Southern At It's Best

I love everything about the South. I love the obsession with football, and getting dressed up for football games. I love the fried everything. I love saying y'all. I love wearing pearls. I love it all!

One thing that I believe is uniquely Southern is cornbread! I L-O-V-E cornbread. It's the best when it's hot and you put the butter on it (yes, butter. We don't care anything about being healthy down here), and it just melts in your mouth. I tried this recipe from the same GE website from last time, and it says the sugar is optional, but I would probably use it anyway.

Ingredients
By Measure

1 cup Corn Meal

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 Tbs Baking Powder

3/4 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Salt

3 Eggs

2 cups Sour Cream

1 stick Butter

3 Tbs Sugar (Optional)Ingredients
Preparation
Melt the butter
Stir together the corn meal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, if using
Stir together the eggs, sour cream and melted butter
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined and everything is moist but lumpy
Bake at 400 until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (about 30-45 minutes)

*****Hope y'all enjoy!!!******

Wakey Wakey

I looooooooove breakfast. There is no other meal that I would rather eat. All the deliciousness that it presents. Waffles....bacon....orange juice...yum. I'm hungry just thinking about breakfast, and I love making breakfast food. So I was pleasantly surprised when lo and behold in my work inbox (thanks GE!!), there was a brand new website for recipes.


And they have an entire section dedicated to brunch and breakfast foods!!


So I was searching this morning for something yummy to make before the game tomorrow (War Eagle!), and came across this scrumptious looking thing.

Hash With Potatoes and Sausage

Ingredients
By Measure

1 cup country sausage, large dice

3 cups baked potato, large diced

1/4 cup yellow onion

1/4 cup sweet bell pepper, julienned

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon, garlic minced
Preparation
Using a griddle or large saute pan:
Heat the saute pan or griddle to high heat.
Add the olive oil to the pan or griddle and allow the oil to heat. Gently add the sausage to the olive oil and cook until sausage it cooked. Add the cooked potatoes to the sausage and cook until the potatoes begin to caramelize.
Add the peppers and onions to the sausage. Cook together stirring occasionally until the onions and peppers are cooked.
Add the garlic and butter. Season with salt and pepper.

(http://genet.geappliances.com/Recipes/Dispatcher?REQUEST=MONOGRAM_SPECPAGE&RecipeID=30036)

While nobody will ever beat my uncle Paul's hash...this definitely comes close!

Seriously?

Someone hit my car this morning and ran. They knocked out my tail light and put a huge scratch on my bumper. (excuse the awful Blackberry photos).

And then ran away....

Do people still do that? I feel like I was in that commercial, where the guys car gets sideswiped, and he's looking around for a note...but there is nothing. And then the line comes up...what next?
I have never been in a car wreck. I have never even gotten a ticket for pete's sake.

I guess I'm just disappointed. I already wasn't having that spectacular of a day....and then this. Oh well. Hopefully their conscience will get the better of them, and they will come into the office and admit to it, but probably not.

BCS Awesomeness

"The first BCS standings are out and Boise State isn't No. 1.
In fact, the Broncos aren't among the top two teams who would qualify for the Tostitos BCS National Championship game.
Oklahoma was first and Oregon was second in the standings released Sunday, with Boise State in third place and in need of plenty of help to become the first team from a conference without an automatic Bowl Championship Series bid to play for the BCS title.
More on ESPN.com
Losses by Nevada and Oregon State must've really hurt Boise State in its BCS standing, writes ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach. Blog
Auburn is fourth, followed by TCU and LSU.
Boise State's No. 3 spot is the highest ever for team from a non-automatic qualifying conference.
How important is being in the top five of the standings? If history is a guide, 20 of the 24 teams to play in the title game were in the top five in the initial standings. No team has reached the title game from lower than 12th in the initial release.
On the flip side, the Sooners and Ducks begin this race from the front row, but they can't quite say they're in control of it. Only once in 12 seasons of the BCS have the teams that were at the top of the first standings played in the championship game. That was 2005 with Southern California and Texas.
"We're going up to play a 6-0 team at Missouri, and they're not handing anything out right now," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "It means absolutely nothing."
There are currently 10 undefeated teams in major college football, including the top seven teams in the rankings (Michigan State is seventh). Once beaten Alabama is eighth, unbeaten Utah is ninth and once-beaten Ohio State is 10th.
BCS Standings
The top five teams in this week's BCS standings:
OU
Oregon
Boise State
Auburn
TCU
• This week's BCS standings
LSU and Auburn play Saturday. If one of the SEC's Tigers goes 13-0, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising to see that team in the BCS title game no matter what Oklahoma and Oregon do.
The Sooners took first place by grading out No. 1 in the computer ratings. Oklahoma, coming off a 52-0 victory against Iowa State, is No. 3 in the USA Today coaches' poll and No. 4 in the Harris poll.
"I understand that the announcement of the poll makes for good conversation among media and fans, but two games into our conference season, it's too early for us to give it any attention," Stoops said. "At this point, it just speaks to the quality of the schedule we've played, and while I appreciate the caliber of those teams, our focus has to be on the games we have remaining. We're not talking or thinking about anything but playing Missouri."
Despite being No. 1 in all the polls, including the AP Top 25, which is not used in the BCS calculations, Oregon is rated eighth in the computer rankings.
Boise State is No. 2 in all the polls and seventh according to the computers, but the math leaves the Broncos third in the BCS standings.
The problem, as always for Boise State, is the strength of schedule. Early nonconference victories against Virginia Tech and Oregon State help the Broncos. The WAC schedule mostly drags them down.
On Saturday, Boise State beat San Jose State 48-0 but actually fell in the rankings
Oklahoma, which has quality victories against Florida State, Air Force and Texas, has a chance to bolster its resume with a road game Saturday against unbeaten Missouri, 11th in the standings. Down the road the Sooners play at Oklahoma State, also unbeaten and 14th in the standings.
Oregon faces UCLA on Thursday night at home, then visits USC, which is not included in the BCS standings because the Trojans are on probation. The Ducks finish the season against Arizona (18th) and Oregon State.
The toughest opponents left on Boise State's schedule are Nevada and Hawaii."
***http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5697573****

War Damn Eagle!

Photog Shout Out

So I subscribe to a few photography websites, while I'm dabbling in the hobby myself. I use it for inspiration and to hopefully use some of these tips while I'm out. I came across this blog: http://www.davidejackson.com/ with some circus shots. Here are a few I thought very interesting. (All are taken from davidejackson.com). I'm very new to this blogging thing, so I hope I did the correct way of crediting this to the correct person. I in no way shape or form mean to use these as my own.

I like to share beautiful things, and when I see such amazing talent, I like to let everyone know about it. Here is the full URL for this shoot: http://www.davidejackson.com/blog/2010/09/20/shear-chaos-salon-circus-shoot-part-two-the-technical-banter/ As you can see, they put a whole lot of work into getting the set correctly and have a great way of testing lighting, and unique ways to make their shots work (using a wedding ring and a bracelet to make the crystal ball higher).

I love talent, and these guys sure do have it! I will definitely end up following this blog as well!

*New Band* Update

My hubby introduced me to this band that everyone in the world needs to be familiar with. Not only do they have Italian wedding lights in the video (my favorite...and a staple on my soon-to-be built deck), but they say the "f" word in their first big song. And anyone who knows me know that that word is also a favorite of mine.

Mumford and Sons!

It is virtually impossible to find a ticket to one of their shows, and they are crazy amazing. They have actually been out for awhile across the pond, but are now gaining some respect in the US. They are all from London, and have the most amazing chemistry, not to mention the sexiest most honest lyrics ever.

If you get some time to check out their video or Itunes some of their music, I would highly recommend it. Let me know what y'all think!

Gym'n It

So I joined a gym. I know, I know. It's a gigantic waste of money, but seriously....there is only so much Jillian Michaels I can take.

Yes, I know she is free. And she lets me not leave the house, so the entire world can't see how sweaty and nasty I am after I run 3.2 miles....but I figure it's a way to be entirely motivated. A. I am spending my money on this, so I better get my ass there....and B. They let me keep up with my workouts and calories on a fun little website.

And they let me tan, which makes me feel instantly better after a bad day/week at work. I know, cancer cancer, but I am going to die of something someday...at least I'll be tan when I am.

I've made it a goal to run a 5k every day (which will probably end up like 4-5 days a week), in addition to my dancing, which by the way, turns out to be really fun. And up until recently wasn't really a workout, but let me tell you. The tango can definitely be one..

Dance Baby Dance!

So while lost in my 20's, still not knowing who I am, I decided to sign up for dance classes.

Have. I. Lost. My. Mind?

I have rhythm. I can dance. But this isn't booty shaking to Usher or whatever song Ke$ha has out....this is actual ballroom dance.

Hubby won't go with me, so I'm alone on this one. I got my first lesson next Tuesday at 6pm. With a boy dance teacher. What if I'm a klutz? He says to wear heels. Heels? To dance? On a wooden floor.

Oh Lord.

I am going to make an ass out of myself.