He's coming to town...... The King of The Blues

Join in the fun, I'll be moving but that's ok I'll catch you next time!

Friday, July 2, 2010
The Annual B.B. King Homecoming

The annual outdoor concert in Fletcher Park will feature the King of the Blues and his band, and also include entertainment by Grammy-winning country music star Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives. Other opening bands that Friday evening will include the Mike Holloway Band from Yazoo City, L.C. Ulmer & Chase Holifield from Laurel, the Columbia College Blues Ensemble All-Stars from Chicago, and The Grady Champion Revue from Canton.
The concert will kick off at 5 p.m. and also will feature a spectacular fireworks display, beer and good food.

Tickets for the July 2 B.B. King Homecoming Concert will be available for $12 advance purchase starting May 17 at area Double Quick Stores, Indianola Pecan House, local banks, Chamber of Commerce, Indianola Main Street and the B.B. King Museum.  Adult admission at the gate will be $18. Children under 12 are admitted free accompanied by an adult.

B.B. will also be performing on Wednesday night at the Bologna Performing Arts Center in Cleveland on the campus of Delta State University.  AND he'll be playing in his own Club Ebony on Friday night (about midnight) in Indianola!  B.B. will be playing THREE TIMES during the Fourth of July Week!   So come to Indianola to hear and celebrate B.B. King.....go through the  fabulous B.B. King Museum!  Ya'll come eat some Catfish, soak up some wonderful blues and just enjoy Southern Hospitality at its best!!


Saturday, July 3, 2010
A Blues, Bike and BBQ

A Blues, Bikes and BBQ Festival starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 3 in the downtown areas of Indianola. A barbecue contest sanctioned by the Memphis BBQ Network will be a main attraction, along with an arts and crafts festival and a big rally by motorcycle clubs from across the mid-South.  A Kids Zone will include dozens of attractions for youngsters.

During Saturday’s Blues, Bikes & BBQ Festival, the B.B. King Museum will present musical entertainment by The Church of our Lord Children’s Choir, Indiana Norfleet, Brantley Catlette, Jon Boat and the Trolling Motors, Mickey Rogers and the Soul Blues Band, Jerry Fair and Alfonso Sanders, Good Paper, and Jake and the Pearl Street Jumpers.

Indianola’s Open-Air Farmers Market will be at the museum just as every Saturday in summer.  Local art will also be on display. The museum itself will be open for touring, of course.

So get out and enjoy the fun for you and me both! Maybe next time we can meet and enjoy it together!

Magic Grove Farms of Vermont Review

I've lived for years, seven to be exact, on a farm in Central MS. We have a small town grocery and I have found very little there labeled gluten-free which has forced me to shop at other places. I have fallen in love with Kroger while being on this journey, they have a lot to offer in the gluten-free world. I use to order a lot from Gluten Free Mall and don't get me wrong they have a large variety and their prices aren't all that bad either the good thing about ordering from them is you can order only one of any product if you want. Although one of my favorite places is shopping Amazon.com and you can order only one there too but the items are limited.  I have found that if I am ordering an item that I'm going to keep on hand or that I love and want to be able to share with others Amazon.com is the better choice.

Recently while in our local store I bought one of the gluten-free items that they carry "Magic Grove Farms of Vermont" Pancake and Waffle mix.  First I used it to make biscuits like I use Pamela's Baking mix. They weren't good to this southern girl, the texture was ok but they were too sweet. So recently I used it for what it was made for, pancakes. And for this they worked great, light and fluffy and sweet enough you really didn't need to put anything on them. So a piece of advice if you buy "Magic Grove Farms of Vermont" Pancake and Waffle mix, make pancakes, waffles or something else sweet.

Once again I have been spending a lot of time at the kids, we haven't received rain in the flat land for six weeks now so Honey is practically living there running the pivot and furrow irrigation. I've been busy here packing and keeping clothes washed so when the time comes we'll be ready to move. So the last time I was with A she was on one. That girl crawls so fast I think she should be entered in a contest of some sort, I mean she is a speed crawler. Now our little speed crawler has two teeth. She has been teething forever it seems and I had said, "once the teeth start coming in they'll probably pop in like popcorn," and they have. She had one and the next time I saw her she had two, now I wonder how many she'll have the next time I see her?

She's always busy, never still unless she's asleep!

I'll be sharing some of the happenings around the hills area in hopes that SOMEONE will come and visit us, so stay tuned for that. Thank you for stopping by and PLEASE keep in touch!!

Maybe you should plan a trip to Greenwood in the future!

I am reading The Help and I really like it. For those who don't know there will be a movie filmed about the help starting July 23 in Greenwood. Everyone is excited and things are buzzing around town.
What will it be like when the movie adaptation of “The Help” begins filming in Greenwood in July?

-->“It’s like the circus came to town,” producer Sonya Lunsford told the Greenwood Kiwanis Club Thursday. “There will tons of trucks and people running around with microphones and headsets.”

Lunsford is one of the producers of the film version of “The Help.” The best-selling novel, written by Jackson native Kathryn Stockett, is about black maids working in whites’ homes in early 1960s Jackson.

Greenwood will play the role of 1960s Jackson in the movie. The reasons for that are architecture and economics, Lunsford said.

“Greenwood hasn’t changed that much. It’s got the look (of the 1960s),” Lunsford said. “Jackson has completely changed.”

She said it’s also cheaper to film in Greenwood than in Jackson.

Lunsford said filming will begin in Greenwood on July 23 and joked that it will last “as long as the studio will let us.” Actually, she said, the shoot is scheduled to last 56-58 days.

After that, she said, the production company will return to Los Angeles for 22 weeks of post-production. That includes editing the movie and putting it together with the soundtrack.

Lunsford said “The Help” is scheduled to be released to theaters during the last three months of 2011.

Lunsford’s primary co-producers are Jackson natives Tate Taylor, who will also write and direct “The Help,” and Brunson Green.

Before becoming a producer, Lunsford worked in accounting jobs on many films, including “Traffic” and “The Good German.” The former Atlanta resident’s first job as a producer was on “Pretty Ugly People” along with Taylor and Green.

The group always wanted to film in Mississippi, and Taylor’s father suggested Greenwood, Lunsford said. Taylor was familiar with the area because he had hunted in Carroll County while he was growing up.

Lunsford said they visited Greenwood last December, even before they secured financing from the movie’s distributor, DreamWorks Pictures. Then they had to convince the studio to film in Mississippi in spite of the fact that Louisiana offers greater incentives for film production companies.

She said other filming sites considered in Mississippi included Clarksdale and Holly Springs.

In addition to Greenwood, the film crew will shoot scenes in Jackson and Clarksdale.

Lunsford said she is already working in Greenwood “for the duration” along with about half of the 170 people who will compose the film’s crew. She said the crew members’ duties now include preparing locations and sets for filming.

Shooting locations in Greenwood will include area homes and the Greenwood Garden Club, Lunsford said.

She said crew members were enjoying themselves because “it’s so much fun in Greenwood and everybody is so nice.”

Lunsford said the film will use approximately 40 main cast members and up to 1,300 extras.

The four female leads in “The Help” — Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard and Octavia Spencer — will be in Greenwood throughout most of the filming, Lunsford said. The other members of the cast will come in when their scenes are scheduled to be filmed.

Lunsford said that once filming is completed, some members of the crew will remain in Greenwood until November finishing their work.

The filmmakers are still looking for extras, Lunsford said. One open call was held last week. Another will be held Saturday in Jackson at Woodland Hills Baptist Church. People interested in being in “The Help” can also go online to get information at www.visitmississippi.org/film/

Information taken from http://www.gwcommonwealth.com/

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Help is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. It is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s.
The novel is told from the perspective of three characters: Aibileen Clark, a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson, an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.
A USA Today article calls it one of 2009's "summer sleeper hits" and notes the book's climbing of bestseller lists. An early review in The New York Times notes Stockett's "affection and intimacy buried beneath even the most seemingly impersonal household connections" and says it is a "button-pushing, soon to be wildly popular novel". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said of the book, "This heartbreaking story is a stunning debut from a gifted talent".

The novel is Stockett's debut. It took her five years to complete the book, which was rejected by at least 45 literary agents. The Help has since been published in 35 countries and three languages. As of May 27, 2010, it had spent a full year on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list and was sitting at #1.

I talked to the guy working on the house Thursday, we should be all settled in before The Help is filmed. Contact me and come to visit during the time Greenwood makes history!

House update and Larabar Review

I just made a quick trip to the hills to approve of my new floor and approve I did. Everything is looking great and when I go there I get soooo excited about moving I just wish the time were NOW. My color choices are working out wonderfully and I couldn't be more pleased with my fixtures. I have a comforter set ordered now that should help to pull everything together in our bedroom.

Oh here's my bedroom suite and I LOVE IT!!!

Come to think of it my floors look about like this also, although my walls are a bright gold with white trim.

This is my comforter set. I hope it all goes together good because I really like it, but if not I'll shop for another one later. We wanted some shade of red and it has to be washable to be in my bedroom!

I can't wait to try and get some good after photos to share. I took before ones but they are awful maybe I can use a few of them, we'll see.   :(


After looking the house over Honey and I went to lunch and guess where too?

You guessed it Crystal Grill, I can't say enough good things about this place. Their menu is really large and there is always several choices for me to eat that are gluten-free. They are best known for their homemade pies which I'll never get to try but from the looks on my family's face when we go there, they must be really good.

Read more about it HERE!

After I got home I tried another Larabar "Cashew Cookie" and again it is a winner!




If you don't know about Larabars read it HERE!

A Gluten-Free Trip to Georgia

We made it to Georgia for my cousin's daughter's wedding and had a great time. I was dreading the traveling and staying on my gluten-free diet. I had bought bars and peanuts and made GF sugar cookies for the trip. I ate a few of the cookies in the middle of the night when I had a bad headache so that I could take some medicine but other than that I didn't dip into my stash.

There were plenty of places to eat along the way and I ate way too much. I don't know why I think I'll starve when traveling because of having to eat gluten-free! I envy you who live up north and in the west it seems you have so many restaurants and we have hardly anything GF here in the south! :(

I thought I'd share a few photos of our trip.

A no no at home, but at Gammy's?

Stopped for lunch in Alabama.

Mom with the newest member of our family, baby Logan.

My cousin Debbie and her youngest son.

Darla with her grand-father, my uncle John.

At the reception

Left to right: my Dad, Uncle John, Uncle Ray (Pop) and their Aunt Maxine.

Ash is great at catching people off guard. I fed Austin since my snack (fruit) was over.

The happy cousins.

Since we don't have five generations in my family, we asked Pop to stand in so we could get a five generation photo.

We traveled together, my Dad sure was brave!

Aunt Nell with Austin

My cousin sister with Austin

In the hotel room with her book

I think she was begging for help

I promise this girl is as fast as lightening, she gets into everything!

Fun with Mom's shoes

The only problem I had while traveling was after the wedding I went with my cousins to a steak house. I had explained my gluten problem and when my salad arrived it had croutons. I explained my problem once again and they took it back, I should have thought about it, my salad was returned very quickly. I looked over it good and ate because I was starved. At three o'clock the next morning I woke up with a migraine among some other things. Needless to say my trip home was everything but comfortable but I made it. God is gracious when these things happen and I always make it through.

This just goes to show we're not quiet completely educated on Celiac and eat gracefully gluten-free.

Oh, by the way the house is coming along and we should be cleaning up and getting ready to move soon. I'm so excited but still have a lot to do so I'd better get to work!

Mixes from the Heartland ~ Texas Goulash Meal Review

I have been busy getting ready to go out of town for a wedding. My Dad came in the night before to ride with us and I needed a quick easy meal for all of us (five to be exact). I decided to make Mixes from the Heartland's Texas Goulash Meal. This was my second mix to try from Mixes from the Heartland.

Product Description

Texas Goulash is cholesterol free and easy to make. For an extra kick use spicy tomatoes and top with sour cream and fresh chopped onions.
View Nutrition Fact Sheet

Ingredients

Brown rice pasta (brown rice flour and bran (organic), jalapeños, dehydrated celery, carrots, red and green bell peppers, onions, parsley, tomato, chili powder.

Directions

Brown 2 lbs. ground beef and drain grease. Place meat and mix in 8 quart pan, add 5 cups water and 2 cups crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes until pasta is tender. ***For a richer flavor, replace 2 cups water with 2 cups beef broth.

My Review

This meal was slightly spicy, loaded with macaroni, meat, tomatoes (I added some fresh from the garden) and lots of spices. Yum Yum I ate way too much.

I can't say enough about the simplicity and quickness of these meals! When I am moved and settled in the new house I plan to place an order and keep Mixes from the Heartland on hand for a busy night or unexpected company!

Grace's Version of Gluten-Free Hamburger Helper

My husband LOVES Hamburger Helper. I know it's not good for him so I very seldom cook it but once in a while I treat him to his favorite Cheeseburger Helper. Recently Steve was wanting Hamburger Helper and since we are moving the pantry is getting LOW so no Hamburger Helper in sight. I had a stock of Gluten-free noodles so I had a brain storm. I decided to try my hand at GF hamburger helper. I googled and found a GF basic cheese sauce recipe and just added ground chuck and macaroni noodles. Here's the results and it was really good.

Basic Cheese Sauce

1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
tad of cayenne pepper
2 cups milk (of your preference)
1 Tbl Dijon mustard
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cups shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese

In a heavy saucepan combine the cornstarch, salt, cayenne, and milk; mix well. Bring to a boil and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Sir in the mustard, cheddar, mozzarella, and Parmesan.

Mix with your favorite pasta and meat etc. Bake in preheated broiler until brown.

What's Goulash?

Now that we are moving when Honey and I are at the farm we always find a time that the kids need a babysitter and we can spend some time with Pumpkin. Here are some photos from one of our last visits.

She has a new toy that a friend gave her and she loves it. 

She plays with it all the time.

She'll loose her balance and fall from time to time but forgives and forgets very easily!

Her latest thing is to squeal and wait until we squeal back and then she'll squeal again.

It may be noisy but to this Gammie it is cute!

When we ignore her she'll stop.

When Mom returned from the grocery store she played with EVERYTHING! This girl can get into the most stuff......

So... What is Goulash?

My Mom use to make this every summer when the vegetables began to come in and I still love it. I was recently craving it so I made some just for myself.

Goulash is a popular dish in Hungary and its neighbors in central Europe and the Balkans, and is widely known in other parts of the world. ... A mixture of many different elements; a hodgepodge.

You can use any vegetable that you have on hand. I used carrots, potatoes, onions, yellow squash and zucchini squash chopped in bite size pieces. Then I added 2 beaten eggs to my veggie mixture. After this I fold in my favorite gf flour mix and cornmeal. I brown it in just a little oil and simmer until done. I could eat the whole thing, but I refrained and saved some for later. Here it is pictured with a broiled chicken breast.

Go to the right hand side of this page and click to follow me on networkblogs. I changed some things on my page and I'm having to start over with my networkblog profile.  If you will also verify that I'm the author so I can add more post.

Thanks have a great gluten-free week.

More favorite blogs,

I am on gluten-free faces now and I have made many new friends there. It is so neat for us to have a place to go and chat with each other about a common disease or common problems. It also opens up a world of information and recipes. I love it! Thank you Chad for your work on Gluten-Free Faces!

One of my new blogger friends is Elaine Kamoss. Elaine is special in that she has only been gluten-free since February of 2010 and she has jumped on the bandwagon wholeheartedly. Her blog has giveaways going on all the time and she is sharing with us her journey of pain and healing.

Another one of my all time favorite blogger's is "The Baking Beauties". Their recipes hit me just like "Deep South Dish". Hard like a ton of bricks and I have to grab a tissue to wipe the drool from my face! The good thing is The Baking Beauties blog gluten free.

© 2009

So click on over to Newfound Celiac and walk this gluten-free journey with her; she's a sweet girl. And while you are at it go to The Baking Beauties and copy down a recipe or two, or three, or four! You'll be glad you did!

Why not comment and tell me your favorite blogger's? I'd love to know!

Please go to the right hand side of this page and click to follow me on networkblogs. I changed some things on my page and I'm having to start over with my networkblog profile.  If you will also verify that I'm the author so I can add more post I would really appreciate it!

Have a gluten-free weekend friends!

Gluten-Free Banana Pudding,

I hope you had a good Memorial Day. We had a fun Memorial Day weekend, Dad came up and we grilled out and rested! Here are a few photos to share of our evening.

This was right before she bent over the side to pick grass and fell on her head.

So then she and the men had a cold glass of tea and rested while Ashia and I ran around starting supper, talking and taking photos.

It was a great time for all of us, we stayed outside until it started to thunder then we moved to the inside. When Ben got ready to put the steaks and veggies on the grill it came a downpour but he grilled in the rain and we ate it up! Thanks Ben it was wonderful! 

I made my first Gluten-Free Banana Pudding! It was really good but a little bit too sweet, I'll be modifying my recipe to use less sugar! 

I used "Arrowroot Animal Cookies" in place of Vanilla Wafers and they worked great! I'll give out my recipe when I perfect it!

We're still working on the house, I went Monday and bought a new bedroom suite. I love it and I love my new furniture store!

That'll have to do you for now more to come in the near future!