Put A Little South In Your Mouth

Hey ya’ll!  Yeah that is something I would normally say, but today it’s in honor of my girl, Miss Paula Deen!  The fam and I just returned home from a couple of days celebrating my mother-in-law’s birthday in Tunica, MS.  At Harrah’s, Paula Deen has a restaurant, casino-style of course…A BUFFET!  Can you imagine anything more dangerous that an all-you-can-eat buffet Paula Deen-style?!  Uh, no…me either!  ;-)  And let me tell you, I WAY overdid it.  I was eatin’ away just the happiest girl ever, picturing my Paula just a cookin’ away back in the kitchen!  Yeah, I know, I know…but it made it more fun for ME!  I had several of her signature dishes, ones that I have watched her make over and over on Food Network, and I saw a couple that I make myself!  Cool!  Some of my faves were baked spaghetti, oven baked potato wedges, cheesy biscuits, cheeseburger meatloaf, fried shrimp, strawberry shortcake, and cream puffs.  And yes, I tried it all.  Some a bit more than others, but just know it was all FABULOUS!       

The decor was perfect.  I felt like I was having  breakfast and, ahem, dinner, at Paula’s house.  There were several flat screen TVs scattered around showing different episodes of her shows, Paula’s Best Dishes, Paula’s Home Cookin’, and Paula’s Party.  And out front, where you would imagine a foyer and living room to be, there was a HUGE gift shop!  Uh-oh.  This could have potentially been a big problem except for the fact that my hubby was with me and he reigned me in rather quickly.  Gah.  Oh well, I still made off with a coffee mug, a cookie sampler, and the cutest apron for Katie!  She loved it!  She helped me cook dinner tonight just so she could wear it!  We made a southwest chicken salad, in case you were wondering.  Delish!  And yes, it was definitely a SALAD night after our 2 days of indulging!

Thankfully I could make use of the nice hotel fitness room while  we were there.  I LOVE a GOOD hotel fitness room!  The treadmills were practically new and looked like they had barely been used.  Jack says it’s because the average age of someone at the casino was probably 75.  Whatever…they were good and I liked it!  But I ran 6.25 miles on Wednesday morning and 6.75 this morning.  We also took the kids swimming 4 times while we were there so I probably didn’t come out too bad.  It was a great short-and-sweet trip and we had a good time.  It was nice to get away for just a couple of days.  And my mom-in-law had a good birthday, too!