Epically Southern! Fried Green Tomatoes

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The one thing I don't have to worry about moving down South are veggies.  My mommy-in-law drove up here last week with a cooler full of frozen veggies and all sorts of other fresh veggies.  We won't have one problem with organic veggies.  

I have a basket of green tomatoes and didn't want them to go bad so we had some fried green tomatoes with dinner tonight.  Tomorrow I'm going to make green tomato salsa.  GO ME!

The only thing I was missing was, of course, buttermilk.  I don't keep milk in the house because we don't drink it so I always keep organic dry milk on hand.  Just add water and MILK!

 

To make the fried green tomatoes I needed buttermilk so I had to add a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes to thicken.  Excellent buttermilk substitute!  Whip a couple of eggs up in that, soak tomato slices and then dredge in flour and cornmeal mixture that has been seasoned.  Fry on one side until browned and turn over.  

Drain and enjoy!

Do you eat fried green tomatoes?  Do you ever make them?

THOUGHTS? - "I'm Not Gay No More!"

A man is "delivered" from homosexuality during the annual COGIC Convocation in St. Louis, Missouri. He says "I'm not gay no more. I am delivered. I don't like menz no more. I said I like women." Thoughts? Follow me: @DevlinHuxtable

So...the above video has been making the rounds on social media.  When I first saw it...it was spliced in with a comedian's reaction and I laughed.  Bless his poor little heart was my thought and then I kept it moving.

Later on, I started noticing honest and frank discussions about the young man's obvious desire to no longer be gay.  I mean...he seems to MEAN that when he grabs that mic and starts his testimony.  One of the conversations I noted brought into question something I hadn't thought about.  I mean...I have, what I consider, pretty basic views on being gay.  Either you are or you aren't.  I don't believe it's something one chooses.  Of course there are certain situations that could gray this thought process such as a child being molested by someone of the same sex prior to them being ready to explore their natural sexuality and i'm sure there are some quacks out there who, for whatever reason, decided to try it just as one would try drugs.  Just to see what the fuss is all about.  HOWEVER...fundamentally I believe that you can't STOP being gay.  

“Seems like everyone has an opinion in regards to the young man that made the “controversial” statement, at the COGIC Convocation, that he was no longer gay and had been delivered.
(This post isn’t to argue the point of the possibility of him changing his sexual orientation, because ultimately I don’t give a hoot of what anyone’s opinion is in regards to that. )
The question that I’d like to pose is where does society’s double standard come from? If a man, or woman, makes the decision that they no longer want to engage in homosexual activities and instead would like to pursue a heterosexual lifestyle, the majority of people are up in arms, shocked and appalled. Saddened because this person has decided to “stifle” who they really are. However, on the flip side, if a man or woman who has an established heterosexual lifestyle [spouse, kids, etc.] decides that all along they have lived a life that was not the “real” them, and make the decision to pursue a homosexual lifestyle, they are supported and congratulated by the majority of people for “having the courage to be themselves”. Why is that? Why not offer support on both sides?
‪#‎FOH‬ ‪#‎AllOfYallAreFickle‬ ‪#‎ThisTheKindaStuffThatPissesMeOff‬”

That status update sparked this conversation and it was very interesting to note what the people who supported this line of thinking said.  Basically they just church pulpit-ed it.  

"PREACH!"

"THEY AIN'T READY!"

"DO YOU BOO!"

And well...I thought about their responses too which came from, apparently, very religious people who want the best for anyone who no longer wants to be gay.  

I have issues with religion and sexuality.  I feel like all the gay Catholic boys back in the day were forced into the church to change their "heathen" ways against God.  Because they were forced to deny who they were...they hid it but couldn't stop their natural desires.  Those natural desires started manifesting in trying to get those desires satisfied in the most secret way possible.  By manipulating and sexually abusing children entrusted into their care in the guise of making them good shepherds.  

Had those priests not been forced to deny who they were...would they have been able to manipulate those they manipulated using God's forgiveness as their bandaid?  Would they have simply grown up and met a man they could love and who could love them without shame?

I guess we'll never know.

I also have a problem with not wanting to be gay and then getting married to a woman, having a family, etc.  I know of two instances where this went way wrong and the wives and children were destroyed when it all went down the way these things tend to go down.  Is that fair?  

I guess my question is partly what the above status update touched on...would people who no longer want to be gay be successful at it if they had the support of those around them to no longer be gay?  Are we "fickle" if we don't believe it's possible?

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We Finally Found the BEST Digital Antenna and Cut the Cable Cord!

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“It should be noted that we would have probably never taken the leap had we not moved. Just keeping it real.”

The Robinator and I moved into our temporary digs and only set up the internet.  We decided that we'd finally, FINALLY cut the cord to cable!  I was excited because paying for a crapload of channels we don't watch really irked me greatly so I've been wanting to do this for over two years now.  Robby, on the other hand, found it difficult to let go of his total access to all sports all the time.  Because of this, I didn't think he'd ever go for it even though month-after-month paying that $250 Verizon Fios bill really annoyed him too.

But pay it we did.

We only have two televisions with us.  One in the living room and one in our bedroom.  

The one in the living room is a smart tv so it already had apps set up we could use when connected to the internet.  The bedroom tv isn't a smart tv so we use our Chromecast to watch television on it for now.  I'm going to buy an antenna for it too since I now know the best one to get.

The apps we use on our living room television are Netflix, HuluPlus, CNBC, Time, USA Today, BBC News, and Pandora.  We have more but those are the ones we use mostly.  

Now...the problem was network television and well...I need my "Scandal."  I could watch "Blackish" the next day, but I enjoy watching Olivia Pope while interacting online with our awesome group!  GO US!  So...I tried 4 different digital antennas to see which one would get ALL the DTV network channels available.  Seriously...I kept buying and returning them.  One I got 0 channels.  Seriously.  Nada.  LOL!  The next one, I got 6 channels but not ABC.  The next I got 7 channels but not CBS (I love CBS Sunday Morning.) and the next one, after scouring the internets for advice and reviews, I got 26 channels!  TWENTY SIX!  And that includes all the major networks and a whole lot of other channels I've heard of and some local ones I've never heard of.  I'm currently sitting here watching Shanti Lowry on the Bounce TV station.  GO SHANTI!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She's my favorite.  LOL!

The antenna is pretty cool in that it's super thin.  The cord is really long so you can play around with placing it properly to get the best reception.  Apparently you can paint over it so that it can blend in with the wall but I don't want to do that.  I hate the cord and am trying to hide it as much as possible but hey...I can only do so much now.  I'm considering moving it behind the mirror above the mantle so we can't see it but I'd still have to deal with the cord issue.  Needless to say...this battle might not be won.  I'm hoping that once I finish decorating the wall behind the television and the mantle...it will be much less obvious.

We are EXTREMELY happy with our decision to finally not be cable's witch with a b.  I was soooooooooooooo sick of cable and the stuff on cable that it annoyed me beyond reason.  With all of the streaming options we have plus the new one we pre-ordered and are waiting for:

All total we've spent about $120 plus monthly fees for Netflix and HuluPlus which come to about $16 a month.  And honestly...we would have those even if we have cable because we enjoy bing watching shows together on the sofa.  I was going to get rid of Amazon Prime but I can't now since I'll be using Amazon Prime Pantry and Subscriptions for shopping more than ever now because of my current local limited shopping options.  So yeah...would have had that anyway too.  No matter what I'm spending however...it's less than even one month of what I was paying Verizon Fios (it should be noted that we had a bundle, internet, phone and all the premium channels except the nekkid ones).

Let me know if you try out that antennae.  It's seriously a case of I tried 4 so you don't have to.  LOL!  Hope it helps you kick the cable habit too!

Smooches!

Scenario from Real Life...

You didn't have a relationship with your father.

You've learned from other people in your family that he treated your mother very badly before he left yall.

Your mother has never said a bad word about him simply saying that they couldn't work it out.

You've since met him and decided that you dodged a bullet by home not being involved in your life growing up.

You are now in your 40's.

You have a family, a good career and you're happy.

If you found out today that you had a half sibling...would it be important to you to get to know them?