Not really sure who Tommy is. Anyone? Ashley Drake of Thomaston emailed to let me know that this photo is in Thomaston, in front of City Hall, though the building was once a dance hall and a library. Interesting!
Another of Mama as a Young Woman
My Mama As a Young Woman
Lucky my Mama wrote on this one–though I wish it had been on the back of the photo. Would be easy enough to clone out the “Sis” portion as it is on the sidewalk. Better to leave it in.
AIA Newsletter
Another newsletter completed for AIA Birmingham. Originally planned as a short newsletter, it grew a bit. Still much, much, much shorter than the Design Awards special edition last month. Overall, pretty pleased. We announced the completion of the redesign of the AIA website and I’ve been making small edits to the site to tighten up small issues (mainly spacing issues and wording changes). www.aiabham.org.
In addition to this newsletter/website, I’ve been working on completing the Aztec Construction website. We’re still in the design phase, but think it is pretty much complete.
I’m working with the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Scenic Byways Advisory Council to set up a workshop at the end of August for all of Alabama’s scenic byways. The workshop will be held in Birmingham (well, actually in Leeds, Alabama: Home of the Stagecoach Route Scenic Byway) at the Barber Motorsports Museum. Should be a great venue and will probably help make it even more attractive to folks! The workshop will last all day and we’re bringing in several trainers from the National Scenic Byways Program to conduct the workshop. The basic premise of the workshop is on way finding and way showing as they relate to the byway traveler. The workshop will be particularly helpful to byway leaders around Alabama, but should prove useful to anyone interested in tourism in Alabama.
Samantha Redux
What exactly have I been doing up since 5:30? See the photo below for the answer!
Well, honestly I wasn’t up taking this photo. Ann took the photo several days ago after seeing an earlier post of mine with a less than stellar photo of Samantha, our new kitty. But Samantha is certainly the reason for my early morning awakeness. When the first ray of sun (or actually pre-dawn light) hits the room, she is up and ready for business.
Old Family Photo: Who Could It Be
Please help! This is an old slide, I suspect from the 1920’s or 1930’s. I’m just not sure who this is. I suspect, but don’t know, that the boy in the photo is Uncle Bud. I really don’t even know where this might have been taken. Perhaps at the log cabin behind the house in Octagon?
The photo was not really in the best of shape, but a little playing around and I was able to get this much at least.
Spinach Salad with Grilled Lemon Pepper Shrimp
Tonight’s dinnner was very tasty. Lemon juice and freshly ground pepper along with chives and a fabulous extra virgin olive oil made the shrimp. Buttermilk and sherry vinegar made the spinach salad. But the real kicker was the fried okra croutons. Perfectly golden, spicy with a Cajun kick.
For the shrimp:
3/4 lb peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
juice of 1/2 lemon, zest from whole lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced (I actually use my microplane grater to grate the garlic after I’m done zesting the lemon)
freshly ground black pepper and coarse salt
hearty dash of Old Bay seasoning and a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon nice quality extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons fresh chives
For the buttermilk dressing:
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon reduced-fat mayonaise (I use the new Kraft mayo made with
olive oil.)
1 tablespoon buttermilk
freshly ground black pepper
garlic salt to taste
1 teaspoon each stone ground mustard and honey
1 tablespoon or so extra virgin olive oil
For the okra:
a double handful of okra, sliced thick
3/4 cup buttermilk
cajun seasoning
1/2 cup each corn meal and all-purpose flour
oil for frying
For the Salad:
4 cups fresh spinach
12 grape tomatoes (I used a combination of yellow and red)
red onion slices
1. Marinade the shrimp for 30 minutes. Prepare a hot grill.
2. Mix dressing, adding oil after remaining ingredients are blended. (I confess that the amounts for the dressing are just estimates. I’ve never been much for measuring. Just mix it together until it is about the right consistency–a fairly thin version of bottled ranch dressing but with a creamier, olive oil infused flavor.)
3. Add okra to buttermilk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Then toss by the handful with the flour/cornmeal/spice mixture. Shake off excess and fry!
4. Grill shrimp over hot fire for 2-3 minutes per side, being careful not to overcook. Remove from grill and toss immediately with chives and olive oil.
5. Toss greens and tomatoes with dressing, top with red onion. Place shrimp on top and sprinkle liberally with okra.