Ouch. My stomach hurts. It's the result of the last several days of heroic kitchen duty. We were in a small town outside of Nashville, and I couldn't insult our hosts by not enthusiastically eating their food.

Put another way, I stuffed myself silly on Southern food. And it was awesome. Here's a quick recap of what we ate:

We flew in Friday evening, and ate dinner at the house:

• Boiled ham // Calling this out to differentiate it from country ham
  
• Turnip greens
  
• White beans
  
• Cracklin' bread (cornbread + cracklins) 
  

Saturday breakfast at the Cracker Barrel

• A meat sampler of country ham, sausage, and bacon
  
• Eggs
  
• Biscuits
  
• Grits
  

I was stuffed from breakfast, so didn't really eat again until dinner at The Catfish House.

• Fried catfish
  
• Coleslaw (two styles, mayo and vinegar)
  
• Hush puppies
  
• Fried okra
  
• Fried corn on the cob. (Yes, fried corn on the cob. And it was awesome.)
  
• Sweet tea
  

The next morning, we went to the Beacon Light Tea Room (first opened in 1936) for their specialty, country ham.  

• Country ham and eggs
  
• Biscuits
  

We skipped lunch again Sunday, and then had leftovers for dinner.

• Country and boiled ham
  
• Biscuits
  
• Cracklin' bread
  

Monday morning, Katie I picked up some bagels, as a break from the cholesterol. It was a short break. Monday dinner was Christmas Eve, and it was back to the trenches:

• Ham
  
• Chicken and dumplings
  
• Dressing (aka stuffing)
  
• Mashed potatoes
  
• Cranberry sauce
  
• Gravy
  
• Rolls
  
• And coconut cake, chocolate cake, scotcharoos**, and date balls for dessert.
  

Tuesday morning was more leftovers. Knowing that my Southern-fried vacation was coming to an end, I piled my plate high with ham, chicken and dumplings, and dressing.  

That may not have been the best strategy, as we soon went to someone's house for Christmas dinner (aka lunch). I wasn't at all hungry, but we had to be at the airport by 3 pm, and I didn't want to insult my hosts by not enjoying their food. 

• Ham
  
• Mac and cheese
  
• Creamed corn
  
• Mashed potatoes
  
• Fried rice
  
• Rolls
  
• Biscuits
  
• Green beans
  
• Sweet tea
  
• And a plate of coconut cake and carrot cake for the wait at the airport
  

Over Christmas Dinner, a kindly octagenarian with failing eyesight told me stories about the pistol she keeps at home, and gave me her recipe for chicken and dumplings:

1. Cook your chicken ("the bone parts"), and separate from the bones (ie, shred)
2. Combine flour, lard, and buttermilk ("I don't measure")
3. Pat it down (ie, rolled it out) and cut it into strips
4. Bring your chicken stock to a boil, and add the strips
5. Stir with a wooden spoon ("not a metal spoon!" .. something about it giving the dumplings a metallic taste)
6. When they float, they're done
7. Add the chicken, and serve

I was curious about the amounts, so I took a quick look online. I was surprised to see that this is very similar to Alton Brown's recipe:

Actually, he provides two recipes, one from his mother and another from his mother-in-law. 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chicken-and-dropped-dumplings-recipe/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chicken-and-rolled-dumplings-recipe/index.html

And here's the full episode:

Everyone loves fried chicken, obviously (except, I guess, for those pesky vegetarians.. but they don't know what they're missing). 

And everyone loves donuts. Admittedly, I prefer donut holes to full size donuts.But still- donuts are awesome too. 

So a restaurant focused on the wonderful combination of fried chicken and donuts? It would be second only to that other great combination involving poulty- chicken and waffles. 

Luckily for those of us in DC, the guys behind Birch and Barley areopening a fried chicken and donuts restaurant! It's supposed to open in Dupont Circle in late November. Get excited (and maybe get to a gym too.. this will not be a low-calorie meal). 

It's been two weeks since my last post. That's unacceptable. Naturally, I deflect any blame for this, and instead ask why you, my loyal audience, hasn't deluged me with demands for more posting. Specifically, I blame Mike. 

I have two posts in the works, but unfortunately neither is ready yet. To whet your apetite, here are a couple of teasers:

One features a European import that I only recently became aware of, although my friends who fly Delta have long been in the know (and yes, my ego is still recovering from my long ignorance).

The second features Billy Zane- enough said.

In the meantime, I have two things to offer you. First, I baked this mean looking challah last week:

Second, I had the best Ethiopian food I've ever had last week at Zenebech Injera.

It's on the corner of T St NW and Florida, has half a dozen tables, and when I asked the owner for help ordering, he suggested we try a dish with raw beef!

When I told him I couldn't sell raw beef to the other people in my party, he gave us some to try anyway. It wasn't bad, but a couple of the other dishes we tried were incredible.  

You should go check it out.