Butters TN Living: It's All About The Food

We survived the first week & are completely exhausted. This whole moving thing is for the birds. Kenny has announced that he is never helping us move again, so I guess we find a replacement helper or he's stuck with us forever. I'm kind of leaning towards the latter...which I am not at all against. The thought of lifting furniture and hauling boxes up & down stairs is nauseating at the moment.

Kevin couldn't hold off any longer and got some mowing and weed eating done this week. That man loves his mower...seriously, he would mow in the winter if it was possible.

He finished organizing the garage/shop spot and surprisingly managed to fit just about all of his tools in along with Kenny's. Those two could easily start a side business with the variety of tools they have acquired!

We now have a lot of empty boxes (Hallelujah!!) despite the uneasy feeling that they are somehow duplicating themselves in the basement just to spite us. How did we acquire so much stuff?! (only small items for Christmas this year family) I organized the kitchen cabinets this week and in the process realized that I may have a slight problem...I had no idea that I owned this amount of seasonings, (mind you, some of these are Kenny's.) baking supplies, canned goods etc. But on the positive side, we are set if this whole "worst winter ever" happens.

Now, I like to think I'm a pretty decent cook, but trying to learn the actual heat and cook time of a new oven/stove reverts me back to a toddler attempting to cook apparently. I almost ruined grilled cheese and a frozen pizza this week! Those are two of the easiest things to make! Thankfully later in the week Kevin and Kenny stepped in and grilled steaks one night and a seafood variety (swordfish, tilapia, crab legs & shrimp) another. It was delicious!!

New Food Item of the Week: Pickled bologna with cheese & crackers "sandwich"

Thursday was Kenny's first day off for the week so we decided to take a break and went on a wheeler ride. He introduced us to The Line gas station's pickled bologna with cheese & crackers. In replace of the standard bread slice for the sandwich, they use 4 saltine crackers that are still attached to each other. Genius!! I was slightly hesitant towards the thought of eating bologna again since my childhood consisted of begging for anything but bologna sandwiches, but decided to be an adult and at least try it. It was actually really good! The pickled flavor is where it's at! Made for a perfect snack to continue on the trails.

Roscoe was a little jealous that he didn't get to ride along with us. Haha

We spent Friday on the lake with Matt & Karen and met up with friends for a few hours. The water was a little chilly at first but refreshing after soaking up the sun. Pretty awesome to just hop in the truck and drive a few miles down the road to enjoy the water at 2:30 in the afternoon. Not to mention it's October and we can still do that!

Saturday we headed into town for the 8th Annual Fall Fest Chili Cook-Off. It was $5 for the "chili kit" which included the below soup mug, crackers, a raffle ticket and voter ticket. I tell you what, a small scoop from each station fills you up fast!! The variations were awesome and the weather was perfect! They had live music as well and the proceeds went to the Junior class. (Karha Jane is a Junior this year!)

Michael & Kevin at the Chili Cook-off. He was trying to give Kevin bunny ears.

Random Bits

Saw a bigger bobcat last Saturday a few miles from the house, a baby bobcat chasing a rabbit at Matt & Karen's house Tuesday, about 10 turkeys, a ton of deer, heard multiple owls hooting back & forth while enjoying the evening on the porch & heard a pack of coyotes as well. Loving Nature!
Out here the dark is darker and the evenings quieter. There are stars and then there are "country stars". Looking up you see more stars than you ever thought possible.
Roscoe almost caught his tail on fire walking by the tikki torches just off of the front porch! I laughed...Bad Mom moment haha
Kenny brought us home our first TN pumpkin