Monday Mashup.

Some Mondays are just filled with possibility, don't you think?  It's the beginning of a new week.  A clean slate.  A fresh start on the to-do list.  A new world to explore. Love it.

I am obsessed with this kid:

Got apples?  Every person I think I know has been to Skytop Orchard.  It's the place to go for couples, families with kids, etc for a little pickin' and photo ops. The pictures are taking over my webspace.  I took the lazy way out and chose to purchase my freshly picked Hendersonville apples at Ingles (due to it also having an amazingly convenient and ample selection of wine). Bag of apples? Check.  La Crema? Check.

Apple pie?  Check.  My daughter made these mini apple pies by herself yesterday. No recipe.  Just threw apples, spices and lemon together, cut out some pie crust in circles, put crust in muffin tins, filled them, poked them, brushed them with butter, sprinkled on some sugar and baked them at 425 until they were done.  Ta-da. And they ROCK! My little baker is amazing.  She wants to open a bakery with me one day.

And made this Apple Cheddar Grilled Cheese for lunch today. Like my make-do panini maker? Gotta love cast iron pans.

 

I'm on a mission to find the Apple Pie Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Anyone tried it?  And Candy Corn M&M's are back at Target!!!  Pumpkin Spice M&M's are out also out, but I'm skeptical.

USA Today Article (here)

Charlie Hunnam has taken over my pop culture news. (Mercy.)  August 1st cannot come soon enough. Before the big announcement that he was going to play 50 Shade's Christian Gray, I had no idea who he was.  I am now watching Sons of Anarchy.  Warning: What is seen cannot be unseen. It's rough! Totally worth him taking of his shirt every now and then, though.  I am hopeless.

My DVR is bursting at the seems.  Newsroom wrapped last night (spoiler alert!) with Mac and Will's engagement.  Wow!  That came out of left field.  I was bouncing up and down and squealing.  My husband was afraid I was going to pop a stitch. I'm still giddy.

It's almost time for Walking Dead to kick up again.  AMC just announced a spin-off of the series to hopefully debut in 2015. SuWeeet.

I'll leave you on that note.  Stay tuned to the blog this week for stops at Tupelo Honey Greenville, Bacon Bros Public House and Euphoria is on the horizon.

Cheers, y'all.

A little Saturday Dis and Dat

What's up my friends?  Can you believe fall is on it's way?  I seriously turned my car around in the middle of the road to head back to Starbuck's today when I heard Pumpkin Spiced Lattes are back. Like NOW.

Never mind I'm on gallbladder enforced dietary lock down until they yank the thing out. I had to get my fix.  Ahhhh.  The smell reminds me of warm fuzzy socks and orange leaves and cinnamon on EVERYTHING.  Oh, and long sleeve t-shirts, God's gift especially to me.  I heart them.

It's fig season and we went to our friends' house last night so it was imperative that I brought a Fig and Gorgonzola pizza for pre-dinner nosh. I ran to Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery for fresh figs and fig preserves and then to Trader Joe's yesterday for their most awesome Gorgonzola cheese and arugula. Leave it to me to drive all over town for one little recipe. I snagged a few other goodies at TJ's including Short Stack Syrup (my husband is making waffles as I type) and Dark Chocolate Covered Marshmallows.  

I am completely in love with Marshmallows at the moment.  They are bits of fluffy goodness.  A culinary cloud.  My obsession started when we were at the beach at the end of July, actually. Well before digestive hell.  The Sullivan's Island Coop had Haypenny s'mores, then I was in Piggly Wiggly on Mount Pleasant and snagged a bag of Campfire Lemon Meringue Mallow Bursts, which taste exactly like lemon pie.  (Sigh.  I miss them. I haven't found them here, but if you see them in Greenville, give me a shout!)

Oh, I also popped into Dapper Ink yesterday to check out their t-shirts.  I wear my green "love Greenville" shirt all the time. I've worn it out.  I grabbed a few of their newer t's for my rotation (only ten bucks each) and found out they are coming out with a brand new line of products to be debuted at Indie Craft Parade next weekend, Sept. 7-8,  in downtown Greenville.  It's a freaking amazing indie craft fair.  Go check it out.

Confessional: I have never seen a single episode of How I Met Your Mother.  My aunt raves.  My mom raves. I totally dig Neil Patrick Harris. I stalk him online.  I love seeing pictures of him, his partner and his twins. Yes, I am one of those people.  I will eventually have to get the show on Netflix or something, I guess.  Anyone else out there watching?

Hashtags.  I don't understand.  I'm totally blowing up Instagram these days, by the way.  I may not be blogging as much at the moment, but you absolutely  must follow me on Instagram to keep up with the business of being me. @gapcreekgourmet. My favorite follow on Instagram? Lena Dunham from HBO's Girls.  She is way cool. Anyway, I get that you can use hashtags to search for similar posts, etc.  But people sure do come up with some craziness. Someone teach me the ways of tagging, please.

#thingsyouwanttocraminyourface

I have made these popcorn cookies a bazillion times since I first told you about them.  You really have to try them. No kidding.

If you live in the Travelers Rest/Greenville area, the Travelers Rest Cookbook Book Club is looking for new members!  We meet the second Monday of each month at Upcountry Provisions and cook from a new cookbook every quarter.  We have an amazing spread of food at every meeting. Let me know if you'd like to join us!

I am in love with the new song "Royals" by Lorde (she's a cutie pie), but does anyone else thing the woman sounds like Poe?

Happy Saturday!
Ta.

Peanut Butter and Sriracha Cupcakes

Peanut Butter and Sriracha Cupcakes

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

¾ tablespoons baking powder

¼  teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ sticks salted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

3 large eggs

½ cup vanilla yogurt  

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 335 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy (approx. 5 minutes). Slowly add in flour mixture.  Continue to blend on low. Add peanut butter and eggs, one at a time until blended.  Add yogurt and vanilla and mix well.  Fill cupcake liners ¾ full. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.

For the icing:

1 stick salted butter

½ cup peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 ½ tablespoon Sriracha

Beat butter until smooth. Add peanut butter.  Slowly add powdered sugar, milk and Sriracha and mix until well blended.

Snow and doughnuts

My March Saveur Mag came in the mail Friday with a feature on doughnuts and a list of the 50 Finest Donut Shops in America.  I can't believe out of the entire state of South Carolina they don't think we have a single noteworthy doughnut shop.  What about Glazed, which scored a mention on this month's Food Network Mag?  What about Diggity Doughnuts? What about Joey's Bag a Donuts? Did they even visit our state? We have some amazing doughnuts! At any rate, the sight of doughnuts sent us on a downward spiral of cravings, so my daughter and I pulled out our mini doughnut maker and whipped up a batch of these today.

While we were baking, it started snowing.  Finally, a good snow in the Valley.  It might not be ankle deep like I had hoped, but it is pretty.

bacon cookies, bazooka bubblegum and these blasted ladybugs!

My  mother came over last night to help me finish decorating for Halloween, and I made bacon bbq wrapped chicken fingers with sweet potato tater tots.  Okay, so I dumped the tots out of a bag onto a pan and baked them, but that constitutes "making" right? 

I also "made" gluten free chocolate chip cookies with bacon, toasted pecans and a little pepper on top... with a little balsamic/maple reduction drizzle.  It was an experiment.  Maybe a little flavor overkill, but yummy all the same. 

My daughter and I chomped on Bazooka Bubblegum on the way home yesterday.  Did you know you can still buy the stuff for 3 cents and it still has a comic in it?  Way cool.  And it blows killer bubbles. (note: bubble lips are not attractive)

Another highlight of the day was that my Bon  Appetit Thanksgiving issue came in the mail.  Yea me!  A magazine day is a very good day.  It's like getting a present in the mail!

Have lady bugs invaded anyone else's house?   I am not kidding when I say they have invaded.  There are THOUSANDS on my back porch!  Can you see them all over the screen? And as the sun is setting you can see swarms of them in the air.  They are even dive bombing the hubs while he is staining our deck.  

When there is one lady bug they are really cute.  When there are this many, you want to run screaming to your daddy.  (I did the first time I saw them swarm like this.  I actually called my dad in tears. He said to calm down and vacume them up. Smart man.)

Someone posted this t'shirt on Pinterest from this site.  I must have it. I immediately sent my sister a Christmas request email as soon as I saw it. 

Don't hate me, but I had a long drive yesterday morning way too early for my liking and in order to stay awake, I listened and sang very loudly to Christmas music.  I like to pretend I'm singing in front of a crowd (which I don't think I ever could and not even for karaoke but it keeps me awake). As I said, don't hate me. 

The end. 

Stalking my pets, apples, and Indie Craft Parade 2012

It's amazing what a little whipped cream and cinnamon can do for a cloudy morning!  Can I get an amen?

Yesterday I ventured out for a Trader Joe's and Publix run.  They've rearranged my Publix next to Furman University! I HATE it when that happens.  I decided it was a soup kind of day while I was there and ended up with a a bag full of butternut squash, sweet potatos, apple sauce and chicken broth and stock.  Oh, man!  That means I have to cook soup.

Cloudy weather makes me want to stuff face and sleep.  It also makes me what to cook things.  Like this apple cake.  Which is half gone after three days.  I DID share a little bit with friends and family, but not much. For the Gap Creek Gourmet Facebook fans who were begging for the recipe: I left the icing off, because I knew I would eat almost the entire thing myself and wanted to save the calories.  And I subbed 1/2 brown sugar for white and added 1/2 c. of Walnuts.  I have problems following a recipe...and directions for that matter.  It's a personality thing.

Am I the only person in America chomping at the bit for the political blah, blah to be over with so the good shows will come on television already?  We have CNN and HLN and Fox News and talk radio to cover that stuff... I'm not allowed (day job) to comment politically, so staying away from it so I don't get riled up is my best plan of action!  Bring on the good tv folks!  I CAN NOT WAIT for Homeland!

Moment of stupidity.  I have these often, but thought I'd share this one.  So I got ALL excited about a show previewing on TLC called Big Sexy.  So stoked.  It's about these big, bodacious women who work in the fashion industry and live in NYC. It honestly gave me something to get out of bed for on Tuesday. (One of those days.) I checked the listings. Nothing.  Checked on the computer. Nothing.  Had the husband check on the computer.  "Uh, hon, that show previewed in September 2011!" Duh.  And it was canceled after like two shows.  (My little world crumbles.)  Sigh.  And back to my normal programming...

 

In my momentary cooking frenzy on Tuesday, I also made this quinoa with the rest of my already skinned and chopped apples, some carrots and cinnamon, salt, and pepper.  Yum.   I'm a new fan of quinoa.  I used to think it looked like little bugs and popped like the tobiko on sushi.  I got over it. I think I'm going to put cinnamon in everything 'til Fall actually gets here.

I've been entertaining myself this week by taking pics of my dogs. (Can you tell he loves me, or what?! Look at that face! It just screams 'I love you mamma!')

...cats (she's not so in love with me at the moment cause she's getting shoo'ed off of my suitcase which has yet to be removed from the kitchen since I walked in from a work trip on Monday. I did at least unpack it...)

So the big plan for today is to FINALLY check out the ASADA Greeville food truck! Yea!!! The clouds in my brain seem to be clearing, and I'm on a mission!

This weekend's big adventure:  Indie Craft Parade 2012.  (That's me and my buddy acting up in last year's photo booth.  Love those!)  I look forward to this awesome art event every year.  I can't wait to see some of my favorite artists like Jimmie Lynn from Wingo Designs (who made my cupcake necklace and my little square bird necklace that I wear every. single. day.), Betsy Carr from Found*Ling (love her new Ocean Earrings!),  Teri Goddard Handweaving (I could LIVE in her soft scarves) and to FINALLY meet Johnnie from Sweeteeth!  He's a total rock star in my culinary world.

And for the rest of the weekend?  I'm making Ma Ma Plumblee's Homemade Ketchup.  It's not really ketchup... more like a relish, but that's what we called it and we used to dump spoonfuls of the chunky tomatoey goodness on top of the beans she made for Sunday lunch.  No one in the family has had any for years so they are salivating impatiently.  Thankfully, my Aunt Marlene reminded me to get my junk together and make some before the last tomatoes went bye-bye.  So we're on it!

What do you have planned for this weekend?  If you're in the Upstate, it better be inside or involve an umbrella! 50% chance of rain on Saturday.  Great day for cooking.  Not so good for being outside!

TomAto. TomOto. and a few other things

Tomatoes are awesome. Yep, I'm a fan.  I'm actually attempting to grow some in my little raised box gardens this year (if I don't kill them) and it looks like I might have at least a dozen heirlooms in the coming weeks! So exciting.  I digress.  Last night I made my first tomato pie.  And it too was AWESOME!  The Fiction Addiction Cookbook Book Club girls agreed. Recipe here.

We're cooking from the Back To Basics, Y'all cookbook and it is a bitch.  It's like the old school Martha Stewart magazines where she had these ridiculous recipes with ingredients that involved a plane ride.  Seriously.  I have the entire late 1990's collection of mags to prove it.  (I'm a pre-jail Martha Stewart connoisseur - something else you probably didn't know about me.) 

Last night's book club fare: caramel cake, amazing roast, jambalaya, and a really tall chocolate cake

I'll be so happy when we switch to the Southern Living Farmer's Market Cookbook next meeting.  ANYWAY! I picked the easiest thing I could find in the veggie section of the cookbook for last night's meeting and cheated my pants off.  No homemade crust.  No homemade mayonnaise, though I'll admit I was willing to try to make the mayo, but I didn't have the lemon or particular mustard needed to whip it up.  I did use basil, parsley and thyme from the garden. Yea me! Even though I thoroughly skimped on the effort, it was rockin' good. I'm making another when my tomatoes come in.

I know, I'm a complete nerd, but SOMEBODY get me some Lisa Loeb Cake and Pie glasses!  I am obsessed.  LOVE! THEM!  Anyone know Mrs. Loeb? I'm waiting...

I made reservations at Husk.  I'm about to bust at the seams with excitement.  So anxious to be Charleston bound. I have a Charleston board on Pinterest. If ya wanna check it out go here. I can't wait to try Diggity Doughnuts, swing by Roti Rolls, check out Heirloom Book Company (cookbook store), pop in and say hi at Sweeteeth Chocolate's new digs, and hit the Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market.  You can see what kind of vacation this is going to be.   Don't worry.  I'll share (photos).

I'm also newly obsessed with The Zac Brown Band. And I like putting videos on the blog. And I wish I were at the beach.  So enjoy.  

I gotta go eat the omelet my daughter made me. (She actually went outside and picked the herbs, grated the Gruyere cheese and made it 100% herself... and better than I could!) She's now making cinnamon toast. Happy Tuesday.

Birthdays and Breakfasts

I read a really great blog post by The Amateur Gourmet, Adam Roberts, this week.  He says everyone should drink Champagne on their birthday.  I agree.  I've decided to go halfsies with a friend to purchase a nice bottle. I've never had real Champagne, that I can recall. How have I not done that!?!  I foresee a sunny afternoon on the porch sipping bubbly.

Yesterday was my daughter's 10th birthday.  We have officially arrived at double digits.  (Yes, that is a tattoo on her face...and yes, I let her wear it to school. Why not?) I drug my body out of bed extra early to make her chocolate chip pancakes.  

I met a friend at Restaurant Next at 1879 N. Hwy 25 in Travelers Rest yesterday for my own breakfast.   I pass this place at least twice every day, but haven't stopped because, frankly, it just doesn't look that welcoming.  There are rarely cars parked outside and when you look in the front door, you are staring at a wall, so you can't really tell what to expect when you walk through the doors.  I was surprised to find it is nice inside.  A bit chilly and both the television and music were playing at the same time... a little too much for me at 9 am, but it the owners were super welcoming.

The decor is nice.  The walls are warm and the lights are dim.  There were daffodils (my favorite flower) on our table. We selected two coffee mugs, doctored our West End Coffee Company coffee and found a seat by the window.  I opened the blinds to let in some natural light.    We ordered Bacon, Egg and Cheese biscuits, which though slow getting to the table, were stupendous! The biscuits and eggs were fluffy, the bacon was crisp.  I'm definitely going back for lunch and dinner soon.  The owners ran Manna Deli in Travelers Rest for a while and I always enjoyed their lunch.  The service was slow and is still a bit sluggish, but good customer service goes a long way!

Birthday weekend in review: tattoos and tomato sauce.

I rang in my 36th birthday with a girls getaway weekend. A friend was turning 40 and wanted to mark the occasion with a tattoo, so we gathered the girls for support and headed to a friend's country house in the back woods of Dacusville, South Carolina, a half hour from one of the best Tattoo artists in the Upstate.  

I completely wigged out all people close to me by posting a pic on Facebook of Nicole getting a giant tattoo on her back.  No, I did not get a tattoo, but is that really so out of character for me? I now have a new appreciation for the art form.  Chuck (the amazing tattoo artist at East Coast Ink) spent two hours drawing and another three hours inking an amazingly detailed work of art: a heart with an S inside with my friends' 3 kids' names.  I told her she couldn't get rid of her kids now since their names are permanently tattooed on her back.  I was tempted to get one too, but haven't settled on anything yet.  A whisk?  A wooden spoon? A cupcake?  A measuring spoon?  Suggestions?

Griet and I have been friends since the 7th grade.  She was the wrangler of this weekend of craziness.  I made her an Orange Spice Rum Scrapcake...paper flower jobby being the scrap part. My signature thing. It was YUM.  Not the flower, the cake.   She gave me some very cool fabric scissors and a Rotary Cutter (with instructions not to cut off my fingers..she knows me well) so I can tackle the heart rug I found on Pinterest, among other things.

Parkay.  So we ate at this Mexican Restaurant for lunch on Saturday.  They actually brought Parkay to the table.  Who serves Parkay at a restaurant?!  I about fell out of the booth.  Parkay folks.  Seriously?

When I drug my sleep deprived body home Sunday, on my actual birthday, my husband had a present waiting for me!  Yea me!   Two DVD's: Bridesmaids and Hangover 2. And The Amateur Gourmet by Adam Roberts, my favorite food blogger who I stalk daily.  I dove in immediately.  (Then took a nap.)

Chapter one is about starting your culinary journey by mastering Tomato Sauce.  So I drove up the mountain on Tuesday to The Fresh Market in Hendersonville for some good quality canned whole tomatoes (I checked for the best brands on internet as I pursued the options), came home, opened a bottle of wine and danced around my kitchen while I chopped, boiled and smooshed the tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil and thyme into delicious heaven.  Mastered.

So I'm 36 and I've mastered basic Tomato Sauce.  Check.  Now what?  On to chapter 2.  The art of shopping.  Haven't we already established that I'm pretty dang good at food shopping?  We'll go ahead and give that one a check too.

Other things I want to accomplish this year:
I want to write 36 meaningful letters to people.
I want to volunteer 36 hours of my time to a cause I feel passionate about.
36 books?  Will I make it?  (If I don't finish the Game of Thrones series I won't be reading anything!  The books are piling up on my reader and side table.)

I'm working on the rest, but I know it will involve lots of cooking and blogging on my quest to cyberspace fame.

Peace out folks. Until next time.

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

It's birthday week, so yesterday I was completely and utterly worthless. After catching up on the lives of my fellow food bloggers while watching a few episodes of Sex and the City (Jack Burger was not my favorite of Carrie's boyfriends... I'm more of an Aidan gal), I had an unstoppable craving for Sweet Potato fries. Don't they look yummy?

Fresh cut sweet potatoes tossed in buttermilk and a egg, tossed around with cayenne, sea salt and pepper, then coated in flour, sprinkled with more salt and pepper, then spread out on an aluminum foil covered pan and sprayed down with a little oil. Baked 425 until crispy.  Wa-La. Crunchy decadent, spicy sweet potato fries.  I made a spicy dip by mixing cayenne with ketchup.

While munchin' on my fries, I watched Midnight in Paris,  which rocked my world. I've recently developed an appreciation for Woody Allen.  Age, my taste is improving, or I'm getting increasingly boring. I'm not sure which, but in this one Owen Wilson plays Gil, a screenwriter turned novelist who is visiting Paris with his fiancee and her parents.  While on a midnight stroll, he is offered a ride to a party and soon realizes he's been whisked back in time to the 1920's where he meets the likes of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter... the top actors, musicians and artists who partied their way around Paris in the 20's.  Yes, please.  Two thumbs up... and if I had more hands, I'd add another couple of thumbs up. This movie is an English Major's dream and made me want to click right over to iTunes and download some Cole Porter, but instead I grabbed a Godiva Chocolate Truffle and a cup of coffee and watched movie number two: Friends with Benefits.

A few things about Friends with Benefits: It's mind candy... like a decent beach novel.  I just can't get on board with Justin Timberlake.  Every time I see him, I expect him to break out into M-I-C...K-E Y...M-O-U-S-E.... seriously.   One thumb up, at best. (Oh no.  I just realized Ryan Gosling was a Mickey Mouse Clubber too... BA!  Ruined forever.)

I'm off.  Things to bake, people to see and laundry to be done.

Merry Christmas.

passing on Icebox Fruitcake tradition.

We are full on Christmas holly jollying in my house.  (The reason I haven't posted much lately).  Christmas, in this house, is a full time job.   From ducktape wrapped fruitcake* and iced cookies to decking the halls and walls, ceiling to floor with a life-long accumulation of seasonal decor and Hallmark ornaments (a three Christmas tree extravaganza) to thoughtful shopping and my den full of wrapping supplies,  I love every single thing about Christmas.  And crafting.  I'm very sad to say that I didn't get much crafting done this year (blast you Facebook for sucking up my time and Pinterest for making me feel guilty that Facebook sucked up so much of my time).    I did take some time yesterday to make these:

... and made my first New Years Resolution:

1) be more crafty.  

I am thinking that if I work on one specific craft every month for 12 months, I'll have a sweet collection of gifts for next Christmas... and it may give me an excuse to leave a Christmas tree set up in my guest room all year long.  Judging by webs starting to adorn my current tree, I might have to exterminate said tree mid year so it doesn't become a haven for the giant wooly spiders that creep about our house once in a while, but why let the Christmas season end?  I am totally glad Jesus was born all year long... right?! 

and a resolution carried over from last year:

2) Be more sexy.  

I swore I would get rid of the granny panties last year.  I would exercise more.  Well I did exercise more, and it totally made me want to get rid of the grannies, but then packed on ten lbs again in preparation for power outages and ankle deep snow storms (no one wants to be cold) and I dug out the few pair I didn't get rid of (just in case) and put them back in rotation.  Well, I'm back at it in January... Zumba and walking in hopes my husband will take me somewhere worthy of a bathing suit after tax season... and I still hope to someday run a 5K... and that would be a little easier thirty lbs lighter, eh?

While I ponder my continued list of resolutions, which I'll post closer to 2012,  I thought I'd share with you the ducktape wrapped fruitcake story* (aka MaMa Plumblee's Icebox Fruitcake).  So once upon a Christmas, for reasons I do not know, my MaMa Plumblee started making Icebox Fruitcakes.  She bought graham crackers, wrapped the box with ducktape for reinforcement, crushed the graham crackers, mixed them with candied fruit, nuts and sweetened condensed milk, mushed it all together and packed it into the wax-lined graham cracker box.  Shut the lid, wrapped it with ducktape and threw it in the freezer.  Cool, right? My friends make fun of me for this wacky tradition, but I remember going to her house and making fruitcakes with her in the tiny kitchen.   When my hands are covered in sweet graham cracker goop, it's like she's right there with me and my Dad loves nothing more than a ducktape wrapped fruitcake for Christmas. 

I won't be around much for a week or so.  I'll be back in January with pictures and recipes and reviews.  I'm picking up gigs at Fete Magazine and the TR Tribune in addition to my Gvlle Bus Mag and Gvlle Journal articles... and December 21st check out Greenville News if you're in town.  Yours truly will be in an article about food memories.  Love to all!  

And Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Trader Joe's and Holiday Traditions

My child shares my affinity for Trader Joe's, so we didn't skip a chance to bounce by there on our way home after errands this week.  These are our finds:  Sweet Potato and Corn Tortilla Chips: I ripped them open and let them go for a swim in red pepper hummus as soon as I got home. Some things need not wait on hunger. The Minty Mallows and Cocoa Truffles didn't escape our wrath either.  Creamy, rich, melt in your mouth goodness.  Both of the boxes of heaven would make great Christmas gifts for the adult sweet-o-holic on your list, corporate gift baskets, etc.  The Pear Cinnamon Cider was a whim.  A tasty whim...though not to different than the roadside stand apple cider also in my fridge (but much less expensive).  The warmer than I like weather for this time of year is making it hard to stay in my holly jolly holiday mood, but I'm working on it!

I have to rant: I've been on the phone with SiriusXM customer service twice in two days (my least favorite thing in the world is talking to people in another country about my problem in the US with a product they have only seen on their current computer screen), so SiriusXM is on my boo-boo list for the week.

I'm not getting my Holiday Traditions Channel, which for some, is not a big deal, but for me is a HOLIDAY TRADITION! I live for November 15th when the classic Christmas tunes from the 40's-60's spill out of my satellite radio.

Day One on the phone with customer service:  "You have to be a Premium subscriber and your current model doesn't support Premium."  I cussed and then thought about it and decided to upgrade my system so I called them back the next day.  Day Two: (This is no exaggeration.)  "That Christmas Channel is only available at 3am."  Really?  3am?  Who the heck is listening to Christmas music at 3am?!  Please revisit your assessment.  "Okay. That station is only available online." Problem.  My internet sucks and I can't stream music.  Besides the fact that you are t-totally WRONG as it clearly states on my screen that channel 147 should be playing my holiday music, but channel 147 is not available on my gadget screen. Please reassess.  "Ma'am, I see here our technicians are trying to fix a problem with the older models because they are not receiving the holiday channels.  The problem should be cleared up within 24 hours. And you don't need the Premium service to get that channel."  Much better. And 45 minutes of my life is wasted on the phone with an incompetent person... BAAAA!  Once my Holiday Tradition is restored... I'm a stickler for traditions... obsessively so... I'll be peachy.

I've been sipping on the Box-o-Shiraz... another TJ find.  Of course it's not the best quality wine in the world at $6.99 a box (the equivalent of 3 bottles of wine) but you definitely have the sweetness and tannin of a typical Shiraz...  just not as bold as I typically like. Fine for sipping while waiting on the phone with customer service, or eating leftovers... chatting with friends on the phone, etc...but I wouldn't take it to a friends house for holiday dinner.

So there.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving.  I have a split family, so every holiday has multiple stops. We begin the turkey day holiday with the annual cussing of the turkey at my Mom's.  My sister, my daughter and I sit around the kitchen table and watch Mother cram butter under the skin of a giant bird, cover it with Spike seasoning and wrangle it into tinfoil.  Poor turkey.  The boys sit around a fire in the woods and drink beer and who knows what else since girls aren't allowed.

mom wrangling, the bathroom beauty session, my little sister Ashley loves black olives and she's goofy, ready to eat!

We eat pizza and flip through sale mags and review our Christmas lists...And we watch Home for the Holidays.  On Thanksgiving morning I watch the Macy's Parade and shed a tear for my MaMa Plumblee (my dad's mom).  I used to call her every single Thanksgiving day morning to see if she was watching the parade and she'd say "I'm cooking, but it's on!"  I can picture her standing in her small kitchen over her stove stirring while staring at the reflection of her television in the mirror in her den. She loved marching bands.

While mom cooks (she won't allow us to help cause we just get in her way) we take over her bathroom so my sister can fix our hair and put on our makeup... like we're teenagers.  So fun!  Then my in-laws join us and we eat the food it has taken two days to prepare in about fifteen minutes and its the best meal of the year... the men go sit outside and the women sit around and talk about how full we are and pack up leftovers to eat for the rest of the week.

Later in the day, my little family unit will head out for a meal with my Dad's side of the family.

My little, but taller, brother J.

It's a day full... I mean really FULL of eating.... I guess it has to be to keep us running on Black Friday, which we attack with a vengeance. Probably  more out of tradition than necessity, but it's fun to get in the hustle and bustle and we always hit the See's Candy booth at the mall!

Have a great holiday!  I can't wait to share my holiday pics with you!  I'm brining a turkey this weekend.... Butterflied Turkey with Apple-Cranberry Glaze...my favorite recipe from Food Network Mag's November 2009 issue...  Freeze half/eat half.  The holiday gatherings have started and I'm beside myself excited.

What are your holiday traditions?

Halloween Party Menu begins here...

What's the big whoop?

I decided to get back in the kitchen this morning, inspired by my dad, who said there's not enough food on my blog (he's my biggest fan and my biggest critic), and a picture and recipe on Pinterest. It's about time I started on my list of Halloween party food! 1st up, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.  I keep seeing these things in bake shops and ice creameries... I tried a few but didn't get it... why not eat a cupcake?  I whipped up a cake batter with pureed pumpkin and lots of pumpkin spices and a molasses cream cheese icing (think old fashioned molasses chew).  The recipe called for basic cream cheese icing, but I'm not known for sticking to the recipe... and the molasses were close by.

They turned out very pretty and they are pretty good, too. Not too sweet, a little spicy (not in the hot way) and the flavors balance well, but I'm still a cupcake girl.  Just like I prefer the rice on the outside of my sushi, I like the icing on TOP of my cake. I like biting into the creamy sweetness before hitting the fluffy cakiness. I think my husband is going to be a big fan, though.  He actually scrapes icing off his cupcake (freak!).  I'm linking to the cake recipe I used, but you'll have to wing it on the icing to duplicate.  I dumped in about a 1/4 cup of molasses and increased the sugar by half a cup, I think.  Again, winging it.  Happy Monday!

Pie School

Leftover pie for breakfast on this soon-to-be-Fall morning.

It doesn't take a culinary genius to make an apple pie and tis the season.  I thought I'd share my apple pie knowledge (which frankly, wouldn't fill a pie pan).  1) You don't need to know how to make a pie crust to make a pie.  Pillsbury has been working on this for decades.  Just for you.  And it makes a perfectly fine pie. So don't let that stop you. 2) An apple machine (peels, cores and slices at the same time) may save you a few blisters or trip to the ER.  I hate pealing: apples, potatoes, etc.  I love this contraption and you can get yours for $25 or so from Amazon.com.  3) Apple Pie Spice is a pantry must this time of year for pies and coffee, ice cream, hot chocolate, cakes, cookies and pies.  Add some to your coffee grounds before brewing... num, num, num.   4) I never could get the bottom crust done enough until I figured out these two things: use a glass pie dish for baking and when the top looks golden brown, put a sheet of foil on top of the crust and let bake a few more minutes.  Ta-da.

I'm not going to post my recipe because I don't have one.  My apple pie has 8-10 apples, about a teaspoon and a half of apple pie spice, about 1/2 cup of sugar, tablespoon of flour, 1/4 stick of butter cut into tiny bits.  Sometimes I add a squeeze of lemon to the mix...I've also thrown in raisins from time to time. Egg white beat with a drop or two of water for brushing on the crust before it goes in the oven...   I follow the pie crust baking instructions.  Makes a dang good pie. (Only Martha Stewart would know I didn't make my own crust!)

Blueberry and White Cheddar Danishes with Honey Drizzle

I'm not a recipe poster.  I may be one day, but for now, I'm just a big tease.  Enjoy the pictures.

(will be paired with homemade vanilla ice cream for dinner I am pseudo catering on Aug. 13th)

I am very thankful I have friends who will brave my experiments. Last night I took these to a cookout at our friends' new home.   (After taste testing I decided for the next batch I would slice the cheese instead of shredding it and use fresh fruit, sugar and butter and a little flour for the filling, I think.)  Thank you Greg and Cam for the rave reviews on dessert, good burgers, and letting me pick berries for my next round of danishes!

The Year of Cupcakes

Maple bacon, dark chocolate raspberry, chocolate stout with coconut pecan icing... I stumbled into baking this year. I didn't mean to. I made a cupcake and then another, and then started developing my own cupcake concoctions and then I started selling my cupcakes. It snowballed into a giant dust storm of confection sugar and when the dust cleared... well, I got skills. I have definitely broken in my sparkling new kitchen.

Speaking of... we moved into our new house last February and have enjoyed every second of our expanded living space. I settled into my new office upstairs last week finally after a trip to Ikea for a desk. I sit there looking out onto the mountains across the street pecking out my living (look for my articles in Greenville Journal, Spartanburg Journal, and Greenville Business Magazine).It was an incredibly busy work year, baking, writing, mommydom, wifedom, queen of new house (bigger house = more dirt apparently) but I thrive in the busy.

I did travel some in 2010! In October I jumped on a plane bound for San Diego to visit my Aunt Kay and and nurture my west coast roots. I ate myself silly... fish tacos are the BOMB, shopped for nostalgic Halloween decor (one of my new collections in progress)...drank good wine, watched the sunset on the beach... I am on a mission to master my own corn tortillas this year.

On the resolutions front, I'm trying not to make too many. I gotta get some of these cupcake pounds off! I'm eating as many veggies as I can stand and in the afternoons I sweat it out with Just Dance 2 on the Wii (when no one is looking, of course cause the girl can't dance).

Here's to an amazing year of more travel, more time with friends, and amazing cupcakes!

Cranberry Cheesecake

Last night I was preparing 1 of 4 cheesecakes I have to bake each Thanksgiving, and I got a brilliant idea: what about a cranberry cheesecake. I had some in the fridge, why not? So I chopped/pureed about a cup of cranberries, a tablespoon of lemon zest, a 1/2 cup of pecans and a 1/4 cup of orange juice, oh, and a 1/4 c. of sugar and I mixed it in my cheesecake batter. AWESOME, and as my husband pointed out, it makes cheesecake just a little more ''thanksgiviney". (Not his exact words, he would want me to point out)
Just thought I would pass on the idea. If you want the cheesecake recipe, you have to email me, otherwise find your own people! (just joshing!)