Roll Tide

I have 2 things to write about today. And the first is how pumped up I am for this coming weekend. It's our first gameday in Tuscaloosa, and we've been phoning and emailing with all our tailgate crew to get ready for the big day.

This past Saturday, the Tide rolled over VA Tech in Atlanta! As I told you a while back, I sold my tickets this year and watched the game at home with friends.

Friday afternoon, I was just sick over my decision. I just couldn't believe I had actually thought to do such a thing. What kind of a fan am I?

Then Saturday morning, I got up to a rainy day. Clouds and rain were doing nothing to boost my spirits. I turned on ESPN Gameday and then turned it off. I couldn't watch it.

So I loaded up Hershey and we went over to Chris and Jessica's to help them with a landscape project they were working on. Jessica's parents were here from Pelham to help, and they actually had very little left to do when Hershey and I arrived. It poured down rain at one point, and we had to move under the porch for a bit, but after about 2 hours, their back yard was finished. I took a couple of pictures with my phone. I'm sure they won't mind me sharing.






The area with all the rocks was an area where the water just poured through their back yard. So Chris built a "dry creek bed" for the water to flow through. Since it was constantly raining, we all got to see that it works as planned. They did a great job, and quite frankly, I am now wanting to do the same in the bottom part of our yard where the rainwater flows from the neighbors yard on its way to the creek out back.

About 4pm, Adam go to the house and we started watching the Georgia game. Then our friends, Libby and Megan, from Birmingham arrived. Then Jack & Leigh Kennedy with their new little girl, Emma. (Emma only stayed about 30 minutes since she has only been home from the hospital a week. Then Leigh's mom came and took her back home.) Then Chris and Jessica, and Katie and Aidan and Ethan all arrived.

I'm sorry, but I forgot to take pictures. I'm not sure all of the food would have fit in a picture anyway. I had lost about 20 pounds until Saturday, and I'm sure over the past couple of days, I have put 5 of them back on.

We ate and drank and cheered on the Tide (and Auburn, too). And it was a great night for the Tide and the Tigers both. We have such great friends, and I didn't regret my decision to stay in town one bit! It was an awesome night!

I made something new that our friend, Debbie Watson, makes. It's a cheese ring with strawberry preserves. Oh my gosh, it was so good. I told several people Saturday night that I would share the recipe, and most of them read this, so I'll share with all of ya'll. Here goes....

Cheese Ring

1 pound of finely shredded cheddar (sharp and mild mixed)
2 cups of mayo
1 package of cooked bacon pieces
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 or 4 finely chopped green onions
strawberry preserves

Mix everything except the preserves together in a bowl.

Then pour into a round mold. (I didn't have a round mold, so I used a flat round pyrex dish, lined it with plastic wrap, and put a small round dish in the middle to leave a hole.)

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

When you get ready to serve, turn the whole thing over onto a plate, or cake server, or whatever you want. Then remove the mold and the plastic wrap.

Fill the center with the preserves and spread preserves over the entire top of the cheese mold.

We served ours with Sociables and Wheat Thins and it was good with both.

Note: I do have a fish mold, but Heather told me that the preserves would make it look like a bloody fish, and I didn't think that would be too appetizing.

I may do this again for the tailgate this weekend.

Roll Tide! Ya'll have a great week!