The Great Chicken Wing Quest Continues….

Last May I challenged Terry and myself to ride the entire Withlacoochee State Trail before the annual Rails to Trails bike ride in October.  Didn’t quite make it–didn’t finish the segment from Ridge Manor to Trilby.  Failure.

So now I have a new challenge. To eat at every restaurant in Citrus County that has chicken wings!  And maybe a few places in Marion, Sumter and Hernando counties.  That should be easier.  No time frame involved. We can work on this goal for the rest of our lives!

Terry and I, along with a few friends, already started this quest earlier this year and even reported on our visits to The Cove, Coaches, Lollygaggers, and Island Bar and Grill.  But we got sidetracked with all that bicycle riding.  We want wings!  This month we went to Skeets Smokehouse and Grill in Beverly Hills, Shamrocks in Floral City, and Beef o Bradys in Crystal River.

We stopped by Skeets Smokehouse and Grill on a Friday afternoon, right about lunch time.  There was only one other table of customers!  What!  When I had a job where I actually got a paycheck, Friday was the day I went out for a long lunch.  Has that tradition gone away along with all the jobs?  Where was everyone?  Perhaps it’s more of an evening place since I noticed numerous beer choices on draft.  Which made me happy!  Along with my mug of beer I had some really delicious tomato basil soup.  Yum.  And, of course, Terry and I both ordered wings.

Tomato Basil Soup at Skeets
So good I forgot to take a photo before I gobbled it down!

 

Dry Cajun rub
Dry Cajun Rub for Terry
My wings, plain old medium buffalo wings. Tasted like wings.
My wings, plain old medium buffalo wings. Tasted like wings.

My next visit was to Shamrocks.  Poor Terry, the real wing lover had to stay home because  this was a girl’s afternoon out!  But he did get to watch the Bucs on TV and they actually won their game.

Trail is behind sign
The Withlacoochee State Trail is right behind this sign.

And our independent panel of judges were…

Tastetesters
Yvonne, Sherry, and Vera
Shamrocks judges
Me, Donna T and Donna

I LOVED Shamrocks.  Since it’s right by the Withlacoochee State Trail, there were about a dozen bicyclists having lunch.  Also bikers at the bar.  A couple gave up their table so the six of us could sit together!  A very friendly pub!

Garlic Parmesan
Garlic Parmesan
Medium buffalo wings
Medium buffalo wings
Blackened Chicken Wings
Blackened Chicken Wings
Fun and Friendly Atmosphere
Fun and Friendly Atmosphere

Next stop was Beef o Brady’s in Crystal River the following day. This is a family friendly chain and we’ve been to several of them over the years.  A lot of bars in the area aren’t open on Monday but Beef o Brady’s is.  Terry needed wings. And I needed another restaurant to check out.

Fries and 2 types of wings.
Fries and two types of wings.
My salad--I can't possibly do wings two days in a row!
My salad–I can’t possibly do wings two days in a row!

Terry ordered two flavors of wings, garlic parmesan and honey bbq and said that the garlic parmesan was the better choice.  The fries were good and crispy.  I had a cup of baked potato soup which was delicious.

And now, let’s wrap this up, the service was good at all three places, wings were good, and we would go back to all three restaurants.  But I’m going with the atmosphere and giving the win for this month to Shamrocks.

And the quest continues….

DIY French Cushions

For seating in my office, I use dining room chairs that I bought at a used furniture place a few years ago.  I painted them gray, replaced the foam, and upholstered them in some white fabric that I had used previously for drapes. But these chairs were incredibly uncomfortable and I sit on them a lot!  So I usually put a pillow on top of the seat which is rather unattractive.  Since I want both comfy and pretty, I pulled two 16 1/2″ x 15″ foam pads out of one of my storage trunks and created French cushions.

DIY French Cushions, cushions

Before there was Pinterest, I had to actually read magazines, clip out articles, and store them in a paper file.  What a waste of time!  So glad I don’t have to do that anymore.  (Now I just spend 3 times as much time scanning Pinterest whenever I want to start a new project.)  But I have made French cushions a few times and always follow an article from a Better Homes and Gardens from way back in October 2000!  While the article is for a bench cushion, you can use the directions to cut it down to any size.  I’ve attached the tutorial here:

End-of-the-Bench Cushion

While the directions are easy-peasy, I did make a few changes to get the look I wanted.  First, my idea of a French cushion has fat piping, big running hand stitches that show, and covered buttons.  This tutorial calls for one layer of batting that is cut to the size of the cushion but I used two layers and made them about an inch bigger on all sides so I could push batting into the edges.  I also waited until I was completely finished hand-stitching the piping before I closed the open end.  When I did sew the opening shut, I used an invisible closing seam.

DIY French Cushions, cushions

The tutorial calls for tufts but I made cover buttons with a contrasting fabric.  Also easy, especially since Terry’s here and he’s strong enough to get the little pusher to snap the backs into place.

DIY French Cushions, buttonsAll done and on my chairs, so pretty, so comfy!

DIY French Cushions

Almost have all of this fabric used up.  One more DIY project featuring the black and white Premier Prints for next week!

More Treasures from Renninger’s Antique Extravaganza

Kathryn hit the jackpot at Renninger’s Antique Extravanganza!

Kathryn's treasuresKathryn's treasures, Treasures from Renninger's Antique ExtravaganzaKathryn's treasures, Treasures from Renninger's Antique Extravaganza

And Connie picked up this beautiful “diamond” encrusted ring!

Ringwatch, watchring, treasures from Renninger's Antique Extravaganza
A ring watch. Or is it a watch ring. For $2.00!

And finally, here’s what Michelle has to say about her booty!

Here’s what I found out about my goodies from Renninger’s Antique Extravaganza. Of course the @ is fairly new. The glass dishes match a 3 tier stand I’ve already got and know that wasn’t very expensive (from the ’70’s probably). So I’m guessing they won’t be making the Antiques Roadshow anytime soon. That makes them a perfect candidate for a project.

Adventures with Michelle, Treasure Hunting!The flatware is a different story. I went looking for something to take photos of my Blog food. A few weeks ago, I had read in a food photography article where a professional stated that when she ran into a problem she pulled out, what she called, ‘the magic fork’. Because for her ‘everything always looks fabulous with The Magic Fork’. Well, I needed one, and I think I found one! In my quick search I found that the ‘magic fork’ is a sliver pattern called Diana ‘Berwick’ made by American Silversmith Wm.Rogers and dates 1904. The lady that sold it to me (for $7) told me the pattern name and smilingly said “Now that’s a magic fork!” It wasn’t the most expensive thing she had, but she did point out something interesting, as she flipped it over she said, “A really beautiful piece looks just as good from the back – it’s a real work of art.” She obviously loves her silverware. When I got home, I instantly found one on the Net for $14. – good deal.

Adventures with Michelle, Treasure Hunting!

Adventures with Michelle, Treasure Hunting!

The ladle was a $6 dirty thing I found in a small pile of mark-downs. (poor thing) I’m still tracking down the pattern name, but it dates 1885-1905 made in England by Walker & Hall. I quite like it. That’s a silverware set I’d eat off of everyday! (that is if it went in the dishwasher).

Then there’s those tiny spoons – so cute. They’re for individual salt cellars. These two I found in the same mark-down stall and were $2 each. Sweet, lonely little things. I’m still hunting to ID a mystery mark. One mark I found pretty quickly. ‘D & A Nevada Silver’ is really from England made by Daniel & Arter and I found a similar set of them on Ebay for …$70 !

I’m so happy with my finds. The pricing makes me feel like a good bargain hunter. Although, if the Magic Fork makes my food look yummy, I won’t know how to put a price on that. yay Renningers!

Here we are again!  Looking forward to our next treasure hunt!

Treasure Hunters