ode to CCB

i was clicking through my list of websites that i check on a daily basis….when suddenly… my whole life changed.

over here at this great blog, i found a post about chocolate covered bacon. at first i thought…. ew….. then i thought.. hmm… i love bacon… i love chocolate…. so why wouldn’t i love chocolate covered bacon?

so, tonight i walked to our local market and picked up some chocolate chips to make my own batch of ccb.

after whipping up my first batch of ccb, the ’skis sampled the new treat.

the verdict: incredible. pow! my taste buds leaped with gladness as they greeted the sweetness, then the saltiness, then the sweetness again. the perfect blend of sweet and salty. a happy marriage of calories and saturated fat. (i calculated each slice to have 110 calories and 7.5 grams of fat).

at first glance, i thought this was a crazy idea that no one would dare to recreate. however, it seems that ccb is much more common than i thought.

Happy Memorial Day America!

Here’s to the start of Summer!

a family of phs grads

may has been a busy month for the ’skis. first the derby, then a cousin’s wedding, then my nephew’s high school graduation. this weekend my bestcousinfriend comes to boston. all really great and fun things, but also busy, busy, busy.

last weekend i flew home to thehappiestplaceonearth. i bought my ticket last minute (only four days before) so i was rather limited with flying choices. not wanting to spend more than $1700, i decided to take a us air flight through philly on a regional jet. mistake. big mistake.

we pulled away from the gate in boston and the pilot let us know we were going to be waiting on the tarmac for awhile due to delays in philly. he also mentioned that he would kill the engine to conserve fuel. (hint #1). after 3 minutes, the pilot came back on the speaker and said we were clear for take-off. we took off for our 1 hour flight to philly.

2 hours later, we were still in the air when the pilot let us know that we were being diverted because we didn’t have enough fuel to make it to philly. they didn’t tell us where we were landing, but just said we were going to be on the ground in 15 minutes. we landed in allentown, pa which was 60 miles outside of philly.

this was disconcerning for several reasons 1) we didn’t have enough fuel to make it 60 miles?!?!? this isn’t a car that you simple pull to the side of the road when you run out of gas. when a plane runs out of fuel — people die!!!! 2) thanks for not telling us where we were until we were on the ground. i thought we had landed in montreal when we finally touched down. 3) after this diversion, i clearly missed my connecting flight to st louis. i wasn’t aware that there was another flight to stl that day and i was convinced that i had spent $500 to fly home only to miss my nephew’s graduation because a stupid pilot forgot to check the fuel gauge before we took off.

the good news is: there was another flight to st louis that day. it wasn’t until 4:30 and was delayed until 5:30…which meant i had to spend my day in a philly bar drinking manhattans and talking to a 60 year old man about horse racing.. but i made it just in time to see my nephew cross the stage, collect his diploma, and become ninth graduate of perryville high school in our family.

derby recap

 

Hello Racing Fans!

This post is a little overdue, but we’re back from the Derby and we had a blast!   The weather was wonderful, Kentucky was beautiful, and the bourbon was plentiful. 
I’ve always wanted to go to the Derby, but we were prompted to go to the 134^th Kentucky Derby by an article in the New York Times last November.  We’re huge fans of bluegrass and bourbon, so why not combine those two great gifts from God with a slice another slice of Americana, the Derby?

Like the article suggested, we toured a few bourbon distilleries:  Maker’s Mark and Woodford Reserve.  Both distilleries are in the middle of nowhere and both made us think twice about whether were completely lost, despite what the Mapquest directions and GPS unit said.  After driving down two lane roads through horse pastures, then down to one lane gravel roads, and over low-water bridges, we found the Maker’s Mark distillery.   As soon as we arrived, we noticed that there were an uncanny number of guests dressed in their finest Derby attire walking toward a white tent.  Underdressed in our jeans and flip-flops, we were afraid that we had just crashed a southern belle’s wedding reception.   We checked in at the visitors’ center and realized that was not the case, but rather Mr Bill Samuels’ (president of Maker’s Mark) just knows how to throw a great Derby Party.    We were treated to barbeque and all the mint juleps we could drink, all compliments of Mr Samuels.  

After all the mint juleps on Friday, we were ready for the Derby on Saturday.  Despite the overnight rain showers, we had beautiful weather.   We placed bets, drank more juleps, and talked with everyone we met.  Everyone goes to the Derby with the intention of having fun.  That combined with the overall Southern Hospitality, makes for a very friendly crowd. 

Of course, despite all of the good times, the Derby ended on a sad note with the euthanization of the crowd favorite, Eight Belles.  I bet her across the board and felt a little guilty cashing in on her death at the window.    

Check out our pictures and start making plans to join us next year!