Jim Varney: More than Ernest!
Lexington, KY born actor Jim Varney -- from Shakespeare to Ernest.
Today is the anniversary of Jim Varney's birth.
You know, the guy from the commercials. Of course you remember them. "KnoWhutImean, Vern?", the famous (or annoying, depending on your preferences...) catchphrase of Jim's character Ernest P. Worrell, ran on so many dairy ads across the country that Varney was even granted trademark protection for the saying.
“I’d like to do a piece of Shakespeare. Any upcoming Shakespeare film. Just a bit to say I did a classic.”
By the late 1980s, Ernest, who was created by the Nashville-based ad firm Camden and Cherry, proved too big for ads and gained a series of movies of his very own -- nine in total!
But did you know that the Lexington-born Varney began studying acting at age 8? As a student at Lafayette, he won state drama competitions. He portrayed Scrooge in a local theater production and even studied Shakespeare at Virginia's famous Barter Theater. He moved to New York, did dinner theater and off-Broadway, and landed a role as a regular on the Johnny Cash and Friends variety show.
“I like to sing. I write music. Country songs. You have to if you’re in Nashville. It’s part of the lease. You sign a lease that says, I will write country songs and pay my rent on time.”
Of course, you dance with the one who brung you, as the old saying goes, and Varney, who also played Jed Clampett in the Beverly Hillbillies film, won two Daytime Emmys for his Ernest role, for which he will always be known. He lost a battle with lung cancer in 2000, shortly after filming Billy Bob Thornton's film Daddy and Them. To learn more about Jim Varney, check out The Importance of Being Ernest, written by his nephew Justin Lloyd.
Happy Birthday, Jim Thanks for the laughs!!
Woodford Reserve & Ale 8 Slush
Delicious frozen punch recipe with a bourbon kick!
Happy National Bourbon Day, y'all!
Here's a recipe for a delicious punch that will let you beat the heat with two of Kentucky's favorite flavors -- Woodford Reserve and Ale-8 -- and a tangy citrus twist. You can serve it in a punch bowl for a party or picnic, or keep in the freezer to scoop out as you like!
- 6 cups water
- 2 cups strong tea
- 2 cups Woodford Reserve
- 3/4 cup sugar or Splenda
- One 6-ounce container frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- Two 6-ounce containers frozen lemon juice concentrate, thawed
- Ale-8-1 or Diet Ale-8
Combine the water, tea, bourbon, sugar, orange and lemon juice concentrate in a large container or bowl, and mix until sugar dissolves.
Pour into two gallon-size freezer bags or large covered plastic container. Freeze overnight. Scoop slush into glasses and top with Ale-8. Garnish with mint sprigs.
Happy National Bourbon Day, and cheers, y'all!
The Five Best Barbecue Joints in Kentucky
Kentucky's best barbecue restaurants
Kentucky Barbecue is having a moment, y'all.
Time Magazine just named Louisville one of America's best cities for barbecue. Southern Living named two Owensboro restaurants to their list of The South's Top 50 Barbecue Joints. If that's not enough, a Louisville chef and barbecue restaurant owner was named to Eater's Summer 2015 Young Guns list. Of course, any conversation about Kentucky barbecue isn't complete without the longstanding debate on mutton -- folks around Owensboro love it, and the rest of us will never fully get it. (The story goes that there were a whole lot of sheep in the Daviess County area after the Civil War, providing a ready food supply. The tradition was carried on by a popular circuit of Catholic Church picnics, and the rest was history.)
The HerKentucky writers have discussed, and sampled, and sampled some more to arrive at our list of the Five Best Barbecue Joints in Kentucky. We'd love to hear if y'all agree with us!
5. Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, Owensboro. Moonlite is arguably Kentucky's most famous barbecue joint, cooking traditional Western Kentucky-style mutton barbecue (along with brisket, chicken, and pork) in an open pit with hickory chips. Did we mention that they offer a barbecue buffet?
4. Lyle's BBQ Company, Lexington/ Nicholasville. Lyle's started out as a Lexington-area food truck and, as our friend, owner Chandler Lyle will tell you, "figured out a way to watch UK games while working" by becoming vendors at Rupp Arena. Their restaurant opened last week in Nicholasville; the perfectly smoked, juicy brisket and pork shoulder are perfect every time, and the smoked chicken wings are a must-try!
A first trip to Leigh's BBQ should always be documented! Photo courtesy Sarah Stewart Holland
3. Leigh's BBQ, Kevil. If you're not familiar with the Purchase Area of Kentucky, you may want to take a native with you to find this Western Kentucky jewel, located west of Paducah. If you ask her nicely enough, HerKentucky contributor Sarah Stewart Holland may even offer to be your tour guide. The pit at Leigh's has been going since the late 1940s, and the pork isn't pulled off the shoulder until the moment you order it.
2. Old Hickory Bar-B-Q, Owensboro. If pressed to offer an opinion about their local delicacies of barbecue and burgoo, most Owensboro natives will quietly confess that "Moonlite gets all the publicity, but Old Hickory is where it's at." Members of the Foreman family have been barbecuing mutton since 1918; the sixth generation continues the tradition at Old Hickory.
Pork Cake appetizer, Feast BBQ
1. Feast BBQ, Louisville. The cocktails (bourbon slushies, y'all!) and sides (collard greens with a healthy dab of pulled pork; oh, and tater tots!) are amazing. The menu is unique -- they even offer smoked tofu! -- but when we rank barbecue, we're talking meat, and the meat at Feast is amazing! Perfectly smoked and moist, it's hard to choose among the velvety brisket, the classic pork, or the smoky chicken. I can tell you there are no bad choices. (Well, I've never tried the tofu...)
Did we get it right? Who makes your favorite Kentucky barbecue?
In case you missed it:
Seersucker Kentucky Cocktail Napkin Giveaway!
In honor of National Seersucker Day, HerKentucky is giving away one set of 4 seersucker Kentucky cocktail napkins from Elizabeth Elfen! The winner will be able to choose from pink, blue, green or red seersucker. Please see below to enter.
Good Luck!
The hemstitched cocktail napkins are a blend of cotton and linen and measure 6" x 6". They will be packaged as pictured.
Five Fun Facts About Seersucker
National Seersucker Day trivia
- The classic seersucker suit was created by the New Orleans-based clothier Haspel. Joseph Haspel founded his company in 1909, with the goal of producing clothing that stood up to the Louisiana heat. He made laborers' coveralls and, soon after, men's summer suits, out of the puckered fabric made popular in British India.
- The word "seersucker" derives from the Hindi word "sīrsakar"; that term was borrowed from the Persian compound "shīroshakar", meaning "milk and sugar" and describing the varied texture of the fabric.
- Senator Trent Lott started the U.S. Senate's tradition of Seersucker Thursday, in which Senate members wear the summer fabric, in 1996. It was discontinued in 2012, but officially resurfaced this year. National Seersucker Day arose to coincide with Seersucker Thursday.
- Gregory Peck wore a seersucker suit in To Kill a Mockingbird, as did Cary Grant in Charade. Both were custom-made by Haspel.
- In the Rolling Stones' song of the same name, the Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man wears a seersucker suit; he also drives a Corvette!
Happy Seersucker Day, y'all! How are you styling your seersucker today?
Shop The Look: National Seersucker Day
We've picked out some fun seersucker pieces to meet any style, shape, or budget. I'm DYING over those New Balance sneakers!!
{This post contains affiliate links; HerKentucky LLC will receive a small commission from some links clicked.}
I Hope to Have God on My Side, But I Must Have Kentucky
Previewing July's My Kentucky Tee and the historical significance of a famous Lincoln quotation.
It's no secret that I LOVE My Kentucky Tee.
I wear my tees all the time, and I always get such lovely compliments on them! I'm so excited to wear the June tee for Independence Day celebrations.
What I'm really, truly excited about is the July My Kentucky Tee. I mean, how cute is this?
I've always loved that quote from Abraham Lincoln, "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." It sounds like a pithy exclamation of Bluegrass State pride, but it's an important history lesson. President Lincoln wasn't just invoking sentiment of love for his home state. (We've been over this before: Kentucky is the ACTUAL Land of Lincoln. You can't have him, Illinois.) He was making a policy statement about keeping border states from seceding from the Union. Kentucky's population, resources, and strategic location were invaluable to the U.S. forces during the Civil War. Losing Kentucky to the Confederacy would have been a tremendous blow. What a great reminder of Kentucky's vital role in the Civil War, and our amazing heritage!
“I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we can not hold Missouri, nor, as I think, Maryland. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us.
”
Remember, sign up for the July Tee by July First, and you'll get the Starter "1792" shirt as well as the Lincoln shirt in your mailbox in early July. The subscription is only $15/month; you can learn more here!
(Thanks to My Kentucky Tee for continued sponsorship of HerKentucky!)
Ten Things You Probably Didn't Know About Johnny Depp
Ten things you may not know about Kentucky-born actor Johnny Depp.
Today is Johnny Depp's birthday, y'all! In honor of the fascinating, handsome, quirky actor and Kentucky native, here are 10 things you probably don't know about Johnny Depp!
1. On June 9, 1963, John Christopher Depp II was born in Owensboro, the youngest of four children. His mother, Betty, was a waitress and his father was a civil engineer.
2. He dropped out of high school at 16. When he tried to return to school two weeks later, his principal advised him to follow his dreams of becoming a musician.
“Awards are not as important to me as when I meet a 10-year-old kid who says, “I love Captain Jack Sparrow.””
3. In 2012, the Guinness Book of World Records named Johnny the Highest Paid Actor in the World.
“I`m an old-fashioned guy . . . I want to be an old man with a beer belly sitting on a porch, looking at a lake or something.”
4. Johnny lived in Frankfort from the ages of 3 to 10, where his mother worked at the Holiday Inn.
5. Depp has been married twice, briefly to makeup artist Lori Anne Allison, and, since earlier this year, to actress Amber Heard. He had a 14 year relationship with Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his children Lily-Rose and Jack. Over the years, he was engaged to Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Moss, Jennifer Grey, and Winona Ryder.
“The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants.”
6. He once co-owned a Parisian bar and restaurant, along with Sean Penn and John Malkovich. Located in a former cinema, the bar was named for avant-garde artist Man Ray.
Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Johnny Depp
7. In the early 1990s, Depp was co-owner of the famous Los Angeles nightclub The Viper Room. Johnny Cash's 1993 solo performance at the Viper Room is credited with introducing Cash's music to a new generation.
8. Johnny Depp famously plays his Pirates of the Caribbean character Captain Jack Sparrow as "a mix of Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew." When asked about the Pirates franchise, he once said "I only wanted to be in a movie that my kids could see."
“Hunter decided that since we were both brothers from “the dark and bloody ground,” as Kentucky is known, there were several fish to fry in Louisville. We were going back there to clear his name—they were going to celebrate him, and his mother was going to be there, and she would be proud. He said he wanted to make me a Kentucky Colonel—which almost anyone can be. There’s a society of Kentucky Colonels. Hunter was one and he made me one. You don’t need to do anything—you just write in and ask for it, and they give it to you. From then on, he always referred to me as the Colonel.”
Colonel Depp and Dr Thompson
9. Johnny is a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. His close friend, Louisville native Hunter S. Thompson, nominated him for the honor and frequently called him "Colonel Depp." Johny Depp starred in two films based on Dr Thompson's works, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Rum Diary.
10. He was once in a band called P along with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea. The band's eponymous studio album included a cover of Abba's Dancing Queen.
Happy birthday, Johnny!!