This is the first view you get when driving up the old road to my grandfather's cabin, circa 1904. I love this old place. I grew up here and spent many days watching my grandfather sharpen knives, clean his rifles, make squirrel gravy, and talk for hours in front of the fire. I split the mud holes dry, caught fish, and didn't have to wear frilly dresses. I was pretty much raised my granddaddy's only son.



No one stays here anymore. My mother's side of the family has moved on to bigger and better things and now since I drive by almost every weekend, I tend to want to nurse the old thing back to health. Due to vandalism, I decided it was time for a new back porch and new porch paint on the front of the old cabin. We spent most of Saturday and Saturday evening revamping the place where I spent my childhood.

Once the rains came, we decided it was time to pack up and head back to the house. Kent has to work on Sunday (unfortunately), so we thought it best to get home a.s.a.p.

I love the time we spend here. There are so many wonderful memories. I hope to share more with you in the future.

Hope I didn't bore you to death and that you all had a safe and fabulous 4th of July weekend!

I did!

Post for: July 4, 2008

Mira (a.k.a Miranda) took this immediately after a rain shower this morning. She has such an eye for beautiful things.

The beans had soaked overnight and were ready for the fat bacon and to be slow cooked to their tender taste. Time to soak the corn as well, and baste the 7 pound pork tenderloin. Wow! It was a doozy!

I realize there a million ways to baste and grill a tenderloin; even one this size, but I took my grandmother's tips along with a short cut and it worked really well for us today.


Orange Marmalade Pork Tenderloin

• 5-7 lbs. pork tenderloin


• McCormick's Grill Mates® Pork Rub - it basically has all the ingredients that my grandmother used and as I now have access to these wonderful items at the grocery, I figured I should make use of them. ;)


• 1 Jar Orange Marmalade - we really like Smucker's, but not necessary


• Basting Brush


• Meat Thermometer - very important when cooking pork!


• Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil - juices will run heavy and you don't want to burn the pork.

Pre-heat grill to a very low heat: around 250 degrees if possible. Slow cooking insures juiciness.

After taking the tenderloin out of the plastic wrapper, you will want to rinse it off and pat it dry. Start adding the Grill Mates rub. If it doesn't want to stick, add just a small portion of olive oil to the loin first, then rub away. Once the loin is covered, wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil and place on the top wrack of your grill. Watch and turn for about an hour.

Take the loin off, open up the foil and baste the loin with 1 entire jar of orange marmalade. I know. It sounds like a lot, but it is soooo good. And it soaks into the meat for a nice, tender, taste.



You can now raise the temperature of the grill to 400 degrees.

Re-wrap in the foil and place on the grill for about 15 minutes, flipping the loin halfway.

You also have the option of placing the loin straight on the grill. The sugar in the marmalade will crystallize and form a brown glaze over the outside of the loin. I have found I lose the taste of the marmalade this way and so we opt to keep it wrapped. Choice is yours.

Check the temp. of the loin with your meat thermometer quite often at this point. You want to take it off at around 140-145 degrees. The loin will continue to cook after you take it off the grill and there is nothing worse than dry pork. Ugh! I guess maybe dry chicken. Ha!

Voila! There you have it. Simple and yet so yummy!

I also cut and added baby red potatoes and peaches and cream corn cobs to my bean pot while all of this was going on. I have poured the buttermilk into the cornmeal mix and pre-heated my cast iron skillet. Cornbread will be out in 25 minutes. Let's eat!

Bellies are full and the time is about right for fireworks. Miss Winnie and the puppies were not fond of the booms and bangs, but they lived through it. And, Lil Sasha seemed to enjoy her ear of corn. So cute!



Afterward we rode out on the 4-wheelers to the field that overlooks the lights in the valley below. We watched other firework displays for a few minutes before the rains came. Ack! We were soaked by the time we made it back to the cabin. But it was a fun day! Lots of laughs!

Post for: Late Evening July 3, 2008

Now keep in mind this photo was taken by my daughter back in March before there were leaves on the trees. But that being said, this is the beginning of the 30 minute ride to our cabin in the mountains. And this is the nicer portion of the road. Most of it consists of a dry river bed with an occasional creek that you have to ford. Needless to say, if you don't have 4-wheel drive, you must crawl in the back of mine to get there. We love our cabin and our seclusion.

We drove up late Thursday evening to get everything unpacked, shelves stocked and air out the cabin. If it's left locked up for a month at a time, it can get stale and musty.

My husband, Kent, offered to help me with the large mess of beans that I held in my lap at around midnight. I yawned and shooed him away to build a fire outside. I strung and broke beans for at least an hour; enough to feed 20 or so and then soaked them for the evening.

The family had decided a week prior that they were just simply tired of the usual 4th of July dawgs and burgers. With all of the rain as of lately, my garden has been booming, and our mouths were watering for some good old southern home cooking. Fresh green beans, baby red potatoes, corn on the cob, orange marmalade tenderloin pork, and homemade cornbread. Yum!

Now that the beans were soaking, I poured a nice Merlot and headed outside to the fire pit. The one great thing my husband has talent for: a nice, roaring fire. We didn't sit long. It had been a long day and the wind was kicking up a storm. The clouds were moving in and we decided that we should as well.





It's 2am, and I'm as snug as a bug in a rug. I love this cabin.
Good night!