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The USA Takes the Ryder Cup Away from the Europeans – Kentucky Style!

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This was the best Ryder Cup ever. Not just because the USA finally remembered how to win (!), not just because it was on Kentucky soil, and not just because we had two Kentuckians (Kenny Perry and J.B. Holmes) and Boo Weekley on our side. There was just so much excitement and an abundance of American pride.

As a state and a country we all fell under Boo’s spell. He’s SO one of us, how in the world did the stork miss the drop. The bird must’ve had my sense of directions because Boo was born in the Florida panhandle instead. Maybe Stork, United thought, “They’ve got the Waltrips, let’s give this character to Florida.”

Oh, well, it doesn’t really matter. We’ve adopted him now.

What makes Kenny Perry’s performance all the more impressive is the fact that he was in a great deal of pain. He was, in his words, “..eating Advil like candy.” Fellow Kentuckian J.B. Holmes has also made a name for himself. You know, if Boo weren’t scaring up so much attention, I think our own J.B. would be in the center of the limelight. He’s a character, himself!

Below are some of my favorite write-ups about the whole shebang:

Kentucky Comes Up Big in Ryder Cup
Kentucky Boys Give US Boost
Kenny Perry Savors Home Cooking in His Kentucky Reign at Ryder’s Cup

Louisville, Kenny, and J.B., you made your fellow Kentuckians proud. And along with Paul Azinger, Boo Weekley, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, and the rest of the team – you made the whole country proud!

Filed Under: Golfing, Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Briarwood Gardens is A Name You Should Get to Know

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We’ve come across the “Kentucky friendly” people who run Briarwood Gardens several times.  We always hunt their stand out when the 1850′s Homeplace in LBL has special events.  I usually buy Stevia, tea leaves, and a few other assorted herbal blends.  Their Stevia is really delicous in hot tea. Sweet without being too sweet.

Most recently, I tried an herb blend for Salsa, some Berry Berry Tea, and Granny’s Green Tea.   As a matter of fact, I’ve got my face wrapped around a hot mug of Granny’s Green Tea right now.  I put the leaves in a paper liner in my coffee pot and brew it up by the pot.  My oldest daughter and I usually drink it all hot, but when there’s any left over, it’s DELICIOUS on ice.  Personally, I don’t add any sugar or even honey – they’ve added enough personality to the tea leaves as is, thanks to a great mixture of flavors.

They’ll actually be back at the Homeplace on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008. On October 11, 2008, they’ll be at the Renaissance Faire at Grace Episcopal Church in Paducah KY. You’ll absolutely love their herbal blends and teas. The Berry Berry and Granny’s Green Teas are out of this very world.

Check them out at Briarwood Gardens.biz.

Filed Under: Events, New Tagged With: , , ,

KentuckyShow! in Louisville, Kentucky Celebrates Our State, Our Land, Our History, and Us

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The “KentuckyShow!” premiere was yesterday and did so to a sold out crowd or nearly 600. In attendance was none other than Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear. After watching the show, Gov. Beshear said, “In a word: wow. It’s such an impressive production that captures our people, our geography and (our) spirit. It tells what Kentucky is all about.”

About the finale of the film, Gov. Beshear said, “…reaches a crescendo that gives you goosebumps and leaves your eyes moist. I think they’ve done a wonderful job of weaving in the fabric of our state”

The following links will take you to articles on Courier Journal’s Website. Each will give you a better idea of the story behind “KentuckyShow!” as well as letting you know how you can see the show for yourself. If you’re interested in having your goose bumps coaxed out in a moment of extreme pride in “home.”

Yeah, sign me up, too!

Helpful Links:

New ‘KentuckyShow!’ details state’s culture, commerce, history, geography (from August 21)

KentuckyShow! has premiere (from September 12)

KentuckyShow! Makes all Kentucky Proud! (from September 13)

KentuckyShow! Animation

KentuckyShow.com

Filed Under: Louisville Tagged With: , , ,

The Hitching Post Gifts and Country Store in Aurora Kentucky

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Hitching Post in Aurora Kentucky
Two of my favorite towns to visit when we’re down around Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, and Land Between the Lakes are Aurora and Grand Rivers. Grand Rivers offers a great deal wit it’s Badgett Playhouse, Grand Rivers Fudge Factory, Patty’s, Lighthouse Landing, and Green Turtle Bay. It’s a beautiful little village with a lot going for it.

Aurora has a different “vibe,” yet I enjoy it every bit as much as I do Grand Rivers.  Aurora, Kentucky seems to delight in being very laid back. This community is home to my favorite Willow Pond Restaurant, one of my all-time favorite BBQ Restaurants (Aurora BBQ – Home of the Winking Pig!), the Dinner Bell, and one of my favorite spots to unload cash that’s weighing down my purse – The Hitching Post Gifts and Country Store. I’ve never…never… gone into this charmingly fun store without exiting with loot that I can’t wait to take home.

In addition to an endless display of Kentucky memorabilia – from t-shirts, jewelery, and hats to candles, figurines, ornaments, and cookbooks – they carry a remarkable variety of Yoder’s Homestyle jams, jellies, etc. They also have BBQ sauces that’ll send you over the proverbial moon.

On our most recent trip, I got a jar of Yoder’s Homestyle Sweet Potato Butter. Have you ever had Sweet Potato Pie? Well, this Sweet Potato Butter pretty much lives in that delicious neighborhood. So, whether you put it on buttermilk biscuits, cornbread, or toast, you get that same amazing flavor. Frankly, I can’t say enough great things about it. Their Apple Butter is also ridiculously good.  It’s great on toast, served alongside scrambled eggs and bacon.

The next time you’re in the Land Between the Lakes region, make a point of visiting the “down home” friendly people at the Hitching Post Gifts and Country Store in Aurora. If you time your day just right, you can work up an appetite at the Hitching Post, have lunch with the winking pig, explore the beautiful Kentucky Lake area, and then make an appointment with the best hush puppies on earth at the Aurora Willow Pond that evening.

It’ll be a day you won’t forget.  Just be sure to remember the apple butter!

Filed Under: Food, LBL, New, Restaurant Reviews, Shop Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Hair-Raising Afternoon

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Vile, malicious, hair-raising afternoon – that’s what I just somehow managed to live through. I had to upgrade the software that I use to run our blogs. I was zipping along and all was going well until I went through the process for Genuine Kentucky (if you visited between the hours of 5 and 6, you saw a hot mess).  The blog went nuts. It forgot itself and had a total break down. What’s worse, it locked me out of the admin area – the very place I needed to be to make it come to its senses!

I was about to join it down the highway of insanity, so I took a deep breath, a long drink of Diet Dr. Pepper, and another deep breath – then I asked myself what sort of plugins I use on this blog that I don’t use on any of my other ones – figuring that maybe that was the problem. The only one I knew of was an audio plugin – a plugin that allows us to have Audio on the site. I deleted the plugin to see if things would be reasonable again and, thankfully, they were. The blog’s amnesia cleared up and we bonded. Apparently this particular audio plugin has an issue with this newer version of software. 

Unfortunately, all of this means that, in the posts where you could normally find samples of Variety! Music, Memories, and More, you’ll now get diddly squat.  Zilch.  Nothing.

I’ll put my husband (much more techno-inclined than I am) on the trail of a new audio plugin that’ll work with the new software, and hopefully we’ll be good to go in a day or two.  Until then, click the banner to the right (the one with the people dancing like they mean it) and visit Grand Rivers Variety.com.

Filed Under: Fun Tagged With: ,

Butt Out, Kentucky!

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According to a disturbing story by the Lexington Herald Leader, Kentuckians need to wake up and butt out.

This area of the country seems to have a love affair with smoking.  I can’t explain why, but it seems like you see more people (especially women) smoking in Kentucky than anywhere else.   The problem is, it’s a habit that’s deadly.  The cycle needs to be snuffed out before it continues to pass from one generation to the next… to the next… to the next….

Take a look at the statistics. 

States with the highest rates of cancer of the larynx in men

1.Louisiana

2. Arkansas

3. Kentucky

4. Delaware

5. Tennessee

 

States with the highest rates of lung cancer in women

1.Kentucky

2. Nevada

3. Maine

4. West Virginia

5. Massachusetts

 

States with the highest rates of lung cancer in men

1. Kentucky

2.West Virginia

3. Tennessee

4. Louisiana

5. Alabama

 

States with the highest rates of smoking in 2006

1. Kentucky (28.6%)

2. West Virginia (25.7%)

3. Oklahoma (25.1%)

4. Mississippi (25.1%)

5. Alaska (24.2%)

 

States with the highest rates of cancer of the larynx in women

1.  Kentucky

2.  Alabama

3.  Nevada

4.  Louisiana

5.  Arkansas

Be sure to read the full story on Kentucky.com.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

Recipe for Kentucky Derby Pie

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Click the link below for a great sounding recipe for Kentucky Derby Pie.  I’m making this bad boy tonight and expectations are flying high.  Personally, I’m going to serve my favorite vanilla ice cream with it, so I think I’ll pretty much be a heroine around my house tonight.

Kentucky Derby Pie

Hmmm, this might be a good time to tell my husband about a set of dishes I saw yesterday…

Update: This pie is amazing! Knowing how much my family loves sweets, I doubled the recipe and made two. One disappeared before the night was over and the other didn’t make it past the following afternoon. We liked it best slightly warm with ice cream on top.

Filed Under: Food, New Tagged With: , , , ,

Ty Proffitt is Considering his Options and The University of Kentucky is One of Them

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Thursday, Ty Proffitt (former South Laurel High School point guard) met with the UK coaches to discuss a potential transfer. Proffitt, who received his release from Notre Dame, is also considering two other Kentucky schools: Eastern and Morehead State.

He plans to make his decision by the end of the weekend.

Click HERE for the full story.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Arts and Crafts Festival in Grand Rivers, Kentucky

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Pottery WheelFor those of us who are artsy-minded, this is the sort of thing that makes us wag our creative tails. Kentucky Western Waterlands is sponsoring an Arts and Crafts Festival that will run on August 30, 31, and September 1. It’ll take place at Little Lake Park in beautiful Grand Rivers, Kentucky.  For those unfamiliar with the area, Little Lake Park is behind Badgett Playhouse.

You can look forward to handmade jewelry, furniture, baskets, quilts, pottery, clothing, belts and wooden decorative items are featured along with stained glass, embroidery & paintings by vendors from nine states. There will be over 100 different artisan & Craftsmen booths! Enjoy barbecue, traditional carnival food, live music and shopping.

Okay, you know the drill. What do I do each and every time I point you toward Grand Rivers, Kentucky? You got it – bonus points for you! I tell you to take your taste buds to The Fudge Factory and load up on the world’s best fudge. Then I point out that you MUST get some of the Peanut Butter Fudge, Dulche de Leche Fudge, and Tiger Butter Fudge. I say, feel free to load up on others, too, just make sure you grab this trio immediately (better be quick, if I beat you there, it’s all over with).

I tell you that the friendliest people on the face of the earth can be found inside this adorable little shop. In addition to fudge that’ll make your world stand still, they have gifts and goodies as well. But, I hasten to point out, the main thing is the remarkable fudge.

Yep. That’s pretty much the drill. But you know what, I don’t like being predictable. So, I’m not going to say any of that this time. I’ll let a post go by without telling you that I lie awake at night thinking about this fudge.

I won’t tell you that when we go to the lakes, we’re going to start carrying a cooler with ice to bring back plenty to get us through the week. Nah, you don’t need to know that.

Maybe next time I’ll rave and rave about the world’s best fudge – but, for now, I’ll just cool my heels. And wish to God, above, that I had some fudge in front of me right now.

Filed Under: Events, Fairs and Festivals, New Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Coach Gillispie’s Camp and UK News

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UK coach Billy Gillispie and several members of the Wildcat coaching staff hosted a basketball clinic at Pikeville High School on Saturday. Gillispie has said that when he came to Kentucky one thing he wanted to establish was a great basketball camp such as this. According the coach, his camp will just keep growing.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Gillispie. “It’s good for everyone. I know the kids are having a good time and the kids are enjoying it. We’re doing it on a small scale now, but it’s going to get bigger and eventually we’re going to try to do it in every part of Kentucky that we can.”

The Appalachian News reports that he went on to say, “The Wildcats mean so much to everyone,” said Gillispie. “You don’t have to be a grown person to have a love for the Wildcats, I think your born with it in this state. It’s good to get out and meet a lot of the young ones. There are so many fans in Eastern Kentucky who may not get the chance to see the Wildcats play and we want to get out here and touch everybody we can and make every opportunity available to them that could be a life changing experience to everyone. We’re here to teach them about the game of basketball and to have a good time, and it seems like everybody is having a great time.”

The camp started in Ashland on Friday and continued in Hazard on Sunday. It’ll finish on Saturday in the town I was born in, Madisonville.

UK’s first exhibition game is set for November 3, as the Wildcats play host to Missouri-St. Louis. Their regular season starts on Friday, November 14, at home against Virginia Military Institute. Things get ugly, fast, though as they travel to North Carolina on Tuesday, November 18.

Let’s make sure we’re all prayed up by then, want to?

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , ,
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