Moonshine

Last night I had my first shot of moonshine...and possibly my last, but it was fun. This is how it came about. At the end of my day and work, Doris called and asked if I wanted to go to Happy Hour at the Irish pub in town, who could resist. These happy hour get-togethers were started by Dirk, the head of the Math dept at EKU. He's German and married to Cat (Catherine) who is a wonderful abstract artist. We got to the pub where I met Dirk who gave me a big hug, Fred and Carol who know the people whose house we are buying and told me it was quite blessed, Herb who I wish I could have talked to more but he was on the other side of the table, and Doug who is the President of EKU and patted me on the back as he left.

After a Guinness, which was almost as good as in Ireland, we went to Dirk's to meet up with Cat, eat a little dinner. Dirk asked if I had ever tasted moonshine and when I replied in the negative, he pulled a quart sized canning jar out of the freezer about half full of a clear liquid. He explained that a friend's father had given it to him on the understanding that he would treat it like medicine - that is drink it sparingly. Doris, Dirk and I each had a shot. It was just like the Scotch whiskey I had this summer at the Celtic Festival that hadn't yet been put into barrels to age. Strong enough to water your eyes and put hair on your chest. I guess that's why they call it white lightning.

After we head out to the Arlington for the Jazz Soiree that is the kickoff for First Friday events run by the EKU diversity office. The jazz was wonderful as is the Arlington, an antebellum mansion converted into a country club and golf course. There I met more EKU professors, including Steve who just came back from a Fulbright in Ireland! He kissed me on the cheek as we shook hands - a southern thing??? Anyway, his office is around the corner from mine and we are definitely going to talk about how to get a Fulbright in Ireland or maybe Scotland.

Finally we went to Hall's On The River, which I am told is the oldest restaurant/bar on the Kentucky river. We went there because Dirk and Gregory went to play country blue grass with this musician there. Dirk played the fiddle and Gregory played a special kind of guitar called a dobrough. Hall's is literally right on the river. At times it has been completely flooded. You can eat out on the back porch and look at the fish swimming by. Okay - so Doris will kill me for saying this...but you know the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, when you first take off from the dock and settle into that cool river ride, the noise of the insects and frogs, the dark water, the huge trees - it was just like that except it's too late in the year for the fireflies. I can't wait to go back next year in June. So now you can picture it. I had a piece of Kentucky Derby pie, even though I shouldn't have - hey I've started working out again. Kentucky Derby pie is wonderful - here's a recipe I found online.

INGREDIENTS:

Single pie crust

Filling:

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
2 tablespoons Kentucky Bourbon

Beat eggs with cooled butter. Add flour & sugar. Beat until mixed well. Stir in pecans, chocolate & bourbon. Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes, or until set. Serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or both!

Mine had both the ice cream and whipped cream with fudge sauce and pecans drizzled on top. And my blood sugar was on 150 when I got home.

I am LOVING my Kentucky life.