Somewhere in France

Just popping in to say hello and to share what my sunsets have looked like in the past week.

First this:

Then this:



I'll bet you can guess where I am!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen these already.  If you don't, I'd love for you to join me there!

Where have you been watching sunsets lately?

Old-Fashioned Pan-Fried Okra

"In the good old summertime, in the good old summertime. . . "

To be honest, although that song runs through my head a lot this time of year, summer is not really my favorite season.  I sorta melt in the extreme heat.

One thing I do love about summertime, though, is the abundance of fresh produce.  We're not growing any of our own produce this summer, but a Saturday morning trip to the Farmers' Market yields a great bounty.  One of our favorite summertime veggies?  Okra.  Because FRIED OKRA is hard to beat.

You can get deep-fried okra at lots of restaurants around here, but it's not my favorite.  What I love is old-fashioned pan fried okra, the kind that people in my family have been eating for generations.  And it's so easy to make it yourself!

Besides the okra, here's the most important ingredient:

If you've never bought this product before, you have a treat in store for you.  There are a number of good brands; this is just what I happened to have on hand.  The most important thing is to get corn meal MIX, not just corn meal.  (If you can't find this handy product, you can mix 3/4 cup yellow corn meal with 1/4 cup all-purpose flour.)

Old Fashioned Pan-Fried Okra

1 pound okra, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 cup yellow corn meal mix
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying (I use canola)

Wash okra in a colander; drain. You can use fresh okra or frozen okra that's been thawed.

Combine corn meal mix, salt, and pepper in a gallon-size ziptop bag.  Add okra to bag.  Seal and toss to coat each piece thoroughly.

Heat a little oil (approximately 1/4 cup or so) in a skillet over medium-high heat.  For best results, use an iron skillet.  When oil is good and hot, add about one fourth of the okra to the skillet.  Fry, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.  Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with additional salt if needed.

Fry all the okra in small batches, adding a little more oil to skillet if needed.  Be sure the oil is good and hot before adding each new batch of okra.

Serve immediately.

Have you ever made fried okra?  How about fried green tomatoes?  Or fried squash?  What's your favorite garden vegetable?

I'm joining Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday and
Amanda at Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading.

An exciting week

I know a lot of y'all are lovers of all things French, so I should start by saying Happy Bastille Day!



One of our favorite rooms in this home is at the very front of our house, where you see the stone fireplace.  It's my husband's study, a very masculine room.  Here's how it looked last fall:

 If you were to peek into the room today, here's what you'd see.

Take a look at the titles of the books on the ottoman:

This is most of our books about D-Day.  The D-Day books are just part of our collection of books about World War II.  The World War II books are just part of our collection of books about military history.  Yes, we're history nerds.

Lord willing, this week will bring the fulfillment of one of our long-time dreams.  We're going to Normandy!

My husband was a history major in college, and he has wanted to visit Normandy, especially the D-Day landing sites, ever since I've known him.  I was a history minor, so I share his interest.  And our children have inherited our love of history.

So this week the five of us will set off on the trip of our dreams.  We'll be spending a week in Normandy, followed by five days in Paris, all of us together.  It'll be the first big trip we've all made together since 2008.  To say that we're excited is a bit of an understatement!

Have you ever traveled with kids?  Have you ever visited France?  Aside from Paris, we've never really spent any time in France, so we have lots of questions.  Any tips to share?  I'm all ears!