Back for another helping

Maybe I should be put out to pasture so I could nibble on one of these bales of hay dotting the Arkansas countryside. Instead, I'm headed back to France, throwing in a little bit of Germany and Wales for good measure.

I'll admit to procrastinating in both my blog and my attention to vendange preparation for these past two months. Without making too many excuses and with promises to update in a more timely manner, I continue my quest.

Mark and I embarked upon our latest journey yesterday morning, starting with an hour and a half drive to Fayetteville, Arkansas. We left home in plenty of time to allow for a hearty breakfast at a small diner outside of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. In addition to their "heapin helping of hospitality", we received plates so full of food that the table nearly groaned under their pressure.

I looked for something on the menu that excluded things like sausage, bacon, sugar, white processed flour, excess fats, etc..... a task about as easy as avoiding an Elvis impersonator while in Vegas. I settled on a "skillet" breakfast which consisted of hashbrowns scrambled with mushrooms, green pepper and onions, then topped with a couple of eggs (over easy). What I didn't count on was the shredded cheese covering the top and the four slices of white toast that lined the plate's edge.

Most of it was a easy fix, I tried to eat "around" the excess cheese, ate only half of the hashbrowns, just one egg and avoided the white bread completely. Even so, I still felt like one of the overstuffed chickens which decorated every nook and cranny of this country diner. It was tasty, but then again, it's fat which give the food its flavor.

I've discovered that it's nearly impossible to eat out successfully without completely dismantling one's meal in a most inconvenient manner. Consequently, we don't eat out very often.

We made good time to Charlotte and had only a short layover before our A330 took off for France, the land of crepes, cheese and wine.....all of which are destined, once more, to derail my good intentions.