Cheesy Bacon 🥓 Potatoes 🥔 on the Baking Stone

Slice potatoes 🥔 , top with shredded 🧀 cheese and 🥓 bacon. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

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.

🐓 Chicken thighs smoked on indirect heat in a pan on the grill with 🧈 butter.

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

That might be two dollops of sour cream.

A Slice of Heaven Cake

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.

Look 👀 at this huge price of heaven!
Yes! Another piece of heaven.

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? 🐷 🐷 🐷

Rusted Silo BBQ

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!

Ribs and Texas toast. Scrumptious!
Crazy good Mac and cheese. Outstanding and usually topped with goldfish crackers.(sorry about the shadow, I had bbq sauce on my fingers and it was really bright)
Brisket

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.

Bourbon pecan pie
Indiana’s state 🥧 pie: Sugar Cream. Almost as good as what Heidi makes.

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.

Zwanzigz Calzone

Sausage, pepperoni and 🍄 Mushroom Calzone

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.

Raspberry Lemonade Shandy

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

Twisted Crew Growler

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.

Strawberry 🍓 Cake and Homemade Ice Cream

Good Stuff!

A Wintin summer birthday tradition dating back to the 70s is homemade ice cream on your birthday. For Rae’s Golden Birthday 🎂 (When your age and birth date are the same: 31 on the 31st) Heidi made a strawberry 🍓 cake and we teamed up on the homemade ice cream.

It was a strawberry cake mix and fresh strawberries topped with Cool Whip.

Molly and Rick Hess

The Stahls do the Sassy Bass

After five days on the gulf coast Mendy wanted to reproduce her dinner at the Sassy Bass restaurant out on Fort Morgan Road. Baked 🦪 oysters, cheesy potatoes 🥔, sweet 🌶 chili fish on the grill, jalapeño hush puppies and corn muffins.

The combination.
Corn muffins.
Garlic butter, 🧀 cheese and bacon 🥓 baked 🦪 oysters.
The Brucewacker!!!
Street 🌽 corn.
Sweet chili 🌶 grilled tilapia.

The flavor was incredible considering I was in Grassy Fork Township, Indiana. You could have served me this plate in Gulf Shores, Alabama and I would have believed it came from there.

The Flora-Bama

You know how they ask the winning Super Bowl quarterback what he is going to do now and he says “I’m going to Disney World!”? If they ever asked me I would say “I’m going to the Flora-Bama!” It is famous for being a dive bar on the beach 🏖 on the Florida-Alabama state line. It is mentioned in John Grisham’s book “The Firm” and Kenny Chesney has shot a popular video their titled “Flora-Bama.”

It usually has live music 🎶 in three different locations. Today, Rae and I listen to some talented musicians in the tent while you could go to the beach or the Bama Dome to listen as well. On the Bama Dome there are two ropes crisscrossing the room with women’s brassieres hanging from them. My farmer friend Bruce asked if they were still there and I replied “I didn’t even notice.” To his his chagrin he said “Oh Walter, you can’t go anywhere without me, can you?”

We enjoyed a local frozen drink called a Bushwacker. My farmer friend Bruce has a version called the “Brucewacker.”

As for cuisine, in honor of my friend Bruce who is a farmer and could not make the trip, I ordered the Oyster Sampler which included Cajun, Butter Parmesan and McClellan Baked Oysters.

I enjoy everything about this place. Beach access and view, live talented musicians, fresh seafood from the gulf. They even have a Sunday morning church service when there isn’t a world-wide pandemic.

View from the bar.

Families are welcome until 5:30 p.m. when they start charging a cover to get in. However, the music is available throughout the day. But hey, the moral of this story is don’t go without your friend Bruce, who is a farmer.

The Gift Horse: Foley, Alabama

“Slap the dog and spit in the fire, people!” The Gift Horse restaurant in downtown Foley is an incredible experience in southern cuisine. Along with the antique shops it takes up nearly the whole block. This building had at one time been a skating rink as well as the USO and American Legion and it features a 28 foot long banquet table. Whoa. That’s a big one.

Rae and I were the first customers in one of the antique stores and the guy gave Rae a free dinner for her birthday 🎂 on the 31st. What am I supposed to do? I had an awesome lunch. That’s what.

Restaurant entrance
28 foot long banquet table
Lightly fried fish and praline sweet potatoes 🍠
Shrimp bisque 🍤 YeeHaw!!!

Cheesy grits

Huge banquet hall
🍋 Lemon meringue and Key Lime Pies!!!

The Key Lime was the best I have ever had! Super sweet graham cracker crust. Great flavor.

This may sound crazy, but this southern dish is apples and cheese. Don’t turn up your nose until you try it.

The southern fried chicken, chicken and dumplings and the atmosphere was outstanding.

If you need a break from the beach like we did, hit up the Gift Horse for some southern culture.

The Original Oyster House 🦪

The Original Oyster House 🦪 in Gulf Shores, Alabama is the restaurant that we visit every time we vacation in the Red Neck Riviera. It has been delicious every time. My parents introduced me to The Oyster House back in the 90s and Mom likes to tell the story of when she asked for a window seat. (The restaurant is on a bayou.) They seated them at a window seat overlooking the parking lot.

Mendy’s Bushwacker
Fair hope Brewery with “I Drink, Therefore I Amber.”
A bit hoppy, but a cool name.
Fried Oysters, Fried 🍤 Shrimp, Bourbon Glazed catch of the day.
Butter Pecan Mahi Mahi