Signs, Yo'uns.

Burnsville, NC

...there's just something I love about finding a perfect diner. That cup of coffee that tastes only as it ever can from a diner, the hot biscuits, the perfect burger...

While this diner wasn't at all perfect (in fact my stomach was aching before I even left the restaurant, leaving me incredibly cranky for the rest of the morning) I did love the sign. It's a pretty unforgettable small-town diner sign. 

Je t'aime français.

Well, one of my favorite assignments of the year, so far, is tonight's french homework. We were told to draw a picture of a bedroom (une chambre) and then label all the items that are in the room with their french names. I had a lot of fun with this, since I do love to draw and all. Here's how it turned out (click on picture to enlarge):

picture was taken with my iphone...so not quite full quality :)

Anyhoo...

Working on this project got me really excited about all things French again. My friend Brenda and I are about to begin a small french speaking coffee group to be able to get good practice in even though we are not surrounded by the language. Thinking about café au laits and crepes inevitably led me to start thinking about one of my favorite sandwiches in the world, the croque-monsieur, a french café classic. I thought I'd include a quick recipe for ya from one of my favorites, the always delectable Ina Garten. Enjoy!!

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch nutmeg
• 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
• Dijon mustard
• 8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Tests, tests, tests.

My notes, so far, mostly look like this.

Ah, Monday mornings in the fall. The smell of bacon sizzling on the stove, fresh coffee percolating...wait none of these smells await me today. Only the smell of my first test of the year. AHHHH!!!!!!

I've been studying and studying all weekend, and now can do no more! Guess we'll see how well this thirty year old brain retains random names like Pompilius, Gnaeus, Amitor and Superbus later this afternoon.

Well, I better be off to do more studying. Good luck me! AHHHH!!!!

Mountain Times.

The Biltmore, Asheville, NC

This is backtracking a little, but since I never got a chance to post any pictures of the trip my kiddos and I took this summer to North Carolina, I figured now would be a good time. We are really fortunate to be able to go up there quite a bit, since my parents have a little place just a short ways outside of Asheville. 

Burnsville, NC

We'd have loved to be able to stay for the whole summer. However, the need to have an income doesn't really allow that. We were able to stay there for about three weeks, though, which was absolutely amazing.

Bakersville, NC

Western North Carolina is one of my top places in the south to visit. It is stunningly beautiful with small little towns nestled at the bottom of some of the tallest peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountain range. Roadside diners, farmers markets, waterfalls, milkshakes, swimming and more swimming is all we did for days on end.

I always find it so amazing to see how clear ones head gets when you are able to get away from the stresses and pressures of everyday life for a while. Seems to me to be the best way in the world to spend time and money. About one hour into our car drive I could look into the rearview mirror, and I swear I'd see, one by one, all the tensions of our everyday lives falling off the back of the car onto the interstate. They were immediately squashed by the cars and trucks behind us. Thank you for that, trucks!


That's all the pictures for now. I'm sure more stories will come up soon. You should all try to visit as soon as you can! Fall is beautiful in the mountains. 

Fairvue,NC

Back to school!

Well, I've gone back to school. It's taken about ten years, but somehow my life curliqued back around to such an extent that, finally, getting my degree made all the sense in the world.

I've only been back for a few weeks, and while I seem to have a far larger amount of homework than my children (what's that all about?), I'm really loving it.

I'm such a nerd. I love books and reading and learning. SO. Since I've got all sorts of new crazy stories coming my way every day, I thought it'd a good place to start my blog again from.

So. Here we go!

First off, let me just say that there is a Quizno's on campus. Awesome.

....and a Chik-fil-A...kind-of, but fast food is really not the point of me going back to school, is it...so perhaps I should move on???

I'm somewhere between freshman and sophomore, as far as all that goes. That is, of course, thanks to the wonderfully non-accredited "Accredited!" college I had received 50+ hours of credit from, which I have since discovered painfully was not actually accredited(Cue Violins). Therefore!! only 19 or so of my hours will transfer due to this little issue. Yay!!! Oh well.

So...for my first semester back, the favorites of the courses I'm taking are: French, Ancient Roman History and Literature of Jane Austen.

So far I've learned to say, "Bonjour! Je m'appelle Meg. J'ai deux enfants. Je suis trop trop genéreuse et sympathique et trop trop trop belle et mince. Je ne suis pas pénible donc méchante donc laide donc bete donc malheureuse..." That's about it.

So. That's all for now. I'll be updating frequently. There's some other exciting things a-brewin' for me, so check in to see whats up! Thanks for reading!!!

Flat Keys...

My piano needs tuning. I had opened the lid up when the kids had dropped some toys inside. They were very easily retrieved. It looked so pretty sitting there with it's lid open, seeing all the nuts and bolts and strings and things. There was even a beautiful inscription on the inside of the lid. So, I left it open. The cold air must've crept down inside, stretching and tightening up the fifty year old strings. Now the D string is terribly, terribly out of tune...or maybe it's that everything else is out of tune, and the D is the only one that's managed to stay put properly. Either way...my piano needs tuning.

My piano also needs playing...but that's another story altogether.

Friends are like Lasers

So, there are certain things in this life that are (obviously) just far more important than others. For example: lasers vs. ice cream. Lasers obviously. I mean, you can correct vision with them, cut through steel, and they make an awesome sound in Star Wars. Don't get me wrong, I love ice cream. But Macgyver never manipulated the path of pralines'n'cream to go through glass prisms so that he could bust open a rock wall. So it's definitely lasers.

So, friends are like lasers. I mean, ice cream is yummy and delicious, and it's good to indulge every once in a while, but then it starts to melt and gets all sticky and it spills and you realize that you don't even like ice cream that much in the first place (cause you're actually lactose intolerant). So you pull out your laser gun to zap up the sticky ice cream mess. 2 seconds later, totally clean floor. "Thank you laser! Once again you are the best!" Then you stick it back in its holster by the door, always there if you need it, just hangin' out, waiting...being an awesome laser.


Now...if only ninjas had lasers...