To celebrate Heidi’s birthday 🎂 we meandered through the 🌽 cornfields of Washington County to First Miracle Winery. Amid Amish country, this gem is nestled into the the rolling hills and 🌽.

As soon as we enter we meet our tour guide, Andy. The place is furnished with several Amish made tables and chairs made from milk jugs and stainless steel. They will last forever and are very sturdy and comfortable.

We had originally planned on eating back in Salem until we saw and smelled the food they were serving.

They get their 🥖 bread and cheese 🧀 from an Amish bakery down the road. I am going back just to shop at the bakery.

This Sunday, July 26 they will have live music 🎼 with Justin Underwood. On Saturday July 25 they are hosting a tasting titled “Washington County Wine Walk…If you can.”

Andy was a wonder host and I learned so much from the tasting. The significant point is that First Miracle does not add anything to their wines. They are naturally aged and fermented and the taste is fresh and clean!

Heidi nailed the mini zucchini pizzas tonight!

The zucchini, green beans and potatoes were all from local gardens and the “Fresh” factor put these dishes over the top.

I personally believe that smoked sausage is an under rated meat. I enjoy it on the grill, however, in this combo the only challenge is getting the right amount. You see, the perfect forkful has all three ingredients; Beans, sausage and potato. Furthermore, I have to have a bite of sausage in every bite in order to be 😃 happy. This combination a full meal in one dish. That gives it “Classic” status! Just so you know.

The zucchini came courtesy of the Scarletts. Heidi simply sliced it up, added pizza sauce and mozzarella and baked it up.

I spent most of my life living in town and only eating what came from the grocery store. Now it doesn’t take a genius to know that the smartest thing I ever did was marry Heidi Hackman. What you didn’t know was just how much better she made all facets of my life. Especially my appetite.

For a guy that often critiques tenderloins, the River House is for sure an up scale seafood establishment on the the Ohio River.

We sat outside and enjoyed live music coming from the King Fish next door.

Our knowledgeable waitress humorously compared King Fish to Long John Silvers.

The atmosphere was very nice and then the food arrived and trumped it up a notch.

The Brie was amazing!!!

The waitress kept referring to “Chef” and how he gets fresh seafood flown in. Bruce and Mendy had seen him on WDRB news recently. We watched Barges go up and down the river as we dined. It was relaxing and delicious!

We had a sausage, pepperoni and 🍄 mushroom. Big chunks of sausage made the pizza for me.

It has a wonderful thin crust and plenty of toppings. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and the Honey 🍯 Blonde Ale it quite refreshing and worthy of your attention.

Actually, they are called “cronuts” because they are a combination of 🍩 donuts and 🥐 croissants. And , they are incredible!!! You can find Parlor Donuts 🍩 in Newburgh and Evansville.

They are crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. The flavor is out of this world!

The Catfish Kitchen in Benton, Kentucky has justifiably been featured in Southern Living magazine. Now it’s on Walt’s Diner. I wonder which they are more proud of?

While visiting Kentucky Lake with my college friend Jon Tilmon, we had a hankering for some catfish.

The sides were stand alone delicious. Jon had been whining about wanting some white beans all day and they delivered! And now I’m stuck in the car with for the next two hours.

The hush puppies were uniquely shaped and perfectly fried. I was living on the edge and crumbled them into my beans.

Because we were so stuffed, we got a blackberry and a peach cobbler to go.

Add sour cream and whatever toppings you desire and this is something pretty darn good.

Tonight we also had chicken thighs marinated in Italian dressing.

The 🐔 chicken is incredibly tender and the potatoes 🥔 are a meal in itself.

Nina Hackman scores once again!!! You might think she just sits around all day in the swivel rocking chair all day that I gave her and critique the spacing of my flower pots, but no, this lady can make a serious meal on Sunday evening. (In her defense, the chair faces my house and the pot was a good foot and a half off.) Just check out Heidi’s plate with ham, Mac and cheese, green beans and orange fluff. The steam was pouring off this incredible plate.

Just so you know, take a bit of Mac and cheese and then fork a piece of ham and eat it together. It is a delectable combination!!! Down home green beans and the 🍊 orange fluff round out the plate.

Then comes the A Slice of Heaven Cake. It includes a chocolate cake mix, sweetened condensed milk, whipped cream and wait for it…. diced Snickers bars.

Why two individual pictures? You guessed it. That’s how many pieces I had. Big pieces at that. When Sophie got her slice of heaven, she stated, Why is it half gone? 🐷 🐷 🐷

You know you have hit BBQ pay dirt as soon as you pull into the parking lot and smell the 💨 smoke. The Rusted Silo is in Lizton, Indiana (411 N. State Street) and is run by a former Disney Chef that wanted to run his own business, according to our waitress.

They also have an extensive beer menu that I was impressed with.

As well, it is located along a 🛤 railroad track and one charged passed as we were dining outside at the picnic tables.

I had the ribs with an astounding version of macaroni and cheese. They use five cheeses 🧀 and I could identify the Parmesan. Really good!

Lawyer has the brisket and it was incredibly tender and 😋 tasty.

Heidi has the Bourbon pecan pie and I had the sugar cream and we were both happy.

The awesome waitress also brought me bottle caps outside after I told her I am collecting them for a table top. Check out Rusted Silo BBQ when you are in west central Indiana. They do not disappoint.

The sausage, pepperoni and mushroom calzone is The 💣 Bomb!!! My toppings , baked and then brushed with garlic butter. I ate it like a sandwich. outstanding!!!

Heidi had a pizza. 🍕

They had a new beverage I wanted to try, Raspberry Lemonade Shandy.

Turns out, it is delicious on a warm summer evening.

I took my old Twisted Crew Growler ( an old Seymour brewery) and they filled it for $9. Get this though, they will fill them in Tuesdays for $6. I am currently looking for a reason to go to Columbus next Tuesday.