I love fruit and dip and this is just another pretty way of having that.  I kept the types of fruit pretty close to the original, but you could use any that you like.  It is a very versatile recipe

Strawberries

Green grapes

Red grapes

Pineapple chunks (fresh or canned)

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup sour cream

8 oz. crushed pineapple

1 3.25oz box instant banana cream pudding

Layer fruit in a large bowl or trifle dish.

Whisk the remaining ingredients together to form the topping.  Pour this mixture over the fruit and use a little leftover fruit to make a pretty design on the top.

Mammoth Cave Transplants is located in Edmonson County, Kentucky,  just a short distance from Brownsville.  The owners are retired school teachers who have this wonderful business right beside their home.  If you are near, please stop in and have a look around.  There are many greenhouses packed tight with blooming beauties along with trees, shrubs, garden art and vegetable seeds.

While you are there, take a second and pet the resident nursery cat, Smoke, who has been there for YEARS!

The second business is Greenleaf Nursery in Glasgow, Kentucky which is only about 30 minutes from where I live.  This was the main place we bought flowers when I was a child and I remember going here with my mom every year.  I have loved gardening from an early age and always enjoyed looking at all of the pretty plants and wanting to try them all! C & I stopped in a couple of weekends ago to pick up a hanging basket so I grabbed a few phone photos while we were there.  It was a nasty wet day but the bright cheery flowers made it worth the stop in the rain.

Greenleaf had some beautiful displays set up to give people ideas of how to decorate with their flowers.  If it had not been so rainy, I could have spend hours just wandering around looking at everything!

I hope you enjoyed this short virtual tour of two of my favorite places to shop.  If you are in the area, please stop by and support these two long standing Kentucky businesses.

C & I made it to the grocery Friday night and to Lowe’s, where we purchased 3 more Compacta holly shrubs and a dwarf Alberta spruce tree to finish up the front retaining wall landscaping.  They were planted Saturday and we also installed 4 new landscape lights in the back garage flowerbed.  Now all of we have to do is get a load of landscape rock to finish up then we can start on some new project.  I don’t think we will ever call our house done because there is always something we want to do.

I am keeping this week’s menu pretty simple because I hope we get to get outside and enjoy our evenings.  Hope everyone has a great and blessed week!  See you next time!

Bubble up pizza

Grilled pork chops with oven fries

Sausage bake with salad

Slow cooker saucilious pork chops (new)

Take out pizza night

Honey bee cake (new)

When I saw this recipe, I knew it would be a perfect holiday main dish and it didn’t disappoint.  I love using honey in recipes especially since my father-in-law and his first cousin have hives and process their own honey.  The little bees that made this honey buzz around in my own backyard.

1 spiral sliced ham-Mine was approximately 10 pounds

1 cup honey

2 cups brown sugar

Adjust your oven racks to accommodate the ham and preheat to 350 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack on top of that. Spray both with non-stick spray.  You will want a large baking pan with sides to catch the extra basting liquid.

Place the ham on the rack and cover the ham with foil as well.  Place it in the oven and bake for half the estimated cooking time (about 20 minutes per pound).

When you are close to the halfway mark, heat the honey and brown sugar in a medium pan until the sugar dissolves.

  Pour this over the ham and continue to cook, basting occasionally with the juices.  Allow the ham to stand for a few minutes after it is done then slice and enjoy!

Today, my beginning lines come from “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin:

“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. “The wildlings are dead.”

Ooh, doesn’t that sound ominous? Who are the wildlings and how did they die?  Is that who Gared was looking for or did he just happen upon them?  So many questions!

I picked up this book while my dad was in the hospital and I needed some way to pass the time.  This is not a story for the faint of heart.  It is full of action, violence, love, hate, and every other emotion you can think of.  I enjoyed it and have read the second book of the series. 

I have a few new recipes to try this week, time permitting, so I hope they work out well.  Whenever the sun shines, I hope to be outside so some of those dishes may have to wait until later.

Italian sloppy Joes (new) with oven fries (Didn’t get made last week.)

Tacos with salad

Cheesy steak sandwiches with oven fries

Salsa burgers (new) with chips

Shredded beef taco roast (new) with potatoes of some kind

Pizza night

Black/White cookies (new)

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2/3 – 1 cup buttermilk or milk (I used 4 tbsp. dried buttermilk and 1 cup water.)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Cut the butter into pieces and melt it in a 8×8 inch baking dish using the microwave.

Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl then add the water (or buttermilk).  Stir until combined.  The dough will be a little sticky.  Put the dough into the pan with the melted butter and press it out to cover the pan. You may want to flour your fingers to keep the dough from sticking to them. Using a sharp knife, slice through the dough to form 12 biscuits.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until the tops are browned just a little.  My oven cooks a little slow, so check them at 15 minutes so they don’t burn.

Our first after-the-fair stop was for lunch at The Bluebird Café in Stanford, Kentucky.  I had heard of this restaurant many times when it was mentioned by other Kentucky Food Bloggers that lived in the area so I definitely had to check it out.  The food and ambience were just as good as advertised!  If we are back in Stanford again, The Bluebird Café will be a definite stop.

C had the Bluebird burger made with locally produced ground beef from Marksbury Farm (more to come on that in a minute) with French fries.

I had the NYC roast beef panini with French fries and it was so good!

Stanford is a beautiful little town that takes advantage of its history and heritage.

Next, we traveled to Lancaster, Kentucky to visit Marksbury Farm which according to their website:

“is a small scale, locally owned, Butchers Shop, Farm Market,
and Processing Facility.

We partner with local farmers who share our
commitment to sustainable, humane,
and natural production methods.

We use traditional and modern methods to
deliver an array of high quality, healthy,
and fresh products.”

It is located in an old farmhouse with a beautiful little courtyard and other old outbuildings left over from days gone by. Make sure and watch your step when you enter.  The porch roof is a little low!  The owner said he had to choose between the step railing and the roof so the railing won.

While there, I purchased a pound of ground beef, a package of pork chops and a package of sausage patties.  The beef is delicious and I can’t wait to try the other products as well.  C & I had a great day of enjoying Kentucky people and products that day.  Can’t wait for another day just like it!