Monday, February 28, 2011

Not Warm Anymore

Ahhhhhhh

Florida was so nice. We actually ended up spending the better part if a week there and broke out tank tops and sandals.

Two days later, we are in Vermont.
Not warm here. . .



Lots of snow . . .





I know I sound like a broken record . . . but, I love the "Changes every day" part of this job.

Never boring!


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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Friday, February 25, 2011

Cherry Blossoms . . . Maybe


Tony and I have decided to try to see the Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC in early April.
At this point, we have no real plan other than already requesting our time off dates for April 1-5.
We are assuming that we will have a trailer to drag around and there are 
NO
NONE
NADA
ZIP
ZERO
truck stops in the the immediate Metro area.

Our plan at this point is to maybe float from Wal-Mart parking lot to Wal-Mart parking lot.
Or, we could find something farther out and ride the train in each day.  We are going to stay in the truck, so we will be saving $ there and probably spending it on transportation.

Oh, and we are going to do the Segway tour.
That is our other "for sure" thing.

If anyone has any experience with trucks in DC, we would love to hear from you.


Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Darius Rucker Is All Washed Up

We just ran the truck through a truck wash in Brunswick, Georgia.

Darius Rucker's show truck was in front of us -




Here he is in the wash . . .





And now all clean and shiny.

Our truck was crusted with de-icer chemicals and road salt.
All truck drivers feel better when their truck is clean.

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Monday, February 21, 2011

It Is a Southern Thang

SHRIMP AND GRITS from the Dixie Grill in Wilmington, NC is most assuredly one of the foods in Heaven.



This dish is so much greater than the sum of it's parts. Frankly, a bowl of white grits with some shrimp plopped on top sounds downright yucky.

This dish is creamy and yet allows the 'al dente' quality of stone ground yellow corn to shine through. Provolone cheese and cream combine to hold everything together without being "in your face" cheesy. 
Add some tiny bits of Carolina smoked ham and a fair amount of tender Carolina shrimp and then top it with diced fresh tomatoes and chives . . . perfection!

I have tried to put words to something truly indescribable, and was lucky enough to try it first at a place touted by the New York Times as "THE" place for morning shrimp and grits.

A search for recipes yielded a disappointing list of the "cook the grits and plop the shrimp on top" type. Even Paula Dean let me down here.
The closest recipe I can find without any testing (we are in a truck after all) seems to be this one from "a chef in Pensacola" found on a barbecue forum. Besides that - I love the name:

GRITS A YAYA

INGREDIENTS

Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits:
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound Dixie Lily grits
1/4 pound butter
1 pound shredded smoked Gouda cheese

The Ya Ya:
8 strips applewood-smoked bacon, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallots
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound peeled and de-veined jumbo shrimp
1 portobello mushroom cap, sliced
1/4 cup diced scallions
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups smoked Gouda cheese grits
White Wine
Salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste

DIRECTIONS

First, make your grits. Run the chicken stock into a thick-bottomed saucepan and turn on high till it boils. Mix in the grits and stir like crazy. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cream if you need more liquid. Then tumble in the butter, drizzle in the rest of the cream and stir till it's all in the family. Then shake in the shredded cheese and stir very well till it's all nice and smooth.
While your grits cook, bring a large saucepan to medium heat. Add bacon and cook for about 3 minutes, then add garlic and shallots. Sauté and then add butter and a splash of white wine. When the butter is half melted, add the shrimp. When the downsides of the shrimp become white, flip them and add mushrooms, scallions and spinach. Sauté for 2 minutes. Remove the shrimp. Pour in heavy cream and let simmer while stirring. When reduced by one third, add salt, pepper and hot sauce. Return shrimp to the sauce and combine. Spoon the sauce and shrimp onto heaping mounds of cheese grits.

I would change this a bit by maybe adjusting the amount and variety of
cheese. Stirring it all together before serving and then topping with the tomatoes and chives would also be an option. I do like the sounds of the spinach in the YaYa though.

So, there it is. I have the stone ground corn on board and will give this recipe a tryout the next time we are home.
Until then. I'll keep hoping we get to Wilmington on a regular basis.


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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

WARM

The day after I whined about being cold, we got sent to Florida! It is WARM there.



This was taken at night, but It still looks warmer than yesterday's post.
We bought some red naval oranges, ruby red grapefruits and a bag of Honeybells.

Mmmmmmm.

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

COLD

I do not want to whine . . .
But we have been in the cold a whole bunch this winter.
Even Leo has had enough.





I think he is channeling his inner Zen master. Or maybe just napping - hard to tell.



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Friday, February 11, 2011

Madison County, KY

I have loved Kentucky since our first load here several years ago . Kentucky is not "Deep South", but still Southern none the less.
The pace is relaxed and the people unfailingly friendly.
I would love to live here some day.
Oh, and that Kentucky Blue Grass is so soft and lovely.
Horses in Kentucky are very lucky!

We are here in the dead of winter and it is still lovely.

Right now, we are stopped getting a 34 hour redstart on our clock. Basically, we ran out of time and have to take a 34 hour rest break before we can drive again.
Went out to a historic tavern in the downtown area.
This is the courthouse. . .



Isn't it grand . . .

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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

New Grocery Heaven

We have found ourselves spending a lot of time in Wilmington, NC and have really enjoyed it.
Last week, I needed to do some grocery shopping and decided that it was time to move beyond Wal-Mart. We usually default to Wal-Mart because they are Sooooo truck friendly. I do encounter disappointment with their limited section and prefer stand alone grocery stores. 

Especially snooty upscale ones!

Found my new Grocery Heaven ......














The entire store looked like this - no long straight aisles to be found. Fresh Market truly has the feel of a true market. 

LOVE IT!


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Monday, February 7, 2011

Where Will We go?

As I write this on Sunday night, we are under a load. 
Meaning . . . we have a loaded trailer and are waiting to make a delivery on Monday morning.

We do not have a load assignment.
This doesn't happen often, but I always like it when it does.

I'm not worried that we won't have something to do . . . 
The Planners arrive at HQ at 6:00 Monday morning and will send something as soon as they get a look at their loads.

On the contrary, I am thrilled to be going to bed later tonight knowing that I will wake up and we will have unloaded the current load and be on our way to another load somewhere and I will have absolutely no idea where we are or what direction we are heading in.

It is the "not knowing-ness" that keeps this fresh and fun for us.

Lots of truck drivers prefer to have "dedicated" routes.  They want to know when they will be home to be with their families.

We have everything we need right in the truck with us and love the adventure of each new run.

Have I mentioned this week that I love my job?!?!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Sunday Smile




These ducks ganged up on me.
Swarmed me . . .

Made me take 3 of them home!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Red Barn


I love this wonderful barn.



What interesting quirky windows.

Upstate New York

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Life in 18" x 36"

This is the mess that used to be the inside of our truck.  



We were crammed into a KW T2000 with a 60" sleeper.
There was not even enough floor space for Tony and I to stand up at the same time.



18" x 36" of floor space - that green mat was it.
Measure that out and then try to conduct your life there
Oh and add your spouse and a dog!

While we were home in Joplin earlier this week . . . 
we moved into a bigger truck.

84" sleeper

Oh yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll post pics as soon as we get settled in.