The King and I

It was to the strains of the Paul Simon song of the same name that our mother found out we were taking her to Graceland. I had been stupefied to learn that she had never been, and when my sister called to say she had made all the arrangements, it was on like a pot of neckbones.
Mom and I made the 3 hour trip to my sister's and we were on our way the next day before we finally caved in and told her the destination. I've never seen her so happy. Beale street was excellent as always, with big ups to BB King's Ribs. I showed mom around the Hard Rock Cafe, and we caught a couple of Elvi in the clubs. Graceland wore us out, but it was a good tired. My favorite line of the weekend: What happens in Vegas started in Graceland.

Thursday, back home in Minden after attending a seminar at my workplace, I got in the cooking mood. Graceland was still fresh in my memory, so I tuned in to the Elvis channel on satellite radio, which is wired all the way into the kitchen, and got cooking. While Elvis sang a live version of Hound Dog, I stirred up some shrimp dip, to go with Fritos and the turkey, pepper jack cheese and avocado sandwich I would have for supper. Once I got that in the fridge I moved on to the fun part. Suspicious Minds led me into the cream cheese mixture of my Marvelous Marbled Cream Cheese Chocolate Muffins. I was cracking eggs into the chocolate portion when If I Can Dream came on, and pouring the mixture into muffin tins to Hunka Burnin Love. I began to swirl the cream cheese mixture into the muffin batter, but had to pause long enough to pay homage to my God and Country when Mr Presley began to croon American Trilogy. Into the oven to bake, and that's how the King and I made muffins.

I must now take a moment to give tribute to Wayman Tisdale, a great contemporary jazz musician whose untimely death has shocked and saddened me. If you haven't heard his version of Kool and the Gang's Get Down On It, you are missing a real treat, and I dare you to remain seated while it plays. My heart goes out to his family, and I hope I can speak for my fellow jazz junkies when I say he will be greatly missed. I for one will miss the thrill of listening to new music from this talented guitarist.

Onward and upward, I am about to grind some fresh pork sausage, and this weekend, I will attempt to recreate BB's ribs. (Thanks for the recipe, Donita!)

I'll post again to report my success (I hope!)