When I walked in the door 🚪 and spied a tray of chocolate No-Bake 🍪 cookies, I knew the evening was taking an upswing. I had already played 18 holes 🕳 of golf ⛳️ and was having a wonderful day, but these cookies made it better.

Nina made a pot of chili soup to which I added shredded cheese and corn chips.

On a side note 📝, I have played the last 27 holes of golf with the same ball. That may be a record.

I traveled to New Ross to see my grandson, Lawson. I left early without 🍳 breakfast so Lawson and walked over to the New Ross 🥩 Steak House for lunch.

I ordered a 🥓 bacon cheeseburger 🍔 with BBQ sauce on the side and onion rings and French fries for the boy. Our server also brought him crackers and applesauce which he insisted on feeding himself.

The waitress said the owner slices the steaks 🥩 (which are served in the evening) each day and that the burgers are made from the leftover steaks. Needless to say, my burger was very good. Especially with the crispy bacon.

It’s just your basic grand daughter birthday 🎂 dinner. (Tomorrow it is stir-fry on the Blackstone for the actual birthday.)

Richard and Michael Hackman nailed the ribeye and T-bone 🥩 steaks. Then there was the crock pot full of baked potatoes 🥔 that Nina had ready. As well, the Asian 🥗 salad was fantastic!!!

The cake and ice cream was incredible too. I told Nina to at the cake was wonderful, and did you make the icing yourself? She replied “Well, yeah.” Like she was insulted. Michael stated “What do you think this is? Amateur hour?”

Oh!!! Did I mention that it was Sophie’s birthday dinner? 23.

Conveniently located in beautiful downtown Dudleytown, Indiana, you will find Meek’s Bar & Grill. (Formerly the Country Inn)

Meek’s is offering a similar menu with tenderloins, 🍔 burgers, wings, cheese balls and onion rings and fries. And thank goodness they kept the Quaff On! Strawberry 🍓 👱‍♀️ Blonde.

They also kept Sean, who does a great job taking care of customers and everything that goes with that.

The place has been closed for about a year since Luke’s Country Inn closed and sold to Meek’s. The crowds have been great this first week of reopening and hopefully that can have a good run.

The place to get a tenderloin in Crawfordsville is the Sunoco ⛽️ Gas Station!

This place is on Highway 231 in Crawfordsville. It has several tables if you want to enjoy the atmosphere of the convenience store while dining.

The sandwich is good on all levels!

If you would like a little history lesson while in Crawfordsville, you can visit the Lew Wallace Study. Major General Lew Wallace was a Civil War general and is the author of Ben Hur.

The ever clever Heidi gave Lawyer and Kiley passes to the Indianapolis Zoo for Christmas. So, Kiley and 4 guests get in for a year and we made our first visit son Sunday. (Heidi for sure wants to go on Halloween and Christmas)

We enjoyed the light crowd and saw all we wanted in two hours. The 🦜 macaw demonstration was the most impressive as they all flew in over the audience to a perch and they also flew away together as well.

Shapiro’s is only a mile and a half from the zoo.

While in Clarksville on my own I get to choose my lunch location all by myself. This was one darn good decision!

I had the two tender plate at medium heat (Ella’s Fav) and for dipping sauce I went with the Spiked 🍯 Honey along with 🧄 garlic Parmesan 🍟 fries. I felt obliged to have a sweet tea with this kind of southern themed dish.

I dined outside and watched the Notre Dame/Tennessee college baseball ⚾️ game and the heat on my chicken was outstanding! I had to wipe sweat from my forehead several times and the garlic Parm fries also had great flavor. This is a 👍 thumbs up from me.

A Saturday morning with no immediate responsibilities is the best! A Diet Dew on the deck watching hummingbirds allows me ample time to carefully plan breakfast.

With the house empty except for myself and the dogs, I perused the opportunities in the refrigerator and the winner is…(dramatic hesitation) Sausage, 🥑 avocado and cheddar omelette with hot 🥵 sauce.

Have you ever watched “The Field of Dreams?” At the end, Ray’s fantasy Dad from the past asks, “Is this heaven?” And Ray says “It’s Iowa.”

Well, let me tell you about heaven and 💕 love. If you research, you can find between 4 to 8 different kinds of love. According to Greek philosophy there are four kinds of love:

Eros: Romantic

Philia: affectionate that involves friendship and goodwill

Agape: selfless love that a person feels for strangers and humanity as a whole

Storge: love that parents and family feel amongst themselves

I love 🍎 apple dumplings 🥟. And for the people that make me 🍎 apple 🥟 dumplings, that could range from Eros, to Storge, to Philia, to Agape.

And if you are not sure, heaven and love is right here in Indiana. It is the Grassy Fork Field of Dreams wiffleball ball field and teaching at Lutheran Central, among other things. As well, it is my daily interaction with my students and colleagues from the member churches that make Lutheran Central School.

For this post, Rachel Klosterman exemplifies Philia. I love her as a colleague, friend, and maker of apple dumplings. She was my Secret Pal at Lutheran Central this past year and I love her for the effort she put forth.

As a Secret Pal reveal yesterday, she brought me this pan of apple dumplings. She got the recipe from her sister-in-law, Kelly; and she was a bit nervous about the product. So, Kelly, Karen, Grandma Benter, whoever has been passing this delicious dish (no real recipe, just throw things together) down through the generations, it is fantastic and I am the fortunate recipient, yet again, of what I think heaven might be like.

I can only hope that for the future of Jackson County that Lindsey, Jenna, and Mallory also get this skill and feel like carrying it forward for generations to come.

In conclusion, I love you and I appreciate you!

With school being out tomorrow, I feel very comfortable saying that.

It had been a long Track and Field Day at Lutheran Central. I followed my class around the football field all morning where some outstanding parents volunteered to make it a wonderful day for the students. Then I ended up being the All-Time pitcher at the softball field where I must have bended over 300 times to pick up a ball. Also, Kayti Adams and Sarah Burke were there and I am pretty sure that Sarah saved my life. I was whining about a drink of 💧 water and a moment later Kayti said, “You had better go see my sister.” Lo and behold, she presented me with a cold bottle of water. The kids were like baby birds with their mouth open as I shared an 🧊 ice cold drink with them. We are all eternally grateful.

Heidi and I came into town for dinner before Jude’s baseball game and tried Blake’s… Closed for vacation. We drove to Frankenburger…Closes at 7:00 and we were too late. We end up at Blondie’s and I wasn’t feeling pizza 🍕. Right about this time, the evening took a turn for the better.⬆️

My colleague, Suzanne Bolte, was working and first, she recommended a Hawaii Five Ale from the Destihl Brewing Company in Normal, Illinois.

It is a blonde ale with pineapple 🍍, 🍑 peach, 🥥 coconut, 🥭 mango and guava. Tasty!!!

After that, the Life-changing conversation of ordering the 🥗 salad that will from this time on be referred to as “The Suzanne” occurred.

It is their grilled chicken 🥗 salad; however, the chicken 🍗 is tossed around in a sweet chili 🌶 sauce that makes the dish. Add bacon 🥓, 🧀 cheese, croutons if you wish and Ranch dressing and it is “da 💣 bomb!”

I felt so good afterward because I came close to ordering the Bavarian pretzel 🥨 or a 🍕 pizza. Both are delicious there, I just didn’t want the gluten at this point.

Best t-shirt in the restaurant goes to Tim Robinson. It says, “ I like fishing and maybe three people.”

In conclusion, next time you dine at Blondie’s, ask for “The Suzanne!”

P.S. I won’t be satisfied until Mason Fleetwood puts this on the chalk board and orders new menus. 😂