Have I said lately how much I love living in my small town? Maybe I haven’t said it this week but I think I said it twice week before last. Last week I was in a city . . an entire week in a city. A city with large grocery stores, bakeries, Italian restaurants, seafood restaurants, though I didn’t go because Elaine doesn’t like seafood but one day she’s going to eat a crawfish, even if I have to bake that rascal in a cake and put icing on top! When I’m in a city, and we eat at yummy restaurants, I almost wish I lived in a city.
Then I come home to my sleepy, quiet little town and I remember how much I love living here. In my town with no traffic, no interstate highways, my favorite grocery store where the checkout ladies know my name, where I call to get my oil changed and the oil change guy says “I’ll pick up your car at 9:00 tomorrow.” And, he shows up at my house, takes my car away, brings it back a couple of hours later and I never had to leave home. And then I remember that when I complained to my state senator, he showed up at my house. Wait, if those kinds of things are going to happen, maybe I should move to Dallas! Nope, I’m behaving myself and staying in the small town.
While I’m in restaurants, I look at the menu items and try to get ideas for different things to fix at home.
This salad is a result of my studying the menu at a great restaurant. Spinach, mixed greens, chopped ham that I had smoked on Monday, mandarin oranges, toasted almonds and best of all . . a homemade buttermilk dressing with lots of basil and parsley.
Now . . if I could just figure out where to get veal here, I could make a couple more really good dishes!
pdudgeon says
that salad looks yummy!!!
Karla says
I would be most willing to share that gorgeous salad with you 🙂
Elaine says
I am NOT ever gonna eat a bug, and you can’t make me!!! I’ll take the cake, but you better not hide a crawfish in it!
Judy Whitehead says
I live about 6 miles outside of a small town, wouldn’t trade it for the world! My Postmistress knows me and we talk quilts, the local grocery store people know me, the ladies at the bank and I talk on a personal level.
Cities have a lot to offer, but the sensory stimulation all the time wouldn’t work well for me. I have to have that in very small doses!
Besides, I couldn’t have the studio door wide open, listening to the rain in the city, like it is today! ;>)
Mary C says
Where I live is the biggest town we have lived in since we got married. It’s mostly just bigger in population, partly because there are 3 higher Education campuses. It has the hometown feel. My hometown played their teams in sports when I was growing up. it’s a great place to retire…but I’m not that old!!! I have to drive 52 miles to get my Shopping Mall fix and my favorite restaurants and Grandchildren are there too.
Cindy says
Maybe you could talk tha Amish guys into selling veal. There is no place to buy it, even in Joplin (at least that I’ve found). You’d think with such a big Italian community, someone around here would carry veal. WalMart has it once in awhile. Last time I bought it, it was so tough we couldn’t eat it. I don’t think it was veal, I think it was bleached round steak.
Susan Fields says
I would agree that small town living is the best.
Not to sure about the crayfish though.
Deb says
You and my husband are so much a like! He does that when eating out too. Or gets a great meal and wants to duplicate it at home! Glad he likes it, since I hate it. I love to eat tho-would have to pass on the crawfish too! The salad looks great!
Small towns? Excellent! Three stop lights in ours. Knowing half the people in the grocery store so it is social central. (I always say they should put in a coffee shop…) It makes going to the big city a “treat” and an adventure, doing the power shopping, eating out, going to a movie. Neither of us would ever want to live there tho…
Denise :) says
Yummy! Salad looks good — when are your lunch hours?!?!?
🙂
Elaine Adair says
I agree – my town is about 8500 pop. We feel safe, and the sales people in town know us, we have confidence in them. If a business is not good, word gets around fast, so we can depend on those who have lasted. I DO miss shopping though, even though it doesnt happen a lot. No matter where I am, I KNOW people – it’s always nice to see a friendly wave. If you have car trouble on the road, you won’t have to wait long for help.
I was born in Chicago, and until I moved to my small town, at age 55, I never knew what “small town” was like. We have almost everything we need and many things cities don’t have.
Dena says
I was raised in a large city but moved to a very small community ten years ago. My most difficult adjustment was the lack of resources. But, for the most part, I’ve transitioned pretty well. For instance, I only shop once a week because the nearest store is over fifteen miles away. Nice looking salad.
Sheryl says
Did Elaine not eat seafood gumbo with us? Hmmmm…..she doesn’t know what she missed. Make her some Crawfish Jelly!!!
Evelyn says
That looks good! Maybe your butcher at the grocery store would special order you in some veal – worth asking about if you want some. I usually re-create my favorite items from restaurants and then eventually I like my version better – it is getting harder and harder to convince me to go out to eat! One year my DH really wanted to bring me out for my birthday and I talked him into getting a deluxe grill instead! LOL. Cost about the same as going out to eat too and we use that thing every week! Cheers! Evelyn