Best Hamburger I've Ever Had

   You wouldn't expect a great hamburger from a place named "Wise Guys Pizza", but you would be wrong! I knew we would be making the trip to Cherokee, North Carolina, so I Googled "best hamburgers in Cherokee". My husband and I have a plan to find really good burgers in small towns in each state surrounding Tennessee(so 8 different states). W
   We arrived just after they opened, the only ones in the joint. Of course, this is a "tourist" town, and February is not "tourist season". The titulary pizza had not been made. We ordered burgers, the "100% Angus Burgers", advertised on the sign outside. I got a bacon cheeseburger, with only barbque sauce on it. The prices are better than most fast food chains. The burgers were HUGE compared to most fast food chains. And the taste...we were in burger Heaven! Hands on a Bible, this was the best tasting burger I have ever had in my life! Oh and the fries were pretty tasty as well.
   So if you ever find yourself in Cherokee, on the edge of the Smoky Mountains, looking for grub, please check out Wise Guys Pizza. They are located in the Tepee Village Shopping Center on Big Dove Road just off Acquoni Road-this is pretty much the first stop light on Newfound Gap Road as you come out of the Smokies into town.
   And sorry no photo of the food, that really isn't my 'thing'!

Foodie Friday: All Pumpkin, All The Time!

  I would like to start this post by stating that I am not a regular "foody" or "foodie" nor do I intend to post lots of food type entries. In fact, I am quite a picky eater, so unless you are looking for blog posts about food that absolutely stays away from onions, peppers, most other veggies, and pretty much anything but macaroni & cheese, then this is not the place for you. However, I love me some pumpkin! Today I am going to review some of the many pumpkin/pumpkin spice flavored items that I have come across since they started hitting the store shelves.

  Pictured above we have Entenmann's Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins, Entenmann's Pumpkin Donuts, Pop Tarts, Oreo, Little Debbie's Delights cookies, M&Ms, and Kisses. There will be more that are not pictured here. So let's get to the reviews!


Entenmann's Little Bits Muffins: Sweet small muffins, about 5 to a pouch. Very moist, just enough for a tasty snack.

Entenmann's Donuts: Cake donuts, more on the spice flavor side. Moist and delicious. I love these quite a bit, should probably buy up a bunch more before they are gone!

Pop Tarts: I know pop tarts aren't the greatest breakfast, but when in a rush I don't really care about nutrition. These are really good, good flavor and filling, I usually can't finish both in the pack.

Little Debbie's Delights: Heavy on the spice side, I can barely handle more than one at a time-and they aren't very big. But for those times I want a heavy shot of pumpkin spice, these do nicely.

Hershey Kisses: Creamy, melt in your mouth pumpkin goodness. Also on the sweet side so I rarely eat more than 1 or 2 at a time. Yummy, Kisses can almost do no wrong.

M&Ms: Well, I didn't get a chance to try these as they went into a care package for my Marine nephew who was just coming home from deployment. Haven't been able to find another package since then. I'm sure they are good, they are M&Ms!

Not pictured:

Planter's Pumpkin Spice Almonds: Not a huge fan of almonds, but I do like these. Heavy on the spice side, I can only chomp a few at a time, the kiddo LOVES them.

Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies: Melt in your mouth, so good. In fact the bottom few had pretty much melted together into a mass of cheesecake pumpkin-y goodness.

Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Milano: Sadly, this was the one pumpkin thing I found that I really hated. Honestly, to me they tasted like I was eating the bottom of a shoe. Ick.

Bigelow Pumpkin Spice Autumn Spice Tea: Seriously, why aren't these available all year round? Smooth tea with just a hint really, not overwhelming pumpkin flavor. Almost a cider. Yummy.

Pillsbury Grands Cinnabon Pumpkin Spice Rolls: Heaven for breakfast. Just like cinnamon buns should be-quite messy. But melt in your mouth goodness.

Pillsbury Toaster Strudels Pumpkin Pie: I'm not a huge fan of the "toaster strudel" concept, they seem to get too messy in the toaster and microwave just doesn't work. Still they are good, just not something I would go out of my way for, Pop Tarts are easier to deal with.

Yoplait Lite Pumpkin Pie Yogurt: Again, why can't these be available all year? I would eat yogurt like crazy if this was a choice all year! This and any chocolate flavors, of course. Creamy, not too sweet. Really good.

YoCrunch Pumpkin Pie with Pie Crust Topping: Not as good as the regular version. Way too tangy. I mean I will eat the others in the fridge, but these were not a fave.



 And that's it for now. I have some more pumpkin flavored baked items to make, waiting for time with the kiddo to do that. And I can't say I've tried the pumpkin beer, perhaps I should get hubby to get just one for my to try. I can't even imagine what that would taste like! And as ever, I will keep my eyes peeled at the store for more pumpkin goodness and gosh darnit why can't this all be available year round!!

Thirty Day Photography Project

 I've tried the 365 day projects-twice-but things keep coming up and I'm just not able to finish them. I admire those who can stick to taking unique photos every single day. I just don't get out enough, and I'm kind of sick of trying to look at stuff around my house in some different way.

 That said, I did come across a 30 day project( Take Better Photos in 30 Days) and thought I might try it for the month of October.

  As is typical for my photo projects, it is easier for me to actually take the photos each day, but I can't always upload each day's photo right away. I don't have a smart phone, don't have any mobile sort of way to access the internet, if I am out of town there is no way to get things posted in a timely manner. I can also, yes, be rather lazy and procrastinate.

  One other note, I really don't expect to be a better photographer after these 30 days are up. Maybe if someone actually looked at my photos and told me what I'm doing wrong, I might be able to learn from my mistakes. Otherwise I just keep making the same mistakes and taking the same crappy photos. And I would LOVE to "reward" myself at the end with a new camera(especially since the only camera I really use right now, my Canon XTi, is more than 6 years old and can't seem to focus for $hi*) but making big purchases is not in my control and I doubt we can afford to pop a thousand bucks(or more) for a new camera and lenses. I'll just have to keep on keepin on with the potato I currently use.

  Posting the first three photos here today, will post more later in the week(having Comcast issues today as well).

DAY #1 FOOD
  Candy Corn seemed the perfect way to open up the month of October.




DAY #2 SELFIE
 This is as selfie as I get. There shall be no photos taken of me, for I would probably break the camera.


DAY #3 SUNRISE
 It's tough to get a sunrise when it's cloudy and you are busy at that exact time trying to get a kid ready for school. Taken in the school's parking lot.

Pancakes

Breakfast with hubby on his birthday, May 9

Porky's BBQ

Snapped this one quickly while driving through Crossville recently. I wonder how their bbq tastes? Makes me hungry just thinking about it!