Cake, The Green Room continued, and a few other things...

Happy Birthday month to me. And it all began with a plate of cake. I heart cake, so imagine how tickled I was to get to write a piece on the baker at Brickstreet Bakery in Greenville.  The interview didn't just come with a cake sampling, it came with this giant plate of heaven.  Who could possibly eat this much cake?!  There was Sweet Potato, Chocolate, Coconut, Peanut butter,and Pineapple cakes. Needless to say, they happily boxed it up for the trip back up the mountain and we've been eating on them for three days (except for the Pineapple which I inhaled immediately).

Last night we went back to The Green Room.  This time for dinner.  We were showered with tasty goodness.  We started with the Ahi Tuna Mini Tacos which were tiny little things topped with mango slaw and bedded down in little piles of guacamole. Then we sampled a few of the soups. Mushroom and corn and  then cauliflower and goronzola with curried raisins. And the food kept coming.  We sampled homemade bread with four different flavors of house butters.  I loved the berry butter and the garlic and herb and my husband was in love with the S'mores butter.

Our main dishes were big enough for two people, at least, and had our eyes rolling back in our heads.  The hubs got the house signature sweet chipotle glazed Meatloaf with three cheese jalapeno macaroni, creamed green peas, homemade cornbread and honey butter.  I HATE peas, but tried these and they were quite nice.

I had the North Main Chicken which was an oven roasted half of a chicken - super moist and delicious, with mashed sweet potatoes, roasted onion stuffing, sauteed asparagus, a little bit of cranberry sauce and roasted poultry au-jus.   You can imagine we were stuffed, but out walked Chef Pat with a chocolate banana creme brulee, and who's gonna say no to that?! Heaven.

Until recently, I was unfamiliar with The Green Room but I honestly think it's one of the best restaurants in Greenville.  Very high on our list and we've been sending all of our friends to check it out. (I'm still in love with their truffle fries.)  

I still haven't decided on my new year resolutions.  I make them every year and they usually come easy and obvious, but not so much this year.  I have more of a growing bucket list than anything.

Mainly, on the health front, I just need to move my ass. That's a given, so I'm not going to make it a resolution.  Just a heavy suggestion to myself.

Arts and Crafts: I'm totally getting this giant (cheap) print made and mounting it on foam board for my house. God bless Pinterest.

Did you know that you can turn your Facebook account into a book with Likebook?  I've mentioned it before, I think, but in light of another year coming around, I thought I'd throw that out there again.  I'm going to archive my Facebook accounts and book my blog, too.  If either Facebook or Blogger went bust, I'd have a stroke.  They are like my journal I always forget to keep.

I want to make Pate a Choux and cook a live lobster this year.  A live lobster. I'm making Ina Garten's Lobster Mac and Cheese for Cookbook book club this month and I'm on the fence about whether I should use this opportunity to try.  I much prefer the tails all nicely chopped off and laid out for the picking.  Even if they look like giant bugs, I still feel funny about dropping them in boiling water.  The hubs says we can stab them between the eyes before boiling them. Still cruel.   Isn't there something about putting them in the freezer, too?

You might want to add these to your list:

Greenville Restaurant Week is Jan. 10-20. I'm totally going to American Grocery again.  The reservations are made. This time I'm taking the hubs, my bff and her hubs, too. There are tons of restaurants participating and it's a great opportunity to try one of the higher end restaurants in Greenville without the higher end ticket price.

Asheville Small Plate Crawl is coming Feb. 26-28! It's definitely worth the trip up the mountain.  I talked with the founder about starting a small plate crawl for Greenville, and she was receptive, but honestly I don't have the time, so someone get right on that, will ya?

A blog worth following: Real Girls Kitchen. This girl was on Rachael Ray this week cooking up super simple, healthy food.  Her blog design rocks!

I cannot tell you how happy  I am that the HBO series Girls is back on Jan. 13.  Happy Birthday to me (a few days early!). I swear I can't get enough of that show. And it's as awkward as my life would be if I were in my twenties right now.  I like to think I'd totally be Sex and the City stylin', but who am I kidding?  I'm way more Lena Dunham than SJP.  More Chucks than Manolo Blahnik.  I've never been the popular girl at the table, but as I turn 37 I can tell you that I'm way more awesome than the popular girl!  (She smiles.)

Happy Saturday  night all!  I'm going to go sip on this bottle of Vino that I scored for a good price today and hang out with my bff.  Life is good. Did I mention that?