At the suggestion of one of our readers, Mr. Handsome and I visited Window Cliffs State Natural Area, located near Cummins Falls (about an hour east of Nashville). We were amazed to learn that the window cliffs were first sketched by French explorer Charles LeSuere in the 1830s. Before that time, the park was home to Native Americans….
Nashville
Spicy Fried Fish Recipe
As a couple that enjoys fishing, Mr. Handsome and I are always looking for new ways to cook our catches. Nashville is famous for hot (spicy) friend chicken, so we created a similar recipe for fried fish. We use crappie or bass, but you can use any type of fish.
Spicy Fried Fish
Ingredients
- Oil I use canola
- 4-6 fish fillets
Breading:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
Milk Mixture:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3 Tbsp hot sauce
Glaze (optional):
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
Instructions
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Rinse fish fillets, and remove all bones.
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Combine the breading ingredients in one shallow bowl, adjusting the amount of cayenne to fit your tastes. This recipe is only moderately spicy.
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Combine the milk mixture ingredients in another shallow bowl, adjusting the amount of hot sauce to fit your tastes.
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Fill a fry pan with just enough oil to cover the fillets. (Do not add the fillets yet.)
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Heat the oil over medium heat, keeping it covered with a splatter screen. Test it by flicking one TINY drop of water onto the surface of oil. If it crackles and pops, you know it's ready.
Warning: Do not flick more than one tiny drop of water onto the oil. Oil and water do not mix. If you add any significant amount of water, you will create an explosion.
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Dip each fish fillet in the milk mixture and then in the breading. Make sure fillets are fully coated with breading. Place fillets into hot oil. Cook until both sides are golden brown, flipping once if needed.
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To test if fish is fully cooked, remove a piece from the oil, and cut into it with a fork. If the white fish meat flakes, it is ready to eat.
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The glaze is optional, but if you wish to try it, mix all three ingredients in a separate, small fry pan, until combined.
Recipe Notes
We use Frank's Hot Sauce because, unlike most brands of hot sauce, it is free of artificial preservatives. We eat our fried fish with MSG-free ranch dressing.
My Tennessee Easter Egg–Featured in Food Network Magazine
A few months ago, I was contacted by a representative from Food Network Magazine and asked to play a role in the April edition. The issue has officially hit the newsstands, so I am finally able to share the details of my involvement.
In celebration of Easter, Food Network Magazine wrote a story that features a decorated Easter egg from all 50 states, and I was given the honor of decorating the Tennessee egg. Naturally, I decided to tap into my husband’s artistic talent to create this unique work of art. (For those who don’t know, Mr. Handsome is a painter.) The two of us had a blast working together on this project.
We chose a banjo to represent the Americana, country, and bluegrass music that Tennessee has helped mold and create. We chose a river to represent the great waterways that flow through Tennessee and set the state apart as a center for industry and trade. We superimposed these images over the Great Smoky Mountains, which represent the beauty of nature that all Tennesseans know and love.
We did several practice runs, some with hard boiled eggs and others with “empty” eggs, and tried a few different designs. (If you poke a hole in both ends of an egg, you can blow the yolk out and be left with just the shell.) We always started with a pencil sketch.
It took a bit of time to find the right medium. We first used artist-grade colored pencils (better quality than the colored pencils used by children) but decided they weren’t quite bold enough.
After spending some time wandering around our local Hobby Lobby, I ended up purchasing a small set of acrylic paints and some tiny, tiny brushes. The brushes have a max of about 10 thin bristles per brush–so small that they are nearly microscopic!
Of course, we made several mistakes along the way, like attempting to draw or paint on a hard boiled egg that was either too hot, which made the paint run, or too cold, which created condensation. We managed to get paint all over our fingers and dining table. Thankfully, that was before I refinished the table (tutorial coming soon) or else I might have had a small panic attack.
Snow Day 2.0
In the past four days, we have had two snow days here in Nashville. On Friday afternoon, we had an ice storm followed by a few inches of snow, which caused schools and businesses to close. Late last night, it started snowing again, and most folks are home from work and school today.
Mr. Handsome and I are enjoying the unexpected chance to spend time together. This morning, we grabbed a latte to share and went on a walk in the winter wonderland. It was 14F (-10C), but we bundled up and had a grand time.
The one downside of living in the South is that when winter weather does arrive, it isn’t as easy to handle as it would be above the Mason-Dixon Line.
A typical winter in Nashville usually means daytime highs above freezing and overnight lows below freezing, so snow often turns into rain, which then freezes and makes driving treacherous. Cities and towns don’t own enough plows and salt trucks to keep all the roads clear, so car accidents are more common. We have friends who live outside the city on winding roads that are never plowed or salted, so when snow and ice hit, they can’t leave home until it melts.
The weather this winter has been far from average. In the past ten days, we have seen temperatures well above average–as high as 65F (18C)–and lows well below average–as low as 3F (-16C). With single-pane windows, our heater is working overtime. As I have done in past years, I purchased window insulator plastic to help keep the cold air out.
Lending a Hand
A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law and father-in-law were visiting Nashville for the weekend, so rather than go to our church, we all decided to go to church with Mr. Handsome’s brother and his wife.
After the service, we chatted with a young woman and her mother. My mother-in-law and the young woman’s mother really hit it off, and it wasn’t long before they were talking like they were lifelong friends. (We were all a bit confused at first, but when we found out that they both have seven children and are/were homeschool moms, we understood their instant bond.)
It just so happened that this young woman was getting married in Nashville the following weekend, and her mother was stressed out because she is from the East Coast and was having trouble finding people to help out at the DIY event.
My mother-in-law non-nonchalantly said that she would see if any of her children would be able to lend a hand, and the woman was ecstatic. “That would be wonderful!” she exclaimed.
My well-meaning mother-in-law called over my brother-in-law and his wife (the ones who actually attend the church and would probably know many of the guests at the wedding) to see if they were free the following weekend. They were busy, so Mr. Handsome and I volunteered to help.
The following weekend, we arrived at the church, and the mother of the bride was being pulled in 1,000 different directions, so she asked another helper to take us to the kitchen and show us what to do. Well, this person took us to the kitchen and then admitted that she had no idea what we were supposed to do, so she handed us a list and left.
To make a long story short, we did a lot of improvising, as we set up the appetizers and dinner buffet, met the baker and showed her where to put the cake, and (after the ceremony was over) instructed the guests where to line up for dinner.
We had a bit of difficulty figuring out the drink situation. The labels on the two dispensers said Sweet Tea and Strawberry Lemonade, but the huge walk-in fridge only contained Kiwi Lemonade (didn’t even know that was a thing) and Unsweetened Tea.
If you live in the South, you know that serving only Unsweetened Tea is simply not socially acceptable. We changed the labels and filled the drink dispensers, hoping that the well-meaning hosts, who were from the North, wouldn’t be chewed out by all the sweet tea loving guests from the South.
The mother and father of the bride were very appreciative of our help and even gave us a gift card to Olive Garden. When we had finished our duties, we sat down to eat the fabulous food, which was from an Indian restaurant.
The highlight of the evening, which turned out to be a lot of fun, was listening to one of the guests tell us the bride and groom’s love story. It turns out that the groom is completely blind, but he is a successful lawyer in Washington D.C. and can do everything but drive a car. (Isn’t that incredible?)
Rather than coddle him, his parents had pushed him towards greatness by refusing to allow him to make excuses for himself. The guest, a college friend of the groom, told us a story of a time when one of the groom’s bed sheets had ripped while he was away at school. The friend suggested the groom call his mom, who had purchased the sheets, and ask her to order a replacement. The groom laughed and told his roommate that he knew exactly what his mom’s response would be: “Just take a taxi to Kohl’s and buy yourself a new set.”
Hurricane Harvey
This weekend, Nashville was hit with the eye of tropical storm Harvey. Tornado sirens went off at midnight, and a number of people had to be rescued from their homes due to flooding.
But as I lay in bed listening to the wind and rain pelt against our house, I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of folks down in Texas who have been suffering for days. So many people have lost everything but the clothes on their back, and some have even lost friends and family.
Rescues are still ongoing, and I am so encouraged to see our nation, as well as those from across the world, step in to help. We all have our differences, but when tragedy strikes, those with true character are able to throw those differences aside and give aid to whoever needs it.
Even after the waters recede, the folks in Texas, as well as those in surrounding states that have been hit by Harvey or remnants of the storm, will need our prayer and financial support.
If you or someone you know has been affected by Hurricane Harvey, please post a comment so we can encourage you. If you have heard positive stories of people helping people, please share those, as well. And finally, if you have creative ideas of out-of-the-box ways to lend a hand, please tell us. Looking forward to hearing from you. #UnitedWeStand #TexasStrong
Solar Eclipse
On Monday, the continental United States–as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America–will be treated to a partial solar eclipse. Those who live within the thin path of totality will see a total solar eclipse.
While total solar eclipses occur quite frequently (every 1-3 years) they are often in uninhabited areas of the world.
Here in Nashville, we are within the path of totality and are looking forward to the celestial show. We have been warned that our city will receive an influx of tourists, so we plan to just watch from home. (Flight prices to Nashville have increased by as much as 10 times on the days surrounding the eclipse!)
For those of you planning to watch the eclipse, I would love to hear what your plans are.
Be sure that your eclipse glasses are undamaged and unscratched. They also must be stamped to meet the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard. The market is filled with counterfeit glasses that wrongly claim to have that verification, so you’ll want to read this article from NASA to make sure your glasses are manufactured by a legitimate organization.
Happy eclipsing!
Fiesta-Themed Gender Reveal Party
It’s a boy!
Time with Family
My brother and his wife are more outdoorsy folks, as are we, so the rest of the weekend was spent hiking and exploring various state parks. Our first stop was Burgess Falls State Park in Sparta, Tennessee, which we visited a couple years ago. We hiked about half a mile and then came to this lookout point.
A short while later, we found the main waterfall. If you look closely, you’ll see a few people standing on the rocks at the base. It’s a long way down!
We were able to hike down a short trail to the top of the falls. (I almost passed out when Mr. Handsome approached the edge and got down on his belly to look over, but it made for a good photo-op.)
There were a number of other people there, all trying to figure out how the few individuals had made it down to the base. There are stairs, but they have been closed since the last time we were here, due to damage by extreme flooding. We never did figure it out…
Our last stop was Cummins Falls State Park in Cookeville, one of my favorite places in Middle Tennessee. We have visited several times since we moved to the area. (Remember my Waterfalls and Exterminators post from last summer?)
The first time we came, there were very few people at the falls, but word has gotten out, and now it’s always crowded. (It’s a very unique attraction, so I’m not surprised why it has become so popular.) The best way to describe it is a free, natural water park, and although the hike down to the falls is steep, folks of all ages make the trek because it’s such a neat place. Someday soon, I would love for Mr. Handsome to make a painting of the falls!
Over the River and Through the Woods…
Although Nashville is a growing city, it is surrounded by small towns and rolling hills, which makes for a lovely variation of scenery and attractions. Well, an experience we had a couple weeks ago, when a family that attends our weekly Bible study invited us out to their farm, took country living to a whole new level…
Most GPS systems cannot find their house, so they sent us detailed instructions explaining how to make it to their property from the highway.
We drove 3-1/2 miles along a winding, paved road and then turned onto a dirt road, just before the paved road went into a creek. And when I say “went into a creek,” I mean that in order to continue on down that road, you would have to drive through water.
We drove another 600 feet down the dirt road and thought we had almost reached their house. That’s when we came across another creek. This time, we had to cross it.
Mr. Handsome stopped the car, and we both stared at the creek in disbelief for a good 30 seconds. “Think we can make it?” I asked my husband. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out,” he replied.
It was a warm day, so I removed my shoes and walked across to find the best path for the car to take. The “creek,” which was more like a river, was about 60 feet wide and just over 1 foot deep. Thankfully, the bed was limestone instead of mud. The current was strong, but not quite strong enough to push me over.
After I reach the other side and got my camera ready, my husband plunged the car into the water.
I held my breath (and took pictures) as he drove across.
He made it! I breathed a sigh of relief when he was safely on shore. The car was wet but undamaged. Boy were we glad to have a vehicle with all-wheel-drive…
We drove a short distance up a hill and finally reached our friends’ farm, which was beautiful! They live in a mountain-style cabin and raise goats, chickens, and bees.
We look forward to visiting them again soon, so long as the creek isn’t too high. Have any of y’all ever driven through a creek?