it being too spicy. Here is what they will look like straight off the grill…

We also made some creek fries which are the easiest thing in the world. We just slice up about four potatoes, half an onion, a green pepper and about 3 or 4 cloves of garlic. We coat everything with olive oil, salt and pepper and throw it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.

So while everything was grilling/baking we enjoyed a few fried green tomatoes as appetizers. I personally like mine sliced thin, cooked crispy and salted heavily.

And since we already had the grease heated up we threw on a few slices of yellow squash and called it a meal!

Derrick started the fire pit and we ate outside while the sun set and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. Usually, we make s’mores when we use the pit, but sadly there is not a single Hershey bar in this house, so we were out of luck. Sadly, it seems the dogs know that s’mores usually follow the fire, and they seemed a little annoyed. Sorry, Charlie!

Catching Up

Yikes! Trying to catch up…again. I am not doing very well with keeping up with my blog. But this time I have a pretty valid excuse. For the last couple of months I have been a bit sick. Mostly in the mornings! YAY!!! As of today I am three months pregnant and could not be happier! I am not enjoying the morning sickness, but it has been better this week and I am hoping that it is passing. Other than that, I want to sleep all the time and eat everything I see. Derrick and I both seem to think the baby is a girl and against my better judgment, I have already bought a couple of little dresses. I really couldn’t help myself. And they were on sale. It was totally justified. In my mind. Not Derrick’s. But you couldn’t hide the ear to ear grin on his face when he saw the dresses. He loves them :) Maybe I will have some pictures later, but right now I am thinking about some cantaloupe in the fridge and how it needs to be eaten immediately. And maybe a few Cheetos. YUM!