Speaking of Kentucky this photo is of the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Kentucky. We stayed there on a roadtrip to North Carolina in September of 2021.
Time for this weeks questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Jo!
1. Did you watch the Kentucky Derby this past weekend? No
Have you ever been to a horse race? No
Ever ridden a horse? Did you enjoy it?
I just barely remember riding a horse once in my early adult years and it was intimidating.
Have you ever been to Kentucky?
Yes, in 2021 on our road trip to a wedding in North Carolina we drove through Kentucky making stops in Louisville, Shelbyville, Williamstown for The Ark Encounter and on our way out we stayed in Berea at the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel on a college campus.
Do you like Bourbon?
The bourbon aficionado in the family is Dear and he enjoys it in all it’s forms. Straight or on the rocks or an Old Fashioned, a Black Manhattan, or with a touch of Amaretto. He is not a big fan of the mint julep.
While we were in Kentucky we did schedule one tour at the Bulleit Distillery and enjoyed it and we got the best recommendation for barbecue at the Red State Barbecue in Lexington.
2. What’s something you wish you’d placed in a time capsule fifteen years ago?
My very first little white flip phone that was kind of smart.
3. Are you adventurous? Elaborate.
I am adventurous with conditions. Although I’ve managed to get around on my own in Milan, Italy, while Greg was there for business, foreign countries that are not English speaking are not in my comfort zone. When and if we are able to travel for pleasure, we will always choose the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S.A. I can comfortably travel to places I’ve never been to before in those countries.
I can be adventurous in the kitchen with trying new things.
Truth be told, the older I get the less adventurous I’m becoming.
4. Something you want to make this year? It can be a new recipe, craft, diy project, a milestone you’ve set for yourself…anything at all.
I’d like to make more of our Russian heritage recipes and pass them along to the next generation.
5. Cinco de Mayo was also celebrated this past weekend…do you like Mexican food? If so what’s your favorite dish?
Mexican food is comfort food for me. I have lots of favorites starting with good salsa. I enjoy street tacos, burritos, chimichangas, carne asada, chile colorado, and other dishes. My favorite is whatever I’m in the mood for that day.
Have you ever been to Mexico?
Yes. I’ve only been to Tijuana and Tecate along the border with the U.S.A. and there is a long story as to why and what we did there.
Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles we enjoyed Mexican culture and friendships. My elementary school celebrated Mexican cultural days and one of our field trips was to Olvera Street. I can also remember the smell of pinto beans being cooked on the burner in our Mexican neighbor’s kitchen.
Olvera Street, commonly known by its Spanish name Calle Olvera, is a historic pedestrian street in El Pueblo de Los Ángeles, the historic center of Los Angeles.
In California we studied the California Missions in fourth grade. The elementary school that our sons attended in Ventura, California was named after Father Junipero Serra. He is credited with being the founder of the California missions.
Margarita-yes or no?
On the rocks, no salt, please.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I’m slowly going through my blog posts and weeding out photos so that I can to get down below my photo limit. OYE! If that wasn’t enough, now my blogroll on my sidebar has disappeared from view. I get a failed to load plug-ins message. This is very inconvenient and takes a lot of time to try to remedy.
Hope all is well in your corners!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Did you watch the Kentucky Derby this past weekend? No
Have you ever been to a horse race? No
Ever ridden a horse? Did you enjoy it? No
Have you ever been to Kentucky? No
Do you like Bourbon? No
Have a good one.
5 out of 5… :)
Hello, Ellen
I enjoyed reading your answers. My only visit to Kentucky was to see the Mammoth Cave, that was an adventure. Take care, have a wonderful day!
Anything technical that goes awry gives me the hives lol. What is a Black Manhattan? Hubs likes an Old Fashioned, but also sometimes a Manhattan. We’ve never heard of a Black Manhattan and I’m curious. Have a great day!
Joyce, Greg will give me an answer for you. Black Manhattan- 2 ounces of Rye or Bourbon, 2/3 of an ounce of averna (an amaro), 1 dash of angostura bitters, 1 dash of orange bitters, a cocktail cherry to garnish, optional a lemon or orange twist. The black Manhattan subs out the sweet vermouth and adds the amaro averna instead. 🙂 Come on over and he’ll make one for your hubby.
I think Mexican is my comfort food too. I know a lot of people pick things like pasta but I’d rather have a plate of enchiladas over spaghetti any day!
I love Mexican food too and in fact, we’re planning to go to a Mexican Restaurant with him mom this weekend. I hope you get your picture thing worked out soon. I remember having that problem come up several years ago and I cannot remember how I eventually fixed it. I know I didn’t pay to have more, but I can’t remember what I did do.
My hubby LOVES bourbon, too. I love Mexican food, too, and margaritas! I enjoyed your answers today!
Hi, I enjoyed your memories of Mexico. I love learning about other bloggers, I learn so much about our country and world reading my blogging friends. 🙂
I laughed about the flip phone… I should have saved mine as well.
Love, Carla
Exploring your Russian heritage through cooking sounds interesting.
Nice and interesting answers, Ellen. I always find the ‘hop and off” buses helped me when I traveled to foreign lands on my own as as they always had English speaking bus tours.
Growing up in NYC we hardly ever saw Mexican food and I did not know an enchilada from a quesadilla until moving to Colorado–now I love to prepare both!
So sorry about the blog troubles! It can be frustrating these days as technology gets more complicated to make our life “easier” lol
Hop on Hop Off buses are such a great resource! It is interesting how it took so long for the Mexican cuisine to head all the way east! I do hope to resolve the blog issues. It just takes too much time. Happy May and happy day to you!
I enjoyed learning a bit more about some of your travels in this blog post, Ellen…especially those regarding Mexico. Our daughter and son-in-law were missionaries in Mexico City and I visited them twice…once with my husband and son and once solo. I feel the same way about Mexican food…it’s comfort food…and our daughter became an excellent Mexican cook as a result of living there.
My mom was born in Louisville though traveled as a young woman to the PNW (Spokane) where she met my dad. (She was a lab technician at Sacred Heart Hospital there.) She took us to visit family when I was way too little too have any real memory of it. But when Bill and I RVd there many many years later it instantly became one of my favorite ever places – and one where I inexplicably felt at home! … we’ve been lucky enough to do some travel on our own during the past few years to non-English-speaking countries and we did OK. We’d been very hesitant about that for a long time. Sallie
Sorry about the issues with your computer. I did enjoy reading your answers to Joyce’s questions this week. Until you answered the question about being adventurous I never thought about the fact that I did the same thing. I went with Mark to Europe on his business trip and I went touring all over London by myself. We were gone for 3 weeks.
Cheers to your adventurous life!
I enjoyed your answers. I have wanted to make more ethnic recipes. My moms family was italian and my dads is slovak
Per your “random thought” . . . ugh! Tech issues are so challenging and so very hard to overcome (for me, at least). Hope you’re able to be victorious!