day 3 - nashville to arkansas

Today Allie and I got up at made it from Nashville to Clarksville, Arkansas. We're settled in for the night in a Hampton Inn in Clarksville. It's pretty much just a stop off of I-40, and we had a hard time finding some place to eat that wasn't closed for good, closed on Sunday, or that sold something other than fried food. We finally decided to hit a local Mexican restaurant, but weren't even able to have a margarita with our dinner. From what we can tell, most of Arkansas is dry (the "no more liquor stops for 100 miles" sign near the state line was a pretty good indication). The only things to do here are see a movie or bowl, the front desk attendant told us. Although the cinema here charges a whopping $7 a ticket, we decided we'd rather relax, stretch out, and watch something here in our hotel. 


This morning we had (free!) breakfast at our hotel, and I took the morning driving segment. We got to Memphis around 11:30, and promptly found Graceland. We paid the exorbitant entrance fees (made slightly less insulting thanks to a student discount), and joined dozens of other revelers on a shuttle to the actual house. We walked through the house, and both decided it was very much like the tour of Mt. Vernon (smaller house than we expected, and a regimented tour path), but it was pretty interesting. After Graceland, we drove to Neely's BBQ (started by the Food Network stars), and while I'm partial to my Grandma's pulled pork, it was delicious. 


That's all the more detail I'll subject you to, and in the spirit of yesterday:


day 3: 
-stayed at: Hampton Inn Clarksville
-ate at: Hampton Inn Bellvue for breakfast, Neely's BBQ in Memphis for lunch, and El Parian in Clarksville for dinner


And finally, just a few of the many, many snapshots from today....

Live from Graceland

Graceland!

Trying to retrieve something that was rolling 

around the very back of the trunk

Neely's BBQ

We nearly missed this one looking at the river

Entertaining myself on I-40

Sunset in Arkansas

Tomorrow we go from here to somewhere outside of Oklahoma City! We have NO idea where to stop en route, so if you happen to have done this drive before, give us your suggestions, pretty please!

days 1 & 2

If I weren't completely exhausted, I'd be subjecting you to a lengthy recap of our first two days on the road. But, we've made it to Nashville, and while the city is on Central time, my body is still on Eastern time. I know it's only an hour difference, but it feels like a lot more than that. So, instead, here's a quick overview.


Day 1: DC to NC
-stayed at: my parents' house
-ate at: Subway for dinner on the road (we got a late start) 


Day 2: NC to Nashville
-staying at: Hampton Inn in Bellvue
-ate at: my parents' for breakfast, Books and Breadboard in Asheville for lunch, and Morell's in Nashville for dinner


Here are a few snapshots from along the way. A full on photo barrage will be coming at you probably at the conclusion of the trip.

Kicking off day two

At Books and Breadboard in Asheville

First state sign we've managed to capture

Wandering around Nashville

Preview of our time in Vegas

Beautiful chandelier we found in the Symphony hall in Nashville

Off to bed...more coherent thoughts tomorrow, I hope. 

meet sally

In case you've missed my last bajillion posts alternately fretting about and getting excited for the road trip, the adventure beings TODAY. Once Allie and I are off of work and load up the car, we'll hit route 66 (along with a million other people looking to get out of town, I'm sure).

Speaking of loading up the car, Allie and I picked up our rental yesterday. It was a bit of a headache, which threw us both off a bit. Thanks to a tip from a coworker, we rented from a kiosk at a hotel in Arlington instead of from the airport directly (saving us roughly $300), but when we arrived at the hotel, we couldn't find the Hertz kiosk. The overly chatty greeter informed us that the Hertz kiosk inside the hotel closes daily at 5...a tidbit that Hertz failed to share with us despite the fact that we specifically requested a 6pm pickup time. The greeter then said we could take the hotel shuttle to the airport and get our car there.

We spent the entire ride to the airport talking about our "we'll just put our foot down" strategy if the airport Hertz tried to charge us that extra $300. I think we were both geared up to raise a bit of a stink, but luckily the woman who was helping us out was really nice and sympathetic, and even gave us an upgrade from compact to mid-size (posh, I know). I have a feeling Allie's "gold" status with Hertz and her USAA discount had something to do with it, but we'll just pretend that we appeared intimidating.

After we signed all the relevant paperwork, we went out in to the garage to find our home on wheels for the next seven or so days.

Our model is white, not silver, but otherwise looks pretty much just like this. One of my coworkers pointed out that it's a cop-like car, so people will probably "get the heck out of your way on the road." Prior to realizing that, I had already decided we're going to call the car Sally (assuming Allie is ok with that...), which isn't the most fear-inspiring name, but it just fits a white Impala if you ask me.

I'm a little anxious about how Sally and I are going to get along, because I'm used to a big, hulking SUV (as in: I have not driven anything other than my car in...years(?)). But, for better or for worse, I'm headed home soon to finish packing, clean my apartment, and pick up Allie.  Stay tuned for notes from the road...



eek.

I am freaking out maybe just a tiny bit, because in a few hours, Allie and I pick up our rental car. In about 24 hours, we embark on the road trip. In seven days, we'll pull said rental car in to Vegas. 

See, normally Allie and I are master planners. After all, there's a reason we hit it off like mad when we first met nearly five years ago as roomies in Venice, Italy. But we've both been busy and distracted lately, so this road trip didn't get the typical attention to detail we're known for. So, the past day or so has been a flurry of hectic emails and gchats. 


When should we pick up the car? Where should we buy snacks? What the heck am I going to pack for temperatures that range from lows in the 30s to highs in the 70s? Whose rewards program number are we using? Did you find your AAA card? Who is paying for gas? 

So to distract myself for a minute from all the stress of closing up shop at work for a week, and hitting I-40, I cruised over to Pinterest to get a little road trip eye candy. 

If only planning were this glamorous

 

While I'm sure our Hertz Toyota Camry will do just fine, 

I really want this car

Would love to see trees like this

 

And views like this!

Excited and nervous for our destination!

Once I get my wits about me (aka pack and get a good night's sleep), I'll be back with more intelligent thoughts. Until then, get lost in Pinterest.

ten second tom

I am slacker. Actually, updating this blog that maybe four people read is what I normally do to procrastinate from other things. I just haven't been doing a hot job of that lately, because I leave on FRIDAY for a cross-country road trip (imagine a slightly panicked expression on my face). 

Because of said road trip, I have been completely incapable of concentrating on much of anything for more than about ten seconds. In fact, I'm like "ten second Tom" from 50 First Dates, except instead of reintroducing myself every ten seconds, I think about the road trip.

I'll be standing at my closet trying to decide what to wear to work, and think to myself "what in the world am I going to wear in Vegas? why haven't I packed? we leave in THREE DAYS!" Or I'll find myself staring at the fridge, trying to plan dinner, and end up thinking "we have to get enough snacks for my obscene appetite...should we go to Costco? or maybe Trader Joe's? or..." And my absolute favorite is when I'm supposed to be sleeping at night, and instead toss and turn, thinking of things I need to remember to do before I go out of town for 10 days.

But I did take a small break from the fretting last week to go to Opera in the Outfield with Sophie. I think it's an annual event (I haven't heard of it being done more than once a year, although I could be totally wrong) in which the Kennedy Center broadcasts a live opera from their stage to the jumbo tron at the Nats stadium. You can literally sit in the outfield and watch, or you can sit in the grandstands, too.

When we got to the stadium, we were prepared to spread out on the grass (I had brought trash bags to buffer us from the wet ground, and a blanket to set on top), but it looked like it could rain. So we hemmed and hawed for ages (we're both terrible at making decisions), and finally decided to go for the grass. After all, we'd spent all day in office chairs. 

We claimed a patch of grass, and went in search of pricey, greasy stadium food. I had mistakenly assumed that especially because the event was free, we wouldn't be able to bring in our own snacks, but I was proven wrong by many people around us (we'll get our act together next year). We made the best of it with our $8 glasses of wine and our shared tray of chicken tenders and fries.

Despite the expensive food, and the chill in the air by the end, it was a great distraction from my road trip anxiety. There's something distinctly relaxing about stretching your legs out on the grass, laying down on a blanket, and watching an opera in such a relaxed environment.

ps-speaking of food, I haven't done hardly any cooking or baking in the LKTC lately, but I do have some ice cream disasters to detail. Stay tuned for those, and what I'm sure will be many little updates from the road as Allie and I make our way towards VEGAS in the coming week!

you win some, you lose some

I generally don't successfully bake and cook all in one night. If I cook something resembling a grown up meal, dessert is a few spoonfuls of brown sugar in a bowl (no, really, I eat it straight...weird, but delicious and satisfying). If I go on a baking spree, I'll probably have a bowl of cheerios for dinner. 



Last night was a bowl of cheerios night, I'm afraid. I say "I'm afraid" because let's just say my pants are fitting a little tighter than I'd like these days, and the last thing I need is (multiple) dessert(s) for dinner. I also declared it a cheerios night with some trepidation given my latest "final hurrah" project. Being elbow deep in sugar means I won't really have time to make a dent in the meat supply in my freezer. And with my Vegas road trip looming, my self-imposed vegetarian experiment is also quickly approaching. 



But I was determined to come back from the sweetened condensed milk failure of last week and finally make Hello Dolly bars. I also somehow got it in my head that I need to make a mini apple crisp. I have some aging apples in my fridge, and DC is experiencing an early taste of fall, so it just seemed right. And I had been looking for an excuse to use the mini red pie pans I picked up at World Market ages ago. 


So when I came across this recipe for apple crisp after minimal searching and comparing, I immediately knew I had to pick it. See, it calls for flour OR finely crushed graham crackers. The Hello Dolly bars also call for crushed graham crackers. If two recipes can benefit from the same ingredient being whirled around in my (wait for it) mini food processor, sign me up. I really, really hate doing dishes. It takes away a small percentage of the post-stress baking satisfaction.  

After what was supposed to be a quick, frugal trip to a newly discovered Harris Teeter near my apartment, I came home with an hour less of my life and a lot less money in my pocket (never again will I go to the HT after accidentally having skipped lunch). Bowl of cheerios in my shaking, food deprived little hands, I started with the Hello Dollys...

butter + graham cracker crumbs 

(may or may not have scarfed down what didn't fit in the pan)

I really dislike coconut, but in the spirit of high school dessert nostalgia, I went for it

Mmmm, chopped pecans

a whole slew of chocolate and butterscotch

and finally, sweetened condensed milk 

(which I am convinced is the crucial ingredient)

So how did they turn out? I am really disappointed to say that they came out all wrong. See, Smitten Kitchen's recipe didn't specify how to layer the ingredients, so I just put them down in the order they were listed. Big mistake. If I had to do it again (and I most likely will try them again as I hate to admit defeat), I'd miss the coconut, pecans, and chocolate and butterscotch chips all together, then throw them over the crust. They taste ok, or at least ok enough to eat straight from the pan at 3am (I'm having some serious insomnia these days), but they just aren't spot on. All my hopes were pinned on the crisp at that point. 
 

chopped fuji apple in a lemon, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon bath

butter, dark brown sugar, and graham cracker crumb crust

finished product + a baby scoop of ice cream

The crisp was definitely the success story of the night. Perfect size, perfect flavors, perfect maiden voyage of the mini pie pan. Surprisingly I'm not in some sort of sugar coma today, although I do feel like I need to brush my teeth a few extra times to stave off cavities...

make it a double

Lately Fiona and I have been spending a lot of quality time together, and I know Kitty the Kitchenaid [stripper] was feeling lonely and unloved (yes, sometimes I assign not only names, but feelings, to my inanimate kitchen gadgets). So when I had a day last week when I just really needed to bake, it was time to put Kitty to work.


I had grand plans to try and fit in three different chocolate-based recipes: chocolate chip cookies (my go-to), chocolate chip banana bread (quickly becoming a go-to), and the afore-discussed Hello Dolly bars. The grocery near my metro stop, however, does not stock sweetened condensed milk, which is crucial for the third dish. After a near meltdown in the grocery (not at all about milk, that was just the final straw of the day), I relented and nixed the Hello Dollys. 


Turns out two chocolate chip-laden sweets were more than enough to keep my coworkers stopping by my desk all day long. Never one to resist chocolate, I did my fair share to decimate the supply, too. I may or may not have been contributing to that effort when my new boss stopped by our offices for the first time ever. It's about as awkward as you might expect to have a mouth full of cookie when you're meeting the new guy at 7am. 


I've really been slacking on the cooking front lately. I thought life would slow down a little once summer came to an end, but time is skipping along with the road trip coming up so soon. I'm already sitting here wondering how I can be watching Sunday football and planning for the work week again. 


Speaking of the end of summer, since I don't have any recent cooking/food photos, I'm bringing back the nostalgic little kid snapshots. Here's to the beginning of fall!