Chemistry—a subject many of us probably didn't like in school, but it's required. However, I'm sharing some good news that might help some of you who need help balancing equations and calculating reactions. My husband, David DeVito, has taught chemistry at the college level for several years now, and he has a new blog devoted to helping students with chemistry. He started it a few months ago when he finished teaching chemistry at Eastern Kentucky University as a way for his students to keep in contact and continue asking chemistry-related questions. Check it out at http://chemistrydoctor.blogspot.com.
David has a PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida and this week, he started as a full-time dental student at the University of Kentucky. Like me, he loves teaching and interacting with students, so this blog is hopefully a way for him to continue this interaction and instruction.
In his second post, he links to this website about wisdom from a Chemistry Cat: http://www.uproxx.com/webculture/2011/07/meme-watch-chemistry-cats-word-is-his-bond/#page/1.
Unfortunately, our cats, Sammie and Cash, don't share in their dad's love and knowledge of chemistry. :)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Living it up in Louisville
Kentucky is the smallest state we've lived in, but we still haven't explored much beyond Lexington, so we recently traveled to Louisville. The drive was only an hour from our house to the hotel in downtown Louisville.
We arrived in time for lunch and walked to an area called 4th Street Live, where there are many restaurants, clubs and shops. Part of the street is blocked off to vehicle traffic, so it's easy to walk around.
We ate at the Red Star Tavern for lunch, and it was very good. We were among the only two or three groups of people dining, but they told us it gets very crowded at night. We returned to the area that night but soon realized the place turns into a very loud, crowded and smoky area for adults over 21. Ten years ago that might have been fun but probably not. :)
Of course we went on one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer, but we found refuge in the Louisville Slugger Museum. I am not a baseball fan, so I didn't know a lot of the players whose statues and photos are there, but it was interesting to see how they make baseball bats all the way from a tree to the finished bat. Admission is only $10 for adults, $5 for children and free for kids 5 and under. At the end of the 30-minute tour, everyone receives a small Louisville Slugger bat.
On Sunday, we drove over one of the bridges that crosses the Ohio River, and on the other side is Indiana.
On the Kentucky side, there is a riverfront park with 7 miles of walking trails, and several playgrounds. There is an amphitheater and an area where vendors can set up booths for events and festivals.
Our hotel room at the SpringHill Suites in downtown was very nice. We noticed our room had the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon.
We paid less than $100 for our room, but on the back of the door, the hotel lists the maximum amount it can charge for a room. Any guesses? Remember, Louisville is home to the annual Kentucky Derby that brings in thousands of rich visitors the first weekend in May.
Speaking of the derby, we drove by Churchill Downs but decided to wait until our next trip to do the outside walking tour because it was too hot.
We have a rule while traveling that we will only eat at local restaurants and no chains, but we broke that rule to eat at Macaroni Grill on the way home since we don't have one in Lexington, and it's one of our favorite places. It was delicious.
Also on the way home, we stopped halfway in Frankfort, Lexington's capitol. We've never lived this close (30 miles) to the capitol in any state. We drove around the capitol building and Governor Steve Beshear's mansion.
Here is a scenic view of the capitol we drove by in Frankfort.
We had a great trip, and it was nice to get away for a short excursion since David starts dental school today. I'm sure we'll make more visits to Louisville during our fours years here, and we also want to travel to other parts of the state and visit Cincinnati.
We arrived in time for lunch and walked to an area called 4th Street Live, where there are many restaurants, clubs and shops. Part of the street is blocked off to vehicle traffic, so it's easy to walk around.
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| Our view at lunch of the 4th Street Live area. |
We ate at the Red Star Tavern for lunch, and it was very good. We were among the only two or three groups of people dining, but they told us it gets very crowded at night. We returned to the area that night but soon realized the place turns into a very loud, crowded and smoky area for adults over 21. Ten years ago that might have been fun but probably not. :)
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| The world's largest bat outside the entrance to the Louisville Slugger Museum. |
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| I don't think Cash will break any batting averages any time soon. He tried to bite the souvenir bat and then went back to sleep. |
On Sunday, we drove over one of the bridges that crosses the Ohio River, and on the other side is Indiana.
On the Kentucky side, there is a riverfront park with 7 miles of walking trails, and several playgrounds. There is an amphitheater and an area where vendors can set up booths for events and festivals.
Our hotel room at the SpringHill Suites in downtown was very nice. We noticed our room had the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon.
We paid less than $100 for our room, but on the back of the door, the hotel lists the maximum amount it can charge for a room. Any guesses? Remember, Louisville is home to the annual Kentucky Derby that brings in thousands of rich visitors the first weekend in May.
Speaking of the derby, we drove by Churchill Downs but decided to wait until our next trip to do the outside walking tour because it was too hot.
We have a rule while traveling that we will only eat at local restaurants and no chains, but we broke that rule to eat at Macaroni Grill on the way home since we don't have one in Lexington, and it's one of our favorite places. It was delicious.
Also on the way home, we stopped halfway in Frankfort, Lexington's capitol. We've never lived this close (30 miles) to the capitol in any state. We drove around the capitol building and Governor Steve Beshear's mansion.
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| A clock made out of flowers is across the street from the capitol building. |
Here is a scenic view of the capitol we drove by in Frankfort.
We had a great trip, and it was nice to get away for a short excursion since David starts dental school today. I'm sure we'll make more visits to Louisville during our fours years here, and we also want to travel to other parts of the state and visit Cincinnati.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
What can you make with two pounds of okra? Gumbo time!
My parents in Florida have a wonderful garden, and I miss the numerous fresh vegetables during the summer—tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, potatoes, squash and okra. During our recent trip, my dad gave us a lot of okra. Okra is a unique vegetable, and most people eat it stewed with tomatoes or fried. It has a slimy texture when sliced, and I actually had trouble giving it away since many people don't like it or don't know how to cook with it.
I found several recipes online for gumbo with okra, so we made a pot on a Sunday afternoon and had plenty of leftovers throughout the week. I sauteed the okra in olive oil first for about 30 minutes to remove most of the slimy texture. Then, I added tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery and red and green peppers and let the mixture saute for a while longer. Next, we added chicken broth and water and brought it to a boil.
We decided to add sausage and shrimp.
I seasoned the shrimp with salt, pepper and some Old Bay Seasoning.
We added the meat last and then let the gumbo simmer for several hours on low heat. It smelled great, and we ate it over rice. With the leftovers, I made some orzo and served it over that. I also ate it over a package of instant cheese grits. It was a great dish with lots of fresh vegetables, and okra was the not-so-slimy star.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Summertime sunsets, storms and sunflowers
Our recent trip to Florida was full of heat and humidity as we had expected, but we also saw some gorgeous sunsets. I took photos of the sun setting on a lake in Winter Haven on a muggy Saturday evening.
I wasn't the only creature close to the water that evening. A small alligator waded near the shore...a site we don't see in Kentucky.
I also wasn't the only one taking photos of the beautiful sunset.
It rained during our trip, and I shot this video outside my parent's house one evening. I love the dark purple color of the clouds.
Back in Kentucky, it also rained. One evening, it poured for more than an hour, and our gauge outside showed three inches of rain. You can see how quickly the water filled up the area behind the back of our house.
Below is a similar view that I took last fall when we moved into the house.
We put up two bird feeders full of bird seed that hang on the back deck, and now there are sunflowers growing there, my favorite flower!
I wasn't the only creature close to the water that evening. A small alligator waded near the shore...a site we don't see in Kentucky.
I also wasn't the only one taking photos of the beautiful sunset.
It rained during our trip, and I shot this video outside my parent's house one evening. I love the dark purple color of the clouds.
Back in Kentucky, it also rained. One evening, it poured for more than an hour, and our gauge outside showed three inches of rain. You can see how quickly the water filled up the area behind the back of our house.
Below is a similar view that I took last fall when we moved into the house.
We put up two bird feeders full of bird seed that hang on the back deck, and now there are sunflowers growing there, my favorite flower!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
A LivingSocial meal deal at Hall's on the River
I use coupons on a regular basis, but I'm definitely not into extreme couponing, a practice some people use that you might have seen on some recent television shows. I don't spend hours clipping and cutting coupons, but I do like a good deal, so I've started visiting LivingSocial.com and Groupon.com—online sites to find deals in your area. There is a daily deal for many cities around the country, and businesses such as restaurants, salons, car washes, and even dentists are using the site to offer a percentage (usually 50 percent or more) off of their products and services. For example, you spend $10 on the deal and receive a $20 coupon.
These sites are easy ways to find possible deals in your area and try new places. You can sign up to receive a daily email that lists the deal for specific cities. I receive notices about deals in Lexington, Knoxville, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Gainesville. While I've only purchased deals for Lexington and Knoxville, I want to know about the deals in other cities in case I want to take advantage of them and possibly share or buy them for family and friends. I also think they would be great if you're planning a trip to a specific city.
So far, I've purchased deals from several restaurants, including some we haven't tried before, a magazine subscription to The Bourbon Review, and deals to purchase University of Kentucky merchandise at Fan Outfitters. (Since David will be a dental student here for four years, we can't exactly wear orange and blue all the time contrary to what some of our family and friends might think!) The deals have expiration dates, but the ones I've seen are for at least four or five months up to a year after the purchase date. Other rules include using the entire coupon in one visit and not receiving any money back if you don't spend as much as the coupon is worth, but most of the time, those rules shouldn't be a problem.
I actually purchased a few deals for restaurants when we lived in Knoxville. Lexington wasn't a city on LivingSocial last year this time, but the sites add cities on a regular basis, and Lexington was picked up a few months ago. Our latest LivingSocial deal was to Hall's on the River in Winchester, Kentucky. I paid $15 and received a $30 coupon to spend on food and drinks.
The restaurant is about 25 minutes from our house, and we can take several scenic routes through rolling hills and horse farms to get there. The food is a combination of seafood, steaks and southern speciality dishes, such as Kentucky's famous hot brown and lamb fries (lamb testicles). Two appetizers that we've seen on many menus in Kentucky are beer cheese dip and fried banana peppers. I'm still getting used to the beer cheese dip as a cold dip since I've had beer cheese at other restaurants, and it's served warm. There is a long history of beer cheese in Kentucky, and there is even a beer cheese festival each year in Winchester.
We ordered the beer cheese dip as an appetizer, and it is very good. In addition to the beer and cheese, there are other spices in it such as garlic and probably cayenne since there is a kick to it. It is served with crackers, carrots and celery.
I reviewed the menu online before we went, but there are some dishes on the menu at the restaurant that aren't listed online, including the one I ordered. For our entrees, I ordered the stuffed sole with crab meat, and my sides were a tossed salad and beer cheese grits. Some of the salad dressings are homemade, including ranch and blue cheese. I tried the blue cheese first, but it had too much mayo and very little blue cheese, so I asked for ranch, and it was much better. The fish and grits were very good.
David ordered another house speciality, the fried catfish, and he also got the tangy slaw and smashed potatoes. I am not a fan of cole slaw, but the tangy slaw was excellent, some of the best I've ever had. Our server said it is vinegar-based and based on a German recipe. His catfish and potatoes were also good. Each entree was $15 or more, and while the two sides were good portions, the actual amount of fish we each received wasn't overly generous.
The service was excellent, and we let our server know it was our first visit, and he was very helpful in explaining their popular dishes and making suggestions. There is a large outdoor eating area with covered tables, and even though it's the middle of July, we could have dined outside comfortably on this Saturday afternoon because of low humidity.
I noticed some photos when we walked in that were taken last year when the restaurant flooded. Read this online story at http://www.lex18.com/news/halls-on-the-river-re-opens-after-flood/ to see photos and video of how fast water can rise on the Kentucky River.
We enjoyed dining at Hall's on the River, and it's a place we might not have tried without the LivingSocial deal, so it was a win, win, win!
These sites are easy ways to find possible deals in your area and try new places. You can sign up to receive a daily email that lists the deal for specific cities. I receive notices about deals in Lexington, Knoxville, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Gainesville. While I've only purchased deals for Lexington and Knoxville, I want to know about the deals in other cities in case I want to take advantage of them and possibly share or buy them for family and friends. I also think they would be great if you're planning a trip to a specific city.
So far, I've purchased deals from several restaurants, including some we haven't tried before, a magazine subscription to The Bourbon Review, and deals to purchase University of Kentucky merchandise at Fan Outfitters. (Since David will be a dental student here for four years, we can't exactly wear orange and blue all the time contrary to what some of our family and friends might think!) The deals have expiration dates, but the ones I've seen are for at least four or five months up to a year after the purchase date. Other rules include using the entire coupon in one visit and not receiving any money back if you don't spend as much as the coupon is worth, but most of the time, those rules shouldn't be a problem.
I actually purchased a few deals for restaurants when we lived in Knoxville. Lexington wasn't a city on LivingSocial last year this time, but the sites add cities on a regular basis, and Lexington was picked up a few months ago. Our latest LivingSocial deal was to Hall's on the River in Winchester, Kentucky. I paid $15 and received a $30 coupon to spend on food and drinks.
The restaurant is about 25 minutes from our house, and we can take several scenic routes through rolling hills and horse farms to get there. The food is a combination of seafood, steaks and southern speciality dishes, such as Kentucky's famous hot brown and lamb fries (lamb testicles). Two appetizers that we've seen on many menus in Kentucky are beer cheese dip and fried banana peppers. I'm still getting used to the beer cheese dip as a cold dip since I've had beer cheese at other restaurants, and it's served warm. There is a long history of beer cheese in Kentucky, and there is even a beer cheese festival each year in Winchester.
We ordered the beer cheese dip as an appetizer, and it is very good. In addition to the beer and cheese, there are other spices in it such as garlic and probably cayenne since there is a kick to it. It is served with crackers, carrots and celery.
I reviewed the menu online before we went, but there are some dishes on the menu at the restaurant that aren't listed online, including the one I ordered. For our entrees, I ordered the stuffed sole with crab meat, and my sides were a tossed salad and beer cheese grits. Some of the salad dressings are homemade, including ranch and blue cheese. I tried the blue cheese first, but it had too much mayo and very little blue cheese, so I asked for ranch, and it was much better. The fish and grits were very good.
David ordered another house speciality, the fried catfish, and he also got the tangy slaw and smashed potatoes. I am not a fan of cole slaw, but the tangy slaw was excellent, some of the best I've ever had. Our server said it is vinegar-based and based on a German recipe. His catfish and potatoes were also good. Each entree was $15 or more, and while the two sides were good portions, the actual amount of fish we each received wasn't overly generous.
The service was excellent, and we let our server know it was our first visit, and he was very helpful in explaining their popular dishes and making suggestions. There is a large outdoor eating area with covered tables, and even though it's the middle of July, we could have dined outside comfortably on this Saturday afternoon because of low humidity.
I noticed some photos when we walked in that were taken last year when the restaurant flooded. Read this online story at http://www.lex18.com/news/halls-on-the-river-re-opens-after-flood/ to see photos and video of how fast water can rise on the Kentucky River.
We enjoyed dining at Hall's on the River, and it's a place we might not have tried without the LivingSocial deal, so it was a win, win, win!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
1800 miles in 2 weeks across 4 states...our summer oblication
We spent almost two weeks in June visiting our families in Florida. I nicknamed it an "oblication" since it was combination vacation and obligation trip to see everyone. David starts four years of dental school at the University of Kentucky August 1, so we drove down before he's in school for 11 months of the year with limited breaks.
We left on a Sunday and drove part of the way, stopping in Macon, Georgia overnight. On Monday morning, I watched one of my former University of Tennessee students, Samantha Smith, on air as a weather forecaster for Channel 41 in Macon. She is working on her degree in meteorology and will have a great career!
It took about 10 and a half hours total to reach my parent's house in Alachua, so not a bad drive. We spent the next 10 days visiting our families and friends and sharing many great conversations and meals. Here are some photo highlights from our trip.
I was very excited to see my nephew Judson again since he is almost 10 months old. He is crawling and laughing and a very loveable child. (About 90 percent of the photos I took on the trip are of Judson and his cuteness!)
We also visited David's family in Winter Haven and Lake Alfred and saw his extended family and even met some new little cousins.
While in Polk County, we traveled to Dinosaur World in Plant City, Florida to meet up with some friends from college. They brought some delicious Publix subs, and we had a picnic while their kids enjoyed the dinosaurs. The outing represented my love/hate relationship with Florida—love seeing family and friends and eating Publix subs but hate the heat and humidity! (Ironically, while we were in Florida, Publix announced it will open stores in Knoxville. I'm hoping they move on up to Lexington, too!)
We had a great trip, but we're happy to be home again in Kentucky. Sammie and Cash had a wonderful lady named Miss Maria who came over and checked in on them while we were gone. I talked to her several times during our trip, and she said they were doing fine but missed us. We missed them too!
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| For our family members who have only visited during the winter, this is what Kentucky and Tennessee look like during the spring and summer—plenty of beautiful green mountains! |
It took about 10 and a half hours total to reach my parent's house in Alachua, so not a bad drive. We spent the next 10 days visiting our families and friends and sharing many great conversations and meals. Here are some photo highlights from our trip.
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| He loves to play on the computer while sitting on Grandpa's lap. |
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| Grandma steals some sugar. |
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| We made Judson into a little Kentucky Wildcat. |
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| David's aunts, uncles and cousins on his mom's side came over for BBQ night. |
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| David's mom has redesigned her kitchen, and it looks great! |
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| Yummy pizza from the Pizza Connection in Auburndale, Florida, courtesy of David's dad. |
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| David's aunt made a delicious pineapple upside down cake. |
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| There is always time to play Angry Birds. David and his sister, Allison, are addicted to this game on their phones! |
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| We saw some beautiful sunsets in Florida. I'll write another post about them and share more photos. |
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| Cash spends hours sunning himself on the floor. |
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| Sammie spent a lot of time sleeping on Dad's chair upstairs. It was coated in a thick layer of hair when we returned. |
Thursday, July 07, 2011
72 years and counting...Happy Birthday Dad! (Updated with new photo of Dad modeling!)
My dad, Amos, is celebrating 72 years today, July 7. Happy Birthday, Dad!
In honor of his birthday, I looked up some facts about the year 1939. Visit http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1939.html to learn more, but below are some interesting items.
Average cost of new house: $3,800
Average wages per year: $1,730
Cost of a gallon of gas: 10 cents
A loaf of bread: 8 cents
A pound of hamburger meat: 14 cents
Average price for new car: $700
I'm sorry we can't be there to help him celebrate, but we saw him during June when we visited our Florida families for almost two weeks. It was a great visit, and I'll share more photos in a future blog post.
We love you Dad! Happy 72nd birthday!
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| My mom snapped this photo of Dad opening one of his gifts. A man can never have too many shirts. |
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| Mom also took this photo of Dad modeling the new shirt we gave him. What style he has! :) |
In honor of his birthday, I looked up some facts about the year 1939. Visit http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1939.html to learn more, but below are some interesting items.
Average cost of new house: $3,800
Average wages per year: $1,730
Cost of a gallon of gas: 10 cents
A loaf of bread: 8 cents
A pound of hamburger meat: 14 cents
Average price for new car: $700
I'm sorry we can't be there to help him celebrate, but we saw him during June when we visited our Florida families for almost two weeks. It was a great visit, and I'll share more photos in a future blog post.
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| Three generations: My dad, brother and nephew on Father's Day in June 2011. |
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