BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

Our two German bikers spent the night at our house.

Their breakfast this morning was bacon, scrambled eggs 

and blueberry french toast casserole.

They loved the breakfast and very little of it was left.

Here's the recipe to make the casserole.

I wish now I had taken a picture of it before they dug in.

INGREDIENTS

1 (24-inch) loaf of French bread

6 large eggs

3 cups whole milk

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS

• Butter a 9 x 13 casserole.  Slice the french bread into 1-inch slices and place standing up in rows, then tilting the bread so they lay stacked at an angle.
• In a large bowl add the eggs, milk, vanilla, nutmeg, and brown sugar.  Whisk together until well blended.
• Pour over the bread slices and cover the casserole with plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate overnight and until the custard is completely absorbed.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Sprinkle the blueberries the next morning over and between the bread slices.  Drizzle the melted butter over the break.
• Place the casserole in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake 45-55 minutes.
• Watch carefully the last 10 minutes for over browning.

Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!

BROCCOLI SALAD

Our adventures from last week on the motorcycle in Tennessee

continues today and tomorrow.

Two "Over The Pond" riders are coming over

and having dinner with us and staying the night.

They are from Germany and so I prepared this salad

as one of the entrees for tonight's meal.

It is a very easy recipe that I'm sharing.

INGREDIENTS

1 head fresh broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vinegar

DIRECTIONS

• Combine the broccoli, sunflower seeds, onion, raisins, and bacon in a large bowl.
• Combine the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar in a small bowl.  Mix well.
• Pour over the salad and mix well.

MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE TO JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE - DAY FIVE

On this day, we got together with five other riders

and we headed out to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Boy it was beautiful.

I do have to be honest about something,

Jorge did scare me when he was making the turns

tight, fast, and leaning a lot.

I thought for sure we were going to go down.

Once I got my heart back in place, the ride was just fine.

By the time we got back to the hotel,

I was hot, tired and probably dehydrated.

 The lady riders of Kawasaki.

All of the riders that made it to the rally this year.

MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE TO JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE - DAY FOUR

So far, the weather has cooperated.

The plan for today is to go white water rafting.

Neither Jorge nor I have ever done that,

but we were ready for the adventure.

 A couple from COG donated this bike for a raffle.

The money donated is going to support two

European riders that are here traveling the United States.

Yes, I did buy a ticket.

If I do win it, I will have to ride it home.

Jorge couldn't take it anymore in having a dirty bike.

There was an area set apart from the hotel

where the bikers could wash their bikes.

 Our greeter at the white water rafting place.

 The crazy bunch.

 Our guide Wes.  He was awesome.

Neither Jorge nor I fell out of the raft.

One lady did sitting in the front.

  

 The guide from this raft went for a swim.

We finished the evening off with dinner at Tupelo Honey.

The restaurant opened the day before and

we went there on the recommendation from the

representative of the Chamber of Commerce.

She got it right!  The food was great!

MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE TO JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE - DAY THREE

 Lots of things to do.  Jorge went to a couple of workshops

and I went to one just for lady riders.

Even though I did not participate in the one for the 

lady riders because I didn't ride, I still learned a lot

and I'm hoping to implement that in my riding.

 This motorcycle is going to be given away.

Jorge is hoping that he is the winner.

 Abbe and I at the rally.

Both of us came to the same conclusion that we

have met before but we have no idea where.

We've come to the realization that we may not remember and that's okay.

 Met this young man at the rally.

He's a Navy Seal that was wounded by an IED.

Very nice young man.

I met the actor Perry King.

I didn't know that he rides bikes too.

He's very down to earth.

 The ladies that came to learn more about how to be better riders.

 This represents the hotel's definition of heavy hor d'oeuvres.

We all liked their definition.

I got to ride in this Russian made motorcycle called the Ural.

It's based on a 1930's BMW.  

It's like the ones that you see in WWII movies

that the Nazis rode.

It was fun!

MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE TO JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE - DAY TWO

Hello everyone.  I know that I'm behind in sharing
what we have been doing here in Tennessee.

It has been a tiring days.  By the time we get back to the hotel,

I'm too tired to think let alone write on the blog.

We've been having a lot of fun.

We continue to have our close calls with birds.

On our first day, two turkey vultures flew towards us.

Jorge was able to swerve and we were able to avoid them.

It was awesome seeing quilt barns.

Some I was able to photograph but others I wasn't able to.

We stopped for a quick look at this home.

It's located in Richmond, Kentucky.

Please follow the link to get more information

about this Civil War battle site.

Battle of Richmond, KY

 We meet Miss Lilly there.  One very happy dog.

Since we were on the road on Father's Day,

Jorge wanted to stop at a local restaurant.

We were in Harlan, Kentucky.  

We looked for one where there would be lots of cars.

We found it and the food was delicious.

The best dessert that he had was the two phone calls

from our sons, David and Chris.  

He was one very happy father.

 The scenery was beautiful

The quaintness of the small towns was wonderful.

Finally arrived to the hotel and we are greeted by many bikes.