Monday at home in Meat Camp - Award Winning "The Day I Met Don Barley" Chili on the Menu

 After spending two weeks in Birmingham with family, we're home. 

Spending time with Donald's mom and dad was good.

The are both well into their 90s.  Both still enjoying, like their son, their ice cream.

Along with an occasional glass of wine with dinner.

We enjoyed spending time with them.

They raised two fine sons.

Birmingham is a wonderful city.   Great places to eat.  Great places to shop.  But it is hot.  For those of us used to cooler mountain weather, that's an issue.  Whew.

We did have a couple of storms and one of those presented us with a gorgeous rainbow.

We have actually been home a week.  

And what a week it had been.

Short Version -

       -   Deer/Car collision (everyone is fine, including Mr. Buck Deer)

         -  A failed hot water heater (which did not happen until we had been home almost a full day)

More about all that later . . .

Today I'm cooking up a big pot of Chili

The Day I Met Don Barley Chili

(reposted)

Chili

Because I think recipes are fun to make your own, I never follow one to a "T."

Play around, add what you want - remove what you care to.

Below the "notes" is my basic blueprint for chili.

When I was working at Georgia Tech, our office was invited by the

 GT Physical Plant to participate in their chili cook-off.

We won first prize.

And that was the day I met Donald Barley.

He mistakenly thought I could cook, but hung around even after finding

 out that my cooking skills are fairly limited.

But this chili is pretty darn good - thanks to our main chef, 

Georgia Tech Campus Architect, David Savini.

He'd be proud, I think, that this recipe is still around.

(Notes #1 - The original recipe had beans, but I do not like beans in my chili

 and neither does Donald, so you won't find them in this recipe, but feel free 

to add them back in.  Note #2 - This recipe can easily be halved. 

 Note #3 - Play with the recipe and change it around to your heart's content, 

I've never been one to believe a recipe needed to be carved in stone).

The Day I Met Don Barley Chili

Ingredients:

3 ½ lbs. Boneless chuck roast cut into 1/4" cubes
4 lbs. Ground chuck
3 lbs. Extra lean pork loin cut into 1/4" cubes
5 medium sized onions (chopped)
1 medium sized bell pepper (chopped)
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tbsps. Salt
2 tsps. Ground pepper
4 dried chili peppers (chopped fine)
2 Tbsps. Cayenne
1/3 cup chili powder
2 Tbsps. Paprika
3 Tbsps. Ground cumin
2 Tbsps. Oregano
1 Tbsp. Mole paste or powder
little Worchester sauce
1 10 ½ oz. Can beef broth
1 12 oz. Can of beer
1 stick of cinnamon
Tomato sauce

Sauté each meat separately in a little butter flavored crisco or oil. 

 Throw away the liquid and store meats overnight in the refrigerator. 

Sauté onions and bell peppers in butter.

Place everything in a large pot, add tomato sauce to get your chili to the

 consistency you want.

Bring to a gentle boil, turn down to simmer.  Simmer for at least a couple 

hours before serving. (OR in your crockpot - that's what I do now).

The Prep has begun . . .

Bon Appétit!!!

Doing a thing - edited

 

I like to do things to pamper my girly self.

Recently it was a trip to Sephora for a make-up lesson.

Because our skin texture and tone changes as we age, it's ridiculous to think we can continue the same make-up shades and routines for years and years without change.

It was time for me to seek professional help.

And i walked out feeling like a new person.

I put myself in Emily's hands.  

We started off with a chat and Emily asked a few questions after which she decided  that what she was hearing was that I wanted a simple routine, unwilling to spend a lot of time in front of the make-up mirror these days, but still wanting a finished, subtle but elevated, look.

Just right!

And this was the result.

I'm happy.

Note:   For the lesson.  Rather than just having Emily do my make-up, she taught.  She would apply the various products step-by-step on half my face, then i would follow-up by doing the other half.

And then I bought a pretty new dress.

And then my best guy took me out to dinner.

It was a perfect day.

So.

This is me, encouraging you,  to do something to pamper your own sweet self.

❤ ❤ ❤

Just one more tiny reason I love our little home in the mountains

 

Today's gift.

Annabelle and I stepped out onto the back deck this morning to be greeted by this early glimpse of Fall.

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

" Take time to see the quiet miracles that seek no attention”

―  John O'Donohue

Dolly

R.I.P 

Dolly 

1946 - 2026

ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images

Sadly, I never met Dolly Parton but I did see her in concert. 

 Only once.  

At the iconic Great Southeast Music Hall in Atlanta.  In 1977, along with my friends Michael Dean and John Messer.

And here's a fun little memory from that night.

There sat the tiny Dolly Parton on a stool.  Just her.  Playing and singing her heart out.

Some fella was obviously head over heels smitten over Dolly (like the rest of us) and could not stop telling her so.  Alcohol may have been involved.  

After many shouts of "I love you, Dolly." The music stopped.  Dolly stood.  Giggled and said, "I hear ya.  I love you too.  But you are ruining my show.  Now, quit.  Okay?"

And the poor guy apologized, might have cried a little, and we did not hear another peep out of him.

I've thought about that guy today.   He, along with so many, loved him a great woman.  

We are all telling Dolly we love her, and we're all crying a little.  

I hope that guy, in particular, is okay.

Concert Details

---

Date:

Monday, May 02, 1977

Venue:

The Great Southeast Music Hall

Location:

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Notes:

Info
Concert Date May 02, 1977
Venue The Great SouthEast Music Hall
2581 Piedmont Rd. NE
Broadview Shopping Center
Atlanta, GA, United States
Tickets $4.50 - $5.50
Schedule
Dolly Parton headliner

Dolly Parton setlist:

An exact setlist wasn't found. Here is their closest one (from 05/14/1977), which may be similar:

1. (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
2. All I Can Do
3. Jolene
4. My Tennessee Mountain Home
5. Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
6. Coat of Many Colors
7. Applejack
8. Light of a Clear Blue Morning
9. I Will Always Love You
10. Getting in My Way
11. Love Is Like a Butterfly
12. Me and Little Andy
13. How Does It Feel
14. Holdin' on to You

Home

Another day safe and comfy in these mountains we call home

The Pat Conroy Center Writer's Residency

You might remember me being the lucky soul selected as Writer in Residence for this event in the Fall of 2023

Me with  Kathy Conroy Harvey (Pat Conroy's sister)
and
Cassandra King Conroy (Pat Conroy's wife)

Now could be your turn!

"coinciding with the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will offer our Conroy Center Writer's Residency this coming fall, available to writers of all prose genres. Located on a salt marsh, the residency at MarshSong Cottage provides an inspirational, creative space in the heart of Pat Conroy’s beloved Lowcountry. The residency location is a guest cottage on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, approximately 15 minutes from downtown Beaufort and 15 minutes from the beach at Hunting Island State Park.

The residency dates will be October 20 to 27, 2026, overlapping with the 11th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival on October 23, 24, and 25, which the selected writer will be invited to attend."

TO APPLY FOR THE WRITER'S RESIDENCY

Please submit the following by August 30, 2026, to writersresidency@patconroyliterarycenter.org with the subject line CONROY CENTER WRITER'S RESIDENCY OCTOBER 2026 

For complete info on how to apply, click right here - https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Conroy-Center-Writer-s-Residency--Oct-20-27-.html?soid=1124256585060&aid=nPYEM0yb0ls

Pat Conroy's Desk

Me at Pat Conroy's Desk

😥

 

A Beautiful Day in the Mountains

 

Annabelle and I are spending some time on the back deck today.

The past several days our temperatures have been in the 60s.  Perfect!!

I am not a fan of hot weather.  

Unlike a lot of people, I love a good snow day.

Thank Goodness, Donald and Annabelle are in agreement.

Don has taken off on his bike for a ride.

And, here we sit.

Me, my coffee, and a book

and Annabelle close by.

Life is good.

❤  ❤  ❤

Living My Life Through Memes and Good Books

 

Truth be told, Facebook is not my favorite place to be these days.

I miss the good ol' days when I didn't have that felon's ugly face looking back at me when I went to FB to check up on friends.

Howsomever, as my Dad used to say, there are some little pearls that speak to me . . .

And now, back to playing the NYT Scrabble type game, Crossplay, with my North Georgia mountain pal Vickie and reading my ARC of Wiley Cash's upcoming novel, SAME RIVER TWICE.

Hang In, dear ones . . . 

Hang In

❤❤❤

Latest Book Recommendation

 

The beginning of a new series by Samantha Sonnett

I predict good things for this book, the series, and the author (who I do not know, but will hopefully get to meet if she does a North Carolina signing).

The prologue was a little tough to read, but not in the least bit gratuitous, and is a perfect introduction to the book, imo.  Trust me. 

THE PROTECTORATE is available through NetGalley.  Publication date is September 1.

Description

Durham, North Carolina, 2012. When Detective Sofia Rodriguez is called in on her day off to find a plumber dead in his van—posed with Black-Eyed Susans and a Sylvia Plath verse cradled in his bloodied hands—she knows this is no ordinary murder. By the time the second body surfaces, then a third, Sofia and her partner Detective Jones are hunting a serial killer with a message, a method, and a symbol none of them can identify. That symbol belongs to The Protectorate—a century-old secret society of elite women that has quietly shaped American history from the shadows. When their emblem appears at a crime scene, the organization's leadership launches its own parallel investigation, desperate to contain the exposure before the FBI closes in. 

# # #

FTC Full Discosure – I received a galley from the publisher through a NetGalley request which I made with no expectation of a positive review.

 

A little Sunday musing

 To those of you who keep asking "are you still making bracelets?" Yes.

To those of you who keep asking "what in the world are you going to do with all those bracelets?"  Who knows.

What i do with them is not the point.

I might read something in the news that pisses me off, or breaks my heart, and I get up and go make a bracelet.  Or four.

Sometimes Donnie joins me and will offer up some word suggestions.

And we talk

        And talk

                    and talk

Just doing what we can, in our own little way, to protect our peace.

Other things that help me hold onto my peace  -

 fresh flowers

And a dog named Annabelle 

And remembering that, once upon a time, there was a good man living in our White House