Bluff Spring Journal
Dec. 2010
A couple of more weeks and the semester will be over. Hard to believe that the last 16 weeks have come and gone. I've been grichin to most people about how they should have told me to look up the word retirement in the dictionary. I just haven't felt it yet. Teaching three nights a week and traveling to St. Louis and KC to supervise student teachers has occupied much of my time and nearly all of my energy.
I've had some great students in my classes and they have kept me motivated to continue on giving my best to their education. Also the two student teachers have been exceptional in their dedication to learning as much as they can during their last semester in college. They have been the best I could have expected.
And then there are the many culinary delights I've experienced with my trips. Here are just a few.
Mama's, 39th St., KC-Great down home, southern breakfast cooking.
The Brick, 1727 McGee St.,
KC- Eclectic fare ranging from a Shepard's pie to bacon wrapped battered and deep fried hot dogs.
YJ's Snack Bar, 128 W. 18th St., KC-Don't look for the 's on the sign. It fell off year's ago. I had a hearty breakfast but this place is know for it's upscale meals eaten in a downscale 20 x 30 hole in the wall dining room.
Happy Gillis Cafe and Hangout, 549 Gillis Street, KC-This family owned boutique restaurant has a dining room full of tables, chairs and couches surely acquired from garage sales. Don't let the minimal furniture fool you. The food is Ethan Allen. I had the flank steak and salad which was tenderness on a bed of crispy greens with aged balsamic vinegar dressing. They're known for their chicken salad sandwiches-I got one to go.
Smokin' Guns BBQ, 1218 Swift Ave, North Kansas City, Mo.-This small unassuming building hosts multiple national award winning BBQ. One award being the American Royal BBQ Contest. I had the pulled pork sandwich but they are know for their burnt ends. Take your dish towel and plenty of wet wipes to clean up as this BBQ begs to be eaten with your bear hands it won't wait for a fork.
Oklahoma Joe's, 3002 47th Ave, KC, Mo.-This place has t-shirts that say, "My favorite restaurant is a gas station". And it will be yours also. This award winning BBQ has a gas station in the front of the restaurant. I made the mistake of getting there around noon and was obliged to stand in line with about 30 other folks waiting for lip licking good smoked offerings. While in line I met some hunters on their way out west, a university professor and one team of ladies who knew the drill and sent one person to order food while the other hovered ready to swoop down on an empty table. I had the pulled pork sandwich which boasted a thick smoke ring with delightful slow cooked taste. And the french fries-don't get me started-were sprinkled with some sort of seasoning concoction that blew my diet for four days.
Iron Barley, 5510 Virginia, St. Louis (south St. Louis)-Just a short ride on I-55 south from downtown St. Louis we ate at Iron Barley. The oak roasted pork loin is great and they are known for their Zarzuela, a seafood everybody in the pool dish.
Sweetie Pies, 4270 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110-Southern soul food in the middle of St. Louis. Get in line for the buffet and when they ask what you want to drink do not expect that any tea but 'sweet tea' is on the menu. We dined on fried chicken-what else would you eat when in a southern cookin' restaurant? Collard greens and mashed potatoes provided a tasty addition to the golden fried chicken.
City Coffee House and Creperie, 36 N. Brentwood Blvd, Clayton, Missouri-The best crepes I've ever had. The buckwheat and blueberry crepes were delicious. Just enough heft to make them more than a thin film of pastry these crepes were loaded with fresh blueberries and dusted with powdered sugar. I'm going back for sure.
White Castle-various locations in St. Louis. Sliders-enough said.
Harter Bakery-4050 Jeffco Blvd, St. Louis-This little bakery is known for it's cakes but the cinnamon donuts were my item of choice. I wouldn't drive out of the way to have these but thank goodness they were on my way to a local elementary school.
Enough about food. I had to take two snack breaks while I typed the preceding.
Dec. 10, 2010
It's a balmy day but with promises of some bad weather for the weekend. We took the dogs on a walk down the road and discovered that our neighbors had been doing some logging. Actually they have been taking out the downed trees from the ice storm of two years ago. We now have a nice road well down the bench on Mt. Sherman. Sid and Annie scared up two groups of deer and several squirrels. They were tired little dogs by the time we got back.
Dec. 11, 2010
Mornings in the cabin are filled with smells of coffee and this morning the sounds of winds occasionally howling through the trees. Although you can see the trees rocking back and forth the cabin is so well built that when you hear the wind you know it must be pretty strong. We later saw that the winds were gusting to 35 miles an hour. After coffee, a Neighbor's Mill Cinnamon Roll and a nap with the dogs we bundled up and headed towards Jasper. As usual the weather was a different once we got down off of Mt. Sherman. The mountain often has a different kind of weather than the valley. Sitting out on a bluff like we are we get winds coming up the slope which cool us in the summer and chill us in the winter.
We had an early lunch at the Ozark Cafe and then made our way towards Parthenon. As we looped back around towards the west we took one of the gravel side roads and found several drainage areas that I'm going to revisit when there is a little more water. I'm sure there will be waterfalls abounding in this area. We even spotted a patriotic barn.
As we made our way back up through the Boxley Valley it was comforting to see the usual inhabitants. Trumpeter Swans at the Old Mill Pond and the elk herd taking a mid day nap were a welcome site. It was a good day to be with nature.
Jan. 2011
Several small snow storms have rumbled through the Ozarks. Nothing big but enough to add some variety to the photography during this time of year. Here are a couple of Roark Creek near Branson.
Roark Creek
Jan. 27
Sid and I had a great day hiking. He was a happy boy being off his leash the entire time. We ate beef jerky, hiked, snoozed on the way home (Sid, not me), had Steak and Shake Shooters and birthday treats from the pet store. Sid also got to meet an armadillo.
Snowmaggedon in Springfield-
We got over 10 inches of snow in Springfield yesterday and today. I created a time lapse of the snow piling up in the back yard. The time was from 6:30 am till 2:00 pm.
The corgis loved the snow. Here's a short video of them playing in the white stuff.