I had a BALL filming Beat The Chefs for GSN and I’ve had a lot of fun watching the show with y’all while we chat live each week on Facebook.

I thought I’d compile a post of fun things to look for and frequently asked questions so we can all enjoy knowing the behind the scenes details!

Fun Things to Watch for:

I love interesting little behind the scenes tidbits so I thought I’d share some fun things to look for. Come back next week because as I think of more things I’ll add them in!

Photos on fridge -

When I got there and saw that there was a child’s painting on the fridge as part of the set, I had my husband fedex me some of our kid’s pictures! The initial picture was just going to be in every show, but the art department accepted my pictures and in three (maybe four) of the shows there will be paintings that Katy Rose did on the fridge. Tonight’s painting is a self portrait she did this summer.

Bird Loose In The Kitchen -

I honestly can’t remember which show it was but during the dramatic reveal at the end of one show, a bird got in the studio and headed straight for the home cook’s kitchen. While they were waiting to see if they won and being interviewed after, this sparrow was hopping all over the place, playing in the sink, hopping and eating on the countertops, etc. I’m not sure if it is possible to cut it out in editing because it was having a grand time so pay close attention behind the home cooks during the reveals this season!

Oversized Shoes-

Normally, the judges shoes are not an issue because you never see them! So most of our guest judges just wore what was comfy for sitting behind the table. I’m wearing heels when I walk about but beneath the table I had a nice pair of flip flops In one episode, though, our guest celebrity judge had to get up during the show and go in front of the cameras -and she didn’t have any shoes other than flip flops with her! They sent someone out to get a pair really quick and came back with some really nice shoes, two sizes too big. So watch for a celebrity judge in really big shoes. You can’t miss it – if you’re looking!

Matt Rogers’ Kids -

Usually kids aren’t in the audience because it is a pretty long day and just too much to ask of them. During one show, though, Matt Rogers’ wonderful wife came to visit the set with their two boys and they sat in the audience a while right behind me. I’m not sure if they made it on camera but if you watch really close you might catch a glimpse of the little Mini-Matts!

Brad Johnson’s Socks -

Brad Johnson has the most fascinating collection of socks I’ve ever seen. He was the only judge who couldn’t wear comfy shoes because his show on camera from time to time. Keep an eye out for his socks. I have no idea where he gets them from but I am jealous. Striped, polka dotted, patterned, you name it!

Where in the world is Matt Rogers?

When you see us eating at the judges table and Matt is off camera – he was really in the kitchens while the cameras were on us scavenging for leftovers. He then pretends to be coming back on set from backstage but now you know the truth

Every Single Person In TEARS -

There is one show this season that had every one of us in tears. I was trying to hold it together so I looked at Brad, because he usually has his emotions in check fairly well and I can straighten up a bit when I look over at him. This time, though, he was sniffing and bawling….so I thought “Oh no, I can’t do this!” Then I looked to Matt, who was also bawling. Then I looked to the audience…there literally wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I managed to keep myself somewhat together, cried of course, but once the show wrapped I made a beeline for my dressing room and had a good tear duct cleaning!

Join me each week on my Facebook page where I’ll have a question and answer thread. I’ll be chatting with you during the show and you can chat right back! Here are a few questions from last week’s premiere of the show.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now On To The Frequently Asked Questions!

Do they really cook as long as the clock says?

This was the most common question asked and the answer is: Yes, absolutely. When the clock says 2 hours or an hour and 45 minutes or whatever, they start a clock in studio and we all sit there while they cook for every single minute of that time. There is no kitchen magic or do-overs.

It passes by a lot quicker than you’d imagine though, because we’re watching the cooks and chefs, trying to listen in on their conversation to figure out how it is going, and talking among ourselves. We spend a lot of time at the judges table tossing around guesses of what everyone is doing in the kitchen! Keep in mind, we don’t have nearly as good a view as you do at home, we’re a good ways back and we’re not allowed to get up and go check out the kitchens.

Do the Chefs spend time with the contestants off set?

Actually, we were all kept very separated from one another. The Chef’s didn’t talk with the contestants and we as judges didn’t get to talk with the contestants or the chefs. The only contact we had was on camera or every now and then when the contestants came and gave us hugs if they won We loved it when they did that but we weren’t allowed to approach them them first. That was hard because I REALLY wanted to hug everyone!

How many episodes did you tape?

Will GSN publish any of the recipes?

How long does it take to shoot each episode?

It takes anywhere from 10-14 hours to film a single episode That is all shot in one day, with a single break for lunch.

Are you from Huntsville??

When I read your blog you speak to me in a higher voice!

I’ve always hated the sound of my voice so I would consider it a great personal favor if you could just keep imagining it however it sounded in your head before you actually heard it. Has to be an improvement

How many shows did you record with you being the judge?

Do they play that VERY ! dramatic music while you’re taping or is that in post?

There wasn’t any music while we were filming and I REALLY love the music they added in! There were all of those lights though. When you sit in that all day long, hardly seeing sunlight…I’ve never been to Las Vegas or anything but I kinda feel like I know what that is like now

Did you have to sit there the whole time?

If I asked really nice they let me go powder my nose every now and then

Did they run out of Diet Dr. Pepper ?

They didn’t have any at all the first day but I prefer to plan ahead rather than expecting people to accommodate me so I showed up with five twelve packs in my trunk for good measure After the first day, they got some on set and whenever they ran out (Turns out a lot of other people love it as much as I do!) I just went to my trunk and brought in more. Matt Rogers was a big help in making sure I had some on set, too! Have y’all seen this commercial he did? ~giggles~

What channel on knology is it?

Knology doesn’t offer GSN. Trust me, I’ve asked, begged, pleaded. I have no idea why. I have no problem with them not offering GSN if they don’t want to but they also pay off the city I live in so that they won’t allow another cable company in. That’s not very nice.

Can I watch the show online?

What do the home cooks win if they beat the chefs?

Each show there are two home teams and each one is eligible for $25,000.00 if they beat the chefs, so $50,000.00 is up for grabs each show. If the Chefs win, they just win, no money or anything. But I’ll share a diet dr pepper with them if they want Oh wait, I’m not allowed to talk to them..okay they’re on their own.

Do the contestants have to cook a whole meal?

Did you ever cringe with anything you had to taste?

When they say the have five minutes left and they look like they are scrambling, do they REALLY only have five minutes left?

Random Videos

Singing on the Set of Beat The Chef (There was a LOT of singing)

Please note: I have deleted these videos that I filmed with my camera on the set in order to prevent my youtube account from being closed after GSN reported it to Youtube as copyright infringement. 

Chefs Dancing on the set of Beat The Chefs

A lot of time the audience got in on the fun when we were waiting to film certain segments.

This guy came out of the audience and started singing and we actually held resuming filming so he could finish his song. He was awesome!

Crew guys singing “My Girl” on the set

More Dancing

If you’d like to see more behind the scenes photos, click here.

My family was thrilled, I was thrilled, and for the first time in a very long time I had a weekend that I could enjoy with no guilt! It was plum near perfect, a lot of fun, and so many more wonderful events to celebrate cropped up within it that I just couldn’t resist sharing it with you.

We began with a celebration dinner at a local restaurant. My husband took off work a little early so we could eat shortly after the kids got out of school and avoid the crowds. We decided on Outback Steakhouse because we couldn’t remember the last time we’d gone there. It was an excellent choice because I had the best steak I’ve had in a restaurant in years and one of the best baked sweet potatoes I’ve ever had. Our waiter was incredibly nice, too. It was a lovely meal from start to finish. Of course, the company helped .

The boys went home and Katy Rose and I went to Gymboree where we spent my GymBucks buying Katy’s Back to School Clothes for next year. We saved even more by choosing from the lines that had been put on sale and now I have a huge weight off of me for the fall because I won’t have to go to fifty different stores at the end of summer in my usual quest for age appropriate clothing. I felt like I’d just met one deadline and trumped another! WEEEE. Back home to go to bed because my wonderful son, Brady had a big day of his own Saturday, competing in a state Destination Imagination competition.

and the next day…

BRADY’S TEAM WON STATE!!!!!

They are now invited to Global Nationals. Thank goodness that is in Knoxville, Tennessee!

We’re so proud of these incredibly intelligent guys. They are absolutely upstanding kids in every way and truly deserving of this honor.

(Brady is the one holding the plaque)

After that Katy Rose and I took a little road trip to South Pittsburg, Tennessee to meet our friend Jyl for a late lunch at our favorite haunt, Cracker Barrel. It was her birthday and my mother had sent her a party in a box, which included hats. When we arrived we found out Jyl had written on each hat to make it a celebration for each of us! Isn’t that a sweet friend? We meet her for her birthday dinner and she makes it about all of us!

Katy Rose had taken out her starter earrings the night before and replaced them with some brand new ones, so she was pretty proud of her hat.

Here we are in our hats outside of Cracker Barrel.

If you’re ever in South Pittsburg, you have to go to the Lodge Factory store.

Katy Rose is holding a giant inflatable cell phone because…well, She’s Katy Rose and these things happen.

As a matter of fact, I’ll be back here in just two weeks for the National Cornbread Festival! If you’re going to the festival, be sure you check out my Facebook Event page for details the time and location of the Southern Plate meet and greet because I’d love a chance to meet you!

Here is a list of upcoming events I’ll be at.

For specific information, tickets, and times, please see my Facebook Events Page and be sure and RSVP there if you’ll be attending because I sometimes notify people last minute if I get a wild hair and come up with something fun for us to do!

Alabama Book Festival – April 21st. I’ll be speaking and signing books at a specific time and will post the time on the Facebook Events page by Wednesday of this week.

Great Day Houston, Live Appearance – Houston Texas, April 24th – free tickets available if you contact them soon, details on my Facebook events page.

National Cornbread Festival – April 28th. Special meet and greet time for Southern Plate Family. See Facebook page for details and be sure and RSVP

Paula Deen Best Dishes Appearance – April 29th, Food Network. Check your guide for times. This is a re-airing of the episode we filmed last year.

I don’t aspire to travel much because my heart is at home, so if I’m coming near you and we have a chance to meet each other, I’d love to see you when we have the opportunity.

Back to my weekend

It’s a long drive home from South Pittsburg, so Karo and I stopped by the wal mart in Scottsboro, Alabama to buy some flowers and plants for our gardening on Sunday. By the time we got home it was almost bed time and we gladly headed off.

After church Sunday, I put some chicken into my electric smoker. Doesn’t this look good? I use an Applewood Rub made by McCormick’s that I just pick up at the grocery store, and smoke with with soaked hickory chips.

We’d invited our friend who is an expert at all things that bloom or sprout for Sunday dinner and to help us with Katy’s first flower garden. Katy Rose has a keen interest in flowers and her Mama is not so much into the whole “Hey! It’s 100+ degrees! Lets go outside and squat down under the sun for an hour or two and weed something…”. I do try to find ways to encourage my kids when I see they are really into something though, so I thought letting her have her own flower garden would help encourage her and I wanted her to have a pro help her put it in and offer tips.

Here is our smoked chicken, all ready to be gobbled up

Tomato Mozzarella Melts

Summer Corn Salad

Katy Rose made this entirely by herself with my supervision (and chopping skills). She had a big interest in cooking this weekend so I just took her in the kitchen with me any time I went in there and let her do as much as she wanted while I talked her through it. She also made brownies and her first pineapple upside down cake.

Butter Stewed Potatoes, one of Ricky’s favorite way to eat taters

And some simple rustic bread

This is me posing with our dinner. I had been working longer than usual hours and the ironic thing about writing a cookbook is how little time I have to cook when I’m doing it, so I got to enjoy making a meal for the first time in a few weeks.

Oh, just so you know, I haven’t sprouted dog legs. That is Zoey, and this photo shows why she’s earned the nickname “Mama’s Shadow” in this house.

After eating we set out to weed the gardens with family friends Peggy and Alexa.

I set these up as vegetable gardens but as things have gotten busier for me I’ve cut back my vegetative ambitions. So this year I decided to plant one small garden of tomatoes and give one to Katy Rose for her own flower garden.

Hint: If it’s ever time to weed a garden and you have friends who just love doing that sort of thing, every now and then tell them you want to take a picture and run into the house to get the camera, then you can spend at least five minutes on the porch drinking iced tea and resting from the weeding a bit, as long as you click your camera every now and then. 

She did a fabulous job choosing flowers and planting them just where she wanted them.

During this time Brady was setting up his own server for some network where he and some of his close friends can build some virtual world and not be open to public strangers paying them visits…so he is obviously absent from the gardening endeavors because he’s too busy trying to be the next Steve Jobs. I keep telling him that he needs to be the first Brady Jordan instead Eventually, he’ll understand what I’m getting at…

This is Karo posing with her newly planted flower garden in a photo I enhanced using Instagram.

 What a beautiful end to a fabulous weekend.

Life is good folks, and if you let it, it gets even better! 

~ME

Thank you so much for all of your encouragement as I went about writing my second book. You’re pep talks and kind words on Facebook and Southern Plate keep  a smile in my heart!

Details on my Second book:

It will be out in Spring of 2013 through Workman Publishers. I’m thrilled to be with them because some of my personal favorite cookbooks have been Workman ones. I love their cookbook formulas, layouts, and prices!

What is the book title? I can’t tell you just yet but as soon as I’m able I will definitely share that! It sets the tone for the entire book and I just love it I actually named this one myself but didn’t get to do that on my first book.

Does it have stories? I wrote it so yup. You know I can’t just hand you a recipe and leave it at that!

Where can I get your first book? My first book is available online through most national booksellers and Amazon.com (best price at Amazon, click here). Many booksellers have copies in their stores, too. Wal Mart and Sam’s Club sold out shortly after the book came out so don’t look in these stores, but you’ll have pretty good luck in a Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, and the like. My best advice if you want a deal is to hit Amazon because it is generally at least ten dollars cheaper there.

Will your book be available for pre-order? Yes! I’ll be sure and tell you as soon as it is, possibly by Christmas.  I wrote this book to be an absolute workhorse in the kitchen and if you enjoy Southern Plate recipes, it is my hope you’ll use this one so much that you wear it out and have to buy another copy! My mother proofed it for me and when she was done she called and said “I’m gonna tell you what, if folks can’t find something they wanna cook in that book they just need to go out to eat!”. ~giggles~

 

I strive to make SouthernPlate.com a place where people of all faiths and walks of life feel welcome, because you are. This is my virtual kitchen and I want any one of you to feel like you can just walk in, prop your feet up, and visit a spell. With that in mind, I’m letting you know that this post will be different in the respect that I will be talking openly and frequently about my Christian faith. So I wanted to give you a heads up on the content of this post out of respect for your views on faith and out of appreciation for your respect of mine.

I’m leaving Monday morning for a five day mission trip to Ecuador – my first very mission trip.

Look, I even have a passport. Never thought I’d have one of these…but glad I do.

I have so many things going on in my heart and head right now that it is difficult putting them into words but one thing keeps coming to me over and over again God is not sending me on this trip for what I can do for others so much as for what he is doing within me. With that in mind, I’m setting out on this journey of mine and will be doing what I can to bring you along.

We are traveling to Quito, which is the capital of Ecuador. This will be our “home base” for the week and we’ll be traveling to different villages each day delivering shoeboxes full of presents to the children there. We plan on visiting four villages, each containing anywhere from 100-200 children.

I’m headed out armed with over a thousand Veggie Tales stickers and lots of tiny fruit flavored hard candies to fill my pockets with, as well as a few other goodies I’ve picked up to pack in my backpack and pull out as I feel led to do so. The Samaritan’s Purse team will meet us at the airport and they’ll have all of the shoeboxes and other needed supplies. I’ll be traveling with Kelly Hancock of Faithful Provisions, which is just another blessing.

Kelly and I happened to be flying out of the same airport so we requested they book all of our flights together. This is a first mission trip for both of us and we’ve been teaming up through phone calls to organize our efforts (Note: If you live near a Dollar Tree store in our towns, you might not wanna go there looking for hard fruit flavored candies or sunglasses because Kelly and I thought they would make nice gifts for folks there).

While I’m gone my mother in law is coming to help my husband with the kids so I know that will be a huge load off of my mind and I won’t have to worry about them. Katy Rose said “When you’re gone and a Grandmama comes it is kind of like they are a substitute Mama, isn’t it?” I explained to her that Grandmothers were especially good at being substitute mothers when needed .

I’m hoping to post here at least a few times while I am away, including photos and accounts of what the team’s day was like. If you would like to stay tuned and make sure you don’t miss out on updates, keep posted to our Facebook Page (click here). I’ll be posting on there each evening I am able (which should be most evenings) and each morning before we head out for the day. This is the only email I’m sending out because I try to be very careful about sending out too many emails. If you aren’t on Facebook you can just check on this post every so often because this is where I will be adding my updates, beginning with Day one below.

All prayers for Samaritan’s Purse, our team, and the wonderful people we’ll be meeting are greatly appreciated. But make no mistake, this trip is more about God working a change in me than it is them. If you would like to join the group of people praying for us, please leave a comment on this post or visit the Events Page set up for this trip on our Facebook page by clicking here.

I hope you’ll stay tuned to Facebook where I’ll notify everyone each time I update this post. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for joining me here on my trip next week!

Gratefully,

Christy

Phil 1:12

~~~~~~~~~~ Day One ~~~~~~~~

I’ve just made it to the hotel – and am trying to type this on a teeny tiny little computer that I brought with me. Please blame typing errors on the teeny tiny keyboard rather than the keyboard operator ~winks~.

I woke up around two this morning. Not because I had to get up at two, but because I had to get up at 3:30 and at two, I woke up worried that I would sleep past 3:30, and so I got up at two , just to be on the safe side.

If you’re thinking I’m crazy for doing this, I agree.

Anyway, headed out to Nashvillle and picked up Kelly from FaithfulProvisions.com on the way (no sense in both of us having to pay for airport parking!) and then got to the airport around eight. We met Shelia at the airport thanks to the spiffy matching orange tshirts OCC sent us all to wear. When we arrived in Miami we were greeted by a sea of orange t shirts as we met up with the rest of the group.

Goodness, I have no idea how many people are here but there are a lot of us! We are split up into different teams (I think there are six or seven teams) and we’ll each be going to different villages, which means that a LOT of kids will be getting shoeboxes full of presents over the course of the next few days.

They tell us we are at about 11,000 feet above sea level. What that means is that when you walk a few steps, you feel like you’ve just ran half a mile . It is taking some adjusting. Eveyone says to drink plenty of water and the hotel is providing us all of the bottled water we need. I came in to find only one bottle in my room so called down and was greeted with “Yes Lady Christy, we’ll bring it right up Lady Christy.” Everyone in the hotel keeps calling me “Lady”. When I rached for my bag a man stepped up and said “No, Lady, please. Let me get for you, Lady.” He was very kind and helped me lug both of my suitcases upstairs.

I know I posted on Facebook that the first miracle of the trip had occurred because I’d managed to get an entire week’s worth of belongings and clothes in a small carry on – well that was the honest to goodness truth. My other suitcase, the biggest one I own, is stuffed to the brim with shoeboxes (packed with gifts for th kids) and candy. Lots and lots of candy. Also Veggie Tales stickers and about thirty pairs of sunglasses – oh and a few teddy bears I got on clearance after Valentine’s Day . I was running out of room so I put them in gallon ziplock bags and had Katy Rose sit on them to get the air out. Those teddy bears are giving me funny looks from the bags so I guess I need to open them up before I go to bed…
I hope to be able to get in bed in about an hour and we have an early start tomorrow. Everyone is wonderful. EVERYONE, just wonderful, and the people in Quito are so very gracious and kind. They have also all been incredibly considerate of my complete lack of Spanish.
While walking through the airport I noticed something interesting. You know how so many of our signs have English and Spanish? Well…that isn’t the case here. It feels very odd and lonely to be walking around looking at all of these signs and not have any real idea what any of them say or if you are headed to the right place. To be in a foreign land where you don’t even speak the language and you just have to kind of hope you’re doing what you’re supposed to do and going where you’re supposed to go. It’s disconcerting and pretty lonely, even if you are traveling with a group. I was walking through the airport desperately looking for any sign with just a few words of English and it hit me, I’m a foreigner now. Everyone needs to know what that feels like.

The internet connection in my hotel is pretty weak so I’m hoping I can get this added in to the post. I’m not going to try for pictures today but I did post a few on the Southern Plate Family Facebook page so head on over there if you’d like to see a few. We will be going to villages all day tomorrow but back at the hotel a little before supper so if I can find a good connection somewhere I’ll share some photos and video with you then.

Please forgive my shortness tonight. There is this big old soft bed and it’s giving me that come hither look Also, the internet is so up and down that I’m just hoping to get this post up for ya.

Love you and please know that if you are reading this, you are in my prayers as well.
Gratefully,
Christy

P.S. I cannot thank you enough for your prayers, kind comments, and support. I’ve read every single one and will continue to do so and hope to have time to respond once I’m back home.

~~~~~~~~~~ Day two~~~~~~~~~

I’m so glad I didn’t come across anyone toting an oxygen tank this morning because I would be awfully tempted to wrestle them for it I’ll post about today’s events this evening.

Evening update~~~~~

How do I even begin to put the things in my heart into words after the most overwhelming day of my life. I just wish so badly I could bring you all here, to this beautiful place with it’s beautiful people. I wish you could see how protectively the mothers hold their children, how anxiously they wait when we bring out the boxes, their eyes filled with hope and pleading that their child will receive one (they do).

Ieeta is the girl holding her sister on the left

I wish you could meet Ieeta, the nine year old girl who carries her nearly two year old sister on her back and smiles proudly anytime someone tells her they like her baby or she is a good sister. She kept both hands cradled behind the small child, grinning proudly as she walked around. I asked a translator if that was normal for a child so small (though nine, she is the size of most six year olds) to be carrying and looking after a baby and Sara, one of our translators told me that it was very common and that nine year old probably knew how to cook and take care of everyone.

At one point I pulled out a roll of VeggieTales stickers and suddenly little hands swarmed me from everywhere, sticking out in hopes that I could put a sticker on them.

My little friend, Sheila

A tiny little girl who looked from her size to be no more than 1 year old, turned out to be over two years old and she danced and clapped in front of me, delighting as I began to clap with her. She kept following me around and I kept picking her up or sitting on the ground to play with her. Her name is Sheila and when I got ready to leave she kept saying something. The translator came and said She is telling you ‘don’t go, don’t go.’”

There is this thing that happens today that I learned about at the first stop. Kids. They just, connect with you. Certain children, at every stop, it’s just like your eyes lock and you know this is going to be the one following me around. This is going to be the one I take photos of again and again just so they can see their smile on the digital display of my camera. (They LOVE that).

You take a photo of a child and they immediately rush to you and reach for your camera to turn it around so they can see themselves. This seems to be universal everywhere we go here.

This is the pastor of the first church we went to. He came up and gave me a big hug and said “You must tell everyone, please please tell everyone thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. We will never forget this.” Then he asked to have his picture made with me.

Oh, did you know that it is Carnival in Ecuador and they have a tradition of throwing water balloons and/or squirting folks with the hosepipe no matter who it is? We even spotted an elderly lady grinning mischievously while holding a hose on the roof of her house!

They had a lot of fun throwing water balloons at our bus on the way to and from the last drop off. On the way back I actually got a little spray from a hose in the face thanks to an open window. They also get you with silly string but water seemed to be the favorite. You can see all of these little kids walking around carrying buckets of water just looking for someone to pour it on. It appears to be all in good fun, kind of like how our kids might do on Halloween or such -wait let me change that. Some kids. If my kids ever pull that they better hope they’re in Ecuador and it happens to be carnival…

This is a photo from outside of the first church we went to. This is really how most of what we’ve seen looks. But the people are so kind, so loving, so grateful! They greet us with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and not one of those fake, half hearted hugs, a real squeeze hug, with zeal and joy and thankfulness for us being there.

At one church we ran into what some might view as a problem. We had planned for 250 kids. 250 had signed up and the pastor had said that would be it. 350 showed up and we had brought shoeboxes for 250. I looked to a guy with us and said “we need us a fish and loaves moment pretty quick.” We all went back on the bus and pooled everything we had, in addition to locating a few more shoeboxes – and ended up with enough to give a full 100 more children shoebox gifts!

I saw kids lives change today, just by being handed a shoebox. If you packed one this year, thank you for all of the hugs, kisses, and “gracias” I received today on your behalf.
These shoeboxes aren’t just boxes that people fill with random presents. These shoebox are filled with so much more. They are filled with hope, love, joy, and everything needed to change a life forever.

Thank you all for today.

~~~~~~~~~~ Day Three ~~~~~~~~

So here is the thing about Operation Christmas Child – even though over 8 million boxes were packed this past year, meaning that over 8 million children will experience the joy of being given a shoebox, many likely packed by one of you, it’s really just about one child. In the end, that is what it boils down to. Millions of boxes become one child. Each child is special and each child and their shoebox has a story.
I can’t tell you all of the stories but today I want to focus on my experience with one child.

Her name is Margaritta. We went to a school today and I sat across from her, a big pad of concrete separating us as the older students performed dances in our honor. We clapped and cheered along and somewhere in the midst of that my eyes locked on her. A tiny slip of a child, but I already knew from my experiences yesterday that although she looked to be around one she was likely a little older than two. She clutched a dirty naked baby doll in her arms which belonged to the preschool. She never once let go of that doll and as I watched her I knew that she was the one who needed to get my daughter’s box. I thought back to last week when Katy Rose and I were in Wal Mart and she spotted two identical beautiful dolls with curly red hair on clearance. They were soft and plush and Katy immediately picked both dolls up and began pleading for them “Please Mama, we could put one in my shoebox and then I could have one just like it that stays at my house.” I took them for a price check and they rang up $6.50, which isn’t exactly a clearance price in my mind but the doll was beautiful and I did think Katy’s logic of having one at home and knowing one was in another girl’s arms in another part of the world would serve to help her remember the whole experience of her mother’s first mission trip.
As the program concluded (it was just beautiful), the rest of the OCC team went to open the cases of shoeboxes and I made a beeline for the bus, determined to get my shoebox to the small girl before someone else on our OCC team handed her one.

I handed it to her and I really don’t think she knew what it was. She looked at it and patted it a few times, then hugged it to her chest.
As we passed out all of the shoeboxes someone began a countdown in spanish Uno, Dos, Tres!
She sat there and began chewing on the paper as she looked around in confusion. It’s alright though, I’ve taught many a child how to unwrap a gift .

In just a few moments we had her gift unwrapped and I pulled out the doll. Now I need to let you know that often we have to convince these children that the box and it’s contents really do belong to them. Margaritta looked at me in distrust for a moment until I handed her the doll and wrapped her arms around it.

The rest of the shoebox pretty much disappeared for her as she embraced her new baby, only pulling her away long enough from time to time to lovingly examine her face, her hair, and the bow tied at her waist. For the next half hour I tried to help and talk to other children but always when I’d glance back to check on Margaritta she would be holding her doll close to her chest.
One thing bothered me though, I still had not gotten a smile from her. Oh how that bothers me. Whenever I connect with a kid, I just can’t rest until I get a smile from them. Smiling should always come naturally for children and it is very important to never leave a child without knowing they still have that ability.

In search of something to do which would bring a smile to her precious face, I noticed her friend had a baby doll tied to her back in the same fashion as mother’s in Ecuador often wear their babies. I had an idea

On the way up here Kelly Hancock and I had spent a good deal of time discussing climate and what clothes we should bring. This was a particular concern because we only had one small carry on suitcase each for a week’s worth of clothing and needs, so it would not be feasible to bring extra clothes just in case we misjudged the weather. Kelly told me over and over “You need to just bring you a Pashmina shawl. You can wear it as a scarf or use for warmth if you need a little extra.” Well, as we got to the Nashville airport I remembered that I had left mine at home so I darted into a little gift shop and picked up a beautiful pale pink one just in case.

I darted back out to the bus and retrieved it from my backpack, still sporting the tags from the gift shop. As I came back to the children I found Margaritta, still lovingly holding her baby.

I pointed to her friend and tried to motion that I was going to use my shawl to do that for her. She looked trustingly up at me, until I was done and then she kind of looked at me like I was a little bit on the crazy side.

A mother was nearby and I pointed to a mother and her baby and then the little girl and her baby wrap and showed her my shawl as I pointed to Margarita. She grinned really big and nodded as she set about untying my haphazard shawl from the little girl, then spreading it out and folding it properly for a baby wrap.

Within seconds she was wrapping it around Margarita and tucking her new baby doll safely inside.

As I thanked her profusely I turned just in time to see Margarita’s first smile.

I can never thank God enough for the blessing he gave me today.

I’ll write more about today in future updates but for now this update is about just one child – and as I’ve learned this week, that is what Operation Christmas Child is about too

A parting image of the kids as we prepared to leave. Margaritta is playing up on the dirt pile with her baby strapped to her back.

~~~~~~~~~~ Day Four ~~~~~~~~~

What happened to the day four update? Didn’t we do something fascinating and life altering on day four? You better believe we did!

We got to go sit in on a Greatest Journey class, where children were taught about the life of Jesus Christ and how it pertains to them. The amazing thing about this class is that it was at a location where our friend and travel companion, Joey, had gone to pass out shoeboxes seven years prior – and three of the children who received shoeboxes from his visit became Christians and were now teaching these classes! It was an emotional day for all of us, especially Joey, but also an affirmation from God that He had his hand on this and it was Him, not us, dictating the events of our lives. I love how God so often shows us things like that to assure us that He is in control – if only we open our eyes to them.

I call them “winks”.

When we returned late that afternoon we all joined together with the entire group again to talk over our trip and what it meant to us and to share any stories in particular that stood out. One story really stuck with me during this time. One lady in our group said she sat at a school as the kids danced in their honor, waiting to pass out shoeboxes, and across the room she spotted a little boy, who seemed to be about 2 – 1/2 years old, wearing a Cars hat. She said he stuck out to her because she has twin grandsons about the same age and they also love the Cars movie. So when the time came to go pass out shoeboxes she made it a special point to be near him and help him open his. After spending a few minutes getting to know the child they announced that it was time to open and as he lifted the lid of his box, there sat a Cars shirt right on top. She said tears just sprang to her eyes because she felt like it was God saying “You see? I know this child. I know each and every one of you. “

I didn’t write my update the night of day four because I was a bit feverish and went to bed early in hopes of being better prepared for the long travel day home on Friday. Thank you for your understanding and I’m sorry. I skipped the dinner I’m the hotel banquet hall and instead grabbed a grilled ham and cheese from the hotel deli. Kelly told me the next morning that I picked the perfect night because the entire meal was nothing but seafood (She knows I don’t touch that stuff if I can help it). See? God even looks after the tiniest details I sure did enjoy my grilled ham and cheese.

During the course of our trip we also had a little bit of danger, but God saw to it that all was well with that also. I may write about that in the future but I’m just not sure it is my story to tell right now.

~~~~~~~~~~ Day Five ~~~~~~~~~

Coming home was hard. We had spent such an amazing week with such a wonderful group of people. As I sit here typing this my heart is aching for missing them. Clearly, every single detail of this trip was divinely orchestrated, right down to the travel fiasco on the way home

We arrived at the Quito airport without incident and the four hour flight to Miami went smoothly. Kelly and I still don’t “get” all of the complaints about airline food because we were served a meal on the way there and on the way back and both were really very good. We got to sit by each other on the way to Miami also, so that was an added bonus. We were bracing for the transition back to “our” world where so many people use their first waking breaths to go on Facebook and find something to complain about and spend the rest of the day piling more discontent on top of that.

In Miami, things went a little haywire. I had never been to the Miami airport and being there on a Friday afternoon is probably not the ideal situation for a first impression – it made the Atlanta airport look like a well oiled machine, which is really saying something. Kelly and I left American Airlines to go get our Delta flight but we had one bag to check. Already we were in trouble because we had originally had a 45 minute window to catch our connection in Atlanta, at two different terminals, and as we walked by the monitors we saw that our flight was delayed thirty minutes, which meant we were assured of missing our Atlanta connection back to Nashville. We decided to get in line, though, and see if we could possible catch an earlier flight to have better odds. We thought we were doing good when we found a special line for folks who needed to change tickets and ended up right at the front, until we stood there for about forty five minutes. At this rate, we were assured that we would miss our regular flight as well.

So we called Joey from OCC, who had planned to stay at the airport for just such a travel issue and within minutes he called back and had us booked on American again. We would be getting home just one hour later but the beauty of it is that we had seven hours until our flight left which meant that as long as we weren’t flying Delta we had plenty of time to check our bag, go through security, have a bite to eat, and decompress

Kelly and I also got to meet up with our friend, Shelia, again, who is also from the Nashville area. The three of us went and sat down inside a restaurant while I proceeded to drink my body weight in iced tea. I got to thinking about our two seats on that Delta flight and how anxious Kelly and I had been to get back to our families and then it dawned on me that two people who were on standby were in those seats now. I had to wonder if they had families or an emergency they were trying to fly back to, and smiled knowing that they could have possibly said a prayer asking God to get them on that very flight.

Contentment washed over me as I sat drinking my tea and talking over the many miracles of our trip with Sheila and Kelly. Divinely orchestrated, every little bit – right down to the $10 bill that fell out of my pocket at some point. I smiled broader knowing that someone must have needed $10. 

We made our way to the gate an hour or so later and sat there for quite some time chatting, only to discover that the two men across from us were on their way home to their families from a week long mission trip to Haiti. Within seconds we were all passing phones back and forth to show and explain pictures, asking questions about the areas each of us were in, sharing stories from our weeks that had stood out the most. It felt like God saw that we needed more time to sort out our thoughts and emotions from the week before we returned. We needed to digest it all, and in His wisdom, he gave us time to do just that…

The five of us looked up from our conversation about the children in Haiti and Ecuador as the overhead speakers explained that our gate had changed. Retrieving all of our belongings we got up and walked a few minutes to the new gate and began to look for seats, this time unable to sit together. Imagine Sheila’s surprise though, when she spied the face of a lady named Mary Kelly, whom she’d met on our way to Ecuador at the start of the week. Mary is a retired English teacher who had decided that she wants to move to Ecuador to teach ESL to the people there and had been on a week long trip trying to scout out possible villages who might welcome her. She quickly ushered us to the empty seats surrounding her and we spent several minutes talking, no doubt each of us secretly hating that we didn’t have much time with this fascinating woman.

The screen behind the counter changed and informed us that our flight was now going to be an hour late. ~laughs~ 

So we had another wonderful hour to spend with Mary Kelly as we traded more stories, showed photos, and explained all about the villages we went to and how we might could possibly help her find a contact there.

By the time we boarded our flight, we weren’t at all surprised to find that Kelly was sharing her row of three seats with the missionaries from Haiti and I was directly beside her with only the small aisle in between us.

My two companions were a disgruntled married couple consisting of a woman who complained with every breath and a husband who had obviously endured enough of it over the years to cause his head to remain down and his shoulders to be in a permanent state of sagging. “I can’t believe we paid all of that money and this flight is late. What use is that? All of that money and we’re not even leaving on time.” The husband nodded in placating agreement as his mouth remained tightly closed while she continued. “I’m cold. This plane is cold. I’m going to be shivering before long now. Great!” He silently reached down and retrieved his jacket from the floorboard to hand to her. She pulled it up over herself in exaggerated fashion, as if holding off the arctic winds in our small plane, the sleeve swinging in the air at me as she did so. I crossed my legs towards Kelly and angled to the aisle slightly. As a recorded voice told us to fasten our seat belts the lady responded “I don’t know why we have to fasten our seat belts. If this plane crashes we all die anyway.” By now this was comical to me and still the man hadn’t said a word as she continued ranting on, repeatedly maneuvering the jacket and slapping both of us with he sleeves as if she was about to go into certain hypothermic shock. I fanned myself with my hand against the stuffy heat of the plane and leaned over to talk quietly with Kelly.

“People just have no idea.”

“Yeah, they really don’t.”

~~~~~~~~~MY TAKE AWAY~~~~~~~~~ 

What is my take away from this trip? Well there are several things so I’ll just make a list here.

1. I already knew this but there truly are no accidents. Every single thing, right down to the tiniest detail of this trip was divinely orchestrated.

2. Operation Christmas Child is the real deal. If you want to change a child’s entire life, all you have to do is pack a shoebox. In fact, I saw so many miracles on this trip involving extra shoeboxes (At one stop we had 250 shoeboxes but 350 kids and ended up with enough for every one!) that I would encourage you to pack an extra shoe box as well. Not just one.

3. You really cannot understand a trip like this, a place like this, unless you go there. In order to truly understand how much we all have, we must get out of the United States. We have so much wealth and yet are in such poverty. They have so much poverty and yet are in such wealth.

4. Follow your heart. God lays certain purposes, causes, and people on our hearts for a reason. My heart is with children and senior citizens, my daughter’s heart is with the children of Haiti. Your heart may be with your neighbor or another cause halfway around the world. Follow it. The cause has been laid upon your heart for a reason. You will encounter criticism, don’t let it detract you. When God lays a purpose on your heart, don’t let man remove it. 

5. If you’re going to pierce yourself, let it be for something worthwhile. This verse really sticks out for me after being in Ecuador, where they have so little but are so grateful for what they have. Then we come back here where, instead of being grateful and looking at all of our blessings with thanks, we hold ourselves up to others in order to measure what we should strive for materially. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 1 Tim 6:10

Each day, so many among us wake up and make a decision, an absolute decision, to pierce ourselves with many pangs. Rather than greeting the new day with gratitude. Rather than finding joy in having a place to sleep, food on the table, clean water that comes out of pipes with the turning of a knob, lights that come on with the flip of a switch, clothes that are washed automatically in a machine, and a family of people who are healthy and love us – we choose to turn away from the blessings and pierce away.

 I’ve been that person. I know the tragedy it is from both angles.

Piercing ourselves with many pangs is something we all do every day. I’ve spent my entire life at it. Piercing myself with many, many pangs. Pangs for things that don’t matter, pangs for things that won’t last. Pangs for things that will not help my purpose or increase my cause. It wears you out when your own lifeblood and sweat drips out for all things that are fleeting. I grew tired of that a while back.  I want to pierce myself for things that mean something. This past week my heart was broken and filled at the same time. Now that is a good pang.

In the end, my takeaway is something I’ve said more times than I can count and now I say it with even more conviction.

Life IS Good, and there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will be adding videos from the trip as well as information on how and what to pack in shoe boxes in the future so stay tuned here or on Facebook for those updates.

I’ve seen some of the neatest signs on Pinterest lately and as an avid sign lover myself, I thought I’d do a post sharing some of the signs I have around my house with you (You can follow me on Pinterest by clicking here if you’d like).

Most of my signs are located in our Diner or the kitchen. We don’t have an actual open-to-the-public diner or anything, but since we converted our sunroom to a fifties style diner, that is what we call it. I’ve had a lot of fun hanging memorabilia up on the walls in there!

The Story Of Our Diner

This is a photo of our Diner. I needed more room in the kitchen but adding onto the house wasn’t an option for us. We had this beautiful sunroom right off the kitchen that we weren’t using but it just doesn’t look right as a dining room to me so I came up with the diner option and got to looking online for diner booths and furniture. There are all sorts of options for second hand but none of them were able to be shipped so I finally settled on buying having my furniture made just for us – and it ended up costing much less for everything than I would have paid for a dining room suite at a furniture store.

We have a booth with a table for four, another table for four with five chairs, and a table for two with two chairs that I keep in the kitchen as a little breakfast table.

WE LOVE OUR DINER! 

I have hopes of decorating it more and would like to add little cafe curtains and such. The kids really want a neon open sign ~grins~. But all of that is just going to have to wait. We’ll get there eventually and in the meantime the journey is half the fun!

I call it the “Do Dine In”, which I think is terribly clever – and the kids just roll their eyes at me every time I try to explain how clever it is.

This is our booth where the four of us eat supper every night. We always loved sitting in booths in restaurants so getting our own was pretty cool for the kids.

We do have a terrible time keeping the cats from scratching it though. I’ve tried putting the little covers on their claws and spraying repellent on the backs of the furniture and nothing has helped. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

This is Katy Rose in her waitress costume. She loves to put this on when we have company

This is part of one wall hanging in our diner.

I’m only showing close ups of some of these so if you have any questions about particulars let me know. That 45 record is a Leslie Gore song. The skillet is the one I got at the Taste of Charleston Iron Chef Competition a few months back (It was a gift).

This post only has some of the signs hanging around my house because…well I really have too many to put into one post ~grins~

Happiness is not a destination. It is a way of life. 

I like to pick signs that have words I want my kids to remember, lessons that I feel are important. This one is crucial. I know so many people who have spent entire lives just waiting for x,y, and z to fall into place before they will be happy. I also know people who haven’t got a penny to their name and they’re living lives more full than the richest among us could ever hope for.

This sign is pretty huge, about a yard tall and over a foot wide.

I got it at Cracker Barrel a while back. Since then I’ve seen a lot of them crop up in antique malls and such for outrageous prices (well over $50.00 – I paid $20.00).

This baby came off Ebay. It is a cast iron plaque that says “On this site in 1897 nothing happened.”

~grins~ I have it hanging on the wall in the diner.

This is a cute little sign, about 5×7 in size. It was a gift from my friend, Beth.

I have no idea where she got it but it sure is cute!

This sign is over 40 inches wide and customized with our name.

The center Coca Cola medallion is a three dimensional metal disk. I got it off of Ebay for a little over $30.00

“Laugh a lot, and when you’re older, all of your wrinkles will be in the right place.”

Jyl got me this one. She and I are big advocates of wrinkles – They are one of the best ways to tell if someone has spent their life smiling or scowling.

Family Rules: Share. May Every word be full of grace. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Give Thanks. Hug Often. Obey your parents. Rejoice in this day that the Lord has made. Love one another. No whining – ever.

I got this one at Cracker Barrel this past summer.

Everything is Beautiful in it’s time. Ecclesiastes 3:11.

This is from the Dayspring line. Their merchandise can be purchased from their website and many Christian book stores.

These little fellas are tin concession stand signs.

I got them off Ebay for about ten bucks.

To enjoy the flavor of life, take BIG bites.

I think I got this one at Old Time Pottery for about $10.

It’s Never Too Late to live Happily Ever After

This applies to so many situations. I think every married couple needs this in their home.

I got this one at the Nashville Flea Market. There used to be this man who set up and made the neatest signs! I was there this past weekend and he wasn’t there anymore but he may start coming again once the weather warms up (winter months are slow for them).

MANY PEOPLE HAVE EATEN IN THIS KITCHEN AND GONE ON TO LEAD NORMAL, HEALTHY LIVES.

I picked this one up at a little gift shop in the Earlyworks Museum complex in Huntsville. It was just too cute not to come home with me!

This is a Buy Fresh Buy Local poster from Alabama that they sent me when I let them use some of my recipes on their website.

Isn’t it pretty? I just framed it in an inexpensive frame and put it up.

I love you like biscuits and gravy

This is a letterpress sign made by Yeehaw Industries that I received when I spoke at a food blog conference last year.

Those who wish to sing always find a song.

This is so so so so so true.

Also, those who wish to wish to complain, always find something to complain about. I want to be in the first category

I got this from the little sign man who used to be at the Nashville Flea Market.

This is a special sign because it was a gift from Su James. Su has been reading Southern plate just about since I started. She and her mother live in Australia. When they came over to visit the south for the first time two summers ago, I drove to Atlanta to spend the day with them (and make some banana pudding for Su to try!) and she and her mother bought me this sign in a gift shop at Stone Mountain. I think of them every time I look at it!

The most important things in life aren’t things.

If only more people realized this.

Another gift from Jyl. It’s like she knows I like signs or something…

You are my sunshine.

I hope my kids remember this sign when they grow up….

Old Time Pottery again. Their signs are really cheap there.

A rich person is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least.

I think I got this one from a dollar store or something. I have no idea. I’ve had it quite some time though.

The letters on the wall read “The Kitchen Is The Heart Of The Home” and the sign under it says “Because Nice Matters”

This is in my kitchen.

God’s Top Ten: Put God First. Worship Him only. No bad words. Work 6, Rest 1. Obey your parents. Harm no one. Don’t cheat. Don’t take what is not yours. Tell the truth. Be happy with what you have.

Yup, these are the actual commandments paraphrased.

I got this sign at Cracker Barrel this past summer but a few days ago saw one exactly like it at a Lifeway Christian Bookstore. I’ve had a lot of people ask about this one.

This is over the doorway leading from the kitchen into the den. I’ve had this sign for at least twenty years so I have no idea where I got it.

That hook you can see on the top inner bit of the doorframe is where I hang mistletoe at Christmas

This isn’t really a sign but it’s hanging on my wall and I like it.

A set of miniature copper molds in their original display package. I hang a set of copper measuring spoons on individual nails beneath it and I use those all the time.

I’m not a decorator and I know this arrangement is a bit crowded but I’ll live.

The phone on the left is our kitchen phone – I think we still have a house phone number but I turned the ringer off when I first got it and have used it maybe twice so it’s mostly for decoration. The mug rack on the right is one that my grandfather made and finished and Grandmama cross stitched the Morton Salt center of it.

I love this saying and this particular sign was designed by a nice lady on Etsy. I bought a jpeg file of it from her and had it printed on a 16×20 canvas at Wal Mart.

To get it to go on the canvas, I had my husband add an inch and a half border all around to the original file so it wouldn’t have white space when stretched across the canvas frame. I posted a photo on Facebook and so many people asked about it that I emailed the lady who made it and asked her if she would consider setting up an easy auction for the image with the needed boarder around it but I’m afraid I never heard back from her. You can search and find the image on Etsy if you’d like, it is only $8.95 for the jpeg and you have rights to print it on whatever you like (would make great gifts) but if you decide to do it on a canvas like I did some modification will be needed.

Having a place to go is Home.

Having someone to love is Family.

Having both is a Blessing.

I think this came from Kirkland’s a few years ago.

This is a reproduction Coca Cola menu board that I picked up a few years ago at the gift shop in Lake Winnepesaukah

This is a paper potato sack that I got at a flea market two years ago for $2.00.

Now let’s head back into the Diner…

Here are a few signs over the window in the diner. Let’s get a little closer…

A beautiful metal sign from the Loveless Cafe gift shop in Nashville, TN.

Quit Your Meanness

I love this one! How many times have we wanted to tell folks this?

This is actually a bumper sticker that I mounted on cardboard and then just stuck up on the wall.

Visualize Minnie Pearl

Another bumper sticker that I mounted on cardboard and then stuck up on the wall in the diner. This one came from the Loveless Cafe Gift shop.

Flea Market Find.

This is a reproduction sign. It was original $24.00 but we got him down to $20. It’s hanging in the diner.

I got this from Ebay. I can’t speak with certainty here, but I’m pretty sure this was meant to be read by the writers at the New York Times and all those other folks who have come out of the woodwork to get five minutes of fame in exchange for saying nasty things about Paula Deen. As my mother would say “Their time is coming.”

NOTICE

Having a sense of humor is vital to survival. If you are blessed with a sense of humor, exercise it often. If you are not blessed with a sense of humor, give serious thought to acquiring one Having said that I love this! ~Giggle~

This sign came from Amazon.com. Click here to buy one if you’d like.

To see more of my kitchen itself (beyond the signs) and the rest of my house (on a day it was clean!) click here to see a tour.  

Do you have any signs around your house that have a special quote or message on them?

“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.

The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

– Mark Twain

Submitted by Jenny. Click here to submit your quote.

A few months back I drove down to Savannah, Georgia to spend the day filming with Paula Deen. We had a wonderful time and I found her kitchen to be one of the most comfortable rooms I’ve ever been in. The Episode we filmed airs this Saturday on the Food Network (click here to read times and please RSVP if you plan on watching).

What is Paula Deen like? Well she’s just like you’d think she is. She is gracious, kind, and absolutely beautiful inside and out. This is a warm hearted Southern Mama and Grandmama to the core. She is a generous person, heaping praise and thanks on all of those around her. She made me feel so welcome and we chatted about our grandmothers, life in the old days, and the joys of getting to be a Mama.

Blurry photo of us being silly

Now I want to tell you about her boys. They were both there, they were both as friendly as could be, and they were both so well mannered. I cooked with Bobby on the show and we had a great time. That boy could make a tree stump laugh! But the main thing that impressed me with her boys was that when each of them left, they went around to more than twenty members of the production crew and thanked each one of them by name and gave them each a hug. That speaks volumes to the kind of people they are and how they were raised. I always feel that my behavior is a reflection on my mother and so I do my best each day to be a credit to her. Bobby and Jamie definitely are.

I took my heirloom rolling pin to use in the recipe we prepared of my Mama Reed’s Nilla Wafer Cake and I also brought along some green stamps, tea glasses that used to be peanut butter jars (like my Mama Reed used) and an ad for the peanut butter that had come in them. We enjoyed chatting about them while we were filming.

The funny thing is, you know how Southerners really don’t hear our own accents? Paula said my Alabama accent made her sound like a yankee! ~giggles~ We all know that isn’t true but it was still funny to hear.

So yesterday on my Facebook page I asked if anyone had any specific questions about my filming with Paula and y’all came up with some good ones! Some are a bit more intense and some lighthearted. I’ll do my best to answer them below. I didn’t answer the ones that wanted me to ask Paula a question because I’m afraid I won’t be speaking with her before the show, and I left off some that ended up being duplicates (A lot of us want to know the same thing – but isn’t that always the way with family?).

April – How many sticks of Butter did ya’ll use during the show?

I think three but possibly four. As for my part in it, one.

Charles- Carol and I will be eating at her place in Tunica next week. Any free meals?

~Giggles~ It costs a great deal of money just to be Paula Deen – I can promise you that without a bit of reservation. I ate at her restaurant in Savannah and while I did ask her producer to get me a table there, I happily paid full price for my meal and would have never dreamed of letting her cover it.

Glenda – Will you be on her cooking show?

Yes. This Saturday. Here is the link on Food Network’s site.

I won’t be watching it when it airs though, I have an event at my kid’s school so I’ll let y’all see it first.

Ally- How did she get her courage to overcome Agoraphobia? Was it a strictly “mind over matter” thing? 

We actually talked about that during filming. I’m not sure if it will make it into the show. I haven’t seen the episode and really have no idea what it includes.

Her overcoming that is especially impressive knowing what all she has to go through in public nowadays. I think I’d be hiding in a hole…

Donna- How did it feel to be in the company of someone that has gone through what you are now going through? Did you say “I wanna be just like her?” Is she as wholesome as she seems on tv?

Donna, you hit the nail on the head. I felt like I was with someone who understands so much of what my life is like now, things that I can never speak about because folks wouldn’t understand. The funny thing is that once I was finally with someone who understood it, I didn’t even need to talk about all of the things I’ve encountered on my journey. It was just nice being with someone who has traveled the road.

As far as me wanting to be like her, I have nothing but respect and admiration for Paula, both for the road she’s traveled and for the character and grace she’s maintained through it all. But I’ve never aspired to be like any earthly person other than my mother. As far as being more like my Mama, I’ve still got a long way to go .

Paula Deen doesn’t put on any airs. She is exactly who she presents herself to be.

William – How was your cholesterol – before and after?!

I can’t speak to cholesterol but my heart was definitely in better shape afterwards.

Donna – I saw her on Dr. Oz and was so touched by her desire to quit smoking. I hope her journey is successful. Does she cook anything without butter? Hehe

She cooks a great deal without butter but the moment she stops using it on air there will be moment people shout with outrage that she’s a sell out.

You don’t get to a certain place in public life without learning that you can’t please them all and it’s best to just be true to who you are

Jim – Butter or margarine?

Paula is decidedly and determinedly butter only. She faces as much criticism for that as I do for my butter/margarine shifting. In the end I feel this should be to each their own. Your kitchen – your rules. I wasn’t assigned to judge

Debbie – Has Paula stopped smoking. I also saw her on Dr. Oz and saw the very vunerable side of her that you don’t often see of famous people on tv. I could see her hiding her fear (searching for the right word) with comedy. She had me laughing and then crying for her and her struggle. I can relate as I struggle with food but it just all taste so good! Tell her how much we all love her next time you see her. We love you too!

Debbie, thank you!! I love you right back, I truly do.

I can’t speak to whether or not Paula smokes. I can’t imagine she is able to be who she is, with the great demands placed on her time and having to live under a microscope, without having something she does just for herself though – no matter what that is. If I were ever in her shoes, I’d need a truck delivery of diet dr pepper each day just to get out of bed

Willie – Just tell her that we all love you AND her.

I will do that Willie – and Thank you!!!

Janet -Did you get to meet her sons and husband?

Yes Ma’am! I met both of her sons, cooked with Bobby and spent a good bit of time talking to him, but didn’t get to meet her sweet husband.

Amanda – She seems so nice on tv, I bet she is even nicer in person? my daughter always says look mom our friend is on tv!

She really is a sweet and dear woman.

John- I would love to know what color she uses on her hair…..Beautiful silver……...

Oh isn’t it? I wish I could tell you! I complimented her hair as well. She said “Well honey, I wish I could give it to you but you can only get this color by an ex husband and two grown kids.”

Latosha – Many years ago (1994 or 95) I worked at a place and Paula Deen was a client. We supplied to her. I was her customer service rep.. We had many conversations and she even offered me a job over the phone. I had no desire to move from South GA and didn’t know her. BOY!!! I should have took up the offer! We got along FABULOUS!

She’s such a sweetheart, isn’t she?

Lydia – Ask her to come to Huntsville and have a great big Paula/Christy cookoff and fun-filled day of fans just hanging out…..

I’ll do that! We’d have to cook together though, I don’t do “cookoffs” as I have a strict policy of never competing with my recipes. Competing is saying that you think your recipe or cooking is better than others and I’ve never felt that way. You’re every bit as good a cook as I am, if not better!

Angie - how long before you started breathing normally when you were taping? I would have been hyperventilating from sheer joy!

I was never the least bit nervous. I was nervous the first time I did tv at a little local station in Huntsville a few years back. Once I got that behind me people have just been people ever since and I always feel blessed whenever I get to spend time with folks on both sides of the camera.

Michelle – Are her boys as cute in person as they are on tv?

Nope. They’re cuter.

Malinda – is she as sweet as she seems and funny in person?

She is a gracious and kind person, with generous heart. As for being funny – She’s a HOOT!

Jean – What was one thing you learned from her and what was your favorite part of this whole experience?

I had one question I wanted to ask her. One thing that I felt only she could understand.

All of my life I’ve felt like I was the last puppy in the box. The one nobody picked. Folks just walked by and didn’t notice once the shiny, cuter puppies were gone. That has made the success of my website and book and, well, I guess me, hard to digest and wrap my head around at times.

I wanted to ask Paula “How do you handle being the last puppy in the box all of your life and then all of a sudden being chosen first?”

I didn’t ask her though. Once I was around her I understood. I think we’re both still the last puppy in our minds, and that is what makes us who we are. It was comforting seeing that.

Gwen – Do you think she will ever have a cooking show, “Healthy Cooking with Paula Deen”?

That’s an excellent question and one only Paula could answer, of course. Personally, I kinda feel like I know where it would go. Paula never asked to be the Paula Deen brand that she is today. The public put here there. They took a shining to who she was and what she represented, the fact that she cooked like so many of our grandmothers and then had the nerve to be proud of her cooking heritage to boot, and they put her where she is. Some people in that same public will happily crucify her for being the person they lifted her up for being. If she were to change now, they’d call her a sell out. But the great thing is Paula Deen has the rare character trait of being able to remain true to herself though it all.

Candace-  I have to wonder is she genuinely nice and sweet or put on? I do love Paula (not NEARLY as much as you, Christy..you’re the real thing…a Mama with young’uns and so forth) and have seen her somewhat get the “big head” over the years compared to what she used to be.

Candace you are so sweet. Thank you for such a wonderful compliment My younguns keep me hopping, that’s for sure!  This is a great question and I’m going to expand on it a little bit, beyond what you asked, to address other areas in which some folks might think she has an ego issue.

I didn’t find her to have a big head or ego at all. She’s just a plain old thing in person and doesn’t act as if she thinks she’s any more special than anyone else. She works harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.

As you get bigger, you have to form a natural insulation around yourself for the sake of your family and personal life and I can only imagine she has to have several layers. Sometimes you hear of folks running into her and saying “She didn’t even smile at me!” or the like, and it bothers me because I know on the other side of things, she may have been up half the night flying in, done tv, and radio that day, and then had a book signing where she was smiling and bright for three or four hours with hundreds of people in attendance.  Sometimes, not smiling isn’t the equivalent of a frown. It just means your face would like to take a breath.

Ann  - I’ve been meaning to ask but what were the cookies called that you took to the set then gave me the leftovers at the front desk of the Westin. They were absolutely fabulous.

I took two different kinds of cookies, Ann, and Paula and her boys tried them and liked them both! Dishpan Cookies and M&M Bar Cookies. I’m so glad you liked them and it was great getting to meet you!!!

So there you have it folks, the truth about Paula Deen. She is a hardworking, good hearted person who is also a devoted mother and doting grandmother…But I’m pretty sure that isn’t a startling revelation  

Gratefully,

Christy

The Little Red Hen

*****

Listen to more of my favorite stories below!

Interrupting Chicken

Tacky The Penguin

Enemy Pie

Little Red Hen

When I Was Young In The Mountains

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type

Bark, George

YES DAY!

Giraffes Can’t Dance

Pete The Cat

Kiss Good Night

Green Eggs And Ham

One Fish, Two Fish

WHAT! Cried Granny

Wocket In My Pocket

If you are on Facebook, please click the “Like” button above. Thanks!

Family Adventure Days began when my husband and I realized that while we were all together at home on the weekends, we weren’t actually tuning into each other as a family. With the temptations of video games, tv, and the internet at home, we decided to set aside one day each weekend that we are able to leave the house and get out and have some inexpensive fun together as a family. This began in September of 2009 and has been the best thing that ever happened to the Jordans!

Today I’m bringing you a fun family adventure day post from this past weekend. We actually returned to the place we had our first ever official family adventure day, only instead of staying just the day this time, we spent the night in an on site log cabin that is over 100 years old!

So join me as I revisit Belvidere, Tennessee, one of my favorite places in the world…

Contact Information on each place mentioned is in bold at the end of this post. 

 Oh, and we’ll bring my family along, too!

I’m gonna take you back to Fall’s Mill and show you the beautiful little log cabin that we stayed in along with gorgeous photos from our walks…

But first, I really should start at the beginning…

Anytime were near Belvidere, we just have to go to The Swiss Pantry. I love this place. Mama and I used to stop off here on our way to Quilt Retreats in Sewanee, Tennessee back in the old days when I had time to quilt and Mama and I both had time to go away on extravagant things like quilt retreats

Swiss Pantry is a Mennonite owned bakery and grocery store of sorts. They have all sorts of little handy items for your pantry but my favorite part is their huge selection of cheeses, homemade breads, fresh baked goods, jams, and honey. I also love how nice everyone is

This is just a small corner of their store. Check out the loaves of bread and canned goods!

We picked up a small pan of their cinnamon bites, which were still warm.

I really, really, really love their cheeses…

This is a glimpse into their kitchen. I asked if I could take photos and they said “Sure! We don’t mind at all!”

Notice that it is a family friendly kitchen .

*Teeny tiny rant ahead*

Isn’t it crazy how many things aren’t family friendly nowadays? What kills me are the folks who are entirely anti-kid when it comes to anything their business does. It’s like they’ve forgotten that they were once a baby themselves – or perhaps they just popped into this world fully grown. That actually makes sense and would explain the sourness in them Please note: I’m talking about staunchly anti kid friendly even towards well behaved kids or just families in general.

*Rant complete – see? That really was a tiny one, wasn’t it?*

Okay, so I bought some homemade cinnamon bites, the kids got some candy, and we headed on to my beautiful little cabin.

Notice how I’m calling it “my” cabin. Well, it isn’t, of course, but I did rent it for the night so it was mine for a short time at least.

Here is my little cabin.

See that picnic table  kind of in the center of the photo? That is where we ate our supper as the sun was beginning to set.

You wanted to see another view, didn’t ya?

I knew it ~grins~

It was built in 1845 and moved to this site about twenty or so years ago. They deconstructed it to move and numbered each log so that they could be put back together as it originally was.

It is beautiful inside, very simple and with all you need.

This is the view from my little kitchen area.

~sighs~ It was like living on Walton’s Mountain for two beautiful days.

This is the little stove I made us spaghetti on. Although, on our next trip, I won’t be bringing any groceries from home.

The cabin comes fully stocked with eggs, milk, orange juice, butter, sugar, coffee, cheese, a huge ham steak (in the fridge), whole grain pancake mix and grits directly from the mill, honey, and maple syrup. To top it off, Mrs. Lovett even made a loaf of homemade bread, homemade blueberry muffins, and huge homemade apple strudel and had them all sitting covered on the counter for us! Talk about having the gift of hospitality!

Note: They do this for everyone. She had no idea I had a blog, much less a cookbook, or that I would be writing about this. 

This is the front of the old Mill. There is a lot of neat stuff to do in here alone.

If you are within driving distance of Fall’s Mill and have never gone there, it is an excellent day trip.

This is the inside of the mill, well just part of it.

You can walk all around and really see how it works as it is fully operational.

This is a very educational experience for the kids.

You can learn how they make all sorts of things in the mill and you can also buy products still made at Fall’s on site.

I dearly love my grits but I will only eat the ones from Fall’s Mill because they are the absolute best.  You just can’t get good grits in a grocery store these days.

This is part of the upstairs of the mill where they have a little gift shop. I’d love for my kitchen to look just like this

Drop a quarter in the slot and the piano starts playing rag time music!

The kids always love that part. Here is Karo dancing and her brother looking on.

Karo especially liked it Mrs. Lovett demonstrated how to spin wool.

You can go out back and actually look down onto the big old wheel.

It’s an incredible view no matter where you are, though.

This is the hubs explaining to the kids how the wheel works.

Engineers just like to explain things.

Meanwhile…

More beautiful views await!

We spent most of our time sitting on the porch of the cabin and walking the grounds.

I lost count of how many times we walked down to the water.

Isn’t this just breathtaking?

And to think, this is only 45 minutes from where we live.

All of these photos were taken just a two or three minute walk from the cabin we stayed in.

You never have to go far to find beauty, you just have to open your eyes and know where to look.

~sighs~

This is what happens when hubs says “Oh! Give me the camera, quick!”.

~arches an eyebrow and smirks~

I bet I have twenty different photos of this praying mantis…

The kids loved feeding the little fish so after every meal we took whatever bread was left and went to donate the crumbs to their little aquatic bellies.

We sat on the rocks Saturday evening after supper and just talked about all of the beauty around us.

We mostly listened and the kids mostly talked, lol. But it was a great time to just sit back and connect with each other.

A family weekend wouldn’t be complete without a family photo!

What a wonderful weekend we had.

I hope you have some time to get away with your family soon, even if it is just for an inexpensive day out. By leaving the house and getting away from email, computers, tv, and all of the other distractions that seem to be constantly pulling us in all different directions, you help your kids to discover that the best part of life doesn’t require batteries or an internet connection.

For more information on Fall’s Mill and how to rent this cabin,

you can visit their website by clicking here. 

You can find out more about the Swiss Pantry by visiting their Facebook page (click here)

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!

~Albert Einstein

Gratefully,

Christy

You can purchase your own copy of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by clicking here

Listen to more of my favorite stories below!

Interrupting Chicken

Tacky The Penguin

Enemy Pie

Little Red Hen

When I Was Young In The Mountains

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type

Bark, George

YES DAY!

Giraffes Can’t Dance

Pete The Cat

Kiss Good Night

Green Eggs And Ham

One Fish, Two Fish

WHAT! Cried Granny

Wocket In My Pocket

Pete The Cat Rocking In My School Shoes

This post was sent to Life At Bountiful subscribers. If you would like to be added to this subscriber list, please click here. I send out an email whenever I post in the Life section of Southern Plate, usually an average of two to three times a month.

Family Adventure Days began when my husband and I realized that while we were all together at home on the weekends, we weren’t actually tuning into each other as a family. With the temptations of video games, tv, and the internet at home, we decided to set aside one day each weekend (or sometimes a few days as in this case) that we are able to leave the house and get out and have some fun together as a family. This began in September 2009 and has been the best thing that ever happened to the Jordans!

It all began with my husband and myself agonizing over what to do for a family vacation and my son chiming in with “I know! Why don’t we go to Kentucky?”. We ended up heading out in that general direction with no particular destination in mind and came home having spent four of the most wonderful days together as a family.

A lot of folks have asked where we went and what we did so I’m going to share some of that with you today. To start with, if you’ve never been to Kentucky but have looked into it, you may be surprised to find that we spent four days there and at no point did we drink bourbon while riding horseback. I say you may be surprised because it seems like every sign on the side of the road and every billboard is about a distillery or something to do with horses. That is wonderful if it interests you but there is so much more to Kentucky! It is a beautiful landscape, very much like Alabama in the green rolling hills, and there are tons of things for a family to do there. We could have easily spent an entire week and had a new adventure each day.

This post will serve as more of a what and when scrapbook of our trip. If you’d like to read more about the experience itself, check out this post.

Here is a portion of our journey.

We headed out early on a Friday morning with an intent to arrive at our first destination by lunchtime. In just a couple of hours we were at the Kentucky Welcome Center and picked up the brochures and maps we needed to plan our trip on the fly.

Our first stop was Mammoth Cave and we made it by lunchtime as hoped. As the name implies, this is a HUGE cave. For those of you sweltering in the summer heat and wanting to get out and do something, I cannot think of a better destination than a natural cave. (Click here to read my post about the one we visited last summer).

The tour into Mammoth Cave lasts about two hours so we didn’t go on the actual tour but we did walk down to the mouth and have some fun hanging out in the blast of naturally cool air. We went on a rather lenghty cave tour last year and Katy Rose and I did not relish the thought of a few more hours beneath several tons of rock in a hole in the ground, even though it was awfully cool (Bring a jacket).

Besides, we had decided that we were going to try to reach Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace that same day so we spent about an hour at Mammoth and then headed on out, eager for our next destination.

Isn’t this just gorgeous? Could someone please just grant me like, fifty acres of farmland in Kentucky? ~clicks her heels together three times~

But seriously, look how beautiful this place is!

Okay, these two people are pretty cute, too .

By the way, you see that mini-ricky standing next to her daddy? Don’t tell her she looks like him.

She wants to look like me so we are just going along with her denial.

We’re all wearing our Family Adventure Day shirts in these photos and we wore them the entire time we were gone.

The front says “Jordan Family Adventure Day” and the back says…

“Unplug to Connect Proverbs 22:6″

I ordered these shirts from the link below, a website called Blue Cotton. They were VERY nice and when I had a question about the design I called and a sweet lady immediately picked up. I needed to know if they could scale my design for the kid’s shirts since they are so much smaller than the adults. She put me on hold for just a minute and checked with their art guy, then came back and said “That won’t be a problem at all!”. To make it an even better experience, the shirts arrived a full four days before they were even scheduled to ship!

We got a lot of comments on them and had several great opportunities to talk to folks about what a difference family adventure days have made in our lives.

If you’re interested in designing your own shirts, you can click the link below and it will take you to your site and also give me a little commission off of your order so I can get more shirts for us! Every little bit helps, right?

Heading on out…watch for buggies

After we left Mammoth Cave we went to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, or so we thought. A left turn instead of a right had us ending up at the Lincoln Historical Society Museum first instead, but that was alright. We had a good time there, too!

I saw this series of books at the museum and am still wondering what they’re about.

Apparently, I’m named after a Chipmunk who had a close working relationship with our Nation’s 16th President. It’s good to know these things.

This is Brady and Katy Rose, or Abe and Mary Todd

They thought that was pretty awesome. The museum itself was really neat with a great gift shop (VERY reasonable prices!).

So reasonable that I spent $3.99 each on an Abe Lincoln beard for the kids ~giggle~

Note the price tag on the hat. Mama was too cheap to buy that but hey, they got a beard and the lady in the gift shop insisted they pose with the hat on for a photo!

My kids know a great deal about Abraham Lincoln because we’ve studied him several times as a family so this was a particularly cool experience for them.

Hello thar, Mr Lincoln!

So when we finally got headed in the right direction we ended up a few minutes down the road at the National Park to the birthplace of Abraham and the official (and first) Lincoln Monument. Turns out, National Parks have a neat Jr Ranger program for kids that is free. They give each child a workbook and you go around the site looking for answers to questions about the park and in our case, Abraham Lincoln. It took us a good bit to find all of the answers but the kids really enjoyed doing it and afterwards were awarded a certificate and a Jr Park Ranger badge.

And this very nice Park Ranger posed with them for a photo. They were thrilled!

Katy took her junior ranger badge very seriously!

This is my bearded children standing in front of the Lincoln Monument.

Inside the monument is an actual cabin like the one Abraham Lincoln was born in, from the same era.

We wound down that day (and every other day while we were gone) with the kids giving a thorough inspection of the hotel swimming pool. This time I think we were in Lexington, Kentucky. If not Lexington, some other city in Kentucky that begins with L but does not manufacture baseball bats (Ricky gave me a choice between two cities for the night, I chose the one furthest from the baseball bats for fear I’d have to learn something about baseball).

Of course, part of the thrill for the kids was the hotel itself so we tried to allow time each evening to enjoy it and goof off.

We’re very good at goofing off.

Do you remember what a thrill it was to push the elevator buttons?

My kids sure do!

With two big historic sites under our belt for the first day alone, we decided to head up north to the Creation Museum for our second day. This is the area where I tried Cincinati Chili since it is just a hair away from Ohio and they have Skyline Chili restaurants all over the place. We also tried Lee’s Famous Chicken and that was pretty good, too!

We ended up having such a good time at the Creation Museum that we went back for a second day.

This is us and some very outgoing ducks. They’d flat take your finger off if you weren’t quick enough with the food! lol

Karo loved the petting zoo, especially when she found out the chickens were tame enough to pet!

These are Zonkeys, a cross between a Zebra and a Donkey! ~giggle~ I love Zonkeys.

This is my brood, headed out of the gardens.

Here is a cute story. There were a lot of Mennonite families visiting the museum. Well not a lot, really, but certainly more Mennonites than Katy has ever seen. All of the ladies were wearing similar style dresses and bonnets and many of them were pushing strollers with babies. At the end of our tour on the second day Katy turned around to find a young Mennonite lady standing behind us and she grinned real big and said “I’ve just seen you all over the place in here for two days! Every time I turn around I see you! That is just amazing, how do you do that?” The lady was very sweet and she laughed with Katy. I’m sure she knew what was going on but Katy never did catch on!

Back on the road again…

This is some kind of race-car-track-thingy in Kentucky that is apparently quite the deal because Ricky and both kids got really excited when they saw it so we had to stop and take this photo

For our last night we decided to spring a huge surprise on the kids and it was actually a surprise for us, too! The kids had been talking on the way up as we drove through Nashville about how we never stay at the Opryland Hotel. We visit it often but never actually stay there. You see, the Opryland hotel is pretty expensive, and by “pretty” I mean “insanely”. I’m not saying it isn’t worth it and I can certainly see how they would have to charge so much with all of the operating costs, but it just isn’t something most families can wake up and decide to do.

So Ricky and I decided that since we didn’t have anything planned for our last night we’d head on to Nashville and spend our last night and morning exploring the hotel and fulfilling a dream of the kids in staying there. Fanfare was taking place in Nashville, which is a huge meet and greet for country music singers and their fans, but there were a few rooms left at the Opryland hotel so we lucked out!

We arrived at the Opryland Hotel about three thirty in the afternoon and everyone was so excited that we quickly deposited everything in our room and went to explore the hotel. Now we’ve been here several times to explore, but have never actually stayed here so it was a double treat.

We went through the gardens and had some ice cream, then the kids decided they really needed to see the swimming pool .

It’s a wonder they didn’t grow scales and fins on this trip!

After swimming and grabbing some supper, we spent some time sitting in the gardens watching the fountain and listening to the strains of music from a wedding reception taking place.

The next morning we got up early and had breakfast by one of the fountains.

Which it just so happens my kids controlled by their hand movements!

(they really didn’t but don’t tell them that)

We also goofed off a little more at the hotel.

We stayed until around lunchtime and then gathered up our things and headed out towards home.

We travel with a lot of pillows…

But for lunch, one more stop was in order. Most of you know how I feel about Cracker Barrel (check out what Jyl said about me in her post yesterday). Well we’ve always wanted to go to the original Cracker Barrel in Lebanon, Tennessee. As it turns out, the original one is now a gas station and no longer a restaurant but the second one ever built is still there. It isn’t any different from any other Cracker Barrel really, but it was just something we wanted to do just to be able to say we did it.

And we did!

With our sole intent to connect with each other and just enjoy our family, and no agenda whatsoever, we ended up having a trip of a lifetime. We talked, we played little question games in the car, took turns deciding where we were going to eat and stay, stopped off at a few national parks, and laughed – a lot.

It was like a four day decompression retreat from the stresses of the world around us. Four days where nothing mattered beyond the most important people in our lives.

I hope you’ll take time to read the rest of what I wrote about our trip here. We set out to connect and we came back closer than ever. Ricky and I are secretly hoping for another road trip before school starts back but we’ll have to see if that is in the cards for us!

I also brought back a recipe with me from the area, well an Alabamatized version of it. Click here to see my takeaway on Cincinnati Style Chili.

If you’d like to browse through some of my favorite Classic Southern Dishes, click here.

The car trip can draw the family together, as it was in the days before television when parents and children actually talked to each other.

~Andrew Malcolm