thebarbaricyawp

[thebarbaricyawp]

We are in Birmingham to see Tyler Childers, and Gavin is standing in front of the building where his grandmother competed in the “B-ham Southern Beauties” pageant at the Strand theater in February of 1938. Pictured also are some delicious Italian aperitifs and the show. Tyler Childers is everything you want him to be.

After a tough 24 hours (completely unimportant stuff, but emotional), I am glad to be at a show and staying with friends. Very appreciative of Gavin and the way he supports me when things go haywire.

#tyler childers #birmingham #alabama #foods

[thebarbaricyawp]

Some recent food wins: Gavin makes THE BEST soups. This one is a leftover bones broth, almost pho-style, with shrimp, mushrooms, fresh bamboo shoots, carrots, tofu skin, and rice noodles. He made the dough for the cinnamon rolls, and I finished them Elvis style with bananas and bacon with a peanut butter glaze.

We both get way too involved in cooking 🤣

#cooking #soups #cinnamon roll #alabama #foods

[thebarbaricyawp]

Complaint blog: Woof. Moving into the house I grew up in has been a mixed experience. It’s a comfy home that’s well-insulated, but it’s absolutely full of my mom’s and sister’s stuff. And I, an adult with my own stuff, an having a hard time living here. All surfaces are completely covered. All storage is bursting. I’m trying to clean as I go, but I am overwhelmed. This along with Gavin’s music stuff has made things nearly unlivable. And we cook so much that the dishes are almost always piled up. I like for things to be fairly organized and out away, and it’s just not possible right now.

Really, I need less stuff. I need to get rid of things and pare down, it’s just so time-consuming. Additionally, my mom is also taking some GLP-1 and has been losing weight for a while now. She’s in the stage of weight loss where she is given me her “fat” clothes. I’m used to this, but it’s just more stuff I have to deal with.

Seriously, the best gift you can give your loved ones is getting rid of stuff that doesn’t matter.

[thebarbaricyawp]

Just over here living the dream!

#peppergirl #cattabitha #dogs and cats

[thebarbaricyawp]

Today was a nice, stress-free but official Board meeting at work where someone brought heart-shaped pink donuts. I didn’t know I needed one, but man, they were good and made me feel cared for.

I had made coffee and gotten coffee fixins, so I hope the Board felt cared for too.

I had answers to everyone’s questions, was able to get some extra grant money to a polling station in a rural area, and got lots of productive planning done during the meeting despite our director’s tendency to go on tangents. (Seriously, someone will be making a point about an upcoming conference, and this guy’s like “who owns that land south of your house?…”)

Then we went to a casual lunch at a meat-and-three institution where I genuinely had a good time. Got to visit with coworkers and my fave board members. Right before we went inside, Donut Man told me that the Board felt so lucky to have me and that I was doing a wonderful job.

This on top of the fact that I got SO MUCH FILING and organizing done yesterday, today gets an A+.

Happy Valentine’s!

[thebarbaricyawp]

Picked up one of Gavin’s best buddies, Dave, at Panama City Beach airport. He’s with us for two weeks, and they’re gonna play a show in NOLA on the 17th. Three dozen oysters. For many reasons, I’m thrilled!

#raw oysters #new orleans #alabama #foods #chewbacchus #operation ivy #schlong

[thebarbaricyawp]

I think this is the first Christmas tree I’ve put up in my adult life. It’s mom’s tree, and mostly her ornaments, but I’ve added some and I’m making it my tree.

G and I are moving into mom’s house and taking on the huge task of cleaning out her stuff and moving ours over. Also in the photo: Mochi, who is tired from moving.

[thebarbaricyawp]

Recent events, including the National Peanut Festival Poultry Show have given me some joy. I love going to look at these fancy chickens. I cry every year because I love them so much. From afar. I’m ridiculous.

I had some luck with my holiday catering, making sides and desserts for people. I think I doubled customers and profits from last year, and I’ve gotten some rave reviews of the food. People seem to recognize that I’ve put a lot of love and work into these recipes, many of which have been passed down from my granny and great grandmother.

We had thanksgiving lunch with my family on Thursday and then Friendsgiving with some chosen family last night. We fried a turkey and had 3 kinds of potatoes, 4 if you count the rolls.

Gavin has been so driven and dedicated over the past couple of weeks. We’ve had a lot to do, and he totally came through. Last weekend, we loaded a truck of his music gear, his shop gear, and some Chewbacchus sculpture leftovers in NOLA and brought them back here. (We also attended a Chewbacchus event in town, saw our nerdy Krewe, and felt socially recharged.) We spent two days unloading the truck and then rolled right into 15 hours of Thanksgiving cooking. I just feel recovered today!

It was wonderful to see people I know and meet new folks who ordered food. Some of the highlights were: my 8th grade teacher who ordered a squash casserole and tipped me $5 in cash for “being such a good student;” seeing three branches of one family who ordered, all friends of my dad; meeting a college buddy of my dad’s who started a very successful food review FB group; taking pies to my dad’s junior prom date who is the current chair of the Democratic Party in our county; visiting with my nursery school buddy Amber and joining her for some bar trivia that night; and riding around with Gavin to make it all happen.

In our farming family, Thanksgiving is a harvest celebration. A time to gather and feast and rest. And we did.

Like a dummy, I took no photos of my catering. Next time!

[thebarbaricyawp]

“Ima get myself a little treat” is what I said when this went into the cart at the store. That’s how old I am.

[thebarbaricyawp]

Y’all, these spider lilies! They are wild perennials and just pop up in all sorts of places. I’m so delighted by them.

[thebarbaricyawp]

Doesn’t look like much, but I’m recipe testing for the harvest holiday and made a Sweet Potato Pie. Roasted the sweet potatoes and followed a simple recipe (no eggs?!?), and it turned out well. From someone who doesn’t like sweet potatoes, I think that’s a pretty good endorsement.

Yes, the pie crust is broken, but that’s how I found it, and I’m just testing. I think I will add an egg next time and put it all in the blender.

Today, I have processed 2 bunches of collards, made spaghetti sauce, and tried the pie. Gavin has bottled a lot of hot sauce, made some verde sauce, and is now proofing pizza dough for dinner.

Tomorrow I return to the office after 2 weeks of working remotely, and I will be writing a grant for the recreation department in Abbeville for women’s fitness classes. Oh, and I’m also going to get certified to teach fitness classes.

Quick update! With photos this time!

[thebarbaricyawp]

Doesn’t look like much, but I’m recipe testing for the harvest holiday and made a Sweet Potato Pie. Roasted the sweet potatoes and followed a simple recipe (no eggs?!?), and it turned out well. From someone who doesn’t like sweet potatoes, I think that’s a pretty good endorsement.

Yes, the pie crust is broken, but that’s how I found it, and I’m just testing. I think I will add an egg next time and put it all in the blender.

Today, I have processed 2 bunches of collards, made spaghetti sauce, and tried the pie. Gavin has bottled a lot of hot sauce, made some verde sauce, and is now proofing pizza dough for dinner.

Tomorrow I return to the office after 2 weeks of working remotely, and I will be writing a grant for the recreation department in Abbeville for women’s fitness classes. Oh, and I’m also going to get certified to teach fitness classes.

Quick update! With photos this time!

[thebarbaricyawp]

After a conference in Cherokee, NC, for me, and a week in Maryland building Gavin’s brother’s deck, we are *finally* back in lower Alabama and at home. It was a great trip, and I am relieved to be home.

Now for some Gossip Girl, some sans-bra lounging, animal snuggling, and sesame chicken dinner.

Pictured-delicious Szechuan dinner!

[thebarbaricyawp]

We are going to see him in Birmingham next year, and I’m so excited!

I mean, get outa here with this. Just a perfect song.

[thebarbaricyawp]

Been a weird couple of weeks. Because of a scheduling mishap at the park, I worked the past two weekends and today is my first day off. Yay! I’m gonna be a lump today and make pear preserves and pear pie filling tomorrow. There’s an overloaded pear tree at our coffee roaster’s house, and I’m going to ask to forage.

Well, the book banning fuckery has made it to Alabama, and the library that’s right across from my work office in Ozark has been the target of the mayors efforts to remove LGBTQ books from the young adult section. What’s more, is that the person who is our nonprofit board chair also serves on the library board and joked with the mayor via text about burning the books. Bigotry is Just. So. Fun. Im not surprised, but I’m really disappointed that this woman, who has a farm but works as a bus driver, is so openly queer-hating. I’m trying to use this as a reminder that there’s always a fight for equal rights, and that “nice” doesn’t mean anything. I’m going to try to openly confront that bigotry when I hear it because those folks aren’t afraid of offending me!

Last weird part/s: our Ozark office’s A/C is out, so I’m working out of another office (pic of the zinnias at the alternative office location). It’s fine, but just an extra element of interest during the end of the fiscal year. And I’m probably being over-confident, but I feel pretty good about dealing with these nonprofit finances. Am I a finance person?!?

[thebarbaricyawp]

In New Orleans with my niece and nephew at Gavin’s place. We had a long, hot drive today and arrived to a very dirty apartment.

A friendly acquaintance of mine needed a temporary place to stay, so we let him stay here (he paid rent). He has 2 cats that seemingly wrecked the place with hairballs and worse, and he—never in 3 months—cleaned anything. It was a mess. But we scrubbed and mopped, and it’s better.

Tomorrow: Commander’s Palace for lunch!

[thebarbaricyawp]

My neighbors have chinchillas! This one is named Athena, and Pepper was gingerly standing on her hind legs to sniff the little fur all through the door. So cute!

I went over to the neighbors’ house for dinner—a yummy sausage and squash pasta—and realized Gavin and I are building a lovely relationship with them. It’s a husband and wife from the northeast, their adult daughter, and her two year-old son. The little boy stays with us some afternoons, and he is Mochi’s best friend. They have been long-term borrowing an old farm truck of ours because they’re having car trouble. They watch our cats when we go out of town.

When I lived on Telemachus St in New Orleans, I had some great neighbors (and a bar at each end of the block). It’s a great feeling to be close with neighbors again.