Library of Lagniappe

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Disco Diva

Donna Summer lost her battle with cancer today. She was 63.
She started in the music industry singing background for Three Dog Night but eventually found success with a solo career. Here are two of my favorite Donna Summer hits.

Read a 1978 Washington Post review of Donna Summer here.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Nashville

A few weekends ago, I went to Nashville to visit one of my BFFs, Molly. Unfortunately, I only snapped one photo all weekend.

Molly and I at Bluebird Cafe

Agenda for the weekend:

Friday:

Visit Molly's 3rd grade classroom at Clovercroft Elementary.

Dinner at Urban Flats

Bluebird Cafe (Tony Arata, the songwriter who wrote "The Dance" by Garth Brooks performed that song as the last song of the night...very cool!)

Crow's Nest for a beer

Saturday:

Casual stroll around Molly's neighborhood

Brunch at Tavern (red velvet waffles = to die for)

a few bars on Broadway (including one with a 6 year old girl that knew every word to Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party." She sang on stage with the band playing her own pink guitar)

Yazoo Brewery Tour (Hefeweizen was delish; it tastes like bananas!)

Dinner at Local Taco

Loser's

Sunday:

Brunch at Noshville

Hit the road back to Tuscaloosa

I am so excited to spend two months in Nashville interning at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Sad music news

It has been a sad couple of days in music news.

Dick Clark via

Levon Helm via

Dick Clark passed away Wednesday and Levon Helm passed away just hours ago after his battle with cancer.
I blogged about The Band here in December

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Crock-Pot Queso

On Friday night, some SLIS girls and I got together for some margaritas at Meredith's, and I found it the perfect excuse to try to make homemade queso. I made a double batch to have some with and some without ground beef for the vegetarians in the group.
I brought the leftovers to a crawfish boil Saturday afternoon, and the rest was gone.

Crock-Pot Queso

adapted from Two Peas and their Pod

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
10 oz white American cheese (I got it sliced at the grocery store deli, then cut the stack of slices into 3x3 smaller squares)
6 oz Pepper Jack (sliced and cut 3x3, but if the deli will shred it for you, that will decrease cook time)
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium jalapeño, diced
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 generous tablespoon dried cilantro
1 roma tomato, seeds removed and diced
1/2 lb. browned ground beef (optional)

Directions:
1. Pour a small amount of extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the jalapeño and bell pepper until softened.
2. Brown ground beef in a pan. Set aside.
3. Cut cheese slices into smaller pieces. I stacked the slices and cut the slices into 9 smaller squares each.
4. Combine the jalapeño, bell pepper, cheese, milk, and onion into the Crock-Pot on high. Let cook for 45 minutes or until the queso is at the consistency you like, stirring occasionally.
5. After cheese is melted, stir in cilantro and tomato.
6. Just before serving, stir in ground beef. Turn Crock-Pot to low to keep warm. If the queso gets too thin, turn Crock-Pot off completely and it will thicken back up.
7. Serve with chips.

Crawfish Boil on Saturday

Thanks Ashlyn for the pictures from Saturday!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Easter snapshots

Sister and I before Easter candlelight vigil Saturday evening

Nanny and I after Sunday Easter lunch

Lesson of the Day

15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly

Like this infographic? Get more copywriting tips from Copyblogger.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

S-ART-urday (1Canoe2 on Etsy)

1Canoe2 is a best friend duo from Missouri. Carrie Shryock and Beth Snyder create letterpress works from a big red barn in Missouri. Read more about their process and their journey as friends here. Check out some of my favorites from their print collections: